will aksdal stretch the limits of algebraic notation?!

I think this is a winning endgame for me - and a draw at worst. it might've been more optimal for me to do 26...Qf6 so if he trades I get closer to the center instead of him. but I thought that might be greedy since ultimately I do want the queen trade since I'm up a pawn. I should be able to win this endgame

This is my first chess game in a long time and I'm really enjoying the battle

I was quite good when I was about 12 years old and have lots of medals for local stuff, but never fancied studying openings to step to the next level and have not played competitively in ~17 years being 29 now. I used a youtube video for advice on defending vs the queen's gambit for first 5 moves and have been flying solo since. I wonder if I could actually get to a decent level with a bit of work on openings.

Unless I am severely mistaken, this drops a second pawn after 24. Bg3 Qf6 (24. ...Qe2 25. Rd1) 25. Bxd7 Rxd7 26. Bxe5.

But I am definitely going to doublecheck this.

Holy ****, rtspurs is some kind of evil genius. Well, either that, or he just blundered.
First of all, after 24. Bg3 Qd2, 25. Rd1 is met with 25. ...Rc1. Which, actually, is not the end of the world for me: 26. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 27. Bf1.



He cannot play Nc5 after 27. ...exd4 28. Rxd4, and 28. ...Qc5 is met with 29. Bf2. Sure, he will eventually place his Knight in e5, but I still have an extra pawn and the pair of Bishops.

On the other hand, if I play 25. Bxd7, hoping for 25. ...Rxd7 26. Bxe5, I receive 26. ...Rc2! 27. Bh3 g4!



Obviously, 28. hxg4 is followed by 28. ...Bxe4.

I can play 27. Bf2 instead of 27. Bh3, but after 27. ...Rxd7, the only move to defend b2 is 28. Ra2, which is not only is ugly as hell, but also drops the pawn in d4.

So pending further analysis, I will have to play 25. Rd1.

I have just realized that White can actually defend in the position after 28. ...Be4. I was about to happily play 25. Bxd7, but then I realized that after 25. ...Bxd7 I cannot play 26. Bxe5 for obvious reasons. Welp.

I could play 26. dxe5, but after 26. ...Rc2 27. Rf2 Rxb2 I am left with only one extra pawn, and I do not want to subject myself to such suffering for just a pawn. Hence, the text.