i had a lot of fun with this game and was hoping someone could help with analysis. i'm not too great, but i am working to get better. any help would be much appreciated.

congratulations on your win. sorry but I don't have any meaningful analysis for you. you took advantage of poor play by your rival. that's the essence of chess.

 

Good win. I don't have much to say either. You should analyze the moves yourself. It will help a lot. One comment I can make is that neither of you used your pawns. The pawn is the single most important piece to understand in the game of chess. One negative affect is that all the minor pieces were just flying around haphazardly, waiting for the Queens to snatch them up. Another is that neither of you really made an effort to control the middle of the board. Take a look at some top games and see the way they set up their pawn formations, and how this works together with the use of the minor pieces to grab space, have a hold in the center, advance forces, defend key squares, etc. The only reason you won really is that he recklessly advanced his kingside pawns with no thought to turn and cover his King.

i've played through the game a few times and like i said, i'm not so good, so i just tried to find points i could have played better... mike and i only play at work between calls and emails, so we're far from good. i have been trying to get past the "just knowing the rules and playing wildly" phase

Where do you find these opponents who start with 1. h4?

You could have continued muching up your opponents pawns. I must say though, your opponent played the worst opening move in the world. (This game actually reminded me of my younger cousin. One day during a household chess tournament (during a Bar-Mitzvah party), My cousin played that opening 2-3 times. I would beat him really quickly. Then, when he probably got sick of losing, he decides to play d4. All of the sudden, we actually reach endgame!)