Post Tournament Analysis
Tournament play in action
On Monday night (18th March 2024) Broadstairs Chess Club welcomed back to the club our previous club secretary, for the celebratory Robert Page Rapid Play Tournament 2024. Robert (Bob) Page was Broadstairs Club Secretary for 27 years between September 1994 – September 2021 until he left Broadstairs to relocate to be closer to family. Bob had been a chess club member at Broadstairs since 1986.
John Couzens another former club member from 1990 – 2021 took part in the competition as well as Reg Pidduck, our President and long standing current club member since 1975, as well as Paul Carfrae who has been a club member for 30 years.
In all 19 people including guests and members played in Tournament over 6 rounds, and all played at a “rapid pace” showing some outstanding chess skills. As reminisced in the Bradstow Mill bar afterwards, the field of players included three former individual Kent Champions (Bob Page, Manoj Natarajan and John Couzens) who were Tournament winners in the famous and never to be forgotten 50th Thanet Chess Congress in 2019 which resulted in Broadstairs Chess Club being able to boast of having four individual Kent Champions in a single year.
The Robert Page Rapid Play Tournament 2024 produced an impressive and worthy winner in Samuel Marsden with a winning score of 5.5 points out of a possible 6, beating two of the former Kent Champions and only dropping half a point against Paul Carfrae who skilfully carved out a draw with opposite coloured bishops in the only drawn game of the evening. For us oldies it is amazing to think that Samuel’s lifetime and age is less than half of the years that Bob was at the club in his role of Club Secretary.
David Marsden (Samuel’s dad) also had a great tournament finishing joint fourth with 4 out of 6 along with Bob Page and Clive Le Bague.
Paul Carfrae finished third with 4.5 points out of 6 and Manoj Natarajan was the runner up with 5 points out of 6, only losing the one game against Samuel.
The top 10 finishers were.
Samuel Marsden 5.5/6, Manoj Natarajan 5/6, Paul Carfrae 4.5/6,
Robert Page 4/6, David Marsden 4/6, Clive Le Bague 4/67.
Geoff Foxon 3/6, Steven Blay 3/6, Reg Pidduck 3/6, Paul Verrall 3/6