Doesn't quite look like a ~1000 rated game. Both players seem to be playing above that, with no hanging pieces or tactical oversights. Some little thoughts:
8. Ne5. Perhaps developing your KB instead with 8. Be2 would work too. Castling your king away quickly and playing in the centre/Qside later would be a vague plan after that. It seems that after 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 you lose a move with the bishop, but a sane Black player would try not to let the bishop come to c4 with tempo anyway, so continuing development is normal and fine. Also possible is 8. a3, which keeps the knight out of b4 so you can develop Bd3-Qc2 later if necessary, or push b4 after castling... depends on what happens after.
As for 8. Ne5 itself, it's OK. A move that would eventually (probably?) be played, so long as you watch out for the loose bishop on h4. Usually after finishing development and castling 0-0, a plan could be Ne5-f4-f5 or something.
After that... good sequence until 11.Bxe7. I think forcing the endgame with 11. Qxd8 Bxd8 12. Bxd8 Rxd8 13. Rd1/Be2 is better, since White has the better bishop and can target Black's pawns in the ending. Also, trading queens would solve the problem on the next move, of:
12. Qd4. I think 12. Qb3 should be tried instead, following which 12. Qb3 Qg5 13. Qc3 Bd7 Black has pressure on the g2-pawn, which makes developing the Kside bishop and rook quite awkward. Since you didn't trade queens, on move 12 Black actually threatens both ...Qg5 and ...Qb4+ to pressure White. The pawns on b2, g2 and e5 are shaky while Black's queen is still on the board, but become stable without her.
After the queen trade in your game, Black has equality (I think?) and probably should've tried something with b6 and f6/f5 to go after your weaker structure. That didn't happen and my next comment is on 18. f3. When Black moves on the d-file, you should contest it with 18. Rhd1. (Rad1 works too, but I prefer keeping the QR ready for a4-a5-a6 if necessary.) Why? Because after 20. Kxf3, Black can now play 20... Rd2 (or ...Rd3) threatening ...Rc2 and gobbling the a2-, h2- or c-pawns. With one of your rooks on d1, there is no danger. Rooks love important open files like this one.
...But Black went to punch holes in his own Kside by ...g5 and ...f5, so that didn't happen either. Next... 24. Rh7+ ~ 25. Rxb7 would have been stronger than trading rooks. I'm no expert in R+P endings (who below 2200 is?) but simple things like this are OK. If you could follow that with Rxa7 and ramming the pawn home, that'd be strong.
Then... I give up. R+P subtleties are beyond me. Is 26... f4 strong? Was 26. Rh1 better? I have no clue. I'll just say that rather than 28... exf5, after 28... Rxf5+ 29. Ke4 Rf3 (29. Kxg4 Rxe5 30. Kf4 Re2, =+ or unclear) instead, you'd be in quite some trouble, and after your 29. Rb1 you've more or less won.
Nice game, good job on not dropping pieces (a problem I still have at ~1600), just work on the basics like tactics and K+P endgames. The ideas in this game are a little (OK, a lot) above the ~1k mark, so well played!
Hi everyone, I was looking for some insight into a game that I played earlier today. I was playing as white, and the time control was 10 minutes for each side with no time added per move.
I felt that it was one of my better games by far, but I was wondering what I could have done better. For example, were there tactics that I missed, should I have played the opening slightly differently, etc.
Please let me know any point at which you would have played a different move, and explain why.
Here is the game with my comments:
Thanks so much in advance for your insight!