On Monday 13 April, the first day back for the Summer term, students got down to chess business. Mark Rich, our Chess Master gave a Simultaneous Display with 10 students at Bexhill Academy, our local secondary school, who are the holders of the prestigious u-14 Butler Cup.
It followed an earlier collaboration between Bexhill Chess Club and the Academy when 12 Academy students and 12 players from Bexhill Chess Club played a match on 25 February this year, which developed the collaboration by club members Mike Chapman and Lawry Rhodes, running an after school chess club at the Academy now on Mondays and Wednesdays. Andy Nguyen , our Academy student and our junior expert has been an excellent coach for the students at the after-school club. He hopes to lead new rising talent at the Academy to compete to defend the Butler cup, now that Luke Chapman is no longer eligible to play in u-14 competitions.
Photos below from Bexhill Academy’s Facebook page. Also below is the Academy’s article which includes a video which you can see on the same page.
“On Monday 13th April, Bexhill Academy’s chess team welcomed Mark Rich, a national chess master, to do a simultaneous display. Mark played against 10 of our best chess players all at once as a training exercise prior to our finals day in the Butler Cup, the county cup for Chess.
The students did brilliantly against a player of such prestige, with notable performances from Daniel J and Isaac J, who took their respective games deep into the end game.
A huge thank you to Lawrence Rhodes, our chess coach from Bexhill Chess Club, for organising the event. The Butler Cup finals, held at Windlesham House, are set to be played in June.”
An away match, an expected result given the rating odds.
Final stats for the team this season : Team Play Won Draw Lost For Against Points SP MP IM
Bexhill 1 10 3 2 5 16½ 23½ 8 0 0 0
SP = Season Penalties, MP = Match Penalties, IM = Incomplete Matches
Final position in the Division 1 league table is still subject to 4 matches remaining between opposition sides. However it is clear that our first team will retain their place in Division 1 next season.
Friday 3rd April is Good Friday but the club will be open as usual.
The club championship and Gordon Cup are now under way and three close hard fought matches have now been played.
If you have any questions about these two competitions please do not hesitate to contact me or Michael Hayward.
While the league season is still underway l can update on how our teams are doing.
I am pleased to say that our first team have retained their 1st division status and have performed extremely well despite being out rated in 7 of 10 matches.
The second team were always going to find playing in division 1 a huge challenge and so it has proved with the team being out rated in all 10 matches. We managed a win and a draw but have unfortunately been relegated.
The third team have 2 matches remaining and should we win both there is an outside chance that we could be promoted.
However it is more likely that 2 wins will place us third or fourth in division 3.
Our 4th team, also in division 4 have performed outstandingly well. We have been out rated in 8 of the 9 matches played
Despite this we have achieved 3 wins and 2 draws and will be favourites to win our final match would leave us very well placed in mid table.
Our 5th have had a great season and with one match remaining are assured of second place and therefore promotion to the 3rd division. Should we win our final match our record will be 6 wins 2 draws and only one loss.
I would like to thank all our club members who have represented our club so well this season. It is the first time that we have run five teams and to say that it has been a challenge to organise our resources would be a big understatement. Fortunately for us Michael Hayward has done a magnificent job as our chief selector. He has spent many long hours planning how best to organise our teams to make sure that we could have the strongest possible teams available for all 38 matches.”
The whole club thank Bill and Michael Hayward for all their work in developing a great year for our teams.
For general comments on our 2nd team’s overall performance this season, go straight to our Chairman’s message – my next News post. Meanwhile some individual thoughts on the above games :
From observations of only the earlier stages of games , I saw James battling actively, engaging in a bold effort ( no passive deference to his I.M. opponent) to close down White’s Q-side formation with a white square pawn chain a6-b5-c4 hemming in White’s bishop on a2. However, White gained an advantage , with Black having castled Q-side to escape pressure on the e-file, with an ingenious temporary pawn sac , d5! It vacated the d4 square for a N to harass Black’s Q on c6, and meanwhile having virtually forced Black to recapture on d5 with his e6 pawn, James’ Bishop and Queen battery on the long diagonal- aiming at g2 -was blocked. This left the pawn chain hanging at b5 after exchanges and the Q-side looked potentially very windy for James’ King.
Phil looked to be probing and creating K-side pressure on the White side of what looked like a Grand Prix Attack in a Closed Sicilian. An oustanding result against the rating odds.
Oliver fairly quickly reached a materially level Rooks and Minor Pieces endgame , but suffered pressure from a double-rooks battery against an isolani on c6 and looked to be facing a difficult defence.
