Kingston junior William Lin, who last year won the British under-10 championship, enjoyed a smooth victory in the blitz tournament held at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, on 6 July. Across seven rounds, played at a time control of five minutes and three seconds, William scored an impressive 6.5/7.

Only the rather more venerable John Foley, the Kingston club president, withstood young Lin’s onslaught, holding a difficult rook endgame to secure a draw. Their game, pictured above, drew a rapt crowd. John, an expert endgame player, makes a speciality of apparently impossible saves, and this one helped him to joint second place with fellow club stalwart David Rowson.

I undeservedly managed fourth with 4.5/7 after a terrible start, but it was two players on 4/7 who really caught the eye: juniors Miles O’Brien (playing off a ludicrously low estimated blitz rating) and the even younger Lucas Palmer Curiel, whose unquenchable enthusiasm for chess and rapid progress since joining the club six months have been a joy to behold.

Thanks as ever to Genc Tasbasi for organising the event with such aplomb and even managing to play in it, finishing with a 50% score. Playing and organising at the same time is never easy, so well done to him.

Stephen Moss is Kingston Chess Club captain

Top 12 places