Alexander Cup, Epsom, 22 November 2021, board 1

The top board in a match is very often the last to finish and this game was no exception. The players were totally engrossed in this titanic struggle and were playing on the increment for most of the complex ending. The advantage changed hands several times, both players having eschewed a chance to take the drawing option. This win was Epsom’s only win in this knockout match and was very well deserved.

Alexander Cup, Epsom, 22 November 2021, board 2

Peter Lalić took the Kingston team over the winning line with this gloriously eccentric victory against Epsom in the Alexander Cup.

Alexander Cup, Epsom, 22 November 2021, board 3

David Maycock secured a stylish win over veteran Kevin Thurlow playing against the isolated queen’s pawn in the Alexander Cup match.

Alexander Cup, Epsom, 22 November 2021, board 5

In this Torre attack, Black plays passively and White induces some pawn weaknesses leading to the destruction of Black’s queenside. The outcome of this game was not critical to the match as Kingston had already won.

Alexander Cup, Epsom, 22 November 2021, board 9

John Saunders, erstwhile editor of Chess magazine, thought this win by John Bussmann was the game of the match. He writes: “Admittedly his opponent made a couple of positional howlers in the opening, but John’s exploitation of the opportunity was immaculate. If someone had shown me the score of this game and told me that Mickey Adams or Keith Arkell had been Black, I would have believed them.” 

Surbiton 2 v Kingston 1, Thames Valley League division 2, United Reformed Church, Tolworth, 2 November 2021

The Budapest Gambit

Peter Lalić takes the opportunity in this superbly annotated game to delve deeply into the Budapest Gambit following his game with Liam Bayly from the match against Surbiton in the Thames Valley League. He reflects on reading his father’s book on the gambit and on the benefit of detailed game analysis as a way to develop chess understanding.

Surbiton 2 v Kingston 1, Thames Valley League division 2, United Reformed Church, Tolworth, 2 November 2021

A tremendous game by Jon Eckert in the form of his life beating a much higher-rated player. Match report.

Kingston v Epsom, Lauder Cup quarter-final (Board 5), Willoughby Arms, Kingston, 1 November 2021

This was Yae’s first game for Kingston.

A fine debut.

Both players travelled from Kingston upon Thames to Kingston upon Hull to play in one of the new over the board congresses. Inevitably they were paired against each other in Round 4 when they were both standing on 2/3.