Kingston 2 v Coulsdon 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 18 March 2024

Coulsdon, on paper a very strong club, have not been having a happy time of it in either division 1 or division 2 of the Surrey League and are threatened with relegation in both. In this match we felt something of a backlash because, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves in division 2, they brought a very strong team to the Willoughby that had more than enough firepower to defeat a pretty useful Kingston 2 side by 5-2.

John Bussmann, happily restored to the Kingston ranks and playing his first match of the season after injury (not chess related!), lost to the veteran Ian Calvert on board 3, and another Coulsdon old hand, Nick Edwards, outmanoeuvred Kingston newcomer Jameel Jameel on board 5. Talented Coulsdon youngster Shivam Agrawal defeated Julian Way on board 2, having a winning endgame after Julian had gone down the exchange, and on board 7 Charlie Cooke blundered in a good position against Brian Allan.

There were, though, three bright spots. David Rowson got a solid draw on board 1 against the highly rated Timur Kuzhelev. Timur played the interesting Nimzovich Sicilian (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6) and followed it up with an early and aggressive b5, but the promised fireworks never materialised, pieces were traded and a draw was agreed with knight and five pawns on both sides.

Kingston’s only winner of the night was Jon Eckert, who beat Matt Darville on board 4. Matt played King’s Indian Attack (1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nbd2) against Jon’s French Defence, but Jon built up pressure in the centre, homing in on White’s backward d4 pawn, and Matt blundered a rook, forcing resignation on the spot.

The final game to finish was Nick Grey, who had Black against Paul Jackson. It was a humdinger that could have gone either way. Nick is a gentle soul, except when he plays chess, when he is tremendously attacking and often very inventive. He had a won endgame here, but was playing for a long period on the increment and couldn’t quite convert. Excellent performance, though, and a draw was perhaps fair in a game where both players battled hard and had winning chances.

Stephen Moss, Kingston captain in Surrey division 2

Hammersmith A v Kingston A, Thames Valley division 1 match played at the London MindSports Centre, London W6 on 14 March 2024

Fate, or the Thames Valley fixtures secretaries, decreed that in the week beginning 11 March our first team played season-defining matches against its two main rivals: Epsom in the Surrey League and Hammersmith in the Thames Valley League. We had recorded a famous victory against Epsom on the Monday; could we do the same at Hammersmith on the Thursday? They were also playing their second match in a week, but had only drawn at Richmond, so maybe we would go into the clash with more confidence.

On arrival at the impressive London MindSports Centre we discovered that the Hammersmith team was missing some of its strongest players, a few of whom were playing in the Reykjavik Open. They were still able to field a challenging team, however. Their top board, Thomas Bonn, had won seven and drawn just one of his eight TVL games before this match.

The game on board 3 was the first to finish. Peter Lalić opened with the Mieses Opening (1. d3) against Hammersmith captain Bajrush Kelmendi’s customary double fianchetto. Peter soon took control of the c-file and Bajrush’s pieces were an unhappy picture by move 27:

None of them can defend g6. There was a very conclusive denouement, starting from this position:

The evolution of the opening on board 6 was instructive. John Foley’s opponent, Greg Billenness, clearly wanted an attacking game, as he choose the Blackmar Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2. e4. However, John foiled this by playing 2…c6 to transpose to his familiar Caro-Kann Defence. White was still determined to have a tactical game and chose the double-edged Fantasy Variation (3. f3). John was ready for this, and played what he described as “the sharpest line of the sharpest line”, giving this position (not for the faint-hearted) after move 4.

Sitting next to John, I spent almost as much time looking at his game as my own, since it seemed much more interesting. After 5. dxe5 Bc5 6. Na4 Qa5+ 7. c3 Bxg1 8.Rxg1 John could have played 8…dxe4, winning back the pawn, but instead chose to make it a gambit with Nd7. John built up pressure in the centre and as a result Greg first gave up a pawn and then the exchange. John had to be careful, as White’s queen and knight threatened to combine against Black’s king, but in the end the Hammersmith player’s time pressure told and he blundered the knight. 2-0 to Kingston.

