Thames Valley division X match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 29 January 2024

Kingston C really deserved to win this match against Staines B, but were denied at the end in unfortunate circumstances when Sean Tay allowed the fact that his opponent had stopped recording under the five-minute rule to affect his play, in a game he was winning with some comfort up to that point.

Jaden Mistry got the match off to the best possible start with a quickfire victory against Martin Conlon on board 4. Martin’s Sicilian had given him a slight edge in the opening, but he omitted to castle and his position rapidly went downhill when White’s queen and rook launched an assault that led to mate.

Ergo Nobel blundered on board 1 to allow Ye Kyaw to equalise for Staines, but Colin Lyle played an excellent game on board 3 to go into a rook v knight endgame which, in the nature of such endgames, favoured the more mobile piece. 2-1 to Kingston and, with Sean well on top, victory in the match looked inevitable. But when his opponent stopped scoring (as he is allowed to) with just five minutes on the clock, the dynamic of the game changed and poor Sean blundered into a lost rook endgame. He tried hard to save it, but with his king offside it couldn’t be done.

So 2-2 at the end of a very good match, and lots of lessons learned. Most important: if you still have time and your opponent is playing on the increment, don’t try to blitz him. Play good moves that pose (hopefully insurmountable) problems. Don’t let your opponent’s time trouble affect your own play, and don’t worry about the fact that you are scoring and he isn’t. Just play your game. This was one that got away, but if that lesson is learned it will be positive in the end.

Stephen Moss

Thames Valley division 2 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 29 January 2024

We made the long journey to Maidenhead with hope for revenge, after Maidenhead B emerged victorious at the Willoughby Arms back in December, our sole defeat of the season so far in this division. It was a familiar team construction for Kingston, with three 2000-rated players and three 1700-rated players, which always leads to an interesting dynamic where we appear favourites on the top boards and underdogs on the bottom ones.

Nick Grey on board 4 was first to finish. After declining Simon Foster’s Smith-Morra and transposing into a Alapin Sicilian, the game ended in a relatively quick draw with both sides seeking peace. A good start with the black pieces against a higher-rated opponent. 

Also with the black pieces, Charlie Cooke on board 6 played a Petrov, ending up with quite a passive position. To get some activity, he sac’ed the exchange for a pawn and a well-placed knight, which gave him drawing chances, but he couldn’t hold on. First blood to Maidenhead.

On top board, Julian Way played the Four Knights against Stephen James. Julian reckons he perhaps came slightly worse out of the opening, but with neither player really confident of what was going on they settled for a draw.

In another declined Smith-Morra, I managed to launch a queenside attack with c and b pawns thrown down the board, well supported by an annoying “octopus” knight in the heart of my opponents defence on d6. The octopus played a key role, as I managed to sacrifice it for two pawns, paving the way for my now passed a and b pawns, which could not be stopped. This levelled the match at 2-2. 

On board 3, Alan Scrimgour was weighing up whether to trade his queen for two rooks when he realised at the end of line he would pick up bishop as well. The extra material was too much as Alan expertly marshalled his bishop pair and rooks to checkmate Nigel Dennis, whose queen was left floundering at the other end of the board. 

As so often, it was left to Peter Andrews playing out a blitz finish to determine the match. Peter found himself facing an unfamiliar double fianchetto opening by White. The game was tightly contested all the way through, but Peter gradually developed a slight edge by selecting the best files for his rooks while his opponent weakened his pawns slightly. As the clocks ran down, Peter took the initiative with a pseudo-pawn sacrifice, and emerged into a rook and minor piece ending a pawn up. With both players blitzing, there were a couple of transitory opportunities for him to win.  Unfortunately he didn’o’t spot either of them, and was content to repeat moves for the draw which won the match.

Victory by 3.5-2.5. is an excellent result, which made the long journey worthwhile. Thanks as ever to Maidenhead for the hot drinks and excellent selection of biscuits. 

