Surrey League division 4 match played at the West Thornton Community Centre, Thornton Heath on 23 November 2023

It honestly could have gone either way, and in the end Kingston were a little disappointed to be beaten 3.5-2.5, But there were plenty of pluses for the third team in what is shaping up to be a tough division.

The very experienced Ron Harris got South Norwood off to a flying start on board 1. Ron is a youthful 80-year-old who used to be graded above 200 (in old ratings money), He plays quickly, fluently and aggressively, and Stephen Moss was soon up against it with his rather pedestrian Nf6 Scandinavian, which he has been saying for at least five years that he intends to bin.

Harris, with White, played a nice – if fairly straightforward – rook sac in this position:

The game proceeds Rxh7, Kxh7, Rh3+, Qh6, Rxh6, Kxh6, Qxc5. White is better, but it is not terminal for Black, though Stephen said afterwards he felt deflated and believed the position was worse than it was. In a sense he colluded with White in the win, because in the position which has now arisen he plays a move which guarantees defeat.

Here Black plays Rad8, which allows White to prop us the d6 pawn via a simple sequence: Qe3+, Kh7, c5. The game continued for another 15 moves or so, but Black may as well have resigned after Rad8, which allows the white pawns to be connected and eventually produces a near-zugzwang. The only viable move to play in this position is b6, which keeps Black in the game. The rooks will eventually pick up the dangerous d-pawn, and there are good drawing chances, though it would be a tricky endgame to play against someone as fast and skilful as Harris.

On board 2 Nick Grey lost in a French Winawer to Oliver Weiss, a strong new recruit at South Norwood. On board 3, David Shalom was having the better of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted until he blundered. Later he said he thought it was the result of feeling too relaxed about his position – often a moment of danger.

Kingston thus lost on all three top boards against higher-rated opponents, but they fared far better on boards 4 to 6. On 4, Charlie Cooke outmanoeuvred the always solid Ken Chamberlain to get a point back for Kingston, and on 5 Ed Mospan continued his good run of recent form with a win against John Ganev, going two pawns up and never relinquishing his advantage.

That left board 6, where I had a frustrating game. I positionally battered my opponent, South Norwood veteran David Howes (rated 91 points above me), in the opening (Queen’s Gambit Declined) and middle game, but failed to break him down and had to settle for a draw. So victory for South Norwood and a tale of what-might-have-been for Kingston. The Centenary Trophy (division 4 of the Surrey League), is no walk in the park, and we are now 0/3, but despite defeat here there were some positive signs and hopes of better times ahead.

Stephen Daines, Kingston third-team captain

Surrey League division 2 match played at Coulsdon on 20 November 2023

At 2-0 down just over two hours into the match, this looked bleak for Kingston 2 against a strong Coulsdon 2 side, with six players of 1850 strength on boards 2 to 7, and a 2000-plus player, Ian Calvert, on board 1. Frankly, with my position against Nick Edwards on board 5 going downhill fast and other games unclear, I feared a thrashing.

John Foley had gone wrong in a tactical melee on board 2 and lost to Paul Jackson. With White on board 6, Nick Grey played an Alapin Sicilian and said afterwards that, after what he considered Black’s inaccurate 2…Nc6, he was dreaming of a sequence he had seen in several games: 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 d5 5. Nc3 dxe4 6. d5 Ne5 7. Qa4+ Bd7 8. Qxe4 Ng6 9. Nb5 Nf6 10. Nd6#.

Very nice, but sadly it remained a dream. Black played the more conservative 5….e6 and Nick’s dreams of a brilliancy were stifled. He nevertheless continued to believe he could exploit what he considered a dodgy move order and went for a big attack against Black’s uncastled king. But he couldn’t quite make it work, and down on both material and time there was no way back once the assault had been neutralised.

So 2-0, but now the fightback began. Alan Scrimgour, with Black on board 3, played expertly to get on top in a tight game. “Playing against a Closed Sicilian,” Alan explained afterwards, “I got some piece activity at the cost of an isolated queen’s pawn. The position was finely balanced until my opponent unwisely exchanged his fianchettoed bishop for a knight, only realising afterwards that it didn’t win a pawn. The subsequent white square weaknesses proved difficult to defend, and while I missed a win I still had a good position. White’s efforts to bolster his kingside white squares left the black ones weak, allowing my queen to enter, winning a piece and the game.”

