Coulsdon v Kingston, Alexander Cup semi-final played at Coulsdon Chess Club, Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon on 9 February 2026

The build-up to the Alexander Cup semi-final away to Coulsdon was not propitious for Kingston. Two players reported sick, though one managed to suppress his ailments for an evening and play. Young Zain Patel was also sick, but his illness worked to our advantage. He was too ill to fulfil a singing engagement, so was able to replace the player who really was too ill to make it to Coulsdon. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

A further complication was that we were playing Guildford 2 at home in Surrey division 2 on the same night. We needed strong players for that match as well. Fighting on two fronts is not easy. But the final blow came at 7.33pm, just as the match at Coulsdon was getting under way. The news was relayed via the club WhatsApp group that our 2200-plus board 4 was having a desperate journey south to Coulsdon and would not make it before the half-hour default time. There was only one reserve – a rather feeble player rated 1750. Yes, me. I would do my best, but outrated by 300 points we were almost certainly 1-0 down before we even started.

On board 7, Julian Way and Ian Calvert agreed a quick draw – a reasonable start as Julian had Black against the supersolid Calvert. David Rowson drew on board 8, as did Peter Lalić against the dangerous Ian Snape on board 2. I then went down to my expected defeat – thoroughly deserved as I played a singularly dull game and was out-techniqued by Coulsdon captain Mark Smith. That put Coulsdon 2-5-1.5 up and Kingston’s nerves were jangling.

Peter Hasson calmed those nerves to some degree with a smooth win on board 6 against Amit Kulkarni, whom he had beaten in the corresponding league match at Coulsdon the previous Monday – a useful dress rehearsal. “I had played the same opponent with the same colours in the league match a week earlier, when he suffered a positional opening disaster,” explained Peter afterwards. “This time he opted for something solid, but conceded White a big space advantage and was also burning time as he was not so familiar with the position.”

Peter’s win tied the score at 2.5-2.5 and it quickly became 3-3 when Zain Patel, who had been substantially worse in the opening, secured an important draw against fast-rising junior Rupert Marsden with Black on board 5. If we had lost that game, as had once seemed likely, it really would have been squeaky-bum time. Well played Zain! Did this match really hang on the dodgy state of your vocal cords?

The feeling was that Will Taylor, with Black on board 9, had winning chances against Vedant Papneja. But time was starting to press and Will, in his own words, “blundered into a perpetual on the increment”. That made it 3.5-3.5, and the match was still in the balance. I could barely bring myself to watch, but Peter Lalić, who was spectating and could actually work out what was going on, was looking confident. He was right to be so – the rest of the match proved to be one-way traffic.

Peter Large (pictured above, right), had Black against Evaldas Baltrunas on board 3 and the game turned into a fascinating tussle, with much middle-game manoeuvring for an advantage. The endgame was tricky and, though Peter had a serviceable advantage, time was running short. Peter then played a knight check with such elan that his opponent assumed his hemmed-in king had been mated, missing the fact there was a flight square. Peter declared it “the strangest game I have played in my 58-year chess career”. Hallucinations, it seems, are part of chess, even at this elevated level.

On board 10, Kingston’s president and Alexander Cup captain John Foley played a masterful rook and pawn endgame to defeat the doughty Nick Edwards – a tremendous battle between two admirable players who have each been on the chess scene for more than half a century. After the game, John looked sheepishly pleased with his win, and he has instructively annotated it for the website’s Games section.

The marquee game was the board 1 match-up between Supratit Banerjee and David Maycock. David had beaten Supratit in the league match the previous week, but this time Supratit had the white pieces. Would that make a difference? David played a tricky sideline of the Philidor Defence – do we detect the influence of team-mate and sparring partner Peter Lalić? – and it worked out very well, allowing him easily to equalise in the opening. There followed some cagey positional chess, proving that David – who we usually think of as a purveyor of chess fireworks – can also play in a more pragmatic, wait-and-see style.

Now, after a series of games against each other in IM norm tournaments and the Surrey League, David and Supratit can revert to being team-mates in the 4NCL and the Thames Valley League. Kingston are very fortunate to have two such talents.

The wins by Peter Large, John Foley and David Maycock came in rapid succession and made the final score 6.5-3.5 to Kingston. The earlier travails were forgotten and we could at last rest easy. Until the final at least, where a very strong Guildford team awaits us. This eagerly anticipated match will take place at the neutral venue of Ashtead Chess Club on Tuesday 26 May. We thumped Guildford 8-2 in the final last year, but expect it to be much closer on this occasion as Guildford have added to their resources and are building a very powerful team.

