Kingston v Guildford, semi-final of the Alexander Cup, played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 5 October 2026
This was a very different Kingston team from the one which beat Guildford and secured a fifth successive Alexander Cup title back in May. We were missing six top-class players from that great match, which makes our achievement in beating a very strong Guildford team by the same score, 6.5-3.5, all the more impressive.
We had the great benefit of IM Supratit Banerjee on board 1 and he played a beautifully orchestrated game to beat Gwilym Price, whose ECF rating in 2330, with Black – a vital victory. Supratit has kindly annotated the game. A tremendous demonstration of his deep analytical strength, maturity and the willingness to question engine evaluations which is the hallmark of the potential super-GM.
The teams were generally very evenly matched, but we hoped we might have an edge on the top boards and so it proved. David Maycock and Stephen Dishman had an intense battle, but, as time became critical, David’s precision in what was effectively a blitz finish prevailed.
David had White and as always played an interesting line against FM Dishman’s Caro-Kann. Dishman had the better of the middlegame and was squeezing FM Maycock effectively, but time’s wingèd chariot muscled its way into the picture and the Guildford player blundered in time trouble, with David as quick as ever to see the opportunity. But the blunder did not some out of the blue. It emerged from a much subtler error a few moves earlier, and the sequence is instructive.
FM Vladimir Li, in his first competitive classical game for a year, showed very little rustiness in beating the highly rated junior Adam Sefton in another Caro-Kann.
Guildford got a point back on board 4, where FM Jon Ady got the better of IM Peter Large in a Nimzo-Larsen Attack which, after some manoeuvring in the early middlegame, suddenly turned into a slugfest. The tactics became bewildering and the evaluation oscillated as time started to run short, but in the end White was overwhelmed and forced to resign, A commendable win for FM Ady with Black – and one which kept Guildford in the hunt.
There were two more IMs in action on board 5 – Nigel Povah for Guildford and Kingston’s John Hawksworth. IM Povah had White and went a pawn up, but John had compensation in the shape of bishop v knight and greater activity, and he was able to neutralise the pawn and draw – a very satisfactory result with Black. John has kindly supplied some instructive comments on the game, which we pick up on Black’s 13th move.
Zain Patel and Audrey Kueh also drew on board 6, and by then results appeared to be going on way so we were happy to bag another draw.
The board 7 encounter between Guildford captain Clive Frostick and Kingston’s Julian Ward, who was also returning to high-level chess after a break, was another draw and the last game to finish. Even though Kingston had already won the match by then, Julian pressed for a win a pawn up in a rook and pawn endgame, but you know what they say about such endings and so it proved.
A pivotal game was the battle of the juniors on board 8 – Kingston’s Harvey Li against Guildford’s Zac Welling. Harvey is just 12, already rated 2000 elo and is a central player for the club’s future. His victory here, after an opening from which he emerged slightly worse, marked the moment when we believed we were going to win the match. The key moment in the game is shown below. Black’s Slav Defence had given him a decent advantage, but it all pivoted on one blunder and Harvey’s sharp eye for a tactical opportunity.
On board 9, Alex Warren and Kingston’s Peter Hasson had a solid draw – another good result as the Kingston man had Black.
On board 10, Jasper Tambini played in his usual aggressive, devil-may-care style, but Timothy Foster was up to every challenge and that also ended peacefully in the position shown below.
A wonderful occasion, recorded photographically by John Saunders (to whom thanks as ever). Thanks, too, for support from Kingston honorary president John Foley, just back from the Olympiad in Samarkand wearing a very fetching Uzbek hat and proudly clutching his Fide chess educator of the year award. Many congratulations to John from everyone at the club on this richly deserved award.
We now progress, rather rapidly, to the final, where we will meet Epsom or Wimbledon., who contest the other semi-final. Only five clubs entered the Alexander Cup this year, reflecting what appears to be a growing gap between big clubs and smaller clubs who struggle to put out competitive 10-board teams. This will be something for the league to consider, especially with the recent sad demise of Wallington Chess Club after being in operation for more than 140 years.
Stephen Moss is captain of Kingston Chess Club
