I beat a Fide Master by out-playing him - Bourne End Rapid Play Rd 1

Not for the first time my first round pairing places me on board 1 against the strongest player in the tournament.

After he declined my benko gambit I managed to outplay him. I gained a tempo in the opening by delaying capturing on c5. Probably white could have played better - but he found himself playing Be2 and then Bxc4.

In the middle game I kept reminding myself of Pinski adage in his book on the Benko Gambit  "the moves should follow like a string of pearls".  I had a series of mini-plans to improve my position.

Get my knight on a good square 10..Na6 and 11...Nb4.

Get my piece on e5 12...Nd7 13...Bf6 and 14...Ne5

Get my rook on e8 with a temp  18 ...Bg4 19....Bxe2 and 20... Re8.

Treble the artillery on the e-file with 22....Nc2 23...Ne3 24...Rxe3 25...Rae8 and 26..Qe7.

Finally, with black pieces dominating their white counterparts, the assassin is the humble h pawn which marches up the board with deadly effect.

Did white blunder...can you see where he made a gross error..or do you agree that he was outplayed ?

Double Dum