Surrey League division 5 match played at the Willoughby Arms on 18 December 2023
Surbiton 3 came with a very strong team for this fixture and ran out comfortable winners by 4.5-1.5. But as ever there were many positives for Kingston and naturally we will dwell on those, while passing on congratulations to our neighbours on their victory.
On board 5 Jaden Mistry spurned not one but two draw offers from Surbiton captain David Morant before losing a rook endgame. Good to be bold and play for a win, though Jaden now accepts that it might have been sensible to accept the second offer. But, as GM Ben Finegold once told me, nobody gets to be a better chess player by taking a draw and forgoing the chance to play more chess.
On board 6 another Kingston junior Ethan Bogerd lost to Paul McCauley, who is surely underrated at 1430. Ethan played well in the opening against Paul’s Sicilian, but then hung his queen as he got overexcited about the possibility of launching a kingside attack. An unfortunate denouement.
Colin Lyle fought hard against Alexey Markov, even when he went the exchange down, but in the end Alexey had too much nous to let his advantage slip. Ed Mospan also lost on board 2 against David Cole, a very rarefied presence in the Minor Trophy, with a rating close to the 1790 cut-off for the division. It was a tough struggle and David was well behind on the clock, but with both sides hunting a checkmate the Surbiton player got their first.
I have, though, saved the best (from a Kingston perspective that is) till last: Jameel Jameel’s debut victory in a league match for the club, with his victim no less a player than distinguished Surbiton (and former Kingston) veteran Malcolm Groom. And what a fine game Jameel played, giving great hope of a rise up through the teams in the future. Malcolm made a key error in this position:
He should just play 13. Nxe5 here to retain a small plus, but his speculative 13. Nd4 (preparing f4?) immediately drops two pawns: 13. Nd4 Nxc4 14.Ne4 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Bxd4 16.Bxc4 Bxb2. Malcolm looked for counterplay, but Jameel resolutely closed all doors and in the position below, with another pawn about to fall, Malcolm resigned.
Not surprisingly, after a couple of losses when he said his play had been unnecessarily ambitious, Jameel was delighted, and said he realised coolness was the key in classical chess. “I think I’m getting the hang of this over-the-board thing,” he said “Typically I try to force through ‘beautiful moves’ impulsively – I can blame online chess for that – but tonight I was conscious of taking my time and playing less speculatively.” A great win for Jameel and a big step forward.
Stephen Moss
