Thames Valley League division 1 match played at the United Reformed Church, Tolworth on 18 April 2023
Captains clash at Surbiton: Graham Alcock (left, foreground) struggling to hold Kingston skipper David Rowson
The background to this away match against Surbiton B was a huge traffic jam in Tolworth which delayed the start by 20 minutes and made everyone rather fractious and edgy. David Rowson thought the chaos directly influenced his board 4 game against Graham Alcock.
“Graham and I were both a bit unsettled by the initial uncertainty,” David explained later, “and unfortunately for Graham this led to him leaving a pawn en prise in a quiet line of the Ponziani Opening. Thereafter I made rather heavy weather of winning until the game opened up in mutual time trouble.”
David added a topical qualification to the description of his difficulties getting to the match and the attendant confusion. “I was thinking that, for all the pressures that Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren have to cope with, being stuck on a 281 bus in terrible traffic as the minutes tick away to the match starting time isn’t one of them.”
With the season nearing completion, both league titles already won and the first team facing three matches in seven days, we were running rather short of players and I found myself called up to first-team colours – a status well above my pay grade. I was playing Alexey Markov, whom I have played several times before. I was hoping for a draw because I was Black and didn’t want to let the real first-teamers down; Alexey was hoping for a draw because he overrates me and has a negative career record in our matches. So we proceeded to play one of the dullest chess games ever recorded, with Alexey accepting my draw offer after 21 moves. Frankly, the traffic snarl-up was more interesting.
The real action was elsewhere. On board 1 for a start, where David Maycock offered an outrageous bishop sacrifice on move 10. David is White here and his opponent, Paul Dupré, has just played 9… d5. David’s nonchalant reply is 10. Bf4?!, offering an apparently free bishop for what he believes will be a withering attack down the e-file.
Visually, the potential pressure on the king looks worrying, but the position is probably defensible and the sac should be accepted, though taking the bishop produces almost as much mayhem as in Tolworth Broadway. A plausible continuation might be: 10…dxc4 11. d5 Be7 12. Re1 Kf8 13. Qe2 Nc5 14. Rad1 Bg4 15. Qxc4 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Qb6 17. d6 Bg5 18. d7 Ne6 19. Bd6+ Be7 20. Rxe6 fxe6 21. Qxe6 Bxd6 22. Qxd6+ Kf7 23. d8=N+ Rxd8 24. Qxd8 Qxd8 25. Rxd8 Ke6 26. Ne4 b5 27. Rd6+ Kf7 28. Rxc6 bxa4 29. Rc8. That line gives White a sizeable advantage, but other plausible continuations are available.
It would be interesting to know how much of this accepting-the-sac variation the players saw. David is usually very concrete in his analysis and will have peered a long way through the fog. There are certainly dangers in taking the bishop. It produces a double-edged position which engines give as a tiny plus for Black, but where White has all the initiative. Taking it is, however, certainly better than what was played: 10…Ndf6, which immediately cedes the advantage to White.
In the game, the white bishop retreated to d3 after the intermezzo rook check, and because Black is well behind on development his position quickly worsened, with David forcing resignation on move 25 amid a blizzard of tactics. An inventive game to have played after a lengthy wait for a bus which then crawled through traffic. Can nothing curb the Maycockian spirit of adventure?
On board 2, Peter Lalić played another impressive game. Up against Surbiton stalwart Nick Faulks, who never fears any opponent no matter how strong, Peter played with his usual verve, sac-ing a pawn against the English Opening, grabbing the initiative, and gaining the advantage in the middlegame where he has bishop and knight for rook. He had a handy plus in the position below, and maybe White knew the writing was on the wall, but one wrong turning by White’s king produces a grisly end.
White plays Kc2 when he should retreat to d1, and Peter needs no second invitation to finish the job: 36… Re2+ 37. Kb3 Rb2+ 38. Ka3 Bb4# 0-1 Maycock and Lalić: have Kingston ever had a more reliable and inspired double act on the top boards? Their names will surely live on in chess history like Capablanca and Alekhine, Fischer and Spassky, Kasparov and Karpov, Morecambe and Wise (subs please check pairings).
On board 5, Surbiton legend (and architect of the modern club) Paul Durrant, who happily is back playing again after an enforced break because of illness, was up against Julian Way, who is also back after being indisposed for a couple of months. Julian, playing White, built up pressure gradually and won a piece, but Paul still made life difficult until Julian finally made the material advantage tell.
On board 3, meanwhile, Silverio Abasolo – hero of Kingston’s recent Alexander Cup triumph – was engaged in a tricky rook endgame with Surbiton’s durable Andrew Boughen. Later analysis suggested it was a technical draw, but Silverio is a Magnus-like fighter, kept on playing, and in the end his opponent faltered, allowing White to break through. That made it 5.5-0.5 and we could disappear into the night, looking for a route home that dodged the roadworks. Beware the Tolworth Bind!
Surrey League division 4 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 17 April 2023
This was one of the results of the season for Kingston: a draw for a third team that had previously lost seven matches in a row in this highly competitive division against the team that had won the Centenary Trophy (the name of Surrey Div 4) at a canter. All the team’s hard work this season under the patient captaincy of Stephen Daines had finally paid off.
