Millar Cup v Herne Bay (a)

Broadstairs     1½                Herne Bay     5½ 

1 David Faldon (175) 0-1         Bernie Kooiman  (185)
2 David Horton (167) ½-½         Gordon Botley (182)
3 Paul Carfrae (131) 0-1         Bob Pooley (155)
4 John Couzens (118) 1-0         Mick Micklethwaite (131)
5 Bob Cronin (112) 0-1         Alan Evans (118)
6 Andy Flood (111) 0-1         Paul Arnold (116)
7 Reg Pidduck (106) 0-1         Ronnie Melhuish (100)

David Faldon writes:

Our main success was that John on board 4 played a great game to defeat a strong opponent, one he’d always had a lot of grief from in the past. It was a smooth, positional win and John had the black pieces, too. Our only other positive result came from our hero with the black pieces: David H on board 2 produced a stern defensive performance to beat off a long, slow attack. All of the other games resulted in losses but in contrasting styles. David F on board 1 and Paul on board 3 both threw everything at their opponents but in both cases their opponents somehow managed to survive and then mop up once the attacks had petered out. The games on boards 5 to 7 were much calmer but with Bob, Andy and Reg on the defensive for long periods. Unfortunately, there were no survivors. Congratulations to Herne Bay on another hard-fought victory. This leaves us with one win from four Millar Cup matches with Bridge at home next on November 9th. What could possibly go wrong?

Game of the Week 2

The following game is a terrific example of David beating Goliath that happens all too infrequently but is terrific entertainment for the neutral when it does. Naturally, it is also hugely satisfying for the winner if not the loser but to his credit Ian was happy to analyse the game afterwards with Michael and other members of the club. Your correspondent, absent on this occasion, initially could not understand White’s 34th move and Black’s follow-up when the bishop on e1 was en prise. However, once the forced mate that both players had clearly seen but which had eluded this more casual observer then became apparent, it was hard to escape the conclusion that this was precisely why Michael had succeeded in doing something that others over many years had not.

White: Ian Hames (160)  Black: Michael Doyle (89) 

Goodall Cup 2015

Game of the Week 1

Some of you may be wondering what has happened to the boy wonder that is Wei Yi since we last reported on his ‘immortal game’ (see Game of the Week July 4).  On the other hand, you might not but you are going to get an update nevertheless.  In May he won the Chinese Chess Championship ahead of his rival and current world number eight, Ding Liren, and last month he again edged out Ding in the FIDE World Cup quarter-finals before losing to Peter Svidler in the semis. Featured here is Game 5 of that quarter-final which ended in a draw but is worth playing through for the brilliance of White’s 12th move which, unfortunately for the neutral and for Wei, Ding saw through. Thanks to Mick Croft who spotted this one.

White: Wei Yi (2737)  Black: Ding Liren (2780) 

Fide World Cup 2015

Millar Cup v Margate (h)

Broadstairs     5½                Margate     1½ 

1 David Faldon (175) 1-0         Peter McGill  (157)
2 David Horton (167) 1-0         Harry Sharples (156)
3 Bob Page (145) ½-½         Colin Gregory (114)
4 Paul Carfrae (131) 1-0         Leon Garfield (104)
5 John Couzens (118) 1-0         John Clarke (90)
6 Bob Cronin (112) 0-1         Roy Dawson (72)
7 Tom Lovegrove (92) 1-0         Don Richards (52)

David Faldon writes:

As usual we outgraded our local rivals by a considerable margin (the team’s average grades were 134 and 106) but also as usual Margate put up a great fight. They even took an early lead when something went spectacularly wrong with Bob C’s all-in attack with white on board 6. At that point most of the other games were pretty level so the fate of the match was in the balance. It wasn’t until about 9.30 that things turned in our favour. First, David H converted a nice position into a mating attack on board 2 and then Paul and John both took pawns in for touchdowns on boards 4 and 5 and suddenly we were 3-1 up. Tom on board 7 provided the most spectacular game of the evening – an early piece sacrifice for 2 pawns led to a long slow mating attack. 4-1. The final two games finished about 10.30 leaving us a precious few minutes to celebrate in the pub. To end, a question. Which board saw the game begin 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Ngf3 g5? Answer – board 1, with David F to thank/blame for the outrageous/awful 4…g5. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Hargreaves Shield v Bridge (a)

Broadstairs  2½       Bridge  1½

1. Paul Carfrae (131) ½-½      Tim Spencer (123)
2. John Couzens (118) 0-1      Shahid Sahi (115)
3. Bob Cronin   (112) 1-0      Ray Rennells (86)
4. Andy Flood   (111)  1-0      Graeme Boxall  (85)

Andy Flood writes:

A typical chess journey to Bridge on a windy rainy evening. Things started badly with John losing his queen early on board 2 and consequently, a little later, the match due to an unseen knight fork linked to a pin on the king preventing the knight being taken. Bob on board 3 comfortably and confidently won a match which he always seemed to control to make the score all square.

Our other two matches almost went the full distance finishing just before 11.00. Broadstairs took the lead after a win on board 4 with white resigning following the collapse of his queenside pawn structure. So the result was dependent on board 1 in what appeared a lost endgame for Broadstairs and ‘Deany’, who had a knight and bishop against a rook and bishop and was also two pawns down.

Who ‘Deany’ you might ask?! Why, of course, it was Houdini disguised as Paul Carfrae who somehow conjured up a draw (pinned rook and king with bishop) with a never say die fighting performance to secure a narrow win for Broadstairs.