Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 6 March 2023

Let’s be honest, this was not a good night for Kingston 3 – going down by 5-1 to Guildford 4. But on reflection the one-sided scoreline was understandable. We are still trying to bring on new and young players, whereas Guildford fielded a very experienced team, with veterans Peter Horlock and Mike Gunn in the middle order. The Guildford players were rated between 1628 and 1758, and the rating gap with Kingston was huge. The fact that this was Guildford’s fourth team shows what a large and powerful club Guildford is. How nice to have such depth.

As each game progressed the experience of Guildford’s players showed, but hopefully It was a good learning experience for Kingston’s team. The key thing is not to get downhearted by defeats to strong players but to learn lessons from every reverse. What we really need at Kingston is a better organised mentoring system, so that match time can be married to a thorough analysis of games in the company of one of Kingston’s plethora of very strong players. This is a system we are actively looking to develop at Kingston: a “buddy” approach that will have the useful side-effect of giving the teams a common purpose and uniting the club, stopping silos of players developing based on strength.

I’ve left the one Kingston high spot of the match until last – David Shalom’s victory with Black on board 1 against Tony Garrood, who is rated more than 100 points above him. David is having a really good season on his return to competitive chess, and this was a tremendous result. Well played David and thanks to the rest of the team for a spirited effort against a nard-nosed side that will pay off in the long term by making our emerging players stronger.

Stephen Daines, Kingston third-team captain

Thames Valley League division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 6 March 2023

On 6 March we welcomed Richmond A to the Willoughby for a Thames Valley League match. Richmond were not at full strength, and suffered from a default on board 2. As usual (may this continue) Kingston had a very strong line-up, and the course of the match demonstrated the contrast implied here.

The match featured some opening lines for the connoisseur. Pride of place for its name alone must go to the Vienna Game Frankenstein-Dracula Variation which Will Taylor, as Black, bravely entered into against Jon Eckert. Anyone wondering why it has such an extravagant name could look at the brilliant game Ost-Hansen v Nunn 1974 (featured in John Nunn’s book Secrets of Grandmaster Chess). The variation was baptised by Tim Harding in his book The Vienna Game, due to the bloodthirsty character of the play in the main line.

Will’s game was sedate compared to Ost-Hansen v Nunn, but still very interesting. After 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3, Will played 5…Be7 rather than the provocative 5…Nc6, which leads to the sharpest lines.

Jon insisted on sharp play, however, and the game continued 6. d4 (Qxe5 is safer) exd4 7. Nb5 g6 8. Qf3 0-0 9. Nxd4, which allowed the sequence 9 …c5! 10. Nde2 c4.

Now 11. Ba4 is met by 11…Qa5+ 12. Nc3 b5 and if Qxa8 Black has Bb7 winning the queen. Jon played 11. Bh6 instead, and Will won two pieces for a rook, eventually forcing resignation in 44 moves.

At the other end of the tactical scale was Vladimir Li’s highly positional opening against Maks Gajowniczek. Maks played a Sicilian which led to a phase of intriguing manoeuvring in which Vladimir gained an advantage. He was clearly going the right way about capitalising on this when Maks allowed not a slow but a sudden and violent end to the game. In the position below, Maks played 34…Nd3. How did Vladimir win? (Answer at foot of column – no peeking!)

The games on the bottom two boards were perhaps more straightforward. On board 5, my opponent made an unsound piece sacrifice in the Giuoco Piano. I probably didn’t find the quickest way to realise my advantage, but eventually I managed it. On board 6, Alan Scrimgour played the Benoni Defence and reached this position:

Alan has just played 7…b5. This is not a gambit, because after Adrian Waldock’s 8. Bxb5, Alan came back with 8…Nxe4! 9. Nxe4 Qa5+ 10. c3 (Nc3 is better, as then Black has to exchange off his strong fianchettoed bishop to win back the piece, but Black would still have some advantage) 10…Qxb5. 11 a4 Qa6 (continuing to prevent White from castling and maintaining a positional plus as Black’s white squares are weak and White has two good bishops). Alan went on to win in 22 moves.

Finally, turning to the game on top board, David Maycock’s Ruy Lopez was countered by Gavin Wall’s Steinitz Defence Deferred (1. e4 e5. 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4, Ba4 d6), which went out of fashion after the 1930s but is now having a bit of a renaissance. After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 Bd7 6. d4 Nge7, David played the rare but forceful 7. h4, which Black countered with 7…exd4 8 cxd4 d5.

