Endgame Escape

ESCAPED with a draw against a junior in round three of the Hastings Masters after trying too hard in a drawn position.

Black has just played 37...Rb7-b4 in Spanton (1954) - Cassie Graham (1889)

Thirteen moves earlier I had turned down a draw offer in a dead-equal position. Over the next few moves I gained a tiny edge, more cosmetic than anything, but then missed an initiative-gaining idea for my opponent.
In the diagram position, Black threatens ...d5 followed by a fork on ...d4.
I rejected 45.Rc4 because of 45...Rxc4 46.bxc4, but it turns out White's queenside pawns are much easier to defend than I thought.
Instead I chose …
45.Nf4?
… but after …
45...Nxf4 46.gxf4
… I was definitely on the back foot.
46...Ke6 47.Rd3 d5 48.Rd1 f6?!
A bit of a non-move that seems to throw away much of Black's advantage by, believe it or not, weakening Black's kingside. More on this later.
Definitely mistaken was 48...d4+? as White is fine after 49.Kd3, eg 49...Kf5 50.Re1, when 50...Kxf4?! allows dangerous counterplay with 51.Re7, so safest is probably 50...Rb7, when 51.Re4 holds.
My main analysis engines, Komodo9 and Stockfish9, reckon Black keeps the upper hand after 48...Kd6.
49.Re1?
Taking pressure off d5. Instead I should have tried the engines' 49.h5!?, which gives decent drawing chances, eg 49...gxh5 50.Rh1, or 49...c4 50.hxg6 hxg6 51.Rd4. Another line runs 49...g5 50.fxg5 fxg5 51.Re1, when 51...Rh4 52.Kd3+ Kd6 53.Re8 Rxh5 54.Ra8 seems to give sufficient counterplay.
Note that after 49.Kd6, the move 49...h5 is much less effective as an exchange on g6 does not leave Black with a weak g pawn.
49...Kd6?!
Almost certainly not aggressive enough. I feared 49...Kf5, when there does not seem any way for White to save the game. The text gave me a second chance to find the engines' …
50.h5!?
… and Black replied with the mistaken …
50...gxh5?
Also wrong was 50...g5? as White has 51.fxg5 fxg5 52.h6 Rh4 53.Rg1 with excellent drawing chances.
Best was the immediate 50...c4, although after 51.hxg6 hxg6 52.bxc4 Rxc4 53.Rg1 Rc3+ 54.Kd4 Rxf3 55.Rg4, Black still has some work to do.
51.Rh1 c4
A tempo too late.
52.bxc4 Rxc4 53.Rxh5 Rxa4 54.Rxh7
Black has a tiny edge, but White can draw without much difficulty.
54...a5 55.Ra7 Ra3+ 56.Ke2 Ke6 57.Ra6+ Ke7
Black cannot make progress. The remaining moves were:
58.f5 a4 59.Re6+ Kf7 60.Rd6 Rc3 61.Kd2 Rxf3 62.Rd7+ Ke8 63.Rxd5 a3 64.Ra5 a2 65.Ke2 a1=Q 66.Rxa1 ½-½
I was pleased to discover after the game that CG has an ECF of 178, so my grading will have edged up as a result of this game even as my Elo rating edged down.