Not my best game, but it illustrates all the things I struggle with:
I believe my opening is fine, I even considered dxe5 for a long time on move 10 (computer's favorite and the move following a 1996 grandmaster-game I didn't know about. I thought it would help put pressure on d5, I eventually dismissed the move because it makes my pawns look silly and I didn't see a material advantage. I still don't see why dxe5 is better, but it's great that I'm at least considering top moves in the opening).
I blunder a bishop in the middle-game and win back a rook in the endgame. So yes, fewer one-move blunders would be great. Doing more puzzles should improve that. After I got the rook, I still make mistakes in the endgame that turn a winning position into a draw or near-draw. This is the part of my game I believe I should be improving. I thought of doing endgame puzzles but the problem is that they don't really explain why 60. ... Ke5 leads to a draw (and why I should've played h5 earlier). I'm able to figure it out eventually, but while playing the game I just feel like I'm making incremental progress, not that I'm balancing back and forth between a draw and a win. I often hear remarks like: 'and if you know endgame theory, you know this is a draw, but it's by no means easy to play'. What is this endgame theory lore? What other ways might I be able to learn about endgames?
I believe my opening is fine, I even considered dxe5 for a long time on move 10 (computer's favorite and the move following a 1996 grandmaster-game I didn't know about. I thought it would help put pressure on d5, I eventually dismissed the move because it makes my pawns look silly and I didn't see a material advantage. I still don't see why dxe5 is better, but it's great that I'm at least considering top moves in the opening).
I blunder a bishop in the middle-game and win back a rook in the endgame. So yes, fewer one-move blunders would be great. Doing more puzzles should improve that. After I got the rook, I still make mistakes in the endgame that turn a winning position into a draw or near-draw. This is the part of my game I believe I should be improving. I thought of doing endgame puzzles but the problem is that they don't really explain why 60. ... Ke5 leads to a draw (and why I should've played h5 earlier). I'm able to figure it out eventually, but while playing the game I just feel like I'm making incremental progress, not that I'm balancing back and forth between a draw and a win. I often hear remarks like: 'and if you know endgame theory, you know this is a draw, but it's by no means easy to play'. What is this endgame theory lore? What other ways might I be able to learn about endgames?