Kingston 3 v Epsom 4, Surrey League division 4 match played at the Richard Mayo Centre, United Reformed Church, Kingston on 5 January 2026

Epsom run seven teams in the Surrey League and they are always competitive. So it proved here. Captain Ed Mospan had picked a strong Kingston 3 side, but Epsom still ran out winners by 4-2 in a closely fought match.

The problems came on the bottom boards. Epsom enjoyed a clean sweep on boards 3 to 6, with veteran Michael Wickham and promising junior Ethan Bogerd (who is also a member at Kingston) leading the way.

Consolation came on the top two boards, where two players new to Kingston this season – Xavier Cowan (pictured above foreground, left) and Alexander Chmelev (sitting beside Xavier) – recorded excellent wins. Xavier outwitted Alan Bates’ Kings’s Indian Defence in a well-crafted game, while Alexander, who has made a terrific start to his Kingston career, got the better of a tight technical struggle in the Sicilian with Black against the highly rated Alastair Mills.

The defeat is a setback for Kingston 3, who have legitimate aspirations to win this division, and a boost for Epsom 4, who are now top of the table. But the emergence of two strong new players in Xavier and Alexander is a considerable upside amid the gloom.

Stephen Moss is captain of Kingston Chess Club