Without some key personnel, I expected a bumpy ride - although we got a bonus on the afternoon when our GM became available, and then another one at the start of the match when Kingston announced they only had six players. In fact it turned out to be five, since their top board got lost and never made it. So with 231-def, 168-175, 165-166, 164-151, 161-142, 141-105, 142-def, we started 2-0 up with a grading advantage, since their team was similarly depleted. But you never know with Wallington...
On board 2, I had black against Alan Scrimgour (175). I left my usual repertoire and we ended up in a routine IQP position - which I proceeded to lose in textbook style:
In the end, it was enough, just about; we won 4-3 (WLLWLWW) although I was worried for a long time that we would blow this golden opportunity. With our availability being what it is, every match point is precious.
My game was, inevitably, quite depressing - it felt like I was just going through the motions rather than putting up a genuine fight. This is the sort of game you see when someone wants to show everything going right for the attacker in an IQP position; he doesn't even need to launch an attack on my king. He just blasts through in the centre and my position is shredded. I could see it all coming, but I was totally unable to do anything about it. Just as in my numerous losses in the quieter Slav lines, I got punished for totally underestimating the importance of time when playing as black - 12... Qa5?!, 13... a6?! and 17... Bg6? all stem from this problem. White's play seemed very convincing at the time, but it was certainly possible to resist.
Finally, I had a break of sorts. But that was only because I was on the front line at the London Chess Classic, working ten 12-hour days in a row. In the midst of it all, I did manage to squeeze in one game though - against one of my chess heroes.
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