On Saturday 1st April we met for the first time at our new home, St Marks in Little Common.
The turnout was fantastic with a total of 27 people attending. This included four people making their first appearance at the club..
What was also so good to see was that we had an age range from 10 to 81 and also a wide range of playing strengths from novice to National Master.
The consensus of those present was that St. Marks provides a wonderful base for our club not just for the present but for the future as the club continues to grow.
Positive comments were made about having a large car park, that the main playing area was very light and spacious, that the 2nd room was an ideal base for league and competition matches and that the accommodation was light, airy and warm.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 4th April at 1pm, and we look forward to having another well attended session.
Congratulations to Bexhill Junior Rose Burgess who played for the Sussex girls team this weekend at the national finals in Oxford and helped them to achieve 3rd place! Well done girls!!
On Friday 24th march Bexhill hosted East Grinstead Bookshop 1 in a Division 2 league match. This was a match that we needed to win to stay in the Division, it was also a match that on paper we were favourites to win.
However the match did not go well for us.
On board 1 Leo faced a player playing his first ever league match, who turned out to be a very strong player and produced a very fine performance to beat Leo in 25 moves! Had Leo faced any other player that had previously played for our visitors he would have been considered a firm favourite.
On board 3 Steve Blewitt faced an opponent that it is probably fair to say that he would beat maybe 9 out of 10 times, but, unfortunately, Steve made a very uncharacteristic early error that cost a piece, and, despite battling hard, eventually he was forced to resign.
On 4 Michael played very well and had established a very strong position and was also 2 pawns up, however he got a sequence wrong which cost him the game.
John Kimber was playing on board 2 and was against a very useful young player. John played a fine game and eventually his opponent was forced to resign.
So the final score was Bexhill 1 Bookshop 3.
This means that we are now relying on other results to avoid relegation.
Finally, after the match, which was our final League match of the season, John announced that he was retiring from playing League matches (unless we were ever to be a player short for a match with no one else to play). John played in our first ever League match in October of 2019, winning on board 2 against Uckfield so it was good to see him end his career with another win on board 2.
John has been an invaluable member of our teams in so many ways. Win or lose his Chess is always great to watch as he plays in such a bold attacking manner. He has on a number of occasions taken on the role of Captain and travel organiser. His good humour and Chess knowledge will be sorely missed on the long journeys around the County.
So on behalf of the Club I would like to thank John for all that he has done to support our League teams over the last four years.
We are very pleased to announce that Bexhill chess club has a new home! Despite many wonderful years at Centenary house, our growing membership means we have found ourselves needing to seek a bigger space. We have found ourselves a new home at St Marks church community Centre. Our Tuesday and Saturday meetings will remain at the same times, but will be moving to St. Marks, starting on Saturday 1st April. Meetings will continue as normal at Centenary house until then. Look forward to seeing you all then.
On Monday 16th march our first team travelled to Worthing to take on their 1st team.
This was always going to be a very tough challenge as Worthing have a large number of very strong players to choose from.
Our team, in board order was Andrew, Janis, Steve B and Michael H.
The scale of the challenge was clear when the relative ratings were compared and Worthing out ranked Bexhill by just over 1000 points. They even had a player on board 4 that has been Sussex champion 6 times!
Michael played very well against his illustrious opponent but in the end had to concede defeat.
Steve on 3 fought very well against a fast rising young player and earned an excellent draw.
Janis on 2 facing an opponent out rating him by 370 points played an outstanding game and had his opponent in a great deal of trouble. Eventually a draw was agreed.
Andrew on 1 lost a pawn early on but fought long and hard against an outstanding player, but eventually ran out of time.
Final score Worthing 3 Bexhill 1.
We now have one match left V Hastings 1. Depending on results we may need to win this match to remain in Division 1.
Congratulations to our six (yes six!!) Bexhill players who made up a quarter of the Sussex under 11 team that competed in London this weekend at the EPSCA south zone event. Fantastic display of good chess and good sportsmanship. Sussex finished 5th and qualified for the finals in Nottingham next month! Well done everyone!
Congratulations to Bexhill Junior Samuel Merchant who was awarded his trophy at chess club this week by Joe Sharp for winning the challengers section of the in house club rapid competition. Well done Sam!
On Friday 10th March Bexhill 1 hosted Crowborough 1 in a match vital to our chances of remaining in Division 1. The team of Andrew, Janis , Andy and Michael Hayward responded superbly and emerged as winners by 2.5 to 1.5.
Janis on board 2 was first to finish when he and his opponent agreed to a draw.
Andy on 3, made a brilliant Bishop sacrifice to break open his opponents King side and although she battled on with great resolve, Andy pushed his advantage until he forced a resignation.
Michael on 4 continued his fine form for the club and played a very solid game to achieve a draw.
Andrew on 1 was involved in a 3 hour plus game and seemed to have a winning position but his opponent fought hard and found a perpetual check.
This win means that Hastings 2 are relegated and the other relegation spot is now between ourselves and Horsham 2. We are 3 points ahead of Horsham with a vastly better game points difference but they do have a game in hand. They next play on Tuesday 21st March and if they lose, we will not be relegated.
It is worth pointing out that although we are currently 9th of 11 teams in the league our game points difference is only minus 1 compared to the two teams below us on minus 9 and minus 15. This shows how competitive the team has been over the course of the season.
On Friday 3rd March, Bexhill 2 hosted Haywards Heath 1 in Division 2 of The Mid Sussex league.
This was always going to be a big challenge as their number 1 player is currently the highest ranked player in all 3 Mid Sussex Leagues.
As it turned out we were out rated by just over a 1000 points across the top 3 boards!
John on board 2 was first to finish. He played a very exciting attacking game and presented his opponent with many challenges but in the end John had to concede defeat when faced with an impossible end game.
Steve Merchant played exceptionally well on board 3 and managed to go into the end game completely level. As so often in a pawn endgame one wrong move can be crucial and unfortunately Steve made the one error that decided the outcome.
On board 3, Michael Hayward making just his second appearance for the club played a splendid game and had his opponent on the backfoot from very early on. He maintained the pressure and eventually forced a resignation.
Leo had the ultimate challenge on board one, and to his credit made his illustrious opponent work very hard for his victory. By the end his opponent had only 4 minutes left on his clock, but Leo was in an impossible position and had to resign.
The final score of 3 to 1 does not reflect how how well the team played against such a strong team.
