Horsham 1

Horsham 1 scored a narrow 3-2 victory away against a strong Worthing 2 team.

Looking at the Worthing 2 line up, a number of the players could (and have) played for the first team, so it was clearly not going to be an easy night.

Matt Forster sensibly bailed out with a draw against Chris Jones when the latter offered it. His position looked rather shaky at the time as subsequent analysis seemed to demonstrate.

Paul Taylor won material against Peter Larwood on bottom board and consolidated to secure Horsham's first win.

Horsham 1 were defeated at home by Worthing 1 last Tuesday.

Horsham 1 fell behind with James Mansson losing quickly after a couple of mistakes as White in a sharp Sicilian Dragon.

Matt Forster also lost as he fell into a bad position as Black against his opponent's Grand Prix Attack and was unable to recover.

Anthony Higgs pulled one back, as he unearthed a brilliant continuation to turn around a bad position.

The top and bottom board games were unfinished on the night, but subsequent analysis showed them both to be drawn.

This gave Worthing a 3-2 win.

Horsham 1's hopes were hit by a disappointing draw away against Brighton 2.

Horsham 1 were a little under strength as both Forsters were unavailable, but still fielded a decent side that could have been the regular first team in past seasons. Brighton 2 had a good side out too, so the match was never going to be easy.

Horsham 1 scored a narrow win against Lewes 1 in the Mid-Sussex League last Tuesday.

Mike Forster was first to finish, with a draw against Martin Costley, who managed to equalise with solid play against Mike's English/Catalan hybrid.

James Mansson emerged clearly worse from a rather unorthodox opening, but was fortunate that his opponent eventually miscalculated, allowing him to win substantial amounts of material; his opponent very soon resigned.

Mark Broom and Gavin Lock ended up drawing after Mark was unable to make anything of his slight edge.

Horsham 1 secured a narrow home win over Eastbourne 1 last Tuesday after some nervous moments.

For the first time this season (and the last, as Morgan Blake will be heading off), Horsham were able to field their strongest side, but several players misfired, leading to a tight contest.

Mike Forster ran into early trouble, giving up material but not gaining sufficient attacking chances. His opponent was able to consolidate and win.

It was not all bad news for the Forsters, however, as Matt secured a comprehensive win with a typically energetic performance.

This Tuesday we welcome two teams in the Mid Sussex League.

Horsham 1 are facing Eastbourne 1 in an important division 1 battle . Meanwhile in division 2 Horsham 3 will be facing Hastings 3 having lost 4-1 at HAstings to Hastings 2!

Horsham 1 bounced back from their disappointing loss to Hastings 1 to beat a weakened Haywards Heath 1 by a big margin. On the morning of the match, I was rung by the Haywards Heath captain to inform me that Feliks Kwiatkowski was not going to be playing. This meant that their line up was noticably weakened, although we would have been favourites to win in any case.

The first Horsham 1 match of the season was the dreaded away trip to Hastings. I left early (shortly after 4:30pm) to make sure I got there on time, but only just about made it, due to some congestion on the A27. The Horsham 1 was pretty strong, despite a number of people being unavailable. Hastings 1 had a familiar look to it, with several regular fixtures dating back to the Ark (or so it sometimes seems), and only one new face (to me at any rate) on bottom board.

27/10/17 - Updated to include club events and Rapidplay competition

A glance at the website revealed I hadn't posted a report for the final match of the season vs Worthing 2 which confirmed Horsham 1 in second place in Div 1. So here is the scorecard and a puzzle...