Kingston 4 v Ashtead 2, Surrey League division 4 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 12 October 2026

On paper, Ashtead 2 had a significant advantage over Kingston 4, on the higher boards at least, but you would not have guessed it from the initial balance of the play. Kingston quickly went 1-0 with a rapid win by David Shalom, and Adam Nakar (pictured above, right) accepted an early draw offer from old campaigner Bertie Barlow to maintain the advantage. So far, so good.

Seth Warren got an excellent draw on board 1 against the highly rated Eroc Granzelius, and Eion Fox continued his recent good run of form with a draw with Black against Peter Grabaskey on board 6. Could a surprise win be on the cards? In the end, it was close but no cigar.

Dieter McDougall played well against Ashtead captain Adrian Waldock on board 4, but Adrian knew the match was at stake and pressed hard for a win, which he duly obtained, and Chris Perks’ hard-fought win on board 5 against Aytek Koyun in the last game to finish then levelled the match. A fair outcome to a spirited encounter.

Stephen Moss is captain of Kingston Chess Club