Millar Cup v Bridge A (a)

Broadstairs       1                Bridge A       6 

1 David Faldon (175) 1-0         Michael Green  (179)
2 Bob Page (145) 0-1         Shany Rezvany (168)
3 Paul Carfrae (131) 0-1         David Shire (161)
4 John Couzens (118) 0-1         James Essinger (154)
5 Bob Cronin (112) 0-1         Mark Mortimer (146)
6 Andy Flood (111) 0-1         Emily Green (142)
7 Tom Lovegrove (92) 0-1         Joe Mooney (e120)

David Faldon writes:

It looks bad, doesn’t it? I guess it was, but as usual the bare results don’t tell the full story. With a bit of luck we might well have left with 2½ points. Yes, some of the games were a bit one-sided, but to be fair to our guys on the middle boards the Bridge players on boards 3 to 6 are considerably stronger than their grades suggest. Our nearly-men were Bob Page on board 2 and Tom Lovegrove on board 7. Tom found a great trick in the middle-game to swap off into a “winning” bishop versus knight ending but then something went wrong (I was too busy with my own game to see exactly what) and Tom lost all of his pawns and the game. Bob P played really well (with black) for three hours but just when it looked like his efforts would be rewarded with a draw he dropped his queen and that was that. Our solitary success was a hard-fought struggle on board 1 that lasted until 11.15. Many thanks to John for waiting around to give me a lift home afterwards and apologies to John’s other passengers who also had a long wait. Here’s looking forward to our next Millar Cup match (at home on the 28th) against Folkestone.

Millar Cup v Herne Bay (h)

Broadstairs  2½       Herne Bay 4½

1 David Faldon (170) ½-½         Bernie Kooiman (195)
2 Alan Gosman (149) ½-½         Gordon Botley (186)
3 Bob Page (141) 0-1         Stuart Williams (179)
4 Paul Carfrae (132) 0-1         Bob Pooley (147)
5 John Couzens (131) ½-½         Luke Kite (139)
6 Andy Flood (113) ½-½         Paul Arold (125)
7 Reg Pidduck (104) ½-½         Jamie Dawson (e75)

David Faldon writes:

This was another narrow defeat against a highly-rated Herne Bay side. At one point we were doing very well on boards 1, 6 and 7 but tough defence from our opponents kept the scoring to three draws. The games on boards 2 and 5 were also drawn but in very different fashion. John on board 5 played very solidly with black while Alan with white on board 2 came up with some extraordinary ideas. His king went to f1 early, leaving his h1 rook stuck in the corner with no easy route out. Alan solved this problem by playing Rh1-g1, g2-g4, Rg1-g3 and Rg3-d3. A splendid game that should soon be available on this website as Game of the Day. That leaves boards 3 and 4. In both games the Herne Bay players got the initiative out of the opening and in both the Broadstairs players just couldn’t quite hang on, despite defending well. All in all, a narrow defeat but not one that we need feel too depressed about. Congratulations to Herne Bay on another hard-fought victory.

Millar Cup v Ramsgate (a)

Broadstairs 5    Ramsgate 2

1 David Faldon (170) 1-0         Steve Guy (139)
2 David Horton (164) 1-0         Brian Westover (138)
3 Bob Page (141) ½-½         Malcolm Snashall (127)
4 Paul Carfrae (132) 1-0         Velibor Milovanic (117)
5 John Couzens (131) 0-1         Chris Wand (114)
6 Andy Flood (113) 1-0         Bob Wallace (95)
7 David Wheatley (106) ½-½         Fred Hiron (85)

David Faldon writes:

This was our third win of the season, reversing a 5-2 loss in the home fixture. Yes, we started the match as big favourites (Ramsgate were without their two highest rated players) but it’s still very satisfying to actually win a match.

Paul got us off to a great start with a quick win on board 4. A furious exchange of pieces left him well ahead on material and he’d sealed our first win within an hour of the start. Board 1 provided our second win. David F sacrificed a couple of pawns before either side had castled, setting up a whole range of nasty threats. Steve missed one of them.

