@PlayChessWithASmile didn't see that pawn there

@TOKYOISAWESOME Charles could have done d5 to break the pin and not get the free Knight on b7

On move 26 I thought he sacrificed his rook so he can pin your queen by doing Bb3, did he miss it or chose not to do it which would win him a queen?

Ya I was thinking why would he have taken 10. Qxb7 did he miss it?

I'd have to agree with Hiro, I don't think you should have fully retreated your bishop. Maybe if you didn't want to trade minor pieces, at least don't fully retreat it. But I don't see why you wouldn't want to trade pieces

Good game overall-you should have won it but close game against a good opponent!

9. Qb3 Nge7 -- Why wouldn't white do the followup of 10. Qxb7? It would put him in a good spot and threat more of your pawns.

10. h3 Bc8 -- That is kind of a waste. You had a well developed Bishop and with one move, it went from well placed to nothing. Wouldn't it just be better if you did Bxf3 Nxf3 then followup with Na5 to force trade your bad Knight for a good Bishop? As well as protecting the b7 pawn. That way your pieces are still developed and you didn't waste any tempos.

11. Rae1 O-O??? I thought you would have at least Queen sides castle. When you king side castle, you allowed yourself to double up on the g file with no attack. If you castled Queensided instead, and then Nxg5 you would have an active h-file Rook eyeing down the enemy King side which can lead a strong attack.

14. Nf3 Nf4-- Nf4 was a nice move. It limits your opponents movement such as g3 forcing the Knight out.

Pretty close game. At least it wasn't as bad as the rest of us. :D