Lichess Game of the Month December - Contest

Started playing the Reti Gambit after listening to GM ChessWeeb on twitch years ago. Win some lose some. Even though I could/should win a piece early in the game, at the cost of my dark square fianchetto bishop, a pawn, and uncomfortable king, it was nice that it delivered the last move of the game.

[Event "Rated rapid game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/npxLUPP4"]
[Date "2024.12.31"]
[White "Bineesh_Premarajan"]
[Black "So_mya-1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2024.12.31"]
[UTCTime "01:12:20"]
[WhiteElo "1696"]
[BlackElo "1742"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-5"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+5"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[ECO "C00"]
[Opening "French Defense: Steinitz Attack"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e6 2. e5 { C00 French Defense: Steinitz Attack } Nc6 3. f4? { (-0.07 -1.30) Mistake. Nf3 was best. } (3. Nf3 d6 4. exd6 Bxd6 5. d4 Nf6 6. Bb5 O-O 7. Bg5 Bd7) 3... d5?? { (-1.30 0.48) Blunder. Nxe5 was best. } (3... Nxe5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Rg1) 4. Bb5?! { (0.48 -0.36) Inaccuracy. d4 was best. } (4. d4 Na5 5. Nf3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Nh6 8. Be3 Qb6) 4... Bd7 5. d4? { (-0.30 -1.45) Mistake. Bxc6 was best. } (5. Bxc6 Bxc6 6. d4 Ne7 7. Be3 Nf5 8. Bf2 h5 9. Nf3 Bb5) 5... a6? { (-1.45 -0.18) Mistake. Nxe5 was best. } (5... Nxe5 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. fxe5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qh4+ 9. Kd2 Bxb5 10. Qf3) 6. Ba4? { (-0.18 -1.73) Mistake. Be2 was best. } (6. Be2 Nce7 7. c3 Nf5 8. Nf3 h5 9. O-O Ngh6 10. a4 c5) 6... b5? { (-1.73 -0.12) Mistake. Nxe5 was best. } (6... Nxe5 7. fxe5 Qh4+ 8. Kf1 Bxa4 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. Nf3 Qh5 11. Ne2 f6 12. Nf4) 7. Bb3 Bb4+? { (-0.24 1.03) Mistake. Nxd4 was best. } (7... Nxd4 8. Qxd4) 8. c3 Ba5 9. Nf3 Nge7 10. Ng5?! { (1.32 0.51) Inaccuracy. O-O was best. } (10. O-O) 10... O-O?! { (0.51 1.19) Inaccuracy. Nf5 was best. } (10... Nf5 11. Nf3) 11. Qh5?! { (1.19 0.30) Inaccuracy. Bc2 was best. } (11. Bc2 h6 12. Nf3 f5 13. exf6 Rxf6 14. Qd3 Ng6 15. Ne5 Nce7 16. Nd2 b4) 11... h6 12. Bc2?? { (0.40 -1.59) Blunder. Nf3 was best. } (12. Nf3 b4 13. Bc2 f5 14. O-O Bb6 15. Be3 Rc8 16. Qh4 bxc3 17. Nxc3 Na5) 12... Nf5?! { (-1.59 -0.49) Inaccuracy. Nxd4 was best. } (12... Nxd4) 13. Nf3? { (-0.49 -2.08) Mistake. Bxf5 was best. } (13. Bxf5 exf5) 13... b4?? { (-2.08 1.49) Blunder. Nfxd4 was best. } (13... Nfxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bd3 c5 16. O-O Nc6 17. f5 exf5 18. Bxf5 Nxe5 19. Bxh6) 14. Bd2?? { (1.49 -0.18) Blunder. O-O was best. } (14. O-O g6 15. Qh3 h5 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Qg3 Kg7 18. h3 Rb8 19. Kh2 Rh8) 14... Qb8 15. O-O?? { (-0.26 -1.98) Blunder. Bxf5 was best. } (15. Bxf5 bxc3 16. Nxc3 exf5 17. Rd1 Be6 18. Na4 Qb5 19. b3 Nb4 20. Bxb4 Qxb4+) 15... bxc3 16. bxc3 Qb2 17. Bxf5? { (-1.96 -3.48) Mistake. g4 was best. } (17. g4 Qxa1 18. gxf5 exf5 19. Kh1 Ne7 20. Rg1 Qxa2 21. Bd3 Ng6 22. Nh4 Nxh4) 17... exf5 18. Nh4?! { (-3.51 -4.84) Inaccuracy. g4 was best. } (18. g4 fxg4 19. Nh4 f5 20. exf6 Rxf6 21. Qxd5+ Be6 22. Qxc6 Rb8 23. f5 Bf7) 18... Qxa1 19. Nxf5 Bxf5 20. Qxf5 Qxa2 21. Qg4?! { (-4.89 -6.61) Inaccuracy. Be1 was best. } (21. Be1 Qc4 22. Bh4 Nxd4 23. cxd4 Qxd4+ 24. Kh1 Qe4 25. Qh3 Rfb8 26. Na3 Kh7) 21... Rab8 22. Qd1 Rb2 23. f5 Rfb8 24. e6 Rxb1 25. exf7+ Kxf7 26. Qh5+ Kg8 27. Qe2 Nxd4 28. cxd4 Qxd2 29. Qe6+? { (-8.79 Mate in 7) Checkmate is now unavoidable. Qxa6 was best. } (29. Qxa6 Qe3+ 30. Kh1 Qe1 31. Kg1 Qxf1+ 32. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Rb2 34. h3 Ra2) 29... Kh8 30. f6 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Rb1+ 32. Qe1 Rxe1# { Black wins by checkmate. } 0-1

@Matt3010 said in #2:

Great conversion in the endgame!