Horsham 2 start the New Year well!

The 2nd team made the long journey to Hastings last night but it was worthwhile as we secured a 4-1 win against Hastings 3rd team, which moved us to the top of Division 2.
First to win was Anthony on Board 1 – he faced an Albin Counter Gambit in which Black also castled on the queenside. Anthony was able to force open the ‘a’ file and after playing Ra8+ got his opponent in all sorts of problems!
Paul was a pawn up but in a rook and opposite coloured bishop position the game could have been tricky to win. Paul played energetically though and his opponent’s position was somewhat cramped and Paul was able to win the bishop and his opponent resigned shortly after.
Dix was extremely unfortunate - he had held the initiative throughout the game and forced the win of a piece, however he took it the wrong way and left his queen en-prise.
Peter was also a pawn up but had to play carefully to keep his position intact. He won a second pawn and as his majority king side pawns got rolling forward his opponent blundered a piece and resigned.
Phil finished the night off with his fourth straight win for the 2nd team playing his Grand Prix Attack against the Sicilian. His opponent, facing mounting pressure against his king, gave up the exchange but Phil continued to dominate and won further material.
Our next match at home on 23rd January against Hastings 2 will be interesting as they have won all their games so far.
Marc Bryant 0-1 Anthony Higgs (W)
Adrian Cload 1-0 Dix Roberts
Chris Hann 0-1 Phil Stimpson
Gary Willson 0- 1 Paul Taylor
Anna Pontonutti 0-1 Peter Harbott