Draw by reputation

It's worth mentioning that this is my 17th post this month - an all-time record. So it seems the Major Open did one good thing for me at least: I am motivated again. And, since I am always driven more by the failures than the successes, I know that this game alongside the previous round give me my lingering impressions of my play.

I had white against Robert Akeya-Price (147/1669), who is a Surrey junior and improving quickly. Although it was a nice pairing under the circumstances (an upfloat from hell onto the top boards wasn't impossible) he has given me a lot more difficulty than my 4/4 score against him coming into this game would suggest - I'd found him very hard to break down, and that was at quick time controls where defence is harder. But accumulating that 100% score might have been the best preparation I could have done...

A definite let-off. If he hadn't choked and banked the half-point, then I would have had an uphill struggle to save the game. And what a waste that would have been; I didn't understand the patient shuffling part, but when he got impatient with ...c5 (the wrong break - ...f6 is the right way to go) I was able to get a huge initiative that I'm annoyed to have squandered. 20. Qe3? was a telling move: time is the most important factor in the position. I recognise the stumbling block that Akeya-Price faced only too well, so it felt almost surreal to be on the lucky side of it for once. But he's still young enough to easily cure the problem. I suspect our future meetings aren't going to get any easier...

I now had just one round to go, and one last chance to get back to my pre-tournament target of 50%. I had a small present in the shape of a double white - and perhaps just a little more drive.