The winning line is here:

( 23. Rg1 Qxg1+ 24. Rxg1 Rxg1+ 25. Kxg1 Rd1# )

Fucked up there at 50.
Can't seem to find a final sequence. That bishop was a right pest in the middle so I'd considered taking it and possibly your other rook in a couple of moves by playing rg4 at 47. You'd still have material advantage though & would probably win form there.

I know you were trying to win, but you over-estimated your chances. You could have had a draw after 38 moves, just keep putting the rook on h6 threatening mate and there's nothing I can do but repeat moves. If I moved the king to e8 then you could move your other rook to g7 and threaten mate there. Either way, I can't do anything other than move the king backwards and forwards to avoid mate.

wake_up_bomb wrote:
Yeh I saw the draw as well but I'd hoped to either bully you into a poor position or to win the rook in the corner somehow. It's difficult when you're a main piece down so I was just pleased to be able to gain an attacking position.

Space Bandit wrote: The pawn moves were really good, I didn't see that at all. The bishop was just a very useful piece on the long diagonal.

At last!

Well done. I could have carried on in the hope of an error, but it would have been a bit unsporting, and highly unlikely that you would have made one, when you were completely winning in every possible variation. I could have resigned after blundering my queen, but I didn't think you'd want to win that way, so I did my best to rectify the situation.

You don't get a draw quite so easily in the other game, though, you have to suffer now!

If you hadn't made that early mistake, you'd probably have won again! Considering we've had 15 or whatever games, I think that's the only game changing blunder you've made, which is pretty impressive.
I'm sure you'll sneak a way through eventually in the other game as your position is slightly better, we'll have to see how it goes.

It was just sloppy play, it just goes to show that you have to pay attention in every position. Your play's improved a hell of a lot now you've had some practice so I'm sure we'll have much closer games from now on.

wake_up_bomb wrote:
I've not played for literally years so I've been very rusty!
Have you subscribed to the site btw? I noticed that you've used more than 1 conditional move a few times whereas that's all it will allow me.

Space Bandit wrote: No, are you sure you're doing it correctly? It lets me make as many as I want seemingly, and to enter different lines as well.

wake_up_bomb wrote:
It says when I go to try to create a 2nd conditional move that it requires membership upgrade.
I've not tried the new lines thing actually, I'll have a look at that,

Ok, I give up in that one now. I played a couple of poor moves in the ending there & there was no way back.
I thought at one point you might pen yourself in or I might get a stalemate. Nevermind.... another notch on your bedpost!

I have seen that message about only being able to make one conditional move, but it just seems to have gone away now! I'm not sure why, but I can seemingly make as many as I want.

Well played again. I took a gamble there sacrificing the rook for the knight but it gave me a very strong position and I thought I'd be able to find a mating move from there, but your counter-attacking play saw it off & I knew once the queen sacrifice was inevitable I would lose my position.

I think that was the best game we've played, you had a dangerous attack and I had to defend quite accurately. I thought that before I looked up the analysis, but the analysis confirms it, just one blunder. I've underlined where I think this is, you did drop a piece at one point which I missed. Apart from that it was a very good quality game, I had to tread very carefully for at least a dozen moves.

Inaccuracies: 8 = 22.2% of moves
Mistakes: 7 = 19.4% of moves
Blunders: 1 = 2.8% of moves

