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17. g4
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?! Good and bad. Good in the sense I press forward with my assualt on his kingside and still have time to 0-0-0, but bad in the sense that I help him get his Nh5 off of the edge and into a more active role. I'd give white a small edge here, but it is tenuous. After dissecting this game, I'm pretty sure 0-0-0 was needed here immediately, as my upcoming meltdown is aggravated by the fact that my king is still in the center of the board. I continue to think I'm invincible. |
 
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17... Nhf6 18. Nxd7
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Now more comfortable with exchanges as my g and h pawns are now free to raise some Cain. |
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18... Qxd7 19. Bxe6 Qxe6
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Just like I pictured it in my head. Hey, wait a minute! My g pawn is hanging! How did that happen? I better protect it, and fast! |
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20. f3
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?? Your PC is working just fine. You are not experiencing technical difficulties. I actually made this move in public. All of my inner dialogue garbage about how great I am distracted me to the point of an actual mental vacuum. In my rush to protect my g pawn, I open the front door and ask the armed assailant wearing a mask if he would like to come in for a cup of coffee. |
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20... Qxe3+
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Gravity just increased by a factor of 10 and I bear a litter of 8 kittens right on the chessboard. I hate my life. I now face a full frontal assualt right down Broadway. |
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21. Qe2
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The e file is now electric, but I felt I had no choice. Given the choice of keeping either my d or f pawn, I choose the f pawn because I will need some king cover. Of course, that means either my king or queen will have to move next if he doesn't play Qxd4 to avoid a royal pin. |
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21... Qxd4
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Natural and safe, but either rook to e8 is lethal. |
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22. Rd1
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Given the chance, this guy jumps in the action and threatens her majesty. I'm going to have to deal with a pin coming via Re8, but have the chance to eliminate queens. |
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22... Qb6 23. Kf1
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Pin avoidance. |
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23... Rfe8 24. Qd2
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Moving to safety and still entertaining ideas of assualting the kingside. |
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24... Re3
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! Nice....my king can only protect from g2, and protecting with my queen is way passive. |
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25. Kg2 Rae8 26. h5
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Do or die time. My knight covers e2, so I'm safe for the moment there. My aim is to create as much chaos as I can with my kingside pawns with the idea of rooks up the h file. |
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26... Re8e5
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Preventing g5. |
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27. f4
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I feel I just have to play g5, so this is necessary. My king is now exposed more than a nudist resort. |
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27... Re5e6 28. g5
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Finally, I get to play my "death move", and am promptly rewarded with.... |
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28... Ne4
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....black getting a cushy post and the opportunity to trade down. |
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29. Nxe4
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?! I took a little time with this one, as I feared losing my knight which covers e2. Then I realized that I may be able to gain enough time to play h6 or Rde1 next with hopes of finding a check to play. I simply don't analyze far enough ahead, and the resulting position he achieves after we exchange rooks is with check, leaving me even more totally demoralized than before. Did I mention that I hate my life? |
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29... Re6xe4 30. Rde1 Re3xe1 31. Rxe1 Rxe1 32. Qxe1 Qxb2+
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Three lousy moves....that's all I could see ahead. I consider vomiting and resigning (in that order). |
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33. Kg3
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For gits and shiggles I decide to press on, and hope to somehow find a way to utilize my kingside pawn advantage. I mean, seriously.....it took so long to set up. It would be a shame not to at least try. |
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33... Qa3+
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It's interesting to note that this is the only square black can check me from. In doing so, he allows me to press forward with my king (which turns out to be nicely shielded). I regain a little hope. |
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(1700)