Bill looked to have even chances, though with some vulnerability to a pawn on b2 from Black’s rook on the half-open file when I looked at the game. Subtle differences against high-rated opponents can be decisive.
Bill looked to hold all the cards after winning a pawn from an early major pieces attack on White’s castled King. Despite the exchange of queens, Bill kept up the pressure, gaining more material.
Geoffrey appeared to have a toughly contested game, but where it appeared he was the one asking the questions. When I left, the position looked as though the Black N+R may have had an edge over White’s B +R after …N x pawn on g2. Geoff must have exploited Black’s Q-side pawns’ long-term vulnerability to his white-squared Bishop ?
Ashton looked to be under pressure on the Q- side after castling there and driving the White bishop away from b5 by advancing a6, b5. His King looked exposed but Ashton was defending well and neutralised threats by contesting the a-file. Ashton is showing promising versatility.
John seemed to have great positional pressure (despite being down a pawn) going into the endgame with a massive pawn advancing to d7. Black seemed to be defending doggedly and John just didn’t seem to be finding a way to force promotion, letting another pawn drop in the process. All recognition is due for John’s drive – the points WILL come.
Once again please see our Chairman Bill Tracey’s remarks about our 4th team in my next News post.
The intensity of competition, at this high level of chess skill, at this late stage of the season, was apparent last night as our 1st team hosted Brighton & Hove 1st team.
The outcome places the latter as clear Division 1 leaders as we go into the final matches to be played through the next few weeks. ( Follow the link on our Sussex League page ) Despite the match score, our team looks to be safe to stay up in Division 1 next year.
The points made in this match are testimony to our whole team’s determination., and extracted maximum value with the White pieces.
At East Grinstead last night, our 3rd team came away with a sound score. Congratulations especially to Bill for levelling the match. It leaves the team well placed in the top half of the Division with two matches still to play.
It was another tough night for our 2nd team, in Division 1 for the first time this year, playing at home against one of the strongest teams in the League. I only had time to see the complicated struggles which were still in the balance as I left near 10.00pm, so the overall result belies the intensity of the games.
James played a Scandinavian defence with …Qd6, which I have seen James play before, inviting White’s Q-side expansion with Nb5, c4, a3, b4 and pressure on the centre with doubled rooks behind the d4 pawn. Meanwhile , in a complex opening with few exchanges to relieve the pressure, Black attempted restraint in the early middlegame with a ‘hedgehog’ formation ..a6,b6. It looked as though James would have problems with lack of space to manoevre.
Michael played a Q’s gambit v Black’s Slav formation. It resolved into a symmetrical structure with open d and c files, with confusing possibilities of tactics based on respective double-rooks batteries and threats of pins, skewers. on both sides Perhaps it was the subtle differences in piece position, which gave Black the edge, e.g. Black’s N better protected on d7, whereas Michael’s N was on c3 and pinned. The position looked to favour Black as I left, with Michael a pawn down.
Steve played a Philidor formation …c6,d6,e5against a double- fianchetto of White’s bishops.. There was an intense positional struggle in the centre against Black’s dark-square strongpoint on e5 supported by d6. White created a powerful pawn chain on the white squares, a2,b3,c4, d5. By threatening a skewer of major pieces by Ba5, White caused Steve to block the threat with the advance ..a5, b5-b4, which left White with two monster passed pawns on c4,d5 after White’s f4 exchanged the e5 pawn. Black’s unopposed pawns on the f and e files did not look as threatening enough to compensate at the point I left.
I saw Bill’s game to its conclusion. Out of a drawish symmetrical pawn structure with one shared open e-file. with all the major pieces and just one N each left. I didn’t observe how Bill came to lose his N but it looked like there were some tactics based on N’s being pinned on e5 and e4 respectively, which could have been exploited successfully by Black.
The result does leave our 2nd team vulnerable, with just one match left to play against East Grinstead 1 on 27 March.
A sound result against the rating odds. Again I was unable to watch all of the games to a conclusion but here’s what I observed until about 10 pm…
Jon lost a pawn early on when an Exchange of White’s B for N on f6 destroyed the one defender of a central pawn. White had a protected passed pawn on c5. Jon played actively with the 2 bishops but White managed the rooks on the open files well to penetrate and pick up more pawns.
Geoff played cannily in an English opening, with a3 and e3. For what seemed a long time he left his King in the centre behind the e3,f2,d2 pawn wedge, leaving his d-pawn unmoved while Black advanced in the centre with …f5,e5-e4 – which wedge was not being used flexibly to break up the shell around the White King. Geoff played on from the flanks into the middlegame where he managed to snaffle Black’s Q for 2 minor pieces and withstood Black’s attempts to counter-attack with both rooks and minor pieces, even while White’s rooks remained on their original squares.
