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!
Match report from our captain Bill Tracey:
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.
Match report from our captain Bill Tracey:
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.
On Friday 28th February Bexhill 3 travelled to Horsham to take on their 4th team in Division 3 of the Mid Sussex League.
We were hoping to maintain our 100% record in the Division, and, I am pleased to say, we did with a resounding 4 to 0 win.
Steve Merchant, was first to finish on board 3, when he comprehensively out played his opponent in the endgame.
Bill Luxton on board 1 continued his outstanding season for the 3rd team by checkmating his opponent for his 6th win from 7 games
Derek Cosens on board 4 found an excellent tactic that won a Bishop, and he maintained his lead into the endgame and forced a resignation from his opponent.
On board 2 I, like Derek, found a tactic to win a Bishop and also maintained this advantage into the endgame and eventually my opponent resigned.
We now have 2 league matches and one more win will secure the top spot.