Max Mikardo-Greaves won his game at lightning speed – it was over before anyone knew quite what was happening, and Josh Lea went the exchange up and never let his opponent recover. Both these wins were against much higher-rated opponents, as was young Jaden Mistry’s on board 6.
Jaden, who is 11, is progressing very fast and this was his best win yet: highly technical and after a long game – 53 moves in a situation where he knew his team needed him to win in order to draw the match. That’s a lot of pressure for a young man, and he dealt with it admirably. This was the position after White’s 38th move. How do you assess it?
Jaden is Black here and he correctly surmised that he is at least drawing and could have winning chances. Engines give Black a tiny edge, though the position is tricky to play for both sides, relying on adroit use of the rooks. Jaden played the position well, but he was greatly helped by an opponent who seemed unsure whether he was playing for a win or a draw – he was intent on trying to create a mating net around the White king – and ultimately blundered to allow a pawn to queen. A terrific result for young Jaden and one he was justifiably proud of.
The top boards proved tougher for Kingston. A certain Peter Lalić was on board 1 for Richmond – surely the equivalent of Man City’s star striker Erling Haaland turning out in Sunday park football since he was rated more than 500 points above anybody else in the match. Nonetheless, David Shalom gave him a run for his money, and it would have been even more interesting if he had found the right move in the position below:
David, not unnaturally, feels he has to give up the bishop here with Bxb5 as it is trapped. Sac-ing the bishop is not a total disaster as it will open up the Black king to White’s heavy artillery down the a-file, and that does indeed become a theme of the rest of the game. But David has a much better move here, though you only see it if you notice that Black’s knight on h5 is undefended. Loose pieces drop off! White should play Bd5! Then, if Qxd5, Nc3 gets the piece back via Qxh5, and engines suggest White has a small edge. Tactics, tactics – chess is all about tactics.
Peter won, though credit to David for making a game of it, and Richmond’s higher-rated players also prevailed on boards 2 and 3. But to draw against the winners of the division was a terrific achievement, ending Kingston 3’s embattled (but spirited) season in the Centenary Trophy on a high. Now we have to build on it next year.
Thames Valley League division 2 match played at Actonians Sports Club, Ealing on 17 April 2023
Kingston B captain Gregor Smith was taking no risks with this match, which had to be won if his team were to escape the relegation zone in division 2 of the Thames Valley League. Ever since a surprise defeat at home to Surbiton C last October, we have been struggling at the foot of the table. Out two matches, home and away to already relegated Ealing B who have lost nine out of nine in this division, had to be our salvation.
Gregor brought out the big guns, John Foley and Alan Scrimgour (both very strong players and happily not “nominated” to play only first-team chess, so free to play for the seconds), on boards 1 and 2. I filled in at the last minute on board 3 for an indisposed player, and we had Gregor himself on 4, Nick Grey on 5 and Charlie Cooke on 6 – solidity personified.
Alan Scrimgour (right) takes on Peter Meltzer as Kingston B gain an emphatic (and necessary!) success at Ealing
We outgraded our opponents by an average of more than 300 points a board, and that was reflected in the scale of the victory – 5.5-0.5. John Foley gave his customary display of endgame expertise: go a pawn up, plant an impregnable knight, win. Alan had too much nous for his opponent. Mine blundered early on and, despite playing with my usual lack of precision, I managed not to blunder back quite as badly. Gregor won a pleasing game, which was level for a long time before skilfully coordinated his forces and broke through. Nick drew – all credit to Gabriele Palmer for avoiding the whitewash. And Charlie overwhelmed his opponent to win very rapidly.
Apologies to the largely youthful Ealing team for being a bit OTT with team selection, but this was about survival. Our main rivals for the drop, Surbiton C, now face two tough away trips to finish their season. We also have some tricky matches to come – champions-elect Maidenhead A away! – but at least, for the first time this season, we have our noses in front of Surbiton and the scars of that defeat back in October are almost healed.
Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023
This was the board 3 game which ultimately decided the fate of the 2023 Alexander Cup final. Kingston’s Silverio Abasolo had to beat IM Chris Baker, or the match would have been drawn 5-5 and Battersea would have taken the title on board count. Fortunes swung both ways, time became a factor, spectators became anxious, but Abasolo was the calmest person at the Adelaide pub and eventually prevailed to ensure that Kingston retained the trophy.
Abasolo about to deliver checkmate as Kingston president John Foley watches on. Photograph: John Saunders
Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023
The board 4 game between Mike Healey and Viktor Stoyanov was pivotal in Kingston’s victory over Battersea in the 2023 Alexander Cup final by the slender margin of 5.5-4.5. The match was an intense and dramatic one between two very fine sides, and here Mike plays a tremendous game to make possible Kingston’s win against a higher-rated team. Mike being Mike, his knights naturally lead the charge.
