Great pawn play at the end. Just goes to show that positional factors can trump material, even with little material on the board.
Endgame escape
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Thank you for the comments!
You're absolutely right, I did feel much more comfortable after he traded.
I didn't always feel winning in the game, but you may be right. You can probably understand how uncomfortable I was a pawn down in an endgame! What do you think of the line 41...axb5 42.axb5 Rd5 43.Bd6 with the idea of c6? 43...Rxg5 44.c6 seems to leave Black in trouble, so I think he has to choose a less materialistic move, but I can't find a way for him to defend - for example, 43...b6 44.c6 Rxd6 45.c7 and the pawn can't be stopped. Am I missing a defense? I can't be sure in a position like this.
Class players are often bad at endings. You can win (or draw) a lot of bad positions in the endgame. I think endgame practice/study goes a long way in practical results.
Yes, absolutely. I had one tournament in which I had three worse endgames and two drawn ones. I drew two of the worse ones and won both of the drawn ones. I usually prefer to play in middlegames, but I guess for some reason my endgame play was unusually good in that particular tournament.
I recently played in my state scholastic championships, and decided I'd post two or three of the games here. This is my second round game. I ended up a pawn down in the endgame, but managed to win it, preserving my chances to do well in the tournament.