[Event "ICS rated standard match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2003.06.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "somethinghere"]
[Black "ashland"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B34"]
[WhiteElo "1585"]
[BlackElo "2154"]
[Annotator "somethinghere, Holzi"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]

{Holzi: Hi, I've had a look at this game. The main theme throughout the entire
game is the contrast of black's knights against white's bishops and weakened
pawn structure. Both sides have the advantage throughout the game, until in
the endgame white eventually blunders a bishop away.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 {Somethinghere: I am fairly competent with the
sicilian although I do have more trouble than with more traditional e4
openings, on this move I normally protect the knight with Be3. In this case I
retreated to try and get a hole in the Kingside's darksquares Holzi: Well, if
black does actually play in the risky way he picks in the game you get just
that, but of course black could just keep on playing "normally".} 6. Nb3 Bxc3+
{Holzi: This is one of the extra options you allow black by playing 6.Nb3, but
this move is also rather double-edged for black, because you get the pair of
bishops.} (6... Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8. Be3 d6 {Holzi: would be a standard classical
dragon variation position (and hence is quite thoroughly analysed).} (8... a5 {
Holzi: is an attempt to hold the d-pawn back and hopes to play d7-d5 at some
point in the future, e.g.} 9. a4 Nb4 {black will either achieve d7-d5 or white
will have to play some odd moves to prevent it.})) 7. bxc3 Nf6 8. Bd3 {
Somethinghere: I made this move to allow castle kingside since black could
easily rush me since I'm commited to either it or the center with my open
queenside. I like how taking the bishop will solidify my pawn structure. Holzi:
Preparing to castle certainly makes a lot of sense here, Bd3 does that and
protects the e4 pawn at the same time. On the other hand the bishop isn't
terribly active on d3, for that reason one might at least consider the
alternatives.} (8. Bc4 {
Holzi: This is one possible alternative to Bd3. Black has several options.}
8... Ne5 (8... Nxe4 {Holzi: doesn't actually win a pawn:} 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.
Qd5+) 9. Be2 {Holzi: and the Ne5 might turn out to help white, who might gain
a tempo when playing f2-f4 later.}) (8. Bh6 {
Holzi: This rather crazy variation might also be feasible.} 8... Nxe4 9. Bd3
Nxc3 10. Qd2 Nd5 {
White certainly has a clear developement lead, while black has grabbed 2 pawns.
}) 8... d5 9. f3 {Somethingthere: I made this move in order to hold my center.
Without the darksquare bishop and black's queen being fenced in, especially on
the kingside dark squares, I thought this would be a way to hold the center.
Holzi: While it's certainly not a "real" mistake, I don't think I like this
move too much, it seems the bishop on d3 gets a bit blocked in, white ends up
having another weakness in his pawn structure (the pawn e4) and does not
actually get to use the f-file.} (9. exd5 {Holzi: has definitely got to be
considered, opening up the game should after all help white with activating
his bishops.} 9... Qxd5 10. O-O Bf5 (10... O-O 11. c4 Qh5 12. Qxh5 Nxh5 13. Re1
Re8 {Holzi: and white has the bishops for the doubled pawns.}) 11. c4 Qd7 12.
Nc5 Qc8 13. Bh6 Ng4 14. Bg7 Rg8 15. Bc3 Qc7 16. g3 O-O-O 17. Rb1 b6 18. Na6 Qb7
{Holzi: This is an analysis by Suba that Silma quotes (without a lot of
commentary) in "Winning with the Sicilian".}) 9... dxe4 10. fxe4 {Holzi: Here
I must say that I would probably prefer the black pieces due to the rather
akward looking white pawn structure and the somewhat inactive bishop on d3.}
10... Bg4 11. Qd2 {Somethingthere: I felt this was forced since Be2 leads to
trading down and with my pawn structure I decided this was decidedly bad.
Holzi: Your decision was entirely correct, not only from a strategic point of
view, but also because of the immediate tactical problems involved with 11.Be2
(see following variation).} (11. Be2 Qxd1+ 12. Kxd1 O-O-O+ 13. Nd2 Ne5 14.
