I played the following game yesterday at Castles Chess Club, which is made up predominantly of junior players. I was in the team for an inter-club match, but upon arrival after an hour-long bus journey, discovered they had defaulted their bottom two boards without notice (and indeed, their board 6 player didn't show up either.) Luckily, that meant someone else hanging around idle too, as I was determined to get a game of some kind. I did get one, against another junior player, Pavan Murali. I have played him twice before in serious play, and scraped my way to a win and a draw. He has a very mature style of play for someone of his age, and should go far. But for now, my rather more direct brand of chess is able to hold the balance:
Once again, a fortunate victory; I was cleanly outplayed for much of the game, by someone who clearly has a rather better handle on strategic play than I do. But I like to see myself as a good fighting practical player, and through little more than sheer determination was able to extract a full point from a position that was at various times all-but lost and extremely drawish. In a real game I would likely have taken a draw on move 31 rather than risk losing, so this is perhaps an eye-opener. Then again, to win you sometimes have to take risks. A good evening was completed by a 7-1 victory for Castles, including the two defaulted boards.
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