Horsham lose to Crowborough in the Knockout Cup

On November 3rd Horsham were at home to Crowborough in the Knockout Cup. This is a grading handicap tournament over four boards where the match score required depends upon the grades of the respective teams. The Horsham team had a total grade of 7677 with Crowborough at 7345. The grading advantage of 332 meant that Horsham needed 2.5 points to win the match, whereas a 2-2 draw would be enough for Crowborough. As it happens Crowborough did not need the handicap, winning the match 2.5-1.5.
 
On board 1 Mark's game was a sideline of the Petroff defence. The game was roughly equal until his opponent slightly misplaced his pieces and allowed a tactic that won material, after which white's position quickly collapsed. On board 2 James as white had a clear advantage out of the opening but let it slip. It was then dynamically balanced until both players got very short of time. James went wrong but his opponent bailed out by allowing a perpetual check in a difficult to evaluate position which proved to be winning.
On board 3 Rob was black in a Closed Sicilian. He grabbed a risky central pawn which led to his king facing a powerful attack. He sacrificed queen for rook and bishop to safeguard the king, but white's queen was too mobile and black's pieces uncoordinated. On Board 4 Sam was white in a Queen's Gambit Declined which unfortunately ended early after black found a Greek Gift sacrifice.
 
Horsham v Crowborough
Mark Broom 2088 1-0 David Fryer 1933
James Mansson 2088 1/2-1/2 Jon Lawrence 1885
Rob McDonald 1822 0-1 Henry Shaw 1846
Sam Forbes 1679 0-1 Raul Misquita Rodrigues 1681