This is my round 6 game from my recent OTB tournament. After a bad start, I managed to recover with two draws where I felt that I played well and my opponent for this round was in last place, so I felt confident that I could win.
The game
1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nh6 5.Bc4?!
During the game, I didn't want to put the bishop on d3 since I felt that it was only hitting a well protected pawn on f5. I didn't realise that c6-d5 will be annoying and also that white can soften f5 with h4-h5 at some point which makes the bishop on d3 much more effective. 5.Bd3 Nf7 6.h4 d6 would have been better than the game continuation
I prepared this variation much better for a later game and now know much more about playing these positions.
5...c6 6.Nf3 d5 7.Bd3
I considered 7.Bb3 for a brief moment but felt that the bishop will get stranded on the queenside.
7...Nd7 8.Qd2 Nf7 9.h4 h6 10.Bf4 e5 11.dxe5 Ndxe5
White to play
Here I realised that the opening went wrong for me. Black has more space in the centre and white's position is cramped
12.O-O-O
12.Nxe5 (Exchanging a pair of knights would have helped white with their cramped position) 12...Nxe5 13.O-O-O
12...Bd7
White to play
13.Be2?!
Again, white should have taken on e5
13...Qe7?!
Black shouldn't have given white another chance to take on e5. The following line was more to the point: 13...Ng4 14.Bg3 O-O (Black has a clear advantage due to the central space and white's position is very cramped) 15.Na4 Qe7! (Preventing the knight from entering c5) 16.h5 g5 (And it's difficult for white to find a plan).
14.Nd4?
Now white missed the final chance to take on e5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Rdg1 b5 16.g4 b4 17.Nd1 Nxg4
14...O-O 15.f3 b5 16.Rdg1 b4
I saw the following line but thought that white should be fine. This shows my main weakness, I underestimate attacks a lot and often think that it will be fine, if I don't see anything concrete.
17.Nd1 c5 18.Nb3 c4 19.Nd4 c3 20.bxc3 bxc3 21.Nxc3
Black to play
This is the critical position where I overestimated my position and thought that it shouldn't be that bad. In reality, black stands much better due to white's exposed king.
21...Qa3+?
This throws a large part of black's advantage away.
21...Qc5 22.Nb3 Qa3+ 23.Kd1 Rfc8 24 Nxd5 (24.Ke1?? [White cannot continue the run to the
kingside] 24...Nxf3+ 25.Bxf3 Bxc3) 24...Nc4 25.Qc1 Nb2+ 26.Kb1 Be6 27.Qd2 Rd8
White to play
Black stands better since white's pieces are uncoordinated and the white king cannot find shelter.
22.Kd1
My plan was to run with the king to the kingside and felt that it should be safe there
22...Rab8 23.Ke1 Rfc8?!
23...Qc5 24.Kf2 Rbc8 25.Ncb5 Nc4 26.Bxc4 Qxc4 27.a4 Qc5
White to play
White still has problems with the piece coordination and has to be precise to stay in the game
24.Nxd5
Grabbing this pawn felt risky but I didn't see why I shouldn't take it
24...Qc5?
This allows white to consolidate and they remain two pawns up. Instead, black should have played something like the following line: 24...Rb2 25.Kf2 Qd6 26.Qa5 g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Bh2 Be6 and the game would be roughly equal due to black's piece activity
25.Nb3
Around this point, my opponent looked like they were annoyed because they didn't find a win and spent quite a bit of their time
25...Qa3 26.Kf2
White has stabilized and is no two pawns up and stands much better
26...g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Bxe5 Nxe5 29.Rh5 g4 30.f4 Nc4
This allows a nice tactical shot
31.Bxc4 Rxc4 32.Nf6+ Kf8 (32...Bxf6 33.Qd5+ Kf8 34.Qxc4) 33.Nxd7+ 1-0
Conclusion
As mentioned in my annotations, this game should that I am very weak at evaluating an attack and this often gets me into trouble. This game was a lucky escape but I certainly need to work on this aspect on my game.