I’m guessing that both players were out of their opening books by this point. There followed a complex middlegame in which David went on the offensive, castling queenside and sac-ing a knight (he definitely believes knights are there to be sac’d) to open up Black’s king.

The sac is sound and gives White a very healthy, probably winning, edge. This is the key position that resulted a few moves later after Gavin’s 26…Rh6.

Here there is a winning move, but it is not easy to find. David plays complex chess and tends to get into time trouble, especially in evening league matches with their short time controls (and the Thames Valley League unfortunately has shorter controls than most). David played the very logical 27. Qa8+, which wins the knight back and seems to push the black king into no-man’s land. But it actually gives Black a plus after 27… Kd7 28. Qxb7 (28. Ba4+ must be played first to minimise the damage) 28…Rb6! The tables are now turned and Gavin finished the game with a perfectly judged tactical sequence: 29.Qa7 Rxb2+ 30.Kc1 Rxc2+ 31.Kxc2 Qxe4+ 32.Rd3 Qc4+ 33.Kd2 Bf4+ 34.Re3 Qxd5+ 35.Ke2 Ra8 36.Rd1 Qxd1+ 37.Kxd1 Rxa7 38.Re4 Bd6 0-1

So what was the move that David missed in the position above? What should he have played instead of 27. Qa8+? The winning move is 27. d6!!, not least because it would allow Qd5+ in the event of Rb6. An engine reckons 27. d6 gives White an advantage of +3, and offers this winning line (among others): 27. d6 Bxd6 28. Qa8+ Kd7 29. Qxb7 Rf6 30. Rd3 Ke7 31. Rgd1 Kf8 32. e5 Rxf2 33. exd6 cxd6 34. Rxd6 Rxd6 35. Rxd6 g6.

The move itself and and the tactical complexities that follow are hard to fathom in time trouble, even for players of David’s talent and vision. But after the game he did note an important principle that might have helped to spot d6. “It’s incredible”, he said, “how sometimes you just want to get rid of your material to make space for your other pieces.” That one intermezzo to remove his own pawn would have made all the difference.

The final result was 5-1 to Kingston, the same score as in our away match against them in November. This means that Kingston have reinforced our position at the top of the Thames Valley League, with 6.5 points from seven matches. A very strong situation, but there are still five matches for us to play, so chickens are not being counted yet. Nor will they be until long after Easter. Definitely eggs before chickens in this instance.

David Rowson, Kingston first-team captain

• Vladimir’s winning move was 35 Qxg7+, which led to immediate resignation because of 35…Kxg7 Re7++.

Surrey League division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 27 February 2023

In the first part of the season Kingston 1’s (or Kingston A’s, depending on which league we’re talking about) matches were sporadic, with the consequence that it’s only now, at the start of March, that we are just over halfway through the fixture list. There are a lot of matches still to play, but the good news is that we start this phase at the top of both the Surrey and Thames Valley Leagues. As they say, it’s in our own hands.

The match against Coulsdon 1 had been postponed in December because a snowfall created travel problems for the away team. No such problems on Monday, but Coulsdon were not as strong as they might have been, missing several players rated over 2100. In contrast, Kingston’s line-ups have been very consistent, and we were pretty much at full strength.

I lost the toss yet again, but was thus rewarded by having the white pieces myself, and then by a quick win, which broke a run of four consecutive draws. From a King’s Indian Attack set-up, with the central pawns exchanged by Black, the game was proceeding quietly, not to say dully, until I played a fairly obvious move which looked strong. Once it was on the board, it dawned on me that it actually won immediately.

Rowson-Rosenbach. Position after White played 20. B(d1)–b3. The game ended 20…Kh8; 21. Qf8+, Ng8; 22. Ncxe5, resigns.

The next game to finish, on board 3, also went in favour of Kingston. The Four Knights might not be everyone’s idea of a complex theoretical battle, but it’s noteworthy that Short used it to win against Speelman in their 1991 Candidates match. Mike Healey demonstrated that Black’s part in this opening need not be a passive one if you’ve studied it deeply enough. He took advantage of opening inaccuracies by Chris Howell, gaining a big lead in development and stranding White’s king in the centre. Howell grabbed a pawn with his knight, but a few moves later that same knight was forced to move to h8 to save itself – but only temporarily. Faced with losing material, Howell resigned.

