Last night saw Horsham 1 keep open their hopes of winning the Mid-Sussex League by winning 3-2 against Worthing 1 in a tight match. At one point it had looked like we might be defeated, but a dramatic time trouble reversal in my game against Grant Bucher saw us secure a narrow but important victory.
On top board, Gavin Lock defeated Mike Nicholas in a game where he managed to break through on the queenside with a pawn, having earlier sacrificed one. Boards two and five saw Mike Foster and Dix Roberts secure draws, while Anthony Higgs was ground down on board four. This left the score at 2-2 with my game to finish.
I seemlingly had the better of it earlier on, and my opponent used up plenty of time trying to find his way out of his early difficulties. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the best way to continue, and gradually the game turned in my opponent’s favour. As time trouble approached for both players, I found my self in a difficult position. With plenty of moves still to go to the time control, I found a way to complicate the position. Although this should have failed against the best defence, my opponent ran very short of time and eventually blundered, allowing a neat response. Just before he lost on time, he resigned in any case.
I give the game below with some notes.