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

This game was played between Kingston board 1 David Maycock, who is an FM, and Maidenhead board 1, Matthew Wadworth, a GM. David had lost both his games playing for CSC/Kingston 1 at 4NCL on the previous two days and had been left disconsolate by the experience. Now he had to trek to Maidenhead from south-west London to face grandmaster Matthew Wadsworth, who had got the better of him in their two previous encounters. David was delayed on a train and arrived at the board 20 minutes late for the game. The auguries were not good, but he proceeded to win, playing, in the words of fellow Kingston FM Vladimir Li, “like a machine” once GM Wadsworth had made a critical slip. John Saunders, associate editor of Chess Magazine and a former Welsh international player, has kindly annotated the game.