Mini Swiss #2 Game with OxfordMatt

What a fun game this was and what a delightful opponent.  It was nice to play with someone around my level.   Being that we ARE at this level, however, don't expect brilliance from either one of us, after all, we're learning!   That said, I must admit to truly laughing out loud at a remark OxfordMatt made while we were playing.   We did chat a bit during the game -- both of us were struggling with the board and things weren't clear to either one of us and OxfordMatt said, "well, that's what happens when you let two sub 1,000 players loose on a board!"  That about sums it up, I think.   

In any event, I KNOW that I'm not supposed to have these games analyzed before I annotate - Aww Rats advised against that and said it's better to learn and discover things on my own.  Well, I compromised.  After our game, much to our surprise, we found we had an audience who had been discussing the game during our play.  It was mentioned that one of my moves was not the smartest move. I didn't understand why - and it might depend on the perspective of the player - but I wanted Houdini's opinion.  SO... I DID have this analyzed BUT I did NOT look at Houdini's variations.  I just wanted to see what Houdini thought about the particular move in question.

....drum roll please...

According to Houdini v 2.0, the move in question was NOT a mistake.  In fact.

....  bigger drum roll please.....

According to Houdini, I DID NOT HAVE EVEN ONE MISTAKE OR BLUNDER IN THE ENTIRE GAME.  I did have some inaccuracies.  To me, that's acceptable at my level.  I'm trying to cut down on mistakes and blunders.  Now.  Houdini had plenty of variations which, again, I did not look at so I know there were things I could have done better.  But that's why I'm annotating.  Let's see if I can discover some of those things.

Finally, I will say that this game was one of the most fun I have played.  I really enjoyed it and hope that OxfordMatt and I can play again.  He's a terrific opponent and a good sport.  

So... here we go.  Don't faint.  NOT EVEN ONE MISTAKE OR BLUNDER.  

YES!!  Now THAT is progress and that's what I like to see!