Annotated Game #304: Just enough activity

This last-round tournament game follows a trajectory that is all too typical of many of my games: I play reasonably well in the opening, then neglect the possibility of a pawn break or two, then somehow end up with my pieces passively placed on the back ranks while my opponent gains space. In this Caro-Kann Classical, however, I manage to find just enough activity and then open things up in the endgame, for an almost but not-quite win. In fact White may have had more chances, but I demonstrate how to use my bishop as a long-range piece effectively versus his knight, and thereby seal the draw.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class C"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "B19"] [PlyCount "112"] [GameId "2148113476542647"] {[%evp 0,112,25,16,59,71,77,32,50,50,42,44,38,36,23,21,20,18,23,23,17,17,18,26,26,26,45,40,40,42,35,17,44,44,24,11,23,14,18,21,8,-7,-3,2,3,20,28,26,5,-6,15,8,-2,-2,-34,-21,-18,-14,-11,-49,-22,-41,-45,-51,-41,-27,-25,-29,-25,-6,0,0,-2,0,0,0,0,0,19,-5,0,-85,-92,-103,-97,-100,-102,-95,0,0,0,0,5,0,7,6,9,2,3,3,3,3,6,3,3,2,2,2,2,3,2,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 {the Classical Caro-Kann} 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ (11... Bd6 {is another option, uniquely enabled by this variation's move-order, as there is no knight on d7 to block the queen from protecting d6.}) (11... Bb4+ {I also considered during the game.} 12. c3 Bd6 {is considered a better version of the ...Bd6 idea by the engine. The d4 pawn is reinforced, but was not really threatened in the first place, while White having moved the c-pawn means increasing the space around his king if it castles queenside.}) 12. c3 Qa6 {this was drawn from an similar idea in other variations, but perhaps simple development is better.} (12... Nbd7 $11) 13. Qxa6 Nxa6 14. O-O Nd5 {chasing the bishop.} (14... Be7 {is more conservative, also preparing to castle.}) 15. Bd2 Bd6 $6 {this just loses a tempo after White's next move.} 16. Ne4 Be7 17. a3 {White essentially returns the tempo here.} O-O $11 18. c4 {the c-pawn advance against a Nd5 is something Black always has to watch for. Here the knight can simply retreat.} Nf6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Bf4 Rfd8 21. Rfd1 Rac8 {getting my rooks into action before starting anything. My opponent does likewise.} 22. Rac1 Nc7 {bringing the knight back into play, but foregoing the ..c5 pawn break.} (22... c5 {I considered this carefully but in the end thought it premature. However, it is likely Black's best plan and natural, it just has to be calculated properly.} 23. d5 exd5 24. cxd5 b6 {and then the knight can come back into play via c7.} (24... Bxb2 {is a little wilder.} 25. Rb1 Bxa3 26. Rxb7 c4 27. Rxa7 Bd6 $11) 25. Rc2 Nc7 26. d6 Ne6 27. Bg3 Kf8 {with the idea of using the king as blockader on d7 if necessary.} 28. d7 Ra8 29. Bd6+ Be7 $11 {White cannot force the d-pawn to queen and will be tied up defending it.}) 23. b4 Ne8 24. Be5 Kf8 25. Kf1 Be7 {not a good look, with all of Black's pieces on the bottom two ranks.} 26. Rd3 Nf6 {the idea behind the bishop maneuver.} 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 (27... gxf6 $5 {should not be feared, as the doubled pawn controls e5.}) 28. Rcd1 Ke7 29. Ng1 Rd7 {this is fine, but now would also be a good time for a pawn break on the queenside, to break up White's formation.} (29... b5) (29... a5 {and Black will easily recover the pawn after ...Ra8}) 30. Ne2 Rcd8 31. f4 b5 {finally some Black pawn action.} 32. cxb5 cxb5 33. Kf2 {my ability to target the d-pawn is already at maximum pressure, so I play a waiting move rather than commit a rook to the c-file (which also is fine).} a6 34. Ke3 Rd5 {I had this idea in mind, physically blocking the d-pawn and putting lateral pressure on the h5 pawn.} 35. g4 g5 {I thought for some time here and could not see anything better. The engine validates my active choice.} 36. hxg6 fxg6 37. Nc3 R5d7 38. Ne4 g5 39. Nc5 gxf4+ 40. Kxf4 {I now spent a lot of time looking at the various options for capturing on d4, and picked the best (only) one that works.} Rxd4+ 41. Rxd4 Rxd4+ 42. Rxd4 Bxd4 43. Nxa6 Kd6 {I'd originally thought that I had an advantage here, but the knight cannot be trapped.} 44. Ke4 e5 45. Nc5 Bb2 {choosing to keep the bishop on the board. I knew I could draw even if White ended up with one pawn left.} (45... Bxc5 {I thought I might screw up the K+P ending afterwards, so did not choose this option.} 46. bxc5+ Kxc5 47. Kxe5 Kc4 $11) 46. a4 bxa4 47. Nxa4 Bc1 48. Nb6 Kc6 49. Nc4 Kb5 50. Nxe5 Bg5 (50... Kxb4 $4 51. Nd3+ $18) 51. Nf7 Bc1 {showing how the bishop as a long-range piece works.} 52. Kf5 Kxb4 53. Kg6 Kc5 54. Nxh6 Kd5 55. Kf5 Bxh6 56. g5 Bxg5 1/2-1/2

