Horsham Chess Club

Not helped by the captain blundering into a smothered mate when enjoying a reasonably solid plus, Horsham 2 went down heavily on its trek to Eastbourne 1.

On board 1, Phil faced the Sicilian with both sides castling queenside and appeared to have more space and a bit of an initiative. I didn’t see the denouement but apparently an infiltrating knight then put paid to his chances.

Peter’s Petroff on board 2 proved resilient and peace was declared without too much alarm on either side.

Horsham 2 were consistently out graded against Lewes but it turned out to be a nail biting match.

I was on board 3 and in a terrible position early on having played incautiously but my opponent slipped up and I was suddenly three pawns up and a nice position and quickly won. 

I wasn't able to closely follow all the other games but Rob succumbed on board 4 being a whole rook down. Peter Harbott on board two was playing a close game but looked under constant pressure until he too lost.

So 2-1 down with just board 1 to finish...

Horsham 1 and 2 started their Mid-Sussex League season by playing each other, as both teams are in Division 1. As expected, the match was a tight affair, especially as this year league matches are still over only four boards. Horsham 1 managed to secure a narrow win, but not after an almighty scare.

The first game to end was Mike Forster against Peter Harbott. Mike was unable to generate any advantage out of the opening, and offered a draw in a position where he couldn't see how to make progress. Peter was happy to accept.

Horsham 1 vs Horsham 2 match score: 0.5 - 0.5

Congratulations to Nayan who scored the most points by a junior member in the adult competitions last season and therefore became the winner of the Peter Alford Cup!

Sussex Chess News can now be viewed on the website under the 'members only' menu. Thanks to Mick Plumb once again for curating...

As nobody had any comments to make on the draft AGM minutes I am taking them as approved! They can now be viewed on the website in the 'members only' menu...

Following on from discussions at the AGM, the structure of the Bishop/Knight Swiss is below:
- Generally every 2nd Tuesday of the month
- 65 minutes + 30 seconds increment
- All games graded, so make sure you have your ECF bronze membership or higher sorted
- Pairings will come out the Friday before
- If you cannot make a 2nd Tuesday, and you still want a game, then please email to let me know so I can pair you with someone else in that situation.
- If you are busy that month please email to let me know.

For those not on the adult club's email distribution group the club AGM will be held this Tuesday 30th August in the church lounge at 7:30pm. The playing season and junior club will restart the following week (6th September) as the schools go back.

The last couple of weeks have resolved the recipients of more club silverware...

Those who were at the club's final session of the season on Tuesday will have heard the sad news that Dick Newman passed away on 29th June aged 102...