Last weekend, I played in the Southern Counties Junior Jamboree, on board 3 for a severely under-strength Surrey team. For anyone not familiar with the format of a jamboree, different players in the team play against different teams in the same round; usually used when there are many more teams than rounds.
For the first, I had black against a 110, Elizabeth Elgar. Knowing nothing about her except her name, I decided to be cautious, and chose the Caro-Kann. As a rule, I try to avoid playing this against players I would be expected to beat, but two factors should be considered: first, I was enthused by my easy draw a couple of days earlier against the 158 Theodore Dias, and second, I didn't know her grade.
As it happened, I surprised myself as much as anyone else by grinding down my opponent to victory primarily through sheer force of will - an asset that has helped me in the past and doubtless will do in the future.
It is fortunate that I stopped recording for the endgame, as I did not play it very well. This is still an area that needs some work, despite a good deal of online practice recently. In fact, I have encountered very many more Rook endings in the last few weeks both over the board and over the keyboard; suddenly I must confess to finding them quite interesting! That part of the game that is presented I played with reasonable accuracy upon emerging safely from the opening. I can't say I'm particularly proud of such a labourious win, but perhaps this is simply how Caro-Kann players should expect to get full points. Certainly rather different from some of the more clear-cut games I've had with 1. e4 and the Sicilian Defence!
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