Horsham 4 Off The Mark!

Horsham 4's fortunes are looking rather better following their home fixture against Lewes 2. Mick Harris on board 5 was on the receiving end of a powerful attack initiated with an exchange sacrifice by visiting team captain Andy Mitchell, while Nick Warren settled for a draw with Matthew Britnell on 3. Then things improved for us. With rather more time remaining than opponent Barry Maufe, Ian Comley on top board declined a draw offer and forced through a piece-winning attack spearheaded by a passed pawn. Paul Richardson on 2 appeared to be heading for a scramble to beat the clock, but the time pressure didn't stop him spotting a blunder by Richard Welford allowing a knight fork 'twixt king and queen. This just left board 4 between Richard Moorhouse and Minori Davies-Arai when we reached the end of the playing session. Despite Richard's delayed arrival that had cost him 15 to 20 minutes on his clock, the game had progressed well beyond the required 42 moves. At the adjournment Richard was 2 pawns up in an end game. Minori exercised his right to reserve judgement but has since conceded. 3.5 - 1.5 to us and our first match point on the board.

The team's next fixture is away to Woodpushers 1 on Friday 11th December (not Wednesday 9th as originally scheduled as Woodpushers had overlooked a problem that night and requested this move.)