Peter Large won the 16th blitz held at the All Saints church in Kingston on 26th November 2025 with 5.5/6

The phrase ‘irresistible and smooth’ refers not only to the style of play of IM Peter Large in winning All Saints Blitz XVI but also to the first prize of a box of Lindor salted caramel chocolates. Peter has now won 7 of the 16 All Saints blitzes, just enough to open a confectionery kiosk in the market square for Christmas. He dropped half a point in the penultimate round to Graham Keane, the second highest rated player to Peter.

The XVI was held in the heritage room of the church which is a quiet and comfortable space to the side of the church with wooden flooring, panelled cupboards, and a vaulted ceiling. It was also warm which was welcome on a day starting at -2°C.

There were 12 participants in the blitz including former winners Peter Large, Robin Haldane and Marcus Gosling. The time control was the usual 3 minutes per game plus 7 seconds per move. We treated ourselves to six rounds which meant each game followed immediately after the other without intervening chitchat.

Many games swung between comedy and tragedy. Several games were lost on time in a winning position. Tactics were missed given the short time control. In round 1 (photo above), Graham Keane as white had three connected pawns, a sheltered king and a queen against Alan Hayward’s queen and isolated pawn with the king exposed in the middle of the board. Nevertheless, Graham somehow managed to lose when black’s king went on the attack.

It was excruciating to watch some endings. On the optimistic side, players can improve simply by studying basic concepts such as the “opposition” in king and pawn endgames. A study of rook endgames is required to disprove the doleful but pragmatic perception of JJ Walsh that “Rook endings a pawn up are generally drawn – but rook endings a pawn down are usually lost.”

Graham won his next three games and faced Peter Large in round 5. The two top rated players agreed a quick draw after a level opening – the only draw of the entire event.

All Peter had to do in the final round was avoid defeat against Alan Hayward who can be a dangerous player. Alan managed to whip up a dangerous attack but ran out of time trying to prosecute it. So Peter ended up with 5.5, a clear point ahead of the field. Peter said afterwards that he keeps coming because he enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of the All Saints Blitz.

We took a midway break to officially present a cheque for £250 as the club’s donation to the Saxon Kings Embroidery Project. As president, I handed over the cheque to the Revd. Joe Moffatt, vicar of All Saints, thanking the church for hosting the chess and expressing our particular interest in the tapestry of Æthelred the Unready as the unofficial club patron saint. In turn, the vicar said that they were very happy that we used the space as part of the community and brought custom to the cafe. He noted that we were friendly and flexible.

Final standings

5½ IM Peter Large (Kingston)
4½ Graham Keane (Crystal Palace)
4 Robin Haldane (Streatham), James Pooler (Epsom)
3 Alan Hayward (Pimlico), Marcus Gosling (Epsom), Peter Roche (Kingston), Dominic Fogg (Kingston)

Full results

List of All Saints winners

Marcus Gosling won the 15th All Saints Blitz on 29 October 2025, continuing a strong run of form. Above: receiving the prize from John Foley

The event was restricted to 12 registrants because the playing area is now shared with the seasonal Christmas card display. We added four walk-ins to the starting line-up, as befits a friendly event. We lacked some regulars, including Robin Haldane, Chris Briscoe and John Hawksworth, while Peter Large was battling in the FIDE World Senior Championships in Gallipoli, Italy. Hence, there was a golden opportunity for a new recipient of the first prize – the coveted box of Lindor chocolates.

When the monthly blitz takes place at half term, we get a wider range of participants. Hence, we were graced by the presence of Marcus Gosling, the president of Epsom Chess Club. Marcus’s rating has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of last year and he recently joined the 2000 club. We suspect he is studying chess seriously at last or maybe Epsom salts have some special ingredient. It is rumoured he is working on a book provisionally titled “From Suburban Obscurity to International Fame.”

Marcus deserves praise for rising to the occasion and winning his first five games, defeating the highest-rated entrant Graham Keane (2119). In the final round, he lost to Surbiton’s Joshua Pirgon, so both players ended up with 5/6. Marcus received the prize on tie-break.¹

Marcus was modest in victory, declaring that “Joshua is a more deserving winner, as he got the better of me in our individual encounter – there is no perfect tie-break solution.” However, after the number of entrants was expanded, we extended the tournament from five rounds to six rounds. If we had remained with five rounds, Marcus would have been the clear winner.

Discontented at his last-round loss, Marcus immediately burned the midnight oil and has found a more astute defence in the Sämisch Variation of the Nimzo-Indian courtesy of Svetozar Gligorić. His quest for self-improvement is never-ending.

