My first game on Sunday, knowing that I needed a win, went into a pawn and opposite colour bishop ending. Twice my opponent offered me a draw, but I was two pawns up and so twice I turned him down. My problem was that my one passed pawn was blocked by his bishop, supported by his king. My king couldn't get round to his other pawns easily, and even then they could be defended by the time I got there. After his second draw offer I thought for a long time and realised that I had to push my pawn majority. This would lose me two pawns for one, but would also enable my past pawn to push on and be swapped for his bishop. If he avoided this I would have two past pawns just two squares off queening. He went for the former option, which also left my king closer to the remaining four pawns on the board. His resignation came soon after.
In the afternoon I knew that nothing less than a win would put me into the prize money. My opponent was graded 13 points higher than me, but I had to go for it. In the endgame, I had a chance to force a perpetual (my opponent would lose his rook if he didn't keep checking me), but decided to continue to play for a win. Wrong decision! I took the king the wrong way and 15 or so moves later the game was lost. I felt gutted to say the least. Needless to say, later that evening I suddenly realised that if I had played a different move I could get to a square where I couldn't be checked and thus could have won. Why is it that I always find the perfect move hours after the game has finished?
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