Move 18 is an en prise blunder, but in the moves running up to it you created a backward pawn on e6 defended by a minor piece which was bound to be repelled at some point.
Besides blundering the two pieces, which basically is whole thing with this game, your opening play leaves something to be desired also. ..Nc6, blocking your c-pawn, doesn't seem like a good idea, and ..Bb4, which should have been immediately met by c3, just gives White c3 for free. Also, playing f5, leaving the e6 pawn backward on an open file, is a problem, especially after you play ..b6 and ..b7, removing the only defender of that bad pawn. But obviously moving your knight to an unprotected square and trapping your bishop are the two major problems with this game.
Originally posted by Amaurote 18 ...Rae8 would probably have led to equality for the time being. c6 doesn't look so bad when you see the combination which follows.
but instead of taking the bishop his opponent could have played Rf2.
Originally posted by tomtom232 but instead of taking the bishop his opponent could have played Rf2.
Yes, it's bad, but it's not where he lost the game - even there you're only looking at a point difference, and the imbalance plus the possibilities of that f-file don't write off Black's chances entirely.
Originally posted by Amaurote Yes, it's bad, but it's not where he lost the game - even there you're only looking at a point difference, and the imbalance plus the possibilities of that f-file don't write off Black's chances entirely.
I seem to be really good at losing well 😕, or so it seems from the feedback from other players. It's making that leap from well fought battle to well fought victory, that seems to be the problem.