The other player who made a mark was junior Ethan Kim, a graduate of the Kingston Chess Academy, who scored 4/6, defeating Joshua in the first round and losing to Graham and Marcus.

Final standings

5/6 Marcus Gosling, Joshua Pirgon
4/6 Ethan Kim, Anthony Hughes, Graham Keane
3/6 Jon Eckert, Alan Hayward, David Shalom, Peter Roche, Kevin Bowyer, Stephen Moss

Complete standings

List of previous winners

Note

1. We pre-declared the Bucholz tie-break method, which calculates the sum of the opponents’ scores. The decisive factor was that Marcus had defeated Graham Keane (4/6), whereas Joshua did not defeat any players on 4/6. Whilst a direct encounter tie-break would have given the prize to Joshua, it would complicate matters if there were several people on the same final score. Fide has committees to deal with the thorny issue of tie-breaks. The summary opinion of Stephen Moss, who organises the Kingston Invitational, is that “all tie-break systems are flawed”. Whatever method we select, the match results will contrive to prove it wrong.
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14th All Saints Blitz, played at All Saints Church, Kingston, on Wednesday 24 September

The series of All Saints Blitzes resumed on the last Wednesday in September, having had a break to enjoy the hot summer. We had a select bunch of participants who were gearing up for the new season.

The favourite Peter Large suffered a setback in round 3 when he came a cropper against Surbiton’s Joshua Pirgon. Peter fell for a queen fork against his king and a loose rook. Peter, however, kept his resolve and won in the last two rounds. The final standings saw three players on 4/5: Peter Large, Chris Briscoe and Robin Haldane. Peter won on tie-break by the thinnest of margins (using the Buchholz Cut 1 method) reflecting the fact that Peter played all the strongest players : Hayward, Haldane, Pirgon, Keane and Briscoe.

Joshua Pirgon came in fourth, along with Stephen Moss – the highest placings they have achieved in the All Saints Blitz so far.

The event was held at the same time as a school group was enacting the coronation of King Athelstan in the other side of the church. Although there were cries of acclamation for the new King of England, the players did not flinch or complain.

Final standings

After a hectic summer of challenging norm events, Peter Large is back in the old routine – winning the Kingston autumn Blitz with a perfect score of 6/6

September dawns and with the change in the weather comes the first stirrings of the new chess season. This opening blitz tournament, ably organised by Ed Mospan and Julian Way, got the juices flowing in good style. It was competitive but friendly, involving not just Kingston members but a smattering of welcome guests from other local clubs.

It was won, as these events usually are, by resident Kingston IM Peter Large, who had just arrived back from playing in the Sussex University Invitational – his third tough norm tournament in successive weeks. Peter had had a challenging summer, but his love of chess is unquenchable and he said this was a chance to get back into the winning groove.

So it proved, though he had plenty of testing games and said afterwards that he had had inferior positions in quite a number of them. His round 4 game against Richmond’s Maks Gajowniczek and round 6 clash with Jasper Tambini were especially nerve-racking, but Peter came through them both. What a competitor he is.

Maks took second place with 4.5/6, beating your correspondent with some ease in round 5, while Jasper was among a group of four players in joint third on 4/6. That group included strong juniors Zain Patel and Ethan Bogerd and new Kingston member Martyn Jones, who was a strong junior a few decades back and has now returned to chess after a long break. All in all, an excellent evening to get the 2025/26 season under way.

Standings

Stephen Moss

Saxon Fayre at Canbury Gardens, 26/27 July, 2025

A celebration of 1100 years since Athelstan was crowned the first king of England and 150 years since the foundation of Kingston Chess Club

It is the year 925 and Athelstan, alongside a parade of his most worthy warriors, dignitaries and towns people cross the bridge into Kingston upon Thames at noon to celebrate his coronation. The parade moves with a drum beat to Canbury Gardens to Athel’s Town, a glorious place comprising the the Saxon Fayre and a Saxon encampment and reenactment staged by Regia Anglorum. We are reminded us the skills and trades of the Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons, as they were later called, derived from the Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, which migrated to Britain after the Romans left in 410. We saw a reenactment of the coronation, a battle with swords, poles and shields, tapestry making, flax weaving, pottery, a forge, their dwellings and a lot of other fascinating aspects of Saxon village life. Athelstan, one of the seven Saxon Kings of England, merged Mercia and Wessex to create England. Kingston, as the name suggests, was at the heart of the Kingdom, being a crossing point on the Thames. Peace did not last as England was later invaded by the Vikings from the 780s.