Mike Healey on his way to a crucial win that set up Kingston’s Alexander Cup triumph. Photograph: John Saunders
Surrey League division 2 match played at the United Reformed Church, Tolworth on 11 April 2023
This game was played in a crucial match in Kingston 2’s battle to stave off relegation in division 2 of the Surrey League. We won the match against Surbiton’s first team 5-2, greatly helped by Peter’s win against the doughty Nick Faulks on board 3. They have met over the board half a dozen times, and Peter was keen to annotate this relatively short game as he found it instructive. “I suggest two lessons,” he explains. “One, for me, is that if one is playing an opponent whom one has played before, it cannot be assumed that the opening will repeat, especially if one achieved a good position in the previous game. The other is that it illustrates a useful principle expounded by John Nunn: LPDO, Loose Pieces Drop Off!
Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023
Kingston’s winning team. Bottom row from left: Silverio Abasolo, captain Ljubica Lazarevic, John Foley. Top row from left: Will Taylor, Mike Healey,Alan Scrimgour, Peter Lalić,Vladimir Li, Peter Andrews,David Maycock, David Rowson. Photograph: John Saunders
Where on earth to begin? Probably at the beginning. This was Battersea’s return to the Alexander Cup – and indeed to Surrey chess generally – after a long absence. They had beaten a very strong Epsom team in the semi-final and frankly we feared them. We were strong, but we knew that on paper they were likely to be even stronger. And so it proved: GM Simon Williams on board 1, IMs Gavin Wall and Chris Baker on 2 and 3, a 2230-rated player on board 7, an average ratings plus across the teams of about 50 points. This was going to be some challenge.
But one thing the Kingston team has going for it, as well as great individual talent, is collective esprit de corps, under Ljubica Lazarevic’s inspired captaincy. This was not a team that was going to lie down, no matter what the rating difference was and how many titled players our opponents had. Kingston’s first team had not been beaten since competitive chess resumed after the pandemic, and it was not going to relinquish that proud boast lightly. But where were our points going to come from?
On board 6, Will Taylor turned down an early draw offer from Battersea captain Blair Connell, despite a ratings disadvantage of more than 100 points. “With a tactical draw offer, since Blair was Black and Battersea outrated us on most boards, I did wonder whether it was still advantageous from a match perspective for me to accept, being heavily outrated myself,” Will explained later, “but it felt too negative at such an early stage.” Lazarevic had asked her players to be wary of accepting “grandmasterly” draws – every point was going to be precious – and it made sense to keep the Battersea skipper immersed in his own game for as long as possible. The virtues of the non-playing captain.
Will Taylor: Turned down an early draw offer from Battersea captain Blair Connell. Photograph: John Saunders
On board 5, Battersea junior Luca Buanne was playing well against Kingston’s Vladimir Li, whose Surrey rating of 2196 does not reflect his true strength (elo 2294 and rising!). This was a game where we had hoped to take the full point, but Buanne played quickly and confidently against Vladimir’s Sicilian, had no difficulty equalising, and a draw was agreed after 22 moves. Not exactly grandmasterly, but Vladimir is very close to getting an FM title and on this showing Buanne – one of the strongest 15-year-olds in the country – will be following him to a title very soon.
Vladimir Li: Drew with the talented Battersea junior Luca Buanne on board 5. Photograph: John Saunders
Board 10 was the only match-up where we had a clear rating advantage, so we were – while trying not to exert unnecessary extra pressure – relying on Peter Andrews to bring home the bacon. He did not disappoint, playing his favoured English (cue bacon puns) and out-techniquing his opponent Greg Taylor. Taylor built up a big time plus and may have assumed that trying to create tactical complexities, rather than grabbing back a pawn when he had an opportunity, would work to his advantage. Happily for us, it didn’t.
Peter Andrews took Kingston’s first point with a technical knockout on board 10. Photograph: John Saunders
In the position below, Peter thought his opponent might have been playing for 28…Qxc5, missing the fact that when he captured the white queen with his rook a back-rank mate would follow. Two pawns down and with White’s rook established on the seventh, this position is hopeless for Black (at least -6, according to engines). The game is already resignable, but became irretrievable when Black dropped the rook on a6, having forgotten there was no longer a pawn on b7 to protect it from the white queen. A victory for cumulative pressure.
Almost at the same moment that Peter Andrews was securing Kingston’s first point, our other Peter – the incomparable Lalić – was agreeing a draw with IM Gavin Wall on board 2. Peter L, with typical verve, had played the Staunton Gambit against Gavin’s Dutch Defence (1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 fxe4 4. Bg5 Nc6 5. d5 Ne5 6. Qe2 c6 7. O-O-O Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Nf7 9. Bh4 cxd5 10. Rxd5 b6). He stood better in the middle game, but was running short of time and allowed a draw by repetition.
“Gavin played his first 10 moves instantly,” Peter explained later. “He told me afterwards that he had played the identical opening the day before, against Graham Keane in the London League. By contrast, I hadn’t tried the Staunton Gambit in at least a decade. Hence my trepidation.”
Peter Lalić (left) essayed the Staunton Gambit against Gavin Wall and drew. Photograph: John Saunders
Kingston were 2-1 up, but in a 10-board match that meant little, especially with Alan Scrimgour apparently in trouble on board 9 and David Maycock, with Black, facing a GM on board 1.