1. e4 c6?! ( 1... d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. dxe6 Bxe6 5. Nc3 Nc6 ) ( 1... c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Na6 4. Nf3 Nh6 5. Bd3 Nb4 ) 2. Ne2 d5 3. e5 Bf5?! ( 3... f6 4. d4 fxe5 5. dxe5 Nd7 6. f4 Nc5 7. Be3 ) ( 3... Bf5 4. Ng3 Bg6 5. d4 f6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 fxe5 8. dxe5 ) 4. d4 e6 5. c3 Nd7 6. Ng3 Bg6 7. Be3 Qc7?! ( 7... f6 8. f4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Nh6 10. Be2 O-O-O 11. O-O Kb8 ) ( 7... Qc7 8. Nd2 f6 9. f4 Nh6 10. Be2 Be7 11. Qa4 ) 8. Be2 c5?! ( 8... f6 9. f4 Nh6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. Bh5 Bd3 13. Rf2 ) ( 8... c5 9. O-O f6 10. f4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qc2 12. Qxc2 Bxc2 ) 9. O-O h5?! ( 9... Qb6 10. Qd2 c4 11. a4 Ne7 12. Na3 f6 13. f4 Nc6 ) ( 9... h5 10. Bxh5 Bxh5 11. Nxh5 Qb6 12. b3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Ne7 ) 10. Bb5? ( 10. Nxh5 Qb6 11. b3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Rc8 13. Nd2 Ne7 ) ( 10. Bb5 h4 11. Ne2 h3 12. g3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Bc2 14. Qd2 Be4 ) 10... O-O-O?! ( 10... Ne7 11. Na3 h4 12. Ne2 h3 13. g3 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nc6 ) ( 10... O-O-O 11. Ne2 Kb8 12. Nf4 Bf5 13. Na3 Qa5 14. Qa4 ) 11. Qa4 Kb8 12. Nd2 Nb6 13. Qd1 cxd4? ( 13... h4 14. Ne2 a6 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Ba4 Ne7 ) ( 13... cxd4 14. cxd4 Bc2 15. Qf3 f6 16. Rfc1 h4 17. Nh5 fxe5 18. dxe5 ) 14. Bxd4 Be7?! ( 14... Ne7 15. h4 Nc6 16. Re1 Be7 17. Nf3 Nc4 18. Bxc4 dxc4 ) ( 14... Be7 15. Be2 f6 16. f4 h4 17. Nh5 h3 18. g3 fxe5 ) 15. a4 Nd7 16. a5 Nxe5 17. Qe2 Bf6 18. a6 b6 19. Rac1? ( 19. f4 Ng4 20. h3 h4 21. Qxg4 hxg3 22. Nf3 Bxd4+ ) ( 19. Rac1 h4 20. Nh1 Ne7 21. f4 N5c6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Rce1 ) 19... Qd6? ( 19... h4 20. Nh1 Nd7 21. f4 Ne7 22. Bxd7 Rxd7 23. Bxf6 gxf6 ) ( 19... Qd6 20. Rce1 Nc6 21. Bxc6 Qxc6 22. Be5+ Ka8 23. Nf3 Nh6 24. Nd4 ) 20. c4? ( 20. f4 Ng4 21. h3 h4 22. Qxg4 hxg3 23. Nf3 Bxd4+ ) ( 20. c4 Nd3 21. c5 bxc5 22. Bxd3 Bxd3 23. Qxd3 Bxd4 24. Qb5+ Qb6 ) 20... dxc4? ( 20... Nd3 21. c5 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 Qc7 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. b4 ) ( 20... dxc4 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 22. Qxc4 Qc5 23. Qxc5 bxc5 24. Nde4 h4 ) 21. Qe3?? ( 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 22. Qxc4 Qc5 23. Qe2 Qd5 24. Nde4 h4 25. Bc6 Qd3 26. Rfd1 Qxe2 27. Rxd8+ ) ( 21. Qe3 Qxd4 22. Qxd4 Rxd4 23. Nxc4 Nxc4 24. Bxc4 h4 25. Ne2 Rd2 ) 21... Nd3?? ( 21... Qxd4 22. Qxd4 Rxd4 23. Nxc4 Nxc4 24. Bxc4 h4 25. Ne2 Rd2 ) ( 21... Nd3 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. Rxc4 Nxb2 24. Qf3 Qd5 25. Rc3 Qxf3 26. Nxf3 ) 22. Qf3 Qe7?! ( 22... Qd5 23. Rxc4 