Broadstairs 2 Bridge 2
| 1 | Bob Page (135) | 1-0 | Bill Tracey (125) |
| 2 | Paul Carfrae (133) | 0-1 | Tim Spencer (121) |
| 3 | Reg Pidduck (107) | 0-1 | Peter Blundell (120) |
| 4 | Andy Flood (106) | 1-0 | Graeme Boxall (99) |
Andy Flood writes:
Following the closest possible finish last year, a strong Broadstairs Hargreaves team began their 2017/18 campaign against a strong and stable Bridge team. With Reg on board 3 substituting for John Couzens who was on holiday again, there were a few changes to the team order. Bob Page returned on board 1 after a couple of years’ sabbatical from Hargreaves Shield duties and Paul Carfrae also returned on board 2 with Andrew Flood on board 4. Bob got off to a flying start on 1, winning in no time at all, to the extent that he was able to sample the delights of the local ale house, watch the football, and still get back in plenty of time to see the other games finish. On board 4 Graeme Boxall had the slight edge early on with White but some solid counter play by Andy saw him beating Graeme by queening his extra pawn in a K + P endgame.
At 2–0 up all was looking good for Broadstairs to secure maximum points by getting something from one of the remaining boards but whilst draws were offered, none was accepted with Bridge determined to play on and get a result. After three hours Paul found that his opponent had trapped one of his pieces and with the exchange down Paul’s position quickly crumbled and the game was over by 10.30 so all was on the last game. The match was close but Reg’s position was slightly weaker than Peter Blundell’s (his higher graded opponent) and Reg had little time left on the clock for his remaining moves. With Peter playing strongly, it was close to 11.00 when the game ended with Reg losing on time in a lost position, and so the match ended 2 – 2. A solid enough start to the season with some well fought games of chess played.