So close and yet so far

 I am not the sort of chess-player that spends most of their waking hours on the weekender congress circuit, both for reasons of time and (mainly) money. This is especially true for term-time, but when the opportunity to stay with another university player and play in the e2e4 Torquay Congress arose, I couldn't resist the opportunity. These FIDE-rated tournaments are played in impressive hotel venues (this one was in the 4-star Imperial Hotel, with some impressive views over the bay even for a heartless cynic like me) with first-rate conditions. If you ever get the opportunity to play in one, take it! Also, I felt honor-bound to pay my way into one of the events, seeing as I got two free games as a filler at the Diamond Jubilee Congress (whose top section was surely the most impressive tournament I've ever seen below super-GM level) in June.

 The less delightful news was that the grading limit for the Major was U-160 & U-2000 - historically for e2e4 it's been U-170 or U-2000, but in any case I had no choice but to enter the Open! This was not the strongest section they've ever had due to some other things going on in the area, but there were nonetheless two GMs, two FMs and plenty of others above 180. My dream was to try and make an even score, but I was very much ready for a tough weekend at the office.

 The first round of weekender opens, which often takes place on Friday night as it did here, is often fun to watch as the hapless 170s just in the second half of the draw get mown down in 20 moves by the GMs. However, I was very low down (don't forget my 1774 Elo, which went down because of the London Junior!) and so played 'only' Jonathan Wells, grade 180 and rating 2024. I took my laptop to help me prepare and noticed what I was later told - he likes to plug away, and if he draws, so be it. Hence I didn't think I was without chances. And indeed, it was a tough fight, closer than it should have been, but I collapsed in the end:

 I could quite conceivably have lost this game straight out of the opening - 4... b5?! was played impulsively, and I should have been more careful. However, white seemed determined to win in a long, drawn-out fashion, missing a few opportunities to grab a sizeable advantage (8. Nh3!, 17. Rac1, 22. Nc4! and 27. Nh5 are the most obvious) and allowing me to prolong resistance for over three hours. Perhaps he had a kind of 'tunnel vision' towards only a slightly better endgame, which he duly converted despite the fact that I actually played it pretty well for the most part.

 However, that is the final mystery of the game - can black draw with 42... Ra1 or does he still lose? As the variation Fritz stumbles towards shows, if white can be denied a Kingside breakthrough then it may not be enough to go the Queenside and promote the a-pawn, as black can draw with the f- and h-pawns against the Rook. But there may be more precise (faster!) ways to get the pawn rolling. I really don't know...

 Round 1 was disappointing, but round 2 even more so.