Horsham 1 held away against Brighton 2

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.

Calum Salmons held Gavin Lock to a draw on top board. James Mansson beat Anna Charpidou as Black in an odd game that started with 1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 f5, leading to a sort of Austrian Attack against the Modern Defence with colours reversed; it turned out that Black's kingside attack was much more important that White's play on the queenside. However, Anthony Higgs lost to Joe Everett after a blunder, leaving the match in the balance.

The two remaining games were not agreed on the night but after further analysis by both sides. Paul Taylor was a pawn up against Chris Lake, but the reduced number of pawns and opposite-coloured bishops made the position a certain draw. Dix Roberts had rook and bishop against queen, and also the two bishops, which seemed to be roughly equal (or unclear), so a draw was seen by both sides as a fair result.

This left the match a draw. The full score of the match is given below:

Note that Horsham 1, as the away team, were White on odd-numbered boards.