Surbiton D v Kingston C, Thames Valley League division X match played at Fircroft, Surbiton on 15 April 2026
Kingston C completed their Thames Valley division X season in style with a 4-0 victory over Surbiton D. Club newcomer Aytek Koyun won well on board 1 against the very capable Nikolai Mantaev; Sean Tay, with Black on board 2, was too strong for Kim Cross; Mark Sheridan on 3 shaded a tough encounter with Harry Roberts; and Rob Taylor completed the whitewash by defeating Charlie Feigen on board 4.
A very encouraging result for Jon Eckert’s team to end a season in which they have competed well throughout, but suffered several narrow defeats in close matches that kept them in the bottom half of the table (see final standings at foot of report). Div X is primarily about getting game time, and Jon selected teams that prioritised giving as many club players as possible experience under matchplay conditions. Many thanks to Jon and his players. We do it all again in Div X next season.
IM Peter Large won the 19th blitz held at All Saints church in Kingston on 31 March 2026, with Chris Briscoe and Arne Eilers in joint second scooping the other prizes
It is becoming a familiar tale: Peter Large (pictured above, receiving his prize from arbiter Edward Mospan) once again won the monthly All Saints Blitz – his tenth win in 19 editions of the event. Peter sets the standards and it’s up to the rest of us to try to emulate him.
It was one of Peter’s more comfortable victories. Once he had disposed of me in the first round, he beat Marcus Gosling – his former team-mate at Epsom – in a second-round crunch match, and then saw off a trio of strong players, Jasper Tambini, Chris Briscoe and Robin Haldane, in the next three rounds. Peter is a consummate pro and closed out the tournament with a draw against Arne Eilers in the final round.
Peter Large (left) prepares to do battle with Epsom president Marcus Gosling in the second round at All Saints
Peter finished on 5.5/6, a full point ahead of Arne and Chris, who came joint second. There was plenty of strength in depth in the tournament, as the four players who came next on 4/6 – Robin Haldane, Joshua Pirgon, Anthony Hughes and Jasper Tambini – demonstrated. Peter Roche came eighth with 3.5/6, and Kingston junior William Lin scored a commendable 3/6, alongside Alan Hayward and David Rowson.
Peter Large shows off his egg-cellent trophy, flanked by runners-up Chris Briscoe (left) and Arne Eilers
Special thanks to Constantin Liesch, who contrived to lose on time to me when he was completely winning, thus giving my score more respectability than I deserved. We will do it again in the 20th All Saints Blitz on 29 April.
Stephen Moss is Kingston Chess Club captain
Final standings
1: Peter Large (Kingston) 5.5/6 2-3: Chris Briscoe (Surbiton) 4.5/6, Arne Eilers (Streatham) 4.5/6 4-7: Robin Haldane (Streatham) 4/6, Joshua Pirgon (Surbiton) 4/6, Anthony Hughes (Wimbledon) 4/6, Jasper Tambini (Kingston) 4/6 8: Peter Roche (Kingston) 3.5/6 9/11: William Lin (Kingston) 3/6, Alan Hayward (Pimlico) 3/6, David Rowson (Kingston) 3/6
Epsom 1 v Kingston 1, Surrey League division 1 match played at Epsom Christian Fellowship, 22 West Hill, Epsom on 30 March 2026
Matches against Epsom always have an extra edge – in a good way – and this had more than most. If we had lost here, Guildford 1 would have maintained a 1.5 point lead in Surrey League division 1. We could still have caught them, but it would have been much tougher. As it was, a 6-2 victory over Epsom allowed us to close to within half a point and the decider will now be Kingston 1’s home match with Guildford on 13 April. Those two clubs will also contest the final of the Alexander Cup at Ashtead on 26 May, confirming that they have been the dominant teams in Surrey this season.
We had a strong team out at Epsom and slightly shaded it on ratings. But Peter Lalić was in trouble from an early stage with White on board 1 against IM Graeme Buckley, so nothing could be taken for granted. Epsom’s Chris Russell was playing aggressively against David Maycock on board 2; Peter Andrews and Robin Haldane were having a (metaphorical) punch-up on board 6; Jasper Tambini was facing former British champion Peter Lee (pictured above) on board 7; and on board 8 Kingston president John Foley was up against Sachin Kumar, the junior who had beaten him in a Kingston 2 match in January. Anything could happen.
David Maycock (pictured above, left) opened the scoring for Kingston with a win with Black over Christopher Russell, though David was mad at himself for one error which could have cost him the game. Russell played an aggressive opening and when I looked at the position below, I thought he had given himself a good chance of breaking through with the early g4. Full marks for ambition anyway.
On board 4 John Hawksworth secured an important draw with Black against James Allison, who has been a thorn in Kingston’s side this season. The game, which started as a Nimzo-Indian, was nip and tuck throughout. “I spent much too long on the opening and, although I got an acceptable position, I was behind on the clock throughout the game,” John said afterwards. He thought his opponent had a sniff of a chance in the position below.
Peter Hasson, as so often this season, calmed nerves further with an assured win with White over Arnav Kumar, elder brother of Sachin, on board 5. “Arnav was confused by my speculative pawn sac.” Peter said after the game. “The final position has some pretty mates if he plays on.” We join the game on White’s 12th move, when Peter decides to try to exploit Black’s cramped set-up.
Peter Lalić played a very optimistic gambit on board 1, but IM Graeme Buckley had little difficulty refuting it
Kingston were 2.5-0.5 up, but Epsom quickly hit back, IM Graeme Buckley beating Peter Lalić with Black on board 1 – a very good result for Graeme which ended Peter’s sequence of 41 undefeated classical games. Peter played a bold version of the Smith-Morra, but only succeeded in giving up two pawns for not very much. Graeme had no difficulty defusing any hopes of counterplay, and Peter resigned in the position below.
John Foley’s game against Sachin Kumar was very similar to their earlier encounter. John built up a hefty time advantage and they entered an endgame – with rooks on this occasion rather than bishops as previously. John was pressing, but Sachin defended well on the increment and peace was eventually declared. That made it 3-2 to KIngston.
IMs Peter Large and Susan Lalić both sought to attack, but Peter eventually prevailed after a testing battle
IMs Peter Large and Susan Lalić played a vigorous game on board 3, with both sides looking to grab the initiative and attack. Peter had White, but was well into the middlegame before he could establish any sort of advantage. In the position below, Stockfish gives White a small plus, but Black’s command of the c-file looks promising.
Former British champion Peter Lee concentrates as Jasper Tambini bears down on his uncastled king
Jasper Tambini’s win over Peter Lee was a thriller, with tactics galore. A French Advance led to this position in which White is already much better thanks to Black’s kingside weaknesses.
The wins by Peter Large and Jasper Tambini gave Kingston an unassailable 5-2 lead. Now could the Kingston captain, Peter Andrews, put the icing on the cake? We join the game with Peter about to play his tenth move. The commentary is by Peter, who sums up the game by saying: “We both attacked, mainly out of desperation when we felt we were getting into trouble.”
“Robin was kind enough to say that he had enjoyed the game very much despite the result, hence playing on to mate, said Peter afterwards. “And of course unlike Gordon Rennie the previous week, Robin was safe from any flying pieces because my mating attack comprised backwards moves.”
Thus Kingston enjoyed a very satisfying – and perhaps slightly flattering – 6-2 victory. Now the deciding match against league leaders on 13 April Guildford awaits. It promises to be an epic encounter.
Staines B v Kingston C, Thames Valley League division X match played at The Literary Institute, 51 High Street, Egham on 26 March 2026
We don’t often visit Staines – one of the trickier journeys we face for away matches – so well done to this intrepid foursome for getting there. Rob Taylor was the star of the show. He captained in Jon Eckert’s absence and enjoyed a good win. His three team-mates were less successful as Kingston C went down to a 3-1 defeat, but it was pleasing to see Aytek Koyun making his league debut for the club on board 1.
Kingston 4 v Surbiton 3, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 23 March 2026
This was a well-contested local derby – Kingston and Surbiton are about three miles apart – between two very solid teams. Surbiton proved too strong on the bottom boards, with the canny Paul McCauley beating Rob Taylor (pictured, above left) with White on board 5 and Nikolai Mantaev getting the better of Nette Robinson with Black on 6. But it was a different story on the top boards.