On board 4, Jon Eckert with White essayed a Grand Prix attack against yet another Sicilian. This position was reached:

Here Black made a key error. He played 10. dxe4, but that hands White a healthy advantage. The best move was Ba6, which is still marginally better for White, but gives Black plenty of counter-chances. As it was, the move played allowed Jon to dominate the centre of the board with his queen, attack the black queen along the d-file and plant a knight on e5, attacking the loose pawn on c6. The bishop can never take the knight or Black becomes horribly vulnerable on the dark squares. Jon went on to win the exchange, and, despite his opponent’s valiant efforts to create complications, eventually the game, with his two rooks harassing the black queen on the seventh rank. An excellent Eckertian effort to make it 2-2.

Peter Andrews was playing Ian Calvert in a high-class match-up on board 1. The two had played many times previously and Peter had not managed to win with Black in four previous encounters. Calvert played the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack (1. b3), and they reached this already complex position after 7. Qh4:

“I’d had up to here the last time I had Black against Ian and played Bd7, which led to early exchanges and a draw in 29 moves,” Peter recalled. “Looking at the game afterwards (with digital help I admit – I have no books covering this) I found that exf4 gives a much sharper game, of the sort which a 1. b3 player might be trying to avoid.” This more double-edged line soon led to this position:

The game proceeded: 11. Nbc3 Qf7 12. Bxc6 bxc6? “A serious mistake,” says Peter self-critically, “since Qf2 would give White a slight edge, Black being better up to here. I had planned c5 and then d4, blocking his black square bishop long enough to activate my king’s knight, missing that after 12. Qf2 c5 13. b4 d4 14. Ne4 Black’s game is falling apart. White presumably made the same oversight, because he acted to deter c5. Bxc6 was correct and still slightly better for Black.”

White then made a miscalculation of his own, playing 14. d4 in this position:

“This is a mistake,”says Peter, “after which I kept reasonable control of the game. His bishop diagonal is blocked and I can at last develop my kingside: 14…Bxa4 15. bxa4 c4. There is a nice trick here, but both players missed it: Ba3 is possible because after Bxa3 Qh3+ recovers the piece. Black is still better, but less so than the game.

After White’s 23. h3, Peter felt he was on top and ready to attack:

“White’s pawns on d4 and f4 are weak and Black has more entry points on the kingside than White on the queenside,” he explains. There was still an almighty time scramble, but pieces were exchanged and the position resolved itself into a rook and pawn endgame in which Black was clearly better. A crucial win, giving Kingston a 3-2 lead in the match.

Gregor Smith had good drawing chances on board 7, but blundered in time trouble in another rook and pawn endgame. Forget everything else – just learn to play rook endgames! That left the score at 3-3, with just the two captains left standing – me and veteran Nick Edwards. It felt like a spaghetti western.

In truth, Nick completely outplayed me, torturing my rooks with his knight while I could find no decent squares for my own knights. I felt I was being given a positional masterclass. In the position below I started to worry that White’s Nf5 would lead to a sac followed by mate:

The engine suggests the calm Nf8-g6 to staunch the attack, but instead I became fixated on getting the queens off, even though I knew I would stand worse afterwards. I fear I was opting for a slow death rather than an embarrassingly early exit. So I played 19… Qb4. What follows was worse than I feared: 20. Nb5 Qxd2 21. Rxd2 Re6 22. Nxa7 Rce8 23. Nb5 Rc8 24. a4 g6, producing this position where my pieces are hopelessly uncoordinated and my rooks still under the spell of the knight on b5.

The position above felt lost to me, not least as I was well behind on the clock and almost down to my last five minutes (when players are allowed to stop recording their moves, given that the increment is only 10 seconds). But I kept fighting and repositioned my knights, using one as a (very ugly) defender and the other as a (very speculative) attacker. After my 30th move this was the position:

It is still bad for Black, but marginally less bad than it had been five moves earlier. Nick knew he had a plus, but was a bit slow to exploit it – he needed to infiltrate with his other knight. I managed to get some counterplay and my time trouble seemed to affect my opponent more than me – a not uncommon occurrence, especially when one side has to score (because they still have more than five minutes on the clock) while the other doesn’t. An opponent of mine in a tournament long ago complained loudly about this injustice (after he had lost a drawn position), and I can see his point. Perhaps both players should be allowed to stop scoring – in effect to play blitz – once one of them hits the five-minute line.

