Richmond C v Kingston B, Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Adelaide, Teddington on 6 May 2025

This was a somewhat low-key way to ensure Kingston B won Thames Valley division 2, but satisfying nonetheless. Not easy either. Richmond C may be bottom of the table and certain to be relegated, but they put up a stern fight and there were some excellent games.

Adam Nakar and Richmond captain Michael Robinson-Chui had a hard-fought draw on board 5 which both clearly enjoyed; Jon Eckert, continuing his rich run of form, won a fine attacking game with Black against the resilient Peter Kasprowicz on board 2, and Genc Tasbasi won emphatically against Andreas Maroulis on board 6, delivering mate with the white king stranded in the middle of the board and assailed on all sides.

The sole reverse came on board 3, where Alicia Mason lost a thriller to Tom Lloyd, who on this performance looked significantly underrated. Lloyd directed his heavy artillery in the form of queen and both rooks at the white king and eventually the white fortress cracked, with the king pursued across the board at the expense of significant material loss. Alicia cleverly went in search of a perpetual, but eventually the checks ran out and Richmond had got a point back.

In the end , though, it didn’t matter because wins for Kingston on boards 1 and 4 put the result beyond any doubt. On 4, Seth Warren, who has had an encouraging start to his Kingston career, won well with Black against Barry Sutton. White’s decision to castle queenside in a Queen’s Gambit Declined always looked a little suspect, and so it proved, with Seth going several pawns up and smoothly converting a rook and minor piece endgame.

That left Peter Andrews up against the dependable Victor Bluett on board 1. In the position below, White already has an edge, but Peter felt the sequence that followed made it close to terminal for Black. Peter himself provides the commentary.

Peter’s win completed a 4.5-1.5 victory for Kingston B and secured the Thames Valley division 2 title with three matches to spare (see table below). The team has won 10 of its matches and drawn the other. A formidable performance which very nearly matches the title-winning A team’s record of 11/11. Quite a season.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Hounslow B v Kingston B, Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Royal British Legion, Hounslow on 28 April 2025

This was not a match I expected Kingston B to win. We were away, outrated, and perhaps distracted by the fact we had two big finals the following evening. But in reality the team stepped up brilliantly and won 4-2 to keep us on top of the Thames Valley division 2 table.

I had a dull draw on board 4 against capable junior Vibhush Pusapadi; Homayoon Froogh had a rather more exciting and higher-class draw with Sesh Vaddadi on board 2; Peter Andrews had what he described as a “stress-free” win in a rook and pawn endgame against the very solid Mateusz Dydak on board 1; David Shalom outmanoeuvred Hounslow veteran Leon Fincham to register an important win on board 5; and Genc Tasbasi lost on time (in a lost position) against the wily Frank Zurstiege on board 6.

Game of the night was Jon Eckert (White) against Hounslow captain David White (Black) on board 3. John played the Grand Prix Attack against David’s Sicilian, leading to this position after 13 moves:

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

CSC/KIngston’s first team record a remarkable victory over the formidable Sharks 1 and the second team win both their matches to give themselves a shot at promotion on a riveting fourth weekend at 4NCL

In the late afternoon on Saturday 5 April, something remarkable happened: CSC/Kingston 1, new to division 1 this season and among the favourites to be relegated, beat Sharks 1, who for the past few seasons have been vying to win the 4NCL title. It was a remarkable victory and a mighty tribute to captain Kate Cooke and her vibrant and youthful team (members of which are seen in the photograph above playing late-night blitz after their triumph). This is the scorecard of the success:

Vlad Larkin and Ulysse Bottazzi overcame significant rating disadvantages to draw on the top two boards; David Maycock (who spurned a draw offer) and Zain Patel lost with Black on boards 4 and 8; but we were carried over the line by wins from Roland Bezuidenhout (against grandmaster Daniel Fernandez!), Supratit Banerjee, Peter Finn and German WFM Luisa Bashylina, who enjoyed a fantastic debut weekend for the team winning both her games. This weekend’s games have not yet been posted on the 4NCL website, but we will catch up with them when they are.