Bxg4+ Nfxg4 15. Ke2 f5 16. exf5 (16. Ba3 Rxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Nc4+ {
is obviously disasterous.}) 16... gxf5 17. Nf3 Nc6 18. Re1 Rhg8 19. Kf1 e5 20.
h3 e4 {Holzi: is an example of how problematic white situation would be after
the mistake 11.Be2 (which you correctly avoided).}) 11... Qb6 {Somethingthere:
I wasn't sure if this move was aggressive or an attempt to prepare to castle
on the queenside. Probably both I suppose. Holzi: Castling queenside has to be
rather suicidal for black (half-open b-file, a white bishop about to turn up
on e3, etc.), unless he can prepare sufficient counter chances first (that
would probably require opening a few lines on the kingside - e.g. the g-file).
I would guess black mostly meant to make castling difficult for white. However
you found a good plan (Qf4 followed by Be3) to counter that, so quite possibly
black should have done something else (e.g. 0-0 or playing the somewhat more
solid move Qc7 or possibly Ne5).} 12. Qf4 {Somethingthere: This move looked
quite strong. It threatens the bishop since e5 can easily deflect the knight
on f6. I knew black would spot this but I felt black had no strong response to
this move while I'd be able to play Be3, allowing castling on the kingside
without trading off the queens. I still feel black would be better off without
them. Holzi: I agree. The black queen on b6 turns out to be rather useless and
black would probably very happy to enter an endgame at this point.} 12... Be6 {
Holzi: As you said, it's quite difficult to find a good square for this bishop,
so quite possibly one should have considered alternatives.} (12... g5 {
Holzi: If black wanted to castle queenside (as you suggested he might have)
then he could have played this move here. It seems rather dubious andincorrect,
but at least white can't really take this pawn immediately. Play could have
continued with e.g.} 13. Qg3 h5 14. Bxg5 Rg8 15. Bxf6 exf6 16. h3 h4 17. Qxh4
Qe3+ 18. Kf1 Be6 19. Re1 Qb6 20. Qxf6 {Holzi: and white has to be a bit better
due to his 3 extra pawns and since black hasn't managed to castle queenside in
time.}) 13. Be3 {Somethingthere: The real plan with Qf4. Black's queen is in
what looks to me like a bad state while I am taking control of the dark
squares. Holzi: Yes, your control over the dark squares is quite strong, which
was a risk black had to be willing to take when he played Bxc3. It seems like
he didn't play entirely accurately after that and hence didn't get enough
compensation for the pair of bishops he surrendered to you.} 13... Nh5 14. Qf2
{Somethinghere: I saw this move when I originally played Qf4. I wasn't too
worried about it then, and I still didn't feel it was a very strong move for
black. Looking at black's position it's clear it is. There were
manyinteresting exchanges, I didn't see anything other than being able to get
pawns on e4 and d4 while exchanging queens. Bxb6 Nxf4 Bd4 Nxd4 cxd4. This may
have been better, perhaps my thirst for blood got the best of me, but I still
liked my attacking chances. Holzi: The move you played in the game looks very
sensible. f2 is a good square for the queen and makes Nh5 look a bit pointless.
} (14. Bxb6 Nxf4 15. Bd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 {Holzi: The variation you suggest
doesn't look especially good for white to me, black can e.g. just take the
pawn on g2.} 16... Nxg2+ {Holzi: Now he's a pawn up and you don't have the
pair of bishops anymore. The way you played in the game looks much better than
this.}) 14... Qc7 15. Nc5 {Somethinghere: I just wanted to plant a thorn in
black's queenside. If black wanted to quickly rid himself of this knight he
would have to play b6. I was thinking ...b6 Nxe6 fxe6 Bb5. This would
eliminate any thoughts of going to the queenside. I also Was thinking about
Rb1. I think this move was too agressive in retrospect. Rb1 or 0-0 may very
well have been stronger since I could make this move later with at least the
same oomph.} (15. O-O O-O 16. Nc5 Ne5 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Qh4 {Holzi: looks less
risky for white - on the other hand, you still had the opportunity to castle
later in the game (and to get into the same variation I've given here).}) 15...
Ne5 16. Bd4 {Somethinghere: Following my plan of dominating the dark squares
and pinning the knight. The intermediate move Nxe6 was tempting but I decided
I'dwait until it was forced. I felt I was winning here.} (16. O-O {
Holzi: Once more this seems like quite a good and safe move.}) (16. Rb1 {
Holzi: looks very appealing.} 16... b6 17. Nxe6 {Holzi: and after the check on
b5 that is to follow white would be clearly better, hence black plays} 17...