As it was, my opponent unexpectedly blundered a piece and I was suddenly – and quite undeservedly – winning. Now I just needed to keep my nerve and hold the endgame, where I had rook and knight against bishop and knight – and an extra pawn to boot. Easy-peasy, except that my endgames are notoriously ropey. Or as Peter Andrews tactfully put it, “We know Stephen’s endgames can go off track.” “For a while I was too nervous to watch,” Peter said later, “so went to the kitchen for a coffee. But I could not control my hand sufficiently to get the powder from the jar into the cup without jerking some of it on to the counter.”

Luckily I was not aware of the powerful emotions being stirred (or in this case not stirred) behind me, and felt relatively calm as I went about exploiting my advantage. No doubt there were cleaner, less gut-wrenching ways to win, but I found a route, boiling it down to a king and pawn endgame in which I had the passer. I had beaten a very good player, though not without an enormous slice of luck, and we had won 4-3 in a crucial match – a victory that gives us a fighting chance of survival in a tough division dominated by other clubs’ first teams. Now I think we all deserve that cup of coffee.

Stephen Moss, Kingston captain in Surrey League division 2

Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 16 November 2023

I often feel over-the-board league chess has close ties to Test cricket. Both are long, tactical games, with players trying to strategically overcome their opposite number at the other end. Some may say (Magnus Carlsen included) that classical chess is outdated, left in the dust by more the trendy versions of blitz and bullet. Much like the gluttonous marketeers of the cricketing world who have attempted to make Twenty20 and The Hundred the new norm. 

But there was something wholesome and authentic about this meeting of Kingston and visitors Richmond and Twickenham at the Willoughby Arms, facing off using the Thames Valley League’s new, longer time control of 80 minutes plus a 10-second increment, allowing for a more “relaxed” three-hour playing session.

Kingston’s team could be likened to the make-up of England’s Test team of the late 1990s, who, despite having great strength at the top of the order, were often said to have a “long tail”. We had 2000-rated John Foley, Julian Way and Alan Scrimgour opening the batting, with 1700-rated Stephen Moss, me and David Shalom hoping to provide a bit more firepower than England’s lower order of Andrew Caddick, Alan Mullally and Phil Tufnell did 25 years ago.

This was in stark contrast to the the Richmond and Twickenham side, which appeared to be more aligned with England’s modern-day, Bazball approach to Test cricket, with consistent firepower right throughout the order, so much so that there was less than 100 rating points between Sampson Low (1869) on board 1 and Pablo Soriano (1779) on the bottom board. 

Kingston’s top order batted sensibly, Atherton-esque, all securing important draws. However, John Foley and Alan Scrimgour’s innings were far less eventful than Julian Way’s on board 2. He had an explosive encounter with Kingston Surrey League team-mate Jon Eckert, who played with great aggression and imagination, winning the exchange and causing problems for Julian all over the board. But Julian created enough counterplay with a kingside assault of his own to sow a seed of doubt in his lower-rated opponent’s mind and eventually, with time and exhaustion becoming factors, a draw was agreed. Jon may have felt Julian could force a perpetual check, but objectively he was still winning.

It was a tremendous game, and one of those occasions where Jon will be wondering whether to take solace from the many fine attacking moves he played or ultimately be disappointed that he let his opponent off the hook. In chess, keeping a sense of perspective and learning to be philosophical are essential. So often, especially at club player level, games you deserve to win end in disaster, and games you deserve to lose are somehow salvaged from the wreckage. Nothing ever quite goes according to plan.

There was another quiet draw on board 5 as my Accelerated Dragon was met by Simon Illsley’s Maroczy bind set-up . This eventually led to the swapping of queens and an agreed draw, with both players feeling insecure about their chances in the endgame. 

But it was indeed Kingston’s lower order who stepped up to put the crucial runs on the board. Tailender David Shalom emerged better after his opponent made a tactical error in time trouble and managed to force home victory. And on board 4 Stephen Moss, clearly scarred from two recent endgame nightmares (where poor technique and blind panic had turned level games into losses), was relieved to make his piece advantage tell in a time scramble, securing the point that clinched the match.  

This made it 4-2 to Kingston – the first second-team victory of the Thames Valley season. Credit to Richmond and Twickenham who battled well, especially at the top of the order where they were heavily outrated. For Kingston it was a satisfying night, but there will be even tougher tests to come. 