David W’s game on board 7 was the third to finish, a hard-fought draw after an interesting opening. This left us two up with four to finish after two hours. Half an hour later we were three up with two to finish. Andy cashed in a queen-side pawn storm on board 6 to win a rook and the game. Bob then took a draw on board 3 to seal the overall result. A good team decision – Bob had a slight advantage in position but he was well behind on time.

The last two games went the full distance. John’s game on board 5 was exciting all the way (as usual) with both kings in danger, right up to the point when John lost a rook for nothing to a knight fork. David H on board 2 then finished off a well-played game in a tricky bishop versus knight ending to put the icing on the cake of a 5-2 win. Nice.

Many thanks to Ramsgate for their excellent hospitality. A 7-7 tie after our two Millar Cup matches this season leaves both sides with everything to play for next year.

Millar Cup v Folkestone (h)

Broadstairs 2    Folkestone  5

1 David Faldon (170) ½-½         Jim Bayford (188)
2 Bob Page (141) ½-½         David Shire (179)
3 Paul Carfrae (132) 0-1         John Atherton (164)
4 John Couzens (131) 0-1         Kevin Smyth (160)
5 Andy Flood (113) 0-1         Martin Cutmore (158)
6 David Wheatley (106) ½-½         David Erwee (115)
7 Bob Cronin (101) ½-½         Chris Siebert (107)

David Faldon writes:

A short report this week as my game kept me busier than usual.

It was a close match, despite the 2-5 final score. Boards 6 and 7 were drawn by 9pm. Boards 3 and 5 didn’t last much longer as Paul and Andy (both playing black) were ground down by vastly superior force. That left us needing 2½ points from the last three games to tie the match – and we nearly got them.

The board 1 game was wild all the way with pawns and pieces sacrificed (mostly by me) for the attack. At one point I missed a clear win but in the end the queens got swapped off and the attacks petered out. As time ran down, both players decided they stood worse, so a draw was agreed.

Board 2 was a more positional game, but no less tense. Bob P defended stoutly against a very strong opponent and got his reward (a draw) when he managed to swap queens and rooks, leaving David S with not enough material to force a win.

The board 4 game see-sawed back and forth. John stood worse out of the opening but took advantage of a slip to win a pawn – and a very nice protected passed pawn it was too. Kevin didn’t give up, though. He blockaded the passed pawn and John’s attempt to lift the blockade backfired spectacularly.

Many thanks to everyone who turned out to play. We gave a very strong Folkestone team a tough match.

Miller Cup v Bridge A (h)

Broadstairs 1½    Bridge A 5½

1 David Faldon (170) ½-½         Richard Eales (201)
2 Alan Gosman (149) ½-½         Arnaud Wisman (178)
3 Bob Page (141) 0-1         Shany Rezvany (157)
4 Paul Carfrae (132) 0-1         James Essinger (155)
5 John Couzens (131) ½-½         Patrick Burns (e137)
6 Andy Flood (e114) 0-1         Tim Spencer (e120)
7 David Wheatley (106) 0-1         Shahid Sahi (107)

David Faldon writes:

On the positive side, we made three draws in three very different ways. Board 1 was short and violent, with David finding a neat temporary knight sacrifice to defuse a dangerous situation. Board 5 was mid-length with middling levels of violence until most of the pieces suddenly vanished leaving a dead drawn opposite-coloured bishops ending. Board 2 was the best game of the match, with Alan and Arnaud swapping threats until both players ran short of time, at which point the player shortest of time, Arnaud, gave up trying to win and blocked the position.

Bob, on Board 3, also played a good game, defending hard for 60+ moves in a cramped position. His efforts went unrewarded, though, when Shany found a way to break through. Of the other three games, it’s probably best to say as little as possible – three tough opponents and three tactical accidents.

The other positive to take is that we have only two weeks to wait for our next match, Folkestone at home. Should be a doddle!