Broadstairs 3½ Folkestone 3½
| 1 | Nick McBride (173) | ½-½ | Jim Bayford (178) |
| 2 | Bob Page (135) | 0-1 | Martin Cutmore (173) |
| 3 | Paul Carfrae (133) | 0-1 | David Shire (168) |
| 4 | Richard Clement (e130) | 0-1 | Kevin Smythe (163) |
| 5 | John Couzens (116) | 1-0 | John Atherton (163) |
| 6 | Reg Pidduck (107) | 1-0 | David Erwee (96) |
| 7 | Andy Flood (106) | 1-0 | Robert Twigg (76) |
David Faldon writes:
What a fantastic match! It had everything: controversy, brilliant play, blunders and a last minute equaliser. What more could you ask of an evening’s entertainment? The controversy came at the beginning when the Broadstairs captain substituted himself out on board one when Nick became available, but what else could he do when he’d already asked six others to play? Anyway, the board one substitute proved well up to the task, sacrificing his queen right in the opening for two knights and a bishop. Nick wasn’t the first to finish, though. Andy took that honour, winning with black in just eleven moves on board 7 when his opponent mislaid his queen for just the one knight. Despite this early 1-0 lead for Broadstairs, Folkestone were well on top after an hour and I decided that anything other than a 1-6 defeat would be positive. The next three games to finish went as predicted, leaving Folkestone 3-1 up. Bob, Paul and Richard on boards 2, 3 and 4 all went down to much higher-rated opponents, though not without a struggle, especially so in Paul’s case when he fought back strongly after dropping a rook for not a lot. The board one game was next to finish when the players agreed a draw, presumably exhausted by the complications. Hopefully, this game will appear on the website soon, so you can all enjoy it. That result left Broadstairs needing to win the last two games. The battle of the two Johns on board 5 was a story of long heroic defence from John C for Broadstairs, suddenly turned to triumph with a surprising knight sacrifice. Well played! One to go. The board 6 game was tremendous and strange, with both players mixing brilliant ideas with missed opportunities but both certainly played well above their rather modest grades. In truth it was a bit of a shame that one player had to lose, but Reg’s win was most welcome for Broadstairs, equalising the score at 3½ to 3½. Exhausting to watch but great fun!