Team League 4545 : Season T47 - Playoff 2

Well, that's it for T47....

In the end a bit of an anti-climax, as my game was redundant, since no matter the result, the team would be out : the effect of one too many forfeits in the main rounds.

I again pulled out a Philidor, but as my opponent was not that interested in playing, after 12 moves we agreed a draw.  Not very honourable, but when someone doesn't want to play, there's not much to do !

Here is the final position...

12. e5 

In his parting comment White suggested that he was ahead, but I disagree.

I'm sure there is an edge to White, but Black has either dxe ( with some interesting forcing options ) or Ne8 ( with a slower game ).

I had decided on Ne8, but now I think that the more direct dxe is the better move.

Previously, in fact against the the same opponent, I had seen 12.g4, which I'm not sure is much better than e5, but I made a mistake and allowed a dark-bishop move hitting my rook on f8, that also uncovered an attack on d5, forcing me to lose a pawn.

The same bishop-move threat is present here, but I think dxe defuses it.

Plenty to think about, but for now, the next move is to recruit a reliable 5th ( & 6th ? ) team member so we don't suffer forfeit losses in T48.

I intend to play both U1600 and U1800 next season, so we will see how it goes.