Annotated chess game

It was overlooked here. But, this is move is even better and does more then just prevent black from getting anything. As it turns out, this is a really nasty Knight fork. Well done, Erika.

White's position is pretty strong, and should survive this inaccurate move. Instead, 21.Be3 would have thrown back Black's attempted attack as in attacking the Queen, the bishop would have 'discovered' the White queen's attack against the h4-bishop. Black could have saved them both by 21...Qd8, but then 22.Nxc6 would have opened up a major, all-out assault by White's highly mobile pieces: 22...Qf6 23.Bc5 Rfc8 24.Ne7ch ... +++++ In view of what follows, I'm wondering if this knight move was so very inaccurate after all!

Actually 21...Qxf2 is better, but White would still have a winning advantage.

The king can't capture on f2 as the bishop is protected by the queen.

It can't, but it's, more or less, irrelevant here. As capturing would lead to something even worse. In addition, I still like this move the best, as it allows the King to come into action at a later point in time during the endgame. Although Kf2 will remain illegal, at some point, it can travel to e2, instead where now, it's being centralized.

This king move is correct. The only alternative was 22.Kh1, which I think would probably have been OK also.

?? Saving the Rook, but this is a terrible blunder. Ok, what should white do here?

The pity of these sorts of mistakes is that some really pretty stuff remains hidden. Black could not have retained protection of the bishop, as there are no safe squares for the queen along the a7-g1 diagonal. So to save the queen and get something back for the bishop, probably 22...Qb7 ought to have been played (c7 is not safe, either; though 22...Qd4 and White could exchange queens).

Your knight could have captured the queen!

What Simon's implying is exactly what I was alluding to. Having said that, correct was 23.Nxb6. But, it's not too late, though. It just means that black compensates for the Queen a little. It's still not enough, but now he gets something, in return for the Queen which is also something to be weary of in chess.

Not the best, but still well and truly good enough to win!

Correct. White is now queen for bishop ahead... provided Black plays 24...Bxb6!

?? Best was 24...axb6

You can kinda see what Black is aiming at, but it can not work if White refuses to panic. Correct was 24...Bxb6.

Black has no more counter-attack.

?? Best was still 25...axb6 With this move, you get more then just the Queen. As now, you're going to win the Rook. And, mate is almost inevitable.

Mate is absolutely inevitable if White can just spot it! It is mate in 2 moves, beginning with a queen 'sacrifice'. My very first ever 'queen sac' was exactly this type of back rank checkmate. See if you can find it (it's easy, really it is!).

You could win directly here. 26. Qe8+ Rxe8 27. Rxe8# Playing 26. Nxa8 gives black a chance to play g6 or h6 and make an escape square for the king.

Although Simon is right, I like this move just as well. Yes, I also would've played 26.Qe8+ for that reason. But, I didn't see this kind of opportunity until my rating was close to 1200, believe it or not. Having said, this is almost as direct and leaves black very far behind. In fact, he can defend against mate, but I am sure that it will be overlooked. As I've overlooked basic checkmates before reaching a 1000 rating.

?? Of course, he thought that this won a pawn. Even without mate, it's still a terrible blunder because it wins the last Rook. But, with mate which Erika finds, the game ends, at once.

Yes, when you miss threats or opportunities, you read the comments, which is very good, and pick up on them. The only thing to be weary of, in the future is the Queen. You're play was very Queen, except that you blundered the Queen on and off which he could've taken. That wasn't as good. And, had he found the right moves there, black would've won. But, that's part of the learning, and you did an excellent job in exploiting other blunders and using it to your advantage, and even, finding this immediate checkmate.  

That's how you learn: by trying things and making mistakes. One of the hardest lessons to learn is consistency. You start by learning consistently to avoid making 'one move' mistakes - leaving pieces or pawns to be taken 'for nothing'; and spotting similar mistakes by one's opponent. Achieve that, and then you move on to avoiding 'two-move' mistakes, errors that can be exploited by a two-move sequence. It all comes along eventually.