Horsham Chess Club

Many of Horsham teams are having a tough time this year but Division 3 is a different story with a very satisfactory look at the moment!

Horsham 5 faced Bexhill 4 away on 24th January. It wasn't until we arrived at Bexhill that my grey cells clicked into action and realised that one of our players had become ineligible for the 5th team since the team selection had been made. This necessitated that we moved up boards 3 and 4, and declared a default against ourselves on board 4. Other team captains, and indeed players, please take care to avoid a similar mistake as the season progresses and more players get caught by the rule about 4 appearances for higher teams.

Last Thursday, Horsham 1 were away against Haywards Heath 1; they managed to record a comfortable victory due to wins on the bottom two boards.

First to end was the top board game between Gavin Lock and Feliks Kwiatkowski. A complicated Rossolimo Sicilian end up as a draw, giving us a good result to build on.

Next was James McGrath's victory over Edward Upsdell on bottom board. James McGrath played the Sicilian against his opponent's 1 e4; his opponent played an unwise piece sacrifice that was easily refuted. The made the score 1.5-0.5 in our favour.

Horsham hosted two matches, Horsham 2 vs East Grinstead 1 and Horsham 6 vs East Grinstead Bookshop. Along with the other internal club competition matches, it was another full night. As usual we were out-graded on every board, particularly so with this very strong East Grinstead team.

First to finish was Phil on board 3. Black had a strong kingside attack after an opposite-side castling Scandinavian but white found all the defensive moves and with the position destined for a drawn rook ending, the players agreed a draw.

Horsham 3 began the year with another tough match, this time against Bexhill 2. Despite putting up a fight on all four boards, we were soundly defeated 1-3. Ian Comley played Black in a very sharp Trompowsky line on the first board, eventually getting an overwhelming position before succumbing to a desperado. Nick Warren had the white pieces against an Alekhine and reached an unusual position where Black's Queen was able to infiltrate his kingside and was eventually overwhelmed.

Horsham 1 started the New Year with a draw against a decent Lewes side.

On board one, Gavin Lock was up as Black against Henry Adams. Gavin managed to resist his opponent's pressure in a sharp Catalan and the game ended up as a draw.

On board two, Mark Broom was White against familiar opponent Peter Farr. Mark gained some early pressure with an enterprising pawn sacrifice, but went wrong in the ensuing complications and ended up losing.

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.