Broadstairs  3         Herne Bay  1 

1 Reg Pidduck (107) ½-½    Paul Johnson (113)
2 Bob Cronin (103) 1-0    Ronnie Melhuish (96)
3 Michael Doyle (90) 1-0     John Heath (48)
4 default ½-½     default

Reg Pidduck writes:

By a coincidence both teams turned up one player short which ensured everyone got a game and the match began with each side on half a point for the default.

BOARD 1. DOWN TO THE LAST PAWN. Paul Johnson’s Sicilian Defence paid off as he forced me back and it was only in the middle game that I was able to swap off and get down to a pawn ending. Five pawns each, then four, three, two then one each, both on my h-file. Paul got there first but I was able to get my king to h1 and hold for a draw. An exciting game (thanks Paul).   Score now 1-1

BOARD 3. QUEEN FOR TWO ROOKS. The swap left our Michael with the two rooks which he used to full advantage while John Heath’s queen was the other side of the board making its own threats. The two rooks paid off and Michael won.  2-1 to us

BOARD 2. SOLID BOB. Game Ronnie Melhuish had to counter so many threats from our Bob that in the end after a queen swap off, Bob was left with three passed pawns and Ronnie resigned.   A 3-1 win for our final game.

Played 8  Won 3  Drew 4  Lost 1.  A good season but unable to hold on to the Walker Shield. Thanks to all the team and congratulations to Margate.

And thanks to Reg, Andy (Hargreaves Shield captain) and David (Millar Cup captain) for their entertaining match reports this season. (Ed) 

Broadstairs  3         Woodnesborough  1 

1 Reg Pidduck (107) 1-0     David Erwee (108)
2 Bob Cronin (103) 1-0    Mark Towlson (101)
3 Michael Doyle (90) ½-½     Bryan Rodwell (90)
4 Michael Jenkinson  (83) ½-½     Susan Green (52)

Reg Pidduck writes:

BOARD 2.  ESCAPE PART 1 .  Our Bob, after losing an exchange fairly early on to quick-playing Mark Towlson, looked in peril until Mark gifted him a rook for nothing . Bob duly accepted and the roles were reversed. Bob then made no mistake and opened our account. 1-0 to us.

BOARD 1. ESCAPE PART 2.  David Erwee pressed me from the start, all my moves were defensive and my king was under threat from his queen and two knights. My only chance was to sac a knight to get a discovered check . This worked as David had to waste a move by moving his king. I was then lucky to find all the correct moves to get back with an advantage and David resigned. 2-0 to us

BOARD 4 . BLOCKED GAME. Michael J  and Susan Green  had hardly taken a piece off the board after one and a half hours so both sides were well and truly blocked in . After another hour a few pieces came off but still no progress so a draw was agreed and Michael gave us the half point to win the match. 2½-½ to us

BOARD 3. TO AND FRO. At first I thought our M.D. had the advantage . Then back came Bryan Rodwell . It see-sawed like this until a draw was agreed. 3 – 1 win for Broadstairs.

Well done team and thanks to the Woody team. We now have two wins four draws and one loss with one to play in the Walker Shield.

 

Broadstairs  2         Margate   5 

1 Nick McBride (171) 1-0         Peter McGill (150)
2 Bob Page (141) 0-1        Harry Sharples (150)
3 Paul Carfrae (131) 0-1         John Thorley (142)
4 John Couzens (125) 0-1         Colin Gregory (106)
5 Andy Flood (117) 0-1         Clive Le Baigue (105)
6 Reg Pidduck (107) ½-½         Leon Garfield (102)
7 Bob Cronin (103) ½-½         John Clarke (94)

Bob Page writes:

Broadstairs’ Millar Cup campaign for the 2016/17 season ended in disappointment with a comprehensive defeat by Margate, the same team we had beaten comfortably only three days earlier. On reflection we were probably doomed from the start as at 7.30 only four of our team were present. Mr X – some names have been changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty) – forgot there was a match which would be a problem in itself. Unfortunately, he was the designated driver for two other members of our team which meant that Mr Y and Mr Z were also late. Consequently it was almost 8.00 before all seven games were up and running. As far as the chess was concerned, Nick won an exchange early on and gradually asserted his authority, beating Peter for the second time in a week. The only other game where we appeared to have an advantage was on Board 7 where Bob C had a slight edge but accepted a draw.  John seemed to have good compensation (three pawns) for a piece but Colin fought back and the game was lost. Andy was in familiar time trouble against Clive and this told in the end, Paul had a tight game where one pawn made all the difference as it did with Bob P’s game on Board 2. Reg took a draw against Leon with the match lost. On reflection, the team did not play badly and were simply beaten by better players on the night. One consolation is that with a better record against Margate in all three competitions, Broadstairs retain the Thanet Shield.

Broadstairs  4½         Margate   2½ 

1 Nick McBride (171) 1-0         Peter McGill (150)
2 Paul Carfrae (131) ½-½        Harry Sharples (150)
3 John Couzens (125) 1-0         John Thorley (142)
4 Andy Flood (117) ½-½         Colin Gregory (106)
5 Reg Pidduck (107) ½-½         Clive Le Baigue (105)
6 Bob Cronin (103) 1-0         Leon Garfield (102)
7 Michael Doyle (90) 0-1         John Clarke (94)

Reg Pidduck writes:

Broadstairs were given a great start from Paul Carfrae on Board 2 with a fine draw (no rust there as Paul has not played much lately). Wins then followed from Bob C. and then John Couzens . John’s was a swashbuckling game that he modestly says could have gone either way. Michael then put our first zero on the sheet with a loss against steady John Clarke. So four results were in with three to go. Next to finish was a win for our Nick on Board 1. So half a point was needed for the match .I was in dire straits against Clive with less than two minutes to go when Clive slipped up and I forked his king and rook .Clive now up against it .I offered a draw and Clive took it gladly. Match won and now Andy and Colin agreed a draw. It was a terrific evening and thanks to Matgate for their efforts.

 

 

  The Hargreaves Shield team v Woodnesborough  

Broadstairs  1½         Woodnesborough  2½ 

(Board positions based on July grades)

1 John Couzens (125) 0-1 David Erwee (108)
2 Andy Flood (117) 0-1 Mark Towlson (101)
3 Reg Pidduck (107) ½-½ Bryan Rodwell  (90)
4 Bob Cronin (103) 1-0 Roy Dawson (71)

Andy Flood writes:

Another close match saw Broadstairs’ poor run both continue and end with a disappointing final game and result against Woodnesborough who won on the top two boards to secure a 2.5 – 1.5 win and this despite being outgraded on all four boards. The positive was a secured win on Board 4 by Bob Cronin who again demonstrated the team’s strength on the lower boards and he was the first to finish to secure an early point. Reg was last to finish on Board 3 with a certain drawn position and with added time pressures it was pointless for him to continue and attempt to draw the match by trying to win a certain drawn game whilst under such time pressure. On the top board, from being a pawn up John made a blunder losing a piece for a pawn and solid play by his opponent meant that it was a long night for him as he sought to get something from his match but to no avail as his disadvantage went into a losing end game resulting in a certain passed pawn and queen for his opponent. On Board 2, the team captains came head to head in what could have been a drawn game and match for Broadstairs, but the lightning quick play of the Woodnesborough captain saw him force the Broadstairs captain to go down with the ship, losing on time on move 70 with just a rook and two pawns on the board. So the Broadstairs name will not be on the Hargreaves Shield this year. It could be the new name of Woodnesborough or the winners of the Margate v Bridge match – a close league this year with a guaranteed maximum difference of two points only separating all four teams.