I posted a similar article on my old Facebook page (R.I.P.) about the following game, including this very same concept. What is the moment of truth for a tournament player’s game? When do we seize the day, and how, with brute force, or a deceptive, positional move? The case here was that I did not miss the critical moment; in fact, I allowed it to pass the train station, as if hoping for a friend to pick me up.
The following game was after my last major tournament, where I did pretty well. I space out my tournaments to get the maximum amount of study time in between them. Even through this loss, my performance in this Asheboro Open tournament was remarkable considering the resistance. I thank Joshua Taylor the most for this instructive game.
We played a few moves before I resigned. And now we must look back to the critical moment, which is the last chance to make a positive change in the position that’s in your favor. Better moves for move 16 were 16. e5 or 16. exd5, which I kicked myself for later! The point of this brief analysis is to bring awareness to the fading concentration, and for you to realize the critical moment. Maybe there’s a tactic required, or maybe a subtle move, but you can’t find either if you are complacent.