In the next game to finish, Blair Connell (who had declared his intentions by playing the Fort Knox variation of the French) finally got his draw against Will Taylor. This was the position in which peace was declared:
Will was down on the clock and felt he no longer had realistic winning chances, so took the draw. A good result given the rating difference, allowing us to keep our noses in front. But the result that really made us believe we might win came next, with Mike Healey beating the highly rated Viktor Stoyanov on board 4. This was a tremendous game by Mike, paving the way for everything that came later.
Stoyanov played the Caro-Kann and Mike opted for the so-called Fantasy Variation (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3). The first 20 moves, with both players committing to the fight, were very even, and on move 24 (shortly after Mike had spurned a draw offer) this position was reached:
Here Mike, who much prefers eccentric knights to rather predictable rooks, made a very Mike decision: 24. Rdxd5! “White temporarily gives up an exchange,” he explained later, “but something is dropping for Black.” The game proceeded 24…cxd5 25. Rxd5 Re1+ 26. Kd2 Rae8 27. Rxc5. R8e2+ 28. Kd3 Re3+ 29. Kd4 R3e2 30. Bd3 Re8 31. Nf4 Rd1 32. Rd5 Bc8 33. Kc5 Rde1 34. Bxb5 R8e5 35. Bc4 Rxd5+ 36. Bxd5+ Kf8
Mike’s faith in his knights has paid off – his position is completely winning: 37. Ng6+ Ke8 38. Kd6 Rd1 39. c4 Bb7 40. Ne6 Bxd5 41. Nc7+ Kd8 42.Nxd5 Rd2 43.c5 Rxb2 44.c6 Rd2 45. Ne7 1-0 A very good knight – or indeed knights. That made it 3.5-1.5 and the early pessimism of Kingston supporters was starting to dissipate. We really could win this.
Mike Healey: Played a wonderfully inventive game to beat Viktor Stoyanov. Photograph: John Saunders
On board 7, Kingston’s David Rowson more than held his own with Black against Chris Beckett, who outrated him by almost 200 points. “It wasn’t the most exciting of games, but I was pleased to get a draw from a strong player,” David said later. “For once my Old Indian Defence led to Black, not White, getting the upper hand on the queenside, as my opponent made a couple of inaccuracies. I resisted the temptation to draw by repetition on move 26, but I didn’t have enough of an advantage to make anything of the ending.” This was the position in which a draw was agreed. Engines evaluate it as completely level.
David Rowson, on board 7, secured a vital draw against a much higher-rated player. Photograph: John Saunders
John Foley’s game against Duncan Kerr on board 8 was another canny, nip-and-tuck affair between two very experienced players, with threats and counter-threats from an early stage. In the final position, John’s passed d-pawn looks as if it might have potential, which was enough for Black to offer the draw. John could have continued with 36. Qxa6 but after the queens are exchanged the endgame is drawish.
Kingston president John Foley (right) locked in battle with Duncan Kerr. Photograph: John Saunders
The score was now 4.5-2.5 in Kingston’s favour and the winning line was in sight. Or was it? David Maycock was losing on board 1, Alan Scrimgour was losing on board 9, and the final game – Silverio Abasolo, with Black, up against IM Chris Baker on board 3 – was far from clear. The most likely scenario, pundits agreed (and Kingston pessimists feared), was a 5-5 draw, with Battersea winning on board count by virtue of victory on board 1.
GM Simon Williams (left), playing the English Opening, up against David Maycock. Photograph: John Saunders
David Maycock competed fiercely against Simon Williams on top board, but started to run short of time in the latter stages of the game. GMs are of course superfast calculators, and Williams set David many problems. “I solved a million of them, but couldn’t solve the million and one-th,” David said afterwards. Black is doing OK in this position, but the rook on c8 is under attack. Would should David play?
Best is probably Rxc1, with good drawing chances. But David opted for 27…Rc5, which loses to a forced sequence: 28. Bxe4 dxe4 29. Rxc5 bxc5 30. Nc6+ Qxc6 31. Qxh8+ Ka7 32. Qb2 Qb5 33. Rb1 Qc6 34. Qb6+ Qxb6 35. Rxb6 1-0. That made it 4.5-3.5, and it was getting too close for comfort.
GM Simon Williams let Battersea’s fightback with a smooth victory on top board. Photograph: John Saunders
A few minutes later the scores were tied as Battersea’s Robert Noyce won against Kingston chair Alan Scrimgour. Alan was candid later about a game – a Closed Sicilian – which he felt had started to unravel at quite an early stage. “My first mistake was to close the centre with d4,” he explained. “I should have exchanged on e4 to keep some open lines. I then made a bad strategic decision to castle queenside. The result was that I had no counterplay and had to defend. My opponent took no chances and carefully built up his attack. In a difficult position I made further inaccuracies and my opponent finished clinically.”
Alan Scrimgour was under the cosh for much of his game against Robert Noyce. Photograph: John Saunders
The match was all square, so now – in the scenario which had been bothering us for the past hour – Kingston’s Silverio Abasolo had to win on board 3 against IM Chris Baker or we would lose the match on board count. No pressure. Silverio, though, a very strong player with a Fide rating of 2283 who has only resumed playing serious competitive chess this season after an eight-year break, is a cool customer who plays quickly and fluently . At no stage did he show any signs of tension and he continued recording even in a time scramble, where he was playing moves on the 10-second increment (all the games on the night were played at a time control of 75 minutes + 10 seconds per move).
