LindseyAnn vs. BarryOnAVine 1-0

[Event "www.ChessWorld.net server game"]
[Site "www.ChessWorld.net "]
[Date "2007.11.29"]
[Round "NA"]
[White "lindseyann"]
[Black "Barry_on_a_vine"]
[TimeControl "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteELO "1171"]
[BlackELO "1107"]

{Termination "Black resigned" Mode "ICS" DateLastMove "2008.2.22" Board
"4353912" This is going to be one hell of a game. We both played pretty
badly and missed obvious things all over the place.}
1.d4 e6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 h5
{I will never understand moves like this in the opening. I see that you could probably cause some problems with the knight at g4, but only if you're playing against someone worse than you.}
4.Nf3 Bb4
{This was a rough opening for me. I missed several good opportunities. I could have been chasing his knight with e5, or messing up his pawns with d5. I tend to avoid early pawn maneuvers, but this situation called for them.}
5.Bd2
{I feel this was a terrible move. I wasn't even considering what would happen to the pawn at e4 once the knight was gone.}
5...Bxc3 6.Bxc3 Nxe4 7.Bd3 Nd6 8.O-O f5 9.Bb4 Nf7 10.Re1 d5 11.c3
{A very meek move when there were a few more aggressive, better moves. I could have taken the f-pawn or played c4 and attacked his pawns in the center.}
11...Nc6 12.Qa4
{It would have been better to do the pin with the bishop, since after 12...Bd7 the knight can force a discovery on the queen.}
12...a5 13.Ba3 Rb8 14.Bb5 h4
{A mistake on his part. But, I did not capitalize on it.}
15.h3
{Better is 15. Bxc6+ bxc6 16. Qxc6+ Qd7 17.Rxe6+ and everything is falling apart for him.}
15...Bd7 16.Bd3
{Again, not the best move. I was now eyeing the pawn at f5 (which was available ages ago).}
16...Nd6 17.Bxd6 cxd6 18.Bxf5
{This was a blunder. He could have responded with 18...Ne7 forking the queen and my bishop, and causing me to loose the bishop.}
18...O-O 19.Bd3
{It would have been better to play 19. Bxe6+ Bxe6 20. Rxe6 winning the pawn and getting up in his business. He now also has the option of playing Ne6 winning the bishop.}
19...Qb6 20.b3 Rfd8 21.Nxh4 Ne7
{He missed his last chance to play Ne5 and win the bishop.}
22.Qa3 Rbc8 23.Qc1 Re8 24.Nf3 Bb5 25.Bf1 Nc6 26.Ng5 Qc7
{Hangs the bishop. There were some tricky tactical things I could have done with 27. Qb1, but I am just happy I didn't miss the hanging bishop.}
27.Bxb5 Rf8
{This is a very bad mistake on his part. He moves his rook to a place where by taking an unprotected pawn I can fork the Queen and rook.}
28.Nxe6 Qf7 29.Nxf8 Na7 30.Bd3 Rxf8 31.Re2 Nc6 32.Bb1 Re8 33.Qc2 Re4
{I'm more than happy to trade down here with my queen and bishop lined up.}
34.Rxe4 dxe4 35.Qxe4 Ne7 36.Qh7+ Kf8 37.Be4 d5 38.Qh8+ Qg8 39.Qxg8+ Nxg8 40.Bxd5 Nf6 41.Bxb7
{Black resigned. A messy win, but a win.}
1-0

Short Break

Well, I did what I always do. I overwhelmed myself with chess and then needed a break. This one was only about a month long, so hopefully I haven't forgotten all that I learned. We'll see. Working full time has been a big part of this, but when you want to do something you make time for it. Many of my games have finished up on Chessworld, and my rating has dropped back down to the upper 1100s. I'm not happy about this but now I have something to work toward.