Poor health, poor play

 I have a cold at the moment. Indeed, new students at universities across the land, exposed to germs from all parts of the country, are invariably struck by one at the start of term ("freshers' flu," as it's known.) A cold is by no means rare for me, but it always makes itself manifest in a crushing headache and particular difficulty with inhalation, both of which make concentration for a protracted period rather unpleasant.

 Sadly, I had already agreed to play the game below, and by the time the symptoms made themselves obvious it was too late to pull out. The match was away to Clevedon, one of the furthest teams away from our rather central location in the league (around 15 miles, pretty much on the coast.) Perhaps the only thing memorable about the trip was the prodigious level of fog on the way back, for my game certainly was not anything to write home about! I played a 147-graded player named Paul Spiller, who has been drawing almost all of his games of late. I played weak moves and quickly squandered any hope to an advantage - by the time of my opponent's very charitable draw offer, as early as move 19, I was already much worse:

 Certainly this performance will not be going anywhere near my best games collection. Despite enjoying a grading advantage, 187-176, 176-152, 179-162, 168-148, 149-147, 156-142, we were fortunate to limp home to a draw, DLWLDW. I think my abilities to remember prepared lines (although going two months back is always quite challenging), calculate variations, see tactical points, visualise the game and manage the clock were all rather below-par here, and it is not surprising that I was quickly worse - my opponent reacted well in the opening and had no real problems, before gaining the initiative with his surprising ...f5-f4 plan. Only his will to win call be called into question. I always protest that I do much better with white, but it hasn't escaped my notice that I have won both games with black in the Bristol League, and drawn both with white (albeit against tougher opponents; 129/138 and 182/147.) Spiller was 156 as recently as the January 2012 grading list, I should also add, and was 159 in old grades back in 2004; probably about 175 in new money.

 Hopefully my ailment will have cleared sufficiently for me to be playing at home for the B-team tomorrow; if not, there is a game for that team next week. This isn't quite as bad as a game I played with a cold for Wallington last year, having to fall back on my guile and luck to beat an 89 with white from a lost position, but it is clear that I shouldn't play like this unless I have to.