Epsom 4 v Kingston 3, Surrey League division 4 match played at Epsom Christian Fellowship, Epsom on 10 March 2025

This was another great result for Kingston 3, led by Ed Mospan. Epsom were seriously strong for a fourth team – what great strength in depth they have – but Kingston countered everything Epsom threw at them and came away with a deserved 3-3 draw.

I wasn’t at the match, so rely on the summary provided by Epsom’s non-playing captain, Alistair Mackenzie. “This was Epsom 4’s strongest team,” Alistair emailed Ed after the match, “so your team did fantastically well. I was confident of victory, but in reality we were very lucky to get a draw, as we could have been well beaten.”

Alistair said that Oliver Kuzmanoski was fortunate to get a draw on board 6, and that Lev Razhnou had to show good technique to save the game against new Kingston recruit Seth Warren on board 1 – a promising result for Seth with Black against a highly rated player.

“I didn’t understand the game between Maya Keen and David Shalom,” added Alistair. “Maya was behind in material but had pressure, and David slipped up with a simple error. David Bickerstaff, with White on board 4, was comfortable for the whole game. James [Pooler] managed to close the gap somehow, but it was not enough. It was a great win for Adam [Nakar], pulling those moves off at the end – he is always good fun to watch.” Adam, who was ecstatic with his victory, is on a tremendous run, and his live rating is climbing fast.

Aziz Sannie had the better of the early exchanges against Epsom veteran Michael Wickham (see Marcus Gosling’s photograph of their encounter above), but the latter was able to turn the game around and grab the point that ensured the two teams would share the spoils. All four decisive games in the match ended with a win for White. It really does make a difference, you know.

Ed took an additional four players along to Epsom to play rated friendlies – a great innovation this season at Kingston, where we are trying to offer rated chess outside the traditional league structure so more players get games. This has been a terrific innovation by Ed, who has made a huge difference since returning as a team captain and club officer, and we hope it will be a template for the club’s development.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Surbiton 3 v Kingston 4, Surrey League division 5 match played at Fircroft, Surbiton on 5 March 2025

This was another stunning victory for Ed Mospan’s merry band against a higher-rated team. I arrived to see Adam Nakar beaming with pleasure, having just downed John Polanyk on board 1. Jaden Mistry had already triumphed on board 5, and Rob Tayor, who is on a good run, was a piece up and close to winning against Surbiton captain David Morant. Add three solid draws against Surbiton stalwarts for Paul Seymour, David Shalom and Ed Mospan himself, and you have an unexpected 4.5-1.5 victory and a recipe for the perfect evening.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston A v Maidenhead A, Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 3 March 2025

In the end the emphatic 5.5-0.5 score may have flattered us a little – Maidenhead had good chances at different points on at least two of the boards – but this was nevertheless an important win which demonstrated the all-round strength of Kingston’s first-team squad as it continued its relentless pursuit of a third Thames Valley title in a row.

Luca Buanne was on the scoreboard first with a win with White over Stephen James on board 4.

Board 5 between John Hawksworth and Maidenhead captain Nigel Smith was a cagey Catalan in which Nigel, with White, opted for a risk-free line and duly secured a draw. But on board 6 Alan Scrimgour, with the advantage of the white pieces and back from a very solid tournament at the World Senior Team Championships in Prague (seven draws in seven games, three against titled players), was having a good tussle with Simon Foster until the kingside attack he had been preparing reaped sudden and devastating rewards.

On board 3 Peter Lalić (pictured), playing Black, appeared to be in a spot of bother against Ishan Wiratunga – he was playing on the increment in what looked a tricky position, while his opponent had oodles of time. But Peter is a remarkable player when he is in time trouble and was able to simplify the position down to a winning endgame.

