South Norwood 1 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at West Thornton Community Centreon 16 January 2025
This was the board 1 game in a crucial Surrey division 2 match between South Norwood and Kingston. The loser of the match was likely to face the threat of relegation, so we were mightily relieved to emerge as 5.5-1.5 winners. This proved a fascinating game and was the last one to be concluded. Marcus made all the early running and put IM John Hawksworth, who recently returned to chess after a long absence, under severe pressure, both positionally and in terms of time. But John held his nerve, Marcus missed a tactical coup, and the game turned around, with John eventually running out the winner while playing on the 10-second increment.
South Norwood 1 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at West Thornton Community Centreon 16 January 2025
This was the proverbial six-pointer. Lose and we would be sucked into a relegation dogfight in ultra-competitive Surrey League division 2, where Kingston 2 face three first teams and Guildford’s strong second team. Win and we would at least have some breathing space, with our opponents on the night South Norwood facing the dreaded drop.
There was thus a good deal at stake as we set off on the longish journey south. I had chosen a strong team, with IM John Hawksworth facing the anticipated threat of the highly rated Marcus Osborne on board 1; the evergreens Peter Andrews, John Foley and Alan Scrimgour on 2, 3 and 4; Stephen Lovell and Jon Eckert on 5 and 6; and debutant Zubair Froogh on 7. This was Zubair’s first ever classical rated game – he had played a lot as a junior but very little over the past 15 years. On the strength of a few rapidplay games against him, I decided to blood him in this important match.
He was up against South Norwood stalwart Ken Chamberlain, and I was worried about his position early on after he had castled queenside. This was how the game looked after 20 moves, with White to play:
The next game to finish was South Norwood captain Simon Lea against Stephen Lovell on board 5. Stephen has played very little chess over the past 10 years, but he is a strong player and probably a bit better than his current estimated rating of 1885 suggests. Stephen, with Black, played a very exact technical game, went a pawn up early on and never really relented, allowing his opponent little counterplay and eventually winning a second pawn to force resignation.
Jon Eckert played a powerful attacking game with White against Ibrahim Abouchakra on board 6 and eventually won queen for rook to make the result of the game a formality. That made it 3-0 to Kingston and we could start to breathe more easily. Peter Andrews’ game against Paul Dupré on board 2 was complicated and John Hawksworth appeared to have the worst of the position and a big time disadvantage on board 1, but John Foley and Alan Scrimgour were doing well on boards 3 and 4, and a single point from those two games would be enough to win the match.
Alan was up against Ron Harris, who plays very aggressively and at lightning speed. Alan was ready for this, though, and with White played forcefully in the opening to establish an advantage in this position:
Alan’s win made it 4-0 and the match was in the bag, but there were still three fierce struggles under way on the top boards. John Foley, with Black, had turned down a draw offer from Oliver Weiss on board 3 and was pressing for a win. His chance to seal the deal came in the position below, but with time short the winning move can often prove elusive:
Peter Andrews and Paul Dupré were having a ding-dong struggle on board 2. Peter had a small plus in the early middlegame, but then things started to go badly wrong, as he explains.
That left just one game in progress – Marcus Osborne versus IM John Hawksworth on board 1 – and what a game it was. Baffling to onlookers and at times possibly to the players as well. Marcus had blitzed out the opening moves, and at one point John was almost an hour behind on the look. To eventually win the game was little short of miraculous. John has been out of chess for more than 30 years, and has been feeling his way back in over the past few months. To win here against a player of Marcus’s quality and resilience suggests he is well and truly back in the groove.
John has annotated his win for the Games section. The victory made the final score in the match 5.5-1.5, and we can now start to believe that we will survive in Surrey division 2 for another season. South Norwood would have to take a point off either Wimbledon 1 or Surbiton 1 away to consign us to bottom place, and that will not be easy against two very strong teams who could hold their own in Surrey division 1.
