Maguire Syndrome

 Yesterday I marked my latest B-team comeback with a game on board 1 away at South Bristol C. I had been very reluctant to play at that faraway club in view of work, likely opposition strength and the apparent need to go by bus. However, I was eventually nagged into it by the fact that we were defaulting two boards if I didn't, and more to the point that we decided to splash out on a taxi in the end. Nonetheless, we were a man short - a handicap of course, but not necessarily insurmountable.

 Even readers from Surrey might not realise at once what my invented syndrome actually refers to, so allow me to elaborate. For a few years, Wallington CGS' 1st-team were in Division 3 of the Briant Poulter League (where they remain) but could boast a 170+ guy named Robert Maguire on board 1. Pitted against people from B- or even C-teams, he was usually facing people far, far weaker than him, and of course racked up a huge score. But below that, Wallington were not very strong at all, and so suffered a lot of 1-5 and 1.5-4.5 losses. The match at hand was a much less extreme case (all but one of my team-mates have beaten me in friendly games this season, and I haven't played the other) but I still stuck out like a sore thumb: 162-112, 110-U, 110-101, 74-89, U-66, Def-W/O.

 My opponent was Rod Taylor, a 112 who I should mention did actually beat a different 162 when we played them at home earlier in the season. This was a good thing to keep in mind, to ward off complacency. I expected the quiet approach that worked so well for him then, and he duly did try it in the opening, but soon he tried to mix it tactically with no positional foundations and was a piece down very quickly:

 

 Although not as bad as our humbling by Bath University in November, when I labouriously ground out a win against a 117 but everyone else lost, the 1.5-4.5 defeat (WDLLLL) was disappointing. But the opposition got out a good team and deserved their points, finishing off an endgame with all of 8 seconds to spare on board 4 and ably holding on for a draw on board 2 despite losing an exchange. Theoretically they could have fielded a 169* but it was unnecessary in the end.

 I was fortunate enough never to be on the receiving end of a Maguire-NN game (even at the start of Y12, I was playing for the Sutton Grammar D-team; board B1 was miles away) but I saw a few and they looked quite a lot like this. I didn't need to do anything special - indeed my opening was arguably too restrained despite playing h3, g4 and Ne5 then making to castle Queenside! My approach to the Scandinavian still needs to be refined, it seems. Nonetheless I was quickly given material by faulty tactical vision and then smoothly converted it with a degree of accuracy I can rarely produce. This says more for the ease of the position than any skill on my part though; my usual caution in winning positions slowed me down as always but only 28. Bd6! was at all difficult to find. There isn't much to be gained from such games except helping the team out, but since I'm not set to maintain my rate of improvement from previous grading lists (currently I'm performing only at 166) it at least isn't counter-productive to chip in like this.  

 My punishment for a comfortable win is that our captain wants me again on Tuesday, when the B-team plays its final match of the season away to Downend D. We need a win to ensure 2nd place and possible promotion, having picked up the pace considerably since Christmas. The earlier match against Downend in October yielded my only loss for the team to date, so I shall certainly be fired up for it.


* He would be higher-graded than their entire B-team, but he wasn't registered at the start of the season... nonetheless I would have complained very loudly if they'd tried! In Surrey you can't field players who outgrade the lowest nominee of the team above, presumably to avoid just this scenario.