I didn't actually see the list go up, since it was Superleague night at Coulsdon - Castles were playing King Pawns, a team with no stars but enough depth to have won the league two years ago. So, on board 2, I had a grading advantage for the third round on the spin, with white against Martin Faulkner (167/1867). The team grades, 184-168, 175-167, 141-160, 88-160, suggested that I could do with a win.
For a while, the game followed my favourite narrative at the moment: I knew the opening better and got a strategically won position in no time, only to get flustered when the hand-to-hand combat started. But this time I lost control completely, and it was only with a gamble and a lot of luck that I eventually returned to script:
2-2, just as planned! (WWLL) Castles seem to have torpedoed any chance of getting relegated now, and we already have more game points than we got in the whole of last season. Strangely the two quickly-improving youngsters on the top boards driving us on are 22 and 61...
The first 20 moves are a good advertisement for playing ...d6 on time: yes, the pawn can be weak there, but at least Black can develop his pieces! As usual, I played fine (apart from the slight misjudgement on move 16) until Faulkner started getting active - technique is all about keeping counterplay under control, and I've got a lot to do there. Just a few moves later my position was as good as lost! 28. Rxd5!? was desperate stuff, but somehow it all worked out in the end; maybe I just wanted it badly enough. I thought those days were long gone...
3/3 for the year then - I don't expect my 224 performance to last very long, but I'll enjoy it whilst it does! That might only be until this weekend though: I'm off to Oxford for the very strong Kidlington Open, and even on January grades I'm seeded almost at the bottom. But time will tell...
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