It has been a few days since I had the opportunity to sit down and write for the blog. Finals are this week and the family has been preparing for Christmas break. This has left little time for *live* chess, but I have played a few correspondence (turn-based) games on Chess.com and I decided to annotate one this weekend that has usurped my previous [Best Win Ever](http://www.offmychess.com/my-best-win-so-far/) as my *new* highest win ever (by 3 ELO points)!
[pgn]
[Event “Let’s Play!”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.11.29”]
[Round “?”]
[White “1404”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “1404”]
[BlackElo “1171”]
[PlyCount “68”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “1”]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 {I declined the gambit because I have been studying some
games with this gambit and it can be difficult for Black to gain a solid hold
on the center.} 3. e3 Nc6 4. Nf3 {Certainly the d4 pawn is feeling the pinch
at the moment, but there is enough counterbalance in the center to prevent
either of us from imminently attacking.} Bf5 5. Nbd2 e6 6. a3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8.
c5 {At this point, much of the development was complete and there was little
room for either side to advance without initiating some kind of attack. I
decided to try for a Bishop-Rook endgame, so I went after his Knights first.}
Ne4 9. Nxe4 dxe4 {I did not realize it until my post-game analysis, but that
pawn would become the anchor that solidifed every subsequent move I made.} 10.
Nd2 b6 11. b4 bxc5 12. bxc5 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Bb2 Nd3+ 15. Bxd3 Qxd3 {[#]
Black’s King is in trouble.} (15… exd3 {This was an option, but it blocks my
Queen from making any progress across the board and allows White to retain
control of the coveted d4 square.}) 16. Qe2 Qc2 17. Nb1 Qxe2+ 18. Kxe2 {The
Queens are gone and transition to the endgame has begun.} Bxc5 19. Rc1 Bd6 20.
Nd2 Rab8 21. Bd4 Rb7 $1 {In post-game analysis, I marked this with a “!”
because without it, I would not have been able to pull off the moves that
brought me victory. Going Rb7! allows me the chance to build a battery on the
B-file and puts pressure on the d2 Knight to remain in position to defend the
King.} 22. Nc4 Be7 23. Rcb1 Rxb1 24. Rxb1 {In this game, I was willing to make
almost any trade necessary as long as I could maintain some sense of balance.}
Be6 25. Rc1 Rb8 26. Bxa7 Ra8 27. Bd4 Bxa3 {I played this move out on an
analysis board about 12 times before I decided that it was the best way to
proceed. The point is to lure White’s Knight into a trap where I can force
his King into a more vulnerable position.} 28. Nxa3 {Taking the bait.} Rxa3 29.
Rxc7 {White is working his way down the board in the hopes of Rc8#.} Ra2+ 30.
Ke1 f6 {No real development here, just taking away the opportunity for Rc8#.}
31. Re7 Bc4 32. Rxe4 Rc2 (32… Re2+ 33. Kf1 Rc2+ {This was my continuation
idea, but I could never devise a benefit from it.}) 33. g4 Bd3 34. f4 {White
blundered and resigned.} Bxe4 0-1
[/pgn]