Semi Final Surrey Alexander Cup, Coulsdon v Kingston board 10, played at Coulsdon (84-90 Chipstead Valley Road) on 9th February 2026
Image: Coulsdon Chess Club
Kingston Chess Club has been riding the crest of a wave. We won the Alexander Cup, Surrey’s premier team knockout competition, for the last four seasons, equalling the longest sequence ever achieved by any club. Now the imperative is to supersede that record and become the first club to win five in a row.
We faced Coulsdon in the semi-final. This was a repeat the 2022 semi-final where I sensibly acted as non-playing captain. This time I performed three roles: chauffeur, team captain and player. I do not recommend this level of commitment because it multiplies the stress levels. At least I was only driving one passenger through dark, rainy Surrey in the rush hour. Club captain Stephen Moss had taken on the task of organising team logistics. Stephen’s role was to be a driver, provide moral support and be the relaxed if excitable match commentator on the club’s WhatsApp feed. He announced he would never have the guts to play in such an important match – what if he messed up in the final critical game? In a twist of fate, Stephen nevertheless was obliged to join the team when one of our top players was caught somewhere between Croydon and Hades on the railway network. So my own misgivings about taking on multiple roles must pale compared to what Stephen must have felt as described in his match report.
Club chair Peter Andrews invited me to publish this game reflecting that not all rook endings are the same. I have something of a reputation for my endgame technique – sometimes managing to squeeze out an advantage or avoid a loss. No doubt this is in comparison to my narrow opening repertoire and my preference of avoiding tactical mêlées in the middle game. I was white against Nick Edwards who had been in good form lately having drawn with Jasper Tambini the previous week and having won his previous three games against Peter Lee, (the former British champion), Paul Dupré (the Surrey ratings officer who beat Chris Briscoe a few weeks ago) and the rising junior Ashwin Gopikrishna. I didn’t know about this run until afterwards so it didn’t affect my choice of opening. After my customary London System opening, we reached a level endgame which is when it got interesting. I was determined to play a strategic no-risk rook endgame.
Coulsdon v Kingston, Alexander Cup semi-final played at Coulsdon Chess Club, Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon on 9 February 2026
The build-up to the Alexander Cup semi-final away to Coulsdon was not propitious for Kingston. Two players reported sick, though one managed to suppress his ailments for an evening and play. Young Zain Patel was also sick, but his illness worked to our advantage. He was too ill to fulfil a singing engagement, so was able to replace the player who really was too ill to make it to Coulsdon. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
A further complication was that we were playing Guildford 2 at home in Surrey division 2 on the same night. We needed strong players for that match as well. Fighting on two fronts is not easy. But the final blow came at 7.33pm, just as the match at Coulsdon was getting under way. The news was relayed via the club WhatsApp group that our 2200-plus board 4 was having a desperate journey south to Coulsdon and would not make it before the half-hour default time. There was only one reserve – a rather feeble player rated 1750. Yes, me. I would do my best, but outrated by 300 points we were almost certainly 1-0 down before we even started.
On board 7, Julian Way and Ian Calvert agreed a quick draw – a reasonable start as Julian had Black against the supersolid Calvert. David Rowson drew on board 8, as did Peter Lalić against the dangerous Ian Snape on board 2. I then went down to my expected defeat – thoroughly deserved as I played a singularly dull game and was out-techniqued by Coulsdon captain Mark Smith. That put Coulsdon 2-5-1.5 up and Kingston’s nerves were jangling.
Peter Hasson calmed those nerves to some degree with a smooth win on board 6 against Amit Kulkarni, whom he had beaten in the corresponding league match at Coulsdon the previous Monday – a useful dress rehearsal. That tied the score at 2.5-2.5 and it quickly became 3-3 when Zain Patel, who had been substantially worse in the opening, secured an important draw against fast-rising junior Rupert Marsden with Black on board 5. If we had lost that game, as had once seemed likely, it really would have been squeaky-bum time. Well played Zain! Did this match really hang on the dodgy state of your vocal cords?
The feeling was that Will Taylor, with Black on board 9, had winning chances against Vedant Papneja. But time was starting to press and Will, in his own words, “blundered into a perpetual on the increment”. That made it 3.5-3.5, and the match was still in the balance.
I could barely bring myself to watch, but Peter Lalić, who was spectating and could actually work out what was going on, was looking confident. He was right to be so – the rest of the match was one-way traffic. Peter Large (pictured above, right), with Black against Evaldas Baltrunas on board 3, converted a complicated endgame; David Maycock got the better of young superstar Supratit Banerjee for the second successive week; and Kingston captain John Foley played a masterful rook and pawn endgame to defeat the doughty Nick Edwards. Kingston had won 6.5-3.5 and we could at last rest easy.