Nxb2 24. Bxb2 Qxf3 25. Nxf3 Bxb2 26. Rb4 Bc3 ) ( 22... Qe7 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Nxc4 Nxc1 25. Rxc1 h4 26. Ne4 Qb4 ) 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Rc2?? ( 24. Rxc4 Nxb2 25. Rc6 Rd5 26. Bc4 Nxc4 27. Nxc4 h4 28. Ne2 Qe8 ) ( 24. Rc2 h4 25. Nxc4 hxg3 26. Qxg3+ Qc7 27. Qxc7+ Kxc7 28. Ne5+ ) 24... Nc5 25. Rxc4 Rxd2 26. Rfc1?? ( 26. b4 Nd3 27. Qe3 Ra2 28. Rd4 h4 29. Bc4 Ra3 30. Bxd3 Rxd3 31. Rxd3 Bxd3 32. Qxd3 ) ( 26. Rfc1 Rxb2 27. Ba4 h4 28. Qc3 Rb1 29. Rxb1 Bxb1 30. Ne2 Qd6 ) 26... Rhd8? ( 26... Rxb2 27. Ba4 h4 28. Qc3 Rb1 29. Rxb1 Bxb1 30. Ne2 ) ( 26... Rhd8 27. b4 R8d3 28. Qc6 Rd1+ 29. Nf1 Rd6 30. Qf3 ) 27. Rxc5? ( 27. b4 R8d3 28. Qf4+ e5 29. Qg5 Rd1+ 30. Nf1 Rxc1 ) ( 27. Rxc5 bxc5 28. Qb3 Qc7 29. Nf1 R2d4 30. Bc4+ Ka8 31. Ng3 h4 ) 27... bxc5 28. Qb3 Nd5? ( 28... Qc7 29. Nf1 R2d4 30. Bc4+ Ka8 31. Be2 Be4 32. Qa3 Ng4 ) ( 28... Nd5 29. Bd3+ Nb4 30. Bxg6 fxg6 31. Ne4 Rc2 32. Re1 ) 29. Bc6+ Nb6? ( 29... Nb4 30. Bf3 R8d4 31. Qa4 Qd7 32. Qa3 h4 33. Nf1 Rc2 ) ( 29... Nb6 30. Nf1 R2d3 31. Qc2 R3d4 32. Qc3 Bd3 33. Qa3 Rb4 ) 30. Qf3?? ( 30. Nf1 R2d3 31. Qa2 Qg5 32. Qa1 R3d4 33. Ne3 Be4 34. Bxe4 Rxe4 ) ( 30. Qf3 R8d3 31. Nf5 exf5 32. Qf4+ Qd6 33. g3 Qxf4 34. gxf4 c4 ) 30... R8d3 31. Qf4+ Qd6? ( 31... e5 32. Re1 Rd1 33. Qe3 Rxe3 34. Rxd1 Rb3 35. Rd2 ) ( 31... Qd6 32. Qxd6+ Rxd6 33. Bf3 h4 34. Nh5 Bxh5 35. Bxh5 ) 32. Qxd6+ Rxd6 33. Bb7?? ( 33. Nf1 Rxb2 34. Rxc5 Bd3 35. Rc1 Bxa6 36. Be8 Bxf1 37. Kxf1 ) ( 33. Bb7 Rd1+ 34. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 35. Nf1 Bd3 36. g4 Rxf1+ 37. Kg2 ) 33... Rd1+ 34. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 35. Nf1 Bd3 36. h3 Rxf1+ ( 36... Rxf1+ 37. Kh2 Rxf2 38. b3 Rb2 39. Bf3 h4 40. Bh5 g6 41. Bd1 )

I'm sure there was a mate in there somewhere. That's a few games we've had now where I've held one move from mate but your counterattack has won the position. The computer analysis is somewhat flawed as it assumes that your opponent will make the perfect move, or the move that you identify your opponent should make as a result. It just doesn't work like that!

Space Bandit wrote: There wasn't a mate actually. I thought I'd defended quite soundly at the time, I really gave it a lot of attention because that pawn was very dangerous and my king position was quite insecure. And if you look at the computer analysis, there are no forced mates at all, and trust me, computers always see these! You can search for the checkmate symbol (#), and you'll find that there isn't one, so there were no mates ever for either side. Also that would have been another blunder. I'm sure that was the most accurate game we've played.

Yeh I realised that after I'd scanned it & saw no #.
I'll carry on the new games tomorrow am a bit caned now!

Terrible opening that just wasn't concentrating!