Introductions & a lesson in losing endgames

Welcome to my chess journey

Recently I got pulled back into the chess rabbit-hole in a way I never would have imagined and something I've never been particularly strong at is self-analyzing games. My intent is to use this blog as a sort of accountability and documentation tool to encourage better analysis of my games and track my progress over time. Maybe someone else will even find it useful 🤷🏻‍♂️.

Perfecting the art of losing a won game

This morning I had a game that particularly resonated with me. I know that endgames are not my strong suit, but in this game I correctly identified what I needed to do, then promptly got caught off guard by my opponent's move (31. ... Bg3) and missed Rf4 to continue holding my winning position.

TerabyteTiger (1507) vs. haczikotenpies (1519)

10+0 Online Rapid

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 d6

3. d4 Bg4

4. dxe5 Bxf3

5. gxf3 Nc6

6. exd6 Bxd6

7. Nc3 Qf6

8. Nd5 Qd8

9. Bb5 Ne7

10. Rg1 O-O

11. Bh6 Ng6

12. Be3 Nce5

13. f4 c6

14. fxe5 Bxe5

15. Bd3 cxd5

16. exd5 Qxd5

17. c3 Rad8

18. Bxg6 Qxd1+

19. Rxd1 Rxd1+

20. Kxd1 fxg6

21. Bxa7 Rxf2

22. Bxf2 Bxh2

23. Rf1 h5

24. Bh4 Kh7

25. Bg5 Bg3

26. Rf7 h4

27. Rxb7 h3

28. Rf7 Bd6

29. a4 Bc5

30. Ke2 h2

31. Rf1 Bg1

32. Be3 h1=Q

33. Rxg1 Qh5+

34. Kf1 Qf3+

35. Bf2 Qd3+

36. Kg2 Qe4+

37. Kf1 Qxa4

38. Rh1+ Kg8

39. Bd4 Qa1+

40. Kg2 Qxb2+

41. Kf3 Qb7+

42. Kg3

What should have happened

If I hadn't been thrown off so much by the bishop move, I might have found: