Monday night chess club has taken on a new appearance with the restrictions placed by the Coronavirus outbreak. With plenty of club members already playing online, it did not take long for the idea of a Monday evening online tournament to take off. Credit for this must go initially to Richard who proposed the idea and then to Arnaud who took up the baton and set up the first mini-tournament on lichess.com last night. For those who were new to lichess, it took a bit of getting used to but the important thing is that we were all able to play some chess with those we would normally be playing at the club on Mondays. Already eleven players have signed up which is over half of the club and it would be encouraging if we could add some more so if you have not already done so, sign up now!

What of the chess? Well, first of all there were some strange names so it was not clear at first who you were playing. There was Coolhand, Bogstairs, Pugmug and Wasplake for a start. It was billed as a tournament but for some of us it was simply a chance to play some chess and lose a few games. In the end, I think Wasplake –  who I think is David – was the overall winner and BobbyPG (whoever he is) finally got a win with his last game. It was a pleasant surprise to welcome back Nick McBride (Bogstairs), formally of this parish, and perhaps if he enjoys himself enough in these online sessions he might be persuaded to rejoin the club when/if we return to normal over the board play.  If any Broadstairs members (or guests) would like to join us, first you need to register with lichess (we also have a club group set up with chess.com which we might try next week and you don’t have to pay for either site) then choose a user name and password.

Don’t forget that the Candidates Tournament is in full swing in Russia and there will be a report on it here in due course. Daily commentary can be followed on Chess 24 and other sites. In the meantime, if you did not catch Trefor’s puzzles emailed out recently, here is one for you to solve.

  [FEN "2r4r/1Q3pk1/p3p3/1b1p3q/8/P2BP1P1/3R3P/5RK1 w - - 0 17"]  

White to move. Which pawn is the weak point in Black’s position?

Ah! Here’s a trip down memory lane, a return to those carefree days when you could stroll along to your local chess club, shake hands with your opponent, converse freely within three feet, enjoy your game win or lose and then retire to the pub – remember them! – either to celebrate your glorious victory or drown your sorrows, consoled by team mates with a pint or two. Goodness, how long ago was that? What do you mean, it was only last week?

Well, for those of you who have forgotten how to play chess in the last seven days and are looking for anything to bring some cheer to your self-isolation, here is the crucial game from our match with Bridge way back on March 2nd. If we were to win the Millar Cup for the first time in over forty years, this was a match that we really did not want to lose. We could still win the competition if we lost but it would mean having to beat Margate and possibly Folkestone, too. With the score 3½-1½ in Bridge’s favour, it did not look good. Somehow, Arnaud managed to force a win from what looked like a drawn position to most observers which left Paul Carfrae’s game against Graeme Boxall on Board 7. Paul thinks he did not play well and the computer points out a few missed opportunities by both players. However, it is worth playing through to see how Black forced a win after a mistake by White in time trouble right at the end and thanks to Paul for sharing it with us.

       1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 e6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bb4 10.O-O Bd6 11.c5 Bc7 12.Rfe1 b6 13.cxb6 axb6 14.e4 g5 15.Bg3 Nh5 16.Bxc7 Qxc7 17.e5 Nf4 18.Qe3 b5 19.Rec1 Nb6 20.Nxb5 Qd7 21.Nd6+ Ke7 22.b3 Nc8 23.Nxc8+ Rhxc8 24.Ne1 Qb7 25.Nd3 Ng6 26.Qf3 Kf8 27.Nc5 Qe7 28.Rc3 Ra5 29.b4 Rb5 30.a3 Ra8 31.Qh5 Kg7 32.Nd3 Rxb4 33.Nxb4 Qxb4 34.Qf3 Qxd4 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Rac1 Rc8 37.Qf3 Qxe5 38.g3 Qd6 39.Qe3 d4 40.Qd2 e5 41.Rc5 d3 42.a4 e4 43.a5 Ne5 44.Kg2 Nf3 45.Qc3 d2 46.Rd1 h5 47.Qa3 Qe6 48.a6 h4 49.a7 h3+ 50.Kf1 Nxh2+ 51.Ke2 Qg4+ 52.Kxd2 Rd8+ 53.Kc3 Qxd1 54.a8=Q Qd4+ 55.Kc2 Qxf2+ 56.Kc1 Qe1+ 57.Kb2 Qd2+ 58.Rc2 Qd4+ 59.Rc3 Qb6+ 60.Rb3 Qf2+ 61.Kc3 Qd2+ 62.Kc4 Qd4#   