Soon after this, Alan Scrimgour agreed to a draw, having not been able to make headway against Paul Jackson’s French Defence.  2.5-1.5 to Kingston, with to my eyes an overall advantage on the other boards. Silverio Abasolo, playing the Modern Defence, had gained material, and Vladimir Li was giving a perfect example of how to create a positionally won game from a small opening advantage (in this case, from the White side of a Caro-Kann Exchange Variation). John Foley, playing the other side of a Caro-Kann against the prodigy Supratit Banerjee, was coping well with what might have been a problematic kingside pawn structure (doubled f-pawns).

The two top-board games need at least a paragraph devoted to each. To say that neither of them was straightforward “classical” chess would be an understatement. Peter Lalić opened with his customary 1. Nc3, leading to a Jobava System (White had a pawn on d4, Nc3 and Bf4). It’s impossible to describe this game adequately without including all the moves, but suffice to say that Peter played Nc3 five times (after moving it to b5 each time) and Zoe Varney played Nb8 five times (after Na6 to protect her c7 pawn). Peter eventually gained the exchange and several pawns in their mutual time trouble.

Meanwhile, David Maycock, facing Ian Calvert’s Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack (1. b3) had sacrificed his e-pawn in exchange for freer development and a potential hold on the centre. As time trouble approached for David, he made a further sacrifice of his f-pawn. White’s position began to look powerful, but Ian, probably mindful of the 300+ rating points separating him from his opponent, offered a draw. On the first occasion David refused, but with little time left he agreed to the second offer.

On board 4 Vladimir completed his positional masterclass, so the score was 5-1 with two games left. Silverio’s plan was to use his extra piece to hunt down his opponent’s king. This resulted in not only the king, but also White’s two passed pawns, advancing up the board, and for a time things looked unclear. However, Silverio had seen a way to simplify to a won position and, realising this, his opponent resigned.

In the final game to finish, John Foley was again showing his expertise in minor piece endings. He crowned his play with a clever bishop sacrifice, after which his opponent, though a knight up, was unable to prevent one of John’s two passed pawns from queening.

Bxf3! wins. Afterwards John modestly described the move as “flash – and so obvious it does not need an exclamation mark”. We humbly beg to differ and have accorded it one. The game proceeded Nxf3 a3 d5+ Kd7 Ne5+ Qe8 d6 a2 d7+ Ke7 (not, heaven forbid, Kd8??, which would be a career-ending blunder, leading to mate in 2 after Kd6, a1=Q, Nc6++) Ng6+ Kxd7 Nxf4 a1=Q. The game is done, though young Banerjee played on to the bitter end as juniors are wont to do. (Is that something their coaches teach – never resign! – or just an instinctive survival gene?)

The (provisional) final result looked very one-sided (7-1), but the Coulsdon players fought hard despite being significantly outgraded. I wrote “provisional” in the last sentence because, unfortunately, the next day I realised I had accidentally not followed the regulations with regard to the board order. According to the Surrey League ratings, Silverio is 2283 for this season and Vladimir is 2196, a difference of more than 75 points, so their boards should have been reversed. Coulsdon had also made a mistake, as their boards 1 and 2 should have been the other way round. The Surrey penalty system in such situations is more than Byzantine, and the rather surprising result of both teams breaching the board order rules was that Kingston lost two points … and Coulsdon none. So the amended result was 5-1.

Thanks to Gregor Smith for allowing me to pinch John and Alan from his second team and to Greg Heath, as always, for setting up the furniture and equipment so that there was nothing for us to do except play.

David Rowson, Kingston first-team captain

Kingston’s second team draws three tough matches in quick succession to kickstart a so far frustrating season and give hope in two tricky division 2 relegation battles

For Kingston’s second team, the season so far has been characterised by a tough struggle in division 2 of both the Surrey and Thames Valley League. We cruised to victories last season, resulting in our first team being promoted. Our second team stepped up to the plate, but lacks the elo firepower. Nevertheless, we are still keeping our heads above water.

By a strange quirk of timetabling, we had plenty of match-free Mondays early in the season but now the fixtures are piling up. It’s been an intense period, with three games in eight days, all of which ended in draws.

Kingston B v Hounslow B: Thames Valley League division 2 played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 20 February 2023

The first drawn match took place at the Willoughby Arms – the return match against Hounslow B following our victory the previous week in the Thames Valley League. Hounslow turned up with some reinforcements this time and proved a stern test.

Alan Scrimgour was first to finish with a quickish draw on the top board. Hounslow’s impressive junior Vibhush Pusapadi claimed another Kingston victim, defeating Charlie Cooke on board 5, but Adam Nakar – making his second-team debut this season – won nicely on board 6 with a powerful attack against Barry Fraser. 

