Time will tell

The 4NCL was back in town last weekend; strangely it proved much easier to get to Northampton than to Wokefield Park back in November. The punctuality was unnecessary though, for I was playing on Sunday this time - our match against Sussex Martlets, the pool leaders, looked more interesting, and it pays to be unpredictable. We duly cruised to a 5½-2½ victory over Warwickshire Select 2, which was some insurance against the difficult match card we got on Sunday: 219-213, 201-197, 196-184, 192-188, 170-193, 186-174, 167-185, 165-187 looks kinder that we knew at the time but still highlights Sussex's amazing depth.

I was relieved to see that Sussex also mixed things up a bit by flipping the bottom two boards. That was mainly because my expected opponent's openings looked tough to crack, but I'd also played my actual opponent, Anthony Higgs (185/1961) before - in the 4NCL no less! Back then I played 2. f4 as an anti-Hanham weapon; this time I waited until move 4. But we got a very similar sort of game, with only one big difference - the result.

A good win, but not good enough: we lost 3½-4½ (LLDDLWWD) despite our exploits on the lower boards. Some good results still stand between us and the safety of the promotion pool, but it's too close to call with three rounds to go.

I used to wonder how the great pre-engine annotators could deem a position strategically won so far in advance. Thankfully, these days I evaluate in words rather than centipawns and I know that it can happen: we get just such a position after 11... Nc4?? here. Simply put, White gets a big head-start and can open lines more easily. I could even afford the strange detour between moves 19 and 24, which maybe isn't as bad as the computer thinks since it renders Black's queenside pawns useless as attacking units. I could certainly have broken through faster though, and that's why I've never excelled in opposite-wing castling games: I'm not tactically sharp enough (so I never thought of the g6/h5 breakthrough) and I'm too much of a control freak to be able to resist tidying-up moves. (Hence my avoidance of 26. Bxd4.) I got away with it here, but it was an extreme case. The time scramble was also undistinguished - especially since I went from 17 minutes after 28. h5 to two after 31. f7+ - but I had enough in hand.

A good start to 2017 then, maintaining a 100% score against 185s in the 4NCL this season - our match report dryly noted that I will have to play the rest of the rounds to keep my norm chances alive. Before I can disappoint my captain I have some games closer to home though - starting tomorrow with a county match that could be crucial in the SCCU U-180 section.