SUSSEX LEAGUE RESULTS x2
Lewes 1 – 2.5 – 1.5 – Bexhill 1
Division 1 Tue 13th Oct 2026 00:00 Winner: Home
Results from Sussex League LMS
| Board | Rating | Lewes 1 | V | Bexhill 1 | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1981 | Masani, Matthew MG | 1 – 0 | B Tebbs, Howard L | 2057 |
| 2 | 1983 | Farr, Peter GG | 0 – 1 | G Lumsden, James | 1915 |
| 3 | 1851 | Welford, Richard RG | ½ – ½ | G Fleming, Andrew SJ | 1897 |
| 4 | 1835 | Von Der Becke, AlexB | 1 – 0 | G Tracey, William F | 1582 |
| Average | 1913 | 2½ – 1½ | 1863 |
Tuesday evening at Lewes saw the club’s league season kick off with what was clearly a tough match. Congratulations to James for a cracking result, when out-rated, on Board 2. Given his recent decisive form in Summer Rapidplay at the club this result isn’t surprising. Andrew maintained his solid form.
There’ no full match report – apologies
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Then Friday at the club saw our in-house rivalry at its height with two well-matched sides in Division 3 :
Bexhill 4 V Bexhill 3
Division 3 Fri 16th Oct 2026 00:00 Winner: Away
| Board | Rating | Bexhill 4 | V | Bexhill 3 | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1582 | Tracey, William FG | ½ – ½ | B Carthew, Jo | 1681 |
| 2 | 1590 | Hayward, MichaelG | 0 – 1 | G Kuzmanoski, Oliver | 1656 |
| 3 | 1902 | Veale, GeoffreyE | 0 – 1 | G Rhodes, Lawrence | 1612 |
| 4 | 1545 | Balp, OliverG | 1 – 0 | N Mfula, Jonathan | 0000 |
| Average | 1655 | 1½ – 2½ | 1238 |
Bill Luxton being unable to play, Bill Tracey stepped in on Board 1 for the 4th team, replacing Lawry who swapped from the 4th team and joined the 3rd team on Board 3.
Bill and Jo gave few chances away in a fairly symmetrical pawn structure and honours were shared. Jonathan had creative ideas against Oli with a nice combination of Bishop and Knight on White’s castled position, but Oli’s heavy pieces seemed to win the late endgame. Jonathan, again played in Rapidplay style, using very little time .Perhaps his skills would translate into results with more considered strategy?
Oliver won in fine style in a complex struggle. Michael had made progress with a solid, advantageous position after a timely pawn lever 9.e4, when exchanges resulted in a broken pawn structure on Black’s K-side, and Oliver’s King unable to castle.
From here , Michael could have consolidated with 17.Rad1. Instead he took the bait of Q-side pawns in this position, with 17.Qxc7?!, which seriously risked trapping his queen. Black chose the tactic of 17….Nd4!? 18.Qxb7, Nxe2 which was with check, so winning a piece for the 2 pawns.
Lawry’s game against Geoffrey was last to finish. Geoff seemed to to draw White pawns forward initially, conceding White much of the centre. A pawn structure emerged which largely shut out Black’s bishop pair on the Q-side. But Lawry ran into trouble against a double-rook battery against his King on the h-file and was fortunate not to have lost more than a pawn ,when Geoff exploited a pin on g4. It’s fair to say both missed multiple opportunities to turn the tables. Black had a mass of pawns on e6-e5-f4, but these hindered transfer of Black’s Q and black-squared bishop to the K-side . White had a N planted on e4, which was not challenged- at one point t could have been pinned by Black’s Q . Black also could have sacrificed a pawn at some points with ..b6-b5!?, to free the black -squared bishop on a7.
In this position , for example , Black could have drawn by perpetual check with 36.Rx h3+! :
White’s use of the fully open g and d-files eventually prevailed. With Black’s King still in the centre, the N went to g5, A combination with a rook on g6 and a back row check on d8 led to a decisive decisive Nxe6 , forking Black’s heavy pieces . The outcome was very much hanging in the balance near the end, as Lawry was left with 1 min. on the clock. Gratitude for 30 sec. increments!!
Geoff had a League run of 6 consecutive won games since joining our club last season and his hypermodern style should make good results again.