Poor Start ... Poor Finish

LOST to a 158, after rejecting a draw offer, and drew with a 145 in the last two rounds of the 'Paignton' seven-round U180.
That brings to an end one of my worst-ever tournaments, having scored +0=3-3 (and a one-point bye) for a grading performance of 129.
It could have been worse:

Position after 51...Kg8-f8 in the round-seven game Martin Page (145) - Spanton (167)

White wins trivially after 52.d7.
Instead MP played 52.Re2?? after which 52...Ke8 assured the draw. A lucky escape.

Comically Bad

I WAS given a compulsory bye in round four, which may have been just as well considering how badly I messed up a simple finish today.
I won a pawn early on and exchanged off into a clearly won ending - indeed, for much of the time analysis engines reckon I am more than +50.

Position after 58.Qb5-b2 in John Nyman (146) - Spanton (167)

Somehow the obvious plan of putting my queen behind the a pawn never occurred to me. I have no idea why.
Instead I flaffed about aimlessly, blundered the a pawn for no compensation and reached the following position:

White has just played 72.Qb8-f8

For several horrible moments I thought I was getting mated.
Fortunately I collected myself enough to find a draw with 72...Qd5 (72...e2 also saves the half-point) 73.f6 Qh1+ 74.Kg5 Qd5+ 75.Kh4 Qh1+

Seedy Goings-On

IT is not often the top seed plays on bottom board, but that is what happened in round three of the afternoon U180 at 'Paignton'.

Position after 44.Qg2-h3 in Spanton (167) - Kevin Simpson (176)

Here KS broke up my attack by sacrificing the exchange: 44...Rxf5!?
The game continued 45.gxf5 Nh4 46.Qf1 Qe7
I was attracted to 47.Qg1 f6 48.R5xh4 gxh4, which Stockfish9 and Komodo9 reckon is good for White after 49.Rg2 (and after the more prosaic 49.Rxh4), although the locked pawn-structure and opposite-coloured bishops would seem to give Black some drawing chances.
Instead I played a real lemon: 47.Qe1?
There came 47...Nxf5 48.Rg2 Ng3+ 49.Rxg3 fxg3 50.Qxg3, and a draw was soon agreed.

Bugbears Again

LOST feebly to a 148 today in the 'Paignton' afternoon U180 after turning down a draw offer in a marginally inferior rook-and-pawn ending.

Maroczy Crush

PLAYING in the U180 afternoon tournament at the annual 'Paignton' congress, nowadays held at the Livermead House hotel on the outskirts of Torquay.
I was horribly crushed in round one by a lower-graded opponent when I became too passive in a Maroczy Bind.

White has just played 16.Be3-b6 in Megan O'Brien (153) - Spanton (167)

I played 16...Rd7, when the forcing sequence 17.e5 Ne8 18.Bc5 Qd8 19.Na4 would have left me in all sorts of trouble.
Instead the game saw 17.f5 dxe4 18.fxe6 fxe6? (18...Qxe6 was better) 19.Bc5 Qd8 20.Nxe4 Nxe4 21.Rxe4 with a large advantage for White 1-0 (29 moves)
Going back to the diagram position, it seems I should have sacrificed the exchange with 16...dxe4! eg 17.Bxd8 Rxd8 18.Nxe4 Nxe4 19.Rxe4 c5 and Black is at least equal thanks to the threat of ...Bd4.
Indeed my main analysis engines, Stockfish9 and Komodo9, reckon White should decline the exchange, certainly at first, and instead play 17.Bxe4! Nxe4 18.Nxe4 c5. They give White a slight edge after 19.Kh1, 19.Bxc5 or belatedly grabbing the exchange with 19.Bxd8.