Silverio Abasolo had to win against IM Chris Baker to secure the trophy for Kingston. Photograph: John Saunders
Baker had played another English Opening – it was a big night for the English – but Silverio skilfully established a small plus and, with Black to play on move 21 in the position below, he made a key strategic decision:
From many competing possible moves with very similar evaluations (this is actually the computer’s seventhchoice), Silverio chose to swap bishop for knight. That choice largely determined the course of the rest of the game. Silverio’s knight found good squares, and on move 31, though objectively White now had an edge, he played a bold move which John Saunders, who will be annotating the game for the Kingston website, said caused a “psychological swing” by turning the screw on Baker.
Here Silverio plays 31…Qc5, threatening both the pawn on f2 and, more pressingly for White, a back-rank mate. White should play Qb2, which would maintain his edge, but instead he chose Rg1, presumably to counterattack down the g-file if Black played Qxf2, but overlooking 32. Nh3, which led to White giving up the exchange.
Chris Baker and Silverio Abasolo lock horns (and pawns) in the night’s decisive game. Photograph: John Saunders
Even after going the exchange up, however, there were still complications. Silverio missed an immediately winning continuation, and Baker tried to menace Black’s king with his queen and bishop. Even when Silverio had queened his a-pawn, Baker would not call it a day and was threatening mate in one. Saunders took a final photograph as Silverio, with 30 seconds left on his clock, countered the mate threat with a check of his own and proceeded to calmly notate the move.
Abasolo resists the threat of mate in one by checking, then calmly notates the move. Photograph: John Saunders
Now it really was all over bar the whooping – and the applause for Silverio. The two queens did their work and White was mated. Kingston had won a magnificent victory against the odds and the Alexander Cup could stay in our trophy cabinet for another year, alongside the trophies for winning both the Surrey League and the Thames Valley League this season. If we win the Thames Valley Knockout against Harrow on 22 May we will have chalked up a unique “Quadruple”. If we do, what on earth will we do next? Collapse probably.
Abasolo poised to deliver the match-winning mate as John Foley looks on intently. Photograph: John Saunders
We should put on record our thanks to Battersea for a memorable match played in a good spirit, to John Saunders for taking a wonderful set of photographs and for putting all the game scores on his superb BritBase site, to Richmond Chess Club for hosting the final (the Surrey association specifies it must be played at a neutral venue and the Adelaide pub in Teddington is perfect), and to tournament controller Huw Williams for acting as arbiter with just the right balance of firmness and discretion – visible but never overbearing. It was truly an epic match.
Battersea captain Blair Connell said afterwards that he doubted whether he would ever recover, but our fear is that next year they will be back with even more of their celebrity GMs. Thus does the bar get raised with every succeeding season. And talking of the bar…
Surrey League division 2 match played at the United Reformed Church, Tolworth on 11 April 2023
Kingston 2 line up against Surbiton. Julian Way in foreground, flanked by Peter Andrews and Alan Scrimgour
Oh, how the wheel of fortune turns. Five or six years ago, at the apogee of their success, Surbiton 2 would routinely beat Kingston 1. Here the roles were reversed, with Kingston 2 getting the better of Surbiton 1 by 5-2. It was a vital win for Kingston 2, who are threatened with relegation after a season in which we have struggled to put out our strongest possible second teams. Thankfully, here we had a powerful line-up and were rewarded with a victory which gives the club a chance of survival in division 2. One of Kingston, South Norwood and Surbiton will be relegated, with the crunch match being Kingston 2 v South Norwood 1 at Kingston on Monday 29 May.
It helped Kingston’s cause that Surbiton were missing several key players, notably Mark Josse, Chris Briscoe and David Scott, and that their board 1 failed to show up. John Foley sat patiently until the default time of half an hour, then claimed the point. Surbiton’s engaging captain Graham Alcock apologised for the Kingston president’s wasted journey, but frankly we were just happy with a free point.
Jon Eckert, with White, launched a vigorous attack against Alcock on board 5 that for a moment looked promising, but the Surbiton skipper repelled it comfortably and a draw was quickly agreed. That made it 1.5-0.5 to Kingston and we were starting to feel confident, though Surrey veterans Nick Grey and Paul Durrant were engaged in a messy struggle on board 6, and some of the other games were far from clear.
Peter Andrews was playing Nick Faulks, against whom he reckoned he’d played half a dozen games in the past, on board 3, and Faulks established a tiny plus against Peter’s English Opening, reaching this position on move 11, with Black to play:
Faulks played 11…Bd7 here, which Peter says is overly passive – Bg4 is better. The denouement followed remarkably quickly: 12. Na4 Bxb2 13. Nxb2 b6 14. Nc4 f6 15. d4 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Be6 18. Qe3 Bc8 19. Rfd1 Qe8 20. Nxb6 Rxb6 21. Rxc7 1-0
Peter wondered at the time if resignation here was premature, but engines bear out Faulks’s decision. Stockfish makes it +7 for White, and even my more conservative engines gives a +4.5 advantage. The a-pawn is falling, White’s rook on the seventh is a monster, and White’s pieces are very well coordinated. Peter’s win made it 2.5-0.5, and now we could really start to believe.