Gregor Smith, Kingston 2 captain in Thames Valley division 2

Thames Valley League division 1 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 13 November 2023

I wasn’t at this match, being otherwise engaged in a second-team encounter, so the news when it came through on the club WhatsApp group that we had only managed a draw came as something of a surprise. We had sent a strong team to Maidenhead, who have themselves struggled in the opening rounds of Thames Valley division 1. But when we saw the team they had assembled, all became clear, especially with the very strong IM (surely soon to be GM) they fielded on board 1. Matthew Wadsworth’s surprise inclusion showed they were taking this match very seriously.

Kingston captain David Rowson takes up the story. “There were several surprises and edge-of-the-seat moments last night,” he emailed me the next day. “First, of course, their team line-up. Charles Bullock, on board 1 in one of their previous matches, was on 5, and their board 1 was a bit of a shock.” That said, Wadsworth’s inclusion and the strength of both teams made for a fantastic match, with a 3-3 draw in the end a fair result.

On board 1 David Maycock, with White, was level against IM Wadsworth’s Caro-Kann, and they had reached this position by move 15:

Here David played the somewhat speculative 16. Qc7, perhaps hoping to induce a pawn move that might result in a weakness. But instead Wadsworth played the simple 16…Qb5, winning a pawn: 17. b3 Rac8 18. Qg3 Bxb3 19. axb3 Rxe2. 17. b4 would have been a slightly better option for White, but Black would still have retained an edge.

As it was, the variation David opted for led to the loss of a second pawn, and Wadsworth boiled down the position to a rook-and-pawn endgame in which he was two pawns up:

Because Black had two sets of doubled pawns David played on for another 20 moves, but IMs have that title for a reason, and Wadsworth calmly consolidated his advantage and created a passed c-pawn.

On board 2, Kingston FM Vladimir Li, playing Black, had a complex game against Andrew Smith. Vladimir was the exchange down, but he felt the position of his knight in the position below gave him some compensation, and the engine agrees, though clearly White retains an edge.

The game proceeded: 25. Rd6 Nxa2 26. Nxa6 Rxc2 27. Rd8+ Bf8 28. Rb8 Rc6 29. Ra3 Nc1. White is winning here, but both players were short of time and he chose what might be thought the obvious – but incorrect – move:

White played 30. Rxb5 – grab that pawn?! But much better is 30. Kf1, to cut off the knight’s escape route. The knight’s inability to move would have been likely to be decisive, but White’s error gave Black a chance: 30. Rxb5 Ne2+ 31. Kf2 Nxf4 32. Rb8 Kg7 33. Ra4.

This is another mistake – this is a time scramble remember – and if Black plays 33…Rc2+ here, picking up the g-pawn as well, he will have the edge. But Vladimir was perhaps concerned about White’s b-pawn and shored up his defences with 33…Bd6 instead. The position is now dead level. A few more moves were played, but a repetition of rook checks by Black in the position below produced a drawn game.

Peter Lalić, with White on board 3, enjoyed a surprisingly painless win against the talented junior Soham Kumar. Peter, who loves peculiar openings, so surprised his opponent by withdrawing his b1 knight back to its home square from c3 on move 5 that Kumar gave up his pawn on e5 for nothing. Peter never looked back, and by move 26, in the position below, he is completely winning thanks to the advanced e-pawn:

A few more moves were played, but Black’s position in the face of what became a pair of connected pawns is hopeless, and the youngster resigned. So 1.5 apiece on the top three boards.

On board 4, Kingston captain David Rowson had Black against the experienced John Wager. “It was a story of what-might-have-been,” said David afterwards. “The opening four moves were interesting – a slight variation from my usual Old Indian, known as the Wade System: 1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. e3 Nd7.” Bg4 is the key move of the variation; it’s then a question of whether it’s good or bad for White to chase the bishop away, as he did. It should have been not so good for him in this case.”

In the position below David has a healthy edge, but he should have played 20…gxh4 immediately rather than throw in an attack on the white queen with Bf8. The position was level after that and, with time running short, a draw was agreed.

