Horsham Chess Club

Just a quick reminder that although the adult club returns tomorrow, junior chess restarts the week after (10th Jan) due to my holidays! See you then.

Tonight is the last chess of 2016 (as we are not meeting on 27/12) but before you rush off for yule log we have an evening of quickplay to look forward to.

Enjoy the festive season and if you are partying already we look forward to seeing you again in 2016 when we return on 3 Jan for the Knockout/Plate.

Merry Christmas!

Horsham 5 came up against East Grinstead 1 last night. We were out-graded by an average of 17 points across boards 1 - 4, whilst their 5th board player was on his first MSCL outing after a long absence from competitive chess. He was last graded 167 in 2000. It could be argued he should have been higher up the playing order, but I recognise East Grinstead would have had little evidence on which to judge his current strength and will no doubt take account of his first few results.

The 2nd team entertained a strong Worthing line-up who out-graded us on the top boards. We were again strengthened by Dix playing on Board 1 and yet again he secured a draw against a higher graded opponent, this time with the black pieces.

Unfortunately, Horsham 5 only fielded 3 players against Hastings & St Leonards 4 on Tuesday. We were caught out by an ineligibility that had been overlooked - not something that was expected to catch us out this early in the season, but between agreeing to play and the actual event Roger notched up a 4th match for higher teams. The other default was an unexplained no-show. I succumbed quite quickly on board 1, putting the match beyond contention, but Richard Barrowclough and Peter Helliwell both drew, ensuring at least some honour for the team.

A tough Friday night for the 2nd team who travelled down to Eastbourne - four of the five games went the full session but it was worthwhile as we gained a 3-2 win, thanks in part to a little bit of good fortune.
The team was strengthened by the appearance of Dix on Board 1 and he played strongly against Rasa and held a slight advantage throughout the game but did not have quite enough to convert the endgame into a win. Paul had been the first to finish accepting his opponent’s offer of a draw in a level position that resulted from the exchange variation of the French.

Four Crowborough juniors travelled to Horsham to kickstart our campaign in the MSL's new rapidplay league and an exciting match ensued...

A sparkling combination... lasting 60 years!

A pleasant evening at The Args ended with victory for Horsham, but by a narrower margin than the score suggests...

The 2nd team had a disappointing Division 1 match away at Haywards Heath, eventually losing 4-1. Despite being heavily out-graded on the top two boards both Phil & Peter had very close matches - their opponents only gaining advantages towards the very end of the playing session.