With 2 pawns an a Rook you can build a fortress. Yoy should have played 58 Kg4, and you can draw, or even win if he slips, I think
Bad endgame play
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Why only at the end? I mean, right at the start of the game,
4.Bc4? is a mistake. his 3...c6 is a big mistake, allowing you to win a pawn. It's not even a sacrifice. Black just loses a center pawn for no compensation whatsoever with 4.dxe5. It's funny, white wins the pawn and yet white is the one left with better center and no development problems (...c6 pawn will hurt black in that open center position).
The chance to win material for no compensation arose again with 8.dxe5. Your 8.Qe2 is very...lukewarm. You're not trying to search for your opponent's mistakes. This lets him get away with murder.
Black could answer 8.Qe2 with 8...e4 and get a very interesting position (for both sides. Which is bad for white considering he could have had a huge advantage).
his 8...Bxb5? is a huge mistake.
10.dxe5 is even more immediately crushing than 10...Nxe5.
Black had to try 10...Qc7 in my opinion. You get less. Still a huge position, but less. 10.dxe5 is just winning. black's entire center collapses immediately.
With all the same material advantages and positional plusses as in the game position.
10...Qb6 is another ? and just taking with 11.Nxd5! seems to be crusing.
your 11. means you have to exchange your queen or retreat it, and black's position is at least temporarily intact. So no attack or any immediate crush of any kind is visible (of course white is still much better).
Other posts for the rest of the game:)
16.b4 shows a lack of understanding as to what's going on in the position (in my opinion).
I understand your desire to create a passed pawn as quickly as possible, but that option will not go away, and with so many pieces on the board, it'll be hard to use that advantage. However, the more advanced pawns are, the easier it is for them to become overextended and vulnerable to attack by opponent's pieces (of which there are many here).
But the problem with the game position is more important:
white's a2 knight is very badly placed. too passive.
white's c1 bishop also cuts of the a1 rook, preventing white's rooks from working together, and helping black to take over the only open file.
white is probably much better, but instead of making sure the knight has to stay longer on guard duty (after b4, a piece needs to keep protecting that pawn for a while), but also black's pieces have free reign over the rest of the board, while white's still need a few moves.
So, restrict his pieces:
16.f3 makes his f6 knight feel very bad.
16.Bg5 connects your rooks and by doing that, helps in the fight for the open file.
16.Re1 fights for the open file.
As long as you ask yourself what's going on in the position, you won't get bogged down with one detail (such as the b4 advance, preparing a5 maybe...), and forget about all the other factors in the position.
After 16...Rhe8, you no longer have time for 17.f3 because of 17...Re2. you may be ok there (not sure), but definitely no longer with such a good position as before.
EVEN after that, you must get your pieces into the game. pawns won't win by themselves with so many pieces on the board, and all your pieces are tangled up, so 17.a5 seems totally out of place.
So, get your pieces back into the game. 17.c3 (frees the knight), or 17.Bg5 (moves to bishop to a better square and connects the rooks).
After your move, 17.a5, probably black should have 17...Re2. I think it's already a question of whether it;s equal or black is better after that.
black gives you just what you wanted with 17...b5. The position is much better for white after that.
20.Rfb1 may look ok, but you have easy ways to win here, and this move gives black a chance he should not get. With a protected passed pawn in your hands, all you need to do is exchange pieces. The way to do that is just take over the open file: 20.Rfe1. Either black lets you do that, and your pieces become much more active than his, and penetrate his position,
or he has to exchange the rooks on the open file. The more exchanges, the more powerful the passed pawn becomes.
Of course, black is also threatening ...Re2, and Rfe1 prevents his penetration through the open file (that's the whole point of controlling an open file anyway).
20...Re2 would make the position ...complicated. White can no longer be sure of a win (or of any advantage, for that matter), and the played 20...Ra7 is a blunder. white is winning again. Black cannot be passive against the protected passed pawn because white can always switch back to the open file and win.
21.Nc1???(instead of controlling the file, you block your way to it) allows 21...Re1# ouch.
There was probably no need to give up the c2 pawn. Just 23.Rb2, and all your pluses in the position remain.
After 21...Ka6 the strength of your passed pawn depends on the strength of the base of that pawn chain, b4.
26.h3? there's no longer any danger of backrank mates, and you must make every move in your games count. This is a lost move. Just because a mate was possible a few moves ago, doesn't mean you should panick and waste a move now.
26...d4, black firmly holds many cards in his hands.
27...Rb2 is a bad move, just ...Rd7. No need to drop that wonderful passed pawn. black can resume his other plans later.
I wonder if you noticed 30.Rf4, defending and attacking at the same time. Also, it leaves the other rook the option to penetrate the black position. It defends everything well enough, and you don't give black the option the take the oh so important b4 pawn (protects your passed a5 pawn). Of course, your move should win too:)
31.R1d7? ahhhhh
After all the hard work, this move should spoil it all. Remember the b4 pawn??? if it falls, your a pawn becomes weak, rather than strong.
This could have lost you the game.
33...Ra4 makes the game interesting again (black should just move the rook out of the way with ...Rb1+ and take with the king, instead of placing the rook on a strange file/square, just take with the king later, which moves the king in the direction he wants to go anyway (escorting his own pawns).
After 35.Rxc6, white is winning again.
38.Rxh7+ was the next blunder,as it seems to make black's passed pawn too dangerous. At the very least, white is no longer winning).
The rook should never have left the b file (remember - rooks belong behind passed pawns, whether your own or your opponent), and now it should move back 38...Rb6. Exchange the b pawn for the c pawn, and just win with 2 potential protected passed pawns on the other wing.
The game may not be lost yet, and 39.Rh6+ may be your saving grace here:
39...Kxc5 40.Rh5+ Kb6 41.Rh8 trying to harass black from behind. Could be enough to draw, not sure yet.
41...Kc4??? why did he do that? giving that rook? Just Kb4 and he wins.
In the end, Queen vs. Rook and 3 pawns should be just a draw. Actually, you probably could have given a pawn (or two!before the f pawn moved), and still build a fortress.
In either case, the rook must be near the king and pawn/s, and you want the black queen to have difficulty in attacking from behind (so easier if f pawn doesn't move).
58.Kh5? again, just 58.Kg4. defend the pawn. Take care of the immediate problems. If black wants to check from g2, go back to h4. A draw is fine by you in this position:)
Nice game
I am wondering if I could have salvaged this game at some point in the endgame. Obviously I get worse when the number of pieces decrease. Any comments appreciated. Thanks a lot.