Thames Valley League division 2 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 8 May 2023

Peter Andrews’ victory in this game – the last to finish on the night – earned a 3-3 draw for Kingston B away to league leaders Maidenhead A, and ensured that the team would not be relegated from division 2 of the Thames Valley League – a threat which has been hanging over us for most of the season. Both players went for the jugular in this game, and the mate which Peter conjures up – while in severe time trouble – is a most satisfying and elegant one. A memorable game to end a hard-fought match.

Surrey League division 1 match played at St Winefride’s Church Hall, Wimbledon on 20 April 2023

This was the board 8 game in Kingston’s 4.5-3.5 victory over a powerful Wimbledon team in the Surrey League – a result that meant Kingston won the league title with a perfect eight wins in eight matches. Kingston lost on the top two boards and at one point looked likely to lose the match, but Peter’s crucial victory over Tony Hughes and wins for Will Taylor and John Foley turned the tide. Hughes’s ambitious play may not be wholly accurate, but it is certainly scary, and Peter needed all his nous to blunt his opponent’s attacking intent, gain a hefty material advantage and ultimately carry Kingston to victory.

Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023

This was the board 3 game which ultimately decided the fate of the 2023 Alexander Cup final. Kingston’s Silverio Abasolo had to beat IM Chris Baker, or the match would have been drawn 5-5 and Battersea would have taken the title on board count. Fortunes swung both ways, time became a factor, spectators became anxious, but Abasolo was the calmest person at the Adelaide pub and eventually prevailed to ensure that Kingston retained the trophy.

Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023

The board 4 game between Mike Healey and Viktor Stoyanov was pivotal in Kingston’s victory over Battersea in the 2023 Alexander Cup final by the slender margin of 5.5-4.5. The match was an intense and dramatic one between two very fine sides, and here Mike plays a tremendous game to make possible Kingston’s win against a higher-rated team. Mike being Mike, his knights naturally lead the charge.

Surrey League division 2 match played at the United Reformed Church, Tolworth on 11 April 2023

This game was played in a crucial match in Kingston 2’s battle to stave off relegation in division 2 of the Surrey League. We won the match against Surbiton’s first team 5-2, greatly helped by Peter’s win against the doughty Nick Faulks on board 3. They have met over the board half a dozen times, and Peter was keen to annotate this relatively short game as he found it instructive. “I suggest two lessons,” he explains. “One, for me, is that if one is playing an opponent whom one has played before, it cannot be assumed that the opening will repeat, especially if one achieved a good position in the previous game. The other is that it illustrates a useful principle expounded by John Nunn: LPDO, Loose Pieces Drop Off!

Kingston 1 v Coulsdon (CCF) 1, Surrey League division 1, Willoughby Arms, Kingston, 27 February 2023

As John Foley says, playing rated games against very strong juniors is never easy. Banerjee was here playing on board 6 for Coulsdon 1 against Kingston 1 off a Surrey rating of 1667. His live ECF rating is actually 2029 (shouldn’t Surrey be recalibrating to match reality?), his Fide is close to 1900 and he is among the strongest players in the world in his age group – nine and under. Deploying his usual acute and accurate endgame skills, John won the game to help Kingston to a 7-1 victory (later adjusted to 5-2 because of a board order infringement), but he accepts that he may never do so again as young Banerjee ascends the chess ladder to titledom.

Kent Under-2050 v Surrey Under-2050, 15 October 2022

Encouraged by John Foley to turn out for Surrey’s under-2050 team, this was Kingston stalwart Peter Andrews’ first county match for about 40 years. He was playing on board 1 against Kent’s David Clear, and the game hinged on Peter’s disaster with an extremely hot cup of coffee. Always beware the Coffee Gambit!

Thames Valley Knockout Cup quarter-final, Willoughby Arms, Kingston, 6 December 2022

This game, between Kingston star Peter Lalić and IM Gavin Wall, was board 2 in the Thames Valley Knockout quarter-final between Kingston and Richmond, which Kingston won 5.5-0.5. Peter’s victory was a crucial one in laying the foundation for the team’s success. John Saunders, associate editor of Chess Magazine and founder of the BritBase games archive, kindly agreed to annotate the game. He said this about it: “Quite an educational game. Gavin’s moves tallied closely with engine suggestions, because he’s a good player, but there was an element of risk there which was exemplified when he overlooked Peter’s clever and unusual tactic.”

Thames Valley Knockout Cup quarter-final, Willoughby Arms, Kingston, 6 December 2022

This game was board 6 in the Thames Valley Knockout quarter-final between Kingston and Richmond, which a powerful Kingston team won by the perhaps slightly flattering scoreline of 5.5-0.5. The veteran Peter Andrews and the up-and-coming junior Andrii Boiechko played a very sharp game in which Andrews eventually blunted Boiechko’s admirable attacking instincts. The latter has quickly learned the lesson that capture the king and nothing else matters, though Andrews – cleverly combining defence with an assault of his own – had too much nous on this occasion.

Bird Rapidplay, Kingston, 14 February 2022

This game was played when Mike Basman visited Kingston Chess Club to give a talk on the Victorian chess player Henry Bird. He pointed out that Bird (who gave his name to the Bird’s Opening 1.f4) played a variety of unconventional openings but rarely the eponymous opening. In order to recreate the same spirit of unconventionality, Mike devised a format that evening whereby the first move for Black and for White was randomised. It was on this basis that the opening moves for his game against Peter Lalić were determined. Ironically, given that both Mike and Peter play unconventional openings, it is perfectly possible that they would have played the same opening as occurred in the game even if they had not been constrained to do so.

The Old Indian Attack is characterised by 1. d3 and 2.Nf3, so White is holding back from occupying the centre with pawns. The opening was first essayed in competitions during the 1850s and was popularised by Aron Nimzovich at the turn of the 20th Century. Nimzovich’s seminal Chess Praxis was Mike’s favourite book. (Mike preferred the simplified spelling of the Riga master’s name.)

We would have forgotten these games but a couple of months later Mike unexpectedly produced a booklet on Henry Bird which included a brief overview of the master as well as the games from the Kingston Bird Tournament. I reproduce his annotations below. We are grateful for having received this publication which draws parallels between the lives of Bird and Basman. Mike Basman died on 26 October 2022.

John Foley