On board 7 David Shalom, who has made an excellent return to competitive chess this season, was playing an interesting game against Ye Kyaw. David played the London System very adventurously, recapturing a piece on g3 with the f-pawn to open up the f-file and then giving up a pawn in the centre to mobilise his rooks. This was the position on move 18. White has just played 18. Rae1 to gain a tempo by attacking the queen.
When I looked at this position I didn’t like it for White and feared for David in the game – potentially a crucial one with several other games looking drawish. Does White really have compensation for his pawn? But David clearly has a very well-calibrated positional sense because engines think he does have sufficient compensation, giving the position as more or less level. The problem for Black is the hole on f6, created by the unnecessary 12…g6 earlier in the game. What was it Steinitz said about never moving the pawns in front of your castled king without urgent reason?
This is how the game proceeded: 18… Qd6 19. Rf6 Kg7 20. Ref1 Bb7 21. Qf2 Qe7 22. Qf4.
There is a must-play move here, but Black fails to play it. You can’t allow White’s queen to occupy e5, and should play 22…e5, or at the very least 22…Rad8 to challenge the White queen on that square with Qd6. But Black has some misguided idea about solidity and plays 22…Rae8?? The end follows swiftly: 23. Qe5 Kg8 24. h4 Qc5+ 25. Kh2 Qc6 26. R1f2 Rd8 27. h5 Qd6 28. Qg5 Kg7? (28. Qd7 staves off mate but is still losing) 29. hxg6 fxg6 30. Rxg6+ Kh8 31. Rg7 1-0 A terrific win by David and now, at 3.5-0.5, we could not lose the match.
Legends of Surrey chess: Nick Grey (right) struggles to hold Surbiton chair (and long-time lynchpin) Paul Durrant
Alan Scrimgour’s draw with Angus James on board 2 followed soon after, giving Kingston an unassailable 4-1.5 advantage, and Nick Grey got a perpetual against Paul Durrant on board 6 when a piece for two pawns down. An important “swindle” in a division where relegation could be decided by game points.
With time for the match about to be called at 10.30pm, Julian Way and Andrew Boughen agreed to go to adjudication. Julian was the exchange down but had a passed pawn on e3 supported by an unmoveable knight on d5, so he certainly wasn’t losing and thought he might have winning chances. Later computer analysis, however, suggested that, while Black does have a tiny edge, with best play a draw was the most likely result, and that was the result mutually agreed between the players.
All in all, a great evening which gives us bragging rights in the borough of Kingston and, more importantly, makes sure we have a fighting chance of staying in division 2 of the Surrey League. Everything now hinges on that South Norwood match at the end of May.
Stephen Moss, Kingston 2 acting captain in Surrey League
Daaim Shabazz’s Triple Exclam!!! The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior may be short on great games, but it provides a compelling picture of a remarkable chess life
Michael Healey
“Russian chess players use the somewhat untranslatable word творец[tvorets] to describe a particularly inspiring chess player. A tvorets prioritises elegance over rating points, values the quality of his games rather than his standing in the tournament. Above all a tvorets is someone who keeps the beauty of our game alive, inspiring us to follow in his footsteps. Emory Tate was most definitely a tvorets.” – GM Daniel Naroditsky
Emory Andrew Tate Jr, aka “Dennis” aka “The Exclam kid” aka “Emory Mate” aka “Indomitable Warrior” aka “Tactical Assassin” aka “ET the Extraterrestrial”, tvorets, was an American IM, martial artist, intelligence officer, poet, father, drunk and general weaver of chess dreams. He claimed the only chess book he ever read was Vladimir Vukovic’s Art of Attack in Chess, and this is born out by the games we’ve been left. He distrusted computers and databases, but took the scalps of many grandmasters. He died in 2015 at the age of 56 after a heart attack playing chess. Opening theoreticians will be aware of his contribution, Alekhine’s Defence Tate variation, an early rook development: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. a4 a5 5. Ra3.
To the world at large, however, he is now more famous for producing Emory Tate III, aka Andrew Tate. He was the father of one of the most influential and controversial figures of our times.
Tate the father ticks a lot of the “tortured genius” boxes. From a good family, ill-disciplined but brilliant in high school, he achieved a scholarship to Northwestern University in Illinois at 17, but dropped out both here and then at Alabama University. He joined the US air force and entered intelligence, picking up Russian in a record time of three weeks (one of his eight languages). While based in the UK he snuck away to Camden for blitz with Limey locals, among them IM Malcolm Pein (who shares his memories in the book and contributes an analysis of one game). He formed a family, took them back to America, separated from his wife (who returned to England), split acrimoniously from the air force, and continued his life as a chess player and teacher, taking cross-country buses to tournaments and living the life of an eccentric, very much at home among chess players.
