Yesterday, I played as part of a weakened Sussex team away against Middlesex. Unsurprisingly, we lost by a large margin (3.5 to 12.5). I was unsuccessful in my game against an opponent rated over 100 points higher than me. Things were not helped by me getting lost on the way to the venue, which resulted in me starting 30 minutes down on the clock.
I had white against Andrew Stone. The game started with a Caro-Kann, where I was surprised by my opponent’s sixth move. Although I achieved an acceptable position initially, I reacted badly to his pawn break in the centre, and soon ended up in a bad position. I tried to resist as best I could, but my opponent maintained his advantage. Finally, with both players short of time, he made a slip that could have allowed me to escape, but – not surprisingly as I had run very short of time – I missed it, instead blundering a rook; after my opponent exploited this error, I resigned at once.
I give the game below with some notes.