Thanet Chess » bob

Broadstairs news July 2011

bob — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:46:05 +0000

As the season nears its end, here is an update on events at Broadstairs Chess Club. The seventh annual Broadstairs Blitz took place on July 11th and it was the closest yet. Fourteen players took part, divided into two teams, and scores were level going into the eighth and last round. A strong showing by the Mods enabled them to triumph 26-23 over the Rockers with Ian Hames gaining the bottle of wine for the individual winner with a score of 7/7. Special mention should go to one of our junior players, Leonie Lane, whose three wins out of seven, played a crucial part in the Mods’ victory.

The Summer Swiss is now in round four of five and there is a new prize this year, the John Cutting Cup. The winner will be the player with the best grading performance so it is wide open.

The Goodall Cup looks like going all the way with the deciding game likely to be between David Horton and David Faldon. The knockout competition for the John Couzens Vase will continue into the new season.

Thanet Congress 2010

bob — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:19:31 +0000

The 41st Thanet Chess Congress took place on the weekend of August 20th-22nd at the Christ Church University Broadstairs Campus with 120 players taking part. The Intermediate section (under 140) was the most keenly contested with 39 entries. No fewer than eleven players tied for third place with 3.5 points and the first two could not be separated: Colin Gardiner of Falmouth, a regular at the congress, tying with Derek Hadley of Greater London on four points.

The first player to win a prize on Sunday was Martin Taylor (Rainham) who needed only a draw in the final round to win the Open to add to his shared first place in 2004. 25 players entered this section and special mention should go to Paul Heaton of Writtle who came joint third with 3.5 points giving him a grading performance of 209, 42 points above his current grade of 167.

The only player in any section to win all his games was Martyn Millgate of Birchington who won the Minor (under 115) by one and a half points. Eddie Ridley (Herne Bay) was one of five players to share second place. He won his last three games to achieve a grading performance 52 points above his current grade.

31 players contested the Major (under 165) where the unluckiest player was Paul Jackson of Coulsdon. Going into the last round as leader on 3.5 points, his was the last game to finish but he was eventually overtaken not only by his conqueror, Bob Everson but also by the two young Germans, Florian Ciolek and Florian Johne. The prize money was duly divided between the three.

The congress was another resounding success but events like this do not run smoothly by accident. Many people deserve a great deal of thanks for helping in various ways: Kevin Thurlow was his usual efficient self as controller and I know he was grateful for the contribution of Ian Hames as his assistant for the weekend; John Couzens sponsored the congress again and that is much appreciated as it helps keep the entry fees down and the prize money up; Tony and Eileen Hargreaves give up a lot of time both before and during the congress taking in entries and helping with the catering and Clive Le Baigue oversees the whole operation, books the venue, collects (and returns!) the equipment and does everything else not mentioned. Thanks finally to all those who helped set up on Friday and clear away on Sunday. If I have forgotten anyone, my apologies!

Broadstairs Blitz 2010

bob — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:10:34 +0000

The 2010 Broadstairs Blitz took place on Monday July 12th with fourteen players divided into two teams. The theme this year was the World Cup with Holland hoping to gain their revenge on Spain for their defeat in the real thing the day before. The BBC commentator during the match had described the first half as being like a game of chess but it was hard to see any similarity at the Blitz apart from those representing Holand trying to kick their Spanish counterparts under the table to stop them from playing.

Eight rounds were played – each player was given a bye – and at the end of the evening Holland had indeed gained their revenge on Spain 29-20. There were prizes for the winning team as well as a bottle of wine – South African, of course – for the player with the highest individual score. After a three-way tie between David Horton, Paul Carfrae and John Couzens with six points out of seven, the prize went to John on a tie-break.

Many thanks to all who took part, especially our guest of honour, Clive Le Baigue.