The incentive for Kingston to retain the trophy is that it would complete a run of five successive Alexander Cup titles – something no team has ever done in the 100-year history of the competition. We feel the weight of history on our shoulders, but will that burden prove too great? Book your tickets for the final now; it is going to be intense … and we hope historic.

Stephen Moss is Kingston club captain

Coulsdon 1 v Kingston 1, Surrey League division 1 match played at Coulsdon Chess Club, Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon on 2 February 2026

A trip to Coulsdon is never easy and this was no different. Kingston captain Peter Andrews breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Coulsdon teamsheet as they were missing a few strong players, but they still gave us plenty to think about on the night, and we were relieved to run out 6.5-1.5 winners.

Peter Hasson’s game – he had White on board 5 – was first to finish. Indeed it was over in less than an hour and a half, way ahead of any of the other seven games. Peter played a beautifully thematic game in a Symmetrical English and won in 27 moves. This was the denouement, though the game was really won thanks to a series of small positional pluses earlier in the game.

Inevitably when FMs David Maycock and Supratit Banerjee clash, their game always generates a good deal of interest. Supratit plays for Kingston in 4NCL and the Thames Valley League, but tonight he was on the opposing team. David had the advantage of White – it was a good toss for Peter Andrews to win – but he had the worst of the opening exchanges, and, as they entered the middle game, Supratit was pressing. Black has an advantage in the position below because of the pin on the knight on c4 and White’s doubled e-pawns. I was convinced Supratit would win, but David is a master complicator, time started to take its toll, and the game began to turn around.

Jasper Tambini, with White, and veteran Nick Edwards had a hard-fought draw on board 7. Jasper gave up a pawn for the initiative in the opening, but Nick found an imaginative way of returning it to neutralise White’s attack, forcing a draw. On board 4, John Hawksworth felt he was better out of the opening but, in his words, “spent too much time looking for something immediately decisive (which didn’t exist according to the engine).” He then blundered a pawn, but still felt he was better with the two bishops, forgoing a nailed-on draw in pursuit of a victory which eventually turned into a defeat in a time scramble.

There was better news on board 6, where David Rowson steadily outplayed his opponent with a pair of knights against a pair of bishops to secure a win. When the position below was reached, David has given up both his bishops for knights, judging correctly that White’s fractured pawn structure and the bishops’ restricted movement will favour him. Now he decides to press.

David summed up the game with characteristic modesty: “Nothing dramatic, and my opponent didn’t play very strongly, but I was pleased that I made some of the right choices (such as swapping bishop for knight and playing g5 – not a move I usually play lightly) and that I was able to show that my knights were better than his bishops.” Captain Andrews appreciated it too: “A nice example of a caged bishop, with nowhere to go from g3, and a game where there wasn’t a single moment of decision, rather incremental outplaying.”

Peter himself also won with Black on board 8. White has a small plus in the position below, but Black has an immediate threat which must be countered. Unfortunately for Peter’s opponent, he fails to see it and the small plus becomes a hefty minus.

On board 3, Peter Large had White against Ian Calvert, who is something of a draw specialist. A lengthy technical battle ensued in which Peter gradually established the upper hand.

Another intense technical battle was raging on board 2, where Peter Lalić was playing Coulsdon captain Mark Smith. Peter went for one of his speciality queenless middle games and thereafter shuffled with purpose, though White did have a fleeting chance in the position below.

That made it four wins for Peters and two for Davids in a very satisfying 6.5-1.5 victory which takes Kingston back to the top of Surrey League division 1. We now face another tough trip to Coulsdon this coming Monday (9 February) for the semi-final of the 10-board Alexander Cup. We will be hoping for a similar result as we target a historic five-timer in this hallowed competition. No other club has managed more than four successive wins in the Alexander Cup. To win five in a row really would be something to shout about.

Stephen Moss is Kingston club captain

Kingston 3 v Wallington, Surrey League division 4 match due to be played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 2 February 2026

Disappointingly, Wallington were unable to fulfil this Surrey division 4 fixture, so Kingston 3 claimed the match by default. Under the rules of the Surrey League, this means that Wallington lose on all boards, giving Kingston a 6-0 victory – a fillip in the team’s bid to win promotion. Kingston 3 are currently top of the division, but only narrowly on game points from Epsom 4. The battle is likely to go to the wire, with ambitious Epsom pressing hard.