Stephen Moss, Kingston 2 captain in Surrey division 2
Kingston C v Hounslow C, Thames Valley League division X match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 13 January 2025
In the spirit of Thames Valley Div X, Kingston captain Jon Eckert chose a young and inexperienced team for this match, with three highly promising juniors on boards 1, 2 and 3 and Sean Tay holding the fort on 4. Sean won smoothly, while the juniors found it tough going against good-quality opposition. But the games were well contested and excellent training at a longish time control (65 minutes plus a 10-second increment) for Kingston’s rising talents. These are the players who in a few years’ time, as they rise up the ranks, will be carrying Kingston’s fortunes.
Kingston A v Wimbledon A, Thames Valley League division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 6 January 2025
A whitewash is rare in the very competitive Thames Valley division 1, but it happened here. Wimbledon brought a depleted side shorn of their five strongest players to Fortress Willoughby and were duly trounced 6-0. They fought hard, especially with the White pieces, but the rating disparity was just too great.
Will Taylor on the Kingston Whatsapp group noted at the beginning of the match, when I cautioned against the counting of chickens, that our board 6 was stronger than Wimbledon’s board 1. He said he would “buy a chicken for every club member if we lost”. He never looked in danger of having to cough up. This, he said as the Kingston score mounted up, was one dangerous boast which would not be coming home to roost.
Captain David Rowson, on board 6, claimed Kingston’s first win when Stephen Carpenter, playing Black, blundered a piece. “The game finished rather bathetically,” David explained later, “when my opponent, having made better decisions at many points of the game than me, overlooked that he needed to keep his queen protecting his knight. He took this catastrophe very well, very sportingly. I thought it was a rather unusual game in that White rarely castles queenside in the Italian Game, but by that point castling kingside looked suicidal, as I’d misplayed things (wasting time with my knights) and was very much on the defensive. Before the final mistake the position is probably roughly level.”
Peter Lalić’s board 2 win was typically Lalićian: queens off on move 3, win an early pawn, squeeze. Owen Phillips, with Black, tried to create counterplay, but Peter allowed nothing at all. When he wants to play in this style, he is a technical wizard and exerts complete control. Owen resigned in the position below with his remaining pieces virtually immobilised.
Tony Hughes and Luca Buanne fought out an inspired game on board 3. Luca countered Tony’s English Opening with some typically combative play – he is not afraid of double-edged games, as the following position after White’s 20th move shows. Visually this looks tricky for White: Black’s queen appears compromised and White’s kingside attack must surely come to something. But the engine favours Black here. Chess really is calculation, calculation, calculation. Tony throws the kitchen sink at Luca, but he survives and goes on to consolidate his material advantage.
A tremendous game in which both Luca and Tony played with great verve. The last three results came in a cluster. On board 5, Peter Andrews had Black against Gordon Rennie. Peter identified this as the key part of the struggle:
On board 4 Peter Hasson was up against former Wimbledon team-mate Sean Ingle. Peter got an advantage out of the opening and was applying steady pressure when Sean blundered away a piece, resulting in the second sudden denouement of the evening.
Peter Large – two-thirds of the Kingston team were called Peter – completed the 6-0 win with a well-controlled display against Neil Cannon, who held his own until deep into the game. The position below is level, but then matters start to go awry for White.
The win means we have won all three of our opening games in the Thames Valley League and are now level with pacesetters Ealing but with two games in hand. Early days – we have 12 matches in all, home and away against six strong A teams – but the start to our defence of the Thames Valley title could not have gone better. Fingers crossed the run continues when we meet mighty Hammersmith, who are in joint third place with Richmond, at home on Monday 27 January. That will be a pivotal encounter.
Stop blundering, get better at time management, study openings, study endgames, study anything, be a different sort of player, be a different sort of person, win a world championship, find God … Kingston members outline what they hope to achieve this year. Illustration by Andrew Brook
David Rowson: Like a few other veteran Kingston members I’ve been playing chess for almost as many years as there are squares on the board, so maybe it’s a bit late to start learning some “proper” openings, but it’s finally hit me that that’s what I need to do. Maybe then, instead of struggling in the middle game to repair the damage my unchallenging openings have done, I might actually sometimes get a good position from the opening. Teaching chess recently has also made me more interested in the endgame, so I’d like to investigate this much more too.
David Rowson: It’s finally hit me that I need to learning some ‘proper’ openings. Photograph: John Saunders
Peter Hasson: My play is too peacefully inclined, so I need to find a way to cut down the number of draws. My resolutions are:
1. Turn down the first draw offer made by my opponent in any game.
2. Achieve a higher average number of moves per game than Peter Lalić over the course of 2025. My repertoire with White is already sufficiently dull to give myself a decent shot at this, but this second resolution will only be possible if I stop my quick Pirc defeats with Black, so my final resolutions are:
3. Acquire a (semi?) solid opening for Black against e4.
4. To play a bit quicker earlier in the game rather than spending ages selecting between moves that have imperceptible differences in outcome.
Hopefully all this will increase my strength, if not my rating!
Alan Scrimgour:
1. To stop making one-move blunders. (Following year – two move blunders.)
2. To research a completely new opening repertoire as White, starting with 1. d4. (Following year – new repertoire as Black.)
Alicia Mason: Stick to my training plan of half an hour on chess exercises, one 15+10 rapid game and analysis of said game every day, and keep trusting in myself and the work I’m putting into my chess.
Alicia Mason: I intend to keep trusting in myself and the work I’m putting into my chess. Photograph: Stephen Moss
Ian Mason: I satisfied at least one of my resolutions from last year, which was actually to read a chess book. I read Ben Johnson’s Perpetual Chess Improvement, which I would highly recommend. For 2025:
2. Much of my chess time is spent playing correspondence chess online. On ICCF, I have now reached a record rating for me of 2438 and am a correspondence chess master. I would like to reach a 2450 rating next year.
3. Once I return to the UK permanently (current plan is end of November 2025), to play more OTB games, Alicia [Ian’s daughter – see above] and I have in mind playing in some international tournaments, eg Reykjavik Open and Wijk aan Zee.
Michael Healey: Having spent much more time studying Japanese than playing chess this season, I had my best run of results for a long time (7/8). Feeling incredibly stupid learning new things may have helped the tired old neurons fire a bit. For the New Year I intend to keep up progress with my gesticulating infant-level language skills, in the faint hope of further chess gains.
Michael Healey on a recent trip to Japan: He believes learning the language may be boosting his chess skills
Edward Mospan: Am I allowed eight resolutions for 2025? I hope so, because here they are:
1. Have a target ECF rating; this year the target is 1650.
2. To think longer over my chess moves before playing them.
3. Not be too bothered about time trouble. Best not get into time trouble, but time management will improve the more games I play.
4. I think the secret to improving is to play more OTB rated games over the year; the more games, the more chance of improving.
5. Think about reaching the endgame from move five and not be too bothered about delivering checkmate in the first 20 moves. It’s all about the long play.
6. Always play openings that make me happy. Stay away from deep theory. That’s for 2500+ players.
7. Meet more varied and interesting chess opponents/players. This is the best part of playing the game.
8. Don’t cry in my soup when a losing streak hits. There is always the next game. Never give up, even when having lost nearly 100 rating points, as happened this year. With a little hard work and study, you will bounce back. I am now on a roll, and I feel my new target ECF rating of 1650 is reachable.
Will Taylor: I aim to become “ambidextrous” – able to play both 1. e4 and 1. d4 confidently.
Graeme Buckley: I resolve to stop making excuses when I lose. My losses are all my own fault somewhere along the line. And to congratulate the opponent. They simply played the better game.
Graeme Buckley: I will stop making excuses when I lose. Losses are all my own fault. Photograph: John Saunders
David Maycock: I have two New Year resolutions:
1. Continue working on calculation with Mark Dvoretsky‘s books.
2. Learn tons of theory.
Jaden Mistry, 13: I achieved a few of my resolutions that were set for 2024. While my rating in the classical format did not improve much, I did improve my endgames and that helped me to win some close games or draw games where I was down on material. In addition, my time management in various game formats also improved, and my classical games usually lasted longer compared to earlier seasons. For 2025, my main resolution is to reach a Fide rating of 2000 in standard format. It will be challenging as I don’t get to play many Fide-rated tournaments, especially in the classical format.
