Millar Cup v Folkestone (a)

                                       Broadstairs  2½         Folkestone 4½ 

1 David Faldon (175) ½-½    Jim Bayford (181)
2 Trefor Owens (167) 1-0    Martin Cutmore (173)
3 Shany Rezvany (163) 0-1    Kevin Smyth (165)
4 Arnaud Wisman (155) 1-0    John Atherton (163)
5 Bob Page (144) 0-1    Tayfun Demirbilek (153)
6 Paul Carfrae (141) 0-1    Matthew Cussens (152)
7 Richard Clement (128) 0-1    Alex Nicol (136)

David Faldon writes:

Broadstairs were excited to land a whole netful of new members for the new season, and we took three of them to Folkestone for the first of our Millar Cup matches. Fielding the strongest team we’d ever raised in my time as captain, we were still outgraded by Folkestone on every board. Despite this overall (slight) mismatch, each individual game was closely fought with the match result in doubt until near the end of play. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the board two clash where Trefor sacrificed his queen for two, three or four minor pieces (the situation was different every time I looked). Provided that Trefor hasn’t lost his scoresheet I expect to see his effort featured as Game of the Week on this website in the very near future. Look out for it! Most of the other games saw tricky tactics too, apart from the game on board four where the queens and all four rooks were hoovered off early. Still, endings can be fun too with the right attitude and Arnaud persevered and his patience was rewarded. Regrettably, most of the other games didn’t end so well for Broadstairs, but at least we gave it a real go this year. Many thanks to everyone who played and especially to those who drove such a long way. Congratulations to Folkestone on their victory. As usual, they made us feel very welcome and even provided tea, coffee and biscuits.

Thanet Team Buzzer

Congratulations to the Broadstairs team that has retained the Team Buzzer shield won last year. David Faldon reports: ‘Only two teams turned up for the 2017/18 Thanet Team Buzzer Tournament so we made the best of it and played an eight-round match with each of the four Broadstairs players taking on each of the Margate players twice. The outcome was a 13-3 win for Broadstairs using a scoring system of two points for each round won. Broadstairs were represented by Nick McBride (6/8), David Faldon (6/8), Paul Carfrae (6½/8) and Richard Clement (4/8). The Margate players were Peter McGill, Colin Gregory, Leon Garfield and Cameron Plater.’

Millar Cup v Folkestone (h)

                                             Broadstairs  3½         Folkestone 3½ 

1 Nick McBride  (173) ½-½    Jim Bayford (178)
2 Bob Page (135) 0-1    Martin Cutmore (173)
3 Paul Carfrae (133) 0-1    David Shire (168)
4 Richard Clement (e130) 0-1    Kevin Smythe (163)
5 John Couzens (116) 1-0    John Atherton (163)
6 Reg Pidduck (107) 1-0    David Erwee (96)
7 Andy Flood (106) 1-0    Robert Twigg (76)

David Faldon writes:

What a fantastic match! It had everything: controversy, brilliant play, blunders and a last minute equaliser. What more could you ask of an evening’s entertainment? The controversy came at the beginning when the Broadstairs captain substituted himself out on board one when Nick became available, but what else could he do when he’d already asked six others to play? Anyway, the board one substitute proved well up to the task, sacrificing his queen right in the opening for two knights and a bishop. Nick wasn’t the first to finish, though. Andy took that honour, winning with black in just eleven moves on board 7 when his opponent mislaid his queen for just the one knight. Despite this early 1-0 lead for Broadstairs, Folkestone were well on top after an hour and I decided that anything other than a 1-6 defeat would be positive. The next three games to finish went as predicted, leaving Folkestone 3-1 up. Bob, Paul and Richard on boards 2, 3 and 4 all went down to much higher-rated opponents, though not without a struggle, especially so in Paul’s case when he fought back strongly after dropping a rook for not a lot. The board one game was next to finish when the players agreed a draw, presumably exhausted by the complications. Hopefully, this game will appear on the website soon, so you can all enjoy it. That result left Broadstairs needing to win the last two games. The battle of the two Johns on board 5 was a story of long heroic defence from John C for Broadstairs, suddenly turned to triumph with a surprising knight sacrifice. Well played! One to go. The board 6 game was tremendous and strange, with both players mixing brilliant ideas with missed opportunities but both certainly played well above their rather modest grades. In truth it was a bit of a shame that one player had to lose, but Reg’s win was most welcome for Broadstairs, equalising the score at 3½ to 3½. Exhausting to watch but great fun!

