Broadstairs  4         Folkestone   0 

Andy Flood writes:

Hats off to Folkestone who played some great chess and were very unlucky to leave Broadstairs with nothing but a 4 – 0 defeat. Whilst they had to concede Board 4 to start 1–0 down, they gave their Broadstairs opponents a real run for their money. On Board 1 Bob Page maintained his 100% win record going into a evenly balanced end game in which he was able to use his experience to go 1, 2 and then 3 pawns up to secure a win. Paul Carfrae on Board 2 was always in a strong position but David Erwee was finding the best defensive moves, creating a little bit of counter play before finally losing late on in the evening. Board 3 was the last game to finish, as Robert Twigg sought to beat the clock and find the killer moves. The Gullbuster – or the Giantkiller as he is now known – was comfortably controlling the early part of the game, going two pawns up. However, his opponent sacrificed a rook, broke though John’s defence and then chased the black King around the board going for a win. Whilst there were opportunities for White to pick up points through both a checkmate and a perpetual check, John resiliently held on to win on time.

So a good result for Broadstairs but Folkestone played well above their ratings and were unlucky to face the long drive back with nothing to show for their efforts. There is only one thing worse than driving home from Broadstairs to Folkestone on a Monday evening with no points and that is driving home from Folkestone to Broadstairs on a Friday evening with no points.

                               Broadstairs  1½         Bridge B   5½ 

David Faldon writes:

You had to be there at the end. If you weren’t … it was great! Yes, we were already 0-4 down after being steamrollered on the bottom four boards, but the last hour or so was brilliant. John on board three survived a somewhat dodgy position (2 pawns down for not much?) by counterattacking in his usual hyper-aggressive style. He got a pawn to the seventh rank, then his highly-rated opponent began a desperate pawn rush of his own. Would John work out how to defuse the rush? Of course he could, and we had a point on the board. Paul’s game on board two was almost as spectacular, in a completely different way. His almost-200-rated opponent put the pressure on early and got a passed pawn on the sixth rank, supported by bishop, rook and queen. Paul had to go into total defence mode, but it worked. His opponent could find no way through and as time ran down, a draw was agreed. The board one game was an anti-climax after John and Paul’s games, but it was fun while it lasted. I sacrificed for a huge attack, but my opponent held on for a hard-fought win. A 1½-5½ loss might sound bad, but just look at the grades of our opponents compared with ours. Many thanks to everyone that played, and especially to our two heroes, Paul and John, who drove the team to the match.

                        Broadstairs  3½         Woodnesborough  ½ 

Reg Pidduck writes:

BOARD 4. Captain Michael put his opponent’s king under threat from the start, even stopping him from castling. Finally young George resigned after a fierce attack from Michael’s knight and queen. 1-0 up.

BOARD 2. Our Bob also had a young opponent (they certainly bring them on well at the Woody club). Always in control, Bob duly won. 2-0 up.

BOARD 1. Steve Garrett’s estimated grade of 82 looked about correct after 15 moves as I was well in control. But then he played like a 110 and parried and found all the right moves to stop me breaking through and by move 37 I offered a draw which was agreed. Lovely game, Steve. Hope we play again soon. 2.5-0.5 up

BOARD 3. Daniel Allen also played well above his grade as he kept his game with Josh tight till quite late in the evening. Finally, Josh found a knight fork and Daniel’s position crumbled.

Result: a 3½-½ victory for Broadstairs. Now we have played 2 won 2.