Book completed: John Nunn's Best Games, 1985-1993

    

I recently completed John Nunn's Best Games 1985-1993 (Batsford Chess Library, 1995), annotated by the author. GM Nunn is one of the chess world's most accomplished and interesting authors, and has been referenced multiple times on this blog. Some of his other works are specifically aimed at improving players; this is not one of them. 

I would say it falls into a similar category as Victor Korchnoi's best games collection - these high-level annotated games are similarly high-quality, but have relatively little hand-holding for Class-level players. The benefit of studying annotated games collections from the author's own perspective is that you get a unique window into both their chess-related thought process and general psychological factors affecting the game. Nunn's thought process insights are uneven in their level of detail, but in many of the games he does provide more of an explanation of the positions' key characteristics and his evaluations, making them very pertinent for improving players. The biographical details are both personally interesting and lend useful context into his state of mind for each tournament and game, although the chess politics comments are now mostly irrelevant.

One theme that struck me while reviewing the games was Nunn's mastery of evaluation of compensation, which involves understanding positional factors that outweigh the material balance, in the absence of forcing tactics. His comments in that regard I found particularly useful, and are not something you can easily find in chess training material. Nunn's games were also routinely very tactical and combative, with a lot of King's Indian and Sicilian games, so there was plenty of material there as well for understanding tactical concepts, visualization and calculation.

I'll close this with an example of one of Nunn's games (number 34 in the collection) that I think very well illustrates his mastery of compensation for sacrificed material.

[Event "Belgrade Investbank"] [Site "Belgrade"] [Date "1991.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Nunn, John DM"] [Black "Nikolic, Predrag"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C19"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2625"] [PlyCount "69"] [GameId "1165542594732032"] [EventDate "1991.11.??"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "YUG"] [EventCategory "15"] [SourceTitle "CBM 027"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1992.04.01"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1992.04.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bd3 Ba4 10. dxc5 bxc5 11. O-O c4 12. Be2 Ng6 13. Ng5 Nxe5 14. f4 Nd3 15. Bxd3 cxd3 16. f5 e5 17. Qh5 Qe7 18. Ne6 Kd7 19. Bg5 f6 20. Be3 Na6 21. cxd3 g6 22. Qg4 Bc6 23. Nd4 exd4 24. Bxd4 h5 25. Qh3 g5 26. Rfe1 Qf8 27. Re6 Rh6 28. Qe3 Re8 29. Re1 Nc7 30. Bc5 Qf7 31. Be7 Rh7 32. Qc5 Bb7 33. Qxa7 Kc8 34. Rb1 Rxe7 35. Rxb7 1-0

