Horsham 2 on the scoreboard

At the fourth time of asking Horsham 2 got on the scoreboard with a vital 3-1 against Bexhill 1.

For a change, the team was not out graded. Indeed, on top board, Anthony had an identical rating to his opponent based on the latest monthly listing and so it proved in practice. Facing the English, he managed to get in a d5 break with everything then getting swapped off. Despite mutual attempts to muddy the waters in the endgame, traps were avoided on both sides with a drawn game being the deserved result.

I didn’t see much of Phil’s game on board 2 but in similar vein to the above, there was never much in it and with things looking good on the lower boards he was happy to take a draw at more or less the same time as Anthony.

On board 4, Ian was the beneficiary of some opening theory against his English being mis-remembered by his opponent and won a pawn in consequence. In attempting to get this back, black compromised his position and active piece play by Ian found a nice tactic which ultimately left him a whole rook ahead. His opponent fought on for several more moves before accepting the inevitable.

I understand Peter had an equally convincing win on board three but confess I saw even less of that than Phil’s game and its passage of play must remain shrouded in mystery for the purpose of this report!