Thames Valley division 2 match played at St Luke’s Community Hall, Maidenhead on 29 January 2024
We made the long journey to Maidenhead with hope for revenge, after Maidenhead B emerged victorious at the Willoughby Arms back in December, our sole defeat of the season so far in this division. It was a familiar team construction for Kingston, with three 2000-rated players and three 1700-rated players, which always leads to an interesting dynamic where we appear favourites on the top boards and underdogs on the bottom ones.
Nick Grey on board 4 was first to finish. After declining Simon Foster’s Smith-Morra and transposing into a Alapin Sicilian, the game ended in a relatively quick draw with both sides seeking peace. A good start with the black pieces against a higher-rated opponent.
Also with the black pieces, Charlie Cooke on board 6 played a Petrov, ending up with quite a passive position. To get some activity, he sac’ed the exchange for a pawn and a well-placed knight, which gave him drawing chances, but he couldn’t hold on. First blood to Maidenhead.
On top board, Julian Way played the Four Knights against Stephen James. Julian reckons he perhaps came slightly worse out of the opening, but with neither player really confident of what was going on they settled for a draw.
In another declined Smith-Morra, I managed to launch a queenside attack with c and b pawns thrown down the board, well supported by an annoying “octopus” knight in the heart of my opponents defence on d6. The octopus played a key role, as I managed to sacrifice it for two pawns, paving the way for my now passed a and b pawns, which could not be stopped. This levelled the match at 2-2.
On board 3, Alan Scrimgour was weighing up whether to trade his queen for two rooks when he realised at the end of line he would pick up bishop as well. The extra material was too much as Alan expertly marshalled his bishop pair and rooks to checkmate Nigel Dennis, whose queen was left floundering at the other end of the board.
As so often, it was left to Peter Andrews playing out a blitz finish to determine the match. Peter found himself facing an unfamiliar double fianchetto opening by White. The game was tightly contested all the way through, but Peter gradually developed a slight edge by selecting the best files for his rooks while his opponent weakened his pawns slightly. As the clocks ran down, Peter took the initiative with a pseudo-pawn sacrifice, and emerged into a rook and minor piece ending a pawn up. With both players blitzing, there were a couple of transitory opportunities for him to win. Unfortunately he didn’o’t spot either of them, and was content to repeat moves for the draw which won the match.
Victory by 3.5-2.5. is an excellent result, which made the long journey worthwhile. Thanks as ever to Maidenhead for the hot drinks and excellent selection of biscuits.
Gregor Smith, Kingston B captain in Thames Valley League