Annotated Game #303: A strategically won game...is not an actually won game

The next tournament game illustrates how well one can be placed out of the opening, in this case a Stonewall Attack, and yet fail to convert a positional advantage. By move 13 my pieces were dominant and by move 18 I could effectively have been winning on both the queenside and kingside. Unfortunately a mishandled attack, which could at least have led to a perpetual check, failed and Black emerged with a winning material advantage.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "104"] [GameId "2133320567857269"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 d5 4. f4 {a standard Stonewall Attack opening position} c5 5. c3 b6 {unusual to see this early, but consistent with how Black will need to develop the light-square bishop.} 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 {the usual rule in the Stonewall is to recapture with the e-pawn, which points towards future kingside play, but recapturing with the c-pawn is fine as well.} Bb7 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nbd2 {developing and controlling e4.} Qc7 {a signal that my opponent may be looking to castle queenside. It also attacks the f4 pawn.} 10. Ne5 $14 {blocking the attack on the f-pawn and placing my knight on its best outpost. White has achieved a small plus out of the opening, due to the space advantage.} O-O-O {sensing danger on the kingside, the king is removed elsewhere. However, the Stonewall setup is flexible and I should be able to shift my attack.} 11. Qe2 $16 {played after some thought. The B+Q battery is useful and the rooks are closer to being connected.} Nxe5 $6 {my opponent wants to get rid of the advanced knight, but the advanced pawn on e5 and semi-open f-file are advantageous to White.} (11... Kb8 $5 {getting the king off the diagonal and adding a defender to a7.}) 12. fxe5 {the advanced e-pawn is now a major thorn in Black's side.} Ne8 $18 {at this point White has a strategically won game, with my pieces and pawns dominating the board; however, this is not the same thing as an actually won game. I recognized this and thought about my plan, starting off well enough.} 13. Nf3 {this best activates the knight, which may be able to profitably go to g5, as well as freeing the diagonal for the Bc1.} h6 14. a4 {I now correctly shift to a direct attack on the Black king position, which is vulnerable. The a-pawn in this case can be used much like the h-pawn would be against a normally castled king.} Qd7 15. a5 Nc7 16. axb6 {so far so good.} axb6 {another long think. Unfortunately I start to lose the thread here. I need to connect the rooks and move the bishop, but e3 or f4 would be much better squares.} 17. Bd2 {here it blocks the ability of the queen to move laterally to the a-file, and the e1-a5 diagonal is less promising if it opens up, unlike the g1-a7 or h2-b8 ones.} f5 18. Ra7 {not a bad move, but I was too afraid of opening the kingside to play the best one, per the engine.} (18. exf6 {the Stonewall, when most effective, allows play on both sides of the board.} gxf6 19. Nh4 $18 {and White is dominant on both the kingside and queenside, with Ng6 likely coming.}) 18... Kb8 19. Rfa1 {the obvious and effective follow-up.