Nxd3+ 18. cxd3 fxe6 19. O-O {Holzi: White has everything he could wish for -
the black position is full of weaknesses and white has a solid center plus the
advantage of bishop versus knight.}) 16... Ng4 $2 {Holzi: This move was a
blunder by your opponent, because you can actually remove your queen from f2
with tempo and then the rook on h8 will actually be lost.} (16... O-O {
Holzi: had to be played. The black king just can't remain in the centreforever.
} 17. O-O {Holzi: and we are back in the type of position I mentioned in
previous variations. White is better and black has to be quite careful, e.g.}
17... Ng4 {leads to problems:} 18. Qh4 Bc8 19. Be2 Nhf6 20. e5 Nxe5 21. Qf4 {
Holzi: and white would be winning.}) 17. Qd2 {Somethinghere: I wanted some
clout on f4. I didn't want to play Qe2 and allow Nf4 allowing black to move
back towards the center. Holzi: Here you could have exploited the rather
dubious arrangement of the black pieces + the fact that his king has remained
in the centre for too long. If one looks at the position one spots rather
immediately that the black setup looks rather suspicious, so it's quite
possibly a good idea to look for a tactical solution. In the game black gets
away with his play and has a rather pleasant position after casteling on the
next move.} (17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Bb5+ Kd8 19. Qd2 $1 {Holzi: I guess that was
the move you didn't see, it's obvious now that black is lost.} 19... Kc8 20.
Bxh8 {Holzi: and white is totally winning.}) 17... O-O {Holzi: Finally black
castles and now he actually enjoys a quite good and active position. Black's
main advantage however is the white pawn structure and the fact that it's
quite difficult to find a good place for white's king.} 18. h3 {Somethinghere:
I think this was my dumbest move of the game. I wanted to expel these knights
but missed Qh3. I feel that even if this move was not possible 0-0 was still
probably better. Holzi: 0-0 isn't possible for white here (Qxh2#) and castling
queenside isn't particularly feasible either. As you say getting rid of the
knight on g4 would be extremely useful for white. Since h3 doesn't look like
the ideal way of going about that, Be2 looks logical.} (18. Be2 {Holzi: tries
to either eliminate the knight on g4 or to force black into tangling up his
pieces.} 18... Bc8 {Holzi: might actually be black's best, but obviously
doesn't look very appealing.} (18... Nxh2 {Holzi: fails horribly, because after
} 19. Bxh5 {
black can't take the piece back due to the answer Qg5+ followed by mate.}) (
18... Nhf6 19. Qg5 Bc8 20. e5 h6 21. Qh4 Nxe5 22. Qg3 b6 23. Qxe5 Qxe5 24. Bxe5
bxc5 25. Bf3 {Holzi: I don't think black would have sufficient compensation
for the exchange he will have to give up.}) 19. e5 {
Holzi: seems important to keep black from playing e7-e5 himself later.} (19.
Bxg4 Bxg4 20. Qg5 e5 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Bxe5 Rfe8 {
Holzi: looks unpleasant for white.}) 19... Nxe5 (19... b6 20. Nd3 Bf5 21. O-O {
Holzi: looks very good for white.}) 20. Bxh5 gxh5 21. Qf4 f6 22. O-O Qc6 {
Holzi: is a rather crazy variation and end position. But this certainly seems
to offer chances for white rather than for black, even if neither 18.h3 nor 18.
Be2 seem to lead to a decisive advantage for either side.}) 18... Qg3+ 19. Kd1
Ngf6 20. Rf1 {Somethinghere: I want a piece of the f4 square (this square
keeps popping up :( ). I want to play Rf3 expelling the queen to distant land
away from the king. My other plan which I elected not to do since I like my
king's position was to run over to the queenside in a makeshift castle. Holzi:
It's quite difficult to say what white should do at the moment and one of the
the most obvious ways of improving the white position is indeed to play 20.Rf1.
The whole position is still quite double-edged and both sides definitely still
have chances.} 20... b6 (20... Ng7 {Holzi: Since I actually think your Nxe6 a
bit later was quite a good move, I suspect black chould have prepared for that
with Ng7. Now he could respond with with Ng7xe6 and would get a splendidly
placed knight on e6. However that would also have meant sacrificing the pawn
on b7 - yet, if white takes it then black also get the b-file for one of his
rooks.}) 21. Rf3 {Somethinghere: Why not continue with the plan? Holzi: Indeed.
