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!
Author: Lawrence Rhodes
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Chess tables have arrived!
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!
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Bexhill Juniors help Sussex under 14s to victory
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.
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The giant slaying!
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!
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Merchants in Maidenhead
Congratulations to the Merchant brothers who travelled to Maidenhead this weekend to compete in the Maidenhead Junior chess congress. Samuel, despite being an under 11, decided to play up in the under 18 section with his brother Sebastian. Both boys had a great day. It was a gruelling seven round tournament with very little of a break between rounds. Sebastian lost to the top seed and to the overall winner and lost one other game in a time scramble. Other than that he scored three wins and a draw to finish on a respectable 3.5 points.
Samuel had an incredible day, drawing with the top seed rated just under 1700, but other than that, winning all his games! He scored 6.5 from 7 and won the first place trophy! Including this beautiful perpetual trophy!
Well done boys! -
Giant slaying in East Grinstead
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.
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Grand Prix 5
Thank you and well done to everyone who came and participated in the 5th of this seasons Grand Prix series. It was a lovely evening with some great chess. The full results are now on the Grand Prix page on our website, including the updated current standings for the season.
A reminder that the top 5 scores over the season count towards your Grand Prix total and we have lots of prizes available for all the rating categories. Loyalty medals are also up for grabs for anyone attending 7 or more of our Grand Prix events.
Special congratulations to our overall winners: Mark Rich and James Lumsden who both won 4/4 with an identical tie break.
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Bexhill help Sussex to victory!
Last weekend, five of Bexhill’s juniors travelled to Leatherhead to play for the Sussex under 11 squad in the south zonal qualifier for the national finals.
It was a fantastic day for the whole team lead by our Steve Merchant. Our juniors all made fantastic contributions, Samuel Merchant, Harry Morter and Timmy Nguyen all won 2 out of 3 of their games. Noah Pearson and Zach Carthew won all 3 of their games!
Overall, Sussex scored 45 points and won the tournament! So all the kids came home with a gold medal and will go on to play in the national finals in Northampton in May. Congratulations to all the Sussex team and especially our junior members! A wonderful result!
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Change in Grand Prix dates
Due to some juggling of dates in the Sussex league, we have had to postpone the 6th Grand Prix in our series by a week from April 26th to May 3rd. In order to try and keep the spacing even, we have decided to also push back the last two Grand Prixs by a week as well. So the final 4 grand prixs will be as follows:
GP5 – March 29th, GP6 – May 3rd, GP7 – May 31st, GP8 – June 28th.
Things are getting super juicy as we move into the final half of the season. Current standings can be found on the website. -
A much needed victory for Bexhill 2
On Monday 11th March, Bexhill 2 made their way over to East Grinstead to play their second team in the Sussex league. Our team in board order was Leo, Bill.L, Steve.M and Michael.
Michael was first to finish after winning a piece in the opening and continued on to a comfortable win.
After an epic battle on board 1, Leo and his opponent reached an equal position and they agreed a draw.
To secure a draw for the match, Steve decided to also take a draw in a game in which he had held a slight edge but had been unable to hold it.
Bill Luxton appeared to be in trouble, two pawns down, the match was heading for a draw. But some fantastic attacking chess quickly turned into a winning position and a victory for both Bill and the team.
Final score 3-1 to Bexhill!
This should be enough to keep Bexhill 2 in the second division for another season.