The story of the game
David, you played 92.1% and lost — sometimes the other guy plays the game of his life, and this was that game. But the three moves the engine flags all say the same word, and it rhymes with your last review: the quiet move. Last time it was pawn levers; this time it was Kb1.
The key moments
17.Nc4 and 18.Ne3 — the engine wanted Kb1 both times (39% → 23% across the pair). After 11.O-O-O your king lived on c1 with a2 hanging in the air and 13...Rc8 / 15...c5 building against the file. The prophylactic king step — off the c-file, covering the a2 complex's neighbors — was the first choice at move 17 and move 18. You played it at 22.Kb1, two moves after the pawn was gone and the queens were off. Quiet king moves are to you what d3 was to James the night before: never on the candidate list.
18.Ne3 — the assumption (33% → 23%). It attacked the queen and assumed she would move. 18...Qxa2 is the same in-between logic as your own 23...Nxg3 from the previous game — aimed back at you within a day. When you attack a piece, the question is not "where will it go?" but "what happens if it doesn't?"
14.Rde1 (47% → 42%). The rook committed to a file that Black controlled how and when to open; the tempo belonged to the f3-knight's reroute (Nfd2, heading for c4 to lean on d6 and b6). Rook moves earn their keep only on files you can force open.
What went right
- Level terms through move 16 against an opponent having a career day — 16.Bxd6 was the right trade at the right moment.
- The 5.Nc5 sortie with 6.Nb3 cost less than it might have — but notice it's the same round-trip shape James's review flagged for him two games ago. Sorties need follow-through or they're tempo gifts.
- 92.1% in a rated loss. Your floor stays remarkably high.
Profile check
Two entries, both reinforced from the other side of the board: the assumption family (attacked ≠ obligated — you've now been on both ends of it in 24 hours), and the quiet-move blind spot, which has widened from pawn levers to king prophylaxis. Merge them into one rule: every move, at least one candidate must be non-forcing.
What to drill next
- In O-O-O games, Kb1 is nearly always worth a full tempo — play it before the a-file heats up, not after.
- Your own drill, now from the attacker's chair: before any move that attacks a piece, ask what happens if it just doesn't move.
- Count pawn breaks before committing a rook to a file — 14.Rde1-style moves need an opening plan attached.