Category Archives: Games

Ken Inwood v Thomas Landry

British Boys’ under-18 championship, Hastings, 17 April 1953

Illustrated London News 25 April 1953

The 1953 British Boys’ Under-18 Championship attracted 38 entries and was run on the Swiss System, with nine rounds between Monday evening, 13 April, and Friday night, 17 April. The winner, K. F. H. Inwood, of Tiffin’s School, was the London Chess League’s nominee; he beat T. A. Landry, of William Ellis School, in the last round, by a good king’s-side attack, after the latter had overlooked the winning of a pawn earlier. Landry and G. Jessup, also of William Ellis School, shared the second and third prizes with 6½. M. F. Collins, Sandbach School, Crewe, P. Gough, King Edward VI School, Norwich, J. T. Farrand, Haberdasher’s Aske’s, Hampstead, and A. Hall, of the same school, with P. Starling, of Middlesbrough, all scored 6.  Amongst the also-rans was Anthony Leggett, who went on to win the Nobel prize in physics. In the opinion of Sir George Thomas, the general standard of play was higher than last year, but there was no boy outstanding. 

Thomas Anselm Landry (19 August 1935 – 11 January 1996) went to Pembroke College, Oxford and played in the Varsity match of 1955. Tom Landry was a noted draughts/checkers player, who held the record for winning the London Championship 11 times in all and also the 1983 Northern Ireland Championship. He was president of the English Draughts Association and personally financed (and played in) the 1973 Great Britain vs America draughts match. He wrote books on the subject. He was a stockbroker and insurance consultant.

Here is the key game from the last round with both players on 6.5/8. The game shows the Inwood hallmark: first a period of calm and balance in which he is always the equal of his opponent and then an inexplicably easy finish against a defence that disintegrates.

The top four members of the England team in the Glorney Cup 1953 were recruited from the event. Ken was on top board with Landry on board two.

Ken, who is 86 and has been a member of Kingston Chess Club for more than 70 years, recently entered a nursing home in Woking. We wish him well.

Ken Inwood playing in a simultaneous display given by IM Stefan Löffler in 2019

Sources: Britbase; Kingston Chess Club Magazine (February 1975)

Vladimir Bovtramovich (Kingston) v Ronald Harris (South Norwood)

Kingston 2 v South Norwood 2, Surrey League division 4 , Willoughby Arms, Kingston, 10 January 2022

Vladimir Bovtramovich won a fine game on top board against the dangerous attacking player Ron Harris which enabled Kingston to secure a draw in the match against South Norwood.

Peter Lalić v Matthew Wadsworth

London Chess Classic Blitz 4 11th December 2021

by John Foley

I am acquainted with both players having captained Matthew Wadsworth when he was a junior playing for my 4NCL team and having known Peter Lalić from when we played a memorable game of chess in the Surrey League and subsequently since he joined Kingston Chess Club. Both players are talented and even a blitz game between them is always likely to be full of interest.

Peter Large (Epsom) v Michael Healey (Kingston)

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.

Peter Large (right) about to move against Mike Healey

Peter Lalić (Kingston) v Michael Dams (Epsom)

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.

Kevin Thurlow (Epsom) v David Maycock (Kingston)

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.

David Maycock v Kevin Thurlow, with Peter Lalic, Mike Healey and Epsom’s new giant scoreboard in the background

Post-mortem analysis

John Foley (Kingston) v Robert Hamilton (Epsom)

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.

John Foley

Robert Hamilton

Matthew Baker (Epsom) v John Bussmann (Kingston)

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.” 

John Bussmann (left) v Matthew Baker

Liam Bayly (Surbiton) v Peter Lalić (Kingston)

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.

Peter Lalic (Kingston)

Liam Bayly (Surbiton)

Jon Eckert (Kingston) v Paul Dupré (Surbiton)

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.