} 21... Qh2 {Holzi: Eve n if it looks tempting to threaten things like Qh1+ it
would have been better to put the queen on a safe square such as c7. The queen
on h2 enables white to play g2-g4 later at the same time forcing the exchange
of queens.} 22. Nxe6 {Somethinghere: I think this was a big mistake. I was
somewhat worried about Bxa2 and was thinking of this bishop as a good
defensive piece when it's more like a crack head. This move also forces the
capture fxd6 which addsprotection to the knight and brings black's rook back
to life. Live and learn I suppose... Holzi: I'm not so sure this was wrong,
after all finally black also gets a weakness, even if he gets the f-file for
it. Also you don't loose any time moving the knight about - if you e.g.
retreated it to b3, then black could immediately hop in g3 with his knight,
now seriously threatening Qh1+, because he now has f1 under control.} 22...
fxe6 23. e5 {Somethinghere: In fairness I was running somewhat low on time
here. I was also planning to sac my bishop with Bxh6. I still think this had
some punch to it. This also blocked black's queen. I think the king run would
have probably been a good preparation move, still not really sure though.} (23.
g4 {Holzi: Would have been another sensible move. Either white gets a piece
for 3 pawns or forces the exchange of queens obtaining a clearly favourable
endgame - the existence of this possibility for white is a consequence of
black placing his queen on h2 instead of a safer square such as c7.} 23... Qh1+
(23... Qxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Ng7 25. Raf1 Nd7 26. Bc4 {Holzi: In this endgame white
has a space advantage, the pair of bishops and will win the pawn e6.}) 24. Rf1
Qxh3 25. gxh5 Nxe4 26. Qe2 Rxf1+ 27. Qxf1 Qxh5+ 28. Qe2 Qxe2+ 29. Kxe2 Nd6 {
Holzi: Black actually has 3 pawns for the piece, but white's pieces are
immensely active and he also has his extremely strong bishops. Certainly white
doesn't have to be too afraid of this.}) (23. Qg5 {Holzi: could be a better
move than 23.e5 for preparing an attack on the kingside. g3 isn't a feasible
place for a black knight anymore and there is little black can do. e4-e5 can
always be played later.}) 23... Nd5 24. Rxf8+ {Somethinghere: I was torn
between this and Kc1. I was also looking at Qh6 (the original plan for making
the move e5) but thought Qh1+ Rf1 Rxf1+ Bxf1 Qxf1+ looked fairly bleak for
white.} (24. Qh6 Qh1+ 25. Kd2 Qxg2+ 26. Be2 Rxf3 $19) (24. Kc1 Rxf3 25. gxf3
Qxh3 26. Kb2 Rf8 27. Be4 Ng3 $17) 24... Rxf8 25. Kc1 {Somethinghere: White's
king has a nice spot on the B2 square, safe from all the fireworks on the
kingside (whoever would have predicted this would be the safe side from the
first four moves?). Holzi: The white king might or might not be safe there,
but it costs a lot of time to even get him there and to be quite honest I'm
not entirely sure white will be entirely happy in the middlegame when his king
will probably easier to attack than black's king behind a still nearly intact
pawn structure.} (25. g4 {Holzi: could be a sensible idea in the sense of
damage limitation, because I don't think white's king will really find any
safe square and hence the middlegame with the queens on the board is quite
potentially dangerous for white.} 25... Qh1+ 26. Qe1 Qxe1+ 27. Kxe1 Nhf4 {
Holzi: Black's knights are quite splendid, but white's bishops still have some
potential, especially if e.g. a2-a4-a5 is played putting pressure on the black
queenside pawn and eventually increasing the bishops scope.}) 25... Nhf4 26.
Kb2 {Somethinghere: It looked to me like my original plan of a strong center
was coming true. Even now I still like this move.} (26. Be4 Nxh3 27. c4 Nc7 28.
