Horsham 2 fight hard against Lewes 1

Horsham 2 fancied their chances against a Lewes team who were missing 2 of their top 4 players, but the visitors deservedly triumphed in some interesting games.

Chris was first to finish, being admittedly in unfamiliar territory after Simon Wrigley's 1.Nc3 (a move of which I heartily approve) and agreeing a draw soon after. Much merciless barracking was to be had in the pub afterwards... I didn't see much of Ian's game but apparently a tactic was missed and Barry West snapped up a piece. For the second game running Mike found himself with rook and minor piece vs queen, but this time he was unable to hold and Mark Broom was the proud owner of a pawn on f6 vs a bishop on h8, always nice to have. So 2.5-0.5 down and surely that was that? Not quite so simple...

I had managed to lose a pawn just out of the opening but Martin Costley allowed me to sacrifice a second pawn for activity and although I was still objectively dead lost I at least had some counterplay. Martin missed mate in 5 but played a move that trapped and won my queen - if it wasn't for my rook sacrifice that turned everything on its head and won for White! After this swindle Peter immediately turned down a draw offer from Barry Maufe and bravely played to win with the extra pawn he had snagged early on. Barry's activity was too much however and Peter was unable to activate his pieces before White broke through with a knight sacrifice.

Match results as follows:

M.C. Forster 0-1 M. Broom
A.R.J. Higgs 1-0 M.O. Costley
P. Harbott 0-1 B. Maufe
I.S. Comley 0-1 B. West
C.W. Heath 1/2-1/2 S. Wrigley