Seth Warren had a fine victory over Surbiton veteran Malcolm Groom with Black on board 1, Ye Kyaw won against Oleksiy Podolyan on 3, and Genc Tasbasi ground out a crucial success against Surbiton captain Phil Goodings on 5. The vital half-point in a 3.5-2.5 win was supplied by Adam Nakar, who drew against the dangerous and tactically inclined Alexey Markov on board 2. This was a very good result for Adam, who hasn’t had a chance to play many games this season, and was enough for Kingston 4 to claim local bragging rights.
The three CSC/Kingston teams experienced mixed fortunes in the fourth round of 4NCL matches, played in Coventry and Daventry on the weekend of 21/22 March
The photograph above shows members of CSC/Kingston 1 playing blitz on Saturday evening after the victory over Warwickshire Select. Jacob Templen Grave (left) and Vlad Larkin are in the foreground, with Luisa Bashylina watching on
Weekend 4 of 4NCL, played at two separate venues in Coventry and Daventry on 21/22 March, proved to be tough for CSC/Kingston’s three teams, all of which were flying high in their respective divisions. The teams are still well placed after the struggles of the weekend, but it was a salutary lesson in how challenging 4NCL can be.
On Saturday, Kingston 1 squeezed past a very competitive and youthful Warwickshire Select team. Supratit Banerjee, playing on board 1 for CSC/Kingston to give him the strongest possible opponent, fought hard against Indian IM Siva Mahadevan, but Siva played what one observer described as a “gem of a game” and prevailed with a blistering attack.
Warwickshire’s Lorenzo Fava had a memorable win against IM (soon, we hope, to be GM) Harry Grieve with Black on board 2, and Finlay Terry-Bowcott did the same against FM Ulysse Bottazzi on board 4. But IM Vlad Larkin started the ball rolling for CSC/Kingston with a win on board 3, and our players proved almost irresistible on the lower boards. Wins for Jacob Templen Grave, Adam Collins and Luisa Bashylina, and a draw for Roland Bezuidenhout, took us over the line by 4.5-3.5. Warwickshire were outrated by 100 points a board, so should be congratulated on their performance.
On Sunday, we were up against a highly motivated Sharks 1 team. They brought in GM Daniel Fernandez especially to play against us, and just had a touch too much firepower and nous, running out 5-3 winners. The high spot for CSC/Kingston was Supratit’s terrific victory over IM Rajat Makkar, but there were plenty of other strong performances, notably Ulysse’s draw with IM Peter Roberson and Adam’s draw against IM Tom Rendle – both the CSC/Kingston players had Black. Vlad Larkin drew with Dan Fernandez in a game in which both had chances of winning at different times before peace was declared.
The win on Saturday and loss on Sunday left CSC/Kingston 1 fourth in the table – a very satisfactory position after last season’s early struggles and one we hope to maintain at the final three-round weekend on 2-4 May, when the first team will again be playing in Daventry.
Current Division 1table
In the very competitive division 3 (knights), where CSC/Kingston 2 have high hopes of promotion, we had a narrow 3.5-2.5 victory over Oxford 2 on Saturday, with wins for Peter Hasson and Chris Fegan. But Sunday proved to be a disaster against Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg – yes they are Welsh and Rhyfelwyr means warriors. On paper the match was very close, but the events on the board proved anything but, and the Warriors ran out easy 5-1 winners, with draws from Peter Finn on board 1 and Jim Stayt on board 5 saving our blushes.
The loss makes the promotion fight harder for CSC/Kingston 2, but they are still clear second and in with a good chance going into the final weekend, with two teams from each Div 3 pool promoted to division 2.
Current Division 3 (Knights)table
The third team had an even tougher weekend – the result of being close to the top of the 30-strong league and coming up against very highly rated sides. On Saturday, they faced 3Cs, whose average rating of 2119 would make them one of the strongest teams in division 3. They beat CSC/Kingston 5-1, but well done to Phil Stimpson and Charukgan Muhunthan on securing draws against much higher-rated opponents. It was especially commendable by Charukgan, who was making his 4NCL debut.
