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!

Well done Bexhill!

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

On Friday 26th February our 2nd team entertained Crowborough 2

in Division 2 of The Sussex League.

Our team, in board order was Leo, Steve B, Bill L and Steve M.

Unfortunately our opponent’s board one thought the match was at Crowborough! So Leo did not get a game

Steve M was first to finish. He took full advantage of his opponents desire to pinch a couple of pawns whilst Steve developed and eventually overwhelmed his young opponent and won in good style.

Bill on 3 fought hard but going into the end game was a Bishop down and this proved decisive.

Steve B on 2  became involved in a long, complex and exciting game. We just needed a half from this game to win the match, which Steve was clearly aware of, but he pushed hard for the win, keeping me on tenterhooks! 

Eventually with a draw looking the most likely result Steve offered the draw and his opponent who was in time trouble agreed.

Final score   Bexhill 2.5   Crowborough 2 1.5

On Thursday 18th January, our fourth team travelled to Haywards Heath to take on their third team.

Our team in Board order was Jo, Sam, Sebastian and Sharon.

Sharon was first to finish. A very steady and even opening progressed to a very tight and even middle game. Sharon was offered a draw, and being low on time, made the decision to secure the half point for the team.

Sebastian on board three was next to finish. Initially he went up an exchange, but some great play in the middle game from his opponent meant he had to give back the exchange and with the weaker pawn structure, eventually went into a losing endgame.

Sam on board two played a great game. He got a pawn up in the opening and played a solid middle game taking his one pawn advantage into the end game and playing some accurate moves in the endgame to give Bexhill the win!

Last to finish was Jo on board 1. It was very tight all the way through. With both players low on time and a very closed end game with no way through in sight, they agreed a draw.

Final score: 2-2.

Many thanks to Jo for driving and thanks to Chris for your hospitality.

This weekend Bexhill chess club hosted the sussex under 11 squad. @sussexjuniorchess A big thank-you to everyone who made it such a wonderful day. There was some excellent chess played. It was especially nice to see an age gap of over 60 years on some boards.

The final score was 8.5/5.5 to Bexhill. Special thanks to Mark Rich for performing some excellent analysis.

Sussex juniors would like to thank @thesourcepark for hosting their team-building event afterwards. It was well organised and all the kids had a wonderful time.

bexhillchessclub #thesourcepark #sussexchess #teambuilding

Many of our members have been participating in the Hastings International congress over at Horntye over the last few weeks.

As reported earlier this week, the Christmas under 1950 tournament was won by Bexhill’s’ Andy Nguyen with 5/6. Also playing in this section was Leo Woning and Michael Hayward, Leo playing well and finishing on 3/6 and Michal finishing just behind on 2/6. In the Christmas under 1650, Lawrie Rhodes finished joint seventh with 3 and a half out of 6. Bill Tracey was just behind on 3/6. In the new year AM under 2000, Michael Hayward faced some stiff competition but managed 3 draws to finish on 1.5/5. In the new year AM under 1800, Bill Luxton scored 2/5 with a win and two draws. In the new year PM under 1900, Leo finished joint fifth with 3/5, Steve Blewitt just behind in joint eighth with 2.5/5. In the new year PM under 1700, Lawrie fantastically came joint top with 4/5. Bill Tracey got 2.5/5 coming joint 12th. 

Finally, the congress concluded with the weekend tournaments. In the weekend open, Andy scored 2.5/5. In the weekend Intermediate, Bill Luxton came joint fifth with 3.5/5. Steve Merchant scored 2.5/5 and Bill Tracey, with some very unlucky draws, finished on 1/5. In the weekend Minor section,  Luke Chapman came joint second with 4/5, Samuel Merchant scored 2.5/5 and Sebastian merchant scored 2/5.

Well done to all the Bexhill players.

Our Bexhill juniors were kicking off 2024 in style with some amazing chess at the SJC 4th Grand Prix of the season in Hastings, running alongside the International congress on January 1st.
In the under 11 minor section, Eszter scored 3/6 and took home the top girl trophy! Zac, playing in his very first sussex event finished on 3.5 from 6! Amazing! But dominating the section, with a super 5/6 was our very own Noah! Well done Noah!!
Harry and Timmy were playing in the under 11 major section and both had solid days finishing with 3.5 and 3 respectively.
Sebastian Merchant took 4/6 in the under 18 minor section and won third place!
Finally, in the under 18 major section were Rose, Sam and Luke. Rose scored 1.5, every point a hard fought for celebration in this incredibly tough section. Sam managed 2.5 from 6. But the superstar of the day was our very own Luke, with 4 wins and 2 draws, finished the day unbeaten on 5/6 and won the section!! An incredible achievement that included a win against the Sussex superstar Henry Adams (ECF 1941A)!!
Well deserved Luke! We are all so happy for you and so very proud!
An incredible day for our wonderful group of juniors! Hopefully a sign of things to come this year for our group of chess stars!

Many congratulations to Bexhill superstar Andy Nguyen who won the U1950 section of the Xmas tournament at the Hastings International Chess Congress! Well done, Andy!

Congratulations to all the Bexhill members who competed in London over the holidays. The LJCC is regarded as the toughest event in the junior chess calendar. You must qualify to play with a strong performance at a qualifying tournament and only the best of the best make the finals. It all kicked off the week before Xmas with the under 10s and the under 14s. Noah made his first National outing competing in the Under 10 minor section. He finished on a fantastic 3.5 from 7. Amazing Noah! Luke competed in the incredibly tough under 14 major section. He finished on 2.5 from 6. Just missing out on his England half norm by one point.
The fun continued between Xmas and new year. Steve Merchant played his first outing in the major section of the Christmas congress. He started badly, but came back strong and finished on 2.5 from 6. Sebastian and Sharon both played in the under 1600 minor section of the same tournament. Sebastian finished joint 6th with 3.5 from 6, and Sharon finished on 2 from 6.
Rose and Harry both played in the Under 12 minor section and Samuel played in the Under 12 major section. Both were gruelling 9 classical games over three days. Harry, in his first standard play tournament achieved a wonderful score of 5/9. Rose scored 6.5/9 and just missed out on a top 3 trophy coming 4th. But she did bring home the ‘Top girl’ trophy! Well done Rose!

Finally Samuel, had an epic battle and scored 5/9 in the majors earning him his second half norm of the season qualifying to go to the England Junior trials in April. Well done Sam!
Super proud of all our Bexhill juniors representing your club honourably and making us all incredibly proud!
Special thanks to all the parents who give up their weekend and holidays to support their kids. You are all the best!

Last night also saw our main social event of the year… the Christmas party! This included some puzzle challenges, our award ceremony for the years events and a fun Christmas quiz, as well as some very tasty food! Thank you to our chairman Bill Tracey for organising. Special thanks also to his sister for preparing the quiz.

The awards presented were as follows:

Rapid challengers winner: Luke Chapman.
Time Handicap winner: Mark Rich.
Rapid championship winner: Janis Petersons.
Bexhill Blitz winner: Mark Rich.
Gordon Cup winner: Sharon Merchant.
Club championship winner: Mark Rich.
League player of the year: Jointly awarded to Andrew Fleming and Bill Luxton.
Award for Outstanding contribution to the club: John Kimber.

A special mention for our Gordon cup winner: Sharon Merchant, who according to our records, is the first female winner of a Bexhill Chess Club trophy in the 127 year history of the club.