Annotated Game #287: A failure of X-ray imagination

For this next tournament game, the notable lessons found in analysis were my failure to visualize X-ray tactics/patterns, the subject of the previous post, along with a general lack of imagination in understanding how I could regroup my forces to pursue a winning attack. An opening surprise did not help, as I adopted a mentality that was too defensive afterwards, although I will give myself credit for rallying after the material loss.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D00"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [PlyCount "54"] [GameId "2054698018771000"] 1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 e6 4. f4 {heading for a Stonewall formation.} Nbd7 5. Nf3 c5 6. c3 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. O-O Bd6 9. Ne5 {the classic Stonewall setup. White has various choices for a plan to follow, depending on Black's next moves.} Qc7 {this is a more effective move than it appears to be at first glance, and I did not take into account the x-ray on c3 from the queen's new position.} 10. b3 $6 {I did not see that my opponent could penetrate with her queen on c3 until after I played this, being unfamiliar with the queen location and (breaking my throught process rules) not looking for my opponent's response; instead, I was focusing on how I would develop the Bc1.} (10. Qf3 {with play on the kingside is indicated here.}) 10... cxd4 $15 11. cxd4 Qc3 {this penetration and queen fork of the Ra1 and Bd3 looks very threatening, but Black also has to be careful of getting the queen trapped. I recognized that much, so did not despair completely. However, I did not play the critical continuation, which would have been to occupy c4 with a knight.} 12. Rb1 $6 (12. Ndc4 {I only briefly considered trying to trap the queen here and did not pay enough attention to the idea. The key is the threat to the hanging Bd6.} dxc4 (12... Bxe5 13. Bb2 Qxd3 14. Qxd3 dxc4 15. bxc4 $17 {Black has three pieces for queen and pawn and they will be well-positioned, but this is still not terrible for White. For example} Be4 16. Qb3 Bd6 17. Ba3 Bxa3 18. Qxa3 {and I would be happy playing this out, with Black's king stuck in the center.}) (12... Qxa1 $2 13. Nxd6+ Ke7 14. Qd2 $18) 13. Nxc4 Bf8 14. Bb2 Qb4 {And now White can trap the queen or go for an attack.} 15. Ba3 (15. f5 $5 {with an attack.}) 15... Qxa3 {the best, as the queen can be taken after retreating.} (15... Qb5 16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. Bxb5 $16) 16. Nxa3 Bxa3 $11) 12... Bxe5 {correctly removing the protector of the Bd3 first.} 13. fxe5 Qxd3 14. exf6 {and now my opponent was too tempted by} Qxe3+ $2 (14... Nxf6 $17 {consolidates the advantage.}) 15. Kh1 {now the engine shows White with an advantage - the Black king in the center and under threat outweighs the material inadvertently sacrificed.} Qd3 (15... O-O) 16. Rf3 {played after a long think. This maximizes the chances for Black to go further wrong.} (16. Nc4 {I thought about this idea for a long time, echoing the move 12 situation, but correctly concluded it did not work.} dxc4 {is the simple refutation, although I had a hard time visualizing this.}) (16. fxg7 {immediately is also good.} Rg8 17. Rf3 $16) 16... Qg6 (16... Qxd4 $16) 17. fxg7 {this seemed like the only option at the time.} (17. Ba3 $1 {is the much stronger follow-up.} Nxf6 18. Rc1 $18 {fixing the king in the center and continuing the attack should produce a win; however, I was too focused on the material balance.}) 17... Qxg7 18. Rg3 $18 {here I still have a great deal of pressure and nice attack, however.} Qf8 19. Nf3 {mobilizing the knight and the Bc1.} Nf6 20. Ne5 (20. Qf1 {would have created more threats with an x-ray on the Nf6, but occupying the e5 outpost immediately was too tempting.}) 20... Ne4 {threatening the fork on f2. I thought for a while here, eventually deciding the rook would be better placed on the f-file anyway.} 21. Rf3 {the safe move.} (21. Qe2 $1 {the idea of sacrificing an exchange did occur to me at various points, but not this early.} Nxg3+ 22. hxg3 {visually this just looks bad for White, with the weak doubled g-pawns, but White's remaining pieces all become more powerful now.} a6 23. Qh5 Rg8 24. Bh6 Qe7 25. Rf1 {now all the White pieces are in action against the king, while Black has a R+B on the queenside that are not effectively playing.} Rg6 {and now} 26. Kg1 $1 {is the engine line, avoiding potential future x-rays on the h-file. Black's g6 rook cannot escape, so White can improve the position at leisure, or strike immediately if Black attempts to force the issue. For example} f6 27. Nxg6 hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Qf7 29. Rxf6 $19) 21... f5 $2 {the wrong f-pawn move, leaving holes behind in its wake.} (21... f6 $11) 22. Qe1 {again thinking too defensively. The key is to further activate White's pieces on the attack. Ideas include} (22. b4 a6 23. Bf4 Rc8 24. b5 a5 25. Rc1 $18) (22. Bf4 Qb4 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 25. Qc1 $18) 22... Qe7 23. Bd2 (23. Bf4) 23... Rg8 24. g3 {continued unnecessarily cautious play leads to my attack possibilities evaporating, at least temporarily.} (24. Rc1) 24... Rc8 $14 {now Black's rook gets to the c-file first.} 25. Rc1 Rxc1 26. Qxc1 Qd6 $2 (26... Kd8 $14) 27. Bf4 {making several threats, but none decisive.} (27. Bh6 $1 {is found by the engine. At this point I did not see how to rearrange my pieces to continue the attack in his manner. One of the points is to allow for the maneuver Qf4-h4, as well as to prevent Black from using g7 and f8.}) 27... Qe7 $18 {and here my opponent offered a draw. I thought for several minutes, not seeing how I could make progress anymore down the c-file. The engine could have done it, however, in various ways starting with the maneuver Re3-e2, or Qc2 followed by Rf1 and Qe2.} (27... Rg7 $16) 1/2-1/2