Out, back and out again

As I get older (and more forgetful) I have a tendency to screw up my openings more and more. It is both a function of not learning all the lines, and playing careless moves without checking the consequences.
In the following very recent game, I played 7. ... Bf5 without much thought. After 8.Qf3 I was suddenly required to do a lot of thinking, but most of it was deciding whether to go berserk and sacrifice my queenside pawns, or eat crow and retreat the bishop. In the end I decided crow was the tastier meal, and retreated both the bishop and the queen. After that it was a battle not to get run off the board, bring out my pieces again, and try and salvage something from the game. Turns out I managed to find enough play to not lose, but all that post-blunder thinking left me short of time, and so a draw was offered an accepted.


Patterson,Miles - Press,Shaun [A09]
Autumn Leaves, 23.05.2017

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. e3 Nc6 4. exd4 Nxd4 5. Nxd4 Qxd4 6. d3 e5 7. Nc3 Bf5 8. Qf3 Bc8 9. Be3 Qd8 10. Be2 Nf6 11. h3 Bd6 12. O-O h5 13. c5 Be7 14. Qg3 Be6 15. Bf3 c6 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. dxe4 Qc7 18. Qxg7 O-O-O 19. Qg3 Rdg8 20. Qh2 Bf6 21. Be2 Qe7 22. Rfd1 Rg6 23. Rd6 Rhg8 24. Bf1 Qf8 25. Rad1 Qg7 26. b3 Be7 27. R6d2 f5 28. exf5 Bxf5 29. Kh1 Be6 30. f3 Bh4 31. Bd3 Bg3 32. Qg1 Rf6 33. Be4 Qf7 34. Qf1 Qe7 35. Rd6 Bf4 36. Bf2 Rf7 37. Qd3 Rfg7 38. Rg1 Kc7 39. Bf5 Bxf5 40. Qxf5 Rg5 41. Qd3 e4 42. fxe4 Bxd6 43. cxd6+ Qxd6 44. Qc3 Qe6 45. Qe3 b6 46. Qf4+ Kb7 47. Bd4 c5 48. Bf2 Re5 1/2-1/2