(Yet more) Thanet Congress Latest

Here is Martin Taylor, regular supporter (and sometime winner) of the Thanet Chess Congress, photographed by Brendan O’ Gorman at last year’s event in which he came second. He has entered once again this year and will face stiff competition if he is to win the Open this time. Already two International Masters, last year’s winner Alan Merry and now Richard Bates, defending his SCCU Champion title won only two weeks ago at the Weald Congress, have signed up. With two and a half weeks to go, it looks like being a competitive Open Tournament and numbers throughout all five sections are encouraging. If you have not yet booked your accommodation, you are advised to do so as Broadstairs is very busy in the summer. For more information, entry forms and online entry, visit the congress website http://www.thanetchesscongress.co.uk

While waiting for the Thanet Congress, our attention turns to the 2017 British Championship which has just begun in Llandudno. Among the various stars taking part is Broadstairs’ own David Faldon, who is in the Over 50 section. Whether he thought this was merely for players with grades over 50 is not certain but we hope he was not too surprised to be drawn against IM Paul Littlewood in round 2 against whom he achieved a draw which, together with his draws in rounds 1 and 3 represents a solid start. Unfortunately, none of David’s games is available so let’s turn our attention to the top seed (so far) at the Thanet Congress, IM Alan Merry. As I write, he has just won his round four game at the British and is currently on 3/4. Here is his win in round 1. For the latest news, go to http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk

White: Alan Merry  (2427)     Black: Ashley Stewart (2111)

British Championships 2017

Back to the Thanet Congress and never mind the chess, I hear you say, what about the food? Well, take a look at the kitchen below which is a bit smarter than your average chess congress canteen. The analysis room is attached (see below) so there is plenty of room to have your lunch and go through your games.  Rook van Zugzwang, our culinary correspondent, reports:  “The food is good, well priced and the kitchen staff can cater for specific dietary requests – just ask. Here is a sample menu:

All hot lunches £4.50

Pasty, chips & baked beans

Pasta & meatballs with garlic bread & salad garnish

BBQ chicken drumsticks with chips and salad garnish

(V) Cauliflower and broccoli cheese bake with garlic bread

(V) Vegetable pasta bake with garlic bread

Burger & fries

                          Analysis room

  

 

 

 

 

 

Filled Jacket potatoes served with salad garnish

With one filling £2.30

With two fillings £2.90

Additional fillings 60p

Fillings:

Grated cheddar cheese

Tuna Mayonnaise

Coleslaw

Baked beans

 

Puddings £1.70

Selection of cold desserts

 

You can also have breakfast:

Build your own Breakfast –  choose from the selection below 60p per item

Free range egg (fried or scrambled)

Pork sausage

Vegetarian sausage

Back bacon rasher

Baked beans

Grilled or Plum Tomato

Mushrooms

Hash brown

Sauté potatoes

Fried Slice

Toast

If you were hoping for black pudding, bad luck but egg, beans, sausage, mushrooms and bacon for £3.00?! Who needs chess? If you’re staying elsewhere, give their breakfast a miss and eat here, I say.  If you haven’t booked accommodation anywhere, there is still room at the university. Go to the Congress website listed above for details of accommodation available.”

 

Wei Yi in the news again

Regular visitors to this site must be wondering what has happened to Broadstairs’ adopted GM, Wei Yi. It’s so long since we heard from him that he must be at least 17 by now. Well, he is actually 18 which by chess standards is positively ancient. However, remember that he reached 2700 at a younger age than Magnus Carlsen and with his most recent rating 2746, he is 17th in the world rankings. Currently playing in the Danzhou Super-GM tournament, after four rounds he is the sole leader with 3/4. After two opening games with the black pieces, he had white against Ruslan Ponomariov in round 3, who was soon being bamboozled by a number of pawn sacrifices as Wei Yi cleared a way for his rook.

White: Wei Yi  (2746)     Black: Ruslan Ponomariov (2712)

8th Hainan Danzhou 2017

Of course, a recurring problem at super GM chess tournaments is the high percentage of draws. In order to avoid this, the organisers have instigated some new initiatives to promote positive play. According to Chess.com, “the tournament has some of the toughest anti-draw rules you’ll ever witness – no draw offers are allowed (only theoretical draws or with the agreement of the arbiter), while if the players draw by repetition within 15 moves they have to start the game again. If they draw by repetition in 15 moves again both players lose! Nevertheless, we’ve only seen three wins in 15 games.” We shall have to wait and see what effect the new rules have at the end of the tournament.

