Cooper Diem

 Yesterday I played a rapidplay game at Castles. Well, I had expected to play two games, but this one game took as long as everyone else in the tournament needed for two rounds! Thanks to an unfortunately-scheduled bus, I ended up arriving slightly late, and so had to play Neill Cooper, who teaches Maths at the school (Wilson's) where the club is now based. Our last game saw a theoretical dispute in a not very theoretical opening, and despite the bad outcome of the opening for me then, I decided to try the same thing again. Since February, his rapid grade has improved (the reward for scoring highly on board 1 for my Stoneleigh Trophy team last year) and mine has nose-dived (the penalty for scoring badly on board 2/3 in the same team!), so I was once again playing under the protection of the 40-point rule.

 My opponent prides himself as a sharp tactician, yet here he came oh so close to being the architect of his own downfall due to a tactical oversight. This following a huge gamble in the opening which resulted in me missing an apparent win as early as move 9...

 So, as in our previous game, the player with the black pieces rides his luck and saves a draw in the ending - but this time I was the one pressing with white. Our score in graded games I make to be +0 =3 -0 now. It is curious that when I play 170s, at any rate in rapid chess, I usually get hammered, yet for this pairing I am unbeaten in official games. It can't be because he's not really 170+ strength (see here if you want evidence!) so I must assume that it is because, having had ample evidence to observe my opponent's flaws, I don't go into the games resigned to an inevitable loss - he's strong to be sure, but also human.

 Ultimately, I didn't quite seize the day. Despite some inaccuracies in the blitz finish, I now think I was going the right way about it. At the time however, I couldn't help looking anxiously at the central pawns, and wasn't sure how to use my own pawns - it seemed quite possible to me in the limited time available for thinking that I could end up with R+B vs. R, and the odds of your author of all people overcoming time trouble and a 173 to convert it are almost non-existent! However, as my opponent pointed out immediately, and I didn't fully credit despite noticing it, his Rook is about to be imprisoned.

 A fascinating game, to be sure. But if you thought that was mad, just look at my next game...