Horsham 1 secured the Sussex League title last night, following an exciting match which they overcame a strong Brighton 1 team at home. I was pleased to be able to contribute a win to the team effort, which saw us win the match 2.5-1.5.
I was Black against Mikolaj Rogacewicz on board three. The game reached a standard position of the Meran from an unusual move order, where my opponent made a dubious pawn advance; in response, I sacrificed a pawn, gaining good play. Over the next few moves, both players’ choices were not the best, but following my opponent’s unwise decision to weaken his kingside on move 18, I was able to build up a strong attack. I managed to pursue this with reasonable accuracy until move 27, when, with both players running short of time, I made what subsequent analysis showed to be a serious error; fortunately, my opponent was unable to spot what was in truth a difficult continuation to work out in serious time pressure, and I was then able to wrap up the game efficiently.
I give the game below with some notes.