On board 5, Peter Andrews, with White against Charles Bullock, triumphed in a manic time scramble which could have gone either way. This was the position after some early tactical complications:

“At which point,” Peter explained later, “you could say that it slowly dawned on me that my position was more problematic than I’d realised, with g4 and d3 both weak. But I also had attacking chances down the h-file and (as became apparent later) down the f-file. After Qa6 I had to worry about Nd4 followed by Ba4 which could trap my queen unless I got some stuff off the back rank, and Ba4 was also going to be a problem if I played Rb3 (with his knight on e5). Trying to protect the weaknesses while making a kingside counter-attack happen was too complex for me, so I burned all my time, but also for him, hence several mistakes on his part towards the end.”

Scroll forward and we arrive at this position after White’s 29th move:

Black is actually much better here, but again time is short and he will of course be fearful of being mated on the h-file. In the complications which ensued. Peter won a piece and, by threatening a back-rank mate, also secured Black’s dangerous passed pawn. A vital win for Kingston.

Peter reminded me of a nice coincidence later: “You might also remember writing in your report of the second-team match at Maidenhead in May, in which I mated the same opponent in mid-board with a minute left on my clock, ‘How can two such mild-mannered characters engage in such brutality over the board?’ Well, I think this was even more bloodthirsty. I’m certainly very fortunate to be 3-0 against him after three of the worst time scrambles I’ve had in the past year.”

That made it 3-2 to Kingston, and the result hinged on the bottom board, where Kingston’s Gregor Smith was outrated by almost 300 points and playing Black. But this does not faze Gregor, who is nothing if not resilient, and he fought hard against another talented Maidenhead junior, Bohdan Terler. Playing a Sicilian and after an early exchange of queens, Gregor had a small plus by the middlegame, reaching this position after White’s 23rd move:

Gregor continued to play sensibly and entered a rook-and-pawn endgame a pawn up, though engines suggest that (as usual in rook-and-pawn endgames) it is a theoretical draw. But rook endgames are nightmarish, and heartbreak was lurking for Gregor: under time pressure, he went wrong in the position below:

Here he played 51… Rb6, forgetting that White’s 52. Rf1+ would both win a pawn and put Black’s king offside. White’s advantage thereafter was decisive, and the Maidenhead youngster, who hails from Ukraine, showed good technique to convert. And the move Gregor should have played to secure the draw? Can you see it? It’s 51…e3! Then if 52. Rf1+ the game proceeds: 52…Kg3 53. Kxe3 Rxd5 and, despite Black’s extra pawn, the game will be a draw because the black king is too far from the pawn to give it support.

Gregor’s defeat made the match 3-3, but Kingston had the consolation that the draw left us on top of the table (see below, under the scoreboard for the match) with 3/4 in a very competitive Thames Valley division 1. The season is, however, young and there is all to play for among seven very well-matched teams, all of whom can be strong if they get their best players out. Defending our Thames Valley title this year will not be easy, as the opening batch of matches and the fact that our rivals are upping the ante has proved.

Stephen Moss

Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 13 November 2023

Despite the one-sided scoreline, this was an enthralling match. On paper, the two teams were fairly equally matched, but Guildford had most of the breaks and emerged as 5-1 winners. We thought we deserved more than that, but we would say that wouldn’t we?!

Charlie Cooke got an excellent draw on board 4, defending well against his opponent’s kingside assault. Nick Grey had a promising attack on board 2, but his opponent achieved parity in a fiercely fought contest. That secured Kingston’s other half-point.

On board 6, Josh Lea went a piece down early on and never really managed to create any counterplay. Ed Mospan was a pawn down but did seem to have good counter-attacking chances until his opponent’s kingside attack overwhelmed his defences and forced the exchange of queen for knight.

Stephen Moss on board 1 and Adam Nakar on board 3 both had slightly the better of their respective middlegames, but were up against wily and experienced opponents who kept their cool and turned the situation round in the endgames. Stephen had what appeared to be a nailed-on draw, but foolishly exchanged rooks, leading to a king-and-pawn endgame in which his opponent’s king was more centralised and could dictate terms.

Poor time management also meant that Stephen was having to calculate on the increment in an endgame where there was no margin for error. Quickplay finishes, now standard in the Surrey League, are forcing players to think and play a little faster. Unfortunately, Stephen seems yet to have got the message. After this defeat, which left him visibly frustrated and annoyed with himself, perhaps the new demands will finally sink home.

