Sharp game, dubious sacrifice

Club game, very tactical:

Now, obviously, the bishop sacrifice on move 22 didn't work out, though I didn't see the complications until he played 23. c5, threatening both the b6 knight and the f7 rook.  Holding the extra piece from there, as you can see, took quite a bit of effort.

The key moves for black seem to be 17. ..Kg7, which blunts white's attack and later enables 21. ..h6 baiting the sacrifice, 26. ..Qa5!, skewering the white rooks and leveraging his weak back rank, and 28. ..Ng4!!, which may well be the best move I've ever played (I'm not that good, but still, it is an objectively crushing move in a hitherto tense position).

The main questions I have are:

1) Is there a more effective attack for white than 18. Nxf7?

2) What alternatives to the bishop sac did white have?

As always, any insights would be greatly appreciated.

I hope it was a blitz game.

I hope you have useful commentary on occasion.

There isn't much useful to say about it. it's just a blunder filled game.

30....QxR++

I'm not sure if this is some kinda joke thread ?

U defended very well but 22.Bxh6 was hope chess and nothing more...

White was clearly better and could improve at several points :

- 20.Bg5!? and not Ng5 because the knight is more dangerous than the bishop here.

- 20.c5! was maybe the strongest, with the idea 20...Nbd5 21.Bc4 dxc5 22.dxc5 with overwhelming position for white.

- instead of 22.Bxh6, simply going back, let's say on c1. White has many ideas, like c5, Rce2... Bishop pair, active rooks, black's king vulnerable, better pawn structure. Plenty of elements which give white a big advantage.

Thanks for the analysis!  I had the feeling white was better before the sacrifice, and that this student simply needed to be more patient.

It's hard to discourage players at his level from trying things, but he shouldn't throw away the advantage - especially when he's worked so hard to acquire it.  Better to try things when you are probably going to lose for other reasons already.