So I figured I ought to check my other move out with the computer again, and White has an even better alternative after 25. …Rhg8.
26.Ne6+ getting a rook, a pawn, and a bishop exchange for the queen. Black moves his king and then 27.Bxd6 Rxg7; 28.Nxg7 Rxd6; 29.Nxh5. The computer knows how to find material advantages quite well.
Well computed! Take over from here. 
As much as I am enjoying this blow-by-blow account of my game, could anyone assess it in a way that is really simple to understand? Like, how many ‘damn stupid moves’ did white make, compared to my own? From what I’ve read so far, it seems from my first dumb move I was continually on the back foot, and it was only black’s mistakes that let me back in the game. Is that a fair summary?
I’m at the UK National League this weekend , but I’ll post a summary when I get home.
Cheers, Glee. Best of luck. 
Btw, I meant “white’s” mistakes in this earlier sentence,
Hey, I don’t mind letting you nitpick my analysis if you like (and glee’s maybe too busy to catch any misses I have right now):
41.Rc1 Rc8
White goes after the pawn, and Black defends it, keeping the rooks facing off and bringing the draw closer.
42.d4 Rc4
White’s eager to push his pawn up. Black’s response attacks both White’s remaining pawns and he could take them both for one of his.
43.d5 Kxf7
White pushes the pawn to get away from the rook. Black needed to take the pawn at some point, so he does so.
44.d6 Ke8
White continues to press the doomed pawn forward. Black makes a minor slip, but it’s not fatal. Better would have been 44. …Ke6 threatening to take on the next move.
Not that there’s much play left here at all, but White could have been in a better position to take advantage of mistakes by getting the king in on the action first.
45.Kf3 Kd7
46.Ke2 Kxd6
White, knowing the pawn is dead, finally starts to bring his king across, probably because there’s nothing else to move. Black safely takes the pawn. Now Black has an extra pawn, but it’s not in a position to help him out.
47.Kd3 Kd5
The kings finally meet - at least as close as they can get to each other.
48.Rxc3 Rxa4
The pawns are traded off, bringing the inevitable draw even closer.
ivan nastikov, perhaps there are other points that could be made by the better players here, but it seems your mistakes were of a different nature than your opponent’s. You expended effort on a weak attack, and then let your queen get trapped instead of pulling her back when she was in trouble. White’s mistakes are some pretty big tactical blunders, but he also didn’t seem to have a good (or maybe any) plan.
When he moved his Queen up to e5, I could almost see it making sense if he was going to use it as part of the attack. He’d have an extra attacker and could have continued by moving the knight next. (25.Na6+ looks foolhardy but it clears space and forces the king back to the corner. Since White’s rook can slide over to the b-file there’s a serious chance to mate with the queen that way. It’s probably not the prettiest or fastest, but it’s not a bad way to proceed if you don’t want to try and get checkmate in the middle of the board.)
Instead he made a move that even if it weren’t disastrous does nothing to further the attack on the king. In a position like that you almost feel it wasn’t the idea.
Quoted from memory from Chess Strategy, an excellent primer from the 1920s written by someone who may have been a distant relation of the better-known Lasker.
Concerning the tactic that panamajack found for White’s 26th move, this is good (although even in the game he was still two pieces up after this sequence), but given that White didn’t know about the possibility of the Knight check, letting his Queen be pinned was a clear blunder.
Is that the 4NCL? Who do you play for? How did you get on?
I’m with Malacandra: “Picture Harry Carpenter covering two drunks outside the pub, and you’ve about got it. :D”
Here’s a crude evaluation, where the symbols stand for:
! = good move
? = weak move (a better move shown in brackets)
?? = blunder
(The result is going to look a bit harsh, but I’m judging it by international standards )
I’ll stop there if I may.
Listen, chess is difficult!
Yes.
Wood Green.
Reserve.