The slightly less worse player wins (game analysis)

The long overdue post on round 2 (the first four are already done, whoops). I don't want to rush any of these, though.
I was on 1/1 after facing a weaker player, so this would be my first real test.

The game

I'd figured out who my opponent would probably be. I knew he's a very aggressive player, and I knew he'd play the Morra.
I decided to prepare 3. ...Nf6. I'd only recently switched to this approach against the Alapin, so my plan was more or less to hope for the best.

That was messy. To be fair, that's what I get for being a Sicilian player.
I like these games though. Very imbalanced, both sides make mistakes. And it's fun when you actually win them.

White's big chance: 17. Be4!

One does not go for a move like 16. ...e5 without considering the opponent's candidate moves. And in my book, the move 17. Be4 should be among those.
I know for certain that I considered it. But while analysing, I had to reconstruct what my justification might have even been.

I recall feeling out of control at this point: white's pieces develop naturally, while I've moved my knight six times and it's ended up on b7. Yikes.
There's no two ways about it, moves like 8. Qa5?! and 11. Nbc6?! made my position feel bad to play in a way engine evaluation doesn't reflect.

The forcing lines after 15. ...d6 16. exd6 e5 17. Be4! aren't too complicated though, and I should at least have sensed they'd be worse for black.
Still, the alternative 16. ...Nxd6 looks unimpressive too, so I'm not too mad about faltering here: it's really my last few moves I don't like.

Thoughts

There was undeniably some luck involved in that win, but it goes to show just how much room for error there is at club level.

I guess my tendency to go for unnecessary complications paid off. If I can learn to control that, it might be a very useful practical skill.

Having dwelled sufficiently on my poor moves 7, 8, 11 and 16, I can actually be quite happy with my endgame technique. Who knows, it might even be instructive.

Conversely, my opponent made an instructive mistake with 19. Ne4?, allowing me to finish development. By benefit of the doubt, I'll assume he just miscalculated the tactics after 19. ...Be4!.

I hope you find some use in these thoughts, or at least some entertainment in the game. Thanks for reading!

~ Lars420