David Maycock is never afraid to sacrifice the exchange for an attack, and in this game, a Sicilian Defence, he did it twice. First, in the position below.

David decided to use his mobile pawn majority by playing 20. c5. Black took the rook – 20…Nxc1 21. Rxc1 – but erred by playing 21…dxc5 (Rd8 was better), which was answered by 22. d6! Three moves later this position arose, with White to play.

My own game featured a reversal of fortunes. Reaching this position from a Giuoco Piano, I felt I was on top and just needed to work out how to pursue a kingside attack:

As we were well ahead in the match I offered a draw here. It’s actually still quite a tricky position for both sides. A queen exchange is likely to favour Black, whose rook and king will be better placed, but my opponent was probably worried about his time, so he accepted the offer.

On board 4 Will Taylor was facing Christof Brixel, who must be underrated – he’s actually won all his TVL games this season. In a difficult position arising from an English Opening, Will lost the exchange and had to resign soon after.

The final game finished in unusual circumstances. Silverio Abasolo, who had loyally come all the way from Kent to play, needed to finish in time to catch the train back. In a close ending he blitzed out his moves and eventually the players agreed a draw, unfortunately too late for Silverio to get the train he wanted. We were very grateful for his participation, as apart from giving the team an extra half-point it also meant that his team-mates below him played a board lower than they otherwise would have.

This completed a perfect week for Kingston’s first team, with wins against our main rivals in the two leagues, leaving us with an outside chance of the title in both. This victory put us level with Hammersmith on match points, but they had three game points more, so as well as winning our final two matches we would need to win well and hope our rivals slipped up.

David Rowson, Kingston A captain in the Thames Valley League

Kingston 1 v Epsom 1, Surrey League division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 11 March 2024

There was a great deal riding on this match. Epsom, newly promoted but with three IMs on their top boards and masses of ambition under president-for-life Marcus Gosling, are top of division 1 and needed only a draw to secure their first ever Surrey Trophy. They beat us with ease back in November, when we put out a stronger team than the one we fielded here, but on this occasion we turned the tables and won a famous victory by 5-3.

Epsom are still favourites to win the title – relegation-threatened Wimbledon would need to get at least a draw in their match with Epsom on 18 April for us to have any chance of overhauling them at the top. But at least we have made it difficult for them, and given the energetic Epsom president a few sleepless nights.

This was officially an away match for us, but it was switched to the Willoughby Arms when Epsom discovered they could not use their venue on the designated day (they have since announced that they are moving to a new venue). Epsom fielded exactly the same team that had beaten us in November, but this time we were ready and oddly always felt confident about doing well in the match.

It is the solidity of the team’s performance that is striking: no losses across the eight boards; Epsom’s mighty IM spearhead nullified by our own super-trio of Peter Lalić, Vladimir Li and David Maycock; a brilliant win by Luca Buanne against the dangerous Robin Haldane on board 4; and, fittingly, a match-winning victory by Kingston captain David Rowson against the very promising junior Zain Patel on board 5 (the climax of their nail-biting clash, hemmed in by team-mates and supporters, is shown in the photograph above). The perfect team performance, and very welcome after a season in which we have occasionally spluttered following last season’s “Quadruple”-winning heroics.

The first game to finish was on board 6, where Julian Way had Black against the 1965 British champion Peter Lee, who has made a welcome return to chess at the tender age of 80. Peter played a Ruy Lopez, but Julian had no difficulty equalising and may even at one point have had a slight edge, but after 25 moves peace was declared in the position below.

On board 2 Peters Lalić, with White, and Large (how many Peters were playing in this match?) had an even shorter game – just 14 moves – but those moves seemed to take an eternity as the two prizefighters, who know each other’s games so well, circled the ring looking for an opportunity to land a punch. Objectively, the Epsom Peter has a small plus in the position in which a draw was agreed (see below), but the open g-file bearing down on the king may have given him pause for thought. Epsom IM No 1 neutralised.

