This week I played a game for my team in the NYCCL, where my captain told me I only needed to draw for our team to walk with a positive result. I had the black pieces and had been told that my opponent likes to play 1.d4 and the trompowsky in particular- so I was a little surprised but not disappointed when he played 1.e4. I responded with a Sicilian, and the game was a bit strange for the first few moves but began to look more mainstream by move ten. I made an early middle game blunder in a position where I should have simply won a pawn, and lost the exchange- the rest is my fighting for dear life to draw- and miraculously managing to do so. However, it pains me to admit that I missed about half a dozen winning chances, one of which is quite egregious.

My teammate made me feel a little better by reminding me that it’s sometimes easier to see things when you’re not in the heat of battle, any case here is the game which I’m not terrible proud of but am posting because the last 25 moves or so is rife with instructive error.