Malcolm Mistry, 47: 2024 ended up being an extremely busy year at work. Despite my best efforts, it left me with little time to become familiar with the anatomy of chess algorithms. For 2025, I would like to stick to last year’s resolutions – to read up on the progress made by artificial intelligence in modern chess and understand chess algorithms such as AlphaZero – but also examine the correlation between number of GMs by country and the corresponding economic development (GDP or some other indicator) historically.
Aziz Sannie: Here are my chessolutions for the New Year. My first goal will sound a little tame, but it will be a big deal for me as my memory is pretty shocking by most (chess) standards. I have ADHD and aphantasia, and have generally accepted that memory and calculation are not my strong suits. However, in 2025 I’m going to really commit to seeing how far I can level up these weaknesses.
2. Linked to the first, develop the skill/ability to reliably recall my own games after I’ve played them.
3. Increase my rating to 1750 by setting aside time for chess study each week, whereby I will be sharpening up my Catalan and English, diving into the deep waters of the Ruy Lopez and strengthening my limited acquaintance with the Caro-Kann.
4. Last one will be to compete in a chess boxing bout – or the less bloody option, compete on the BBC’s new show, Chess Masters.
Aziz Sannie: I have ADHD and aphantasia, but in 2025 I’m going to seeing how far I can level up these weaknesses
Paul Seymour: I have two main resolutions:
1. To play more serious long-play games. I didn’t even make an average of a single game per month in 2024. Instead, I seem to have spent far too much time on bullet chess online, despite the fact that I play poorly, even by my standards.
2. To start playing a new opening in serious games. I have never been in a hurry to study or try out new openings, but now that I have retired it’s time to bite the bullet (no pun intended).
Jimmy Kerr: 2024 was my first season playing for the club and was full of instructive chess, including a very enjoyable experience playing in the Wernick Cup [a section of the Surrey Individual] in the summer. Unfortunately, work and life got in the way of my chess after that, so my 2025 resolution is a simple one: get back to playing regular chess. If time permits, I’d also like to spend time studying endgames.
Peter Large: In order of difficulty:
1. To get my published rating above 2400 at some point in the year.
2. To win a world title. This may seem unrealistic, but wait and see!
3. To play a game with the Trompowsky as White. This sounds easy, but I don’t play 1.d4, so I’m going to have to do a lot of work in case they play 1…d5. I’m planning to play it like Julian Hodgson did back in the day.
4. To win the prestigious John Hawson Trophy, Surrey’s premier tournament. This is probably a bridge too far. I am currently way behind the big boys (Groom, Alcock, Wickham, Foley).
Peter Large: I aim to win a world title. This may seem unrealistic, but wait and see! Photograph: John Saunders
John Hawksworth: My resolution is to try to win a competitive game, which would help build my confidence and so hopefully lead to more wins. Since returning to competitive play in September I have got some decent positions from the opening and early middle game, but have not calculated quickly and confidently enough at critical moments to convert them into wins. I don’t think there’s any magic solution to this other than to keep trying, and hopefully more success will come.
Robert Waller: As a non-playing member, my resolution is not to play any chess at all in 2025! But to continue to watch, including at as many away venues as I can get to.
Charlie Cooke: I will avoid all quickplay games, except the club championship [which Kingston plans to introduce in 2025 – a club resolution!], and I will stop playing the Petrov against weak opponents.
Peter Andrews: Last year I resolved not to miss backward diagonal moves, having had a couple of disasters in 2023 through doing so, most notably against Marcus Osborne. I can’t remember missing one of comparable scarring effect in 2024, though that is a high bar. Looking ahead I had a lot of fun taking more risk than usual in my last two games – the pawn sacrifices v Richmond and the doubled pawns and exposed king against Ashtead. Perhaps taking risks forces me to play better, so I should resolve to do that. But there’s no point being silly about it.
