Kingston B v Hounslow A, Thames Valley division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston, on 18 April 2024
This was a remarkably professional win by Kingston B over Hounslow A, and it suddenly (and rather surprisingly) puts the Bs in a good position to win promotion and join the A team in division 1 of the Thames Valley League. Whether we really want two teams in the top division is another matter, but we probably have to go for it and see if we can cope next season if we do get there.
In this match everyone played their part, even me! I managed a quick draw against Hounslow captain (and Thames Valley chair) David White on board 3, finally abandoning my hopeless Scandinavian in favour of the Caro-Kann, which at least appears to have the virtue of solidity. We shall see.
Charlie Cooke drew on board 6 against promising junior Vibhush Pusapadi, and Gregor Smith got the third draw of the night against JJ Padam, though the Kingston captain looked slightly disappointed at not being able to convert his pawn advantage in a blocked position. Meanwhile on board 5, Nick Grey continued his excellent recent run with a well-controlled win with Black over Eugene Gregorio, who always seems to play at blitz speed and may, Nick thought, have missed a chance to win the exchange in his desire to crack on with the game.
The encounters on the two top boards were interesting struggles, both eventually going Kingston’s way to make the final score in the match an emphatic 4.5-1.5. Peter Andrews provided a helpful summary of his game against Hounslow veteran Leon Fincham: “I retained an edge through a typically tense opening, and my opponent’s thematic opening of the position was unsound. There was a flurry of tactics, at the end of which I had a material advantage and the safer king, so could mop up safely even with little time on my clock.”
Peter pinpoints this as the key position and the moment on which the game turned. Black has just played 16…f5, the expected move in a King’s Indian-type position:
Julian Way also won a very nice game on board 1, demonstrating once again what a top-class endgame player he is. We join the game after White’s 28th move – coincidentally another f5!? White’s attack looks somewhat scary, but Black has it all under control.
A very encouraging evening and a fine result for Kingston and for Gregor, who will be giving up the captaincy when he decamps to Oxfordshire in the summer. He will be sorely missed at Kingston as organiser, assistant secretary, captain and all-round good guy, but one hopes he will stay in touch from afar. Maybe he could even play in Maidenhead!
Whether his legacy will be getting Kingston B into division 1 of the Thames Valley League will depend on his team’s final match of the season – the crunch derby with Surbiton B on 29 April. As the league table (see below under the match scorecard) shows, that really will be a zero-sum clash. With Richmond B almost certain to beat bottom-of-the-table Staines in their last match, whoever wins the Kingston-Surbiton encounter will get promotion while the loser is likely to be squeezed into third place (with just two teams promoted). It should be quite a night as we mark Gregor’s departure.
Stephen Moss, Kingston Chess Club secretary