The unpoetically named TMNT, CSC/Kingston 3’s opponents on Sunday, were not quite as strong as 3Cs, but they still had an average rating advantage of almost 100 points a board and ran out 4-2 winners. CSC/Kingston’s hero was Mike Cresswell, who scored a tremendous win against a player who outrated him by more than 150 points. Despite the two defeats, CSC/Kingston 3 are still ninth from 30 in division 4, which is very respectable.
Current Division 4 table (top 12 teams of 30)
The final weekend takes place over three days from 2-4 May, culminating in the final round on bank holiday Monday. The first team will be in Daventry and the second and third teams in Coventry. The first team will be happy with a top four place and the third team with a top 10 position, so most eyes will be on the second team, who for the third year in a row are fighting for promotion to division 2. They have been denied twice over the past two seasons. Can they finally do it this year?
Kingston entered two teams in the Thorpe Trophy, played at Cheam on 14 March 2026. The A team retained the title and the B team came joint second, but there were a few alarms along the way
The Surrey League revived the long-dormant Thorpe Trophy – a four-round team rapidplay – in 2025, when a Kingston A team spearheaded by Peters Lalić and Large won it. The 2026 edition had the same result, but for much of the afternoon that conclusion was far from guaranteed.
The neat feature of the Thorpe is that the four-person teams have to have two players of unspecified rating – naturally teams select the strongest players they can muster – and two with a rapidplay rating below ECF 1750. It’s an excellent opportunity for players who usually play for different league teams to play alongside each other and in this case celebrate success together.
We had the tried-and-trusted pair of Lalić and Large back in harness for Kingston A, this time joined by Alexander Chmelev and Seth Warren (the winning team is pictured above, with left to right: Warren, Lalić, Chmelev and Large). Kingston A had FM Vladimir Li, making a welcome return to competitive chess, on board 1; Jasper Tambini on board 2; er, me on board 3; and Genc Tasbasi on board 4.
The Peters, well supported by Alex and Seth, both scored 3.5/4 to guide Kingston A to a tournament-winning 11.5/16 – the event is decided on game points – but the role of Vladimir in deciding the title must be emphasised. He scored a perfect 4/4, thus both propelling Kingston B into second place alongside South Norwood and also denying the main rivals of both the Kingston teams from garnering vital points. Jasper also performed well, scoring 3/4, and missed a mate in the game he did lose in round 2 to Graham Keane.
Living the Cheam: 16 teams from across Surrey gathered at the Parochial Hall to do battle for the Thorpe Trophy
The event had started relatively poorly for Kingston A, who managed to win by just 2.5-1.5 against Streatham B, with Streatham veteran Martin Smith getting a commendable draw against IM Peter Large. But they made up for that in round 2, thrashing Wimbledon 4-0, despite a surprise appearance for Wimbledon by Kingston chair Peter Andrews, filling in for an absent Wimbledon player. (The tournament is serious but also social, and we were happy to help out to fill the gap.)
Seth got an important win in this match and Alex Chmelev, who scored 3/4 across the four rounds, was proving rock-like. Kingston B were also performing well, though my loss on time when a rook up in round 2 against Streatham A was crucial in the final tally of game points (sorry team-mates).
Epsom A and Richmond A were always likely to be the main dangers to a repeat Kingston title victory, though South Norwood had also brought a strong team, headed by Marcus Osborne (who scored an excellent 3.5/4 on top board) and Paul Dupré, and were going well. Indeed, but for a surprise loss on board 3 to Streatham B in the final round, they would have won the trophy.
The final round: Peter Large and Seth Warren take on their opposite numbers from Richmond A in round 4
A key match-up came in round 3, when Kingston A took on the Epsom A. Despite being heavily outrated, Epsom A got a 2-2 draw to ensure that the last round would be a nail-biter. Peter Large beat James Allison, who has been a thorn in Kingston sides this year, but young Ethan Bogerd (who scored 4/4 in the tournament) beat Alex Chmelev to boost Epsom’s cause. Another Epsom youngster, Arnav Kumar, drew with Peter Lalić.