Peter Andrews: Perhaps taking risks forces me to play better, so I’ll resolve to do that. Photograph: John Saunders
Rob Taylor: My resolutions fall into four categories:
1. Puzzles: I recently started doing puzzles, from not having done any ever, to doing them every day. After three weeks my blitz rating on Lichess improved by 70 points. After four weeks it was over 100 points better. Resolution: keep doing puzzles on a daily basis.
2. Opening training: I have recently resurrected learning an opening repertoire. All thanks to Kingston club secretary David Bickerstaff taking me apart in the opening of a game, with something I hadn’t seen before and had no idea how to deal with. Resolution: keep on top of opening training.
3. Rapid chess: I used to play rapid chess on Lichess, 15+10. Then I saw an article say play blitz 5+3, to get more games in and therefore have more practice. I swapped over and am now not so bad at 5+3 online, having been dreadful when I started. However, I realise that I never really analyse anything in depth; I don’t have the time! Now I have started playing a few rapid games again, I notice my opponent in 15+10 has about eight minutes left on the clock, and I have 16! So I feel I don’t switch out of blitz mode very well. Resolution: play at least seven games of rapid a week.
4. Kingston third/fourth team: I would like to get good enough to be able to play for the team above Div X. Hopefully the other resolutions above will help with that. I also thought I should have a resolution saying I will achieve a rating of X. But then I thought if I put in this effort I think it is inevitable that I get there, and if I don’t then I was being unrealistic and shouldn’t beat myself up about it.
Ameet Ghasi: My ambition for 2025 is to quit the game one less time than deciding to return to it. The reality is I am far more emotionally tied to the result of games than I should be, and no doubt during the course of 2025 there will be some good moments and some setbacks. Hopefully, I can continue to learn to understand that this is a process, and most importantly still be playing the game by the end of the year, with a perspective that there are very few boundaries or goals that cannot be achieved in future.
Ameet Ghasi: My ambition is to quit the game one less time than deciding to return. Photograph: John Saunders
Mark Sheridan: My chess resolution for 2025 is stay positive and focused throughout my games, manage my time better (especially in the later stages), and BRING A PEN to matches!
Jasper Tambini: I have three resolutions:
1. Improve my mental health as this has been impacting my chess and ability to concentrate. I think my ability will be much greater when I can focus more.
2. Vary my openings to avoid people being able to prepare against me.
3. Play more to re-familiarise myself with key patterns and tactics.
John Foley: Last year I felt that four of my games were worthy of publication on the website, the same as in 2023: against Roger de Coverley in the 4NCL (February); Gordon Rennie in the Surrey League (February); Colin McKenzie of Middlesex in a county match (March); and Salim Kriman of Essex in a county match (December). I have played 26 games in the past 12 months, compared with 34 in the same period last year. I am playing less chess because I run the Kingston Chess Academy on Mondays and am unavailable for away games. Furthermore, the club has recruited several strong new players, which means that I am not required quite as much.
As club president, I need to take a broader view than focusing on my own chess prowess, especially regarding chess outreach activities: children, community and celebration. My focus is on developing the junior wing of the club. The academy is less than a year old, meets in Tiffin Boys School on Mondays at 5pm and has a core of around 10 children who enjoy meeting and playing regularly. In addition, we have juniors who are ready to play for the club. The academy is in start-up mode and the intention is to be able to offer instruction and practice to all levels of juniors in due course.
John Foley, captain of Kingston’s triumphant Alexander Cup team, which completed a hat-trick of titles in 2024
Aymeric Housez: In 2025 I intend to:
1. Apply an anti-blunder checklist before every move – to fight against my tunnel vision.
2. Do five puzzles a day.
3. Learn to mate with bishop and knight.
Nick Powell: Having had a long history of unresolved resolutions I’m going to keep it simple for 2025 and try to get my first chess rating.