Epsom IM No 2, Graeme Buckley, had White against Kingston FM Vladimir Li on board 2, and this game was always likely to be one of the key determinants of the match. Vladimir defended superbly, but was a little worried when this position was reached after move 25. The comments and variants which follow are Vladimir’s, supplied more or less off the cuff on the night of the match.

Vladimir’s draw on board 2 meant the second of Epsom’s trio of IMs had been neutralised. On board 3 David Maycock did not have neutralisation on his mind against Susan Lalić and had (as usual) sac’d the exchange in the interests of a creative attack. But it was petering (geddit?) out, and we started to fear the worst. John Foley was also up against it in the Battle of the Presidents on board 8, though President Gosling was starting to come under time pressure, so all was not quite lost despite some dangerous-looking passed pawns.

Meanwhile on board 4, Luca Buanne was playing skilfully with Black in a Sicilian against the attack-minded Robin Haldane. The position was level until Robin allowed his knight one adventure too many in the position below. After that the roof caved in, and Luca finished in style – such style indeed that Robert Waller, one of our great supporters, raised his arms in the air in triumph as he made the move. I tried to restrain him in a somewhat po-faced, let’s-respect-chess-decorum kind of way, but Rob was having none of it. This was insurgent Epsom after all, the would-be chess empire that had to be held in check by the gatekeepers of the Galactic Republic.

Luca’s win put us in front and, in a match this tight, was always going to be crucial. At one point it looked likely to be the only decisive result of the evening. Peter Andrews and Chris Wright played out a draw on board 7, though not without alarms on both sides. Peter was very critical of his own play, and at one point missed a chance to win the exchange, but he is captain of the Kingston first team in the Surrey League and captaincy can do that to players. You are trying to follow all eight games and can sometimes neglect your own, with the result that captains often play a little below their true strength.

So 3-2 to Kingston with three games still in progress: two of them were unfavourable to us – President Foley was in a spot if bother against President Gosling and David Maycock was down against Susan Lalić, though as ever creating complications – and only David Rowson looked to have a small plus. This was by no means done and dusted yet.

Key to our victory in the match was that Epsom did not win the two games in which they were manifestly up. On board 8, John Foley feared the game was slipping away, but Marcus Gosling was short of time and John is an astute defender. We pick up the game on White’s 36th move. The notes are supplied by John, who at this point felt his position was “dire” and that “the only hope was to get opposite-coloured bishops or to aim for a tricky knight and queen ending”.

Now attention shifted to David Maycock’s struggle with the third of Epsom’s IMs, Susan Lalić, who is also a woman grandmaster (WGM) and five-times British women’s chess champion. As in the clash of presidents on board 8, the Epsom player was objectively winning but had very little time, with David causing problems and angling for a perpetual check, which he did indeed eventually achieve. The crunch came in the position below. One move wins; the other draws. Susan chose the wrong one.

Susan, under great time pressure remember, went for Kf8 and repeated moves – zeitnot scrambles even experts’ brains. But Ke8 is winning because within a few moves Black will be able to block the queen checks by playing Bd7 and that will more or less be that. A great – and in terms of securing the match vital – escape for Kingston’s Mexican-born wizard.

Now Captain Rowson had only to draw on board 5 to win the match, but he was looking for more than that against Zain Patel after setting a neat trap in the position below.

David’s victory made it 5-3 to Kingston on the night. Epsom took defeat very sportingly and their chance will come again when they play Wimbledon away on 18 April. We have to beat Wimbledon at home on 8 April and then hope Wimbledon get some sort of miracle result against Epsom, who are sure to put out a very strong team. But whatever the destination of the Surrey Trophy title, this was a night we will savour for a long time to come.

