Category: Mid Sussex league

Friday 20th October

Our team in board order  was  Michael Hayward, Sam, Seb and Sharon.

Michael faced an opponent rated 180 points higher than himself and for much of the game was under a great deal of pressure. However, despite time pressure Michael continued to find the right defensive moves and eventually turns the tables on his opponent and emerged victorious.

Sam and Seb put up strong resistance but eventually the experience of their opponents proved decisive and each had to resign.

Sharon on 4 played a tremendous game  finding many excellent moves  whilst under massive time pressure. Eventually in what looked like a very drawable position Sharon’s time ran out..

Hastings are now 4 from 4 in the league and already looking as strong favourite for the title, so although this match was lost 3 to 1 the team can feel proud of their efforts.

Friday 17th November

One of the reasons for us entering 4 teams in the Sussex Leagues was to give inexperienced players the chance to play competitive Chess against strong and experienced players.

This match provided exactly that scenario, as we had two members playing for the first time one playing his second game and one his third.

Luke had the challenge of playing board one and gave a very good account of himself against a very tough opponent. Although he lost he can be very proud of his effort.

The same can be said of Jo, Ed and Mike on 2, 3 and 4 who were all playing vastly more experienced opponents. Each played well but in the end the final score was:

Eastbourne 4   4    Bexhill 4    0

We travelled to the University knowing that we had a big challenge on our hands and what followed was one of the best performances by any Bexhill team since we entered the Leagues 4 years ago.

First to finish was Alan on board 3. Taking on an opponent outrating him by 180 points, he played a very solid game which ended in a draw.

I was on board  and, my opponent out rated me by 220 points.

We played a very evenly balanced game and, after 35 moves I offered a draw. He thought for several minutes and, rather reluctantly, he agreed. Analysis showed the final position to be level.

Steve Merchant on board 1  was next to finish.

Steve played exceptionally well to really outplay an opponent rated 167 points higher.

Eventually with Steve very well on top his opponent resigned.

On 4 Jo continued his recent fine form and recorded a fine win.

Sussex University 1     1        Bexhill 3      3

This match was a fine effort by our third team against the 2nd team of one of the leading clubs in the County.

On board 1  Steve Merchant came very close to winning his game against an opponent rated 160 points higher, but eventually he was forced to resign.

On board 2 I played an opponent out rating me by 220 points. Our game was a long tight game and eventually a draw was agreed.

On board 3 Lawry giving away 180 points competed well but the game got away from him and he eventually resigned.

On board 4 our very promising junior Luke  played a fine game and looked to have an edge but his opponent managed to engineer a 3 fold repetition for a draw.

Bexhill 3     1    Brighton  2     3

On Tuesday 31st October we made the long journey to Horsham to take on Collyers 6th Form College.

Janis on board 1 played a fine game against a higher rated opponent to win his game.

On board 2 Bill fought hard and gained a good draw against a promising young player.

On board 3 Michael Hayward did his part with a solid draw.

Unfortunately on board 4 I played one of my worst ever openings and was down a Bishop after 7 moves!  My young opponent went on to play very well and eventually I had to resign.

Collyers 6th Form College 1      2     Bexhill 2      2

This was a tight match against local rivals Eastbourne.

The teams were well matched in terms of ratings and the games reflected this.

On board 1 Janis earned a draw against a vastly experienced opponent.

On board 2 Bill Luxton   just came up short against a very resilliant opponent..

On board 3 Alan attacked hard from the start, but his opponent was able to find the right moves at the right time and eventually Alan had to resign.

On board 4 Lawry played very well to gain his first win for the club.

Final score Eastbourne 3   2.5   Bexhill 2     1.5

Our team in board order was Mark, Anh, Michael and Lawry.

The evening produced 4 really long and hard fought games
On board 4 Lawry fought really well after a challenging opening
which left him a pawn down. He managed to win an exchange but
his opponent had a very strong central pawn mass which eventually proved decisive.

On board 3 Michael and his opponent both were under immense time control
with his opponent at one time down to a mere 2 seconds! However Michael
was also playing on his increment and eventually his time ran out.
This was still a very fine effort from Michael as he was giving away 280 points to his opponent.

Mark on board 1 was playing his first league match of the season and it also was a long and well contested game. Mark eventually wore down his opponent and thus gained our first point of the night.

Anh on board 2 was matched against another very strong junior some 5 years his senior.
Anh fought hard and despite looking as though the end game looked to favour his opponent, Anh stayed cool and calm and secured a well earned draw.

The 1st home match of the season for our 1st team saw Bexhill take on Brighton.

Our team, in board order was Anh, Andrew, Bill Luxton and Michael Hayward.

As is often the case we were heavily out rated for this match against last years
Division 1 champions. This time by over 950 points!
Michael and Bill put up stout resistance but eventually both had to concede defeat.

Andrew on board 2 played a fine game and was never in trouble against an opponent
rated 200 points higher. In the end a draw was agreed.

Anh on 1 was once again pitched against an opponent of the highest standard rated at 2244.
A game of almost three hours and of very high quality ensued.
With the maximum playing time of 3 hours and 10 minutes nearly up the two players agreed a draw.
So once again a great effort by Anh who continues to display match skills way beyond his years.

Our first home fixture of the season saw our 2nd team take on our 3rd team in Division 2.

Our 2nd team , in board order, was Janis, Lawrie, Bill Luxton and Steve Merchant.

Our 3rd team, in board order, was Bill Tracey, Lawrie, Luke and Michael Hayward.

Janis and I were first to finish. Janis got on top after 10 moves and kept the pressure on
until , with checkmate imminent, I resigned.

Michael and Steve played a very impressive short game on board 4, with both players achieving a computer rating of 98% before agreeing a draw.

On board 2 Steve managed to go ahead by a knight to 2 pawns and this proved vital. Lawrie battled hard but eventually had to resign.

On board 3 Luke and Bill had a fine game. Luke was able to gain an edge in a rooks and pawns endgame and, with two strong passed pawns looking unstoppable, Bill resigned.

This was always destined to be a daunting task for us as Haywards Heath have a strong team
lead by a player who has been Sussex champion on more than one occasion.

Our team, in board order, was Anh Nguyen, Andrew Fleming, Steve Merchant and Bill Tracey.
Steve was first to finish, he won a piece in the middle game and then played very solidly until
his opponent had no choice other than to resign. A fine win against an opponent rated 153 points higher.

I was next to finish. My opponent and I both played a solid, if not spectacular game, and agreed a draw in what was a very closed position.I was quite pleased as he out rated me by 165 points.

Andrew was next to finish. He seemed to have the game well under control , a passed pawn up and with the bishop pair, but his opponent found a trick and was going to win material, leaving Andrew with little choice other than to resign.

This left 12 year old Anh on board one, giving away 338 rating points, to try to get the result for Bexhill.
This he quite magnificently did by going into the end game with a small advantage and then proceeding to out play his illustrious opponent until he was 4 pawns to 1 ahead with both players having a rook and and a knight each. There was no way to stop one of Anh’s passed pawns and so his opponent resigned.