Veni, Vidi, Vici . . .Sort of

I tied for first place in the U1800 section of the 2018 Westfield Chess Club Championship, and I took home the trophy on tie breaks. Two wins, two draws. Of course it wasn’t that simple. I was dead lost in round four but stubbornly held on until my opponent let me back in the game. As usual, none of my illusions about the quality of my chess survive the first contact with the computer. But this game from round 2 isn’t too bad

[Event "WCC 2018"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.25"] [Round "2"] [White "Kang, Michael Jay"] [Black "Gottlieb"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C01"] [WhiteElo "1406"] [Annotator "Gottlieb,Paul"] [PlyCount "46"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. c4 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 (6... O-O $142 { This is always useful}) 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. cxd5 {I'm not sure this pawn grab is wise. White needs to develop his king side} O-O 9. Nf3 Re8+ 10. Be2 Qe7 11. Ne5 c5 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. dxc5 {Leaving his king in the center} Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qxc5 $6 {Gives up a lot of my advantage} (14... Nd7 $142) 15. Qd3 Nd7 16. a3 $2 (16. Kf1 {or 16.O-O was a must}) 16... Bxc3+ {This is fine, probably winning, but} ( 16... Ne5 $142 $1 17. Qe3 Bxc3+ 18. Qxc3 Qxd5) 17. bxc3 Ne5 $19 {I get a second chance!} 18. Qe3 Qxd5 {Now Black is winning for sure. White's pawns are all weak, and Black has two powerful rooks while White's are sleeping} 19. Kf1 (19. O-O Ng6 20. Rfd1 Rxe3 21. Rxd5 Rxe2) (19. c4 Nxf3+ $1) 19... Qe6 $2 { This wasn't as good as I'd thought, because White can slow me down with 20.h4} (19... Ng6 $142 $1 20. Qd3 Qe6 $19) 20. Rg1 $2 (20. h4 $142 Qf6 21. h5 (21. Rd1 Ng6) 21... Rad8 $19) (20. f4 Qd5 $19) 20... Qh3+ 21. Rg2 (21. Ke1 Nxf3+) 21... Ng6 22. Qd2 Rad8 23. Qb2 Nf4 0-1