Sussex were at home of in their first county match of the season, against Middlesex. The first game to finish was my game against Ian Calvert, which was a fairly solid draw. However, after that, things went very much in Middlesex’s favour, and they ran out 10.5-5.5 winners. This was a rather disappointing result, as the average grading difference between the two teams was not that large (Middlesex’s average was 2081 and Sussex’s was 2036).
I was White against Ian Calvert, and the game started with a transposition into a very solid line of the Grünfeld. I tried an unusual line but did not achieve anything with it. There were a couple of inaccuracies on both sides before the game ended up in a clearly drawn position; the players then agreed a draw at once.
I give the game below with some notes.