Black is definitely better. The protected passed pawn is a potentially winning trump.

Joanne: you really should not have let that happen. White had to exchange on e5 at some point... Instead of 35.Qf2, maybe 35.Rd1 was called for, with this in mind: 35...Qe6 36.Qe4 (stopping the e-pawn's advance) 36...exf4 37.Qxe6 Rxe6 38.Bxf4 (gxf4!?) 38...g5 39.Bc7 Re7 40.Bd6.

Black should try to swap queens, as that's white's only active piece: 36...Qf7! and white must either swap queens or lose a tempo, which allows ...Na5->Nc4.

White should activate the B with 38.Be3, and the position is dead even, but 38.Qd5 looks good, too. 38...Rd8 is a lemon, but even after Qf6, black's advantage is gone. White's Q is too active.

A shame, really: Black had been doing very well, keeping alive winning chances. But you gotta say that Joanne was doing her bit too, eschewing the more obvious drawing chances with the same end in mind. Who was going to blink first?

I can't say I like 40.Qg4 overmuch, preferring 40.Re1 or even to odd-looking 40.Rd5. Probably White was correct not to try 40.Rxd8, though: 40...Rxd8 41.Qxe4!? Qd1ch 42.Kg2 Qxc1 43.Qxc6 Qxb2ch 44.Kh3 Qxa3 45.Qc8ch Kh7 46.Qf5ch Kg8 47.Qe6ch! Kf8! 48.Qf5ch! Ke8 49.Qg6ch! Kf8 and a perpetual. Draw!

No. Two pawns down, a pretty open board, White majorities on both flanks - the knight would have stood not a prayer against the bishop. It is generally thought that in general, a Queen and knight have a slight edge against Queen and Bishop. It is true Queen and Knight complement each other very well. Not two pawns' worth, of course, but it's clear that for any chance of survival, Black has to keep the Queens on.

As endgames are going, let me remind you that Knights are rather weak and require dependency on major pieces. Bishops however are more independent and are the endgames best friends. I remember a useless battle between a Knight and three passed pawns and it was such a useless battle. Material-wise, White's winning, but in technical terms, it's more of a draw.

White should be playing Be3 somewhere in the last 8 moves to activate the bishop. Black is effectively playing a piece up.

Overcaution, Joanne, is a very risky policy. It's clear White was looking for a good square for the bishop, possibly along the long diagonal. But sometimes you have to accept a mediocre square as an improvement over a poor one. Whence comes to that, there is this upside over having all those pawns on your bishop's square colour: there are nice squares for the bishop at d4 and e5.

Wow! A minority attack! Adventurous though this is, it really compromises Black's game more than it hurts White. Black is trying to rescue the knight, but I think he will have sooner or later to reconcile himself to giving it up for the bishop. Two pawns down is not where you want to be in a Queen ending, but with no passed pawns, White would still have a lot of work to do. The right move was to restrain the Q-side by 48...b5!

Be careful with the attacks! I lost by playing too agressively a couple of times.

White should have played Be3 long ago!

The way to go was to play the move 48...b5 would have prevented: 49.c4! (49...Qd4ch 50.Kg2 Nxc1 51.Qxc1 ... and White has a clear advantage, well on the way to creating a passer on the left flank).

White cannot afford losing his Bishop at all!

Here I agree with the machine only conditionally. In my view 50.c4 is very nearly as good - so close indeed that I would hesitate to call it 'second best'.

Well the engines logic is working as taking on c1 would seem to be in blacks favor though not trading down may be best as your behind here.

I don't think Black could survive the Q+P ending after, say 50...Qc5ch 51.Kg2 Qc6ch 52.Kf2 Qh1 (the immediate exchange on c1 looks extremely unpromising) 53.Qxb3 Qxc1 54.h4! Black's K-side is being kept under constraint, Black's checking squares are thin on the ground, White's rear pawns are adequately protected by the Queen.

The Q+P ending after exchanging on c1 is probably drawn, as white's K is too exposed. Black has lots of checks and can pick up a pawn or two in the process. ***** EDIT ***** I was looking at 50...Qd4+ (recommended by GK computer) 51.Kg2 Nxc1 52.Qxc1. Black can just check back and forth on e4 & d4 unless white interposes the Q, which drops the c4 pawn. White could play Kh3, but then there are more checks coming on d7 & d8. Can white find a place to hide her king without dropping pawns? Interesting puzzle ...

White begins to slip. 51.Kg2 was better, and would have prevented what comes next.

Had the White King stood at g2, this move would have been OK. Black would probably have been forced into exchanging down into a lost Knight vs Bishop ending.

White is now a shattered candy cane! He's lost all of his advantages because he cannot use these advantages at his own advantage.

I love peace treaties (draws). That's true especially when there is too much losses of advantages. Motto: keep track of your advantages and use them without wasting them. When advantages were wasted in this game, it was more drawish.