First-round game played at the Kingston Invitational on 24 July 2023

This was one of the games played in the first round of the Masters section at the 2023 Kingston Invitational. If Vladimir Li could win it, he knew his Fide rating would rise about 2300 and he would thus secure the FM title. With so much riding on the game, he had done some serious preparation and it paid dividends.

Surrey League division 5 (Minor Trophy) match played at the North Star, Chessington on 18 October 2023

This was a game played in division 5 of the Surrey League between two players with an ECF rating of around 1600. It is not chess of an especially exalted standard. There are mistakes aplenty, and the game is one of those typical evening-match rollercoasters where the evaluation oscillates wildly, especially as time runs short. Ed Mospan, a Kingston stalwart who has returned to the club this year after a pandemic-induced break, enjoyed the game, felt he learned a lot from it, and offered this annotation. It is evening chess, played at 75 minutes a side with a 10-second increment, in its rawest form. Anything can happen, and both sides will have chances. Ed makes the final error and could have reacted badly to losing a winning position. But he’s not made that way. Instead he makes the best of it and prepares for the next friendly encounter. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” as Nietzsche (who really should have played chess) so sagely put it.

Middlesex v Surrey under 2050 county match (board 1) played at All Saints Church, Child’s Hill, London NW2 on 14 October 2023

This was the opening county match of the season. The four home counties (Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Surrey) scrap it out to see who progresses to the national finals later in the season where they invariably play strong teams from Lancashire and Yorkshire in a remote Midlands location. The home team usually has a strong advantage in getting all their 16 players out. With our weaker team, the pressure was on me to perform.

Previously, we had played in the adjacent community hall of All Saints church. This time we played in the nave of the church itself. The setting was lovely except there was only one toilet in the vestry for 64 players (the under 1650 team was also playing), which was literally inconvenient. This gave me every incentive to finish my game early.

Surrey lost 10- 4. Match card

South Norwood v Kingston, Lauder Trophy, West Thornton Community Centre, 5 October 2023

This was a tremendous game played in the Lauder Trophy first-round match between Kingston and South Norwood. It was later described by a veteran Kingstonian as “one of the most amazing games I’ve ever seen”, and features three occasions when queens are trapped in the corner of the board. Peter Lalić’s win was enough to secure a 3-3 draw in the match, and to help Kingston through to the next round on board count. Since this was the board 1 match-up, winning here was crucial in securing the tie-break by 12-9.

UK Blitz Open Bridgend Qualifier, round 9, played on 30 September 2023

An impressive win by Kingston stalwart Peter Lalić, in this qualifier for the UK Open Blitz Championships against the prodigious Bodhana Sivanandan, the world under 8 girls champion.

Alexander Cup board 1 game played at Streatham on 3 October 2023

A remarkable victory by David Maycock over FM Venkat Tiruchirapalli in the opening match of the season. The game features two exchange sacrifices and ending with a beautiful zugzwang. One observer called the game “grandmasterly”, and it certainly underlines the 19-year-old’s great potential.

Wernick Cup game played at the Sultan pub, Wimbledon, on 26 June 2023

Newcomer Hayden Holden is enjoying a fine run in the Wernick Cup – a Surrey Association individual trophy for players of about 1600 ECF and below – visibly growing in self-belief, as this fine attacking game shows.

Kingston Summer Blitz, Willoughby Arms, 19 June 2023

The summer blitzes at Kingston have proved popular, attracting players from other local clubs. The giantkiller prize in the tournament on 19 June went to Kingston president John Foley, who defeated Peter Lalić in round 3 (in the game shown below) and David Maycock, who lost on time, in round 4.

Wernick Cup game played at the Sultan pub, Wimbledon, on 22 May 2023

Hayden is a relatively new member at Kingston – one of the group of young players who joined after lockdown – and has already made a huge contribution to all aspects of the club. As this game in section four of the Surrey Individual (designed for players of about 1500 ECF and below) shows, he is making rapid progress and promises to be a real force in future years.