Three Bexhill teams battled on Friday 11th April in separate knockout semi-final events – itself an achievement!
Against Crowborough, our team of (L-R pictured below) Phil, Mark, James, and Ed out-rated opponents on the top 2 boards, but not significantly on boards 3-4.
Ed suffered an early loss on Board 3 so the pressure was on as the team needed to win by 3-1 to advance. Phil, on Board 4, determinedly pressed consistently in a locked pawn structure, gaining a knight v ‘bad’ bishop ending. Phil went for the q-side pawns and accurately calculated he would win the race to promote. Well done, a truly impressive game Phil!
James, playing with White, was next to finish, after creating a space advantage on the k-side, keeping Black’s pawn majority locked down and knight sidelined on h7.Then , with an extra pawn on the q-side, James snuffed out Black’s counterplay there, took control of the c-file and concluded with a difficult-to-spot long range fork of loose pieces on h7 and c8 from his queen on c2.
Mark, on Board 1, with Black against a very strong opponent, adopted what appeared to be a Stonewall formation – a white-square blockade – against which White’s K-side attack eventually subsided after queen exchanges – in its aftermath White’s rook became sidelined and eventually trapped. It was a complex struggle in the centre and the opposite wing. Mark’s isolated but advanced pawns seemed to defy gravity as, with active pieces they contained White’s central pawn mass, which never seemed to get moving. The finish was decided by Black’s rook entering on the 7th. Classic active defence and counter-attack.
BEXHILL 3 – CROWBORUGH -1
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WATSON TROPHY
In this match we hosted Uckfield. Our team (in board order) of Luke, Andrew, Michael Hubbard (pictured below after the match!) and Oli out-rated the opposition on paper, on the lower boards, but this was not going to be a walk-over.
Oli had a tough battle and unfortunately lost early. Again, the pressure was on.
Luke, with White against an opponent equally strong on paper achieved a sound draw in a double-rooks endgame with a bishop v knight. If anything, Luke seemed to have the edge as he pressed in the middle-game with a better pawn structure and had chances against Black’s centralised king, at least while the queens were still on the board.
Mike, playing with a French Defence opening, against White’s Advance variation, demonstrated a textbook strategy of q- side counterplay . His bishop on b5 was especially powerful as it prevented White’s k-side castling. A decisive breakthrough was made on the a-file. Mike looked deservedly well-pleased afterwards!
Andrew once again proved his endgame technique, using the power of two bishops with a rook to dominate the board. He overpowered his opponent after a long struggle eventually corralling the White king with a mating net in his own fortress supported by a rook from the 8th rank.
BEXHILL 2.5 – UCKFIELD 1.5
So, 2 out of 3 – “ain’t bad”.
(My apologies for missing the chance on this occasion to get a photo of the whole team. I owe you – Editor)
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MCARTHUR CUP
Bexhill hosted Hastings where we were outrated on all 6 boards, significantly on all but Board 1. This was always going to be a big ask. Many of our top players were unable to play as they had already played against Hastings in the previous round for our other team. Hastings fielded their absolute best (maybe a sign of our rising reputation). Here is our team, just before the match – L-R Bill, Steve, Leo, Jo, Lawry) :
Well, the team without Howard (below) who missed the photo-shoot but here seen hurriedly arriving in the nick of time!
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Our team fought hard. Leo, on board 5, outrated by 250 points, finished quite early after what looked like a sound opening main line in the King’s Indian. Leo decided to keep Black’s knight out of f4 with pawn-g3 but fell foul of an opened f-file and his own knight then pinned and double-attacked on f3.
Lawry (outrated by 200 points) got an early win, on board 6 after an irregular opening on White’s part failed to translate to an advantage. Lawry gained from early piece exchanges to a knight v bishop ending, where the opponent’s bishop was more restricted, when his opponent offered a draw. Lawry refused and went on to make a speculative pawn offer. His opponent took the bait and 2 moves later resigned after the knight forked king and bishop.
Bill, on board 3, outrated by 300 points, lost a long positional struggle, with almost all pieces on the board throughout the middle-game. It seemed to me that Bill just had less space to create pressure and perhaps Bill’s style is more suited to an open game?
Steve on board 3 , against a chess ‘legend’ John Sugden, out-rating Steve by 335 points. Steve faced some material deficit then middle-game pressure with a monster advanced pawn which proved too much.
Jo, outrated by 387 points on board 2 fought a long rook and pawns ending, material down. His opponent had connected passers advanced up the board and was wary of the promotion trap Jo was setting him, should the king be mis-placed. Jo made the most of the chances he had but could not escape the accurate technique.
Finally, Howard on Board 1 , outrated by 100 points, drew with White. He faced a long heavy-pieces middlegame, with a target weakness of an isolani on e3 which his opponent pressured constantly with a battery. Howard defended accurately and actively and Black could not capitalise.
BEXHILL 1.5 – HASTINGS 4.5
A big THANK YOU to Michael Hayward in organising the matches and refreshments on this special night and to Bill Tracey co-ordinating from home.
WE HAVE TWO TEAMS IN COUNTY FINALS !!!