Seeking feedback

All was going well until move 23. Then my Hummer started running out of gas. Perhaps QxRe8 would have been a better move? Game 7125501

On move 20 you could have 0-0-0. That would unpin the knight and develop your rook. It also threatens to fork his rooks on the next move.

Or you could have played Qd6 instead. Look at the pawns around the black king. They are blocking all the white squares. So you queen could checkmate the king on c5 with the help of your knight. Also, a timely d4 could be played to include the bishop in the attack.

Or if you like endgames, you could just trade your queen for one of his rooks and win with your two extra pieces.

Originally posted by John Hunter
Perhaps QxRe8 would have been a better move? Game 7125501

No No No. On move 26, you are up a Queen and two pawns for nothing! The Hummer should be purring quite nicely.

Why did you play 26.Be2, just giving a piece away? g3 and Bg2 would have got him into the game.

That's really all you had to do to win ... just find a way to develop your Rooks and Bishop.

Here are some more improvements to your play.
27.Rd2 - challenge the enemy Rook; don't let him sit in a dominant position
28.Rd2 - even more necessary now that Black's double-attacking c2
30.Qc1 - A sad necessity, but white must give back material to survive. He still has a material advantage even after losing the Queen for a Rook.
31.Ka1 - Much better than Kc1 which just walked into mate in 1. White may still lose, but he makes Black work harder to find the win.

Originally posted by SwissGambit

That's really all you had to do to win ... just find a way to develop your Rooks and Bishop.

SG hit it right on the head for you, I think. Moving around with the queen and knight while your bishop and both rooks sit on the sidelines is like boxing one-handed.

The more developed you are, the more tactical opportunities you have, and the more you can force the other guy to "blinK' when threatening to exchange, because every exchange is just another nail in black's coffin.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
No No No. On move 26, you are up a Queen and two pawns for nothing! The Hummer should be purring quite nicely.

Why did you play 26.Be2, just giving a piece away? g3 and Bg2 would have got him into the game.

That's really all you had to do to win ... just find a way to develop your Rooks and Bishop.

Here are some more improvements to your play.
...[text shortened]... walked into mate in 1. White may still lose, but he makes Black work harder to find the win.

Thanks guys for taking the time to look at the game, analyze it and reply. In hindsight, I think I got so focused on my queen/knight dynamic duo, that all I could think of was hanging on to them, especially her highness. Then I started making nonsense moves like 26.Be2. I must have had what I thought was a really reason for that move at the time, but it escapes me now.

SG: Thanks for the lesson. I'll have to play out your suggested moves.

Thanks again to all