On the following day, the first team lost 5-3 (nothing to do with the late-night blitz, honestly) to a strong Chessable White Rose 1 team (see scorecard below), but even that was a close-run thing. Vlad Larkin felt he had a winning chance against top GM Gawain Jones, but it came close to the first time control when he had only seconds to calculate. Peter Finn also had excellent drawing chances against Harry Li, but blundered in the endgame.

There was, however, no crying over opportunities lost. Overall, this was a great weekend which gives CSC/Kingston 1 a good chance of surviving in the division 1 sharkpool. The final weekend, in Daventry on 3/4/5 May, promises to be fascinating one, with make-or-break matches against Cheddleton, Barbican and Sharks 2.

The weekend after CSC/Kingston 1’s great achievement, it was CSC/Kingston 2’s turn to trek to Peterborough for rounds 7 and 8 of division 3 (knights). The team won convincingly by 4.5-1.5 against Celtic Tigers 2 on Saturday (see scorecard below), but had a scare against Sussex Martlets 2 on Sunday, coming back from 2-1 down to win a nailbiter. Clive Frostick, who had been unwell coming into the weekend, heroically secured a crucial draw in the final game to finish to take the team to victory. Props also to Tom Ferrand and Chris Fegan for winning both their games over the weekend.

CSC/Kingston 2 now have a chance of winning promotion to division 2 on the concluding three-match weekend in Daventry on 3/4/5 May (when division 1 and division 3 knights will be played at the same venue, allowing the first and second teams to play alongside each other). The round 11 match against promotion rivals To Be Decided on the last day of the competition is likely to be decisive (as the name of our rivals, currently ahead of us in the table by a single game point, handily suggests).

CSC/Kingston 3, who head to Coventry for the final weekend on 3/4/5 May, also had a productive weekend, beating Ashfield 2 on Saturday before losing a hard-fought match to Apprentice Woodpushers on Sunday to leave them eighth in the table. Promotion is still possible, but they would have to win all three of their matches on the final weekend and others results would also have to go their way.

Here are the tables as they currently stand for the divisions in which the three CSC/Kingston teams play:

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 2 v Surbiton 1, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 7 April 2025

Surbiton 1 brought a surprisingly weak team to the Willoughby for this Surrey division 2 match against Kingston 2, and were duly despatched 6-1. Both teams are safe in this division, so perhaps their attention was elsewhere. They defaulted on board 3 and had a very young junior on board 7 who did not last long against Homayoon Froogh, so were 2-0 down very early on and never thereafter looked like mounting a challenge.

Will Taylor, with Black, and Surbiton captain David Scott had a hard-fought draw on board 1, and Surbiton’s Alexey Markov secured an excellent draw with Black against Alan Scrimgour on board 4. “I made a couple of inaccurate moves early on in the c3 Sicilian that I have been playing for decades,” Alan said afterwards. “This allowed my opponent to initiate a series of exchanges leaving the position completely level.”

That was as good as it got for Surbiton. John Foley (pictured above, head in hands) showed his usual masterly control in beating Graham Alcock, securing a small advantage in the middlegame and remorselessly hammering it home in the endgame, and Alicia Mason got the better of Paul McCauley’s Sicilian on board 6. Paul had a slight edge in the opening, but made an error in the middle game that cost him a bishop and, hard though he tried, could never claw his way back, with Alicia forcing resignation with a tactic that won more material

Peter Andrews, whose board 3 opponent defaulted, hailed John Bussmann’s board 5 win over John Rennocks as the game of the match, and we have chosen to analyse his fine victory, which contains a very nice sacrificial idea, in depth in the Games section.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 4 v Chessington 2, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 7 April 2025

Kingston 4 concluded their Surrey division 5 campaign with an emphatic 5-1 win over bottom-of-the-table Chessington 2 to end with four wins and three losses during the season. That meant Ed Mospan’s team finished in a comfortable mid-table position.

Adam Nakar continued his fine season with a victory over the very capable Murugan Kanagasapay, and David Bickerstaff and Sean Tay also extended their excellent winning runs. Genc Tasbasi drew a game he felt he should have won – he was bishop and pawn to the good, but it was an h-pawn and the bishop was the wrong colour for the queening square, so his opponent was able to hold out.

