The team trap

Although I drew a few games when I was younger, I tended to have a win/lose mentality at the board. This all changed when I started playing Olympiad chess for PNG. After my first Olympiad (in 2000) I realised the speculative attacks that may have worked in club chess were no longer good, and I needed to play a lot more solidly. The downside of this was that I began to draw a lot more games, which probably helped the team, but at the same time, carried over into my non-olympiad games.
Of course the dynamic in a team event is different from an individual tournament, as your play and result is important to more than just you. One of the worst things that can happen is if you screw up your opening prep and walk into a trap. It can be quite demoralising to your teammates to see you shake hands after 30 minutes or so, and the post match 'show and tell' can be quite awkward.
I've had a few of these happen to me (and my team) over the last 2 decades. On the other hand I've also managed to pull this off on occasion, and getting opening prep to work in a team event is quite satisfying.
Here is a happier example for me, from the 2004 Olympiad.


Press,Shaun (2070) - Kumar,Manoj (2036) [D03]
Calvia ol (Men) Mallorca (Spain) (12.60), 27.10.2004

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 d5 4. e3 Nbd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Be7 7. Nbd2 b6 8. Qa4 O-O 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nd7 11. Qh4 h6 12. Bxe7 Qe8 13. Bxf8 Qxf8 14. f4 Bb7 15. Rg1 a6 16. g4 Qd8 17. g5 Nf8 18. Qh5 hxg5 19. Qxg5 Qxg5 20. Rxg5 g6 21. Kf2 Kg7 22. Rag1 Kh6 23. R1g3 b5 24. Nf3 Rd8 25. h4 d4 26. cxd4 Bxf3 27. Kxf3 cxd4 28. h5 dxe3 29. Kxe3 1-0