As an enjoyer of American writers focusing on this character type (Hubert Selby Jr, Charles Bukowski, John and Dan Fante), Tate very much appeals: the genius drunk living on the edge, circling the drain of life and finding beauty amidst the grime, loving and hurting everyone around him, exhilarated to suicidal from page to page. Reading through the book, the darker side is periodically hinted at: the paranoia and drinking, depression and resentments, critics and confrontations, not just involving Tate but fellow chess road warriors such as GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz too. But we are mainly presented with the positives, chief among which are, of course, the games, such as this one against GM Leonid Yudasin in 1997.
Various Sicilians with both colours make up 20 of the book’s 35 full games, which give full rein to Tate’s penchant for sacrifices. He also shared my own desire for the holy move g5! (as did Fischer), as demonstrated in his win here against Alexander Beltre in 2001.
The main narrative thread is the paean to Tate, climaxing in a dramatic near miss of a GM norm in Curuçao 2007. Here, with White, he baffles GM Jan Gustafsson:
The question is presented: why was this man, a larger-than-life genius on and off the board, who played with such flair and scalped so many grandmasters (he claims about 80) not a grandmaster himself (he managed only – only! – IM)? Along the way he is regularly compared to Tal and Alekhine (for their gamestyles and lifestyles) but also Fischer (showing more determination against Russians). “You’re afraid of success,” he was told. “You could be the first black grandmaster, but you’ll never become a grandmaster unless you get serious.” Serious? This was a man who ended up in positions like this, as Black against Glenn Bady (somehow, the game was eventually drawn):
The book’s tendency towards hero worship is a definite feature of American chess culture (try disparaging Fischer or Nakamura to any US player). The über-competitiveness and trash-talk also comes across (play chess online and stars and stripes tend to be a decent predictor of insults in the chat). We’re constantly told people’s scores and placings in open tournaments, using a strange match system of 7-2 rather than 7/9. There is only one game given from a team match, something truly bizarre compared with our own domination by league chess culture. Tate himself is constantly aggressive, trying to dominate on and off the board with words and pieces, often simultaneously. Everything is a fight, even with his friends. Here he is in action in 2013 against GM Artur Chibukhchian.
Tate clearly had a remarkable ability to impress himself on an audience, resulting in legions of fans on and offline. Not only his moves, but his general patter and joy were infectious, sprinkled with cheeky expressions. Apart from the eponymous “Triple exclam!!!” here are a few other Tate-isms:
After meeting in 2009, Tate formed a friendship with the American rapper RZA, legendary founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, probably bonding over chess, philosophy and martial arts. For the youth and aged among you, Wu-Tang were a disparate group of competitive street rappers who shared an appreciation for all the above. Indeed their debut album featured Da Mystery of Chessboxin‘.
When you look into the Clan, the sense is of a brotherhood of young black fatherless men, dropouts in and out of jail, becoming a mutually supporting family, going their own way and working together in an often predatory record business. They had built up their skills by travelling the New York boroughs competing against any contender in battle rhymes in front of an audience, before the best were selected for the Clan, with a famous promise from RZA that if they gave him five years of their lives, he’d take them to the top (he did). Did Tate wish he’d met RZA decades before, to focus him on that GM title?
This is something else that comes across strongly in the book – the plethora of references to a community of black chess players, not just in the US but across the world. “Tate’s Black Imperative”, “Rest in Power” and “The Black Bear School of Chess” mark out this especial American phenomenon. The need to support each other in the quest for rating, prizes and titles even led Daaim Shabazz in 2001 to create a website called The Chess Drum. Tate felt great solidarity with Pontus Carlsson of Sweden and Amon Simutowe of Zambia before he’d even met them. Back in America, future GM Maurice Ashley credited Tate for berating him into a switch from 1. c4 to 1. e4. When he plays other black players, another layer of meaning and importance is added:
I was lucky enough to play a few games with Simutowe, aka the “Zambezi Shark”, while he was at Oxford, sharing the spectators’ hysterics at various sound effects (the helicopter and Bruce Lee in particular). Were some of these adapted from the time he spent with Tate in the US?
One suspects this is the world Tate was happiest in – the fun, silly, competitive, adrenaline-fuelled buzz of blitz, a crowd of adoring spectators at hand. Yet his pride and ambition thirsted for achievement in classical chess, both in titles and prestige. He repeatedly brought up his five US Armed Forces Chess Championship titles. At one point he runs out of the tournament hall to celebrate a win over IM Georgi Orlov, noted for his expertise in the Black Knights’ Tango. “I beat the Tango guy!”, Tate shouts, determined to instantly demonstrate the game.
As the story comes to a conclusion, the tone becomes palpably darker. Tate himself was prone to a sense of foreboding about his end: “When you screw up the opening and the middlegame, then you’re going to have a bad endgame.”
A decade ago Simutowe put out a shortlist of his best games, intending to work on an autobiography. Sadly Tate did not compile his own games (he played in roughly a thousand classical tournaments, as well as rapids later in his career), so what remains are those collected and commented on by others (bar three taken from Tate’s lectures, with his own unique patter). There are also some tactical problems taken from his games but, quite frankly, there aren’t many jewels.
“I hope that for our younger students and our aspiring players, they will study my play and emulate my style,” said Tate in 2006. “I hope I’ll have a lasting influence. I understand that I’m creating a legacy per se, and I’m very aware of that. There is never a time when I play that I’m not aware of that.” So let this be a lesson to all of us: if you think you have games or positions which will be of interest to the wider world, get them organised and ready to go. Death always wins in the end.
