Having picked up only one point from the last six on offer, the promotion chasing C team knew we badly needed a win last night, away to Rugby A. We got it, but I will keep this write-up brief. Rugby defaulted a board (thankfully telling us in advance and thus saving Dhairya and Sagar a trip.) So 1-0 to us before a piece had been moved.
We were very grateful to Harry for turning out on Board 2. He seemed to drop the exchange against Dave Riley, but even so had too much quality and brought home the full point. Paul played out a solid draw on Board 1 against Mark Gilbert, to secure both match points.
Many hours later, my absolute determination not to draw with James Peel saw my wishes granted when I screwed up in the time scramble and missed a tactic. Excruciating - it's about a year since I last messed up on such a colossal scale, but credit to James. Part of me thinks this is the occasional price for always playing to win, part of me would prefer not to think about it at all. (I am not finding writing any of this particularly cathartic - too soon I guess...)
Ultimately as a team we did what we needed to do and are now three points clear at the top of the table. All eyes will be metaphorically on Coventry when they play on Thursday. The classic question as to what is worth more - games in hand or points on the board. Time will tell.
The cup team are in action against Stratford tonight, so hopefully I'll be in a cheerier mood after that, but as we all know - nothing in chess is ever guaranteed.
Either way, now this report is written, I would be grateful if this match could never be spoken of again.
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