Kingston C v Surbiton D, Thames Valley League division X match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 24 March 2025

Kingston fielded an all-junior team in the final TVX match of the season and were rewarded with a 2-2 draw against a more experienced Surbiton team. Anqi Yang beat Harry Roberts on board 2; Zhixing Bai fought hard before succumbing to Surbiton captain Phil Goodings on board 1; and the Chmiest twins, Piotr and Robert, made encouraging debuts on boards 3 and 4, Piotr beating Surbiton junior Dominic Tang on 3 and Robert losing to the wily Kim Cross on 4.

Well done to the team. Thanks to Ed Mospan for captaining on the night, while regular skipper Jon Eckert was with the second team in Guildford. Ed also organised half a dozen internal rated games, which ran alongside the match (see photograph of playing room above showing both match and rated games). Thanks of course to Jon for steering his team through the season, helping Kingston’s newer players get experience of classical controls and the rigours of playing league matches.

We ended the TVX season in mid-table (see below), with four wins, three losses and a draw. This is a training division and what matters is the chance to compete, but it is also good that our young and relatively inexperienced players demonstrated they can win matches. It bodes well for the seasons ahead as the new generation get match-fit.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain