Congratulations to the winner Francis Rayner

From Martin Fletcher – second team captain

The Hastings and St Leonards second team were playing at home in the penultimate match in the Mid Sussex Chess League. The match was a first division match against Lewes.

In recent matches the Hastings team has been substantially outgraded, and it was encouraging to face a team with almost identical grades – an average of 1736 for the visitors compared to Hastings’ 1759.

With such even pairings a draw was a distinct possibility, but team captain Martin Fletcher was hoping for better than that. Martin was playing on Board 4, facing Keith Osborne, the Lewes captain. Martin was white and facing a Sicilian defence. Martin played the unusual line Nc3 on move 2, and it was not long before he was in a dominating position. A Bishop on h6 prevented Keith from castling, and following a number of piece exchanges Martin was a bishop up. The game lasted less than an hour, and when Keith resigned on move 22 Hastings was not only one game up, but all three of the other boards were going well.

Next to finish was Paul Kelly against Jonathan Britnell, on Board 2. Paul won this game, giving Hastings a 2:0 lead. During the post game review both Paul and Jonathan said that throughout the game they each thought that their position was leading. However, it turned out that Paul was the one reading the board correctly. A key factor in the final result was time pressure. Paul was playing his usual rapid style, not least because he was well practiced in the line being developed. His clock showed over an hour remaining. However, Jonathan was being more reflective, and was down to under 5 mintues.

The third game to finish was Bernard Cafferty on Board 1, who was facing Richard Welford. This game was a draw, which meant that Hastings was going to win the match. Reviewing their game both Bernard and Richard spotted missed opportunities, and they agreed that a draw was a fair result.

The final match was Board 3. Adrian Cload had gained an early pawn advantage against Peter Weston, but Peter had been able to turn this around. However, Adrian’s superior play was too strong for Peter and this game ended with another win for Hastings.

With a final score of 3 ½: ½ Hastings produced a very decisive win, and have moved up the league table. They are now hoping to repeat this performance in the final match of the season – a home match against Horsham 2nd team on 28th April.

Division 1 Tue 8th Mar 2022

17 February 2022

After their recent 4:0 defeat against Brighton and Hove, the Hastings and St Leonards 2nd team was keen to improve their performance in their home match against Eastbourne 1. However, when they saw their opponents they realised that his was going to be a tough ask, with higher graded opponents on every board. On board 4 Alex Lebedev was making his first appearance this season, and he was facing Colin Clark, who was 500 grading points above him. Alex was the first to finish and Eastbourne were 1:0 ahead.

Next to finish was Adrian Cload, who was facing Laurence Butt. Like Alex, Adrian was facing a higher graded player, but this did not daunt him. Indeed, while a later analysis of the game on his computer showed that Adrian made plenty of errors, it also showed that he had a winning position for most of the game. On the day, Adrian was not able to capitalise on his advantage and in the end a draw was agreed.

The third game to finish was Board 1, where Paul Kelly was also facing a strong opponent – Oliver Froom. Paul played an excellent game, giving Hastings a win and levelling the match, with one board left to finish.

The final game was Board 3, where Martin Fletcher played a long game against Matthew Pannett. The game was even throughout the opening and middle game, and they entered the endgame with Martin just 1 pawn down, but with a passed pawn and a bishop against a knight. However, Matthews greater experience proved too much and Eastbourne were able to gain the victory, 2½ points to 1½. This was a close result and the team now move on to their next match with renewed confidence.

Contact – Martin Fletcher – fletcherinsussex@btinternet.com

Postal Address: Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club, Pelton House, 2 Cornwallis Terrace, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 1EB, United Kingdom.

Email: HastingsChessClub@outlook.com

The Hastings and St Leonards second team had a road trip this week, with a visit to Horsham to face Horsham Chess Club’s first team. Horsham is a strong club and this was always going to be a difficult match. The previous week they had been paired against the Hastings first team, who beat them 3:1. We therefore expected them to field a strong team in reply to ensure that they did not lose again. However, we did not realise just how strong it was going to be. The Hastings team had four players with EFC grades ranging from 1974 on board 1, to 1410 on board 4. Their opponents on the night ranged from 2189 on board 1 to 2111 on board 4.

This difference in rankings showed most prominently on board 4 where team captain Martin Fletcher lasted just 18 moves against Mike Forster. Martin faced the Evans Gambit, an opening which he was not familiar with, and he never recovered from an early mistake. In the post match analysis on the long drive home, Paul Kelly pointed out that one of the club’s members – former president Bernard Cafferty – had written one of the leading books on this opening, Play The Evans Gambit. Martin made a mental note to make use of this book as part of his studies.

Boards 1 and 3 were not nearly so swift, and both Adrian Cload (on board 3) and Paul Kelly (on board 1) played well, with games that could have gone either way. However, in each case their solid resistance did not prevail and Hastings now had three losses.

This left Ian Calvert fighting against Mark Broom, in a game that lasted nearly three hours. Ian was determined to ensure that Hastings did not face a four nil defeat, and in the endgame he found himself with a rook and a knight against a rook and five pawns. It did seem that the five pawns would prove too strong but Ian played with precision and Mark was hampered by time pressures. The pair agreed on a draw and the Hastings team were very satisfied with this. On paper a 4:0 defeat would have been expected, and one draw was so much better than that.

The team now have a few weeks to regroup before their next match; home against Lewes on 7 April.

Contact – Martin Fletcher – fletcherinsussex@btinternet.com

Postal Address: Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club, Pelton House, 2 Cornwallis Terrace, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 1EB, United Kingdom.

Email: HastingsChessClub@outlook.com

After their recent success against Worthing the Hastings and St Leonards second team travelled to Hove full of excitement. They were fielding a fairly strong team with Henry Cove on first board; Paul Kelly on second board; Ian Calvert on third board; and Martin Fletcher (captain) on fourth board. This team had an average grade of 1835 and many years of experience at competitive chess between them.

However, the games did not go as they hoped. The first game to finish was Ian’s, and he was defeated by Brighton and Hove player, Geoffrey James.

The second game to finish was between the two team captains, with Martin against Paul Batchelor. As in the well-known television series Martin found himself facing the Queen’s Gambit opening, and he responded with a Semi-Slave defence. However Martin found that he was not able to channel Beth Harmon’s brilliance and after 35 moves he accepted the inevitable and resigned.

It was not long before Paul Kelly suffered the same fate against Calum Salmons.

On Board 1 Henry was facing Luke Rutherford, and as Luke is graded 200 points higher than Henry this was never going to be an easy match. But recognising that he had a strong position, and also not wanting his team to leave with no points, he offered Luke a draw. However, Luke declined the offer and the match continued. Indeed, it continued for another hour. But in the end Henry was unable to maintain his edge, and the Hastings team had a fourth loss for the evening.

It was a more subdued journey home, but the team are upbeat again as the contemplate their next match – at home against Horsham 1, on Tuesday 15 February. This looks like it will be another tough challenge, as Horsham are currently unbeaten in the League.

Contact – Martin Fletcher – fletcherinsussex@btinternet.com