Broadstairs  3½     Bridge ½ 

Reg Pidduck writes:

The Bridge players were not only one player short but had the misfortune of being held up due to a house fire on Haine Road.

BOARD 4. NO BRIDGE PLAYER.  Captain Michael had the walkover: 1-0 up

BOARD 2. A GOOD DRAW FOR IAN . Our Bob and Ian Redmond’s match at first glance looked close. On further study I could see Bob had all the space for his queen to rule the board. But Ian seized the opportunity of a perpetual check to draw the game: 1½-½ to us

BOARD 1. MY FAVE DUTCH.  After our opening salvos, my Dutch Defence was on top but Graeme was able to castle queenside to hold me off. We then played cat and mouse till my move 23 put me a Bishop up. By move 36 Graeme’s cause was lost and he resigned: 2½-½  to us

BOARD 3. A GREAT DEBUT. Broadstairs’ newest member Gary was three pawns up within an hour’s play. But Ray Rennells was not easy to shake off, and fought tooth and nail to come back. Finally in an endgame  the pawn advantage was too much and Ray conceded.

Match won 3½-½. Thanks to Bridge for their patience getting to us.

Latest Walker Shield table

                                             Broadstairs  3½         Folkestone 3½ 

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!

                                                  Broadstairs  5         Bridge B   2 

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:

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.