Qe3 {Holzi: Might have been a better try, in this variation white's king
*might* (or might not) end up being vaguely safe on b2 and white still retains
some potential counter play.}) 26... Qxg2 {Somethingher e: This was actually a
shock to me. Seeing a decent looking endgame and no good squares for the queen
I decided why not trade. Holzi: Well, you are quite right about no good square
for the queen, but the endgame doesn't look especially appealing to me
(considering that you are a pawn down).} 27. Qxg2 Nxg2 28. Be4 {Somethinghere:
Wanting to win the doubled pawn while strengthening my central position Holzi:
I cannot see how you could (feasibly) win any of the black e-pawns. 28.Be4
also results in some annoying possibilities for black (like sending a knight
to c4). A lot of the white problems stem from the brilliant position of the
black knight on d5, which makes moves like 28...Nge3 etc. possible in the
first place.} (28. c4 {Holzi: would drive away the strong knight from d5.}
28... Ndf4 {Now} 29. Be4 {does indeed strengthen white's central position.
White might be able to draw from this sort of position.}) 28... Ngf4 {
Holzi: While threatening the pawn on h3 this doesn't really address white's
chances on the queenside at all. Getting a knight to c4 on the other hand
certainly would.} (28... Nge3 {Holzi: looks extremely good for black, he will
either get a knight outpost on c4, or something horriblelike} 29. Bd3 (29. Bxd5
Nxd5 {Holzi: is the only other way of denying black the c4 square, but white
is left with a bishop that is clearly inferior to black's knight - and black
has an extra pawn and the f-file...}) 29... Rf3 30. Rh1 Nf4 {
will happen to white.}) 29. c4 Nb4 (29... Nc7 {Holzi: would be an attempt at
doing something about white's 30.c5 possibiliy. Whether it's actually good is
difficult to tell.} 30. c5 Nxh3 {Black can grab this pawn, because white
doesn't actually threaten to win a pawn on b6.} 31. cxb6 axb6 {
White can't take on b6 due to the answer Rb8.} 32. a4 Rb8 {
Holzi: and black is still up in material, but white has some counter-play.})
30. a3 {Holzi: Black's knight on b4 seems rather inactive, so I'm not sure
it's an especially good idea to force it onto better squares.} (30. c5 Nbd5 31.
cxb6 Nxb6 {Holzi: Here white has a passed pawn on the c-file and the bishops
have some breathing space now. This may not be enough to compensate for the
missing pawn, but there is some clear compensation now.}) 30... Na6 {Somethingh
ere: Trying to win tempo moves. Here is where I think I first dropped the ball.
Rf1 hoping for more trading seems good since my bishops are so strong. I have
very little experience with this type of endgame. Holzi: Now the knight on a6
keeps you from playing c4-c5 for the moment. Trading the rooks would help you,
especially since your rook is currently totally inactive, his rook is quite
strong and his knight have slight problems with finding good outposts -
however there are several problems with Rf1, firstly the unprotected pawn on
h3 (the pawn by itself might not be decisive, but black would getting two free
pawns on the h and g-file, which could be very dangerous) and secondly
(something your opponent missed later in the game) the check Nf4-d3+ leaving
your rook en prise. But you definitely need to do something with your rook
soon, because you cannot afford to have it out of play.} 31. Bb7 {Somethinghere
: I am trying to trap his knight Holzi: If you have the time to do so, you
should check whether there is any real hope of doing so, I don't see that here.
As it turns out (though it's not easy to spot) this move gives another pawn
away.} 31... Nc7 {
Holzi: Black plays the "obvious" move, but could have won a pawn instead.} (
31... Nc5 $1 32. Bc6 (32. Bxc5 bxc5 {
Holzi: and you can't defend against both Rb8 and Nxh3.}) 32... Nxh3 {
Holzi: Black's passed pawns on the kingside are entirely winning for him.}) 32.