Margate International Chess Congress 1937

Related image

The third international chess tournament to be held at Margate in the 1930s was another all-play-all featuring ten players including three heavyweights: the then world champion, Alexander Alekhine, the American GM Reuben Fine and the rising star from Estonia, GM Paul Keres. The tournament also featured several English players who had played in the earlier tournaments but were largely thought to be making up the numbers. Alekhine did not appear to consider Keres a threat. After an early loss he said: “The next seven rounds will show if I can give an extra point to Fine.” However, in round seven his oversight became all too apparent (see game below). Keres had emerged as a player of note as a 19-year old in the 1935 Chess Olympiad and in the next few years he became a strong player of international repute with a number of supertournament victories, notably the 1938 AVRO tournament, considered one of the strongest ever played. Today he is popularly regarded as the best player never to win the world chess championship.

At Margate Keres played Fine in the last round and and their draw resulted in them tying for first place with 7½/9 (both +6 -0 =3). Alekhine, who lost three games finished third on 6½. Keres blamed himself for not winning outright, saying afterwards, “I felt that I still lacked the necessary endgame technique.” Others did not agree and in his book ‘Paul Keres II: the Road to Mastery’, Joosep Grents quotes a contemporary commentator: “The extraordinary combinational ability of Keres left a deep impression on all the participants. If one takes into consideration that he is merely 21 years old, then one can certainly foresee his future fame. The only factor that speaks against him is his modesty. No player with aspirations of becoming a World Champion has ever been known for this characteristic.” 

White: Paul Keres       Black: Alexander Alekhine

Margate International Chess Tournament 1937

 

The Blunder Blitz

    Winners and losers celebrating in the pub

The annual Broadstairs Blitz took place at the club on Monday July 3rd. When many clubs are well into their ‘close season’, Broadstairs is still going and with three competitions yet to be decided, the club will remain open until August 14th. Last year the it was the Brexit Blitz and as it is hard to avoid the soap opera that is modern politics, this year the theme was was the Blunder Blitz: Superman v Blunder Woman  – no prizes for guessing who this was based on. Sixteen players, all from Broadstairs Chess Club, were divided into two teams, the Supermen and the Blunder Women. The teams were picked on current grades and on recent form it looked as if the the Blunder Women had the edge with Ian Hames and Paul Carfrae, Blitz specialists, on the same team. However, it did not work out that way.

The first two rounds were close with few surprises and the scores were level. In round 3 the Supermen took the lead and never looked back.   Further wins in rounds 4 and 6 extended their lead and in the final round, with the Blunder Women needing a 7-1 victory to win, the Supermen had their best round, winning 6-2.  Final scores: Supermen 36½ Blunder Women 27½.  Highlights of the evening were fine performances from David Faldon, 8/8 on Board 1 for the Supermen, and 4/8 for Joshua Vaughan (grade 86) for the same team. Your correspondent still cannot quite understand how he lost to Ian Hames, allowing his king to be taken with one second left on the clock.  The post mortem concluded that the Blunder Women lost because they made too many blunders. Afterwards most of the players adjourned to pub to celebrate another successful season: steady membership, victory in the Team Buzzer and the Thanet Shield and joint winners at the Jamboree.

Supermen: David Faldon, Alan Gosman, Bob Page, Andy Flood, Joshua Vaughan, Michael Jenkinson, Fredy Reber, Jordan Leach.

Blunder Women: Nick McBride, Ian Hames, Paul Carfrae, Reg Pidduck, Bob Cronin, Michael Doyle, Richard Bowles, David Clifford.

 

 

When Capa came to Thanet (part 2)

In 1936 the second Margate International Chess Tournament took place and, once again, the former World Champion, Jose Raul Capablanca, was invited and accepted. The good news for Capa was that there was no Reshevsky but the bad news was that he was second again. The winner was the Czech GM Salomon Flohr who was undefeated in the tournament, scoring 7½/9 and winning more than half of his matches. Also returning from the first tournament were Stuart Milner-Barry, Vera Menchik and Sir George Thomas.

      The England team for the 1939 Olympiad

Milner-Barry was one of the most gifted British chess players of his generation. Winning the first British Boys’ Championship in 1923, he went on to play for England from 1937-1961 and was President of the British Chess Federation between 1970 and 1973. He also has two chess variations named after him: the Milner-Barry Gambit against the French Defence, and the Milner-Barry variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence. His most important contribution, however, was his work as a code-breaker during the war at Bletchley Park for which he was recruited by his friend and fellow chess player, Hugh Alexander. At Margate in 1936 Milner-Barry lost only three games out of the nine, two of which were to Capablanca and this one to the eventual winner.

White: Salomon Flohr       Black: Stuart Milner-Barry

Margate International Chess Tournament 1936