I always feel stupid whenever I have a plus in position, but am unable to find a way to exploit it to victory. I have to say that given all the statements like "White has a small, stable plus; but it's certainly not winning" make me feel a little bit better.

Thank you for the article, Bhat. Your honesty is greatly admirable. Besides 24. Rxa8 is difficult to calculate through, and 24.Be5 Qh4?? Nf5!! are difficult to see.

Yeah, you guys are right. Even though 24.Rxa8 is winning, 24.Be5! is even stronger. I guess I stopped looking when I found one win in the position. Thanks for checking (and finding an improvement on) my analysis!

nice

@ JRadis, vbhat Leaving the playing zone while your clock is running happens all the time (e.g. if you haven't noticed that your opponent made a move). That's the official part. The unofficial part is that if you leave the playing zone after seeing that your opponent has made a move, that's suspicious and considered to be a sign of bad manners. However, there are always exceptions: let's say you suddenly feel you absolutely need to get to the washroom. There is just no sense in making a random move and running out. It's better (unless you are very short on time) to sacrifice a few minutes, return and make the move.

@ aasdfasdfg:  my analysis agrees with that assessment, the line seems to be Be5 Qc6 Nxc6

alternatives like Be5 Qh4?? fail to Nf5!! and the queen is out of squares, while both gxf5?? and Rxf5?? lead to forced mate.

and other than h4, the queen doesn't have any squares at all after Be5.   I must admit that Nf5 looks exceptionally hard to find, and the short mate after it is still several moves long.  

You pointed out your mistake on move 24. However, you didn't supply the forcing move. If white plays the "rook exchange" variation you supplied, he only goes up a minor piece. If instead white plays 24. Be5! he goes up by significantly more material - in the best variation for black, it appears that black loses queen for rook and allows a very strong attack for white.

@shubgi:  if Qxc4, mate follows white's reply: Qh8+.  

great game and very educational too

What's wrong if Black moves the Queen to c4? I mean, Black resigned the move before a coming pin.

I really don't like 9.Re1 in this system, but that's another discussion. At that point and earlier, White should consider plans based on Rb1.  The N on a6 conveniently prevents Black from stabilizing the Queenside with ...a5

In the game, 24.Be5 Qh4 25.Nf5!! is crushing. Black can resign right about there. For example, 25...gxf5 is answered with 26.Re6 and mate is unavoidable.

Vinay, your articles with the postions to analyze during the games are always entertaining and very instructive. Thank you.

@JRadis - I'm not actually sure what the rule is on leaving the board when your own clock is running. I have seen people complain before in that case, but I never stuck around to see how the dispute was resolved.

Maybe somebody else knows?

Nice article! Thanks for sharing

Another fine article from our favourite Bhat!

haha i always feel good when I correctly pick the move in between viewers, but then I felt bad about guessing R8e6 because of your comment :(

Thanks for showing the game. I have a question though, is it so that you are not allowed to use the bathroom while your time is running?

Thanks for sharing.  You always have good articles and this is no exception.

The fireworks were on in this game. I'll study this one for awhile. Thanks for sharing.