Broadstairs  3½         Woodnesborough  ½ 

Reg Pidduck writes:

BOARD 4. Captain Michael put his opponent’s king under threat from the start, even stopping him from castling. Finally young George resigned after a fierce attack from Michael’s knight and queen. 1-0 up.

BOARD 2. Our Bob also had a young opponent (they certainly bring them on well at the Woody club). Always in control, Bob duly won. 2-0 up.

BOARD 1. Steve Garrett’s estimated grade of 82 looked about correct after 15 moves as I was well in control. But then he played like a 110 and parried and found all the right moves to stop me breaking through and by move 37 I offered a draw which was agreed. Lovely game, Steve. Hope we play again soon. 2.5-0.5 up

BOARD 3. Daniel Allen also played well above his grade as he kept his game with Josh tight till quite late in the evening. Finally, Josh found a knight fork and Daniel’s position crumbled.

Result: a 3½-½ victory for Broadstairs. Now we have played 2 won 2.

                              Broadstairs  4½         Margate   2½ 

David Faldon writes:

This was a most unexpected win that gets our Millar Cup season off to the best of all possible starts! Our prospects looked bleak at 7.30pm when Margate turned up with a very strong team boosted by two promising young off-season signings from Woodnesborough: Dennis Stokes-Carter and David Rogers. Our prospects looked even bleaker by 8.30pm. Reg (board 5) had already resigned and Bob P (board 2) was a piece down. Around 9pm things took a turn for the worse. I lost a pawn for less than nothing (on board 1) and Paul (board 3) was under serious pressure. Our other three boards were doing OK but, given that their opponents were much higher graded, a 0-7 loss was a clear possibility. The next hour or so passed in a bit of a blur for me as I struggled hard not to lose without putting up a fight, but then Bob C (board 7) had won with black and there were signs of hope. Bob P (board 2) resigned a few minutes later to leave us 1-2 down, but then came a huge switch of fortune. My young opponent on board 1 suddenly spoilt what would have been a well-played victory for him with one awful move and the match was level. 2-2 then became 3-2 for us when Paul (board 3) turned the tables on his opponent too and then 3-2 became 4-2 when Andy (board 6) finished off with a clever attack in a tricky ending. We had won. As it no longer mattered to the result of the match, John’s game on board 4 was then agreed drawn, but, rather than being an anti-climax, this could well have been the best game of the match. John kept the pressure on his strong opponent all the way through and certainly deserved his draw. Hopefully we can all check out John’s game (as well as Paul’s and Andy’s and Bob C’s) on an upcoming “game of the week”. Such a spectacular match victory certainly deserves more than one game of the week.

                                           Broadstairs  2½         Margate  1½ 

Reg Pidduck writes:

BOARD 4.   STEADY JAMES .  James Maskell was first to finish with a solid performance against our higher graded Michael Jenkinson. 1-0 down

BOARD 3. A CAPTAIN’S INNINGS. Our new Walker captain started with a win. Michael takes up the story. “Being unfamiliar with the Scandinavian Defence as I was, I still gained a rook for nothing but in doing so got my Queen trapped. Finally escaping, I won with a Bishop and Knight threatening mate. 1-1

BOARD 1. SECOND TIME IN A WEEK. John Clarke and I had also played each other on Monday in the Hargreaves Shield but I could not repeat my win this time as John kept me at bay from my better position. Down to a rook and three pawns each, the game was decided a draw. 1.5-1.5

BOARD 2. YET AGAIN BOB. Our Bob Cronin always seems to come up with the goods in our close matches. Going into the endgame, he was a Knight up but still had a determined Leon to contend with. He finally got a passed pawn and won the game and the match for Broadstairs. 2.5- 1.5

A first win for our new captain and I hope there are many more.