Lightning from a clear sky

 Round two of the Torquay Open saw me playing against a 144, Roger Hardy. He has previously been somewhat higher, as his Elo rating of 1962 implies. Thus I saw this game as a great opportunity to gain some points towards my own severely low rating.

 However, things started to go wrong immediately - on Friday night I heard the pairing but carelessly assumed I would have white. My recent run of blacks meant I should have known better; this made it 5 on the bounce. It meant that I was unprepared for a game with black. Then my lift provider left late, such that we arrived at the venue after the round had started; not significant perhaps by time allowance, but it disrupts peace of mind. And then I once again failed to play true to myself, such that a nothing position spectacularly exploded in my face:

 Pretty disgusting, no? My ongoing Nimzo-Indian experiment only careered from one disaster to another; this time I played the opening moves moreorless perfectly, yet then inexplicably embarked on a mass trading spree such that I only had inactive pieces left on the board, and less space. From that perspective, the fact that white should have a shot such as 18. Rfd1 (or better still, Rad1) is not so surprising. However, perhaps this is why I need to play complicated and violent positions - it's like I just lose interest and switch off after positions like those in this game after move 17 - I played 17... Re8?? quickly and without much thought.

 Even then, I don't know why I took all the pieces off - there was no need to do so. This time it was me suffering from tunnel vision, as I never really considered keeping them on - for whatever reason, it just seemed the right thing to do. I was playing a more classical opening than I usually dabble in, and it seems the model of first equalising and then playing for advantage is over-rated! Certainly, Fischer once said that the breakthrough moment for him was when he realised that black should play for the advantage immediately, which is what I have usually done. Perhaps this opening just doesn't suit my style. Also, the disorientation I had from the start (see above) was exacerbated by the fact that I didn't really know what I wanted to do, especially after I quickly equalised: draw with a 1962, or beat a 144?

 Fortunately, I abandoned this pale shadow of my usual play and came up with a much nicer game in round 3.