Annotated Game #288: Losing by rote

In this final-round tournament game, it's my opponent who seemingly loses by rote. I'd seen him play the same setup as White previously, although I hadn't prepared anything specific for it. The Reti/fianchetto/English type opening was not challenging at all for Black, and I had fully equalized by move 7. After that, my opponent did not seem to have much of a plan and soon ended up down a pawn for no compensation. Some of my own games have certainly followed a similar trajectory, so it was good to feel sharp this time and hungrier to create something new, rather than drift planless out of the opening.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A11"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [PlyCount "82"] [GameId "2063048253468751"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. c4 Bg4 (4... dxc4 {scores much better in the database. White will need time to recover the pawn.}) 5. cxd5 (5. Ne5 $5 Bf5) 5... cxd5 (5... Bxf3 $5 {is the engines' choice, simplifying further and slightly misplacing White's bishop.}) 6. h3 {although the bishop is now chased away or eliminated, White spends another tempo to do so without gaining anything.} (6. Ne5 {is again an interesting idea, hitting the bishop with a little more initiative.}) 6... Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 $11 8. Nc3 e6 9. Ne5 $6 {now this does not come with tempo, so in fact hurts White's development.} Nc6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 $15 {White exchanges his central knight for my constrained light-square bishop, which I was fine with. The semi-open h-file is also of potential future use.} 11. d4 Bd6 {this seemed the most flexible choice for the bishop.} (11... Bb4 {I also considered.}) 12. Bg5 $6 {White already has problems finding decent moves to make. The pin on the knight does not have much point to it.} Qb6 {long think here, to make sure the idea worked. Both the b2 and d4 pawns are now hanging.} 13. Qb3 $2 {this allows forced simplification with a material advantage.} (13. O-O $15) 13... Qxb3 14. axb3 Nxd4 $17 {this is just a free pawn, and my developed pieces are also better-placed, while White's doubled b-pawns are quite weak.} 15. Ra4 $6 {an attempt at activity, but White's threats can be refuted.} (15. O-O-O $17) 15... Nxb3 {another long think here. Eventually I decided that at worst I'd be two pawns up, if my opponent chose to go for the two bishops, and I would be happy to play that out.} 16. Nb5 Kd7 {defending both the Bd6 and against the fork on c7.} 17. Nxd6 Kxd6 $19 {although White can now castle, there are not enough threats remaining against my centralized king to compensate for the material. I do have to be careful, however, about ideas of e2-e4 and attempting to open the center.} 18. O-O {I now had the longest think of the game here. There are multiple ways to play this out; I chose the third best according to the engine, which is still winning.} Nc5 {guarding b7 and forcing the Ra4 to make a choice.} (18... a5 {is the engine's choice, but riskier-looking.} 19. e4 Nxe4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Rd1+ Kc6 22. Rxe4 Nc5 $19) (18... Nd7 {was the other good option, repositioning the knight.}) 19. Rf4 $2 {this attempt at making further threats results in closing off the Bg5's ability to retreat.} Nfe4 (19... Nh7 {is even more effective, but I did not even consider the knight retreat.}) 20. Bxe4 (20. b4 {this avoids greater material loss, but Black ends up with three extra pawns, including the two connected ones on the queenside, which should easily win.} Nxg5 21. bxc5+ Kxc5 22. Rc1+ Kd6 $19) 20... Nxe4 {an example of a "reloader" tactic, renewing the same threat to the bishop, which cannot be avoided.} 21. h4 f6 $19 22. Ra1 Nc5 {here I wanted to extract the knight, block the c-file and protect b7 again; I had the time, since the bishop cannot get away.} 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Rxf6 Rxh4 25. Rxg6 {perhaps my opponent thought the passed g-pawn would somewhat compensate for the material.} Rah8 {For once I avoid materialistic thinking and emphasize the rook activity, which generates a skewer threat against the Kg1 and Ra1. At this point the win is inevitable, unless I blunder. The Black rooks dominate White's separated ones, and my extra knight is also centralized and mobile.} 26. Kg2 {forced} Rh2+ 27. Kf3 Rf8+ $6 {I wasn't able to visualize the mate here and just concentrated on doubling my rooks on the 2nd rank and winning more material.} (27... R8h3+ 28. Kf4 Rxf2+ 29. Kg5 Ne4#) 28. Ke3 Rfxf2 29. Re1 {I had a long think here again and decided to mobilize the queenside pawns, which would also remove a potential target from a White rook on the 7th rank.} a5 30. Kd2 b5 31. Kd1 Rf4 {harassing the g-pawn and making the rook mobile on the 4th rank.} 32. Rg8 Rg2 33. g5 Rc4 {final long think, to make sure that the mating net would work.} 34. Kd2 Rg3 35. e3 Rg2+ 36. Re2 Nb3+ 37. Kd3 Nc1+ 38. Kd2 Rxe2+ 39. Kd1 Rcc2 40. g6 Nb3 41. g7 {perhaps hoping that I would blunder and miss the mate in one, but} (41. Rd8+ Ke5 {and mate is unstoppable.}) 41... Rcd2# 0-1