David Maycock, with White, was up against the young Ukrainian Bohdan Terler on board 2, and quite a game they made of it – as we expected from two such talented young players. The crunch comes in the position below:

I congratulated David on taking his youthful opponent out of his comfort zone with some typically energetic and enterprising play. “In order to confuse your opponents, you need to confuse yourself,” he replied, which sounds like the sort of aphorism Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu might have produced, alongside “the opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself”. Thinking about it, Sun Tzu On Chess could be a bestseller.

David’s win made it 4.5-0.5 and left IM Peter Large and FM Andrew Smith as the last players standing – OK sitting. The evening had started with Alan Scrimgour saying a few words in honour of Peter Large’s gold medal-winning performance at the Prague Seniors tournament, where England’s 65+ team, of which Peter was part, became world champions. Andrew Smith had played for Ireland in the same event in Prague, so both were primed for what promised to be a close encounter.

So it proved and, after much middlegame jockeying for position, there was little in it as the witching hour – and mutual time trouble – approached. This was the position when Peter (as he is allowed to do once his clock time falls below five minutes) stopped recording:

Peter, with Black, has an edge by virtue of the bishop pair, but it is by no means conclusive. There were many more moves – sadly lost to posterity – and eventually Andrew stumbled into an unusual mate, executed by a rook and a couple of doubled pawns on the h-file. An unsatisfactory conclusion to so classy a match-up, but such is evening club chess, where a game has to be shoehorned into three hours.

That made it 5.5-0.5 and left Kingston sitting pretty atop Thames Valley division 1 (see current table below, beneath match score). If we beat Richmond away on 18 March, the title will be ours for the third year in succession – a feat the club has never achieved in its history. It would also mean we had won the league with three matches to spare. But of course we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves. Let’s actually finish the job before we start the celebrations.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston B v Surbiton A, Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 3 March 2025

This was an unexpected victory against a strong Surbiton B team. We suffered an early blow when Jon Eckert was forced to pull out half an hour before the start. That meant I had to play: a disaster at the best of times, but a complete catastrophe on this occasion because, up against the in-form Graham Alcock’s time-honoured Scandinavian on board 4, I hung a rook on move 10 and it went downhill from there. The game was over mercifully quickly.

I thought that would be decisive in terms of the match, but how wrong I was. On board 1 John Foley (pictured foreground, left, above) outfoxed old adversary Liam Bayly in a rook and pawn endgame, winning a pawn and forcing it home for victory. A few moments later came a crunch result – John Bussmann beating the dangerous Paul Dupré on board 2 to give Kingston a 2-1 advantage and suddenly convince me we could get something from the match.

John B played a very imaginative and powerful game which we pick up on move 17 with White, who has an edge, to play.

The other key turnround was on board 3, where Surbiton’s experienced captain Nick Faulks was playing Kingston newcomer Zubair Froogh. NIck had been well on top in the opening and middle game, with Zubair’s queenside rook and knight horribly restricted. But Zubair has great resilience, fought back, equalised and even had chances to win in the endgame. The game ended in a draw, which felt to me like a win after the early horror show, though Zubair – nothing if not a perfectionist – was bemoaning his failure to convert his endgame advantage late into the night.

On board 5, Froogh Senior was up against the doughty Andrew Boughen. It was a good scrap decided by a middlegame error by Andrew in the position below:

On board 6 Alicia Mason, who is having an excellent first season for the club, had White against another Surbiton stalwart, David Cole. Some neat tactical play by Alicia in the middlegame settled the issue.

Kingston had won 4.5-1.5 – a victory that took us back to the top of Thames Valley division 2. Well played to the team (with the exception of that dozy board 4). The win showed great fighting spirit and the team’s (if not my) confidence appears to be rising as we sustain a slightly surprising promotion push. Soon we might have to start asking the perennial question: could we cope with two teams in Thames Valley Div 1?

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 2 v Wimbledon 1, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 24 February 2025

Kingston white on the odd numbered boards

I really ought to go away more often. I captain Kingston 2 and we have been chugging along happily enough this season in division 2 of the Surrey League, just about doing enough to avoid relegation. I was, though, abroad when this match was played, and my absence seems to have inspired the team. Captained by Will Taylor (pictured), they pulled off one of the results of the season, with a 4.5-2.5 victory over table-topping Wimbledon 1.