Meanwhile, I was again miserably succumbing to time pressure on board 4 and was dispatched by the quick and accurate Eugene Gregorio, who dismantled my pawn structure and forced home the victory. However, young Max Selemir won smoothly on board 3 against JJ Padam, who the previous week had held John Foley to a draw. 

This left Peter Andrews and Frank Zurstiege playing until lights out on board 2. The game was stopped and an adjournment was agreed, with Peter sealing his next move. After analysing the position with silicon assistance, a draw was agreed. “The computer evaluation is drawn,” Peter explained. “I made rather a mess of a good position by expecting him to succumb to my attack, but he missed a clear win as he fought back in my time trouble so I can’t complain.” Match drawn 3-3.

South Norwood 1 v Kingston 2: Surrey League division 2 match played at West Thornton Community Centre, Thornton Heath on 23 February 2023

With barely time to sleep and eat cornflakes, we were off to South Norwood three days later for an unaccustomed Thursday match. Acting second-team captain Alan Scrimgour assembled a strong seven-board- team to face off against our fellow Beaumont Cup basement strugglers. 

Peter Andrews wasn’t in the mood to hang about this time, and won swiftly with White on board 3 against Paul Dupré, deploying a neat tactical sequence that resulted in a loss of a queen or checkmate. A welcome 1-0 to Kingston. 

A series of draws followed – from captain Scrimgour, Max Selemir and myself, who, again in time trouble, panicked and took the easy way out. Nick Grey was beaten on board 7 by Kaddu Mukasa, and the match was again all square. Jon Eckert was unable to convert a promising-looking attack, expertly defended by opponent Roy Reddin and a draw was agreed. 

Everything hinged on the top board, where John Foley at one point held the advantage against Marcus Osborne but let it slip as they reached the time control. The players had agreed in advance to adjudication and the game position was duly noted. The engine could not find a decisive win in home analysis, so a draw was declared without having to reach the adjudicator. John had lost his previous two encounters with Marcus and was pleased to have secured a draw on this occasion. Another solid drawn match for Kingston. 

The adjourned position. White (Kingston) to play – h4 should draw.

Kingston B v Maidenhead A: Thames Valley League division 2 played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 27 February 2023

Having downed some breakfast tea and toast, four days later, we were back on the treadmill for an action-packed Monday night at the Willoughby Arms, where our first team were also playing in a vital eight-board match against CCF (Coulsdon). We used all our fancy competitive sets, which had been purchased for exactly an evening like this – two big matches conducted simultaneously. A tight squeeze between the tables, but a great atmosphere as we welcomed our opponents, Maidenhead A, who are flying high, unbeaten, at the top of Thames Valley division 2. 

A first-team match on the same evening meant we lost our top boards, Alan Scrimgour and John Foley, who had stepped up to the first team following a couple of withdrawals for medical reasons. It was going to be a tough task, our second team being outrated on five of the six boards. However, Charlie Cooke had other ideas and won impressively on board 4, taking advantage of an open centre with a neat tactic to win a piece and put Kingston one up.

Hayden Holden, who for the second time in a fortnight had filled in at the last minute on board 6, lost but put up a brave fight against his far higher-rated opponent. Hayden was proud of his performance, despite feeling he had let his advantage slip away. Adam Nakar was also left frustrated on board 5, feeling he too had let an advantage slip as he succumbed to William Castaneda. That loss put Maidenhead 2-1 up.

On boards 2 and 3, Max Selemir and I both drew, which left Peter Andrews playing a crazy game on top board and needing to win to draw the match. With just eight seconds left on the clock at one point, Peter sacrificed a piece in order to go in hot pursuit of his opponent’s king. Through a series of checks, he forced his opponent’s king on to the seventh rank, first winning back the piece and then delivering a memorable mate, with Qf1 being the final blow. Has anyone else ever delivered checkmate with a piece on your own first rank?) Thus was gained a spectacular point, securing Kingston a well-earned 3-3 draw against the league leaders. 

So, there it was. Three drawn matches in a busy eight days. Thanks to all who played. Particular recognition goes to Peter Andrews with 2.5/3 and Max Selemir with 2/3 across the three matches.

Gregor Smith, Kingston B captain in the Thames Valley League

Thames Valley League division 1 match played at the Mindsports Centre, Dalling Road, London W6 on 21 February 2023

This was a famous victory that potentially sets up Kingston for a historic double this season – winning division 1 of the Surrey League and the Thames Valley league in the same year. Kingston have certainly never achieved this, and as far as we can see only Wimbledon (twice – in 2016/17 and 2017/18) have managed it.

