Don't look a gifthorse...

 Although three games is not much of a sample size, I wasn't as distraught at another London League call-up as I might have been. For a start, I had over two days' notice this time. But I had two wins under my belt, which was more than I could say for any other league. Perhaps it's because the routine is calmer: I'm not captain, and I can fit in a sandwich and some preparation at the office before walking to the venue.

 This time I was on board 9 for Drunken Knights 2, against the Richmond & Twickenham 1st team. Although they were stronger - 204-228, 200-212, 194-198, 191-195, 187-196, 192-179, 175f-179, 170-177, 168-174, 158-172, 147-166, 115-164 - it was a fairly close match for most of the way. I had black again, against Robin Nandi (174), but at least I faced 1. e4 for a change. It was a topsy-turvy game where I was outplayed most of the way through, but even when times are bad I can be a resourceful player...

 My turnaround wasn't reflected in the match card, where we wound up 5-7 down (LDDDWLWDWLLL). I wasn't going to complain though - you have to take what you can get.

 I'm not sure what to say, beyond that this sort of thing is always a risk at fast time controls, especially without increments. Active defence is usually a good policy, and this was a case of a horrible position showing hidden resources when white missed the most accurate moves. His subsequent collapse was rather striking, and I'd like to think that I helped. But I was clearly outplayed in the early stages, the punishment for playing without enough urgency (7... h6?!; 17... O-O?).

 There were a couple of narrow escapes, but this turned out to be my last London League game of the half-season. Somehow I have emerged with a performance of 202, which makes very little sense in the context of my other games. I suppose it's a glimmer of hope, and a badly-needed one at that. Next up, to bring my blog queue back into single figures, was my first league game of the season for Wallington.