My Most Brilliant Game

Here is, in my opinion, the most brilliant game I've ever played. It is also an imperfect game that I could and arguably should have lost, but I love the struggle in the game, and in a sequence from move 17 to 20, I played three brilliant moves according to the engine. The ideas in these moves are ones I'm quite proud of, and I particularly enjoyed the idea of sacrificing a rook and following up with a quiet king move. Finding out that this sequence was engine approved was very validating post game.

The game was played at the US Masters in 2023, one of my best tournaments where I scored 4/8 against opponents who were almost all higher-rated than I.

One interesting dynamic in the game was that I got quite a bit behind on the clock, and my opponent seemed to be optimistic as a result. He tried to press me on the clock in the equal position that arose after all the complications, but as is often the case when one tries to play on the clock, one's own play suffers. My opponent's ultimate piece sacrifice was risky, and fortunately, I played well in the final phase of the game after move 28, and my enterprising sacrificial play was ultimately rewarded with a full point.