Last season Hammersmith won division 1 of the Thames Valley League, winning nine and drawing one of their matches. Clearly, this would be Kingston’s biggest challenge yet in our bid to win both this league and the Surrey League. Hammersmith had the edge on rating, but a close match was anticipated and so it proved. I had the dual role of chauffeur and reporter on the night – keeping the club updated on WhatsApp. There was a delayed start while the Leap digital clocks were reset, but eventually all the games were played at 65 minutes for all moves with a 10-second increment.

On board 1, David Maycock defended against a Catalan, while on board 2 Peter Lalić found himself playing Ali Hill, whom he had faced in a recent tournament. Silverio Abasalo played a French on board 4, while David Rowson was facing an early charge by Bajrush Kelmendi’s g- and h-pawns.

The match was finely balanced after 90 minutes’ play, with Peter Lalić a pawn down and David Maycock a pawn up but with tripled pawns. The match continued tensely over the next hour, with Kingston club members from far and wide (the website editor was on holiday in Florida feeling very deprived of chess news) hanging on the next WhatsApp update.  

By 10pm David Maycock was playing on the increment, while Peter and his opponent were down to three minutes each. The breakthrough came with a win for Vladimir Li on board 3, followed a minute later by one for Silverio on board 4. David Rowson’s draw on board 5 left Kingston close to success.

On board 2 a flurry of tactics transformed Peter’s pawn deficit into a winning rook and pawn ending, which he duly converted to win the match. On board 6, John Foley’s bishop was trying to stop two knights from escorting the remaining pawn to promotion, but Christof Brixel played the endgame flawlessly. David Maycock was last to finish, successfully holding a tricky rook and pawn ending. 4-2 to Kingston.

The turning point of the match was Peter Lalić’s game. Peter was in an inferior position for most of the game and was reduced to moving a rook up and down on the same squares. However, his patience paid off when he spotted spectacular rook sacrifice. 41. Rxf7+ wins in all variations. The rook cannot be captured because 42. Bxe6+ wins the queen.

A tremendous move to win a memorable match.

Alan Scrimgour

Thames Valley League division 2 match played at the Royal British Legion, Hounslow on 13 February 2023

After three successive defeats in division 2 of the Thames Valley League, Kingston B finally scored a point with a 4-2 win away to Hounslow B. The result gives us hope of survival in this division, though much will hinge on next Monday’s fixture against the same opponents and on our forthcoming matches against Ealing B. Credit to Kingston captain Gregor Smith, who had to juggle his resources after Nick Grey’s late withdrawal. Nick promises chocolate and other goodies as recompense next week.

The first thing to say about the match was that analogue clocks were used. Clearly this is far from desirable: fine if you are playing 35 moves in 75 minutes – the traditional Thames Valley League time control – but hopeless if you are playing to a finish, since without the increment allowed by digital clocks you can get flagged in a winning position. Which is precisely what happened to Gregor when he was two pawns up in the endgame on board 3. The perfect end to a trying day.

Happily, the captain’s unlucky defeat did not cost us the match. Playing Black, Alan Scrimgour won smoothly on board 2. In a closed Sicilian, his opponent attempted to close the position by playing f5 and c4. Both players kept their kings in the centre, with Alan using the break with g6. His opponent’s pawn sac on the queenside left Alan with a passed a-pawn and a likely endgame win. White responded with an unsound piece sac on the kingside which left him completely lost.

On board 4 I played my usual (wholly disreputable) Nf6 Scandinavian. My opponent’s passivity allowed me to get a slight edge early on, and I had the temerity to turn down not one but two draw offers (most unusual for me – I usually hit the bar as soon as possible). The middlegame position was fairly even, but my opponent blundered away the exchange and as we both reached our final five minutes on the clock (no increments remember, so a loss on time is still possible if the player who is down on material can keep the game going) we reached the position below.

I had expected Rd1 at this point, to swap rooks and exchange down to an endgame where he could at least try to flag me – my intention was to keep the pieces on and go for the jugular, which is indeed what happened. He failed to activate his rook and got mated a few moves later when I got both rooks on the second rank. But later I realised that Rd1 would have lost on the spot. Do you see why?