Kingston Chess Club were stallholders at this event, as we were last year when it was held in the Market Square, but with a more substantial presence this time. We had two gazebos (provided by the Council), a giant chess set (from The London Chess Centre), and five fold-up trestle tables belonging to the club. We helped out the Malmesbury History Society with a table in the spirt of co-operation between Kingston and Malmesbury: Athelstan was crowned in Kingston and buried in Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Our two new pull-up banners proclaimed that we were celebrating 150 years as a chess club. We also had a couple of menu signs saying Kingston Chess Club.

On my quick tour of the encampment and a visit to the Dark Ages Society, I picked up some random Saxon factoids:

• We don’t know much about the games the Saxons played because they main used wood or stones. However, glass survives well and some pieces of glass may have been used for games. The Saxons never figured out how to make glass so they melted down glass from the Roman period.
• There are more Saxon coins in Scandinavia than in England because the Anglo-Saxons had to pay off the Vikings to stay away (the “Danegeld”). The Vikings didn’t have much use for Saxon money so they melted it down into silver for trading.
• Sugar came mainly from honey and so the Saxons were keen beekeepers. Even their beer was fermented honey and water with some fruit and spices, known as mead.
• The Gaelic term “Sassenach”, used in Scotland and Ireland to refer to a foreigner or English person, is derived from the word “Saxon”.

The Saxons played games carried over from Roman times. The most notable game from the Viking period was hfnefatafl, which means “king’s table” which was played throughout Scandinavia and the Celtic territories. The board is set up as a battle between two armies – one army has a king who must try to escape with the help of his soldiers; the other army tries to stop him. All the pieces move as rooks, and captures are by sandwiching the opposing piece between two of yours. The game looks intriguing and many people came over to try it out. Ultimately, hfnefatafl was replaced by chess which arrived with the Vikings in the 12th century – see Lewis Chessmen.

During the weekend, we enjoyed a steady stream of visitors, mainly youngsters, and the tables were full for both days. The weather was warm and sunny both days with only a five-minute shower on Saturday. There was relaxed, friendly atmosphere as people played chess on the tables. Many people asked about teaching their children chess. We answered their queries, signposted what they could do next and took their details for follow up.

Members from Kingston Chess Club who assisted on the rota included Greg Heath, Alan Scrimgour, Stephen Moss, Ed Mospan, Rob Taylor, Mark Sheridan, David Rowson and Peter Andrews. Leila Raivio and Correr Chen were vital volunteers. Leila sewed and block-printed the tunics, and took most of the photographs. Correr Chen offered a warm welcome to visitors. Other club members popping along included David Bickerstaff and Malcolm Mistry who had been monitoring the Saturday match where his son Jaden Mistry, playing for Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club, bowled out Club Chair-elect Peter Andrews of West Wimbledon 3rd XI.

The giant chess board proved a popular attraction.

There were plenty of competitive chess games

The tables were busy

The chess stall commanded a high profile

Ed Mospan found his calling.

Stephen Moss ran the Sunday session

John Foley ran the Saturday session

4th SCCU/London Club Championship held at St Luke’s Church, Hampstead on Sunday 21 June 2025

Photograph: John Foley (captain), John Bussmann, Vladimir Li, Supratit Banerjee and Peter Lalić

Kingston capped, or should that be cherried, an extraordinary season by winning the London Team Championships organised by the Southern Counties Chess Union. This unique event brings together teams from London and the Home Counties which normally compete in different leagues. Kingston played in the top section of three, which was limited to an average rating of less than 2200 ECF. It was the hottest day of the year with temperatures over 30C, which affected some players more than others.

Each team comprised four players with an optional reserve. In our case, the team was 1) Supratit Banerjee 2) Peter Lalić 3) Vladimir Li 4) John Bussmann with me as captain/reserve. The line-up conformed with the average rating provided that John Bussmann played in each round, which meant there was a lot of pressure on John.

The tournament was supposed to be a Swiss format. However, one of the teams dropped out late and the organisers modified the format so that no player would miss a game. Although well-intentioned, the practical consequences of a triangular format embedded into the Swiss format left us wondering if it is worth avoiding byes. Under this arrangement, three teams play each other wherein each round boards 1 and 2 play different opponents from boards 3 and 4. The players were confused as to whom they would play, and online followers were confused about the match results. There was a delay after each round to sort out pairings. The tournament director David Gilbert reassured everyone that matters were under control as the laptop master Michael Flatt grappled with the pairings.