} g5 20. Ne1 {with the idea of repositioning the knight either to help the queenside attack, or if needed to defend the king.} (20. b4 g4 21. Ne1 {looks like a superior version of the same idea, with b4-b5 coming.}) 20... Be7 {connecting the rooks and giving the bishop some future prospects on the kingside.} 21. Nc2 (21. b4 $5 {the alternative idea of advancing the b-pawn, as mentioned earlier, may have been a more effective attack. For example} h5 22. b5 h4 23. Qd1 {with the idea of bringing the queen to a4, and if} Nxb5 {then} 24. R7a2 $18 {retreating is best, and now White has the half-open b-file to target Black's weak b-pawn and king position, for example with Qb3 and Rb2 to follow up.}) 21... f4 {my opponent is doing a good job of attempting counterplay, despite still being significantly under pressure. After another long think, I go astray with the attack.} 22. c4 $2 {I did not assess and calculate accurately here, simply going for the attack based on the open long diagonal after} (22. Nb4 {would be the logical continuation of the knight maneuver, but I did not see past the piece exchange and doubled pawns.} Bxb4 23. cxb4 {and White is doing well with the additional open lines, for example after} Rhf8 24. b5 Qf7 25. Bb4 f3 26. gxf3 $18) 22... dxc4 23. Rxb7+ $11 Kxb7 24. Be4+ Nd5 25. Qxc4 {is the best I could find at the board, but now the attack stalls. Grabbing the pawn is worth less than opening lines.} (25. b3 $1 {is the non-obvious move found by the engine. The point is that it threatens to take on c4 and win the pinned Nd5, and White keeps the initiative, moving with tempo after} cxb3 26. Qa6+ $11 {with a draw by perpetual check.}) 25... Rc8 $6 (25... Ra8 $1 $17 {cutting off control of a6.}) 26. Bxd5+ $2 {again sub-par calculation.} (26. Qa6+ {should maintain a dynamic balance.} Kc7 27. Nb4 {the knight sacrifice is only temporary, and other moves are fine too.} Nxb4 28. Qb7+ Kd8 29. Qxb6+ Ke8 30. Bxb4 Bxb4 31. Qxb4 $11) 26... Qxd5 $17 {now White does not have any compensation for the exchange.} 27. Qa6+ Kc7 {now the point of the placement of the Qd5 is the fact there is no check on b7, unlike in the above variation, and White does not have enough pieces near the Black king to threaten it.} 28. Rc1 {from this point, I simply try to make threats and hope for the best, knowing I'm losing.} Kd7 $19 29. Qxb6 {at this point I correctly assessed that I was essentially lost, but still hoped to swindle a draw based on Black's exposed king position and/or setting up a fortress.} Rb8 30. Qa7+ Qb7 31. Qa4+ Qb5 32. Qxb5+ {the best choice technically, although simplification of material also makes Black's job easier on the brain.} Rxb5 33. Bc3 {the engine validates this as the best choice, but Black is still winning.} Ra8 34. Kf2 Ke8 35. Kf3 Kf7 36. Rf1 Kg6 37. Ke4 h5 {at this point Black's kingside majority looks like it will cruise to victory.} 38. h3 Rbb8 39. Rf3 {using a rook as a physical blocker against pawns is rarely a good idea.} Rf8 40. Nb4 $2 {the idea of a fortress, although perhaps technically doomed, was much more likely to work in practical terms with the knight helping.} Bxb4 41. Bxb4 Rf7 42. Bc5 Ra1 43. Ra3 Re1+ {now it's essentially over.} 44. Kf3 Kf5 45. Kf2 Rc1 46. b4 g4 47. h4 g3+ 48. Kf3 Rf1+ 49. Ke2 Rf2+ 50. Ke1 Rxg2 51. Kf1 Rb2 52. Ra8 f3 0-1