Gregor Smith, Kingston B captain in Thames Valley League

Alexander Cup semi-final played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 25 January 2024

Kingston, who have won the 10-board Alexander Cup – Surrey’s premier knockout competition – for the past two years and are bidding for a historic hat-trick have made it to the final, where they will face Wimbledon. But it was far from easy against a tough Coulsdon team, and with a quarter of an hour to go in the match a 5-5 tie and a decision by board count looked much more likely than the eventual 6-4 scoreline in favour of the home side.

Kingston were the stronger of the two teams in rating terms, but somehow it never felt like that. Indeed, there were long stretches of the evening where the play seemed to favour Coulsdon, who were an intriguing mix of talented juniors and canny veterans. Does no one aged between 20 and 70 play chess in south London?

The first games to finish were on boards 8, where Peter Andrews with White drew with Matt Darville, and 7, where Julian Way with Black drew with Olufemi George. Peter’s game, an English that turned into a kind of Amsterdam Attack, was short but very interesting, with the two players attacking on opposite sides of the board. It could have produced a dramatic and violent game, but with so much at stake they opted for peace in the position below, where White has a small edge but is anxious about his ragged pawn structure.

“At the end,” said Peter later, “I was worried about my e-pawn, thinking I would have to play Bc1 and Bd2 before castling. And I was worried about my h-pawn. I didn’t like e4 because of the hole on d4. But 19. e4 Nd4 20. Nxd4 exd4 21. Nd5 is good for White. I thought I was worse, and that he was offering a draw because of my rating and the situation on the clock. I was more than 20 minutes behind, having felt that I was under pressure when in fact I was never worse and was repeatedly missing chances to play d4 and be significantly better – a lesson I shall take away when playing this sort of position both as White and as Black.”

Julian Way’s opponent chose a sharp e4 opening and was looking to get on the front foot for most of their game, but Julian defended with characteristic skill and White was soon out of attacking ideas, pieces were liquidated and a draw was inevitable in this completely level position:

John Foley’s game on board 9 against Paul Jackson, who had beaten him in a recent league match at Coulsdon, also ended in a draw shortly afterwards. John, with Black, had gone a pawn down and in the position in which a draw was agreed (see below) White has a small edge, but he may have felt that Black’s bishop – faced with an array of tempting White squares – had more long-term potential than his own somewhat inhibited knight.

The first decisive blow was struck on board 10, and it was a moment of near despair for Kingston. Jon Eckert was playing confidently with White against Venerando Bermudez, who is modestly rated but clearly highly regarded by Coulsdon.

Jon had built up an excellent attacking position and the talk in the bar downstairs was of a guaranteed point for Kingston. This position was reached after White’s 35th move:

The next game to finish was Will Taylor’s, and the denouement was sudden owing to an unfortunate blunder by his opponent Nick Edwards, who had been playing very imaginatively with Black to this point. In this position Black has a slight edge, but disaster is lurking just around the corner.

Matches in amateur chess – perhaps much professional chess too – always hinge on blunders, but this sudden collapse levelled the scores and lifted the Kingston spirits. As Will Taylor said after the match: “If my opponent hadn’t blundered into a queen trap then anything could have happened, but I got away with it.” Will’s win was absolutely critical, and I couldn’t resist giving him a bear hug. Hope was reviving.

David Maycock looked to be in trouble on board 1 – a piece down with some degree of compensation in terms of his opponent’s tangled pieces, but surely not enough to offset the material deficit. But Peter Lalić and Vladimir Li were doing well, Silverio Abasolo’s game looked drawish, and Kingston debutant Luca Buanne on board 5 also looked solid, though his opponent had a substantial time advantage.

The results in the final five games – on boards 1 to 5 significantly – came thick and fast as we reached the last 20 minutes of the three-hour playing session. There is some dispute over who finished next, but I am going to plump for Peter, who appeared in the bar downstairs to celebrate his crucial victory with Black on board 4 against the youthful Timur Kuzhelev, a player he had done battle with in recent congresses. Peter is always so reliable in these vital cup games, and time pressure seems to bring out the best in him.

