Author: Lawrence Rhodes

Match report from our captain Bill Tracey:

Here is the match report for the final match of the season for the 1st team.

Tuesday 30th April saw our 1st team travel to Hastings to take on their 2nd team in the final match of their season.

This was an absolute must win match as even a draw would see us relegated.

The team of Andy, Andrew, Janis and Leo responded magnificently and secured a fine win by 3.5 to .5.

Leo was first to finish. He went into the end game with a slight edge and played very accurately to force a resignation.

Andrew was next to finish and after defending his position with great skill gained a draw.

Janis on board 3 was under a bit of time pressure but remained calm and slowly but surely gained an overwhelming position to win his game and secure victory for the team.

On board 1 Andy found a fine move which put him 2 pawns up and, with checkmate imminent,
his opponent resigned.

This win means that Eastbourne 2 who have two matches to play need to win one to relegate us.
In one they should be big under dogs in the other they do a have a chance. So we will know in the next 3 days what are fate is.

Thanks to all the following club members who have played for the 1st team this season.

Mark, Andy, Andrew, Janis, Leo, Bill L, James, Michael, Steve B, Steve M, Lawry and Bill T.

Match reports from our captain Bill Tracey:

On Friday 26th April, two of our teams played at home in the Sussex leagues.

Our 1st team played Worthing 1 and our 2nd team played Sussex University.

The evening saw two high quality and closely fought matches. Unfortunately for Bexhill we lost both matches by 2.5 to 1.5.

For the 1st team Mark, Andrew and Janis all drew.
Andy on board 2 played a fine game against a very highly rated player and the game looked set for a draw but unfortunately Andy made a very uncharacteristic error and although he fought on really well he eventually had to concede defeat.

Our board order for the 2nd team was Steve B, Bill L, Michael and myself.

Steve and I unfortunately both lost, Michael played very well for a draw and Bill L had a fine game and recorded a well deserved win.

This was the last match match of the season for the 2nd team and I would like to thank all of the following club members for playing for the team:

Janis, Leo, Steve B, Steve M, Alan, T, Bill L, Michael, Bill T, Lawry, James and Ben.

Massive congratulations to Bexhill Junior Samuel Merchant who is now officially an England player!
Samuel was invited up to the England trials in Liverpool last weekend after achieving two half norms (strong performances) in national events this year.
The competition was incredibly tough, with most of the top ten players having ECF ratings of between 1700 – 1950! Samuel managed 3 wins and a draw, finishing on 3.5 from 6, just putting him in the top 10 and resulting in him being selected for the England squad.
Samuel was 6 years old when he told his parents that his long term goal was to play chess for England! It has taken him 5 years and a lot of hard work, but he has finally made it!
Massive thank you to everyone who has helped Samuel on his journey.
Well done, Samuel!

Another great set of results from the latest IOC exams. We had two kids taking level 1 and five children taking level 2. All the kids passed with distinction and four achieved a mark of 100%! Well done everyone!

I am very pleased to let everyone know that the new permanent chess tables have now been installed!
You can find them on Bexhill seafront opposite the Sackville Bistro. Thank you to the council and everyone involved in making this happen. Look forward to many games with a sea view this summer!

Four of our Bexhill juniors headed off to Sevenoaks last weekend to play with the Sussex junior chess under 14 team in the SCCU league.
The four players were Rose, Sam, Harry and Luke.
Luke had a great day and scored 2 out of 2. Harry and Rose both managed a win and a draw.
The team won the match comfortably 15.5 to 8.5.
This means they finish top of the league for this season.

Rhodes, Lawrence (1552) v IM Baker, Chris (2290)

East Grinstead 1 v Bexhill 3 in the Sussex League.

Monday 8th April 2024.

Above is the fantastic game played by Lawry last week for Bexhill 3. It is a beautiful game. Despite his opponent’s mistake allowing him to go a piece up, it was still a formidable challenge against the two passed pawns. But Lawry dealt with it splendidly and finished it off with a beautiful bishop sacrifice to take the win!

Amazing! Well done, Lawry! Beautiful chess!

On Monday 8th April, Bexhill 3 travelled to East Grinstead to play their first team who look to be winning the league comfortably with all four players rated over 2000.

Our team in board order was Lawry, Jo, Oli and Sam.

Sam was first to finish. He gave up a piece for three pawns after the opening and had a good position. But was unable to hold on again his very strong and experienced opponent.

There was a true instance of giant slaying on board 1. Lawry capitalised on an error by his opponent to take home the win against an IM with a rating of 2290! An incredible achievement! Holding his nerve to the very end finishing with a tidy bishop sacrifice to force a resignation.

Jo and Oli on boards 2 and 3 both played good long games with both Bexhill players losing under time pressure in complicated positions.

Thanks to East Grinstead for their hospitality.