Horsham 1

Alex, Julie and Anthony represented Horsham at the Sussex League AGM last night and received the Mowatt Cup for league Division 1 winners Horsham 1. Team captain James is pictured with the cup after it was delivered to him in the pub the same evening!

Last Tuesday, Horsham 1 scored a memorable victory in an exciting match against a strong Brighton 1 team.

Since my last report, on the excellent away win against Worthing 1, Horsham 1 had accumulated enough points, given the results in other matches, that they needed a win by any margin to definitely take the league title.

Horsham 1 scored a fine away win over Worthing 1 last night.

First to finish was Mark Broom, who was up against Russell Granat with Black on board two. His position look passive to start with, but he managed to launch a counter-attack to exploit his opponent's over-extension, winning material and forcing resignation.

The score was now 1-0 in Horsham 1's favour.

Horsham 1's progress in Sussex League Division 1 was halted by Eastbourne 1, as they crashed to a narrow away defeat.

The match looked to be going well for Horsham 1 as Gavin Lock secured a good win against the dangerous Maks Rozman on top board. However, progress was not so serene on the other boards.

Anthony Higgs ran into difficulties against Laurence Butt on board 4. He came under pressure from his opponent's Stonewall Attack and blundered, resulting in a loss.

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

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.

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.

Horsham 1 suffered a narrow 1.5-2.5 defeat away to Brighton 1 on the Monday of last week. Travelling to Brighton's new (temporary) venue, Horsham 1 looked well placed as they secured two draws on the top two boards, as Gavin Lock drew with Luke Rutherford and Mark Broom drew with Calum Salmons. However, disaster struck, when James Mansson's strong position against Geoff James fell apart in time trouble, and he ended up losing on time in what seemed in any case to have been a lost position.

Horsham 1 faced a new opponent in the form of freshly-promoted Bexhill 1. Travelling to their opponents' venue above a furnature shop in fair Bexhill (complete, at one point, with howling dogs in the distance), Horsham were up against a team they ought to beat comfortably, but things didn't go quite to plan.

Andrew Fleming and Mike Forster played out what looked like a pretty solid draw, as Andrew played an unambitious line as White against Mike's Sicilian.

Horsham 1 vs Bexhill 1 match score: 0.5 - 0.5

Horsham 1 suffered a narrow defeat at home last night against a strong Worthing 1 side. All the Horsham players has their chances but only one was able to fully take advantage, while a couple crashed to defeat.

Anthony Higgs sacrificed a pawn in the opening and build up decent pressure for a pawn. However, an oversight in a complicated position led to him having to give up his queen for a rook and minor piece, which proved inadequare compensation.

Horsham 1 vs Worthing 1 match score: 0 - 1