4NCL Round 2

Having been matched against higher-rated opponents in the first weeks of both the congress and league, I was due for a couple of easier match-ups. Of course ratings aren't always reliable especially when players haven't played that many games in the system, so I wasn't going to be complacent.

In the 4NCL congress I was matched up against an improving junior which is always a possible banana skin. Despite only being around 1600 in OTB chess he had actually beaten one of the top players in the previous competition, so was clearly no mug. I was black, we went into the Catalan opening and I played the "grab the pawn and hold onto it" line which has served me reasonably well a couple of times in the past. He didn't play the most challenging moves and I was quickly on top. By move 15 I had achieved a marvellous position that is worth reproducing here:

Those pawns and his pieces! He got the bishop out and eventually even the rook, but the knight didn't move again all game and I knew I just had to avoid any big blunders to convert the win. There were a few minor tactical traps involving the long diagonal (and even a possible back-rank mate) but it wasn't hard to shut them down and he resigned when a well-timed c2 push left his knight nowhere to go. Here is the full game:

In the league, we were matched with a fairly average team, consisting of players around the 1500 mark. That's a good match for most of our team, though Charlie and me are substantially higher at around 1800. However Charlie wasn't playing this week, leaving me to lead the charge from the top board. My opponent was another junior, I think, and he made a number of weak moves though I did also have a couple of mis-steps myself in trying to take advantage. Nothing terribly fatal and I was soon a piece up and cruising to a comprehensive win.

Not a classic, but got the job done. Unfortunately my team-mates found their opposition a little too hot to handle and we went down 1-2 with one game void due to an incorrect challenge (wrong colours) that my player didn't notice until it was too late to correct it. By that point he was losing heavily anyway so I don't feel robbed even though it was primarily his opponent's fault. We are now in the bottom group (2 losses) though it looks like we have weaker opponents to come and should manage to avoid the relegation spots. We aren't putting out strongest possible teams but instead giving everyone a fair shot and I'm due to sit out round 3. However I'll have a congress game next week anyway.