John Saunders, the distinguished chess journalist and commentator, who was kindly attending the match to take photographs, declared this the game of the match.

Peter Andrews summed up Peter’s performance in this game well afterwards. “Rxe5 was an unbelievable move to find over the board in a time scramble,” he said. “I was watching live at that point and my head hurt. What a pity Peter didn’t find 30. Be5, leaving the queen and rook where they can be captured unprotected and putting the bishop en prise as well. There would have been metaphorical gold coins on the board for that one.”

On board 5, Luca Buanne with Black was engaged in a tough struggle with Nasir Rizvi, who played the English (a favourite among Coulsdon players). Luca played the opening well and emerged with a small plus. Nasir temporarily gave up a pawn for rook activity, but soon got it back and had a slight advantage as time trouble loomed. There followed one of those rook endgames where, if you get an opportunity, it has to be taken and Nasir’s came in the position below:

The game on board 2 between Vladimir Li and the prodigy Supratit Banerjee was also drawn, but it was incident-packed. This was the position after Black’s 16th move:

As the game proceeded, Vladimir seemed to be getting the upper hand, and we had high hopes of netting the full point. But things soon went awry.

We calculated that if David lost on board 1 and Silverio drew on board 3, we would still win 12-11 on board count. Silverio kept his part of the bargain, drawing against the talented junior Balahari Bharat Kumar after a protracted, highly technical and very high-class struggle.

Balahari looked ready to repeat moves at one stage, but Silverio chose to keep the game going by playing 21…c4 in the position below to force an exchange of queens. Black had an edge for much of the game, but in the end Balahari was able to draw without undue alarm.

We believed we had won the match on board count, but David Maycock – aka “the Magician” – put it beyond all doubt by conjuring up a win against Mark Gray on board 1. This was the tactical sequence which had panicked the Kingston bar-flies in the early part of the game:

There were differing views among the spectators as to whether David had any compensation for the lost piece. Objectively, he probably doesn’t, but what a tangled web he weaves, especially with Mark’s rook and queen marooned away from the action. White’s decisive error came in this position:

A remarkable end to a remarkable night. Kingston had won 6-4; Coulsdon had played with great skill and determination; and the match – overseen by Kingston captain Ljubica Lazarevic, who is a qualified arbiter – was played in tremendous spirit. Coulsdon, with their posse of talented juniors, are rising fast, and we urgently needed this win because it won’t get any easier in the future. Now for Wimbledon in the final and the chance of a hat-trick of Alexander Cup wins for the first time in the club’s 150-year history.

Stephen Moss

Thames Valley division 1 match played at the Adelaide, Teddington on 23 January 2024

At about 10.15pm we had given this match up as lost. We were 3-1 down to a highly motivated Richmond team and the two games still in progress were far from clear. But there was a glorious sting in the tale, with Kingston managing to win both those games to secure a draw that felt like a win. A truly great escape.

The first game to finish was the board 6 clash between Alan Scrimgour, with Black, and Jon Eckert, one of two Richmond players in the match who also turn out for Kingston in the Surrey League. Jon played the Grand Prix Attack against Alan’s Sicilian, and a draw was agreed when queens were traded on move 23. Will Taylor and Chris Baker also sued for peace on board 4 – another very satisfactory result for Kingston with Black. So far, so good.

But then disaster. John Foley, a late call-up to the team because of illness to another player, unexpectedly lost with White to Bertie Barlow on board 5, dropping the exchange and never really recovering. Bertie is a dangerous player if you give him the initiative, as he proved here, playing quickly and aggressively. 2-1 to Richmond and we were in trouble; in a six-board match there is very little scope for recovery.

The trouble deepened when IM Gavin Wall, Richmond’s time-honoured board 1, beat FM Vladimir Li in the battle of the titled players. Gavin as usual played the Dutch Defence, to which Vladimir responded with great vigour, building up a decent advantage. But he made one slip in the early middlegame on which the pair’s post-mortem suggested the entire game hinged. After that, Gavin was able to trade queens, break up Vladimir’s pawn structure and enter an endgame in which he cleverly engineered a zugzwang which doomed the Kingston man to defeat. A high-class game and an extremely impressive performance from Gavin.

That left Peter Lalić playing with Black against Mike Healey on board 2 and Kingston captain David Rowson with White up against John Burke on board 3. Both had to win just to draw the match. The experts reckoned David had a small plus, but that Peter might be slightly worse (a judgement not borne out by later engine analysis) in a complicated position. Perhaps we can still draw the match, a friend texted optimistically. “Unlikely”, I replied, resigned to defeat.

Happily Peter and David did not have the same sense of resignation. In the Healey-Lalić match-up, the queens were traded early (as is Peter’s wont) and there then followed much minor-piece jockeying for position. This was the situation after 23…Nf7:

The win for Peter made it 3-2. Now it was all down to Captain Rowson against John Burke. “I played the opening horribly,” says David, “wasting time and allowing him to gain a significant positional advantage, but it wasn’t so easy for him to exploit it. The pluses I had were my rook on the b-file and my light-squared bishop on the h1-a8 diagonal.”

“After my 19. Rd5, which was actually a bad mistake, I think my opponent panicked a bit and just wanted to exchange some pieces to clarify the situation,” David reflected later, “but this resulted in my winning the pawn on b7. I think it was fairly easy for me to win after that. I just tried to be careful not to allow him any counterplay. My pieces were much more active then. I hadn’t realised that Peter had won and thought we’d lost the match already, so it was a nice surprise to find that my win had drawn the match.” Disappointing for Richmond, who are currently bottom of the division 1 table, but very satisfying for Kingston when earlier all had seemed lost.

Stephen Moss

Thames Valley division 2 match played at the Royal British Legion, Hounslow on 22 January 2024

This Thames Valley division 2 meeting between Kingston B and Hounslow A ended in farce because Hounslow insisted on using clocks without incremental time controls. That meant players in winning positions could be flagged – as happened to two Kingston players – and one of our other players was so anxious about his time running out that he also let slip a good position.

We managed to escape with a creditable 3-3 draw with Hounslow’s A team thanks to a very quick win by Julian Way against the 2000-rated Seshagiri Vaddadi’s Sicilian. Julian went the exchange up early on, consolidated his advantage and Seshagiri resigned, realising that against a player of Julian’s class he faced a painful evening.

Alan Scrimgour on board 2 drew with the veteran Leon Fincher; I drew with Thames Valley chair David White on 3; Kingston captain Gregor Smith overcame a rating disadvantage to drew with Frank Zurstiege on board 4; new recruit Jameel Jameel had an excellent draw with Eugene Gregorio on 6; and Dieter McDougall lost to JJ Padam on 5. An unsatisfactory and testy evening, but at least we managed not to lose the match, and as a result remain well placed in the division.

Stephen Moss

Surrey League division 4 match played at Guildford on 15 January 2024

This was a match perhaps best hastily passed over. The average rating difference between these two third teams was around 200 points. It is rare for such a disparity to be overcome, and that certainly never looked likely to be the case here. Kingston fought hard, but Guildford were too good, and only Mark Sheridan’s heroics against the immensely experienced Trevor Jones saved us from a whitewash.

Congrats to Mark on a fine draw and thanks to the team for trekking down to Guildford to play so strong a team. The Centenary Trophy, to give Surrey League division 4 its formal title, is a highly competitive division, as we are discovering this season, where our score so far is 0.5/5. Tough going, but we are – as they say – on a journey. A journey down the A3 actually.

Stephen Moss