Stephen Moss: I finally gave up the wretched Scandinavian in 2024 and will never play it again. I have embraced the Sicilian Dragon, and 2025 will be the year the Dragon roars. I hope so anyway. At the moment, it mainly seems to lead to me being smashed up on the kingside by a posse of advancing g- and h-pawns, backed up by dark-squared bishop, queen and rook. I am not playing it with sufficient dynamism and need to read Gawain Jones’s books on the subject, but I do not intend to give it up. I plan to play double-edged openings come what may.
Generally, I will try to play a bit more in 2025. Most of my time is devoted to club admin, leaving very little time to play myself (thank God, chorus my clubmates). I will return to playing some tournaments in resort towns – much nicer, I feel, that evening chess on wet evenings in London suburbs. A chance to get properly absorbed in a game – and indeed a tournament. I am also now old enough to play in seniors-only sections, which is very attractive. Anything to avoid 10-year-old calculation monsters who beat you without using any of their time and look throughout as if no other result is conceivable.
Akintola Ejiwunmi: My resolution is to focus on chess openings and study opening books.
David Shalom: My resolution is to study some endgames.
Ye Kyaw: While trying to relax one evening watching a recap of Ding vs Gukesh, desperately looking for some inspiration after three successive losses in OTB chess, I received an email from the Kingston club captain demanding my New Year Chess resolutions. Helpfully, the captain provided some hints: “What sort of player do you intend to become?” (Definitely not the present sort!) After uncountable numbers of previous failed/forgotten New Year resolutions, I was initially reluctant to produce any new ones. But the email was very persuasive, so here goes:
1. To solve 12 chess puzzles a day.
2. To do more calculation exercises.
3. Not to buy any more chess books. (I will delete this one as the captain told us to be truthful.)
Peter Lalić: I will try to be a good Christian. I need God.
Peter Lalić: I will try to be a good Christian. I need God. Photograph: John Saunders
Surbiton 1 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at Fircroft, Surbiton on 18 December 2024
Hubris is the word which springs to mind about this match. Excessive pride, dangerous overconfidence, foolish complacency. When I saw the Surbiton team sheet, shorn of several first-team stars, I thought we were home and hosed, done and dusted, sure to win. I would have estimated the likely margin at about 5-2. I was utterly, completely, ludicrously wrong.
At one stage – at around 10.20pm to be precise – we looked destined to lose the match. This would have been poetic justice for my earlier arrogant dismissal of our near neighbours’ chances. In Greek mythology, hubris is inevitably followed by nemesis, the act of retribution which pricks the balloon of overinflated pride. We were a whisker away from that ugly fate, but by winning an endgame in a time scramble in a technically drawn position Stephen Lovell, a strong but very occasional player, defied the gods and έσωσε το μπέικον μας, which is apparently Greek for saved our bacon.
Even I, a notoriously bad reader of positions, knew quite early on that all was not going according to plan. David Rowson, who had been feeling unwell, had a tricky-looking position with Black on board 2 against dangerous veteran Altaf Chaudhry. Julian Way was also in a bind against Joseph Morrison, also dangerous but almost 50 years younger than Altaf, on board 3. Peter Andrews looked cramped against Graham Alcock on board 4, and Alan Scrimgour was the exchange down against David Cole on board 6.
On the upside, John Foley had a very promising position with White on board 5 against Mark Hogarth, and Stephen Lovell (aka the “Homeric hero of the tale”) was having the best of the game against Paul McCauley, whom he heavily outrated, on board 6. The board 1 game between Kingston’s Peter Hasson and Surbiton captain David Scott was largely impenetrable. And don’t take my inexpert word for it. Even Peter Lalić, at Surbiton as a spectator, couldn’t understand what was going on.
Alan Scrimgour, with Black on board 6 against the doughty David Cole, is keen for us to skate over his game. He was certainly not anxious to share the score afterwards. “I obtained a roughly level position as Black,” he said later, “before making a simple one-move blunder that lost the exchange. Luckily my opponent, short of time, incorrectly returned the exchange creating a drawn endgame.” On 1 January we will publish our much-loved New Year resolutions feature, in which club members declare their intentions for next year, and Alan has already announced his number one resolution: “To stop making one-move blunders!” This game hurt.