                                     Broadstairs  4½        Margate   2½

David Faldon writes:   

Normally our Millar Cup matches are pretty stress-free. We enjoy the match, file the result and move on to the next. This one was different. Bridge beat Folkestone earlier in the week and consequently we had the chance to win the Millar Cup ourselves ahead of both Bridge and Folkestone if only we could defeat Margate. Broadstairs have not won the Millar Cup since 1976 and I personally have never even seen the trophy. Does it exist? On paper, beating Margate looked reasonably easy because we outgraded them on all seven boards, but the match itself was anything but. The fun started, unusually, on board one. I saw the chance to sacrifice my queen for a whole bunch of smaller bits, but there was a good alternative – swap queens and win a nice safe pawn. I spent maybe half an hour on the calculations. The sacrifice looked great, but what if I got something wrong? A loss could be disastrous. In the end I chickened out and took the pawn. Meanwhile, all was calm. Chris and Paul were doing well and the other games looked level. Arnaud was first to finish. Lots of pieces were exchanged and a draw agreed. No problem.

Soon, however, the situation changed, and not for the better. Manoj and Richard were both in trouble and Trefor was down to a rook and a few pawns each. He had a big choice: either agree a draw or sacrifice a pawn to get his king into the action. He chose the sacrifice. It soon proved to be the correct decision. As Trefor was wrapping up his win, Paul finished his game off too and we were two points up. Great. Then Richard lost. Not so great. Then Manoj lost too – unluckily. He fought back well in a difficult ending and achieved a position that should normally be drawn, but in the process used up all his time. With no increment in the Millar Cup there was no escape. A shame, but now the match was level at two wins each. My opponent and I were both short of time too, so I couldn’t keep up with how Chris was doing. Things were becoming too interesting for comfort. In the end I managed to use my precious extra pawn as a decoy to set up a mate on the other side of the board and we were one up with one to play. Could Chris avoid a loss and seal our victory? With fingers crossed, I rushed over, just in time to see that Chris was a queen up and about to win. Panic over. We had won the match by four wins to two. Comfortable? Not! Anyway, now we will finally get to find out if the famous Millar Cup actually exists. Many thanks to the whole of the Broadstairs Millar Cup team (not just those who played in this match) for getting us to where we are, and many thanks to Margate for being such cheerful hosts and for providing tea and biscuits.

Editor’s note: As David said, the Millar Cup was last won by Broadstairs in 1976 and even then it was shared with Herne Bay. This year is only the fifth time the club has won the trophy outright, the others being 1956, 1965, 1966 and 1969. The other teams competing in 1969 were Birchington, Chatham House, Dane Court, Margate, Pfizer, Ramsgate and St Lawrence College. Thanks to Ian Hames for this information.

                                                  Broadstairs   4      Sheldwich P.S.  0                     

Mike Doyle writes:

It was an interesting match with the Sheldwich juniors giving it all before Broadstairs finally won 4 – 0. A much improved Sheldwich Primary School, with Felix Coker on  Board 1 graded 111, got Andy Flood in a muddle in the middle game but he got out of it with a fork taking his queen and finished with a mate.

Our captain had a right tussle with Josh Hayhoe who belied his grade of 37. I was charging with an Evans Gambit and got Josh on the back foot with a bishop check forcing him to move his king. But Josh got to grips with an uncastled king and by trickery he took my bishop with his knight attacking my queen. Then the fireworks started but with a piece down I managed to get his knight and after a long drawn out end game I won with a rook and he resigned. Reg and Bob had an easy ride with both juniors resigning.

With a game to play, Broadstairs moved up to second in the league. We must beat Folkestone to remain second. Thanks to the juniors who played a thrilling match well above their grade.