Maybe I'm losing my touch, for this was the second Najdorf in a row where I let a near-190 off with a draw! The opening went very well, but as usual lately the accuracy was missing at a few key moments and I spoiled my efforts rather quickly:
Looking at the final position, one of the Essex players commented that "Carlsen would play on and win from here." I replied simply that Carlsen doesn't usually have a two-hour train journey to get home in time for dinner afterwards. Certainly it feels more like a half-point lost than gained, but stabilising with an afternoon off was no bad thing.
Games like this make me wonder why the Najdorf's theoretical overhead is viewed with such trepidation. I was pretty much out of book by move 8, but none of my moves were particularly difficult. So many people playing as White fail to find a good plan, or any plan at all. Sadly, tactical accuracy is usually needed to cash in, and by missing 13... b4 14. Na4? Bd7! I lost my best opportunity. Maybe I was a bit lazy after that, but there you go.
It was a shame that Surrey lost so heavily, but the SCCU Championship is notoriously brutal. We find ourselves in the Minor Counties for the national stages - where teams are limited to an average grade of 180 - and will play Cornwall of all people in the quarter-finals. That's still a while away though, and my next game was in the 4NCL. I was hoping for some relief on board 8, but it was not to be - our opponents on Saturday defaulted my board without notice, so all I could do was watch my teammates win one after the other and admire Wokefield Park under the snow. On Sunday we were paired with a team I was desperate to beat, not just to get some air in the relegation pool but for reasons of my own too.
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