Until the final at least, where a very strong Guildford team awaits us. This eagerly anticipated match is likely to take place in the spring and will have to be played (under Surrey League rules) at a neutral venue, with Ashtead the most likely choice as host as it is roughly equidistant between the two clubs. We thumped Guildford 8-2 in the final last year, but expect it to be closer on this occasion as Guildford have added to their resources and are building a very powerful team.
The incentive for Kingston to retain the trophy is that it would complete a run of five successive Alexander Cup titles – something no team has ever done in the 100-year history of the competition. We feel the weight of history on our shoulders, but will that burden prove too great? Book your tickets for the final now; it is going to be intense … and we hope historic.
Stephen Moss is Kingston club captain
* A fuller account of this match, with game analysis, will be published in early March when the website operatives return from their well-earned mid-season break.
Coulsdon 1 v Kingston 1, Surrey League division 1 match played at Coulsdon Chess Club, Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon on 2 February 2026
A trip to Coulsdon is never easy and this was no different. Kingston captain Peter Andrews breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Coulsdon teamsheet as they were missing a few strong players, but they still gave us plenty to think about on the night, and we were relieved to run out 6.5-1.5 winners.
Peter Hasson’s game – he had White on board 5 – was first to finish. Indeed it was over in less than an hour and a half, way ahead of any of the other seven games. Peter played a beautifully thematic game in a Symmetrical English and won in 27 moves. This was the denouement, though the game was really won thanks to a series of small positional pluses earlier in the game.
Inevitably when FMs David Maycock and Supratit Banerjee clash, their game always generates a good deal of interest. Supratit plays for Kingston in 4NCL and the Thames Valley League, but tonight he was on the opposing team. David had the advantage of White – it was a good toss for Peter Andrews to win – but he had the worst of the opening exchanges, and, as they entered the middle game, Supratit was pressing. Black has an advantage in the position below because of the pin on the knight on c4 and White’s doubled e-pawns. I was convinced Supratit would win, but David is a master complicator, time started to take its toll, and the game began to turn around.
Jasper Tambini, with White, and veteran Nick Edwards had a hard-fought draw on board 7. Jasper gave up a pawn for the initiative in the opening, but Nick found an imaginative way of returning it to neutralise White’s attack, forcing a draw. On board 4, John Hawksworth felt he was better out of the opening but, in his words, “spent too much time looking for something immediately decisive (which didn’t exist according to the engine).” He then blundered a pawn, but still felt he was better with the two bishops, forgoing a nailed-on draw in pursuit of a victory which eventually turned into a defeat in a time scramble.
David Rowson, bottom left, playing alongside Peter Hasson and John Hawksworth on the middle boards
There was better news on board 6, where David Rowson steadily outplayed his opponent with a pair of knights against a pair of bishops to secure a win. When the position below was reached, David has given up both his bishops for knights, judging correctly that White’s fractured pawn structure and the bishops’ restricted movement will favour him. Now he decides to press.
David summed up the game with characteristic modesty: “Nothing dramatic, and my opponent didn’t play very strongly, but I was pleased that I made some of the right choices (such as swapping bishop for knight and playing g5 – not a move I usually play lightly) and that I was able to show that my knights were better than his bishops.” Captain Andrews appreciated it too: “A nice example of a caged bishop, with nowhere to go from g3, and a game where there wasn’t a single moment of decision, rather incremental outplaying.”
Peter himself also won with Black on board 8. White has a small plus in the position below, but Black has an immediate threat which must be countered. Unfortunately for Peter’s opponent, he fails to see it and the small plus becomes a hefty minus.
On board 3, Peter Large had White against Ian Calvert, who is something of a draw specialist. A lengthy technical battle ensued in which Peter gradually established the upper hand.
Another intense technical battle was raging on board 2, where Peter Lalić was playing Coulsdon captain Mark Smith. Peter went for one of his speciality queenless middle games and thereafter shuffled with purpose, though White did have a fleeting chance in the position below.
That made it four wins for Peters and two for Davids in a very satisfying 6.5-1.5 victory which takes Kingston back to the top of Surrey League division 1. We now face another tough trip to Coulsdon this coming Monday (9 February) for the semi-final of the 10-board Alexander Cup. We will be hoping for a similar result as we target a historic five-timer in this hallowed competition. No other club has managed more than four successive wins in the Alexander Cup. To win five in a row really would be something to shout about.
Kingston 3 v Wallington, Surrey League division 4 match due to be played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 2 February 2026
Disappointingly, Wallington were unable to fulfil this Surrey division 4 fixture, so Kingston 3 claimed the match by default. Under the rules of the Surrey League, this means that Wallington lose on all boards, giving Kingston a 6-0 victory – a fillip in the team’s bid to win promotion. Kingston 3 are currently top of the division, but only narrowly on game points from Epsom 4. The battle is likely to go to the wire, with ambitious Epsom pressing hard.
Wallington had been unable to raise a team to come to Kingston for this match earlier in the season and Kingston 3 captain Edward Mospan had generously allowed a rearrangement of the fixture. But on this occasion it was felt that we should claim a win by default. We thank Wallington for giving us ample warning of the cancellation, which allowed the Kingston players due to take part in the match to be paired in the regular rated friendlies (pictured above) which are now a feature of club nights at the United Reformed Church in central Kingston, the club’s new home.
Epsom 2 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Epsom Christian Fellowship on 26 January 2026
It had been only a fortnight since our tightly fought home draw v Epsom 2, and less than two months since Kingston 1 were defeated by Epsom 1, with three of our side for this latest match and four of theirs also present on that occasion. But to plagiarise the comedian Eric Morecambe for elite chess, we may have been playing the same people, but not necessarily in the same order.
Epsom captain Marcus Gosling (pictured above, directing operations at the start of the match) used the full tolerance allowed by Surrey League rules to promote players in form, notably the fast-rising junior Lev Razhnou, who had added 100 points to his rating between early November and mid December. I had been one of his victims in that run, and had seen him grind down the Essex board 2 in a county U2050 match at the weekend in an endgame, usually a hallmark of class. So we reassured David Rowson, who was to face him, that if he got a result it would be one to treasure when Lev achieves stardom in a few years.
Martyn Jones on board 6 also drew a tough assignment, facing former British champion Peter Lee, while Stephen Moss, who had stepped in at a late stage for the unwell John Foley, was also outrated by his young opponent on board 7. We were clearly outrated on four boards, about evenly matched on two, and only had a significant advantage on board 3.
A challenging task was mitigated by winning the toss for the first time this season (in our 6th match), which gave us four Whites out of seven boards, and probably gave us the colours we wanted for the match-ups – three of our four outrated players had White, and in the middle order Rowson and I are just as likely to score with Black, while Jasper Tambini’s style may better suit White.
Julian Way played a sensible if unexciting game against James Allison on top board giving us an early draw on one of our “uphill” boards. But Martyn Jones succumbed on board 6, though as he put it there were “plenty of learnings” against such an experienced opponent. I was unable to see much of the rest of the match because of the excitement in my own game on board 4 versus Gosling. Those of my team-mates who saw the game will probably have counted it as a win from early on, but given my previous game with Marcus it didn’t feel that way.
I emerged from my trance over this game to find that on board 3 Jasper Tambini had squashed Chris Wright in a game which carried a useful lesson about engine analysis.
On board 2, David Rowson’s game with Black against Lev Razhnou did not quite live up to its billing. There were some tactical slips on both sides, starting with David losing a pawn but taking the initiative in the middle game, and culminating in an ending in which his pawn advantage with a goodish bishop v knight and connected passed pawns on the kingside were winning, one might have thought easily. But even in endgames chess can be a difficult and cruel game. With both players in acute time trouble, White had one chance to turn the tables.
Thankfully I didn’t see that, or my nerves might not have been fit to drive home. As it was, I came round from my own game to find that we were now 3.5-1.5 ahead, with boards 5 and 7 still going. A draw from one of them would be sufficient to win the match.
On board 7, Stephen Moss had a fighting game with another rising Epsom junior, Maya Keen, in which he dodged several bullets.
Just as Stephen was congratulated by his team-mates for getting us over the line, Homayoon Froogh also delivered a draw. This was a fine result against Robin Haldane, a scourge of Kingston this season having already beaten Peter Hasson in the first-team match in December and Jasper Tambini in the second- team match in early January. Homayoon was never worse, and at the time it felt like a solid and accurate performance. So it was frustrating for him to show his effort to Mr Stockfish next day and find that he had missed an immediate win.
So we had won 4.5-2.5 despite being outrated, a great team effort celebrated with the doughnuts generously brought by Peter Lalic, who came to watch the end of the match. Almost all the games were hard and long, and several of them contained missed one-move opportunities to change the course of history. Which goes to show that chess is hard for humans, but that, along with humour between the teams and doughnuts, is what makes the game worth playing.
Peter Andrews is Kingston captain in Surrey division 2
