Fatal attraction

This year's preparations for the British Championship were necessarily far below the standard I set twelve months ago. I could only manage three days off work beforehand, and thanks to a record heatwave even they went begging. Shamefully, I failed to play any warm-up tournament beforehand; the motivation to give up a day or a whole weekend just wasn't there. All I found time to do was revive my Chessity account and play a ton of online blitz games, from which I formed the impression that quiet chess was the way to go: positions I could play by feel were fine, but being forced to think was not. That was the philosophy I took into the sole convenient training opportunity that arose - board one for Epsom in a friendly match against Hammersmith, with black against 196-graded Carsten Pedersen.

Unfortunately - as I've found out many times over the years - saying I'll play a dull game is one thing; making it so is quite another! I am far too objective a player and always try to play the perfect move whatever commitments it may entail. Here White's reckless advance on move 8 drove me into the role of counter-attacker: I had to weather a storm in the early middlegame before my strategic advantages could take over. The outcome was certainly spectacular, but so were the risks of playing this way:
 

Epsom were significantly outgraded but managed to draw the match 4-4, so this was a useful point and a vital reminder for me that I can still play chess. There were mistakes everywhere, and as good as the position was for much of the game it was one move from ending the other way, but this was my first win in far too long and I liked the finish.

Whilst I played a Caro-Kann to avoid a Sicilian, the game we got was very similar in spirit: Black accepts a slight cramp, development lag and an enemy initiative in return for a better tomorrow thanks to his superior structure, meaning that White has to make things happen quickly. That led to 13. f5 and then all manner of Nxd5 sacrifices to consider. The problem is that I was fully aware of this motif at the time but still let it happen: if 21... Rg8?? had been appropriately punished I would have been livid, but not entirely surprised - after all, I wanted to avoid a mate-or-be-mated position because of all my oversights in those blitz games. Luckily my opponents are human too - again, something I needed to remember before Torquay.

That was that for pre-tournament preparation, and I arrived in the English Riviera feeling very unsure of myself. Whilst I'd regained some faith in my ability, my form was another question - I expected the challenge to be maintaining the general level here for a whole game without any 21.. Rg8?? moments, and that proved to be an accurate prediction of the early rounds.