Broadstairs  5½        Margate   1½

Robert Page writes:

Broadstairs continued their excellent start to the Millar Cup campaign with this seemingly comfortable but hard-fought win against Margate. Outgrading their opponents by over 30 points, Broadstairs fielded one of their strongest-ever teams, including both the Kent Individual Challengers and Intermediate Champions (but not the Major Champion – Ed). However, anyone expecting a comfortable ride was in for a shock despite early wins for Paul Johnson and Chris Stampe which promised an extended celebration in the pub. Paul quickly gained a piece or two and overwhelmed John Clarke within an hour while Chris cleverly exchanged rooks to enable his queen to charge down the board, threatening mate and causing irreparable damage to Clive’s uncastled kingside.

At this point, things began to slow down.  David was unable to make much headway on Board 1 and agreed a draw with ex-Herne Bay stalwart and Thanet Congress original, Mick Micklethwaite, while Richard lost a tricky rook and pawn endgame with Keith Findley, formerly of the now defunct Birchington Chess Club, who resurfaced after a break of a few years to play at this year’s congress. Suddenly, 2½-1½ didn’t look quite so comfortable. Trefor and Manoj were in promising positions but Arnaud was involved in a tough battle with Peter McGill, both players behind on time. Having laid siege to Colin’s king for an age, Trefor eventually managed to break through and win his queen and victory soon followed: 3½-1½. The match was won when Manoj, on his Millar Cup debut, outmanoeuvred Leon in the neatest ending of the night: 4½-1½. Meanwhile, on Board 2, things were speeding up as the time control loomed and many moves still to play. With both players having pieces en prise, Arnaud cleverly outwitted Peter to win a piece and the game ended just as Peter’s flag was about to fall.

Congratulations to all the Broadstairs players on another fine win and many thanks to Margate for making it an excellent match. There were some impressive performances from the home players such as this one from Manoj against Leon on Board 6.

White:   Manoj  Natarajan (e140)    Black:  Leon Garfield (104)

Millar Cup v Margate (h)

  1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.a3 O-O 7.Rb1 a5 8.O-O d6 9.e4 Bg4 10.h3 Bd7 11.Ne1 Qc8 12.Kh2 e5 13.d3 Nh5 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Nc2 Nf6 16.b4 Nxd5 17.cxd5 Nd4 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.bxa5 Qc7 20.Bd2 Rab8 21.Rb6 Ra8 22.Qb3 Bc8 23.Rc1 Qd7 24.Bb4 Ra6 25.Qc2 Rxb6 26.axb6 Bh6 27.Rf1 f5 28.Qc7 fxe4 29.Qxd7 Bxd7 30.Bxe4 Rf6 31.Kg2 Kf7 32.Ra1 Ba4 33.Bf3 Bd7 34.a4 Ke7 35.a5 Bxh3+ 36.Kxh3 Rxf3 37.a6 bxa6 38.b7 Rf8 39.Rxa6 Kd7 40.Bxd6   1-0   

                                               Broadstairs   1      Bridge  3                       

Capt Mike Doyle writes:

                                          Broadstairs  5        Bridge   2

David Faldon writes:

Our first Millar Cup match of the season, and our first victory. We took a strong team to Bridge, missing only Shany Rezvany who is currently in a London hospital. We wish him well. On the other hand, Bridge were short of several of their regulars so we had every reason to hope for an easy match. It was anything but! The top three boards all drew fairly quickly, leaving the match result in the hands of the lower boards. All four of the remaining games were hard-fought and could have gone either way. Paul on board six was the first to finish. Both sides were attacking at the same time and something had to go missing – luckily for us it was one of the white rooks and Paul had won. Advantage Broadstairs, but we were an exchange down (bishop or knight for a rook) on boards five and seven, and we were under pressure on board four. Could we survive? Bob on board seven provided the first answer when his well-timed draw offer was accepted. Bob had tactical chances but he was still an exchange down. All in all a good result for us, as it left us 3-2 up. Chris on board five then scored a win to secure the match. This was a tremendous game, with the attacks going back and forth like a tennis match until the Bridge player dropped a rook for not a lot and Chris made no mistake in pressing home his advantage. That took the pressure off the board four game, but by then Richard had the upper hand anyway, and he finished the game with a neat mating attack. This was the game of the match from what I could see and it provides us with this season’s first Game of the Week.  Many thanks to all the Broadstairs players, and especially to Bob for giving me and Trefor a lift. And many thanks to Bridge. As usual, they made us feel very welcome and even provided tea, coffee and biscuits.

Editor’s note: It was good to see Gary again, even if he was playing for the opposition but then we had two in our team who used to play for Bridge. This game features notes by Richard together with contributions from David.