Will himself got an excellent draw as white against the highly rated Russell Picot, who had beaten him in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Julian Way drew with black against Dan Rosen on board 3, and John Bussmann also halved with Sean Ingle on board 6. The key result, though, was board 4, where Stephen Lovell, who is happily playing a good deal more for us this season, enjoyed a tremendous win over Ian Heppell.

“He surprised me with a pawn sacrifice in the opening that looked pretty good,” says Stephen. “Very understandably, he then went after the pawn on f2. What neither of us appreciated at the time was that a well-timed Na5 could have caused White a lot of bother. My pieces would have remained in a tangle on the kingside, and it’s hard to defend c4 without creating weaknesses. After he took on f2, my pieces sprang into action and his position unravelled remarkably quickly. The resignation felt a touch early, but really there isn’t too much hope for Black by that stage.”

We pick up the game, which was decidedly short, at the point where Black should consider Na5.

Stephen’s win set the scene for what followed. On board 1, our very own Peter Lalić (turning out for Wimbledon in this division because he is nominated as a Div 1-only player for Kingston) got the better of Luca Buanne and thus gained revenge for his defeat in the away match at Wimbledon. Peter played one of his more bamboozling openings and this was the resulting position:

Peter’s renegade win for a moment put the result of the match in doubt, but Kingston’s new father and son double act – Homayoon and Zubair Froogh – secured the vital points with wins against strong opponents on boards 6 and 7. Peter Lalić reckoned Froogh Senior’s win was a “swindle”, but we will ignore this remark and celebrate a triumph which doesn’t just free us from any threat of relegation but propels us into the top half of the table.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Maidenhead D v Kingston C, Thames Valley League division X match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 24 February 2025

No one relishes the long trek to Maidenhead on a dark, wintry evening, but Kingston’s team in Div X of the Thames Valley League made light of it and came home with the spoils.

Sean Tay (pictured) maintained his good form with a win on top board; Mark Sheridan and Rob Taylor won smoothly on 2 and 3; and the only reverse was on board 4, where recent Kingston arrival Nette Robinson came unstuck against the highest-rated player in the Maidenhead line-up (why playing down on board 4, I wonder?). An excellent 3-1 victory, which always makes the long journey home more bearable.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Hounslow v Kingston, Thames Valley Knockout first round, due to be played at Hounslow on Thursday 20 February

There is sadly nothing to say about this match as it never took place. Hounslow had kindly agreed to Kingston’s earlier request for a deferment of the match, but when the time came to play – on a Thursday, an unusual playing day for both clubs – they were unable to raise a team they considered to be of sufficient strength and defaulted. A very unsatisfactory outcome, especially after Hounslow’s sporting gesture in allowing the match due to be played before Christmas to be postponed.

Kingston now proceed to the semi-final, where TVKO captain Alan Scrimgour (pictured) will need a powerful team against Epsom. A potentially even greater challenge would lie in the final, where Harrow – specialists in this competition and with a very strong line-up – already await.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 3 v Wallington, Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 17 February 2025

This was another solid performance by Ed Mospan’s team – a 3-3 draw against a club first team constitutes a very good result. The veteran Nick Edwards outmanoeuvred Alicia Mason on top board, but David Shalom and Adam Nakar drew against higher-rated opponents, new recruit Paul Seymour and the ever reliable Mark Sheridan drew on boards 4 and 5, and Rob Taylor (pictured), who is really finding his feet this season, netted the equaliser on board 6. A very satisfactory evening.

Stephen Moss. Kingston club captain

Wallington v Kingston, Lauder Trophy semi-final played at Wallington United Reformed Church on 12 February 2025

This match was always going to be tense. It goes with the territory in the Lauder Trophy, where the collective rating of the team cannot exceed 10,500. How do you divide up the rating cake: two strong players and four weaker players; six mid-rated players? The puzzle always takes a lot of solving.