As a welcome new team player, I’m sure Geoff will enjoy much further success with his asymmetric approach. Congratulations, Geoff!
Ashton, a talented , rapidly-progressing junior who has only recently joined the team achieved an impressive draw against a highly experienced opponent. Black tried to throw Ashton out of any possible comfort zone, with a questionable very early 2nd move of a pawn from d6 to d5 – a pawn sacrifice- in an Open Sicilian, followed immediately by a further dubious Queen sortie inviting further loss of tempi as Ashton calmly completed his development. Black created doubled White c-pawns, hoping they would be targets, but Ashton used the open files for his rooks well and eventually advanced from c4-c5 restraining any b5 break by Black. Throughout, Ashton’s pieces kept active, not passively defending against any counter-threats. His king was fully centralised in the endgame, then shepherded the pawn to promote , after it had captured on the b-file, forcing Black to give up his N. Black had to defend with his lone King, plus 4 pawns in a connected island on the King side, against Whites’ 3 connected pawns opposite and a N. Black’s e-pawn was a protected passer on e5, which tied Ashton to covering that pawn making a dash to promote. Ashton could not find a way to push the Black King back through use of the opposition to get at the base of Black’s pawn chain on ..g7. After his attempts to break in were successfully foiled, Ashton eventually offered the draw, which Black, relieved after taking all the pressure throughout the game, instantly accepted.
This was an excellent achievement, Ashton! I think ( though stand to be corrected) the position, though tricky, was won for you, if perhaps you could have aimed at playing g4-g5 earlier, to fracture the pawn chain with the support of your N, with the h-pawn on h4, rather than fixing the pawns with h5? Have a good look at it again . The final position was something like this which for some time had been through various permutations of King and N moves:
Oli’s game, which I didn’t see to a conclusion involved Oli exchanging B for N ( conceding the 2 bishops to saddle White with an isolated d-pawn.) That is always a double-edged strategy, as it seemed to me, White was gaining greater piece activity in the middlegame.
The result leaves our 4th team still looking fairly safe from relegation with 2 games still to play, both at home , Haywards Heath 2 on 27 March and Eastbourne 4 at home on 24 April – both of which on current performance appear to be winnable for our 4th team
It was a remarkable debut – not just for the club but also as a first Standard Play game over the board – from Geoffrey Veale. He played a heavy pieces + B v N middlegame through to endgame, with his K still on e1, activating his R via h1- h4 to the Q-side exploiting a fragility in Black’s castled Q-side to pick up a N, followed by more pawns. It was cool and careful play. Welcome and well done Geoffrey!
Bill continued his solid scoring, using active pressure with a double rooks’ battery on the d-file.
I didn’t get to see much of Jo’s game, clearly the crucial win, on top board with the Black pieces. Congratulations, Jo! ( Game scores always welcome from players afterwards for analysis and publication on the website)
In the final game to finish, Lawry (your editor) spotted an opportunity to pick off a N, for a pawn, to stymie an oncoming K-side attack, at the expense of a broken pawn structure in front of his King. Choosing not to take a 2nd pawn as some compensation, instead his opponent pushed on with the attack with a Q on h6 trying to intimidate, as if the N had been a sacrifice, but the mating options were covered against just a Q & the remaining N. Among a variety of tactical options in a counter-attack, Lawry settled on exchanging pieces and simplified to a won ending, a piece plus eventually 2 pawns up.
Our position in the Division 4 League Table currently speaks for itself :
The deciding match will be on 17 March when we travel to Lewes to play their 2nd team. It may be the 4th Division , but all points are hard-fought on both sides and if we get through it shows that with 5 teams in the Sussex League, we have strength in depth.
With every Horsham player rated over 2000 and our difficulty in raising all of our strongest players for away matches at this stage of the season, this result was not unexpected.
Well done Howard for achieving a draw against clearly one of the League’s best players.
Bexhill 1st team still occupy mid-table placement with 8 points, with 2 matches outstanding.
Horsham share a place ( now 2nd ) among the 4 front -runners Brighton , Lewes and Hastings on 10 points, though Brighton and Hastings have 3 games in hand compared to both Horsham’s. and Lewes’ 2 games still to play.
See the full League Table for Division 1 on the link to Sussex League LMS on our “SUSSEX LEAGUE” page.