“Lesson learned” said Genc, who recently returned to competitive chess, after the game. Nette Robinson also drew on board 5, and Chessington defaulted board 6. Well done to Ed and his team on both this victory and an excellent season.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 3 v Guildford 4, Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 31 March 2025

This was an immensely impressive win by Kingston 3 against a very experienced Guildford team. The hero of the hour was Kingston newbie Seth Warren, who defeated Guildford veteran Trevor Jones in a ding-dong game (pictured above, Seth Warren on right) that saw each player carefully watching results on other boards to see if they should push for a win. In the end Trevor overpressed and paid the penalty, losing on time.

Elsewhere, Jon Eckert had an excellent win on board 1 against Richard Duncalfe; Jaden Mistry, who is on a terrific run, beat Mike Gunn, another Guildford stalwart; and Alan Charevicius got a crucial half-point in his first ever league game for Kingston.

Adam Nakar’s recent winning streak came to an end against Anthony Garrood, but he wasn’t too downhearted, attributing the loss to attacking over-exuberance. Also, the defeat came too late to affect his April ECF rating, which has gone above 1700. Paul Seymour lost to Peter Horlock – yet another Guildford lifer – making the final score 3.5-2.5 to Kingston. A memorable win for Ed Mospan’s team.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Guildford 2 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Guildford Institute, Guildford on 24 March 2025

Perhaps this was a match too far for Kingston 2 in the Surrey League. We were safe from relegation in division 2, had little but pride to play for and were up against a strong team still vying with Wimbledon 1 for promotion to the top flight. We were outrated but, in truth, we should have done better than losing 5-2. We did well to draw on boards 1 to 3, and on 7, but were outgunned in the middle order.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Zubair Froogh, who is a doctor, had been working nights. He was knackered frankly, hallucinated in an opening line he knew well, and dropped a piece with Black on board 5 against Guildford captain Malcolm Twigger-Ross. He fought on, playing quickly and seeking counterplay, but in vain. One of those nights.

Jon Eckert fought valiantly with White against Anton Barysenka, sac-ing a pawn for an attack. But Black neutralised the assault and that extra pawn then became critical in a rook and pawn endgame, especially once the rooks had come off, with Black expertly converting. Not all rook and pawn endgames are drawn!

John Bussmann has had a terrific season, but this was not to be his night either and he was disappointed with his play with White against the youthful Sebastian Twisk, who is fast homing in on an ECF rating of 2000. John thought the game was lost in the opening when he played too passively against his opponent’s Slav Defence. He was forced to sac the exchange and reached this unpleasant position after 26 moves:

John battled on for another 30 moves, but to no avail. A joyless way to spend an evening, trying to conjure counterplay out of a position like this.

The disasters on boards 4 to 6 were offset by significant pluses elsewhere. On board 7, Homayoon Froogh, an excellent recent recruit to the club along with his son Zubair, drew with Black against the solid Ian Deswarte. The game was very enterprising on both sides, but once the queens and a pair of rooks had been exchanged, it all became very blocked and peace was declared in the position below after much shuffling of white rook and black knight and bishop.

Alan Scrimgour also drew with Black on board 3 against Guildford veteran Julian Shepley, and on board 2 Julian Way, with the white pieces, halved with the dangerous Matthew Dishman, agreeing a draw in the level endgame shown below.

The main excitement was on board 1, where Peter Andrews had Black against the up-and-coming Luke Nelson. Peter has kindly supplied some thoughts on the game, starting with what he considered a fascinating position on move 29.

So a disappointing result despite four good draws, but the positives have certainly outweighed the negatives in Surrey division 2 this season. We have a tough match left – against Surbiton 1 in a couple of weeks – but for once we can enjoy it and not worry about the spectre of relegation, which has hung over us for the past three seasons. This year, despite this blip at Guildford, we have proved we can hold our own in Surrey division 2. Long may that continue to be the case. The club needs a strong second team.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

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