The opening blitz tournament of the summer was a cracker, with Peter Large, Vladimir Li and Peter Lalić tie-ing on 4/5

They say quality will out, and that was certainly the case at the first Kingston Blitz tournament of the summer at the Willoughby Arms. The three titled players in the field – FM Vladimir Li, CM Peter Lalić and IM Peter Large (pictured above, left to right) – could in the end not be separated, each finishing on 4.5.

The three took games off each other: Vladimir beat Peter Large in an exciting duel; Peter Lalić was at his mesmerising best in overcoming Vladimir; and in the final round Peter Large toppled his namesake, who was leading the tournament at that point, with a beautifully played game (complete with neat exchange sac) as Black.

Expertly organised by Kingston’s new secretary, David Bickerstaff, the event included a host of good performances from lesser-ranked players: Dominic Fogg’s 3/5 demonstrated his great promise; Robin Kerremans. following on from his fine performance at the London Clubs Championship the previous week, again showed that he is ludicrously underrated; and new member Ye Kwaw and welcome returner Aziz Sanni also performed well.

Further down the list Mark Sheridan, Homayoom Froogh (another newbie), Alicia Mason (back from the US) and Jaden Mistry also had their moments, and it was great to see some of the club’s new juniors getting involved against expert players. An excellent event played in the garden of the Willoughby in the warmest weather of the summer so far. Well played everyone and thanks to David for organising so brilliantly. The second summer Blitz is scheduled for Monday 15 July.

Final standings – top 7

Peter Large 4/5
Vladimir Li 4/5
Peter Lalić 4/5
Dominic Fogg 3/5
Robin Kerremans 3/5
Aziz Sannie 3/5