Stephen Daines, Kingston 3 captain

Surrey League division 5 (Minor Trophy) match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 6 November 20

Kingston 4, the additional Surrey league team we are fielding this season, is designed to help blood new talent, and it was great to see three juniors making up half of the team as a strong Dorking second team came to visit. Kingston went 1-0 up when board 3 was defaulted – Dorking’s captain unfortunately couldn’t find the Willoughby Arms. In his defence, it can be a little tricky: hidden away in a maze of identical-looking streets in north Kingston.

Sean Tay, playing on board 1 for Kingston, tried a knight sacrifice in order to open up a path to White’s king, but his opponent managed to find an escape route and expertly saw out the piece advantage to tie the match at 1-1. Ed Mospan, who has made a welcome return to the club this season, won an excellent attacking game on board 2. He advanced his queenside pawns early, eventually managing to break through and clinching a great win against his higher-rated opponent to make it 2-1 to Kingston.

Normally, it’s the juniors’ games which finish first, but here Kingston’s youngsters were playing with poise and patience. Ethan Bogerd, making his club debut, went a piece down against the experienced Peter Lawrence, but had compensation thanks to a passed pawn on the flank that he managed to advance quickly. Ethan put his opponent under immense pressure, bringing all his pieces into the attack, but Peter held his nerve and defended resolutely, managing to swap off and consolidate, eventually making the piece advantage tell and levelling the match. 

Jaden Mistry, whose chess has progressed rapidly since making his Kingston debut last season, was playing excellently on board 4, carefully advancing his queenside pawns and maintaining a small advantage. But his opponent managed to halt their progress with a well-placed knight, and, while Jaden nimbly switched his attack to the kingside, his opponent was just in time to promote while also stopping Jaden’s pawn, which had reached the seventh rank. That win gave Dorking a 3-2 lead. 

The final game saw young William Lin on board 6, grinding out a rook-and-four-pawns endgame. Completely unfazed by the occasion, the match score and the crowd of onlookers, William played confidently and precisely, creating a passed pawn on the flank and marching his king up the board to offer support. His opponent, in contrast, played too passively, with his king and pawns out of the game, leaving his rook to do all the defending.

William was able to force an exchange of rooks and promote his pawn, securing a 3-3 draw in the match. An excellent performance from the youngster, who after the game remarked that he was more excited to be up way past his bedtime than with his crucial victory. Oh to be young! 

Gregor Smith

Surrey League division 1 match played at the Guildford Institute on 6 November 2023

All good things come to an end. The first team had not lost since the pandemic, but the run perished on a cold Monday away at Guildford. Depleted by the absence of several regulars, we still had the rating edge on the top three boards but were outrated on the lower five.

Your reporter was one of the absentees, but returned from a bridge tournament in Athens halfway through the session.  By that time, Alan Scrimgour had drawn a short game on board 6; an innovative placement of his bishops against the Caro-Kann had not come off, and the tension soon evaporated.

On board 8, Stephen Moss, who had kindly deserted the fourth team to fill a gap, had misplayed the opening against a youngster who was moving very quickly. Stephen was already starting to feel time pressure when he found an opportunity in this position.

He played Nxa7+ Rxa7 Bxb6+, and had hoped this would win the rook outright, leaving him the exchange ahead, having missed Rc7.  The combination still won a rook and two pawns for two minor pieces, and the three connected passed pawns on the queenside looked good. But after White lost an important tempo, the black king was well placed to hold them up without the support of the white rook, while on the other side the black pawn majority supported by the two bishops soon overwhelmed White.

John Foley on board 5 had a fairly short draw. He had had the better of the black side of a Caro-Kann up to the position below. It looked natural to equalise material and attack the white queen with 12… Nxe5.  But it was better to be patient: 12… d4 13. Ne4 (or Na4 Qa5 14. b3 Nf5 and either the g- or e-pawn will fall) Qxb2 14. Nd6+ Kf8 15. Rc1 Rd8 16. Qb5 Qxb5 17. Nxb5 Nxe5 and Black has a significant advantage. Thereafter the game soon petered out as a draw; still a decent result as Black.

Jon Eckert on board 7 came under some pressure in the opening as his king was forced to d7. But he found some counter-chances, and his opponent’s sacrifice of a piece for two pawns, although dangerous, looked unsound. However, Jon ignored a routine recapture in favour of a move which he wrongly thought was winning, and found himself two pawns down in an ending. Bishops of opposite colours gave him a chance, but his opponent lost or sacrificed his bishop for another pawn, and Jon’s bishop could not hold all the pawns.

