After <23...Rxf1+ 24. Nxf1 Nxc8 25. bxa7 Nxa7>, isn't it even stronger for White to play 25. c3 Rf8 26. Bxg5 Bb6 27. Qc4+ Kh7 28. Be3, with two pawns up?

<1.e4 d6> The Pirc defense <2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4> Austrian Attack <4...Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 Nfd7?!> 6...Nfd7 is the first move out of the book. While it is interesting, I can imagine better moves, such as the book moves 6...Nc6 or the other interesting book move 6...Na6 (followed by 7...c5). <7.O-O c5 8.d5 a6 9.a4> Black does not have much space and White intends to keep it that way. This move prevents 9...b5. <9...Qb6!> A strong move, which I overlooked. Black threatens 10...c4+ while simultaneously pinning White's bishop to c1. <10.Kh1 Qc7!?> A move that I don't really understand, but Crafty actually also prefers it. <11.Qe1> Starting up my kingside attack. <11...Nf6 12.Qh4 Bg4 13.e5!> Attacking the piece that defends the bishop on g4, and even though this means a pawn sacrifice via 13...Bxf3 14.Rxf3 dxe5 15.fxe5 Qxe5, White gets a promising attack in return. <13...Bxf3 14.Rxf3 dxe5 15.fxe5 Qxe5 16.g4??> This is a very poor move. Here, White was aiming to attack h7 by attacking its defending knight on f6, but 16...Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 prevents Rh3 because the rook is pinned and Black's position looks solid! <17.Rh3 h6?> 17...h5 was stronger! White is now somewhat back in the game. <18.Bxh6 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Bxh6> After 19...Qxc3?, White can equalize with 20.Re1 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Qg7 22.Qxg7+ Kxg7 23.Rxe7. By the way, after 19...Qxc3?, 20.Bd2? doesn't work because Black can move 20...Qxa1+. <20.Qxh6 Qg7 21.Qg5 Qxc3 22.Rf1 Nd7 23.Qxe7?> Here, White missed 23.Bxg6!!, which might have won the game for White. At first glance, after 23.Bxg6 White loses the rook on h3, but the key to 23.Bxg6 is the following: 23.Bxg6 Qxh3 24.Be4+!! Kh8 25.Rf3! and now Black loses the queen by force via 25...Qxf3+ 26.Bxf3. White should not feel ashamed, though, for missing this astonishing combination only exceptional players could find. <23...Rad8 24.Rff3 Qg7 25.Qe3?> And here White missed another opportunity to win the game with a brilliancy: 25.Rxf7+!! Rxf7 (25...Qxf7? 26.Bc4!! ) 26.Qxd8+ Nf8 (26...Rf8? 27.Bc4+! Qf7 28.Bxf7+ ) 27.Bc4 winning a rook for a bishop. <25...Ne5 26.Rfg3 Nxd3 27.cxd3 Rfe8 28.Qxc5 Qa1+! 29.Kg2??> I soon realized after this move that I made a big blunder. This move loses the game directly because of 29...Re2! and White has to give up the queen by force. What a pity that I lost this game in this way! I had two good opportunities to win this game, although they required moves that were quite hard to spot. <White resigns: 0-1>

As all too often my opening play was dubious, getting me into passive positions where my only strategy is to defend and try to win in the endgame or through finding some trappy combination. But in all an interesting game, with a strong pawn sacrifice and attack by white, and a couple of problem like winning positions missed by both players.

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