Milestone: 1600 on Chess.com Rapid

If someone were to examine the games that got me from 1500 to 1600, they might reach the conclusion that I and my opponents always play chess tired, on weak wifi or surrounded by distractions. Even to me it feels as though reaching 1400 demanded more grit and consistency than the games I played recently.

For this afternoon's game, Chess.com matched me against one HenriqueIncio, rated 1574 out of Angola. It took me thirty seconds to make the first three moves because the school's computer was lagging, and from there the opening developed into a Samisch King's Indian. Then it was opponent's turn to lag -- 0:20 for move 6, 1:20 for move 10, 3:28 for move 12. On move 13 I had nine minutes left to opponent's three and a half. It was an anticlimactic milestone, but in a way it was also recompense for my loss two games prior.

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Position 1: White to move

Assigned the White pieces I opened 1.d4, and Black's 1...Nf6 suggested he would defend with the Nimzo-Indian or the King's Indian. 2.c4 g6 signaled Black's commitment to the latter, and I was excited to apply my Samisch scholarship to the game. 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 Nbd7 6.h4 and 6...0-0, and after 7.Be3 Black struck with 7...c5. I remembered that when Black strikes with the e-pawn White should lock the center but when he strikes from c5 8.Nge2 is best.

8...Qb6 attacked b2, and 9.Qd2 was the best move as it supported my dark-square bish, prepped queenside castles and defended b2. White struck again with 9...e5 and I locked with 10.d5. Black wasted a tempo with 10...Re8, and I correctly advanced on the kingside with 11.g4. Black again failed to improve his position with 11...Qa5, and I correctly prepped an h-pawn advance with 12.Ng3. After 12...Qc7 my advantage was +2.83, but it dropped to +1.55 after the sequence 13.h5 Re7 14.hxg6.

1. Why did I choose the move 14.hxg6?
Prior to 14.hxg6 the engine had wanted 13.g5 instead of 13.h5, but I advanced with 13.h5 in an effort to force open the h-file. With 13...Re7 Black allowed me to trade off my h-pawn, so I did.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
13.h5 allowed 13...Nf8, helping to coordinate the king's defenders, and 14.hxg6 was premature as it improved Black's rook on e7.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine presumably preferred 13.g5 because it would have forced 13...Nh5, leading to 14.Nxh5 gxh5, after which my c3-knight could reroute to g3 and chop on h5. As for 14.hxg6, the engine preferred 14.Bh6, which is an exchange offer of dark-square bishes whose timing I have yet to master.

Position 2: White to move

Black rechopped with 14...fxg6, I kicked Black's knight back with 15.g5 Ne8. At this point Black was down to 2:24 while I was at 8:46. 16.Qh2 attacked Black's h7-pawn, and Black correctly found 16...Nf8. With the center closed and no progress possible on the kingside, I couldn't find a move and attacked Black's queen with 17.Nb5 purely to make opponent burn time thinking. It worked, as opponent's time dwindled from 2:04 to 1:46, but my advantage dropped from +1.54 to +1.23.

1. Why did I choose the move 17.Nb5?
In the moment, I could find nothing better and was playing for time.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
While the move had merit in that opponent wasted time on its account, there were more important moves to make.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top move was 17.Be2, developing the last minor off the back rank to a flexible square and allowing the rooks to connect on the next move.

Position 3: White to move

After 17...Qd8 and 18.Nc3, Black correctly took away the b5-square from my knight and prepped a b-pawn advance with 18...a6. I developed my light-square bish with 19.Bd3, and Black repositioned his dark-square bish with 19...Bh8. My advantage was +1.35, but it dropped to +0.91 with 20.Qh6.

1. Why did I choose the move 20.Qh6?
Again the point was to erode opponent's clock. My queen on h6 meant Black had to think twice about moving his f8-knight and e7-rook.

2. Why is my move not ideal?
My threat of chopping on h7 was vain; and since nothing was going to change on the kingside, pressure needed to be sought elsewhere on the board.

3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine wanted 20.a4 or 20.0-0, shifting my attack to the queenside where Black was threatening to invade.