Chessington 2 v Kingston 4, Surrey League division 5 match played at the North Star, Chessington on 8 October 2025
A silent disco was taking place at Surbiton station on my evening journey to the North Star pub in Chessington. “Yes sir, I can boogie.” But could we? Kingston’s players – all but one of them anyway – arrived well ahead of the 7.30pm start time and enjoyed the music (more soft rock than disco) and drink (in moderation) at the pub. But there was no sign of the opposition and we started thinking “Right venue, wrong day, darts match anyone?”
The match eventually started at 7.50pm after waiting for the digital clocks to arrive. The joys of pub chess! Kingston’s board 6 Sam Wilcox was running 30 minutes late and risking a forfeit, but in the spirit of the match I explained to his opponent that besides having a time advantage it’s always better to play a nice game of chess then win by default.
On board 1 Stephen Moss, with Black, got a slightly better position out of the opening against Malcolm Bovey’s Queen’s Gambit Declined and went a pawn up. But the engine suggests it was a strangely illusory pawn. Black had gone for a swift counter-attack to win the pawn and omitted to castle, an oversight that allowed White compensation once the queens had come off. Stephen, realising his hoped-for win was disappearing, spent 15 minutes pondering one move, the pub table straining under the rocking generated by his elbows. The winning move wasn’t there and White forced a repetition. Stephen was very irritated – but then he is easily irritated.
Seth Warren played against the unflappable Murugan Kanagasapay in a cat-and-mouse encounter on board 2 which was the last game to finish on the night. Seth was two pawns up, but Muragan continued to eat away at Seth’s advantage and ended with knight and pawn against Seth’s four pawns, leading to a draw once Seth’s defenceless army had been mopped up and Muragan’s dangerous pawn eliminated.
On board 3 Genc Tasbasi, who has had a very good start to the season on his return to regular competitive chess, was up against Tomas Kubin, who has a 1475 ECF rating but a worryingly high Fide of 1947, though Tomas insists the latter is a doppelganger. Tomas, who did appear to be the ECF-rated player and not the Fide one, gave Genc a good run for his money, but Genc built a formidable pawn chain, went a piece up and won the game – Kingston’s sole victor on the night.
David Shalom, with White, faced Jonathan Holbrook on board 4 in a stodgy game which was looking drawish until David lost two pawns. The endgame was still complicated and David had drawing chances, but it was very hard to play in a time scramble and needed a succession of perfectly judged knight moves to neutralise Black’s two connected passed pawns. The knight eventually got itself offside and Holbrook manoeuvred a pawn home to win the game.
Dieter McDougall was Kingston’s board 5 against Chessington’s canny supremo Meena Santhosh. It was another tight game, but Meena has a good eye for tactics, struck some telling blows and gained a victory which put her side within sight of the finishing line. The triumph for Chessington was cemented by success on board 6. Sam Wilcox had arrived just in time, and a hard-fought struggle ensued in which he whittled away at his opponent Graham Legg’s advantage on the clock – Graham later congratulated Sam on playing so well in trying circumstances. But it was all to no avail: Sam went down fighting and Chessington took the match 4-2. We will certainly boogie and possibly all night long – next time!
Edward Mospan is Kingston captain in the Surrey Minor Trophy