Peter Andrews, with Black against Graham Alcock on board 4, also drew. Peter had been surprised by what he considered a novelty in an Alapin Sicilian, and felt himself to be under a certain amount of pressure (though computer evaluations are more sanguine). As the position stabilised, Peter had a fleeting opportunity to get on top (see diagram below), but changing the mindset from “Can I hang on here?” to “Hello, isn’t that move potentially winning?” is not always easy. “As so often, I need to be braver,” said Peter ruefully afterwards, adding: “Of course if I had been braver more generally, I would probably play something other than chess.”
The third draw of the evening came on board 1. After a richly inventive short game, a draw was agreed after White’s 25th move in (25. Rae1) in the position below. The engine evaluation slightly favours Black because of White’s compromised pawn structure, but it is not really able to prove the alleged advantage.
There were problems brewing for Kingston on board 3. Julian Way had a huge time advantage, and young Joseph Morrison was already playing on the increment, but the latter had also launched a ferocious attack and, if he could avoid losing on time, was potentially moving in for the kill. Julian’s pieces became becalmed on the first rank and Joseph had all the play. Playing on the increment meant he missed several killer blows as Julian attempted to wriggle free, but a series of pragmatic moves resulted in the position below, in which Julian will at best have to trade down into a losing endgame.
This result made the score 2.5-1.5 to Surbiton, and worse David Rowson was in a spot of bother on board 2. Relief, though, was at hand. Kingston president John Foley, with White against Mark Hogarth on board 5, had looked to have been ahead from an early stage – and so it proved. White’s dark-squared bishop’s odyssey in the sequence below is rather pleasing (notes by John):
John’s win tied the scores at 2.5-2.5, but David Rowson’s situation was worsening against Altaf Chaudhry on board 2. A misjudgment in the position shown below was, he says, the turning point.
“Stockfish says that on move 17 I should just have moved my h5 knight back to f6, Petrosian-like, with no disadvantage,” says David. “20..f6 was a bad move. I’m realising that in this kind of opening it’s usually bad, as it blocks the g7 bishop and weakens g6, apart from fatally taking a retreat square from my h5 knight. I overlooked his 21. Ne3, expecting it to head to d6 instead. After 23. Bxh5 my position looked horrible, but I could still have put up better resistance. At the end I was rather randomly playing for a swindle; instead of that, if I’d had the time and patience, I could have calculated properly and made life harder for him, though he still should have won.”
Surbiton would now 3.5-2.5 ahead and couldn’t lose the match. The assembled experts reckoned the board 7 game between Stephen Lovell and Paul McCauley was a technical draw, but is there any such thing in a time scramble? The photograph above was taken at a very late stage in the encounter, and the tension is palpable from the concentration of the onlookers.
Stephen’s much higher rating gave us hope, though he said later this was the first proper endgame he’d played in a decade. Both players go wrong, but as ever the final error – allowing the White king to infiltrate and round up a pawn – is decisive. Let us recount the game from the middlegame position where Stephen felt he had allowed his advantage to slip
We had our draw and nemesis had been narrowly averted. I will never again underestimate the opposition or assume that victory is guaranteed because a couple of opposition players I had expected to turn up do not appear. I will try to curb my hubristic tendencies and treat all our opponents with proper respect. The half-point we gained with this draw could be very important in Surrey division 2, where we seem eternally to be struggling to avoid relegation, and attention now shifts to our vital away match against fellow strugglers South Norwood on Thursday 16 January. But for now we relax and accentuate the positives. Happy Christmas!
Stephen Moss, Kingston captain in Surrey division 2
Coulsdon 3 v Kingston 4, Surrey League division 5 match played at Coulsdon on 16 December 2024
For the second week in succession, Ed Mospan’s travelling army got a win at one of the more distant outposts on the Surrey circuit. After a fine victory at Guildford last week, they faced Coulsdon 4 and once again emerged triumphant.
