Horsham 1 start New Year with win over Bexhill 2

On Friday, Horsham 1 made the long trip down to Bexhill to take on Bexhill 2 in Division 1 of the Sussex League.

It was tough match that was in the balance for a while, but Horsham 1 finally prevailed.

Gavin Lock was first on the scoresheet, with a win on board one against Mike Hubbard.

This gave a score of Horsham 1 1 - 0 Bexhill 2.

James Mansson had a complicated game on board three against James Lumsden; he avoided a repetition once, as the situation was unclear on the other boards, but finally bailed out with a draw, when Gavin had won and Mark Broom looked like he was going to win.

This gave a score of Horsham 1 1.5 - 0.5 Bexhill 2.

Mark Broom's opponent on board two, Andrew Fleming, chose the most boring line against his Petroff, taking the game into a level endgame. However, Mark managed to outplay him and win.

This gave a score of Horsham 1 2.5 - 0.5 Bexhill 2 and guaranteed match victory for Horsham 1.

In the final game, between Anthony Higgs and Steve Blewitt on board 4, Anthony was in trouble in a bad rook endgame. However, following the conclusion of the other games, his opponent generously offered a draw, which he naturally accepted.

This gave a final score of Horsham 1 3 - 1 Bexhill 2.