Bob Page writes:
The Jamboree is a traditional end of season competition in which as many Thanet teams as possible play one game against each other with pairings mixed between the teams. Individual results are then added together to find a winning team. In recent years Thanet competitions have been poorly attended. This was apparent at the Team Buzzer and only four of the seven clubs entered the Jamboree. Naturally, everyone would like to win and it is possible that some clubs may take the view that it is not worth turning up if there is no chance of doing so. A glance at the average grades of the teams below shows that Margate had by far the weakest team but it did not prevent them from playing. Of course, the fact they were hosting the competition may have had something to do with it….
FOLKESTONE 4½ Team A average grade 167
BROADSTAIRS 3½ Team C “ 141
BRIDGE 3½ Team D “ 153
MARGATE ½ Team B “ 106
Without wanting to sound too priggish, I have always taken the view that all clubs should enter Thanet competitions almost as a condition of entering the league. Recent additional quickplays have tested this resolve and in my mind there are too many such tournaments if a club already has a busy domestic calendar as we do. Nevertheless, we will always put a team in for the Team Buzzer and Jamboree.
This year we were missing a couple of players but the team we put out was quite a competent one by our standards although a glance at the average grades suggests that third was the best we could hope for. Joint second, only a point behind the winners whose average grade was 16 points above five of our six players, therefore represents something of an achievement. The first two games to finish for us were John’s fairly straightforward win against John Clarke as expected and David’s less expected draw against Richard Eales, the highest-graded player in the tournament. My game against John Atherton always looked fairly even and when I was offered a draw, it seemed a good idea to accept given our grading difference. On reflection, a little more courage on my part could have paid dividends as a win for me would have given us a share of first place. At this point, however, 2/3 with the possibility of two more points looked promising.
Reg looked to be in a good position against Graeme Boxall early on but it looked less so once he lost a pawn and with the rooks blocked a draw was agreed (2½/4). Nick had the toughest game of all, facing an opponent 36 points above him. His exposed king and the exchange of a queen and two pawns for two rooks did not augur well but somehow he hung on until defeat was confirmed (2½/5). The last game of the evening to finish was Alan’s against Clive Le Baigue. Given the grading difference between the two, it was a game that Alan would expect to win but in a tricky bishop and pawn ending Clive hung on and a draw seemed likely. With time running short, however, Alan sacrificed his h-pawn to allow his king into the centre to mop up the central pawns and queen his own: a neat finish (3½/6). So Broadstairs finished joint second with Bridge despite an average grade twelve points below them. Well played, team.
Paired Results: (White, first named)
A1 Andrew HAMMOND 189 1-0 157 Peter McGILL B1
C1 David FALDON 175 ½-½ 202 Richard EALES D1
B2 Clive LeBAIGUE 115 0-1 151 Alan GOSMAN C2
D2 Arnaud WISMAN 173 ½-½ 188 Leon WOOLDRIDGE
A3 Joe SHULZE 186 1-0 e150 Nick McBRIDE C3
B3 Colin GREGORY 114 0-1 173 Alan ATKINSON D3
D4 Shany REZVANY 168 1-0 104 Leon GARFIELD B4
C4 Bob PAGE 145 ½-½ 167 John ATHERTON A4
C5 John COUZENS 118 1-0 90 John CLARKE B5
A5 Martin CUTMORE 164 1-0 115 Shahid SAHI D5
C4 Don RICHARDS 57 ½-½ 108 David ERWEE A6
D6 Graeme BOXALL 85 ½-½ 106 Reg PIDDUCK C6