Hello,

I lost this game a few days ago.

This is how I'd summarise the game.

• I saw what I believed to be a mistake by my opponent in the opening. Tried to capitalise on it - failed and found myself on the back foot.
• Managed to get back in the game, maybe even have a slight advantage.
• Made a positional error and was slowly squeezed until I had nothing left.

I don't think that I made too many massive blunders, I think that I just made too many weak moves. Any help finding better moves or alternative analysis would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks, Nyul.

Yeah, I think missing out 9.a4 altogether and going for your c3 and Bc2 is a vast improvement. Also, like you say - sticks to a standard idea.

Welcome to chess.com :)

Good catch. After that the game is all white.

 I've looked over this game several times and not once got even a little bit close to seeing that.  I may of had a chance :)

Cheers, Tonydal.

I'm not sure about this, but I actually like 5.Bb5+ and after c6 6.Bd3 or Be2 the Bishop has been developed with maximum inconvenience to Black (c6 blocks his Bishop on b7). I know a similar maneuver can sometimes happen in the Torre Attack.

 Ah, interesting. Rather than Bb5+ being the weak move, perhaps it was the Ba4 retreat that was an error. I think that I'm that used to retreating in such a manner from playing the Spanish, that I was blind to the idea of hitting him with a quick check to create a positional weakness and then retreat controlling the a5-d1 diagonal.

Thanks for taking a look.

An interesting game, and a discouraging one to lose. I don't think your opening setup was bad--maybe not the best, but good enough. I think you missed the surprising 10.Bxd5. It's not a move I would expect to be good but I think it is. A)10...cxd5 11.axb5  B)10...exd5  11.Qe2+ Qe7 12.Re1. In either case, White has a good game. I think 11.Bxd5 was also good.

You ended up in a typical isolated Queen pawn position, where you had attacking chances, but a potential long-term weakness. If you have access to the video section on Chess.Com, IM Daniel Rensch has a series of videos on the subject of the IQP, and the first couple of them are all about how White can build an attack. 

20.Ne4 was a mistake. Black missed 20...Bxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Qh4+.

I think 22.Be3 might have been a more economical way to defend your d-pawn, but as so often happens, once Black gets the initiative and can focus on the isolated pawn, you are stuck with passive defense.  If Black had played 27...g5, you wouldn't have even had the cheapo opportunity on move 28. 

Thanks very much, Paulgotlieb.

10.Bxd5 does look good, seems to rid me of the cramped position.

Nice petite combination starting with move 20...Bxh2+. I was caught out by a clever check move just the other day. It's really something that I need to consciously make myself more aware of.

22.Be3 does seem more natural, but I think by this point my boat had pretty much sunk. I was waiting for my opponent to make weak moves and not even able to put any pressure on them to encourage such moves.

It is interesting how you also felt that the opening I ended up with was still playable. I was sure at the time that I was in a real mess. You've also shown good moves to prove that it was playable.

 Really appreciate it!