Hastings beat holders Lewes in the first round of the Paul Watson Trophy!!!
Christmas is a time of miracles and that’s certainly what occurred on Thursday evening.
Hastings having never progressed past the 1st round of the Paul Watson Trophy and matched up against Lewes who are the holders and have reached the final in the past three consecutive years, the result was never in doubt.
However, someone on the Lewes team must have been on the naughty list as Santa granted a miracle to Hastings.
Mason fell quickly to a quick Christmas novelty, leaving the three Musketeers of John Sugden, Henry Cove & Daniel Evans-White the hard work of bringing home the victory. Whilst looking on with a hot mince pie & cream, Mason witnessed three Christmas crackers unwrapping Lewes to secure our first ever victory in this competition.
Hastings now have a short journey to Bexhill in the New Year to contest the Quarter Finals.
Hastings & St Leonards 2.5-1.5 Lewes Paul Watson Trophy 2025/26
Hastings drawn against holders Lewes in the first round of the Paul Watson Trophy 2025/26
Hastings will be underdogs for the match and with our past record of never progressing past the first round of this trophy, the situation looks grim for us.
The Paul Watson Trophy is a 4 board 1825 average tournament.
The match is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 7:30PM at home.
Underdogs Hastings(3) triumph in Brighton(2) 3.5-0.5
In the words of Bjørge Lillelien.
“We are the best in the second division! We are the best in the second division! We have beaten Brighton & Hove seconds in Chess!!! It is completely unbelievable! We have beaten Brighton! Brighton the birthplace of Mods and seaside Pride and giants! Sir Winston Churchill, David Gilmour, Chris Eubank, Fatboy Slim, Steve Ovett, Nick Cave, Zoe Ball, Lewis Dunk. We have beaten them all. Holly Willoughby can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!”
Relegation favourites Hastings 3 had an amazing win on Monday night against promotion hopefuls Brighton 2.
Arriving with an under-strength Third team and expecting a 4-0 drumming, Hastings instead won amazingly 3.5-05 (see match card below).
First to finish was Derek on bottom board playing Paul Selby. Whilst having the bishop pair in the end game and smashing up Paul’s pawn structure, Derek decided to accept the draw although the computer put him +0.99 up after proceedings. After a tough game it wasn’t worth risking it.
Birthday Boy Marc Bryant on board two, hoping for gifts from his opponent, wasn’t disappointed. Chris Lake defaulted two minutes of time after wrongly accusing Marc of an illegal move on move 3!!! All Marc’s moves should be made illegal but on this occasion, it was just bonkers but rattled Chris straight away. The moves were 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 (Ruy Lopez) Nce7 !? giving up the pawn on e5 but unsettling his opponent as compensation. It worked!! A super unusual opening with constant threats gaining multiple tempi and Marc easily ahead in development. A beautifully crafted attack then followed and Chris was just an on-looker. 1.5-0.5
White to play and save the game
(In the above position Marc is attacking, White only has a single move to save the game, can you find it? Details below)
High after his stunning victory over Luke Chapman the week before WGM Mason pulled off another upset. This time Paul Edwards, slow development by Paul and Mason saw his chance to sack his knight for a pawn to open the position and get to the King in the middle after smelling blood Mason was relentless with attacking play and initiative. 2.5-0.5
White makes a move and black resigns
(In Mason’s game black just moved Nc5 threatening the bishop and possibily looking to exchange queens on c7 and getting a cheeky back rank mate but can you find the winning move for white?)
With the match won it was only left to Jim who was also outgraded on top board to complete the rout. His opponent played the currently popular Caro-kann but Jim was ready with his own creative response. What followed was an ambitious Brighton stalwart having fun picking up pawns with his queen whilst Jim slowly carried on with development. A pawn down but ready for some fun of his own Jim came out swinging and chased that queen down, slowly but surely improving his position in the meantime making some mate threats. In the end Jim got that early game Minx and once gone the lack of development for Albert was no compensation. 3.5-0.5
On the drive home there was plenty of singing in the car and the heavens opened up, probably the tears of Brighton players past trying to drown us out! A fabulous result & performance by our Thirds. Could we do it again? Never in a million years, Brighton are just quality but we will certainly cherish this moment.
Result of Marc’s puzzle:
g3 was played in the match attempting to win the bishop but the assesment is +2 to Marc as Bxg4 is coming. The only saving move for white is the odd looking Re7 and white is +0.8 any other move and +2 or greater for Marc.
Arriving at our club on a bright sunny day in Hastings, we looked forward with excitement and anticipation to our annual match against our neighbours from Bexhill, always a highlight of the chess calendar.
The teams were spread across both floors of the club, and play commenced promptly at 1 o’clock with clocks set at 65 minutes plus a 30-second increment.
The first result came on board 3, where John secured a solid draw. Not long after, Bexhill struck first with a win on board 10, as Rose produced an excellent game against Keith – clearly a player to watch for the future.
Two more draws followed in quick succession on boards 13 and 12, with both Steve and Alex putting in strong, steady performances. Hastings then recorded their first win on board 8, with Sarah once again showing her continued rise up the ratings list is no fluke.
The match was now level, and excitement built among those who had already finished. Paul then added another point for Hastings with a fine win on board 7, but Marc’s loss on board 9 quickly cancelled out the advantage.
The next two results also balanced each other out. Daniel won well on board 6, before Martin went down on board 11, leaving the match finely poised once again.
On board 2, Francis scored a valuable win, only for Henry to lose soon after on board 4 – once again leaving the scores tied. Terry then produced a determined performance on board 5 to edge Hastings ahead going into the final game.
All attention turned to the top board, where at one point it looked as though defeat might allow Bexhill to snatch a draw in the match overall. However, Daniel held his nerve in a tense endgame to secure a draw around 4 o’clock, which was enough to clinch overall victory for Hastings in this year’s Challenge Trophy.
The Glyde Cup is won by winning the lightning 10 seconds per move tournament . If you wish to play please email me at HastingsChessClub@outlook.com
These are the rules:-
Rules for Lightning (10 second) chess : Lightning chess can be a game between two players where the thinking time is regulated either by a buzzer sounding every ten seconds or by using digital clocks set in >Bronstein= mode.
1. The time limit between moves shall be ten seconds.
2. Where a buzzer is used, each player on his turn to move, shall move immediately the buzzer sounds – not before or after.
3. A move must be completed before the buzzer ceases to sound or the time on the clock expires. Any player exceeding this time limit is likely to be defaulted. An Arbiter should only give one warning of this, and thereafter enforce the Rule.
4. If a player completes an illegal move, his opponent can immediately claim the game. If he does not do so, but instead replies to the illegal move with a move of his own, the illegal move stands and the game must continue.
5. A player may not claim a draw on grounds which normally require the existence of a game score (eg repetition or the “50-move” circumstance).
6. Except insofar as they conflict with the Rules given above, the normal Laws of Chess (including the touch move Rule) shall apply.
7. If the Arbiter considers: (a) that neither player is trying to win; (b) that one player is unnecessarily prolonging the game; (c) or that irregularity or malpractice has occurred then, notwithstanding anything stated above, he may: (1) award a win to one player and a loss to the other (2) award a loss to both players (3) declare the game a draw (4) order the game to be replayed with or without colours reversed.
8. In the event of any dispute arising over the interpretation of these Rules, the Arbiter’s decision shall be final.
Our very own Stuart Conquest takes on chess sensation Anna Cramling. Does Hastings reign supreme or is it time to hand over the baton to the youth of today?
You must be logged in to post a comment.