Millar Cup v Bridge B (h)

                                                  Broadstairs  5         Bridge B   2 

1 David Faldon (174) 0-1   Richard Eales (195)
2 Bob Page (135) 1-0   Alan Atkinson (173)
3 Paul Carfrae (133) 1-0    Peter Blundell (120)
4 John Couzens (116) 0-1   Graeme Boxall (99)
5 Reg Pidduck (107) 1-0   Ray Rennells (75)
6 Andy Flood (106) 1-0    Ian Redmond (75)
7 Michael Doyle (81) 1-0    Barnaby Wills (e35)

David Faldon writes:

What a surprising scoreline! By way of explanation, Bridge had trouble putting out a representative side for a damp Monday in February, but in the end seven opposition players did turn up. Many thanks to Graeme Boxall of Bridge for making sure that all of our players got a game. Was the final score of 5-2 a fair representation of the play? Not really. With a bit more concentration from John on board 4 and myself on board 1 we could easily have won 7-0. Mike Doyle on board 7 was first to finish after a complicated tactical mess in which Mike proved stronger than his young opponent. John was next to finish on board 4 when his extra pawn in a king and pawn ending proved less important than his opponent’s central king. That blip levelled the match at 1-1 but by then most of the other games were very much in our favour. Paul (board 3), Reg (board 5) and Andy (board 6) duly converted their advantages after a steady accumulation of pawns and pieces leaving the match score 4-1 to us with just two to play. At this point we suffered our second reverse when my opponent on board 1 pulled off when he called “an outrageous swindle”. 4-2. For the last half-hour Bob on board 2 took centre stage, carefully advancing his two extra pawns to victory after a very well played game against a strong opponent. This unexpected victory leaves the Millar Cup table as follows:

Team Play Won Draw Lost For Against Points SP MP IM
Bridge B 7 4 1 2 29 20 9 0 0 0
Bridge A 5 3 2 0 21½ 13½ 8 0 0 0
Folkestone 6 3 1 2 23 19 7 0 0 0
Broadstairs 6 2 0 4 18½ 23½ 4 0 0 0
Margate 6 1 0 5 13 29 2 0 0 0

Bridge A have three matches left, against us (next week), Folkestone and Margate. If they win two of these three matches then they will win the Millar Cup for 2017-18.

Millar Cup v Folkestone (a)

                                               Broadstairs  2         Folkestone   5 

1 David Faldon (174) ½-½   Jim Bayford (178 )
2 Nick McBride (173) 0-1    Martin Cutford (173)
3 Bob Page (135) 0-1    David Shire (168)
4 Paul Carfrae (133) 0-1   Kevin Smyth (163)
5 Richard Clement (e130) 0-1    John Atherton (163)
6 Andy Flood (106) ½-½    Tayfun Demirbilek (155)
7 Michael Doyle (81) 1-0    Robert Twigg (70)

David Faldon writes:

The match got off to a cold start, not surprising for early January, but after an hour or so hats and gloves could be discarded and the pieces started to fly. Nick’s game on board 2 was especially violent with sacrifices on both sides and the pieces seemingly randomly scattered in the far corners of the board – but unfortunately for Nick his opponent had played much of it before and this proved decisive in the long run. The games on boards 4 and 7 were more one-sided with white doing all the pressing. Paul (black on board 4) defended hard but in vain while Michael (white on board 7) calmly brought home the point. Andy (black on board 6) then took a draw by perpetual check against his highly-rated opponent. That left us 1½-2½ down, but at that stage we still had a real hope of getting something positive from the match. David (board 1) had a very good position and both Bob on board 3 and Richard on board 5 (playing his first game for the club) were holding on tenaciously in difficult endings. In the end, though, none of the results went our way and we lost the match 2-5. Still, not an awful result against a Folkestone team packed with strong players on the middle boards. Many thanks to everyone who played, and especially to Bob and Paul for driving. Congratulations to Folkestone on their victory. They made us feel very welcome and even provided tea!