This week’s game comes from the recent Millar Cup victory over Bridge B. A win against a player 30+ points stronger is always worth celebrating and while White’s play is hardly faultless, ultimately it is the player who makes the most mistakes who generally loses and that is the case here.
White: Robert Page (135) Black: Alan Atkinson (173)
Millar Cup v Bridge B
Broadstairs ½ Bridge 3½
| 1 | Reg Pidduck (107) | 0-1 | David Gold (99) |
| 2 | Bob Cronin (104) | ½-½ | Graeme Boxall (99) |
| 3 | Michael Doyle (81) | 0-1 | Ian Redmond (75) |
| 4 | def. | 0-1 | Ray Rennells (75) |
Reg Pidduck writes:
BOARD 4. CALAMITY. An eleventh hour phone call from Josh’s mum sealed our fate as Captain Michael had to move up to board 3 and we defaulted on board 4. Get well soon, Josh. 1-0 down.
BOARD 3. IAN TURNS THE GAME. First to finish, Michael over-estimated his attack and Ian was able to turn the game to his advantage. 2-0 down
BOARD 2. BEST GAME OF THE NIGHT. An equal struggle developed between Bob and Graeme and every time I looked I could not pick a winner. Down to pawns each, a draw was decided. 2.5-0.5 down.
BOARD 1. DAVID GETS GOLD. This is the first time I have played David and a worthy opponent he turned out to be as at no time did I feel in control and he spotted all my sneaky tricks. I finally resigned being an exchange down and facing his pawn touching down.
Lost match 3.5 – 0.5. Well done, Bridge.
So, as promised, here is the latest Walker Shield table and although yesterday’s defeat was disappointing, all is not lost. We have only reached half-way in the season and no team is unbeaten or therefore unbeatable. It may come down to ‘goal difference’ in the end so a few crushing victories would come in handy.
| Team | Play | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Against | Points | SP | MP | IM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsgate | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15½ | 4½ | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Margate | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11½ | 4½ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broadstairs | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10½ | 9½ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bridge | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9½ | 10½ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodnesbotough A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4½ | 11½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Woodnesborough B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4½ | 15½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Millar Cup is the blue riband competition of the Thanet Chess League with no grade limit so it is the one everyone wants to win. We have reached the half-way point in the season and this is the current position:
| Team | Play | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Against | Points | SP | MP | IM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridge A | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bridge B | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18½ | 9½ | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Folkestone | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Broadstairs | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10½ | 17½ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Margate | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
It looks close but we are not holding our breath as everyone expects the usual winners to be either Bridge or Bridge. However, the situation in the next competition, the Hargreaves Shield, for those with a maximum grade of 140, is more promising.
| Team | Play | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Against | Points | SP | MP | IM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadstairs | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Margate | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bridge | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Folkestone | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The third competition is the Walker Shield for those graded 115 and under. Currently Broadstairs lie third but with a crucial match against Bridge tomorrow (Monday), an update will be posted later this week. For those curious to see the table as it is now, click here.
“I’ve got a new opening,” Nick said ahead of our club championship match the other night. After a few moves I realised I’d seen it before. “Oh, it’s a Réti,” I said. “Is it?”, he replied, “I thought I’d made it up!” Some years ago I experimented with the Réti until I came to the conclusion that either (a) it wasn’t very good, (b) I wasn’t very good or (c) both. Rather like W.G.Grace’s view on batting, at the time I considered all other openings then settled on 1. e4 and I have been yoked to the King’s pawn for good or ill ever since. Of course, it is also possible that I just didn’t know the Réti very well and here it is many years later returning to bite me on the bottom. Well, not so because as it turns out, Nick didn’t know it very well either….In the final position White resigned before the inevitable 33….Bb2.
White: Nick McBride (173) Black: Robert Page (135)
Goodall Cup
Alas, our young friend Wei Yi is not playing at Hastings although he is appearing at the slightly grander Tata Steel Masters at Wijk Aan Zee starting next week of which more anon. As a warm-up to the event, he has been competing in the Hengda Cup, a 4-game classical match against the Czech number one David Navara in Yancheng, China. The winner gets $20,000, the loser $10,000 (not bad for a four-game two-horse race – the winner at Hastings gets £2000!). After the four classical games, the scores were level 2-2 so they then played two 5+3 playoff games resulting in one win each and so here we are again….it’s Armageddon time! The players play one game where White has six minutes to Black’s five but Black only needs to draw the game to win the match. The game was level for most of the time and Black may well have got the draw he needed but watch out for our hero’s 37th move which may look strange at first until we realise that Black can force a draw! Therefore, with one move Wei Yi was $10,000 richer.
White: GM David Navara (2740) Black: GM Wei Yi (2743)
Hengda Cup 2017 – Armageddon game