In round 1, Supratit won, as did Vladimir, against Ian Snape (see start of game below).

Kingston won in the first four rounds but could only draw against Pimlico in round 5. Vladimir’s game in that match is shown in the Games section. In a fitting finale, Kingston faced Richmond & Twickenham in the final round. R&T are formidable opponents well known to Kingston. They had won the event on each of the previous three occasions it was held. On top board, Supratit drew with occasional Kingstonian Michael Healey. Peter accepted a draw offer from Gavin Wall in what was shown afterwards to be a winning position.Vladimir beat Maks Gajowniczek.

In the final game to finish, John Bussmann decided to play aggressively against Martin Benjamin as the best way to obtain a draw. He sacrificed a piece and was rewarded with perpetual check. The game was a draw, the match was won, the London Team Championship was won and so was the historic octuple of victories.

Supratit had a tremendous result undefeated on board one with 5/6. The prize for the best performance at the event went to Vladimir Li who scored 6/6. These two were the engine room of the team.

In the final ranking, the Dummy entries are there on account of the triangular match. We are unable to provide any explanation of their purpose.

We celebrated by repairing the famous Old Bull and Bush in Hampstead for a liquid refreshment.

John Foley, Kingston Chess Club president

The largest ever All Saints Blitz, held on 28 May 2025, ended in a dramatic three-way tie between WFMs Emma and Eunice Hng and IM Peter Large, with Eunice awarded first prize on tie-break

The friendly monthly blitz at All Saints has now turned into an Event with a capital E. We had 30 participants on Wednesday 28 May at the wonderful All Saints Church in the centre of Kingston. Given that we had twice the number of usual attendees, we added one more round to the format – so six rounds rather than the usual five. This surge of interest was due to the rare coincidence that the last Wednesday of the month was on a half term. Hence we had a lot of juniors who decided to occupy their time constructively.

We were delighted to be joined by the Hng sisters, Emma and Eunice, who are both women Fide masters from Singapore and have previously represented Epsom Chess Club. They played brilliantly and tied for first place, along with the ever-present Peter Large, on 5/6. Eunice beat IM Large, the first time he has lost at All Saints, in their crucial round 5 clash – he has previously won the tournament outright on five occasions. But Emma then got the better of her sister in a magnificent final game, in which a lengthy endgame captivated the watching audience (see photograph above).

In the end, tournament controller John Foley awarded Eunice first prize on tie-break. Eunice deserved to win as she beat Peter Large. It was good to see the sisters fight out the last round rather than agree a soft draw. Even though Emma beat Eunice, Eunice had played stronger opponents and picked up first prize, a book on the World’s Greatest Chess games, while Emma received a box of chocolates.

Peter was happy to receive only a modest chocolate bar, having overdosed on large chocolate boxes from his previous wins.

The prize for the top junior went to William Lin, who scored 3/6. William beat the second-placed Emma in the first round. This was a fine week for William, who also picked up the junior prize on the May Bank Holiday Blitz at the club on Monday.

The prize presenter was Alan Scrimgour, the club chair. Alan found himself in the awkward situation of having to present the prize to himself with his fourth place (using the Sonneborn-Berger tie-break for those who had not already won a prize) with 4/6. After some ungainly arm movements from Alan, club captain Stephen Moss stepped up to present yet another chocolate bar to Alan. Moss also managed 4/6, so may have been trying to grab the chocolate for himself. A memorable end to a memorable event. If the tournament gets any bigger, we may have to upgrade to a cathedral.

Final results

Hng, Mei-En Eunice 5/6
Hng, Mei-Xian Emmanuelle 5/6
Large, Peter G 5/6
Scrimgour, Alan 4
Haldane, Robin W 4
Kumaresan, Darshan 4
Gosling, Marcus 4
Rowson, David J 4
Moss, Stephen 4
Pirgon, Joshua 3.5
Hayward, Alan 3.5

Previous winners

Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) January 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) February 2024
David Rowson (Kingston) March 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) April 2024
Robin Haldane (Streatham) May 2024
Alan Hayward (Pimlico) September 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) October 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) November 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) January 2025
John Hawksworth (Kingston) February 2025
Peter Large (Kingston) March 2025
Peter Large (Kingston) April 2025

David Maycock scored a perfect 6/6 to win the Kingston Bank Holiday Blitz, but young Zain Patel ran him close on an evening when the juniors shone

You have to be in it to win it. Quite a few of the Kingston big guns chose to sit out the Kingston Bank Holiday Blitz, held at the Willoughby Arms on Monday 26 May, but candidate master David Maycock put his reputation (and rating points – the event was ECF rated) on the line, and he triumphed in style, winning all six of his games.