Wallington had been unable to raise a team to come to Kingston for this match earlier in the season and Kingston 3 captain Edward Mospan had generously allowed a rearrangement of the fixture. But on this occasion it was felt that we should claim a win by default. We thank Wallington for giving us ample warning of the cancellation, which allowed the Kingston players due to take part in the match to be paired in the regular rated friendlies (pictured above) which are now a feature of club nights at the United Reformed Church in central Kingston, the club’s new home.

Stephen Moss, Kingston club captain

Epsom 2 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Epsom Christian Fellowship on 26 January 2026

It had been only a fortnight since our tightly fought home draw v Epsom 2, and less than two months since Kingston 1 were defeated by Epsom 1, with three of our side for this latest match and four of theirs also present on that occasion. But to plagiarise the comedian Eric Morecambe for elite chess, we may have been playing the same people, but not necessarily in the same order.

Epsom captain Marcus Gosling (pictured above, directing operations at the start of the match) used the full tolerance allowed by Surrey League rules to promote players in form, notably the fast-rising junior Lev Razhnou, who had added 100 points to his rating between early November and mid December. I had been one of his victims in that run, and had seen him grind down the Essex board 2 in a county U2050 match at the weekend in an endgame, usually a hallmark of class. So we reassured David Rowson, who was to face him, that if he got a result it would be one to treasure when Lev achieves stardom in a few years.

Martyn Jones on board 6 also drew a tough assignment, facing former British champion Peter Lee, while Stephen Moss, who had stepped in at a late stage for the unwell John Foley, was also outrated by his young opponent on board 7. We were clearly outrated on four boards, about evenly matched on two, and only had a significant advantage on board 3.

A challenging task was mitigated by winning the toss for the first time this season (in our 6th match), which gave us four Whites out of seven boards, and probably gave us the colours we wanted for the match-ups – three of our four outrated players had White, and in the middle order Rowson and I are just as likely to score with Black, while Jasper Tambini’s style may better suit White.       

Julian Way played a sensible if unexciting game against James Allison on top board giving us an early draw on one of our “uphill” boards. But Martyn Jones succumbed on board 6, though as he put it there were “plenty of learnings” against such an experienced opponent. I was unable to see much of the rest of the match because of the excitement in my own game on board 4 versus Gosling. Those of my team-mates who saw the game will probably have counted it as a win from early on, but given my previous game with Marcus it didn’t feel that way.

I emerged from my trance over this game to find that on board 3 Jasper Tambini had squashed Chris Wright in a game which carried a useful lesson about engine analysis.

On board 2, David Rowson’s game with Black against Lev Razhnou did not quite live up to its billing. There were some tactical slips on both sides, starting with David losing a pawn but taking the initiative in the middle game, and culminating in an ending in which his pawn advantage with a goodish bishop v knight and connected passed pawns on the kingside were winning, one might have thought easily. But even in endgames chess can be a difficult and cruel game. With both players in acute time trouble, White had one chance to turn the tables.

Thankfully I didn’t see that, or my nerves might not have been fit to drive home. As it was, I came round from my own game to find that we were now 3.5-1.5 ahead, with boards 5 and 7 still going. A draw from one of them would be sufficient to win the match.

On board 7, Stephen Moss had a fighting game with another rising Epsom junior, Maya Keen, in which he dodged several bullets.

Just as Stephen was congratulated by his team-mates for getting us over the line, Homayoon Froogh also delivered a draw. This was a fine result against Robin Haldane, a scourge of Kingston this season having already beaten Peter Hasson in the first-team match in December and Jasper Tambini in the second- team match in early January. Homayoon was never worse, and at the time it felt like a solid and accurate performance. So it was frustrating for him to show his effort to Mr Stockfish next day and find that he had missed an immediate win.

So we had won 4.5-2.5 despite being outrated, a great team effort celebrated with the doughnuts generously brought by Peter Lalic, who came to watch the end of the match. Almost all the games were hard and long, and several of them contained missed one-move opportunities to change the course of history. Which goes to show that chess is hard for humans, but that, along with humour between the teams and doughnuts, is what makes the game worth playing.  

Peter Andrews is Kingston captain in Surrey division 2

Kingston 4 v Dorking 2, Surrey League division 5 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 26 January 2026

This drawn match was a good result for our fourth team against Dorking 2 and a sign that we are developing more strength in depth as a club. We are also growing! New members Tom Mayers and Sebastian Allam made their first appearances for Kingston in this match.

