Horsham Chess Club

The Horsham Knockout team have reached the knockout final for the second year in succession after a 2.5-2 win over Crowborough in the semi-final. The match was a tight affair with the teams fairly close on grading, Horsham conceding only a half point handicap with 2.5 points required for the win.

Horsham 1 finished 2023 with a big win over Bexhill 1. Only Anh Nguyen was able to hold a draw, against Gavin Lock on board one. The other games were in Horsham's favour: Mark Broom beat Janis Petersons, Mike Forster beat Steve Merchant, and James Mansson beat William Tracey. The final score was therefore a 3.5-0.5 win for Horsham 1.

Horsham 1 continued their good run with an away win against Crowborough 1.

The adult club restarts on Tuesday 2nd January and the junior club a week later on Tuesday 9th January. Happy new year to all!

In the Sussex League, Horsham 1 continued their good start with another big win.

Eastbourne 2 arrived with a team filled with players who had previously graced their first team. However, the 200 point average grading difference proved too much as Horsham 1 defeated them by the margin of 3.5-0.5. Gavin Lock defeated Adrian Pickersgill, Mark Broom defeated James O'Dell, and James Mansson defeated Laurence Butt, while Paul Carpenter was the only Eastbourne player to salvage something by drawing with Anrthony Higgs.

At the recent Hampshire Congress (3rd-5th November) several Horsham players were successful and some even came away with the spoils...

Horsham 1 started the season with a 3-1 win over Horsham 2. Mark Broom beat Phil Stimpson and Mike Forster beat Ian Comley, while Gavin Lock drew with Anthony Higgs and James Mansson drew with Rob McDonald. The last game was an eventful encounter, where both sides had chances to gain a signficant advantage.

Yesterday's game against Brighton & Hove 2 saw another win for Horsham 3, bringing the team's total score to 5.5 out of 8 games. The match started off strong with another Barry Attack played by Jordy Savill. After sacrificing a bishop on h7, he achieved a resignation from Chris Lake (1788), who was forced to sacrifice his queen to avoid mate.

Domestic circumstances have recently prevented me from enjoying the competitive camaraderie of the club but in modest compensation that has meant no 'over the board' losses for some months now! It has also enabled me to enter the latest 4NCL online tournament which always seems to be played on Tuesday evenings and hence off limits in normal times.

Mike has advised that the lure of trick or treat was too high and there will be no junior club tomorrow! Back as normal next week (Nov 7th).