Stephen Moss

South Norwood 2 fail to raise a team in the match against Kingston 3 due to be played at the Willoughby Arms on 11 March 2024, giving the match to Kingston by 6-0

For the second time in a fortnight, Kingston have won a home match by default. First, Guildford 1 failed to field a team on 26 February, and now South Norwood have done the same, blaming a lack of drivers to bring players on the long journey from South London. Not ideal, as we need to give players in division 4 of the Surrey League all the opportunities for game time we can, but we do sympathise as South Norwood are a relatively small club who face a lot of these epic treks. One hopes this will be the last default as we enter the final couple of months of the season.

Maidenhead A v Kingston A, Thames Valley division 1 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 4 March 2024

Peter Lalić (foreground, left) secured a crucial win on board 2 to earn a draw for Kingston against Maidenhead

Maidenhead A have been struggling in division 1 of the Thames Valley League this season, which is surprising given that they are a strong and much-improved side. They got a deserved 3-3 draw on their visit to Kingston, and we could have no complaints about a dropped half-point which further dents our already slim chances of catching Hammersmith in the race for the title.

Alan Scrimgour secured an early draw with Black on board 4 against Majid Mashayekh, and there was then a long period of struggle on the other five boards. The deadlock was finally broken on board 1, where FM Andrew Smith prevailed against Kingston’s David Maycock. Andrew played his usual Centre Game (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7) and David responded enterprisingly, but the Kingston man missed a key tactic when he played 21. Be6 in this position:

That gave Maidenhead a 1.5-0.5 lead and at that stage we looked in danger. Peter Lalić was a little worse against Steve James on board 2 and William Castaneda had the bishop pair and a slight edge against Nick Grey on board 6. On the plus side, the evergreen John Foley was well placed against Nigel Smith on board 4, and Julian Way was engaged in a classy game with Ishan Wirantunga on board 3. The latter was the next game to finish – a draw by repetition after 41 moves, with Julian’s queen pitted against his opponent’s rooks (see final position below).

John Foley, who had hurried to the match after running the Kingston Chess Academy, then brought his well-constructed game to a glitzy finish in the position below.

White to play and win

By now Peter Lalić and his opponent were in a time scramble, and Peter, who had earlier had a draw offer turned down, is brilliant in these situations, setting problems until his opponent cracks. That duly happened in the position below when Black played 33…Bf5.

Peter’s win made it 3-2 to Kingston and we were sure of at least half a point. But that was all we were going to get. Valiantly though he fought, Nick Grey was unable to wrestle back the initiative in a losing endgame and eventually had to admit defeat. Honours were even, and Maidenhead could embark on their long trek home feeling a little more comfortable about retaining their place in Thames Valley division 1.

Stephen Moss

Wimbledon 1 v Kingston 1, Surrey League division 1 match played at St Winifride’s Church Hall, Wimbledon on 15 February 2024

Confidence in advance of this match was not high, given the depleted team we were able to field: Thursday is an inconvenient evening for several regulars, and illness took out Vladimir Li and Julian Way in the 24 hours before the match.  Some team-mates thought our situation resembled that of Henry V before Agincourt: 

O that we had now here But one ten thousand of those men in England that do no work today.  What’s he that wishes so?  …. The fewer men the greater share of honour.  

That was perhaps an exaggeration: Kingston Chess Club does not yet have 10,000 members; Nick Grey and Charlie Cooke, stepping in at short notice, ensured we had as many players as Wimbledon; and the ratings of the two sides were almost equal. But if the thought helped stiffen our sinews it was a good one.

Charlie Cooke faced an uphill battle on board 8 with Black against the higher-rated John Polanyk. Having neutralised a dangerous-looking attack, a small slip allowed an exchange sacrifice which eventually won at least a piece. Jon Eckert and Nick Grey on boards 6 and 7 drew relatively early. Nick was frustrated that his edge from a better pawn structure did not crystallise into a win, but his was one of the boards where we were outrated, so this was nevertheless an important contribution.  

Alan Scrimgour had found himself in a line of the French Defence known better by his opponent.  Kings castled on opposite sides, and Alan sacrificed the exchange to try to drum up an attack; he accepted a draw offer when he realised that there was not much there. John Foley equalised the score with a convincing win with black against Wimbledon secretary Gordon Rennie.  He has analysed this in more depth in the Games section.  From my observation point on the next board, he built up the pressure impressively to reach this position after 22 Re3.

