Why do we play chess?

Not helped by the captain snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, Horsham 2 went down to a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Crowborough 1 earlier this week.

First to finish was Ian whose English opening led to a slightly unusual response from black, with white appearing to be in good shape. A tactical sequence by Ian, however, which initially looked highly promising unfortunately proved the opposite at its conclusion and he had to hoist the white flag (no pun intended).

Parity was quite quickly restored by Rob on board 4, whose QP opening was responded to by a sort of modern defence. Eschewing an early castle (taking lessons from Peter?) he appeared to be under some pressure but the next time I looked across his rooks had invaded the black camp with terminal results for his opponent.

Phil on board 1 employed a sort of Slav but in attempting to take his opponent out of the book, he apparently ended up with an inferior position. He came close to equalising but faced a steady build up of pressure which ultimately proved his undoing. This left the captain needing to bring home the full point to secure a tie...

I faced the c4 version of the Tarrasch which led to an interesting game with both sides looking to attack the king. My opponent got his in first but mine proved the more effective. Despite completely overlooking a bishop 'hiding' on the h file (which in consequence caused me to not even consider alternatives, one of which would have won on the spot) I still emerged comfortably ahead. I subsequently missed a simple opportunity for full liquidation (with a straightforward win thereafter) but no matter as I remained well ahead...until I blundered away my bishop and with it the game. I am currently looking into the attractions of knitting.