Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms on 11 December 2023
Guildford are such a large club that even their fourth team, playing here in the Centenary Trophy (Surrey Div 4), are strong, with a player rated almost 1800 on board 1. That Kingston 3, marshalled by (in this instance non-playing) captain Stephen Daines managed to grab a 3-3 draw was cause for celebration, especially when we had been perilously placed at 3-1 and apparently losing on top board 1 at one point.
Adam Nakar and Greg Heath had secured solid draws on boards 3 and 6, but Kingston new boy Jameel Jameel and returned old boy Ed Mospan had succumbed to Guildford veterans Trevor Jones and Mike Gunn on 4 and 5. That left Kingston’s Davis Shalom and Charlie Cooke battling away on the top two boards, but it was hard to see where the points needed to draw the match would come from.
Charlie, playing Black on board 2 against Richard Duncalfe, had other ideas, though, and defended superbly to ensure we got back to 3-2. His opponent essayed the Cochrane Gambit in the Petrov, not very sound but, like most gambits, likely to give White a fun game in which he can attack at will. He did exactly that and reached this position after 16 moves.
This looks quite encouraging for White, but may be one of those positions where the attack is more visual than real. Engines still favour Black, though White has possibilities if he plays very precisely. 17. g5 is White’s best move here, trying to make space for the white queen to occupy d4 and threaten mate on g7. White has seen the idea but never plays g5, preferring to put the queen on d4 first. Charlie played a series of moves which looked ugly – Ne8 to defend against mate on g7; g5 to block the immediate pawn advance by White – and never let his advantage slip. His opponent sac’d another piece to open the g-file and again had chances in the position below.
But down on material you have to be precise here. Bd3 must be played. Everything else is very bad, and the move White chose, Qf4, very bad indeed. Charlie was now well on top, and was able to stymie all threats, liquidate material and reach a position where his material advantage was overwhelming. White resigned to make it 3-2 to Guildford.
That left David Shalom trying to salvage something from his game against the highly rated Rob Merriman on board 1. Rob was a piece up and David appeared to have very little compensation. What he did have, though, was a significant time advantage, and Rob went horribly wrong in nascent time trouble, taking a pawn with queen (supported by rook) on f7 to check the Black king, but failing to realise the square was guarded by Black’s own distant queen. Rob’s shoulders slumped. That blunder took David from a piece down to the exchange up, and White never recovered. Kingston had against all the odds secured a draw, though you couldn’t help but feel for the Guildford board 1, for whom a sleepless night awaited. Chess is nothing if not cruel.
Stephen Moss
