Knowing when to dig in

Faced with a totally lost position, there are often 3 choices. Firstly you can simply resign and head home. If you don't wish to do that, then you can either dig in, or play for tricks. Which one works best often depends on the situation you are facing. If you suspect your opponent may not always find the best move in a complicated position, then playing for tricks is probably the best strategy. If however, you suspect your opponent may struggle to find the best plan, then digging in and defending often pays off.
Continuing on from yesterdays post, the rest of the game saw me trying to avoid insta-death by choosing moves that did not lose on the spot. While I didn't get everything right, by keeping the game going, the onus was on my opponent to find the win. Eventually his shortage of time began to tell, and not seeing any clear path to victory, exchanged in what looked like a winning ending (which it probably was). However my counterplay looked stronger than it was, which again meant he need to find a winning plan, and when he didn't, I was able to reach a drawn King and Pawn ending.


Press,Shaun - Chan,Darryl [B19]
Canberra CC (8), 20.11.2019

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nd7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. c4 Bd6 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qe2 O-O 16. O-O-O Qc7 17. Bc3 Rfe8 18. Kb1 b5 19. cxb5 cxb5 20. Qxb5 Rab8 21. Qd3 Ne4 22. Be1 Qb7 23. b3 a5 24. Nd2 Nxd2+ 25. Bxd2 a4 26. Kb2 e5 27. d5 e4 28. Qe3 axb3 29. a4 Qxd5 30. Bc3 Qc6 31. Ra1 Be5 32. Rhc1 Qf6 33. g4 Rec8 34. Bxe5 Qxe5+ 35. Rc3 Rb4 36. f4 Qxc3+ 37. Qxc3 Rxc3 38. Kxc3 b2 39. Rb1 Rxa4 40. Rxb2 e3 41. Kd3 Rxf4 42. Rg2 Rf3 43. Ke4 Rf2 44. Rg1 e2 45. Re1 g5 46. hxg6 fxg6 47. Ke3 Rf8 48. Rxe2 Re8+ 49. Kf3 Rxe2 50. Kxe2 Kf7 51. Kf3 Ke6 52. Ke4 Kd6 53. Kd4 Ke6 54. Ke4 Kf6 55. Kf4 g5+ 56. Ke4 Ke6 57. Kd4 Kd6 58. Ke4 Ke6 59. Kd4 Kf6 60. Ke4 Kg6 61. Kf3 h5 62. gxh5+ Kxh5 63. Kg3 Kg6 64. Kg4 Kf6 65. Kg3 Kf5 66. Kf3 g4+ 67. Kg3 Kg5 68. Kg2 Kf5 69. Kg3 Kg5 70. Kg2 Kf4 71. Kf2 g3+ 72. Kg2 Kg4 73. Kg1 Kh3 74. Kh1 g2+ 75. Kg1 Kg3 1/2-1/2