Coulsdon were nothing like as strong as Guildford 4 had been, but the job still had to be done, and Kingston won handsomely by 4.5, with successes for Ye Kwaw, Aziz Sannie, Mark Sheridan and the in-form captain himself. An excellent end to 2024 for Ed’s hard-working and much-travelled team.
Ed (pictured) is captaining Kingston’s third and fourth teams in the Surrey League and doing half a dozen other jobs at the club besides, thus making himself (as usual) a leading contender to win Club Person of the Year. We may as well just give him the award in perpetuity.
Guildford 4 v Kingston 3, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Guildford Institute, Guildford on 9 December 2024
This game was played in a match between Guildford 4 and Kingston 3. Guildford had home advantage and a very experienced side, but Kingston scored a memorable victory, with Aziz Sannie (pictured) winning this game on board 4. Aziz is rated around 1550 ECF, though his true strength is probably a bit more than that. He was very pleased with this game and eager to showcase it. It is not perfect – he repeatedly overlooks the killer move g3 towards the end of the game and hands his beleaguered opponent a lifeline – but what is impressive is the control he exercises throughout. White has very little play and is reduced to shuffling queens and rooks on the back two ranks. It is a recipe for disaster, and that disaster does indeed eventually come to pass.
Guildford 4 v Kingston 3, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Guildford Institute, Guildford on 9 December 2024
This was a remarkable win for Ed Mospan’s Kingston 3, who currently have a tough schedule, visiting Epsom, Guildford and Coulsdon in successive weeks. Guildford 4 fielded a very experienced team – Trevor Jones, Peter Horlock and Mike Gunn have been playing since about the Steinitz era – but Kingston dispatched them with aplomb, running out 4.5-1.5 winners.
David Shalom and Adam Nakar won on the two top boards; Aziz Sannie played a well-controlled game to win on board 4 against Anthony Garrood, who only last week won an important game for Guildford 2 against Kingston 2; and Ed Mospan continued his terrific run of recent form with a victory over the wily Horlock. Congratulations to Ed and his team (pictured above at the match, minus photographer Ed). This is surely one of Kingston’s best wins of the season so far.
Surbiton D v Kingston C, Thames Valley League division X match played at Fircroft, Surbiton on 4 December 2024
Thames Valley Division X is meant to be a training division – something we took literally in this away match against Surbiton D. Nick Powell on board 4 was playing his first ever rated game – welcome to the wacky world of competitive chess, Nick – and Zhixing Bai was playing only his second game for the club. Junior Jaden Mistry and Mark Sheridan (still limping after a fall earlier in the week and bravely playing through the pain) were veterans by comparison.
Jaden played extremely well to win on board 1 – against a new face at Surbiton who I suspect is fairly strong. Jaden played confidently and had a slight edge throughout. The pressure he applied told in the end, and he was able to pick up a loose rook in a queen-and-rook v queen-and-rook endgame with a tactic which he saw instantly.
Nick Powell and the affable Kim Cross got into a similar endgame, but it was Kim who came out on top, marshalling his forces to deliver mate. It had, though, been a protracted and keenly fought struggle, and Nick acquitted himself extremely well on his league debut.
Zhixing Bai, a nine-year-old with considerable potential, offered an earlyish draw in his game with Harry Roberts, which the latter eagerly accepted. Where do youngsters learn to make these grandmasterly draw offers? “Just play” I advised Zhixing later. “Don’t offer middlegame draws. Rating points are of no consequence.” I was echoing American grandmaster Ben Finegold, who once told me: “Never take a draw. No one ever learned any chess by taking a draw.”
The last game to finish was the encounter between Surbiton captain Phil Goodings and injured hero Mark Sheridan. They have had close battles before and this one was no exception, but in the end it was Goodings who prevailed. Admirably, Mark refused to blame his leg injury for his loss.
An excellent match played amid Christmas decorations, which added a welcome festive sparkle to proceedings. What a well-appointed venue Surbiton have. They are well on the way back to the top of the tree after a post-pandemic slump saw them lose their status as top dogs in south-west London. We fear them. But there again we fear everyone. Everywhere we look our rivals are making progress. 2025 is going to be a hard slog.