Annotated Game #302: All queen endings are drawn (?)

There is a saying that all rook endings are drawn - obviously not meant literally, but the idea is correct that with an active major piece, the defender can often draw even when down material, so should not despair. Queen endings are even more complicated and tricky for Class players, who are unlikely to know the key ideas or be able to calculate the greater possibilities for checks.

This next tournament game has some useful observations in the opening (a Caro-Kann Exchange) and middlegame phases, especially regarding the interplay between defense and counterplay possibilities. However, the main feature becomes the ending, which seesaws back-and-forth until I calculate out the correct K+P sequence to draw, after missing a win (which my opponent did as well).

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class B"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "B13"] [PlyCount "145"] [GameId "2148113476542646"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nf6 {in response to White varying from the usual c2-c3, I thought for a while here, then decided to continue with normal development.} (5... Bg4 {scores very well in the database.}) 6. h3 {preventing Black's standard idea of ...Bg4. I normally play ...g6 anyway, though.} g6 7. c3 Bf5 8. O-O {declining to make the trade on f5, which would significantly imbalance the position's structure.} Qc7 {the most common move in the database, although if I intend to trade on d3 anyway, doing so immediately might make more sense.} 9. Qc2 {however, this is now just a waste of a tempo by White.} Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Bg7 11. Re1 {immediately adding pressure to the e-file.} O-O {no need to postpone castling.} 12. Nbd2 Rfe8 {the position now is rather quiet and level, although with the imbalances in the pawn structure there is still some play left in it.} 13. Ne5 Rad8 (13... e6 {here or earlier is an alternative way to play, also not ruling out an eventual ...e5 pawn lever while maintaining flexibility.}) 14. Ndf3 Nd7 {this is a little passive.} (14... Ne4 $5 {would take advantage of White's loss of control over e4 and disrupt control of the e-file.}) 15. Bf4 $14 {now White has her pieces deployed most actively. The big fight is obviously over e5.} Ncxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 {with all the minor piece trades, now White's more active pieces are gone and it's a level position again.} Bxe5 $6 {this premature exchange, however, ends up giving White a little too much space on the kingside and another boost to her piece activity.} (17... Qb6 $11 {is better, targeting the queenside weaknesses.}) 18. Rxe5 e6 19. Qf3 {this is a bit slow, however, and should let me consolidate my position.} (19. Rae1) 19... Kg7 20. Rae1 {now it was unclear to me how to best continue. I pick a passive option, looking to avoid tactics on the e-file with the under-defended Re8.} Rf8 (20... h5 {immediately would blunt White's ideas on the kingside.}) (20... b5 $5 {is also possible, aiming for counterplay on the queenside.}) 21. Qg3 {this lines up on my undefended Qc7, but does not actually threaten anything, so my next move is not necessary.} Rc8 {too slow. If I'm looking for counterplay ...b5 is quicker.} 22. h4 h5 {after some thought, I find the best defensive idea. This was not hard, as allowing the h-pawn to advance further was clearly bad.} 23. Qd3 Qc4 {obviously exchanging queens would be better for me, preventing further tactics on the kingside.} 24. Qb1 {protecting a2} b5 {finally I get something going for counterplay.