The time control was the novel three minutes plus a seven-second increment – something we have come to think of as the “Kingston control” (we first used it in the monthly All Saints blitzes). Some young players mock it as blitz chess for oldies, preferring the high-pressure 3+2, but we reckon it makes for a better game, giving players more thinking time and having fewer games decided on time alone.

The key encounter of the tournament came in round 4 when David faced Zain Patel, the eventual runner-up with 5/6. Zain, with Black, was better in the middle game and had excellent drawing chances in an endgame with bishops of opposite colours, but David, with an extra pawn, was remorseless and Zain let it slip.

Both won their remaining games to secure first and second spots. Youngster William Lin was third with 4.5, gaining a whopping 61 blitz rating points in the process. Kingston president John Foley, Zubair Froogh, Peter Roche and Richmond’s Maks Gajowniczek tied for fourth with 4 points, and David Rowson, Surbiton’s Graham Alcock and 11-year-old Ethan Kim came next with 3.5/6 – a brilliant result for the talented Kim. The full final table can be found on Chess Results.

Twenty-eight players took part – the capacity for the playing room at the Willoughby – including nine from other local clubs. As we develop a roster of tournaments, we hope to make this inclusivity a feature. It increases the level of interest, ups the pitch of competition and changes the dynamic, allowing players who usually only meet fleetingly to get to know each other better. Summer plans include two more blitzes, a FischerRandom tournament and a Saturday rapidplay. Thanks to Julian Way and Edward Mospan for organising a very successful evening and pointing the way forward for future events.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Played at All Saints Church, Kingston, 30 April 2025

Peter Large won the 12th edition of the All Saints Blitz with a perfect score of 5/5. He has won the event each of the five times he has entered. There were 16 entrants spanning a range of expertise from beginner to international master.

Peter is at the peak of his career, having been a key member of the England over-65 team which this season won both the World and the European titles. He enjoys playing chess and it is a credit to the All Saints Blitz that he is participating.

For the first time, we played not in silence but to the accompaniment of the organ where we were treated to a practice session of church music written by the blind French composer Jean Langlais. Some players were able to screen out the music, others found it uplifting, whilst a minority found it interfered with their concentration. One person compared it favourably with the Irish folk music at the Willoughby Arms.

Peter Large said that none of the games was easy. Even in the first round, when his opponent turned up late, Peter was happy to be paired with FM Julian Way, who had turned up to observe the first round and departed for his volunteering duties at Oxfam afterwards.

If this were a rated event, then Peter’s rating would have jumped from the modest ECF 2053 to a still underrated ECF 2080. Top players usually play in Fide-rated tournaments and do not pay much attention to their ECF rating, especially for rapid and blitz. In Peter’s case, his Fide rapid rating is 2250, which is more realistic. It is a pity that the ECF does not try to achieve a better alignment between their domestic ratings and the international ratings. The forthcoming SCCU London Team Championships is based on ECF rapid ratings and team selection takes advantage of this discrepancy.

Alan Hayward from the Pimlico club came second on 4/5, with a fine kingside attack in the final round against IM John Hawksworth. Had there been a sixth round, Peter and Alan would have played each other. Five rounds is usually enough to generate a winner and there is no plan to change the current format, which allows the participants to have a chat between rounds and patronise the café.

Alan Scrimgour played all three titled players IM Peter Large, IM John Hawksworth and CM Chris Briscoe and ended with a creditable 3/5. (The other titled player, FM Julian Way, only played the first round as a filler.) The most improved player was John Hawes, who scored 0/5 in the last blitz and jumped to 3/5 this time, far outstripping his estimated rating of ECF 1200.

Results

1st IM Peter Large 5/5
2nd Alan Hayward 4/5
3rd Robin Haldane 3½/5
4th-8th IM John Hawksworth, Alan Scrimgour, John Hawes, Peter Roche, Genc Tasbasi 3/5
9th-13th Stephen Moss, CM Chris Briscoe, Robin Kerremans, John Cattermole, David Shalom 2/5
14th Kevin Bowyer 1½/5

Past winners

Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) January 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) February 2024
David Rowson (Kingston) March 2024
Tony Hughes (Wimbledon) April 2024
Robin Haldane (Streatham) May 2024
Alan Hayward (Pimlico) September 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) October 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) November 2024
Peter Large (Kingston) January 2025
John Hawksworth (Kingston) February 2025
Peter Large (Kingston) March 2025