Black can simply play Qxb3! If the pawn takes the queen, Rxd1+ and Rd2 wins the queen back, leaving Black a rook up. A simple tactic, yet easy to overlook for someone of my strength. A stronger player would probably spot it instantly, even in a time scramble.

I exploited my opponent’s black-square weaknesses to win – my opponent unwisely gave up his black-squared bishop for knight early in the game – while on board 4 Charlie Cooke did something similar on the light squares, queen and bishop working in perfect harmony against a horribly compromised Black king. Those three wins were enough to see Kingston home.

On board 1 John Foley, ever the chess purist, fretted about the absence of digital clocks and could only draw with White against an opponent rated well below him, though of course we must give credit to JJ Padam for getting the draw in a 60-move game in which John carried on pressing for a win throughout. Another puzzle for you. What should Black play here to get a handy edge?

Black actually played Qd5, which frankly is a bit caveman. The best move is Bxg2!, which wins a pawn for nothing. The White king can’t recapture or Nf4+ forks king and queen. Always be on the lookout for opportunist tactics.

On board 6, Hayden Holden secured a draw with Black against a higher-rated opponent. White played a Spanish, Hayden deliberately diverted from theory early on and won a pawn, but White had the initiative, won the pawn back, and with material equal and a symmetrical pawn structure a draw was agreed. Hayden had been due to play in the third-team match at the Willoughby that evening and had to hotfoot it to Hounslow to turn out for the seconds. So he will definitely be getting an early Easter egg from the indisposed Nick Grey next week.

Stephen Moss

Thames Valley League division X match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 13 February 2023

Revenge was sweet with this win against Surbiton D, who beat us earlier in the season. The 2.5-1.5 victory was an unexpected one as we were outrated, and it took Kingston C top of division X of the Thames Valley League, though the chasing teams have games in hand. Optimistically, I have started to enquire whether there is a trophy for the team finishing first. (Spoiler: it appears that the prize is a clock.)

Colin Lyle succumbed on board 1 against Surbiton’s Colin Li – the battle of the Colins! – after a vibrant to-ing and fro-ing game. This is by no means discouraging for the Kingston Colin as the Surbiton Colin is far stronger than his rating of 1608 suggests. Greg Heath overturned a positional disadvantage on board 2 and accepted a draw from his opponent. Josh Lea, in his long-awaited debut for the club, beat his opponent with an aggressive game to level the score at 1.5 apiece. A terrific start to competitive chess for Josh.

So it was now all down to me. I had left Kingston A&E at 6.30pm following the diagnosis of a fractured shoulder. An hour later, I was lining up on board 3 against a player rated 1462. I had the black pieces. No pressure. White played a passive queen pawn opening, so I seized the initiative with a kingside attack which proved to be potent. White’s king fled but two pawns were lost in the process, creating two potential passed pawns for me on the kingside. My opponent resigned as my h-pawn headed for the queening square. For a brief moment, I even managed to forget the pain from my shoulder. The healing power of chess.

Stephen Daines, Kingston third-team captain

Thames Valley League division 1 and division 2 matches played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 6 February 2023

It was a bad day – or rather night – at the office. Kingston’s first team, up against Surbiton B, had high hopes of consolidating its place at the top of division 1 of the Thames Valley League, but the Surbitonians had other ideas and went home with a deserved 3-3 draw. Indeed, they might have had more, with Kingston players getting draws in two games which at one stage they looked very likely to lose.

Kingston were without two key players – Peter Lalić and Vladimir Li – but that is no excuse. We still outrated Surbiton by an average of 200 points a board, and there was no escaping the fact that this was a considerable upset. Not terminal – we are still narrowly ahead of the chasing pack – but a decided wake-up call. The loss of a half-point in a match where we were hot favourites to win now makes the club’s trip to Hammersmith on 21 February even more critical.

The evening started serenely enough. Peter Andrews played powerfully to win with Black on board 5, winning a piece with a neat tactical sequence and giving his opponent little or no counterplay thereafter. Surbiton’s Graham Alcock held John Foley to a draw on board 4 and Kingston captain David Rowson survived being a pawn down against Nick Faulks on board 3 to eventually equalise and secure a draw from a position in which it looked very difficult to find decent moves. A good save – and 2-1 to Kingston.

Meanwhile, things were not going well for Kingston chair Alan Scrimgour on board 6 against David Cole, always a redoubtable opponent. Cole had what looked like a winning advantage, but blundered in time trouble (which he admits he is prone to, especially at Thames Valley’s overly fast time controls) and Scrimgour confidently played an endgame in which his rook nullified Cole’s bishop and two pawns. Another crucial save.

