Whoops!!

Originally posted by crec2k
😳 I really lost the plot here after having a good rook advantage!

Game id:523992

Any CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms?

Just a few quick observations:

1. I didn't like your 4th move. d3 is a pretty timid move that just doesn't do anything nice for your position. Your opponenet chose the Philidor, which means you have the opportunity to put some early pressure on him. d4 is what is screaming to be played.

2. Right after you exchange rooks, you should do something to improve the position of your pieces. I would have probably played 26.Be3. It blockades his pawn, clears the d file to be used by your rook later, keeps the knight from going to d4, and forces him to make a decision about his a7 pawn. I would also look at playing f4. If he decides to take en passant, then after you recapture, Rf7 is a pretty strong threat he has to deal with The pawn advances that you made instead, I felt, were pointless. They just gave his knight a good square to land on and fixed your b pawn as a permanent weakness.

3. Even when your opponent is down materially, you must remember that he can still produce threats. You can't just put the game into autopilot once you have a technically won game. If you had remained vigilant, I'm sure you would have been able to see what his knight was threatening, and taken steps to avoid it (such as the suggested 26. Be3.)

4. In the endgame, it is important not to allow your pawns to become locked onto the same color square as your bishop. You also don't want to let your oppoenet lock his pawns on the oppositie color square of your bishop. In this endgame, he ended up able to aattck your pawns with his bishop, while you weren't able to attack his pawns with your's.

Hopefully I've been of some assistance.

Edit: the big point I forgot to emphasize is this: your biggest advantage in the game is the fact that you have a rook and your opponenet doesn't. So you need to make the position conform to fit your rook's needs. You have to get it to an open file so that it can reach its full potential as a piece. At the same time, you want to prevent his knight from landing on a useful outpost in your position where it can get annoying.

Originally posted by Osse
36.f3? looked like a panic move. The pawn is defended by the B on b6, so can't be taken. Instead, 36.g5 will either win the B on h4, or give you a huge passed pawn on h6. Black can't sac the B to get his King in behind your Qside pawns as your c pawn will then queen before he can arrange the advance of the a and b pawns.

Always look for tactics!

Otherwi ...[text shortened]... hing pawns unless you have a concrete goal, and be aware of counterplay (easier said than done!)

You are completely right there.
I just did not see my own bishop🙁