Coordinating the English opening to my goals

This one was all about taking advantage of the theme of my play vs the lack of theme from him. There are many mistakes on my part, in that I missed opportunities, but I think I followed my goals of closing the game up with much more space, keeping my minor pieces more active, and trading when up to simplify the game. Specifically, trading my queen for his queen and a rook, and then giving up my rook advantage to secure a clear path for a pawn in a pawn-only endgame. I also wish I could see my time spent on each move like on lichess, since I spent a lot of time around his king with my queen (which was why I traded like I did)



Master game

A theme here is a nice closed up center, just like my game, as well as the passed pawn with rook protection. These situations often lead to a poor trade to get rid of that pawn, and this game ends with a better piece endgame


Chess Video