That left the two top boards. We hoped David Maycock would be our banker on board 1, but for once it was not to be. Liam Bayly played with great finesse, blunted David’s attacking instincts, and got the upper hand in the endgame to secure a memorable win. That made it 2.5-2.5, and winning the match was now all down to Will Taylor with White on board 2 against Paul Dupré.

Will played extremely well and had a winning position after 41 moves, but once again those pesky time controls took their toll. Playing on the 10-second increment and with just 15 seconds left on his clock, he chose a defensive move against what he thought was the threat of a perpetual check when he had a forced mate. The opportunity went begging and Dupré could breathe again. The game, though not without further incident over the next 20 moves, ended in a draw after Paul traded down to an ending where his bishop could stop Will’s connected pawns. The match was drawn and the post-mortems went on in the bar long into the night.

In the second match, Wimbledon A trounced Kingston B 5.5-0.5. Here it was Kingston’s turn to be heavily outrated, and we proved less successful than Surbiton in overcoming the odds. On board 1, Max Selemir had a characteristically exciting game against the experienced Dan Rosen, as usual throwing the kitchen sink at his opponent, but in the end his piece advantage was no match for Rosen’s phalanx of advancing pawns.

On board 2, captain Gregor Smith was outmanoeuvred by another veteran, Ian Heppell; Kingston stalwart Nick Grey lost against Tony Hughes in a close game in which a pawn advantage proved enough for the Wimbledon man; I surrendered tamely to Stephen Carpenter; Byron Eslava went down fighting on board 6 against Alex Boitier; and it was left to Charlie Cooke to save us from being bagelled with an excellent draw against the dangerous Sean Ingle on board 5. Some serious wound-licking was in order.

Stephen Moss

Two wins by Peter Hasson ensure a successful weekend for CSC/Kingston 1 to keep their promotion hopes alive, but the second team struggle as life in division 4 gets tougher

CSC/Kingston 1 didn’t expect to be playing in division 3 of the 4NCL this season – their promotion was a fortuitous one after another team dropped out – but so far they are making a wonderful fist of it, and by winning both matches at this third 4NCL weekend they kept their outside hopes of a further promotion alive.

The Saturday match against Brown Jack was tough. CSC/Kingston had a healthy rating advantage, but Brown Jack (named after the pub in Wroughton, near Swindon, where it meets, which presumably is itself named after the famous racehorse of the 1930s) fought hard, and five of the six games were drawn. Only Hasson managed a win, but that was enough to give CSC/Kingston a vital victory by 3.5-2.5.

Sunday’s match was more straightforward – a 4.5-1.5 victory over Shropshire & Friends, with wins for Peter Finn, Clive Frostick and Hasson again. The weekend left CSC/Kingston joint second in the table with three other teams – a remarkable performance given that the team did not take part in the first weekend and were given two half-point byes. Both the byes were awarded against teams in the lower half of the table who we would have hoped to beat, and that may come back to haunt us at the end of the season. But for the moment the mood is upbeat and hopes of a second successive promotion high.

CSC/Kingston 2, who were not as strong as on the two previous weekends, found the going harder, though to lose on Saturday by only 3.5-2.5 against the higher-rated Full Ponty team was a very creditable performance. On paper, CSC/Kingston had a much easier task against Barnet Knights C on Sunday. But ratings mean little where juniors are concerned, and Barnet’s youth-orientated team gave a very good account of themselves, drawing the match 3-3. Nick Grey had a good win and, having drawn with Black with a higher-rated player on Saturday, enjoyed a good weekend.

CSC/Kingston 2 are now joint tenth in the table and have little realistic hope of promotion. But we always saw this season as a tentative return after the pandemic and, if the club can revert to running three teams next year, the hope will be to field a stronger second team that will target promotion and a third team that can both play with less pressure and give game time at 4NCL’s pleasingly long time control to newer players.

Stephen Moss

Surrey League division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 30 January 2023

We had built ourselves up so much for this match that when it came there was a slight sense of anti-climax. We had assembled a very powerful team, whereas Guildford were not quite as strong as we anticipated. Which is not to say they did not have a very good side; with their resources they are able to put out three highly competitive teams. The match was well contested and victory by 5.5-2.5 perhaps flattered Kingston to some degree. But in the end strength on the upper boards told, with wins for David Maycock, Peter Lalić and Mike Healey on boards 1, 3 and 4, and Kingston president John Foley also winning on board 8.

