Clutch Play at the Death Earns Derby A a Valuable Draw
On Wednesday (03/12/25), a hugely impressive clutch win from Kevin “Gangu-Dalley” clinched us a share of the spoils at champions Belper and preserved our unbeaten start to the season.
Armed with prior knowledge gleaned from a Chessable course by highly acclaimed Indian trainer Surya Ganguly (perhaps one of the very few resources not owned by our own Steve Retout), Kevin held firm on the Black side of a Semi-Tarrasch against Jamie Tilston, who had 13 consecutive victories and zero defeats since resuming competitive chess in January.
With the team 2–1 down and both players ticking under 10 minutes, Kevin poked his head out of the playing hall for confirmation that it was win at all costs in an objectively equal queen-and-pawns endgame. He may have tripped over his own rucksack earlier in the evening, but there were no slip-ups on the board.
Impressively avoiding the distraction of the neglected sandwich platter in Belper’s analysis room, he returned to the board to apply pressure on the clock while exploiting the long-term winning potential of his outside pawn break against his opponent’s isolated queen’s pawn.
Earlier, it was George “Zuckertort” Burdell who gave us hope of a match draw with a dominant victory over league stalwart Simon Gilmore. He combined a smooth kingside attack with match-play composure against the highest-rated player he has ever beaten.
I was next to finish, early for once—but not for good reason. After choosing a sub-optimal set-up out of the opening, I recovered into a rook-and-bishops queenless middlegame in a Maroczy Bind structure. But just as I was starting to generate an advantage for the first time in the game, disaster struck when I move-ordered myself and lost a pawn. My opponent converted very smoothly.
Dave “Dark Squares” Williams suffered on the aforementioned weaknesses following a misjudgement in the opening. His opponent, known for a fondness for attack, didn’t hesitate and crashed through to win in 20 moves.
That left Kevin—not to be forgotten, “Home Alone” style —in a must-win situation. Perhaps the least likely to win on paper given his opponent’s imperious recent form, he activated his king to increase the pressure when Tilston, seemingly unsure of a plan, misplaced his queen in the corner of the board.
The thematic rule of centralising your queen in a queen-and-pawn endgame bore fruit. Tilston cracked and, when his isolated pawn fell, a tactic followed that forced the queens off the board into a winning king-and-pawn endgame, prompting resignation.
It could have been so different had George and I not earlier spotted Kevin walking in completely the wrong direction—into the sunset—after accidentally bypassing the playing venue.
A Paul Hollywood-style captain’s handshake was more than earned. Next up is a home tie against a struggling but hugely underperforming Chesterfield side.
| Belper A | 2 - 2 | Derby A | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Potter, John M | 2167 | 1 - 0 | Tompson, John C | 2093 |
| 2 | Tilston, Jamie D | 2084 | 0 - 1 | Dalley, Kevin J | 1847 |
| 3 | Gilmore, Simon N | 1984 | 0 - 1 | Burdell, George | 1808 |
| 4 | Townsend, Andy | 1837 | 1 - 0 | Williams, David | 1832 |
John Tompson 04/12/25