James Mansson’s Chess Blog

Not long after taking on the Worthing first team, we were faced with their second team, this time away from home. Our first result was a rather lackluster draw between Don Banks and myself, where I equalised easily enough, but all life soon went out of the position and we agreed a draw. We then went ahead with two wins, the first a crush by Mike Forster, the second a rather scrappier affair involving Peter Harbott. On the top two boards, Gavin Lock won a pawn, but was unable in the end to push home his advantage, while Anthony Higgs was under pressure for a while, but managed to slip out. The final result was therefore 3.5-1.5 in our favour. Continue reading →

After an absence of nearly a year, I returned to Horsham’s Mid-Sussex League team on Tuesday, when we faced Worthing 1 at home. Unfortunately, I played a very poor game (I plead tiredness!) and went down in 25 moves. Anthony Higgs was also defeated on board two, while Dix Roberts struck back on board four to make the score 2-1 in Worthing’s favour. At the close of play, two games were unfinished: Gavin Lock survived a time scramble to reach a difficult position, which may or may not be a draw; Peter Harbott missed what looked like a clear win to reach a position where he may or may not be winning. I await the outcome of these games with interest. Continue reading →