On Friday 16th our 1st team travelled to Crowborough for a 1st Division match.
Our team, in board order was Andy, Andrew, Janis and Leo.
Andy on board 1 continued his remarkable season and gained another draw, this time against an opponent who out rated him by 200 points.
Andrew on 2 played an advanced French Wade variation and eventually forced some dubious moves from his opponent to go a piece up in the endgame and claim a fine win.
Janis and Leo both fought well but unfortunately both lost their games.
Congratulations to all the members who played in Crowborough congress last weekend. Bill Luxton had a tough draw with an average opponent rating of 1860, but managed two good wins against 1753 and 1829 to finish on 2/6. Luke Chapman started the day in fine form taking a draw against Mark Rich (2143) and a win against 2075 in round 2. The rest of the day was not quite as dramatic and Luke finished on a respectable 2.5/6. Stephen Blewitt also had a solid day. 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses to finish on 3/6. Andy Nguyen finished in 8th place with an impressive score of 4/6. Mark Rich just missed out on the top spot, finishing in joint 3rd after an early draw, and losing in round 5 to one of the overall winners, Dave Graham. Well done everyone! Congratulations to the overall winners, Callum Brewer and David Graham, and well done to David Fryer and all at Crowborough for organising another enjoyable event.
On Monday 19th our 2nd team had the daunting task of taking on Brighton 2.
I say daunting as Brighton 2 are top of the division and very strong contenders to win promotion. Also, as it turns out, they were able to field their strongest team.
Our team of Leo, Bill L, Michael H and Lawry all battled hard but in the end Brighton emerged worthy winners 4 to 0.
Congratulations to everyone who played in our fourth Grand Prix rapid tournament this evening.
Another wonderful turn out for this event. This sees us at the half way point in the season and with the top five scores counting towards your seasons total score… it’s all about to get very exciting!
The current standings have all been updated and are available here.
A special congratulations to this evenings overall winner: Andy!
A quick reminder to all our members that the early bird discount for the upcoming Crowborough tournament closes on Monday 19th February. The event takes place on Saturday 24th February at the Crowborough community centre. It’s a 6 round Swiss with a time control of 25+5. (Which is the same as a SJC Grand Prix for our junior members.) There are two sections; a Championship (U2250) section, (though open to Sussex players of any rating), and a Challengers section. (U1600). It’s a great day in a wonderful venue. Highly recommended. For more information and to book, see the Crowborough Chess Club website.
Many congratulations to Bexhill junior Noah, who travelled to Kent to play in the East Kent Zonal this weekend. He finished on 4/5 and won the under 10 trophy! Fantastic stuff! Well done Noah!
Last weekend, many of our juniors made the long journey over to Horsham for the fifth grand prix event of the Sussex Junior Chess season. Zac, in the under 11 minor section, started the day off badly with two losses, but came back strong to win three in a row, finishing on 3 from 6 in 11th place. Eszter, in the same section, also finished on three points and on tie break finished 14th. In the under 11 major section, Harry unfortunately had to withdraw after two rounds as he was feeling unwell. In the same section, Noah had a great day, winning 4 from 6 and finishing in 3rd place! Fantastic achievement Noah! In the incredibly tough under 18 major section, Rose finished on 2.5/6. Sam just above on 3/6 including a draw with 1829. Luke had another fantastic tournament getting a draw in the last round against the overall winner and finishing on 4.5/6 and 2nd place! But the day belonged to our Sebastian. Who has been plodding away in the background for many years. Finally, it was his day! He strolled through his first four games winning them all. Round 5 saw him drawn against a strong opponent. A very tight game developed. Before Sebastian made an epic queen sacrifice to go into a winning position and checkmate followed soon after! An incredibly gutsy move under time pressure! Finally, on 5/5 going into the last round needing at least a draw, his opponent fell into an opening trap and Sebastian quickly gave checkmate to finish on 6/6 and winning the Under 18 minor section! Many congratulations Sebastian! A well deserved and hard earned achievement that should serve as a lesson to all the children who find themselves in a plateau and feeling a lack of progression. If you keep going, one day you will also have your day!!
Many congratulations to ALL the Bexhill players. One more GP to go in Worthing in May!
On Friday 2nd February Bexhill played in the Paul Watson trophy at home to Uckfield. Our team in board order was Andy, Andrew, Janis and Sharon.
Andrew was first to finish. In a tight position and with it looking good for Bexhill on all boards, he agreed a draw. Next to finish was Sharon. Playing someone 260 points higher rated, she played a great game and managed to get up an exchange. Her experienced opponent fought back, and despite being up she came under time pressure and lost back the exchange. Eventually she saw out a drawn king and pawn endgame to secure the half point for Bexhill. Next to finish was Janis. His superior play took him into a winning game and Bexhill took the win!
At 2 to 1, it all hinged on board one, as a win for Uckfield and a 2-2 result would see them go through on board count. Andy initially looked strong going two pawns up. But his opponent fought back and went into a rook endgame eventually two pawns to none. With both players low on time, it was incredibly tense with both teams watching with bated breath. Just as it looked as though the Uckfield player was about to break through, the flag fell and he lost on time. A savage loss.
This means the overall score was 3-1 to Bexhill and we progress to the semi-finals!
On Friday 2nd February we played a friendly match V Bexhill 6th Form College. Our team, in board order was Bill L, Michael Hayward, Bill Tracey, Rose, Tony and David Pratt.
I was the first to finish. My opponent unfortunately made a couple of errors early on which let me gain a strong advantage and led to a quick win.
Rose was next to finish. Playing for the senior section of the club for the 1st time she played confidently and accurately and overwhelmed her opponent.
David continued the theme and proved too strong for his opponent.
Tony had a very competitive game and eventually he agreed a draw with his opponent.
Michael, seemed to have his game under control but things took a turn for the worse and a piece down he resigned.
Bill on one had a titanic struggle. He made a bold sacrifice which put his opponent under huge pressure to the extent that her King was on the 7th rank with no squares to move to. She defended very very well but with both players under huge time pressure and no increments, her clock ran out while Bill had 4 seconds left!
The afternoon was very enjoyable and all of us, except Bill , played at least 2 matches.
The final score was Bexhill 4.5 Bexhill College 1.5
