Horsham 1 survive trip to Hastings 2

Horsham 1 travelled down to Hastings last night to take on their second team. James Mansson won quickly on board 2 against an unsettled Alfredo Luaces, then Phil Stimpson and Bernard Cafferty bailed out with a draw. Hastings 2 came back into it as Paul Taylor made an oversight that lost a piece against James Wheeler. However, Gavin Lock was always on top against Alan Barton, and it was no surprise when he broke through on the kingside to force mate. It was therefore all down to the last game between Mel Young and Dix Roberts. It looked like Mel had a strong attack on the kingside, but his piece sacrifice turned out to have a flaw in it, as Dix found a neat reply, and was able to consolidate his extra piece. With both players short of time, Dix forced play into a double rook endgame two pawns up and successfully reached the time control. At the time of writing, no result has been agreed, but the result will at worst be a draw for Horsham and most probably a win. Horsham 1 will therefore win the match.

UPDATE: Mel Young conceded the game, confirming Horsham's victory.

The results of the individual games are given in the table below: