The following is a match report from our chairman, Bill Tracey:
The annual friendly match between Bexhill and Hastings took place today 01/10/2022 at the famous Hastings club.
Bexhill has been very successful in recent years in this annual fixture and, quite rightfully Hastings had informed us that they were going to field a stronger team on this occasion. This they did, and, due to some late withdrawals, they were forced to field some very strong players on the lower boards which presented us with a mammoth task.
The final score was 8.5 to 4.5 in Hastings favour. However this score line does not tell the full story.
On the top 6 boards we matched Hastings 3 all which is very encouraging with the Mid Sussex league matches coming up. It was no surprise that our lower order found the going tough when the ratings showed that their board 13 out rated our board 7!
The individual performances were as follows:
Board 1 Andrew fought long and hard against a formidable opponent and it seemed as though a win was possible, but his opponent found several very strong moves and managed to gain the win.
Board 2 Janis played a very experienced and highly rated opponent [2058] and produced some excellent chess and his opponent was forced to resign.
Board 3 Leo had a long tough match and at one point seemed to have a very potent attack going but his opponent defended very well and eventually came out on top.
Board 4 Derek ended up in a very even end game but one poor movemeant that he had to resign.
Board 5 Phil was playing only his second game for the club and what a game he played. He gradually got the upper hand and his 1928 rated opponent was forced to resign.
Board 6 Bill Luxton was playing his first match for the club and recorded an excellent victory against another highly rated opponent [1931] he was on the verge of promoting a pawn and a resignation was conceded.
Board 7 My opponent was also highly rated at 1910 and we had a really close game. I was considering one of 2 moves when I chose the wrong one and mate in 2 resulted. Chatting afterwards he said he would have offered a draw if I had chosen the other move!
Board 8 Alan played confidently from the start and earned a good draw against the Hastings captain.
Board 9 David fought to the end, but had to finally concede to a promising young player.
Board 10 As a result of the late changes to the Hastings team Tony found himself playing someone rated about 300 points higher and this proved to big a hill to climb..
Board 11 Nick played the captain of Hastings 2nd team and a close match developed but his opponent gradually got the upper hand for another Hastings win.
Board 12 Mike Lambert was playing a very seasoned campaigner and after a close fought game earnt an excellent win.
Board 13 Alfie ended up playing someone as earlier mentioned higher rated than our board 7! Despite losing he acquitted himself really well to the point that his opponent could hardly believe that Alfie had only been playing for about 6 months.
Many thanks to all our team who continue to make my job an easy one by volunteering to play and turning up without fail.
Also many thanks to Steve Blewitt for organising the Hasting’s team and to the Hastings club for their hospitality.
Bill Tracey