Dorking had strong players on the top two boards, so for Kingston to win them both was exceptional. Dorking were too strong for us in the middle order, and won on boards 3, 4 and 5. As I know from bitter experience, Peter Horlock is seriously underrated at 1569. But Nette Robinson, who is in a rich vein of form, won with Black on board six to tie the match at 3-3. An excellent outcome for for Ed Mospan’s team given the rating disparity.

Stephen Moss, captain of Kingston Chess Club

Wallington v Kingston 3, Surrey League division 4 match played at Wallington United Reformed Church on 21 January 2026

The visit to Wallington ended in an emphatic 5-1 win for Ed Mospan’s team. The success included wins on boards 1 and 3 by players new to Kingston this season, plus excellent performances by some seasoned club players.

Alexander Chmelev, one of the new arrivals, won well on board 1 against a highly rated rival, and another newcomer, the talented Thivan Gunawardana, won a thrilling game with White on board 3. With both players in severe time trouble, Black resigned in the position below when he was actually winning!. Zeitnot can do the strangest things.

Jon Eckert constructed a neat mating net with Black on board 2; Seth Warren won smoothly on board 4; and Genc Tasbasi overwhelmed his opponent on board 5. Wallington gained a consolation win on board 6, where Ed Mospan’s young opponent played well to win with a well-oiled London System. Ed, though, is a team man, and his side’s victory will mean more to him than his own reverse.

Stephen Moss, captain of Kingston Chess Club

Maidenhead A v Kingston B, Thames Valley division 1 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 19 January 2026

Another Monday evening, another trip to Maidenhead. Last week it had been our A team making the journey, and now it was our B team, but for two of us, Peter Hasson and me, it was a return trip, as we played in both matches.

The Maidenhead team was very similar to the previous week apart from the absence of GM Matthew Wadsworth and the addition of John Wager. The average ratings of the two teams on the night were almost identical, and this was reflected in the play, but unfortunately for Kingston (spoiler alert) Maidenhead succeeded in winning games in which they were at best slightly better early on and drawing games in which they were slightly worse.

Having said that, on board 4 the result might have gone Maidenhead’s way if John Wager had found the winning line in the ending. In the middlegame the centre and kingside had become blocked, which meant that the question was whether White could exploit his advanced pawn chain on the queenside. He managed to get a pawn to a7, but John Foley blocked this with a knight, resulting in this position:

Shortly after this, Alan Scrimgour and Tony Milnes also agreed a draw. The game had started as a French Defence Winawer Variation, with complex play on both sides of the board. In the end the players were happy to share the point.

Prior to my own game I had noticed that Andrew Smith usually played the Centre Game, but, as he told me afterwards, he has very recently started to try out the Ruy Lopez. However, he admitted that he was unfamiliar with the line I played, and after 19 moves I had reached a comfortable position:

The board 3 game began with a classical Closed Ruy Lopez. Jasper Tambini, with White, established a knight on d6, but Stephen James had counterplay through his bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal and his rook on g6:

So the score was Maidenhead 2.5 Kingston 1.5 with two games to finish. The board 6 game between Maidenhead’s Charles Bullock, with White, and Kingston’s Homayoon Froogh opened with the Slav Defence. In the position below White is looking threatening on the kingside, but, as Homayoon noted afterwards, if he had played 25…Nc5 or Qc6 he would have been at least equal, as White’s next move would not have been possible.

Maidenhead now had a decisive two-game lead. In the remaining game, on top board, Peter Hasson (pictured above left), with White, had achieved an advantage, since Bohdan Terler’s h-pawn advance backfired, as can be seen in the diagram below (after Black’s 29th move):

Thus the match ended in a Maidenhead win by 4-2. We could dwell on the might-have-beens, but better to move on and do our best to obtain the points we need to stay in the division.

David Rowson, captain of Kingston B in Thames Valley division 1

Kingston 2 v Epsom 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 12 January 2026

A match against Epsom always has a special flavour. The unstoppable force meets the immoveable object. We see ourselves as a pukkah Sherlock Holmes, while the likeable (but very determined and adroit) Epsom president-for-life Marcus Gosling is (in the nicest way possible) the Professor Moriarty of Surrey chess. It is a battle for domination. The Reichenbach Falls probably beckon, which is another way of saying that, amid the egomania of Epsom and Kingston, the quiet professionalism of Coulsdon and Guildford will probably eventually prevail. Anyway, leaving aside this powerful subtext, this was an excellent match which ended in a 3.5-3.5 draw.

