Maidenhead B v Kingston B, Thames Valley League division 2 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 10 February 2025
“And we will get you back for the away trip to Maidenhead.” Words uttered by Stephen Moss at the 2024 end-of-season celebration as he presented me with a special signed copy of his book The Rookie as a farewell gift before I departed for pastures new in Oxfordshire.
Fast forward eight months, and true to Stephen’s word here I was at Maidenhead’s St Luke’s Community Hall, making my return to action. Also granted the captain’s armband to marshal the team I had captained for the past two seasons in the Thames Valley league. It was great to be back.
On paper, it looked like quite an even match-up. However, Maidenhead’s captain Simon Foster had a decision to make when at 7.45pm his top board Steve James hadn’t arrived and wasn’t answering his calls. Simon boldly decided to sub himself in, only for Steve to walk in the room at 7.46pm, with two moves already on the board. Simon, though, managed to back up his brave decision by defeating the estimable Peter Andrews.
Peter had exchanged his queen for two rooks in what was a complicated middlegame, but unfortunately missed a crucial move that would have resulted in pinning his opponent’s queen. “I saw it the moment I had a made my move,” Peter said later, “and then made several more bad moves while the balance of my mind was disturbed and as time ran out.” A case of not just missing the winning move but knowing you have missed it – the worst of all worlds. Simon appeared very relieved after the game after making a potentially hasty decision to sub himself in, and credit to him for getting the victory.
On board 2, the ever dependable Alan Scrimgour (pictured above) was facing Charles Bullock in his penultimate game before flying out to Prague at the weekend to represent the Scottish team in the World Senior Team Chess Championship. Alan played an excellent game with Black, his two bishops synchronising menacingly from distance to home in on his opponent’s castled king. The key moment in the game occurred in the position below:
I had the pleasure of meeting Zubair and Homayoon Froogh (Zubair is Homayoon’s son) – promising new members who have made excellent starts to their Kingston careers. However, it wasn’t to be their night as they succumbed to the very experienced Tony Milnes and Nigel Smith respectively.
Zubair works as a doctor and dashed from his day job in London to Maidenhead for the match – a long drive is far from ideal preparation for a tough encounter like this. Playing with White on board 3, he felt he made a mess of the opening but outplayed his opponent in the middlegame to equalise. He then had an opportunity to liquidate to a draw but decided to push for victory, which in hindsight was perhaps over-zealous as he got trapped in a neat mating net on the edge of the board. On board 4, Homayoon found himself a couple of early pawns down and couldn’t regain them. The extra pawns proved the difference in a tense rook and pawn endgame, with both players playing on the increment.
I had the white pieces on board 5 against William Castaneda and managed what I thought at the time was quite a smooth victory in the Scotch Gambit. I felt my opponent played too passively in the opening, from which he emerged with a very cramped position. I provoked a pawn break that allowed me to pick up a pawn, and from there I exchanged off pieces, winning another pawn. My opponent resigned as I was about to promote. However, the computer shows my opponent missed a chance to equalise when I sloppily misplayed the move order in an exchange sequence, demonstrating the importance of thorough calculation, something that my rusty chess brain wasn’t up to computing.
On board 6, Adam Nakar got a tremendous victory against the higher-rated John Snead. Adam had felt a big win was just around the corner, and looked delighted (and relieved!) with his result after he had forced home his pawn advantage in the endgame. So the match ended in a 3-3 draw. It is always a good point on the road to Maidenhead, and it was a pleasure to return to the fold alongside some familiar faces. I’ll maybe see you next year in Maidenhead.
Gregor Smith
