The 5th Kingston Invitational is now at the point when it is perhaps worthwhile discussing who is in the lead.
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| Round 3 of the 5th Kingston Invitational in progress |
After two rounds, seven players remained on 2/2: Adam Taylor, Sanjit Kumar, Daniel Johnson, Saahil Bansal, Jai Kothari, Balahari Bharat Kumar and Peter Sowray. In round three six of them were paired against each other, while Peter Sowray received a downfloat to Danny Gormally.
The Swedish player Daniel Johnson, making his second visit to a Kingston Invitational event (he played here in 2023) wasted little time in increasing his score to 3/3. He was the beneficiary of a simple oversight by Saahil Bansal on move 9 which cost the Hampshire player two pawns. He limped on for a few more moves but resigned on move 20 when it was clear there was nothing to be done. Link to Johnson-Bansal. As it turned out, none of the other round two leaders were able to win, leaving Daniel Johnson in glorious isolation on 3/3.
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| Early leader in the clubhouse: Daniel Johnson was gifted two pawns on move 9. |
Another of the 100%-ers followed Bansal to defeat not too long after when Peter Sowray went down against Danny Gormally. The GM chose to defend a King's Indian Defence but Sowray played some indecisive moves, allowing Black to work up a kingside counter. Worse was to follow for Sowray as he weakened his dark squares around the king and the black pieces swarmed in to occupy them. It seems Gormally has put his first-round wobble behind him and is now breathing down the neck of the leaders.
Link to Sowray-Gormally.
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Danny Gormally moves to 2½/3 after defeating Peter Sowray.
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The game between Jai Kothari and Balahari Bharat Kumar ended in a draw after 35 moves. It became lively around move 20 when White was obliged to give up two knights for a rook and two pawns but Black was ultimately unable to make anything of it.
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| Jai Kothari and Balahari Bharat Kumar drew and are amongst those on 2½/3. |
The game between Adam A Taylor and Sanjit Kumar also ended in a draw despite running to 85 moves. Taylor gained a pawn but it was doubled, with little prospect of undoubling, and all the pawns were on one flank.
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| Adam Taylor pressed for 85 moves but Sanjit Kumar held comfortably. |
After yesterday's 172-move marathon between Peter Lalic and Alan Scrimgour it will have been noted that both players decided to take a bye in this morning's second round, with Scrimgour later deciding to withdraw altogether. Peter Lalic returned to the fray in round three and drew with Rick McMichael in 21 moves.
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| Peter Lalic |
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| Rick McMichael |
Those were the boards involving the leaders but there was a fair bit of fun amongst the next batch of boards. Fun for the younger players, anyway: the older ones would probably disagree. Mike Healey discovered that, though life is said to begin at 40, the same can't necessarily be said of chess life. Playing the black side of what LiChess labels the French variation of the Sicilian Defence (about which I know nothing), he played an injudicious 21...Rc4 after which he found himself in a world of pain as Alfie Onslow conjured up some horrid threats down the e-file. Link to Onslow-Healey.
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| Mike Healey fell victim to an Onslow onslaught along the e-file. |
Only a few hours ago I was congratulating Peter Large on his remarkable escape from defeat in round two, but he succumbed to defeat in the afternoon round against 16-year-old Gabriel Sherwood from Oxford. Hence none of our three resident IMs have made it beyond round three with their virtue unsullied. Large played the black side of an ancient line, a sort of Bishop's Opening-cum-Vienna-cum King's Gambit, but one which some of the stars of the present day have been known to try. But Large pushed his luck a bit too far, snatching Sherwood's opponent's e-pawn with a knight which promptly retreated whence it came. This bore a striking resemblance to a similarly outrageous piece of larceny which I wrote about only the other day for my forthcoming September column in CHESS Magazine, though in an entirely different opening. It received the same condign punishment that the pawn snatch written up in my soon-to-be-published column suffered, as Sherwood ripped open his opponent's kingside defences and delivered mate on the 23rd move.
Link to Sherwood-Large. If you've only got time to play through one game, this is probably the one to go for. It's like one of those games found in old-time anthologies such as Tartakower and du Mont's
500 Master Games of Chess.
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| Gabriel Sherwood, 16, Oxford, mated IM Peter Large in just 23 moves. |
Leaders after three rounds: Daniel Johnson (SWE) is alone on 3/3, while 12 players are on 2½, including GM Danny Gormally and Adam Taylor.
Round four begins at 10.00 UK time on Wednesday 19 August 2026.
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