Analyzing two games

"The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved." - Confucius

I just finished two games against my brother. Both were solid and his game is getting unshakable. I won the first game playing quite defensively as black. It was close and he nearly had me at one point until I withdrew my forces into a make shift but impregnable castle. As his forces prepared to lay siege it became the fortified castle under menacing pressure against the exposed king with room to run. He saw through my conniving schemes and subtle maneuverings, which is concerning as usually my strength is in deception. His tick was the use of time and that may be a small advantage to capitalize on in the future. When in a conundrum he no longer fears using as much time as he needs to solve the puzzle at hand.

The second game was no gem. I opened powerfully and gained an aggressive position. It was a clear advantage and his pieces were getting tied up in a defencive knot. Letting myself get bloodthirsty I lost sight of the advantages until it was too late. One combination in the middle game left me down material and on the defence until the bitter end. Had I taken the time and settled into the game appropriately I probably would have claimed victory. Unfortunately, that was not the case.