My own game finished shortly after John’s.  At the time, I thought it had been an anodyne draw, with my opponent successfully neutralising the slight disadvantage of an isolated pawn. Imagine my frustration when Stockfish showed me three distinct winning opportunities I had missed, each of them instructive.  

That left the scores level at 3-3, with Kingston apparently slightly worse on both remaining boards.  Luca Buanne, on his league debut, faced Dan Rosen’s Grand Prix attack.  This game, which was a tense but fairly balanced struggle from the outset, is provided in full in the Games section, with annotations by Luca and John Foley. The rest of the team started to focus on his game around this critical moment, after 37. Rc1 by White.

So it all came down to board 1. Peter Lalić, against the IM Alberto Suarez Real, played a trademark queenless middle game.  Around the point the other games were over, he was a pawn down but solid and with reasonable activity, and his chances to hold were improved because his opponent was down to a minute on the clock while Peter still had more than five.

Thus we won the match, securing our position in division 1 and (such is the closeness of the race) keeping us in with an outside shot at the title. To beat a 2400+ IM in that ending starting from a pawn down was an epic performance. Peter will remember with advantages what feats he did that day^[1].  

Peter Andrews, Kingston captain in Surrey division 1

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^[1] Shakespeare was of course expert in the pressures and rewards of Surrey League chess.

Richmond B v Kingston B, Thames Valley division 2 match played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 13 February 2024

We arrived at the Adelaide pub in Teddington to be met by a very strong Richmond B side. Richmond’s A team are struggling in the top division of the Thames Valley League, and apparently their cunning plan is to put out strong teams in division 2 to compete for promotion in order to give them a safety net in case the unthinkable happens. This meant that their bottom board was higher rated than our third. 

With this probably playing on my mind, given the 200-point rating disparity I faced against my opponent Bertie Barlow on board 3, I offered a draw after 25 moves when I felt Bertie had equalised as Black in the Scandinavian Defence and had thwarted my main plan to attack down the queenside. He accepted.

Alan Scrimgour drew shortly after on board 2 against John Burke. He felt he had equalised, but could see a flurry of exchanges that he felt left him without much of a plan to make progress and offered a draw which was duly accepted. 

Jameel Jameel, a newcomer to the club this season, produced the fireworks of the night, wrapping up an impressive 19-move victory on board 6. He played the Accelerated Dragon, and, with his opponent castling queenside, Jameel went for the kill after the c3 pawn was ominously pushed. With White cramped in the corner, Jameel was able to sac his queen on a2 and mate on the flank with his lifted rook, with all flight squares covered by his bishop and his opponent’s pieces. A lovely sequence and a great victory for Jameel, who is coming on leaps and bounds. This is Jameel’s first published game.

Nick Grey looked to be doomed as Sampson Low got the better of the opening, stopping Nick from castling and winning a pawn. But these dynamic positions are the ones Nick likes and he managed to get some tricky counterplay that, if played incorrectly, could have been disastrous for Sampson. Sampson negotiated the situation well, but Nick had regained equality and a draw was agreed, with neither side fancying the unclear endgame. 

David Shalom played accurately against Alastair Armstrong on board 5, building up a nice edge after he managed to blunt his opponent’s early g5, which led to a big hole in his kingside. However, David felt he didn’t manage the position well, and the game flipped suddenly, with the Richmond player capitalising on some unsound tactics. This levelled the match at 2.5-2.5.

The last game to finish was on top board between John Foley and Maxim Dunn. John was pressing down the kingside with a chain of pawns dominating the white squares and doubled rooks on the h-file. However, Maxim defended the position well, managing to mitigate John’s attack and, as John fell into time trouble, picking up a pawn on the queenside. Running out of good moves, John flagged, Maxim was victorious and Richmond had prevailed.

Gregor Smith, Kingston captain in Thames Valley division 2