The first game to finish was Vladimir Li against James Toon on board 5. Li ventured a Sicilian and quickly equalised, but Toon played very solidly, the game never really got out of second gear, and the players drew by repetition on move 26. Analysing the game later, Li thought he might at one point have been able to trade down to a rook endgame in which he was slightly better, but the chance was missed.

It has been a brilliant month for Peter Lalić, winning 12 and drawing two of his 14 classical games and often in relatively short order. He did it again here, despatching Guildford captain Nigel White in just 21 moves. Peter played his trademark Nimzowitsch Defence, and set up a web of tactical possibilities. White tried to counter-attack with his rook, but relieving it of defensive duties led to instant nemesis.

There was another unusual opening in the game between Kingston captain David Rowson and Guildford veteran Phil Stimpson. Stimpson played the Queen’s Pawn, Chigorin Variation (1. d4 d5 2. Nc3). On move three, after David’s 2… Nf6, Stimpson played Bf4 – a line popularised by the Georgian grandmaster Baadur Jobava, so now known as the Jobava London System.

An intriguing positional struggle ensued (with much shuffling of knights). Stimpson, without bothering to castle, made a kingside pawn push which could have proved dangerous, but Rowson blocked it and forced an exchange of queens. After that the heat went out of the position and peace was declared. 2-1 to Kingston, but with a couple of home players under pressure the match was far from in the bag.

The next result, however, calmed the nerves. On board 1, the game between David Maycock and Clive Frostick had looked very even, with some knowledgeable spectators predicting a draw. But the remarkable Maycock found a way to win, first squeezing a small edge out of a position which was indeed level at move 24, then striking decisively to win a piece when Frostick lost coordination of his rook, knight and bishop. 3-1 to Kingston and now we could start to breathe more easily.

IM Graeme Buckley, making his debut for the club against the 2100-rated Craig Young, who played the Petrov Defence. Buckley, a notably aggressive player, castled queenside and launched a kingside pawn push, while Young tried a pawn storm on the opposite flank. But both in the end ran out of steam and a draw was agreed to make the match score 3.5-1.5 to Kingston. The finishing line was drawing near.

The player who had the honour of taking us over it was Mike Healey, playing White against Sebastian Galer. Mike played his beloved Sokolsky (1. b4), but Seb maintained a small plus in the opening. Mike, though, understands the positions that arise from this opening and, by expanding on the queenside, turned the tables, built an edge of his own and eventually won rook for bishop when Seb overlooked a neat tactic.

With slightly optimistic hopes of getting his untrammelled c-pawn home, Seb played on and this position was reached, with White to play on move 41.

Would you perhaps be a little concerned about your rook on d2 and the imminent promotion thereafter of the black pawn? I think I would. But not Mike. He had designs on Black’s hemmed-in king. The game proceeded: 41. f5+ Kg5 42. Kg3 h5 43. Rh7 hxg4 44. hxg4 cxd2 45. f4# A very Mike mate.

One of the other Kingston players noticed how sportsmanlike Seb was in defeat, and he and Mike were still happily analysing the game in the bar at closing time. Seb also gave me his scoresheet to allow me to reconstruct the game, so he officially wins the Nicest Chess Player of the Night award.

Mike’s win made it a match-winning 4.5-1.5, with Will Taylor on board 6 and John Foley on board 8, up against a very promising junior, still playing. Will, with White against another Sicilian, had a perfectly playable position, but allowed his opponent, Alex Warren, to get a pawn to h3. Once the queens came off and with Will behind on the clock, his position went rapidly downhill. Black established a rook on the seventh and put his knight on g4 bearing down on h2. After that it was, in every sense, only a matter of time as Warren made no mistake.

The last game to finish was the president, who is on a rather majestic winning streak. John’s recent run of success has been founded on his endgame skill, and so it was here. Both players had a knight and five pawns, but John had a two-to-one majority on the queenside, boiled that down to a lone pawn, and then used that pawn to get the Black king offside while mopping up his opponent’s kingside pawns with his knight. An object lesson in why the endgame is still the bit which matters the most.

The final score was a satisfying 5.5-2.5, Kingston had done the double over the formidable Guildford club, last season’s Surrey division 1 champions, and one or two people from other clubs tweeted immediately after the match that this year’s championship was now done and dusted. It isn’t – we still face difficult trips to Coulsdon and Wimbledon – but we have at least given ourselves a very good chance of winning the Surrey Trophy for the first time since 1975.

Stephen Moss