Wallington and Kingston went for very similar teams – two strong players and four very decent players in the 1500-1750 bracket. A close match was guaranteed and so it proved, with Kingston squeezing home by 3.5-2.5 after an evening of high drama.

On top board, veterans David Rowson of Kingston and Nick Edwards of Wallington (and indeed Coulsdon) faced each other – amazingly, so David says, the first time they have ever met in a classical game despite both being an integral part of the Surrey chess scene for more than half a century.

Nick is a very principled, positional player and opened with d4, to which David replied with an unusual King’s Indian-type line. “Nick and I had a great set-to,” says David, “which we both enjoyed, with some rather unusual positions arising from what I think is called the KID Kramer System. After the game we spent a long time analysing it, but putting it through Stockfish it seems we assessed a lot of the positions wrongly.”

This was a key position. Should Black take the pawn on h4? “Maybe I should have taken,” says David, “but it looked very risky to me.”

Alan Scrimgour had White and a hefty rating advantage on board 2, and his assured win against the very solid David Jones was vital to the Kingston cause. This was how Alan succinctly summed up the game afterwards: “Careful manoeuvring around the queenside majority combined with pressure on the IQP [isolated queen’s pawn] led to win of the exchange. My opponent, despite his time shortage, responded with a kingside sortie that White had under control.” This was the game’s denouement. White is on top, so Black decides to go for broke.

Meanwhile on board 3, Jon Eckert was defending an Exchange French. He felt it was drawish from an early stage, but there were some late complications and he had winning chances. But Jon also recognised that we probably had our noses in front in the match – with good positions with White on boards 2 and 4 – and offered his opponent a draw, which was accepted. The fact that Kingston’s players were all taking stock of the match situation was one of the great positives of this win. Chess is a very individual game, good players are often egoists, and the match context can sometimes be forgotten.

Kingston’s one reverse came on board 6, where Aziz Sannie lost to the promising Wallington junior Mohamed Nasrudeen Meeran. Aziz went the exchange (rook for knight) down and, try though he might, couldn’t generate much counterplay as his opponent liquidated to a won endgame.

On board 5 Kingston captain Ed Mospan was facing Luke Glinton in another match-up between players with almost identical ratings. Neither could establish a significant edge in a series of blocked positions and a draw was agreed. Another important result with Black for Kingston.

That left David Bickerstaff (pictured above on the right of the picture, with Ed Mospan beside him, in a previous match at South Norwood), to put the ball in the back of the net, which is exactly what he did. David had White on board 4 against the slightly higher-rated Robert Davies, but he never gave his opponent a chance with a perfect pawn storm against Black’s KIng’s Indian Defence. Here is the game which took Kingston into the Lauder Trophy final, where we will face Coulsdon, with annotations by David.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Kingston 4 v Epsom 5, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 10 February 2025

On paper this promised to be a very close match. In reality, Kingston 4 were swept aside by Epsom 5, showing just how much strength in depth dynamic president Marcus Gosling’s club are developing. The saving grace for Kingston was a fine win for Nette Robinson (pictured above – she is a singer and artist, as well as a chess player), who was making her Kingston debut. That at least saved us from the ignominy of a whitewash.

We shall be brief with the obsequies. David Shalom was defeated by the highly rated James Pooler on board 1; Paul Seymour, a new recruit to Kingston, lost with Black to Pietro Silke Balerna on board 2; Sean Tay had winning, then drawing, chances on board 3 against Robert Fairhall but both evaded him; Mark Sheridan on board 4 was well in the game against the experienced Alistair Mackenzie but fell at the final fence and was checkmated; and on board 6 Anqi Yang was quickly in difficulties against the officially unrated Gary Allen.

We live to fight another day, but are impressed by Epsom’s large cohort of 1600-rated players. The Surrey League’s “Minor” division – the official name of Div 5 – is not really so minor after all. It’s a shark pool!

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain