Game of the Week 4

This is an unusual choice for Game of the Week. A win for a player graded 178 against an opponent graded 83 is more Goliath beats David than the reverse. Furthermore, it was the winner who submitted the game but he had his reasons as he stated: “The main point of including it would be to point out how well the loser played! In fact both players played very well, but I thought that Mike’s play was exceptionally strong for someone graded 83 (ridiculous!). White gets a slight advantage from the opening, but Black fights back hard to make things as difficult as possible. The result is only decided between moves 27 and 31. White’s 27.Bxc6 is a good shot (nothing else works) but when I missed what would have been a winning follow up (28.Bb6!) Black had his chance to escape. It’s not easy, though, especially as both players were rather exhausted by that point. Black needed to find 30…Ne4! After he chose something else, there is no escape. In the final position, 37.c4 traps the Black knight in the middle of the board.”
White:  David Faldon (178)    Black:  Michael Jenkinson (83)

Goodall Cup

Game of the Week 3

Welcome back to Game of the Week. It is only the third offering we have had this season which means one of two things: either players are too modest to send in their spectacular efforts or that few games have been played worthy of sharing with a wider public. In the case of your correspondent it is certainly the latter. Not so for Dominic Blundell who has the rare distinction of appearing in all three Games of the Week. However, after his excellent victories in the first two, he was brought down to earth in the folllowing game although he gave as good as he got which made it all the more entertaining. Trefor Owens, who watched this slugfest from the adjacent board when he should have been concentrating on his own game, kindly added the comments.

Congratulations to Michael Jenkinson on a tremendous win. “We both had less than optimal openings,” he said, “I was definitely playing safe and refusing to sacrifice pieces or letting his rooks into play that later Stockfish analysis showed could have worked, but guaranteed mates in 8 or 13 are well beyond my neuron compliment. Happily, Dominic gave me the pawn fork I was wanting and let me castle out of potential hell. That pawn wall threat of Dominic’s was really scary and I was wondering for much of game if I had to lose a piece to destroy it.” For Dominic it was a more sobering experience. “I don’t think I made a good move after move 3,” he said.

White:   Michael Jenkinson (83)    Black: Dominic Blundell  (e126)

Goodall Cup


1-0

Game of the Week 2

This is the second game by Dominic Blundell this season to be featured as Game of the Week, a crucial win in our first match defending the Mick Croft Cup that we won last season. The competition is a graded handicap with five players per team where the combined total must not exceed 625. Having now played five graded games for the club, Dominic has an estimate of 126 although this is sure to be higher when he gets an official grade in January. His win here owes much to an early error by Black who should have played 10….Bxc3+ instead of 10….Rxf7?? which enabled White to win a piece. However, White’s play thereafter was impressive and worth a look. In the final position Black resigned, unable to stop the h-pawn without considerable damage.

White:   Dominic Blundell (e126)    Black:  Keith Findley (e123)

Mick Croft Cup

Game of the Week 1

Our first Game of the Week for this new season features one of our new members with one of our most experienced. Dominic Blundell has just joined the club and has yet to gain an ECF grade. This will come in January when the new list comes out as he will then have played enough games in the club championship to qualify. In the meantime, he has shown enough in the few games he has played to suggest that he has a good chance of playing for one of the club’s league teams in due course. Paul Carfrae has been a Broadstairs player for over 25 years so this promised to be an interesting encounter. The computer was uncertain as to who was winning until Black’s 20th and 21st moves swung the balance decisively in White’s favour.

White:   Dominic Blundell (UG)    Black:  Paul Carfrae (131)

Goodall Cup