Kingston B beat Epsom B 4-0 in round 3 and were leading going into the final round, but vertigo may have kicked in – on my part at least. I played the all-conquering Ethan Bogerd with Black and, after surviving an early onslaught, had a winning endgame. Ethan offered me a draw, which I turned down, sure I had a simple win. But, playing on the increment – Ethan uses virtually no time and wanders round the playing room looking at other games – I blundered and lost. Moral: never play juniors at rapidplay.
My defeat gave Kingston A an opening in their match against Richmond A. Peter Large defeated Alastair Armstrong, Alex Chmelev completed an impressive afternoon with a win with Black over the very capable Raghu Kamath, and on board 1 Peter Lalić scored a crucial win with Black against the highly rated Caspar Bates. Peter has kindly reconstructed the game (few players record rapidplay games, but Peter has almost total recall).
As well as avoiding juniors in rapidplays, you should avoid Peter Lalic, whose accuracy levels remain remarkably high even at a time control of 20 minutes plus five-second increment.
All that was needed now for Kingston A to retain the trophy was for Kingston B to inflict sufficient damage on Epsom A to stop them coming through to pinch the title. Vladimir Li duly beat Arnav Kumar with Black on board 1 to record his fourth win of the afternoon, and Jasper Tambini then got a crucial point on board 2 against James Allison to ensure that Kingston A won the trophy and Kingston B came joint second.
Afterwards, Peter Large reminded us that it the denouement was remarkably similar to last year. “In 2025 Kingston A were a half-point behind Kingston B and a full point behind Epsom A going into the last round,” he pointed out. “In the last round Kingston B were paired with Epsom A and Kingston A played Richmond. Kingston A won the title because Kingston B obtained a 2-2 draw with Epsom. Jasper Tambini won the crucial game for Kingston B on board 2.” Groundhog Day indeed.
Thanks to tournament controller Graham Alcock for running the tournament, to Peter Andrews for bringing the trophy – happily, to be re-presented back to Kingston A – and to Genc Tasbasi for finding the time to take the excellent photographs in this report while doing his bit to secure joint second place for Kingston B. Multi-tasking which proved to be beyond me. I guess we will do it all again next March. Can we make it a hat-trick of wins?
Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain
Tournament controller Graham Alcock (right) hands Kingston A board 1 Peter Lalić the Thorpe Trophy
Kingston A v Hammersmith A, Thames Valley League division 1 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 9 March 2026
This was the board 1 game between FMs Michael Fernandez and Supratit Banerjee (pictured above) in the recent match between Hammersmith and Kingston in Thames Valley division 1 – an encounter that was likely to prove crucial in deciding who would win the 2025/26 title. Both clubs had assembled strong teams, with these two players leading the formidable line-ups. It was a terrific 116-move struggle, ending with a rare king, bishop and knight v king checkmate.
The distinguished chess writer and historian John Saunders, former editor of both British Chess Magazine and Chess, has kindly annotated the game. “Supratit’s play,” he says, “was impressively [MIchael] Adams-like. Then it got away from him a bit, but at no time was it easy to win, and his sheer energy and determination were remarkable.” Sometimes one has to pinch oneself to remember that Supratit is just 12 years old. What a talent! The Kingston club are very fortunate to have him as a player in local league chess and 4NCL.
Kingston C v Surbiton D, Thames Valley League division X match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 2 March 2026
It has been an up-and-down season for Kingston C, and this was one of the downs, losing 3-1 to a well-organised Surbiton D team. Surbiton skipper Phil Goodings got the better of Sean Tay in a tight encounter on board 1; Kim Cross beat Anqi Yang on board 3; and Harry Roberts edged out Robert Chmiest on board 4. That left Nette Robinson, as so often this season, to save Kingston’s blushes with a win with White against the tricky Nikolai Mantaev on board 2. Congrats to Nette on her excellent recent run.
Guildford 3 v Kingston 4, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Guildford Institute on 2 March 2026
This was a very good win by Kingston 4 against a Guildford 3 team with plenty of experience on the top boards. Thivan Gunawardana, Constantin Liesch and Genc Tasbasi all won with White ; two games with Black were lost (it really was a night for the white pieces); but Tom Mayers got Kingston 4 over the line with a draw with Black against a strong player on board 1. Well done to Tom, new to Kingston but already making an impression, and the team.
