Monthly Archives: March 2024

Maidenhead A secure vital draw at Kingston

Maidenhead A v Kingston A, Thames Valley division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 4 March 2024

Peter Lalić (foreground, left) secured a crucial win on board 2 to earn a draw for Kingston against Maidenhead

Maidenhead A have been struggling in division 1 of the Thames Valley League this season, which is surprising given that they are a strong and much-improved side. They got a deserved 3-3 draw on their visit to Kingston, and we could have no complaints about a dropped half-point which further dents our already slim chances of catching Hammersmith in the race for the title.

Alan Scrimgour secured an early draw with Black on board 4 against Majid Mashayekh, and there was then a long period of struggle on the other five boards. The deadlock was finally broken on board 1, where FM Andrew Smith prevailed against Kingston’s David Maycock. Andrew played his usual Centre Game (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7) and David responded enterprisingly, but the Kingston man missed a key tactic when he played 21. Be6 in this position:

That gave Maidenhead a 1.5-0.5 lead and at that stage we looked in danger. Peter Lalić was a little worse against Steve James on board 2 and William Castaneda had the bishop pair and a slight edge against Nick Grey on board 6. On the plus side, the evergreen John Foley was well placed against Nigel Smith on board 4, and Julian Way was engaged in a classy game with Ishan Wirantunga on board 3. The latter was the next game to finish – a draw by repetition after 41 moves, with Julian’s queen pitted against his opponent’s rooks (see final position below).

John Foley, who had hurried to the match after running the Kingston Chess Academy, then brought his well-constructed game to a glitzy finish in the position below.

White to play and win

By now Peter Lalić and his opponent were in a time scramble, and Peter, who had earlier had a draw offer turned down, is brilliant in these situations, setting problems until his opponent cracks. That duly happened in the position below when Black played 33…Bf5.

Peter’s win made it 3-2 to Kingston and we were sure of at least half a point. But that was all we were going to get. Valiantly though he fought, Nick Grey was unable to wrestle back the initiative in a losing endgame and eventually had to admit defeat. Honours were even, and Maidenhead could embark on their long trek home feeling a little more comfortable about retaining their place in Thames Valley division 1.

Stephen Moss

Coulsdon 3 too strong for Kingston 4

Kingston 4 v Coulsdon 3, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 4 March 2024

Coulsdon 3 came to Kingston with a nice blend of youth and experience, and in the end were a little too strong for the home side, running out 4-2 winners in a well-contested match. But it was close: the board 2 game could have gone either way until time pressure told on the Kingston player.

Brother and sister Venkata and Aahna Kilambi both scored wins for Coulsdon. Venkata on top board looked an especially fine prospect, and his rating is already daunting in the Minor Trophy – division 5 of the Surrey League and designed to be a training division (with no promotion or relegation). Venkata will soon be progressing into the main league, part of Coulsdon’s never-ending supply of strong juniors (we will try not to be too jealous). On the plus side for Kingston were fine wins for Leon Mellor-Sewell and Robin Kerremans, both making their club debuts. Leon asked whether he got a GM norm for his win, but I assume he was joking. He and Robin are great additions to the club.

Young Jaden Mistry lost on board 4 against Bartosz Wojtowicz, and David Bickerstaff was very unlucky to lose on board 2 against Anuj Venkatesh, blundering a piece in time trouble in a position that may have been winning. That made it 4-2 to Coulsdon, but the great thing about this division is that, rather than bemoaning the lost half-point and worrying about the danger of relegation, we can celebrate the fact that a dozen up-and-coming players had an evening of highly competitive but pressure-free (because no promotion or relegation) chess.

Stephen Moss

Surprise default by Guildford 1 gives boost to Kingston

Guildford 1 fail to raise a team in the match against Kingston 1 due to be played at the Willoughby Arms on 26 February 2024, giving the match to Kingston by 8-0

Three days before this significant and eagerly awaited match, Kingston Surrey League division 1 captain Peter Andrews received the news that Guildford were unable to raise a team and would be defaulting the match. We took this to mean that they could not raise a team of sufficient quality, because a club of Guildford’s size should certainly be able to get eight bodies over to Kingston.

This was disappointing news as we do not like to be handed a win in this manner, and it also affects the integrity of Surrey’s very strong division 1. But, on the upside, the default victory by 8-0 propels us to second place in the table and gives us a slim chance of overhauling runaway leaders Epsom.

We now have to beat Epsom away on 11 March and they need to slip up against Wimbledon, who are mired in a relegation struggle and currently have nul points, on 18 April. We would also need to beat Wimbledon at home on 8 April. An unlikely scenario – Epsom’s IM-packed team is unlikely to take their foot off the pedal now as they home in on their first ever Surrey Trophy – but we will keep plugging away in defence of our title and hope for the best (or, in Epsom’s case, the worst).

Stephen Moss

Kingston C survive trek to Maidenhead

Maidenhead C v Kingston C, Thames Valley division X match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead, on 26 February 2024

Well done to Kingston C for making the great trek to Maidenhead on an uninviting evening and coming away with a draw. Charlie Cooke came unstuck against a dangerous junior on board 1 – ignore the rating; as so often with juniors it means very little. Captain Stephen Daines, no doubt exhausted after the long drive, also lost on board 3. But honour was salvaged by fine wins by Ergo Nobel, who has settled in brilliantly at Kingston, and Colin Lyle on boards 2 and 4. Medals will be struck for all four of the Kingston heroes who braved the journey.

Stephen Moss

John Foley (Surrey) v Colin Mackenzie (Middlesex)

Played at Cheam Parochial Hall on 2 March 2024 on board 2 in the SCCU under-2050 county match between Surrey and Middlesex

Surrey are doing well in the higher echelons of county chess. Its Open team qualified top of the Southern Counties league stage and its under-2050 team also qualified for the national finals by beating Middlesex in this crucial decider. Surrey needed to beat Middlesex to be sure of going through alongside Essex. Graham Alcock, the team manager, brought out his strongest team of the season so far, fortified by six juniors who performed admirably.

Middlesex’s Steven Coles (right) v Surrey’s Sebastian Galer on board 1

For each of the last three years I have played Colin McKenzie in this match. Our last game was rather short. This game was to be rather longer.