Horsham Chess Club

Horsham 5 travelled to Haywards Heath last Thursday to take on their 3rd team. Peter Rankin opened the scoring with a win on board one. Playing the white pieces, Peter reports:

Horsham 3 began the season with a loss against Eastbourne 2 and draws against Sussex University and Brighton & Hove 2 - a solid start against respectable opposition.

We were lucky to survive with a draw against Sussex University, even after they defaulted on the fourth board. Robert Lanzer defended the black side of a French Tarrasch on Board 1 against Hooman Honarvarmahalati, who was able to put substantial pressure on the queenside. However, after play turned to the kingside, White was able to produce a mating combination that forced resignation.

Last Monday, Horsham 1 travelled down to Brighton to take on Brighton 1 at their new venue in the Queens Hotel.

The first game to finish was Mikes Forster against Geoff James (Board 3). Mike had the White pieces, but his English Opening was met by solid defence by Geoff, and he offered a draw in a position where he seemed to lack a promising plan. His opponent was happy to accept.

This was a relatively brief game, but the other three game lasted somewhat longer.

In our season opening intra-club match we failed to embarrass the 4th team, although in a battle of the captains I was able to reverse the defeat I'd suffered at Jordy's hands in the Swiss a couple of weeks before. Being black on both occasions, I came a little better prepared for his d4 London System opening. This limited our defeat to 1 - 3.

A couple of weeks ago, Horsham 1 were up against a strong Worthing 1 team at home. Worthing 1 had their strongest side out, while Horsham 1 were a couple of players short.

Worthing managed to win on the top two boards, so a win and draw on the lower boards were not enough for Horsham.

Gavin Lock seemed to be doing well against Russell Granat with Black, but his position then went downhill and he lost.

Mark Broom was struggling from early on against David Graham, losing a pawn and seeing his structure compromised. He fought on manfully but was unable to avoid defeat.

Following their shock draw against Horsham 2, Horsham 1 got back on track last Tuesday with a comfortable win against Crowborough.

The first game to finish was James Mansson against Gary McCulloch on board four. To quote from James's chess blog:

The Sussex League kicked off last night with the traditional Horsham 2 vs Horsham 1 (Horsham 2 again the home team this year, the only practical difference being who buys the biscuits!). It was a busy night at the club with Horsham 5 vs Horsham 4 in their Division 3 match and some internal fixtures as well.

Division 1 is a tough place for any second team. Almost always outgraded (by 150 points per board in this match) but also starting the season against last year's champions.

Horsham's Julie Denning is currently in Budapest where she is playing in the Guernsey Womens Olympiad team...

Thanks to all who attended our AGM last week, the minutes will be available on the website (for members only) shortly. The photo shows our trophy winners this year, congratulations all!

The juniors will return next Tuesday 10th September for the new season, usual times 6:25pm-7:25pm at the church lounge. Can parents please remember to pay your annual subs either by cash or bank transfer in the first few weeks of the season, costs are £20 per child or £10 for a second sibling. Many thanks.