Hi Joanne, nice to see another annotation from you. I hope you don't mind my saying this, but I think it's about time you stopped referring to yourself as "The Beginner". I know you only mean to sound modest, but it's a little bit hurtful to players with lower ratings than yourself who've worked hard to build up their skills to earn those ratings, just as you have. Yes, you've made some silly mistakes in some of your games; who hasn't? But one does not reach a near-1800 rating without a lot of knowledge and experience, as I'm sure that really you know.

I agree - you're a great player Joanne!  

I reckon the other two have the right of it. Another appellation seems to be called for. How about The Aspirant?

Another option for white is 6.d4, though after 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 c5 black is doing very well.

Qe2 here is simply a blunder. d4 would have been sufficient

A wild try: 7... Bf5. If NxN, dxN, threatening Nf3. QxB, exNf3, and who knows? .-)

looks good, and must be satisfying for Black to play this, but is White's game disrupted enough for Black to allow him a lead in development?

Well... I would say: e5 is an isolani, well placed into the center and easily defendable (Bf4). Queenside pawns seem to hold well any attempt of black advancing its own (c5, d4 only gets an exchange).

Because of Qxc2+! The Rd1 move was questionable, in my view.

when Qa4 was played, why didn't White just play a3? EDIT: Ah, of course  

Another beguiling line of play - but, owing to only half the army having been deployed, Black's attack seems to lack heft. Having said that, it does leave White's King in the centre, and the BQ looks safe for the moment. As it transpires, after the following exchanges, Black emerges with a fine game. No doubt White would have liked to have been able to play 15.Qd3 here, but saw that 15...Bxe3ch put a stop to that scheme.

But black gains a half-open file in return.

I wouldn't call Black's Q-side formation 'busted' at all - not enough to cause serious inconvenience. The (half)-open file can be useful for Black if any compensation for the doubling of the b-pawn is required. Of the two sets of pawns on the Q-side, I much prefer Black's. Two reasons: it's closer to the centre, and Black's pawns are doubled 'towards the centre', whereas White's are 'away from the centre'.

c5 is coming soon, with a massive center occupation. White's pawns are defensive, I would say.

but then again, since White's king was exposed a queen trade looks like a good idea

The pawn can be rounded up with 18...Rfe8, no need to give up such a splendid bishop!

A judgement call. I think I might well have played as Jo did. Not only has she netted a handy pawn, but also disrupted White's K-side (split the remaining pawns), and, by simplifying, has deprived White of his most active piece. Not too bad a bargain for the admittedly well-placed bishop!

White's Bd3 would have exchanged the good black bishop anyway.

This is good, as it reduces the scope of white's bishop, black can also move the N and the d-pawn is safe, for example 21...Nc4 22.Bxd4? Rfd8!

I like this move, and all. For one thing, it shows flexibility of thought. Jo spoke last note of seeking exchanges, but she doesn't just hack off just anything that shows up. This finesse invites White to exchange on his time (meaning Black will get the e-file); but the knight also eyes the light squares g4 and, especially, e4....

White's pawn on f and g are sad and lonely...

... and of course, protects the e8 square in order that Black may challenge for the e-file.

Also, Rh5 doesn't look like an active rook position...

hityerclock, after the line you suggest, doesn't white have Kd4, protecting the pawn? c5 is not possible due to Kxd5... true is that black will simply go on with the king and force a BxN exchange... with a won endgame, but with some resistance by white.

Black has a won position, and can now eliminate the remaining rooks and win a second pawn with 26...Rxe5 27.fxe5 Nd7, and the resulting endgame is easy to win with the self-evident plan of pushing K-side pawns. While the trap idea is great, you shouldn't pass up opportunities to obtain easily won positions. EDIT: Damalfi, in my suggested line, white plays 26... Rxe5 instead of 26...Kf8. The white K is still back on d2 (white plays Kd3 on move 27), and so cannot protect the pawn. The 3:1 majority on the K-side with no rooks, just N vs B should be a straightforward win for a player of Joanne's skill level. Even if white gets a pawn back with 26...Rxe5 26.fxe5 Nd7 27.Bg4 Nxe5 28.Bc8 Kf8 29.Bxc7 Ke7, white's extra Q-side pawn is doubled.

Here I prefer 30...Nc5 with 31...Ne6 in mind. If White tried 31.Kd4 then ...f6 might be worth a look, denying the WK several central squares.

33.h5? actually helps black, as now the bishop has no way to get at the black pawns. Instead of 33...Nf8, black should play 33...Nc5, immediately winning another pawn (34...Nxa4, or 34.Kb5 Ne6). After 33...Nf8, white can hold out longer with 34.Kd4 Ne6+ 35.Ke3.

A neat win for Joanne. Very nice!