Rf1 $2 {Holzi: A blunder. Rh1 or h4 had to be played - you have to protect the
h-pawn, additionally your move allows the annoying Nd3+.} 32... Nxh3 {
Holzi: As you pointed out earlier the bishops get extremly strong after
trading the rooks and as a result white gets some counter chances on the
queenside. In fact it's not entirely clear whether even this second still
ensures black's victory... Winning the exchange with the other interesting
knight move however would have done so.} (32... Nd3+ {
Holzi: Is obviously totally winning for black.}) 33. Rxf8+ {
Somethinghere: The trade} 33... Kxf8 34. c5 bxc5 35. Bxc5 a6 36. Bb6 Ne8 $2 (
36... Nd5 {Holzi: simply had to be played. After 36....Ne8? white gets his
pawn back and has a dangerous passed pawn on the a-file.} 37. Ba7 g5 38. Bxa6
g4 39. c4 Ndf4 40. c5 g3 41. c6 Nd5 {Holzi: is a rather sharp endgame, but
would offer black much better chances than the game continuation.}) 37. Bxa6
Nf4 {Holzi: Doesn't give black much counter play, but white's passed pawn
together with his bishops seem quite impressive anyway. One of black's main
problems is that white can usually quite easily sacrifice a bishop for an
advandced passed pawn, but black finds it much more difficult to do the same
with one of his knights.} 38. Be3 {Holzi: The way you keep black's pawns from
advancing looks very good. Simply continuing pushing the a-pawn is another
obvious choice.} (38. a4 g5 39. Bb7 Ng6 40. Bd4 Nc7 41. a5 h5 42. a6 Nxa6 43.
Bxa6 g4 44. c4 h4 45. c5 h3 46. Bb7 h2 47. Bh1 g3 48. c6 Ke8 49. Bb6 Nxe5 50.
Kc3 Nf7 51. Kd3 Nd6 52. Bc7 Nf5 53. Ke2 {Holzi: I'm not entirely sure this is
all forced, but without any obvious errors black is now lost.}) 38... Nd5 (
38... Nc7 39. Bb7 Ncd5 {
Holzi: Might offer black more counter play, since his kingside pawns can move.}
) 39. Bh6+ Kf7 40. c4 Nb6 41. Bb5 Nc7 42. Kb3 Nc8 {Holzi: is a rather silly
move, I don't see any reason why black would really want to play it, certainly
it throws away a possible drawing chance.} (42... Nxb5 {Holzi: If this is
played at this point, black's king is back on the queenside in time to prevent
a promotion.} 43. cxb5 Ke8 44. a4 Kd8 45. a5 Nd7 46. a6 Kc7 47. Kb4 Nb6 {
Holzi: and white still needs to break through. I strongly suspect that he
actually can't.}) 43. Ba6 $2 {Somethinghere: 34 seconds left and I felt I need
a piece to win in that length of time. I am aware this is a bad move ;-) I
talked to black (Ashland) the game and he said he was going to sac his g pawn.
I am not sure how this would have turned out but I still like white's chances.
I still feel I let victory slip away. When I was in good position I made poor
moves since I couldn't find good ones. Holzi: You are right, especially in the
endgame you had a winning position for quite a long time. Instead of 43. Ba6
you could have continued to do so with e.g. Be3.} (43. Be3 {
Holzi: Prepares the advance of the a-pawn.} 43... h5 (43... Nxb5 {
Holzi: Here it's too late for that.} 44. cxb5 Ke8 45. b6 Nxb6 46. Bxb6 {
White will obviously win.}) 44. a4 h4 45. a5 h3 46. Bc6 {
Holzi: is quite hopeless for black.}) 43... Nxa6 {somethinghere resigns Holzi:
This was a rather complicated and unbalanced game, the type of position that
arises from dynamic openings like the sicillian. You certainly haven't lost
this game, because your opponent played much better than you, but rather
because he played reasonably well and eventually you made the decisive error
blundering the bishop. Black gave up his dark squared bishop up to weaken the
white pawn structure, but in compensation white had his two bishops. While
those weren't always especially strong, they eventually totally dominated the
knights in the endgame (one of the risks black had to accept when playing Bxc3)
. It is very difficult to tell, where exactly black got into a losing position
- certainly from a practical point of view white already had excellent chances
after black took the pawn on h3. When one looks at the opening, both sides
committed several small inaccuracies and there was the big chance for you on
move 17, but in the end it just added up to a small advantage for black.
Nothing really decisive had happened until you gave away the g2 pawn for free.
Except for the occasional tactical slip (like 32.Rf1?) and missing the
occasional tactical chance for yourself (17.Nxe6!) you played the game quite
well, usually you seemed to have a good idea of what you should do
strategically, but sometimes you didn't seem to be watching your opponents
options closely enough. A lot of strong players think that one of the things
resulting in a great improvement in playing strength is analysing tactical
positions on your own (writing down the variations etc.) and then comparing
the results with the annotations of strong players. That way one hopefully
learns to consider all options of both sides and to assess very clearly which
plans can be carried out tactically. I hope my review helps.} 0-1