I enjoyed the story of Tate and his world, more so than the actual games. It’s a wonderful tribute to the man that so many have contributed to this book in so many ways; Tate clearly touched many, many lives. We’ll leave the last words to his son, Andrew (Emory III): “The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that he doesn’t know he’s dead. If he did, he would be furious!”
Peter Lalić wins the inaugural event in a thrilling Armageddon play-off with close friend (and deadliest rival) David Maycock
Thirty players and assorted spectators gathered for the inaugural Kingston Easter Blitz played on Easter Monday. Gregor Smith, whose brainchild the event was, controlled the evening impeccably. The time control was 7 minutes per game plus 3 seconds increment per move. This is equivalent to 20 minutes per game, which is the maximum allowed for a game to qualify as a blitz. Gregor, as an official English Chess Federation ratings officer, will submit the games to the national listing.
The games were played on spacious modern trestle tables with new competition boards and sets. The time between rounds was only five minutes – enough to order a drink at the bar and look at the standings, which were displayed on a large screen at the end of the room. We used pairing software that we had first encountered last month at the London Chess Conference, which its developers attended. After each game finished, a hand signal (usually a polite one) was sufficient to notify Gregor of the result, which he then immediately updated on the pairings screen.
One participant said that he had an alternative blitz he could have attended, but he preferred Kingston because of our efficiency – there are no delays between rounds. The modern pairing software and the large screen make all the difference.
There were plenty of exciting games. In the final round, as if preordained, to force the tournament to extra time David Maycock, on 4/5, had to beat Peter Lalić, who was on 5/5, which he duly did. The play-off was then held surrounded by the biggest crowd seen upstairs at the Willoughby Arms since England were involved in a penalty shoot-out. (This is a football-loving pub – hence the flags and memorabilia which festoon the playing room.) The Armageddon format meant that the players bid to be White by giving away some time. They settled on Peter (four minutes) v David (five minutes).
Armageddon! David Maycock and Peter Lalić, appropriately dressed in battle fatigues, fight it out for first prize
Peter won convincingly with a sacrificial attack and collected the first prize of £50. What does Peter play in the position below?
An engine suggests 12. Nxd5, with some neat tactics to follow: 12…Bxg5 13. h4 Bh6 14. Qe4 g6 15. Ne7+ Qxe7 16. Qxb7, giving White a small plus, but in blitz (and certainly in Armageddon with no increment – a recipe for chess chaos!) the route-one approach can be more effective. Peter needs no second invitation to sac a piece, and played 12. Bxh7+!? Objectively the position is level, but in blitz the initiative counts for a lot. The game proceeded: 12…Kxh7 13. Qh4+ Kg6 14. Qe4+ f5 15. Qxe6+ Kh7 16. Nxd5 Bxg5 17. Nc3 Bf6 18. Qxf5+ Kh8 19. Rd3 Qe8 20. Re1.
David is in trouble here, but far from lost. 20… Qd8 or 20… Qc8 just about hold, but he is worrying about keeping control of the e8-h5 diagonal and plays 20… Qf7??, which pretty well loses on the spot to 21. Ne5! To avoid mate, Black has to relinquish his queen. An intense game played in great spirit, and after the rivalry the two players (who have done so much to galvanise Kingston over the past two seasons) could revert to being friends. Armageddon, as the name suggests, is not, however, recommended for the faint-hearted.
The under-2000 rating prize (a chocolate confection) went to JoJo Morrison on countback over Lucy Buckley with a commendable 4/6. Greg Heath won the U1500 grading prize. The giant-killer prize (beating someone 400 Elo points higher) went to Jaden Mistry, who beat Byron Eslava in the first round. Stephen Moss would have been the recipient had he kept his nerve (or perhaps lost his moral compass) against IM Graeme Buckley. This is all the more remarkable given that Stephen was playing on the increment with only a few seconds to make his moves for much of the game.
Stephen Moss (left) agreeing a draw in a winning position against IM Graeme Buckley
Stephen agreed a draw in the final position.
Stephen had nothing to lose by capturing the g-pawn, leaving him with three pawns against a knight. According the the endgame tablebase, this is a win for White. As Graeme pointed out, there was no rush even to capture the pawn; simply advancing the a-pawn wins.
Stephen explained that he would not have felt comfortable taking the point given that he had been penalised one minute for an earlier infringement in the game. This saintly level of piety will see Stephen gain fast-track entry at the pearly gates (though not to the British blitz championship). However, Stephen had a point because earlier he was about to lose on time as he dithered over a move. Having decided not to move the piece to the tentatively chosen square – he realised he was moving his king into check, which is itself illegal of course – he returned it to its starting point and pressed the clock. This was also illegal and so the arbiter was called over.
During the intervening time, Stephen managed to compose himself and find a move. This is a rare example of someone being penalised for an illegal non-move. During a later game, Stephen declined a draw offer with a grumpy “No”, which also immediately made him feel guilty. Methinks Stephen is never going to break into the world’s top 10,000 players unless he is prepared to lower his ethical standards.
