Broadstairs 4 Ramsgate 0
| 1 | Reg Pidduck (107) | 1-0 | Malcolm Snashall (107) |
| 2 | Andy Flood (106) | 1-0 | Kenneth Keeler (91) |
| 3 | Bob Cronin (104) | 1-0 | Bob Wallace (85) |
| 4 | Gary Hilleard (e100) | 1-0 | Don Richards (65) |
Bob Page writes:
This was a tremendous victory, one that puts Broadstairs in with a real chance of winning the Walker Shield. Two weeks ago the team needed to win each of its last three matches 4-0 to overtake Ramsgate. Two of those results have been achieved but there is still one final hurdle to cross next week against Woodnesborough A and, again, victory is not enough – it has to be 4-0. A mere glance at the respective grades fails to do justice to the tension in this match. With Captain Michael magnanimously standing down in favour of the jet-lagged but willing Andy, Broadstairs outgraded Ramsgate on three of the four boards. However, Ramsgate had won eight of their nine matches going into this game and all four of their players had win percentages of 70%+ with Malcolm on 88%! Bob was the first to win, quickly winning a piece against his opponent and his two rooks easily finished the game off. Gary also had a fairly straightforward game although Don refused to resign until he had almost nothing left. The real drama, however, was saved for the top two boards. Andy was a pawn down for a long time in an unpromising position and a win looked extremely unlikely. On Board 1 the situation was no better. Reg and Malcolm were locked in a knight v bishop ending that surely Malcolm could hold, knowing that was all he needed to do. But Reg has never played a better game. He ensured his pawns were safe from Malcolm’s bishop, split the opposing pawns, carefully manoeuvred his king up the board, winning one pawn then another until Malcolm decided enough was enough. At 3-0, however, we still needed Andy to win and when the rooks came off, leaving another knight v bishop ending, victory still seemed a tall order but as Andy joked later, ‘superior endgame technique’ told in the end. 4-0 – what a match! Now do it all again next week!