Wimbledon 2 v Kingston 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at St Winefride’s Church Hall, Wimbledon on 5 March 2026

Wimbledon 2 have been depleted by the requirement for several hitherto regular players to be nominated for their first team, which has been stricken by long-term illness and players moving on. So even though we were able to share some match opportunities around the second team squad, the teamsheets showed that we had a huge rating advantage. Winning the toss loaded the dice further in our favour.

For once I had the shortest game, freeing me to consume more coffee than was optimal for sleep on a chess night and allowing me to keep the wider club informed of later developments by WhatsApp. My opponent, playing White, went downhill in an unusual line, and resigned after just 15 moves in the horrid position shown below.

Next to finish was Jon Eckert on board 6, on home ground in the French Defence. White tied himself in knots trying to hold on to an extra pawn and Jon progressively undermined the fragile structure.

On board 5, Alex Chmelev also got an advantage early on and cashed in.

Homayoon Froogh’s game on board 4, where he had Black against Omar Selim, looked tight for longer. But as the board opened up, Homayoon’s two rooks and two bishops were much stronger than White’s two rooks and two knights, and he won large amounts of material with a combination of pins. At 4-0 we were over the line in the match within two hours of the start.

Board 1 was a tense battle between David Rowson and Gordon Rennie, a familiar opponent. David won a pawn, but in the rook and bishop v rook and knight ending both sides had a queenside passed pawn with some activity.  David sacrificed the exchange for Black’s passed pawn, leaving him with a bishop and two pawns for a rook. Objectively this was enough to win, but under some time pressure David did not quite trust his calculation and agreed a draw.

Board 7 looked like the game with the most mutual jeopardy, but Kingston newcomer Constantin Liesch, who had White against Nathan Hoong, seems to like it that way, and after a middle game in which both sides had chances he finished with a fine sacrificial attack.

Board 3 was, as had always seemed likely, last to finish. In a c3 Sicilian, Alan Scrimgour built up pressure against various weak points in the black position while pre-empting any possible counterplay, so it was difficult for Black to find sensible moves (and the machine has not much better advice in hindsight).

So the final score was 6.5-0.5. Not too surprising given the rating difference between the teams, but convincingly delivered.  With only two matches to go, one of them the return against a weakened Wimbledon 2, we are now odds on to win division 2, which would be a tremendous achievement only four years after the first team did so, and all the more so given that we have been outrated in several close matches.

It poses a dilemma – should we take promotion to division 1, which would be a very tough challenge, not least on the organisational front, with two eight-board teams in Surrey and possibly two six-board teams in Thames Valley division 1, or should we seek to decline it, or should the answer depend on whether the TVL B team stays in that first division? These issues lie ahead, but for now we can enjoy some hard-earned success, and look to drive it home in the last two matches.   

Peter Andrews is captain of Kingston 1 and Kingston 2 in the Surrey League