[Event "BCC Championship"] [Site "BCC"] [Date "2016.04.07"] [Round "1"] [White "James Watson"] [Black "Michael Tausz"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1802"] [BlackElo "1433"] [ECO "A51"] [Opening "Budapest: 3.e3"] {JW; was going to upload this once I'd had a chance to go through the game properly but While its up I'll add some quick comments while on break at work} 1.d4 {MT to JB: Jamie, I just saw you put your game with Harrison up, with a heartfelt comment at the end. That made me rethink and put up this one, too, as all I wanted to do before was just forget it as soon as possible. I certainly also doubted whether chess is doing me any good after this last minute debacle... Welcome to the club!} Nf6 2.c4 e5 {MT: Last time I tried this against JW, I hung a knight after a few moves... J} 3.e3 {MT: Seems a boring response... JW: typically I'd just accept as it's the best move, but some lines can be reasonably equal and on this particular night I wanted to play something different that'd keep more pieces on} exd4 4.exd4 d5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.h3 Qe7+ {MT: Seems like Black came out of the opening perfectly fine.} 8.Be3 Be6 9.c5 {I'm not certain about this decsision and suspect it's not the most challenging way for white to play, I was just expecting my black to not have the necessary expierence to capitalise on the more subtle set backs to this sort of play} Ne4 {MT: Seems like Black is doing fine here.} 10.Qb3 O-O 11.Bd3 Qd7 {MT: I was eyeing h3, and the black Queen is in the diagonal of Be6. But} 12.O-O Nxc3 {JW: personally thought Bxc3 was better} 13.bxc3 Bxc5!? {MT: I did see that h7 is on, too, but thought it might just be an exchange operation in the end. JW: I'm convinced this is a ? Move aside from several ways white can get the pawn back on h7 (Qc2, Bxh7+, Ng5) dxc5 might just be good. Qd1 also briefly crossed my mind thinking about some sort of Greek gift except it doesn't quite work} 14.Ng5 {MT: Justified or not, I was more worried of Qb1 (h7 and b7 are still on).} Be7 {MT: Is Bd6 better? JW:Be7 seems correct} 15.Nxh7 {MT: I expected Bxh7. There are a couple of different ideas, another one I considered is Bch7+ Kh8 Bb1 intending a lights quite battery} Bxh3 {JW: I only saw this after playing Nxh7} 16.gxh3 {JW: I missed Bd6 when playing this.} Qxh3 17.Qd1 {JW: Looking now with fresh eyes this is an obvious blunder as the simple Qxd5 looks like an easy win as it solves all whites problems. I have a feeling I may have already planned it several moves prior as I recall some line where black can't move the f pawn due to the pin after an (unsound) sac. Bf4 also seems like an easy win but I suspect I forgot I can respond Bg3 to ...Qg4+} Bd6 18.f4 {MT: only move, but now I saw that I did not really consider what to do after Kg2 (after QxBe3+). Qg3+ would now be an easy draw through perpetual. JW: Re1 draws, since f2 is protected black has no better than a perpetual} Qxe3+ 19.Kg2 Rfe8 {JW: this position is quite interesting as black has an extra 2 pawns but white definitely has a lot of compensation, weather it's enough is another question. Hence why I spent an hour on my next move which may just throw the game} 20.Nf6+?! {MT: I looked at this and thought it does not work. I still think it should not have worked. JW: probably white should just play Rf3 with chances but there are other variations to analyse as well} gxf6 21.Rf3 Qe6 22.f5 Qd7 23.Rh3 Kf8 {MT: Black is up material, likely to get the King away in time, had still enough time, and should be winning.} 24.Qf3 Be5?! {MT: Too fancy, trying to return material to seal the e-file. Ke7 might have been fine anyway. JW:Ke7 and I wasn't sure how to proceed other than continue to keep pressure and hope black gives chances while trying to untangle. BvR:black is winning big time. After 24..Ke7 black will be as safe as the bank of England...} 25.Re1 Ke7 26.Bb5 Rg8+ {JW: forgot about this check as some of my calculations included the room still on e8} 27.Kf2 Nxd4 28.cxd4 Qxb5 29.Qa3+ Kd7 30.dxe5 Qb6+ 31.Kf3 Rae8 32.e6+ fxe6 33.Rh7+ Kd8 34.Rc1 Qd6?? {MT: Sudden suicide move in an otherwise won position!! Compared to other moves that get ?? on this site, this one should have at least ??? Of course, the real reason is that the better player won eventually, because White kept being annoying, and Black kept worrying (for no real reason) and finally stumbled! It is very difficult to win a won game against a better player! Maybe one lesson here is: I DISMISSED this move at the very beginning, as I saw the catastrophe, but for some reason I came back to it after looking at other options, and suddenly believed I can get Re7 in before the white rook gets to the 7th rank. Obviously forgetting to count one move. If anyone has good advice on this 'discipline of mind' issue, I would like to hear it, as it seems to happen more often.} 35.Qxd6+ {MT: oh, btw, I thought while pondering my previous move that 34...Qd4 may win soon (and I still think so). E. g. threatens Qe4+, Rg2+ and possibly mate. I could not see to the very end so thought it may not be forced enough. GREAT decision!} cxd6 36.Rcc7 Ref8 37.Rhd7+ Ke8 38.fxe6 Rg5 39.Rc8# {JW: Extremely unlucky result for black. Clearly played the much better game and by all means should have won. I was the recipient of good fortune this time and will need to play better chess if I wish to be competitive in this tournament} 1-0