White:   Gary Hilleard (107)    Black:  Richard Clement (145)

Millar Cup v Bridge (a)

  {This was a game about colours. I thought I was doing well cutting White’s dark-squared bishop out of the action but then I made a mistake on move 13 and let Gary take control of the light squares.}  1.d4 c5 2.Nf3 cxd4 3.Nxd4 g6 4.Bf4  {The first big mistake is Gary's 4.Bf4?? Black can win a piece. I'm sure you can spot what Black should play, now I mention that there is a nice tactical trick. (David F)}  4...Bg7 5.Bg3 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O Qb6 10.Nb3 a5 11.a4 Be6 12.Bb5 Nd7 13.N1d2 Na7  {Completely missed Gary’s reply of Nc4 attacking my queen}  14.Nc4 Bxc4?!  {This the second move that stands out to me as a mistake as it allows White control over the light squares. Just retreating the attacked queen with 14...Qc7 or 14...Qd8 seems much more natural. The computer doesn't think 14...Bxc4 is a big mistake, but it makes your position very much harder to play from then onwards and allows White extra options, such as the coming 17.Qd5.(David F)}  15.Bxc4 Nc5 16.Nxc5 Qxc5 17.Qd5  {Being able to plant your queen in the middle of the board shows that White is in control}  17...Qb6 18.h4 Rac8 19.Rab1 Rc5 20.Qe4 Qc7 21.Bd5 b5 22.b4 Rxc3 23.bxa5 Rc5  {… Rc5 was played to stop Gary planting a piece at b7}  24.a6 Qd7  {I could not stop thinking about playing …e6 and …d5 to chase White's queen-bishop pair away. But with my queen on the diagonal of his dark-squared bishop and both rooks on dark squares it would have been a catastrophe. You are certainly right about not advancing your e7 and d6 pawns. Keeping them at home shuts the White bishop on g3 out of the game and eventually this is what wins you the game. (David F)}  25.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 bxa4  {After 26...bxa4 a very unusual and amusing situation arises where both sides have a passed pawn on the a-file, as though the two a-pawns have passed through each other! At this point the white pawn looks a bit more dangerous, but at a stroke the situation is reversed...(David F)}  27.Bc6  {The third big mistake of the game is Gary's 27.Bc6?? I guess he got impatient to remove your knight from in front of his passed pawn, but this isn't the way to do it! Almost any other White move would keep a slight advantage. The knight is purely defensive and White should be trying to pick up the black passed pawn rather than engaging in a pawn race. After 27.Bc6?? and 27...Nxc6 Black is suddenly winning. There is no mystery in this - the black bishop on g7 supports the black passed pawn whereas the white bishop on g3 is doing nothing thanks to the brave black pawns on e7 and d6. (David F)}  27...Nxc6 28.Rxc6 a3 29.Rc2 Qa7 30.Qa4 Bb2 31.e4 Ra8 32.Rc6 Qd4 33.Rc4 Qd3  {32...Qd4 and 33...Qd3 completes the job. The black bishop is again the hero. (David F)}  34.Bf4 Qb1+ 35.Kh2 a2 36.Qc6 Rf8 37.Bh6 a1=Q 38.Qc8  {Computer gives a mate in 6 here with 38... Be5+ 39. Bf4 Bxf4+ 40. Kh3 Qd3+ 41.f3 Qh1 42. Kg4 Qxg2+ 43. Kxf4 Qdd2#}  38...Qh1+ 39.Kg3 Be5+  {White resigned as If 40. Bf4, Black wins the queen and if 40. f4 Qae1+ mates All in all a very well played and hard fought game by both sides. Just the four mistakes to my eyes: 4.Bf4?, 4...Bg7?, 14...Bxc4? and 27.Bc6? Two mistakes each. The first two cancelled each other out but of the second pair 14...Bxc4? was survivable while 27.Bc6?? was not. (David F)}  0-1   

                                             Broadstairs   2½      Margate  1½                       

Capt Mike Doyle writes:

Broadstairs started off the season with a win against Margate. It was a narrow margin as John Couzens went down with flu at the eleventh hour and I stood in for him. All the players were ready to start their games but my opponent did not appear until fifteen minutes later. The first result was a draw between Bob Cronin and Roy McAloney. Bob’s attacks were stifled by Roy’s stonewall approach and they shook hands on a draw.  President of Broadstairs Chess Club, Reg Pidduck, was up against an improved player in John Clarke who managed to get two pawns ahead with a rook and a king in the end game. Hard luck, Reg, and we were suddenly a point down and about to lose as we did last season against Margate. However, on Board 1 Andy put in a fine performance and levelled the match against a solid Leon Garfield with a Reti opening which bamboozled his opponent. It was down to the captain as the players crowded round the last game. I had a queen and a rook against two rooks and a bishop and my opponent (playing well above his grade) got me in an mating attack with two rooks doubled up on the ‘h’ file but I defended well with a Capablanca-style finish and mated him with my queen on the seventh rank and passed pawn for a second queen to mate. Here’s a victory that will be well remembered: not only was it a win in the opening match of this year’s Walker Shield campaign but we avenged our defeat against Margate last year. Well done, lads! Thanks to all our players who took part and we wish John a speedy recovery and hope to see him back soon at the most prestigious club in Thanet. (That’s what the website says!)