End game

This game was played against a computer with 2100 rating on chessmaster.

I had white. Time was 10min for each side. I wanted more time but forgot to set it higher. White lost on time. Opening was Center counter game/Miesis-Kotroc gambit up to 6. Bd2 (note that I did not know which opening I was playing).

 This is the game as it was played. Are there any major mistakes? Feel free to point out dubious moves, you can offer a different move and I will analyze it. 

I had chessmaster analyze it and it found 0% error, agrees with me on all move and disgree with black on only 1 move. With 0.00% total error for both sides. How ever I doubt chessmaster is right, there are probably more mistakes on both sides. It also does not offer me a great deal of annotations.

 

 Also, check out where the game ends. I am one pawn up, he has a passed a pawn and my king is far. I have pawn majority on king side but my g pawns are doubled. Is it balanced or does one side have a serious advantage?  Feel free to offer continuation.

 

Opening is a bit nonstandard. I would prefer 7 Bd3 to Bc4 after this sequence of moves, taking away the best square f5 (in this opening) from the Black bishop.

 I do not like 10 a3. This capture is something Black intends to play anyway, without being prompted. How about castling instead.

If 12 Bh4, then ...Qa5 is very messy. You have to be willing to sacrifice the c3 pawn, because 13 Qd2 leads to a problem after...Ne4. I think the move you played is preferable.

 23. Qe2 threatened Rxa6.

29. cxb4. This capture does not seem to benefit White. What about 29 c4 or 29 g5. Similarly, 31 gxf5 looks suboptimal. How about keeping the queens on for the moment with 31 Qc3. I suspect the position after 32...Rxd4 gives Black more chances to draw.

 

 Thanks for the input. It is appreciated.

carealestate wrote:

29. cxb4. This capture does not seem to benefit White. What about 29 c4 or 29 g5. Similarly, 31 gxf5 looks suboptimal. How about keeping the queens on for the moment with 31 Qc3. I suspect the position after 32...Rxd4 gives Black more chances to draw.

 

---

 

 Yea I had second thoughts about that but at that momment I was worried by the idea of allowing black to have 2 passed pawn that could be very soon connected while having 2 rooks behind them. Is there a move refuting this idea for black?

I will check your suggested moves once I have little more time. 

Black's rook is ill positioned in front of his distant passed pawn instead of behind it. Now White will gain an advantage with 36. Ra6. Now if Black's rook leaves the rook file, his precious passed pawn is lost; while if he tries to attack White's vulnerable pawn with 36. ... Re4, White's capture of the rook pawn will at the same time defend his own. Therefore Black will have to move his rook up the file, so as to advance the pawn, so as to leave the file with a threat that will not automatically be met by the pawn's capture. This gives White 2 precious tempi, two moves to improve his position further on the kingside. Black's natural move is 36. ...Ra3 to prevent the advance of the g pawn; but this would allow the King to advance to h4, where the g-pawn can shield him from any more lateral checks. If Black tries 36. ...Ra1 to attack White from the rear, then 37. g4 makes the check fruitless. Then if 37. ...a4, White can post his King at g3, ready to come to the defence of the e-pawn and to advance ultimately to g5 to support the advance of the rook pawn and force Black away from defense of his f pawn, which can be attacked by White's rook: one reason you want your rook behind a passed pawn is that you can attack in two directions at once. So I would have to say a decided advantage for White.

That's interesting Riccardo, but after 36.Ra6 isn't black just buying for that draw with 36...Kh6 and if 37.g4 then 37...Kg5 and the both the g4 and h5 pawns will leave the board.  As for 37.Rf7 in response to 36...Kh6 then 37...Kxh5 38.Rxf7 Re4 should be a fairly easy draw for black as well as he picks up the e5 pawn.  As for black, he doesn't really want to give up his a-pawn but he really has nothing else better to do so why to win with an increasingly inferior position when one can just exchange all the pawns and have a nice easy drawn rook ending?  I don't see much for white to against this.

That's just the kind of oversight that causes me to lose games, erad1288. I believe you are right.

Manipulated wrote:

 Thanks for the input. It is appreciated.

carealestate wrote:

29. cxb4. This capture does not seem to benefit White. What about 29 c4 or 29 g5. Similarly, 31 gxf5 looks suboptimal. How about keeping the queens on for the moment with 31 Qc3. I suspect the position after 32...Rxd4 gives Black more chances to draw.

 

---

 

 Yea I had second thoughts about that but at that momment I was worried by the idea of allowing black to have 2 passed pawn that could be very soon connected while having 2 rooks behind them. Is there a move refuting this idea for black?

I will check your suggested moves once I have little more time. 

---

At move 29 the move I would choose is 29 g5. The idea is to create threats against the Black king (Rf6, and g6) and/or create passed pawns in the center for White. If White can play g6, threats are possible like Qe4/Rxg6.

You pointed out the possibility of Black's passed pawns; I think White needs to combat this with strong piece activity. Also, a defensive measure in some lines will be Qe3, preventing the Black queen from infiltrating at e4, and allowing White to play Rf6 and g6 in relative safety.