Best Game Criteria

What makes a game your personal best?

Is it a game with wild tactics in which your errors were fewer than those of your opponent? Is it a game with a speculative sacrifice that you saved with an ingenious drawing combination? Is is a game without significant error? Is it your biggest upset, or the highest rated player you have beaten?

My highest rated victory OTB was against an expert 200 points above me. My game was without substantial error. On the other hand, I was playing for a draw. Only when my opponent forced matters to reah an imbalance that we both thought favored him, did I begin to play for a win. His seeming superior position, in fact, required him to fight a knight ending where he was slightly worse. Trading knights led to a technically lost ending. I found the correct idea and won.

Is this game my best? I'm ambivalent.

Here are two key positions from the ending: http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2012/02/pawn-wars.html

As far as best games go... 1,000 different people, 1,000 different answers. I personally think the game you posted above qualifies, but only you can judge what your best game is :). I think in terms of whether or not one side had deep and clear ideas. Usually, for me personally, if I win a game in a wild and double-edged tactical position, it is because of major errors/blunder on both sides. If I win one in an ending, I typically have some idea of what I'm doing. That's just me, though.

If both players avoid mistakes the game will be a draw. It's very possible many people's best games are draws against stronger opponents.

So give me 1000 answers. I'll read 'em.

You could plug all of your games into engines and find which ones are the most strictly accurate. In my opinion, the best games are the ones that are most satisfying to play and replay. When you sacrifice three minor piece and your queen to checkmate with just a knight, it does not matter if you made terrible moves up to that point. The fact that you found that beautiful combination is satisfying and enjoyable to see again.

So, TheDev1, accuracy is the criteria, but there's some favoritism towards significant imbalances.

There were certainly no imbalances, aside from pawn structure, in the game that I describe in the original post. Bishops were swapped for bishops, knights for knights, queens for queens.