Bob Page writes:

The Jamboree is a traditional end of season competition in which as many Thanet teams as possible play one game against each other with pairings mixed between the teams. Individual results are then added together to find a winning team. In recent years Thanet competitions have been poorly attended.  This was apparent at the Team Buzzer and only four of the seven clubs entered the Jamboree.  Naturally, everyone would like to win and it is possible that some clubs may take the view that it is not worth turning up if there is no chance of doing so. A glance at the average grades of the teams below shows that Margate had by far the weakest team but it did not prevent them from playing. Of course, the fact they were hosting the competition may have had something to do with it….

FOLKESTONE        4½                              Team A          average grade  167

BROADSTAIRS      3½                               Team C                      “              141

BRIDGE                   3½                               Team D                      “             153

MARGATE               ½                                 Team B                      “             106

Without wanting to sound too priggish, I have always taken the view that all clubs should enter Thanet competitions almost as a condition of entering the league. Recent additional quickplays have tested this resolve and in my mind there are too many such tournaments if a club already has a busy domestic calendar as we do. Nevertheless, we will always put a team in for the Team Buzzer and Jamboree.

This year we were missing a couple of players but the team we put out was quite a competent one by our standards although a glance at the average grades suggests that third was the best we could hope for.  Joint second, only a point behind the winners whose average grade was 16 points above five of our six players, therefore represents something of an achievement. The first two games to finish for us were John’s fairly straightforward win against John Clarke as expected and David’s less expected draw against Richard Eales, the highest-graded player in the tournament.  My game against John Atherton always looked fairly even and when I was offered a draw, it seemed a good idea to accept given our grading difference. On reflection, a little more courage on my part could have paid dividends as a win for me would have given us a share of first place. At this point, however, 2/3 with the possibility of two more points looked promising.

Reg looked to be in a good position against Graeme Boxall early on but it looked less so once he lost a pawn and with the rooks blocked a draw was agreed (2½/4).  Nick had the toughest game of all, facing an opponent 36 points above him. His exposed king and the exchange of a queen and two pawns for two rooks did not augur well but somehow he hung on until defeat was confirmed (2½/5).  The last game of the evening to finish was Alan’s against Clive Le Baigue.   Given the grading difference between the two, it was a game that Alan would expect to win but in a tricky bishop and pawn ending Clive hung on and a draw seemed likely. With time running short, however, Alan sacrificed his h-pawn to allow his king into the centre to mop up the central pawns and queen his own: a neat finish (3½/6).   So Broadstairs finished joint second with Bridge despite an average grade twelve points below them. Well played, team.

 

Paired Results: (White, first named)

A1       Andrew HAMMOND 189        1-0          157      Peter McGILL           B1

C1       David FALDON       175          ½-½      202      Richard EALES       D1

B2       Clive LeBAIGUE    115             0-1         151      Alan GOSMAN         C2

D2       Arnaud WISMAN     173        ½-½     188       Leon WOOLDRIDGE

A3       Joe SHULZE            186           1-0        e150     Nick McBRIDE        C3

B3       Colin GREGORY     114            0-1         173      Alan ATKINSON      D3

D4       Shany REZVANY    168           1-0         104      Leon GARFIELD     B4

C4       Bob PAGE                145            ½-½     167      John ATHERTON   A4

C5       John COUZENS      118             1-0          90      John CLARKE        B5

A5       Martin CUTMORE   164           1-0         115      Shahid SAHI            D5

C4       Don RICHARDS      57            ½-½       108      David ERWEE         A6

D6       Graeme BOXALL    85            ½-½       106      Reg PIDDUCK         C6

 

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