David Rowson’s Alapin Sicilian resulted in an IQP (isolated queen’s pawn) position with which he never felt comfortable, as he struggled to get middle game play sufficient to compensate for the long-term weakness.  He felt under pressure before the point at which Stockfish first felt his position was materially worse. In the position below, David played the natural Be3, when Qe3 was recommended.  After 22… Bb8 23. Rc5 Qd6 threatening mate in two, 24. f4 was forced, but that left the white king far too exposed and Black soon won decisive material.

David Rowson’s game was nevertheless still alive for long enough that we had chances to hold the match if our top three scored heavily.  Peter Lalić, who has recently threatened some “slowdown” chess, holding level middle games and grinding his opponents in endings, stayed true to his earlier “rushdown” principles against Surrey county captain Clive Frostick, gambiting an early pawn for free play. Eventually that free play led to regaining the pawn, but that left too little tension in the position and a draw was agreed.

When I first toured the room, I found it difficult to understand the games on the top two boards.  And having played them through with help from electronic intelligence, I still find them difficult!

David Maycock played an early g5 in front of his castled king which most of us would not have considered, and which encouraged his opponent to play h4.

I was surprised when David accepted the pawn sacrifice, apparently opening up his king, but it seems to be the best move.; White is too undeveloped to exploit the open files, the h4 pawn is well protected, and for the moment controls g3.  The advantage fluctuated until White finally regained the lost pawn with 25. Rxh4, which misplaced his rook.

David found 25…Be4, which contains the sort of trap which often wins games.  Any sensible rook move roughly holds the balance. Instead the natural 26. Bxe4 allowed Rxe4 pinning the knight on g4 to the rook on h4.  After 27. f3 f5 (the point of Be4 was to clear the way for this pawn, in turn opening an attack by the queen against the rook on h4 while the pawn hits the knight on g4)  28. Rh1, David could have won two pieces for a rook with Rxe2 followed by fxg4, but instead played a crushing exchange sacrifice; after 28… fxg4 29. fxe4 Nxe4 he was dominating the board, and with Qg5 and Rf8 set up an irresistible attack. 

In the position below, Black is threatening Bf4+ and g3, trapping the K. White could only find Ng3, giving up the knight and losing in short order.

Mike Healey’s game with White against Roger Emerson on board 2 was even harder to follow, not helped by extreme time pressure. Computer analysis shows that it was only in time pressure that he wriggled out from being slightly worse, and at one point lost, to winning.  The last 20 moves, which is when much of the action happened, have had to be reconstructed.

This was the position after White’s 30. Kh2, close to the point when he stopped recording (ie had less than five minutes on his clock): 

It seemed to me that White now had the edge, with more room for manoeuvre, and Black’s queen’s bishop even sillier than White’s. But Black has a strong plan here: Bb7 followed by Bc8 lines up a dangerous attack against White’s king.

In the position below, White is lost. Black can play 34… Nxe4, and Qxe4 is not possible because of Qxh3 mate.  The white pawn on d5 is weak, and Black can play Nd2 to swap off the white king’s bishop, which would otherwise be activated by the loss of the d4 pawn.

After Black had missed that chance, this position was reached, with White to play his 43rd move:

Now White is on top, and after 43. Nxb5 g5 (hoping to exploit the pin on White’s f-pawn) 44. e5 set problems (an attack on the queen and on the knight on h7) which Black failed to solve. (Remarkably, Stockfish says this position is equal, whereas White could have won with the highly unnatural Na7).  Why, when White is winning a piece? Because the black counter-attack is dangerous. The last critical position arose after 49. Kf1:

Now 49… Rh2 followed by 50. d7 Bxd7.  51. Qxd7 f2  would have forced White to play for perpetual check by 52. Qc8+ Kg7  53. Rxg5+ Qxg5  54. Qg8+. Instead Black played 49… Rg3, and after 50. d7 Bxd7 51. Qxd7 Kg7 52. Qd4 Qxd4 53. Nxd4 Black resigned; the three extra pawns do not compensate for two extra pieces. 

This was the last game to finish, and by the end it was clear that it was only a consolation goal for Kingston, but to have games of this originality and excitement on the top boards is indeed consolation for lovers of our game who can look beyond mere results. For the rest of us, we hope to do better when Epsom come to Fortress Willoughby at the end of the month.

Peter Andrews, Kingston 1 captain in Surrey League division 1