Horsham Chess Club

Always a tricky venue to play at but felt we had good chances with a fine team. I was playing on 5th board and although a pawn up my attacking chances dwindled after a queen exchange and a draw was agreed. Next to finish was Phil on board 1 with another draw, having played through a very sharp position there was little left to work with once the dust settled. Alex meanwhile was down to a rook and 6 pawns each and some very rapid play by Alex who was on 1 minute with 10 second increment for 30-40 moves and could not gain time due to the Bronstein setting being used unknown to him.

Horsham 4 had a very successful trip to Brighton recently..

This Tuesday we welcome two teams in the Mid Sussex League.

Horsham 1 are facing Eastbourne 1 in an important division 1 battle . Meanwhile in division 2 Horsham 3 will be facing Hastings 3 having lost 4-1 at HAstings to Hastings 2!

The 2nd team travelled down to Uckfield last Wednesday and secured a good victory 4½-½.
On top board Anthony faced Chaski Patrick (graded 206) and played 1. Nc3 - an opening referred to as either the Dunst, the Van Geet or Der Linksspringer (“The Knight on the Left”). Chaski played a very solid Caro-Kann set up in reply and Anthony held a space advantage for much of the game. In an exciting climax Anthony held his nerve as both players queened pawns in a King and Pawn ending before agreeing a draw.

Horsham 1 bounced back from their disappointing loss to Hastings 1 to beat a weakened Haywards Heath 1 by a big margin. On the morning of the match, I was rung by the Haywards Heath captain to inform me that Feliks Kwiatkowski was not going to be playing. This meant that their line up was noticably weakened, although we would have been favourites to win in any case.

At the tenth meeting of the season Horsham 4 were playing Uckfield 2 and there were plenty of interesting games going on. I am sure Roger will give a full report shortly but Nick did a good job on top board to win what looked like a drawn Rook and pawn endgame while John overpressed in a superior position and ended up dropping pieces.

Just a note to advise anyone visiting the website that due to the popularity of the junior chess club I have had to open a waiting list recently. If you wish your child's name to be added to the list please make a website enquiry using the Contact Us page. If your son/daughter is a teenager they may wish to attend the adult club directly for which there is no waiting list, please make an enquiry in the same way and I will provide details.

The first Horsham 1 match of the season was the dreaded away trip to Hastings. I left early (shortly after 4:30pm) to make sure I got there on time, but only just about made it, due to some congestion on the A27. The Horsham 1 was pretty strong, despite a number of people being unavailable. Hastings 1 had a familiar look to it, with several regular fixtures dating back to the Ark (or so it sometimes seems), and only one new face (to me at any rate) on bottom board.

There was another busy night of chess at the club last night. Alex Taylor beat Paul Taylor after a lively game while Lucy and Nick had a theoretical struggle in the accelerated dragon where Lucy played the Maroczy Bind. After an exciting game it was finally a draw. Ian was playing White against Anthony in the Knockout and reached a tricky position where Anthony had destroyed his Kingside. He finally managed to escape with a draw and the tussle can continue next week to reach a more decisive outcome!