} 25. Rg5 Rc6 $6 {the idea of having a defender on the 6th rank is generally a good one, but it would be better to put the queen on c6, since it improves her mobility and gives more flexibility to my rooks.} (25... Qc6 $11 26. g4 hxg4 27. h5 Kf6 {requires a bit of courage, but the king is not under real threat.}) 26. Re3 {looking to increase the pressure on the kingside via the rook lift to g3.} Ra6 $2 {now I start realizing some of the real problems on the kingside, and try to distract my opponent on the queenside. This was not the right way, however.} (26... b4 $1 27. Reg3 Kf6 $14 {this pin-breaking idea occurred to me during the game and is key to the defense, but I was not courageous enough to seriously consider it.}) 27. Reg3 $18 {now the threat is simply Rxg6} e5 {having discarded ...Kf6, this is the next best defensive try.} 28. b3 $6 {this just forces the queen to a better square for the defense, although White still has the advantage.} (28. Rxh5 $18) 28... Qc7 (28... Qe2 $5 $16) 29. Rxe5 Qd8 30. Rxh5 $1 {things are looking grim, but at least I can trade off one of the attackers.} Rh8 31. Rxh8 Qxh8 32. Rh3 Re6 {everything is losing for Black at this point, as I'm two pawns down without compensation, but I felt I had better practical chances with an active rook on the e-file.} 33. Qd1 Qe8 {finally I get to make some threats as well.} 34. Qd3 Re1+ 35. Kh2 Qe2 {naturally I would be happy with a queen exchange and a strong rook on the 2nd rank afterwards.} 36. Qg3 $6 (36. Qe3 $1 {would allow White's pieces to dominate and give her a more active rook after exchanges.}) 36... Qxa2 $11 {an effective pawn snatch. Now with my active major pieces and near-equality with material, I should be fine in the ending.} 37. h5 Qb1 38. h6+ Kh7 39. Qf4 {my opponent is still going for the attack, although this leads to a draw.} Rh1+ 40. Kg3 Rxh3+ 41. Kxh3 Qd3+ {I felt keeping the queens on was better for my drawing chances.} (41... Qf5+ $5 {the engine also shows as a draw in the K+P ending.} 42. Qxf5 gxf5 43. b4 Kxh6 $11) 42. Qe3 $2 {my opponent evidently miscalculated the K+P ending afterwards.} Qxe3+ 43. fxe3 a5 $1 {now I calculated this as winning, and it should have been. However, time pressure leads to me not following up correctly.} 44. e4 a4 $2 {now it's a draw again.} (44... Kxh6 $1 {is the winning idea shown by the engine. The queenside situation cannot be improved by White and ...a4 is coming anyway.}) 45. bxa4 $11 bxa4 46. exd5 a3 47. d6 a2 48. d7 a1=Q 49. d8=Q Qxc3+ 50. g3 {things are still tricky, however, and difficult to calculate in this queen ending. I have to make sure my king does not run out of space, or end up in a forced queen trade to my disadvantage. My opponent has similar concerns, and we both miscalculate along the way.} Kxh6 51. Qf8+ Kh7 $2 {here I hallucinated that White could make progress by squeezing my king if I went to g5, so played the "safe" (incorrect) move.} (51... Kg5 52. Qxf7 Qxd4 $11) 52. Qxf7+ {now this comes with check.} Kh6 53. d5 $6 Qe1 $2 (53... Qc8+ 54. Kg2 Qc2+ 55. Qf2 Qe4+) 54. Qf4+ $2 {White could win by first restricting the squares available to my king.} (54. Qf6) (54. Kg4) 54... Kg7 $11 55. Qd4+ Kf7 56. g4 g5 {now White's king is boxed in.} 57. Kg2 Qe2+ 58. Qf2+ {somehow I didn't see this came with check, forcing the queen trade, but I had calculated out the K+P ending correctly anyway.} Qxf2+ 59. Kxf2 Kf6 $1 60. Ke3 Ke5 61. d6 Kxd6 62. Kd4 {White will now lose the opposition by force in the following sequence, so it's a draw.} Ke6 63. Ke4 Kf6 64. Kd5 Kf7 65. Ke5 Ke7 66. Kf5 Kf7 67. Kxg5 Kg7 68. Kh5 Kh7 69. g5 Kg7 70. g6 Kg8 71. Kh6 Kh8 72. g7+ Kg8 73. Kg6 1/2-1/2

