McArthur Cup 2024-25: Horsham – Sussex University

Horsham managed to beat Sussex University in the McArthur Cup last night by 4 points to 2, thus moving into the semi-final. I contributed a somewhat fortunate win on board 3.

I had White against Hooman Honarvarmahalati on board three. The game started with a somewhat unusual line of the Ruy Lopez, which I suppose you might call the Steinitz Defence Double Deferred, against which I was able to achieve a playable position, but not more. I then allowed my opponent to cripple my queenside pawns, allowing him the chance to establish a definite advantage. However, in the subsequent moves, both players made inaccuracies and mistakes; eventually, we reached a position where I had just moved my knight to the strong d5 square. Then my opponent blundered: rather than eliminating the knight, which would have at worse given a slight disadvantage, he moved a rook that was covering against a fatal fork of the black king and queen. I did not miss the opportunity and my opponent resigned at once.

I give the game below with some notes.

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