The first Tom Fuller match of the season, away to Maidstone, produced some very exciting games with the points all going with the white pieces. Snodland went 2-0 up in under half an hour, with strong attacks developing from 1. d4 openings by Pete Hickey and Matt Gazes. Unfortunately, the Maidstone contingent produced two fine attacking displays on boards two and four, tying the match after Neil Miners and Nick Allen both fell to strong kingside play.
Snodland was well represented in the first county games for the U100 and U140 Kent teams, playing Essex away. Strong performances in the U140 division saw Kent come away with an overwhelming victory, overseen by Tyrone Jeffries, captaining on behalf of David Lettington. Both of the Snodland players in the U100 division won their games, however the disappointingly large number of byes conceded by Kent contributed to overall defeat.
Snodland hosted an extremely strong Maidstone side in the Stevenson cup. The loss of several key Snodland players to illness lead to the team being heavily outgraded, and under the circumstances the scoreline of 4.5-1.5 was to be expected. Congratulations to Ben Spink for the sole win for Snodland, and to Nick Allen for a gruelling draw against a higher rated opponent.
Away to Rainham in the En Passant cup, wins by Pete Hickey, Ben ("Mr. Reliable") Spink and David Fowler were enough to tie the match 3-3 on the boards. In an unusual turnup for the books, Rainham had turned out with an overgraded team (average grade ~ 142 compared to a 140 limit) - the half point deduction was enough to give the win to Snodland, 2.5-3!
In other Snodland Chess Club news, congratulations and best wishes to David Lettington and Ruth for their marriage on 25th October.
