Kingston 2 v Coulsdon 2, Surrey League division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 18 March 2024
Coulsdon, on paper a very strong club, have not been having a happy time of it in either division 1 or division 2 of the Surrey League and are threatened with relegation in both. In this match we felt something of a backlash because, in a last-ditch effort to save themselves in division 2, they brought a very strong team to the Willoughby that had more than enough firepower to defeat a pretty useful Kingston 2 side by 5-2.
John Bussmann, happily restored to the Kingston ranks and playing his first match of the season after injury (not chess related!), lost to the veteran Ian Calvert on board 3, and another Coulsdon old hand, Nick Edwards, outmanoeuvred Kingston newcomer Jameel Jameel on board 5. Talented Coulsdon youngster Shivam Agrawal defeated Julian Way on board 2, having a winning endgame after Julian had gone down the exchange, and on board 7 Charlie Cooke blundered in a good position against Brian Allan.
There were, though, three bright spots. David Rowson got a solid draw on board 1 against the highly rated Timur Kuzhelev. Timur played the interesting Nimzovich Sicilian (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6) and followed it up with an early and aggressive b5, but the promised fireworks never materialised, pieces were traded and a draw was agreed with knight and five pawns on both sides.
Kingston’s only winner of the night was Jon Eckert, who beat Matt Darville on board 4. Matt played King’s Indian Attack (1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nbd2) against Jon’s French Defence, but Jon built up pressure in the centre, homing in on White’s backward d4 pawn, and Matt blundered a rook, forcing resignation on the spot.
The final game to finish was Nick Grey, who had Black against Paul Jackson. It was a humdinger that could have gone either way. Nick is a gentle soul, except when he plays chess, when he is tremendously attacking and often very inventive. He had a won endgame here, but was playing for a long period on the increment and couldn’t quite convert. Excellent performance, though, and a draw was perhaps fair in a game where both players battled hard and had winning chances.
Stephen Moss, Kingston captain in Surrey division 2
