IM Peter Large won the 18th blitz held at All Saints church in Kingston on 4 March 2026, but suffered a loss to Chris Briscoe before fighting back in the final round

A strong field of 20 players assembled for the 18th All Saints Blitz. Once again it was won by IM Peter Large – he has now won exactly half the monthly tournaments, nine out of 18 – but this one was a true battle.

Peter lost to the highly rated Chris Briscoe in round 4 and thereafter had to play catch up. Peter duly beat Tom Mayers in round 5 and Stephen Lovell in round 6, but it was still Chris’s to lose. Chris drew with IM John Hawksworth in round 5 and then had to beat fellow Surbiton player Joshua Pirgon (whom he used to coach!) in the final round to take the title. But Joshua played an excellent game to secure the win, and thus hand Peter Large the crown (and the victor’s box of chocolates) yet again.

That left Chris Briscoe and John Hawksworth tied for second, with plenty of very strong players just behind them. It was another memorable event, ably overseen by Edward Mospan. Many thanks to Ed and to All Saints church for allowing us to use the Heritage Room. Thanks also to the organist for playing very softly during the tournament. We are scheduled to do it all again on 1 April – this is not an April Fool!

Final standings

1: Peter Large (Kingston) 5/6
2-3: Chris Briscoe (Surbiton) 4.5/6, John Hawksworth (Kingston) 4.5/6
4-7: Marcus Gosling (Epsom) 4/6, Stephen Lovell (Kingston) 4/6, Tom Mayers (Streatham) 4/6, Joshua Pirgon (Surbiton) 4/6
8/9: Graham Keane (Streatham) 3.5/6, Arne Eilers (Streatham) 3.5/6

Full results

Complete list of All Saints winners