Time control: 85 minutes for first 40 moves. 30 minutes sudden death.
Last Round "3rd Annual Summer Games"
17...Qd7 probably with the idea of Qg4.
19.Qxf4 winning a pawn is good but black gets some compensation for it. It's not a clear pawn in my opinion.
23. bxc5, I see no reason to put his knight on such a nice square. Just Nc6 but black will have some counterplay with f5.
25. Nxe5 I'm not sure what is better. Black has real counterplay here. I think the mistake was made earlier.
26. Qh6 agree with your analysis here. I don't know what is better though. Black is better.
30. Qh3, this just loses to Qxh3 and Re3. Black needs to have some technique but you have a ton of weak pawns to attack. Trading down is probably the way to go but not this way. If only you could get a pair of rooks traded, maybe it would make your task easier. And yes, you are probably playing for a draw here.
33...Qb4 black starts giving it all away.
All in all I think you played pretty well and your analysis was pretty reasonable. What hurt was that you weren't able to see all the counterplay black was able to muster versus your e-pawn and then the total domination of the e-file. I think you felt that being up a pawn in that position was worth more than it was. I'm not saying to avoid taking it unless there was something better, but you have work to do once you take it.
Thanks!
This is a game I played yestarday as White. I was wondering if you guys could look at it and give me feedback. Thanks!