John did not want this game to be considered as a Game of the Week as the thirty point difference in grading suggests that it was not an especially outstanding performance on his part. However, he felt it was not without interest and definitely worth a look so here it is.
White: Leon Garfield (101) Black: John Couzens (131)
(Hargreaves Shield v Margate)
Broadstairs 3 Margate 1
| 1. | Paul Carfrae (132) | 0-1 | Colin Gregory (117) |
| 2. | John Couzens (131) | 1-0 | Leon Garfield (101) |
| 3. | Tom Lovegrove (117) | 1-0 | John Clarke (86) |
| 4. | Andy Flood (113) | 1-0 | James Maskell (80) |
Andy Flood writes:
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.
Thanet players with long memories will remember there used to be a Best Game Prize. This was a competition run towards the end of the season whereby anyone who had played what he thought was a particularly fine game could send it anonymously to the league secretary who would gather all the entries – usually about six – and make copies to distribute to the various clubs in the league for members to discuss and vote on during a club night. Clubs would then place the games in order, send their results to the secretary and the scores were then added up. The winner would be revealed at the league AGM, given his prize and, although this I don’t remember, would then be invited to go through the game to those assembled. The competition gradually faded out owing to a combination of factors: the usual lack of interest, the unwillingness of some clubs to give up an evening or even part of an evening to go through the games and, of course, the games were not completely anonymous as those who had submitted entries could not really comment on their own games.
However, in the digital age, it is to be hoped that these problems can be overcome and therefore it has been decided to revive the Best Game Prize with immediate effect. David Williams has agreed to ‘host’ the games on the Thanet website and anyone in the Thanet Chess League who has played a notable game this season considered worthy of winning the Best Game Prize is invited to send the game to David and he will publish all those he receives at the end of the season. He has asked for games to be in pgn form but if you are unsure about that, a game typed out (correctly!) in algebraic notation should suffice. The difference now is that the games can be played at your leisure on your computer and the only thing to be decided is whether individuals send their results or we continue to vote as clubs.
In the meantime, if you have played a particularly outstanding game this season – preferably not one submitted to this site for Game of the Week! – send it to David Williams whose email address is dgw757@yahoo.co.uk. More information is on the Thanet site and while you are there, you might like to read James Essinger’s interesting article, reprinted from Chess magazine, about chess generally and a recent game of his against Bob Pooley.
Broadstairs 4 Woodnesborough 0
| 1. | Andy Flood (113) | 1-0 | Mark Towlson (101) |
| 2. | David Wheatley (106) | 1-0 | Bryan Rodwell (100) |
| 3. | Reg Pidduck (104) | 1-0 | Rens Bossers (e 60) |
| 4. | Bob Cronin (101) | 1-0 | Susan Green (47) |
Reg Pidduck writes:
Although we outgraded this Woody team on every board, it was hard work.
BOARD 2. David was first to wear down Brian Rodwell to set us into a lead. Although I was sitting next to them, my game was taking all my attention: 1 -0 to us.
BOARD 1. Following a shaky start with a French Defence, Andy gradually got back to an even position. After swapping off pieces, he was able to get a passed pawn. With more pieces coming off, the pawn was out of Mark’s reach and he resigned: 2-0 to us.
BOARD 4. Bob’s game against Sue Green looked likely for a long time to be the first to finish as she had lost her queen for a bishop. But a tenacious Sue kept Bob at bay, ducking and diving in the hope Bob would mess up. Eventually her luck ran out and Bob secured our third win: 3-0 to us
BOARD 3 . Young Rens Bossers, at an estimated grade of 60, could prove to be a vital asset to the Woody team as his concentration on the game and his time taken on every move took all my attention in our three-hour game. Finally I was able to win a bishop and wear him down.
So, a hard fought 4-0 win to us. That is now played three won three in our quest for the Walker Cup.