Last night we had our first game of the year. Unfortunately, we lost 21/2 – 11/2 and that would be all there is to say… or would it?
Malcolm managed to secure a draw, thus granting us the extra half point that prevents the match from being classified as a crushing defeat—it sounds much better than 3-0, doesn’t it? Gerald won straight away before I even finished my first pint of Coke. Nowadays, he seems to dispose of his opponents very rapidly, unlike myself, who linger in the struggle until the very (and in this case, bitter) end. I played on board 1 against someone rated some 200 points higher than me. Considering that, I’m quite satisfied that, despite my loss, I made him sweat to exhaustion and gave him some good headaches… time pressure did, however, get the best of me in the end, as one blunder leads to another…