Hmm... I'll send you a bill. I think my commentary is probably worth about 47 cents.

Loomis: great help as usual. All your comments point out features I didn't appreciate in my own little postmortem. I think you are right for the reason that the bxc move would have been nice: indeed later I was wishing my queen had more mobility. She was sort of cramped in on my Kingside.

6. ... dxc4. I play 1. d4 as white and see this all the time. As white, I never cry for the lost tempo of moving the bishop twice because my opponent has ceded some control of the e4 square. In this position where you have your bishop on b7 though, the freedom of that bishop is important. I'm sure that dxc4 is good there.

 

14. a4? Also too passive. I like something like Rd1 threatening d5. If black plays b5, white just brings his bishop back to b3. White should be attacking here, not worried about a meaningless b5. After Rd1, white could even play d5 in response to c5: 14. Rd1 c5 15. d5 cxb4 16 dxe6 fxe6 17. Bxe6. (Double check this line, I make mistakes all the time.)

 

15. ... Nexc5. Maybe the variations Fritz gives tells you why it prefers bxc5. From what I can tell, either white gives up the bishop pair or allows 15. ... bxc5 16. Ba3 Qa5+ and Qxa4. In the game, the dark square bishop is pretty powerful, so trading it or relegating it to a3 seems good here.

 

I know the bishop on b7 is a strong piece, but when you're two pawns up, 25. .. Bd5 might be a good practical choice. Trading pieces will make it easier to manage your opponents counterplay.