Sorry for the long delay, have been rather distracted by the coronavirus taking playing havok with my business.
No worries - just glad you’re OK!
Having looked again at the position, I think White has a crushing attack. :eek:
White threatens 29. c6 Q moves 30. Qa6+ Qxa6 31. Nxa6 and 32. Rb8 mate.
(Alternatively 29. c6 Q moves 30. d7+ wins a Rook.)
This shows how quickly a game can change. A few moves ago Black was holding the position and preparing … g6.
Once White could play b4, Black’s position fell apart.
To that end, I saw that b4 would be my undoing several moves before it happened (I think I even posted about it), but seemed helpless to stop it. Looking back, was there anything I could have done differently or was it already a foregone conclusion by the time I spotted it? If it was inevitable…what do I take away from that?
If you saw a threat in advance, you should be pleased with yourself. 
I think it was an interesting game, where I chose a closed variation and you swiftly exchanged one of my best pieces.
It took a while, but my experience guided me to put my pieces on good squares (especially the knight on d3 
) and that meant I got ahead in the race to open up the opposing King.
I trust that seeing an experienced player in action was instructive.
Do have a look at all my spoiler comments.
If you like, I can put the game through a computer to assess the situation at each move…
As a third party, I’d certainly be interested in any analysis of what Black might have done differently to avoid the situation that ultimately occurred. In particular, I wonder if castling on the kingside (i.e. the same side as White) might have helped, given White had a slight lead in activating pieces? But that white pawn on h5 was always going to be a worry in that case.
I hope NAF is OK - I’ve sent him a message.
It would be good to actually finish this game.
I thought your post #106 amounted to a declaration of victory, and NAF’s reply in post #107 acknowledged that - I had a look myself and was going to suggest Qe4 as Black’s best try (relatively), but rather than exchanging queens White can simply proceed with his attack which will mate in a few moves.
Hey, sorry for the long delay. Real life got tricky.
I agree that Qe4 is the best move I see. But it’s also mate in just a few moves I’m pretty sure.
Yes, you’re both correct - it’s a forced mate after Qe4. (N.B. I didn’t see anything better.)
After Qa6+
a) … Kb8
Nc6++ and Qxa7 mate
b) … Kd7
Qxa7+ and mate on c7 or e7
c) … Qb7
c6! Qxa6
Nxa6 and mate on b8
I think NAF played well and it was an instructive game.
I’ll put the game through computer analysis and post some of that here.
Fwiw I would probably have gone with choice C.
I would still love to see the computer analysis if you get the chance.
Me too!