Patience is a Virtue

This is a really interesting game if you're a fan of positioning and tactics, as opposed to the games that feature quick sacrifices and lots of exchanges.

I am trying to focus on playing for position rather than just trying to capture and kill. My opponent was a bit cautious early, choosing to surrender position rather than exchange pieces. Then he made a gigantic blunder, lost his queen in move 13, and never recovered.

When you get lucky and win your opponent's queen very early, there is a big temptation to assert your advantage in material by going on a killing spree. That can be dangerous against a seasoned player.

It took until move 35 for me to checkmate him because this was a closed game, with a pawn jungle smack in the middle of the board that hurt the mobility of both sides. It required some foresight and tricky maneuvering.

Note: This game also featured the rarely used "en passant" move (move 15), the only time a pawn is allowed to capture sideways. I had actually never captured en passant before, so that was kind of cool. More on the obscure en passant rule here.