White, 550 vs. Dan Manning, 1080

This was my second game of the 2021 Fall Swiss, but the third round. It was also my second official game against Dan Manning.

13...Bd6 set off a few mental alarm bells. In our previous game, Dan used a similar queen/bishop combination to attack my castled king; however, I defended quite successfully. At this point, I was wary but not yet too concerned.

Per Stockfish, I made only two blunders in this game, the first being 17. Nf4??, which I intended to defend against Bg2 immobilizing my king. However, Black's next few moves weren't what the engine had in mind, and I was able to equalize and even pull ahead.

With 27. Qxa6 and 28. Qd3?? (my second blunder), I was looking to trade queens and simplify the position. I had two outside passed pawns, and was confident that I could force a win with the queens off the board. Sadly, I became too focused on the queen trade idea and somehow entirely failed to consider 28...Qxf2+ as a possibility.