Annotated Game #301: Cramping is never good

This next first-round tournament game demonstrated multiple themes in analysis, which are worth remembering for the long term:

• The slightly cramped nature of the position for Black early on was unfortunately relieved by my poor decision to exchange minor pieces, which led to immediate equality.
• Later on, I cramped my own position progressively, with misplaced rooks and (more decisively) with a misjudged f2-f3, which created dark-square weaknesses and blocked my own bishop on the light squares.
• In this opening structure, the immediate d4-d5 advance to kick a black knight appearing on c6 is key.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Expert"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "E61"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2148113476530356"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Be2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. c4 c5 7. Nc3 {logical development, but not the only possibility.} (7. d5) (7. b3) 7... Nc6 8. Re1 {while it's good in principle to get rooks into the game, there are more productive things to do immediately.} (8. d5 {immediately kicks the knight to a worse square.}) (8. h3 {restrains ...Bg4}) 8... e5 9. d5 {best and essentially forced, positionally. However, Black now has a better square for the knight to go to and a central pawn on e5.} Ne7 10. e4 $14 {White has a space advantage and Black's pieces will take some more time to re-deploy.} Ne8 11. Bg5 (11. Rb1 {would be faster with White's queenside expansion plan, plus the bishop is all right for now where it is on c1.}) 11... h6 12. Bxe7 {exchanging simply helps relieve Black's more cramped position.} (12. Bd2 $14 {the bishop's journey would not be completely useless, as White now could establish a Q+B battery on the c1-h6 diagonal.}) 12... Qxe7 $11 13. Rb1 {here I thought a while about the best plan. I correctly identify that the b2-b4 break is what White should be aiming for.} (13. a3 {may be the better way to get in the b2-b4 advance, however.}) 13... f5 {the standard King's Indian f-pawn lever. Black will play on the kingside, White on the queenside, and it becomes something of a race.} 14. b4 cxb4 15. Rxb4 b6 {I was surprised by this, but the engine agrees that it's the best move. The Rb4 is now awkwardly placed and should shift position.} 16. a4 {played with the intent to crack open the queenside as quickly as possible.} (16. Rb3 $5 $11) 16... Nc7 {at first this looks a bit weird, but the knight's path to c5 is now clear and comes with tempo, with the rook on b4.} 17. Nd2 Na6 18. Rb2 {the rook ends up being a bit awkwardly placed here.} (18. Rb1 {is the engine's preference, although humans have a problem returning pieces to their original squares, wanting to see at least some progress to show for their moving around.}) 18... Nc5 {this is a key positional plus for Black, being able to occupy this excellent outpost.} 19. f3 $6 {I played this before in a similar position and it also turned out wrong; the ability to further reinforce e4 seemed to outweight the negatives, at the time.} (19. Qc2 {immediately accomplishes the same goal without the f-pawn move creating weaknesses and blocking the Be2.}) 19... Bd7 20. Qc2 Bf6 $17 {Black is now able to activate his dark-square bishop, while my light-square counterpart is walled off and my counterplay inadequate.} 21. Ra1 Bg5 22. Nf1 {at least I spotted the Be3-d4 maneuver that my opponent ideally wanted.} Qf6 23. Bd3 Rac8 24. a5 {here I thought I was doing fine, but I missed Black's simple follow-up, which keeps things shut on the queenside.} bxa5 25. Rxa5 a6 {now my backwards c-pawn will become more of a problem than Black's isolated a-pawn. Note how strong the Nc5 is at both defending a6 and pressuring d3/e4.} 26. Qe2 Qd8 27. Raa2 Qc7 28. Bc2 {this was the point of move 26, to try to exchange on a4.} Rb8 29. Nd2 {unfortunately this does not solve my problems on the b-file. Visually it's clear how Black's pieces are combining their efforts effectively, while mine are uncoordinated and desperately trying to cover weaknesses.} (29. exf5 gxf5 30. Ng3 $17 {is suggested by the engine but still looks miserable.}) 29... Rxb2 30. Rxb2 Rb8 $19 {now I could see how exchanging rooks would let the Black queen in on the b-file, but the alternative turns out just as badly.} 31. Ra2 Qb6 32. Kf1 Qb4 33. Ndb1 Bc1 34. Kg1 {played to avoid tactics on the a6-f1 diagonal, but now Black gets a winning bind even more quickly.} Bb2 35. Qd2 f4 {sealing off the diagonal and protecting h6.} 36. Bd3 a5 {now the idea of Nb5 occurred to me, but in visualizing the variations I did not see that the Bd3 would be left hanging after the queen exchange.} 37. Kf1 a4 38. Nb5 Qxd2 {my opponent however saw this worked, and as soon as he played it I did too.} 39. Nxd2 Nxd3 40. Nxd6 a3 {and with more material losses coming, I resigned.} 0-1