Hang in there Ted... I played a tournament recently where I had a definate advantage in 2 games but couldn't quite seal the deal. It's very frustrating because you feel the win slip through your fingers.
Often times a decent player can defend a worse position into a draw and I think it's being able to win when you have those small advantage that seperates the good players from the great. Not to say that you won't be great someday... what I'm saying is that there isnt a huge difference between a good player and a great player.
It's not that you're doing something horribly wrong, it just takes a lot of time and work to make those tiny differences matter.
Following up on yesterday's post about my not having a clue when it comes to winning rook and pawn endings even when I have a clearly winning position, I'll add this . . . I simply don't know how to win chess games by making use of the small advantages I am able to gather throughout the opening and middle game. I played in the park again today and lost more than one game from a reasonably superior postition. Sure, I win some games with checkmates when simple patterns appear, but my ability to "close" is pathetic. And as a salesperson, that is a pretty difficult pill to swallow. Just wanted to vent . . .
-Ted