Martyn Jones got Kingston off to a winning start with victory on board 7 over promising junior Ethan Bogerd (a Kingston member currently playing for Professor Moriarty’s team). But another of the professor’s large crop of promising juniors, Sachin Kumar, equalised with a win on board 3 in an opposite-coloured bishop endgame which Kingston president John Foley thought he could hold despite being a pawn down. Sachin played superbly on the increment to prove John wrong.

On top board, Julian Way and James Allison had a high-class tussle which ended in a draw. Allison, who played for Ashtead last season, is proving a terrific recruit for the professor and rising significantly in the ratings. On board 6, Epsom’s Chris Wright was always material up against Xavier Cowan and duly converted, while on board 2 that wily old fox Robin Haldane had too many tactical tricks for Jasper Tambini. Robin, the nicest of men but the doughtiest of opponents, is turning into something of a nemesis for Kingston this season. It was looking like Epsom would take the spoils, but there was a twist in the tale.

Alan Scrimgour played a lovely game to beat former British champion Peter Lee with White on board 4. He has analysed the game in the blogs section alongside his win in 2004 against another British champion, Bob Wade, pointing out that both victories hinged on the same piece sacrifice.

That made the score 3.5-2.5 to Epsom, and the fate of the match was in the hands of the professor himself, with White on board 5 against the gentle but resilient Stephen Lovell (pictured above, left foreground). The protagonists were both playing on the increment; spectators clustered round the board; match scores were thrust under the players’ noses so they understood the significance of the game result – a draw was enough for Epsom; Stephen didn’t seem to twig that he had to win, which was perhaps just as well as he might have frozen. The Reichenbach Falls swirled below. Stephen has annotated the match-defining game below.

With one bound we were free and the match drawn. The professor looked disconsolate. The journey back to Epsom would be a painful one. Honours were even in a division that is proving very competitive and unpredictable. Kingston and Epsom had nullified each other in their unending struggle. The story will be continued …

Stephen Moss, captain of Kingston Chess Club

Maidenhead A v Kingston A, Thames Valley division 1 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 12 January 2026

This always promised to be a crucial staging post in Kingston A’s attempt to retain the Thames Valley title. An away trip to Maidenhead is never easy – distant location, strong opposition. To do it in the depths of winter immediately after Christmas makes it all the harder, so this 4.5-1.5 victory by Peter Large and his team was a tremendous achievement.

David Maycock (pictured above), with White on board 1 against grandmaster Matthew Wadsworth, led the charge with a win which defied all logic. He was 20 minutes late because of a train delay and was playing one of the UK’s strongest players – a player against whom he had suffered several defeats in recent seasons. But GM Wadsworth made a slip in the early middle game, and David pounced, playing thereafter, in the words of fellow Kingston FM Vladimir Li, “like a machine” and winning in 80 moves. A remarkable win for David after a disappointing 4NCL weekend in which he had suffered two losses. John Saunders has analysed David’s victory in our games section.

Peter Lalić recorded an emphatic victory against strong junior with Black on board 2. Terler seemed uneasy against Peter’s Philidor’s Defence and was lost as early as move 17. David Rowson and Peter Andrews had hard-fought wins on boards 5 and 6; Peter Hasson drew with Black on board 4; and the captain, worn down by the burden of office (and the long drive to Maidenhead), lost against FM Andrew Smith. But he will have been cheered by the result overall – a critical success in what is turning into a three-way fight for the title between Hammersmith, Maidenhead and Kingston.

Stephen Moss, captain of Kingston Chess Club

Epsom 7 v Kingston 4, Surrey League division 5 match played at Epsom Christian Fellowship on 12 January 2026

Who knew Epsom even had a seventh team? Yet here they were beating Kingston 4. At one point they were leading 4-0, and if we had been bagelled by a seventh team we would probably have gone into liquidation. But Nette Robinson – singer, artist and chess player – on board 6 and Seth Warren on board 2 combined to save the day (if not the match), both winning with White to make the final score an almost respectable 4-2 to Epsom. Ignominy was thus narrowly averted, even if Epsom were in seventh heaven (geddit?) as Ed Mospan’s shellshocked team slunk away.

Stephen Moss is captain of Kingston Chess Club