I'm not normally the type to blow my own trumpet and I've manage to be here two years without doing so, but I was delighted with this crafty little escape. After being out-played by my opponent we reached the point where I was to get checkmated. However, I managed a massive swindle and got a draw :)

Apart from my bragging, I guess there is something to learn from this post. Never think you've got the game won, play every move with the same intensity as your first.

Also, if you've got any nice stalemate escapes why not post them here.

And finally, was move 45...h5 a mistake by me? Was it a technical draw until I blew it with this pawn move. Any help or suggestions would be great, thanks.

Oh, and there is a puzzle in the date. The 11th of September 1752. There is a reason that no game could of been played on this date in Great Britain. Do you know why?

clue:  the great Britain part is important :)

Clever! Playing fast I probably would have forgotten that a5 was covered.

I'm gonna guess that that date didn't techincally happen in britian because of something involving an official calendar transfer, but I don't really know.

I didn't get the date thing until I googled it.  

As far as 45...h5, you were dead lost if you played it, dead lost if you didn't.  

Vey nice :-). This stuff always makes me smile!

If you wish in this world to advance

your merits you're bound to enhance,

you must stir it and stump it and blow you're own trumpet

or, trust me, you haven't a chance.

Gilbert and Sullivan           (HMS Pinafore)

There was no 11th September 1752? That was the date that we switched calenders? A good swindle is always enjoyable though...

 Yes, that's correct (good guess by you Pepe Silva). The move from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar saw the  removal of 11 days. The 3rd of September through to the 13th.

I got it from this book I'm reading called, Travels in Four Dimensions, by Robin Le Poidevin.

On page166 he tells this anecdote:

[in] the second half of the twentieth century, a group of farmers in Midwest America, when faced with the introduction of Daylight Savings Time, objected that an extra hour of sunlight would burn the grass.

I'm not American or farmer bashing here - each country has more than enough idiots to keep them amused :)

Thanks for the advice Moopster. Bolsters what I'd assumed. I always question these things because there are so many endgame peculiarities, what seems like commonsense can often be turned on its head.

Thanks Billy. If I ever get too big for my boots, or blow my trumpet too much, I can now blame Gilbert and Sullivan