Annotated Game #291: Static thinking

This third-round tournament game saw an interesting "strategic dialog" between my opponent (Black) and myself in the opening and early middlegame. He chose a double fianchetto development and held off committing in the center until late, after which the position took on some King's Indian Defense characteristics. My decision on move 10 shaped the strategic nature of the middlegame, giving him more of a central presence but initially active pieces for myself. However, I was ignorant (or ignored) various dynamic possibilities in my thinking, including the pawn sac idea on move 15 (and others) which would have given me more activity and the initiative. In the end, I was only partially punished for it, so got lucky.

[Event "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class A"] [Site "?"] [Round "?"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "????.??.??"] [ECO "A47"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "91"] [GameId "2099915250376805"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Nbd2 {a flexible move, waiting to see what Black will do.} (4. Bd3 {continuing with a Colle System setup is more popular here.}) 4... g6 {this type of double fianchetto is more often seen with colors reversed in the Reti.} 5. Be2 {a cautious/solid approach.} (5. Bd3 $5 {would fight for the e4 square.}) 5... Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 {with Black not having committed to the center, I decided to fight for d5 and see what the response would be.} d6 {my opponent chooses to prepare a central ...e5 break.} 8. Qc2 {developing the queen to a better diagonal, eyeing the e4 square and projecting some power on the c-file.} Nbd7 9. b3 {providing an outlet for the Bc1's development.} (9. b4 {is the engines' choice, also grabbing some free extra space.}) 9... e5 {getting in the pawn break before I can add the bishop on b2 to the fight.} 10. dxe5 {I thought for some time here, as the decision will determine the strategic nature of the subsequent middlegame. In all cases the position is essentially equal, although the text move may give up a little more in the center to Black.} (10. d5 {I evaluted as a good choice, but more committal in fixing the center and resulting in more of a classic King's Indian type struggle, including striving for the ...f5 pawn break, with which I thought my opponent would be more comfortable.}) (10. Bb2 {simply developing and maintaining the central tension is also fine.}) 10... dxe5 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Rfd1 {getting the rook into play.} Qe7 13. Nf1 {I had a long think about an appropriate plan here. The idea of improving the Nd2 isn't a bad one, but perhaps could be executed better.} (13. Ng5 {anticipating Black's next} e4 14. Nf1 {is a somewhat improved version. The Ng5 is prepared to redeploy via h3 to f4.}) 13... Ne4 {not the most effective follow-up, as the square is better occupied by a pawn. My opponent's idea evidently is to clear the way for an f-pawn advance.} 14. Ng3 (14. N3d2 $5 {would challenge the Ne4 without allowing an exchange on g3, disturbing the pawn formation in front of the king.}) 14... f5 (14... Nxg3 15. hxg3 e4 $15) 15. Nd2 {again, a good idea in general, but would have been better on the previous move.} (15. c5 {this pawn sac idea is a recurring one, but I did not see it at the time. White in exchange gets much better activity for his pieces on the queenside, along with some initiative.} Ndxc5 16. b4 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Ne4 18. Rac1 $11 {with pressure down the c-file and good squares available for the light-square bishop now.}) 15... Nxg3 16. hxg3 Rad8 {activating the other rook to a central file} 17. Bf3 {another long think here, and another less than optimal plan, although not terrible.} (17. c5 {as an idea still would be useful. For example} Nxc5 18. Ba3 $11 {with the idea of Rac1 and piling up pressure.}) (17. e4 $5) 17... e4 18. Be2 {this was the idea, to provoke Black's pawn advance and lock the structure. Here I'm cramped on the kingside, but Black's position is much less dynamic.} h5 {the most aggressive-looking option.} 19. Rac1 $6 {here I simply miss the fact that Black's c-pawn is mobile.} (19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Qc3+ $11) 19... c5 $17 {now my pieces are also cramped on the queenside and Black can squeeze further at his leisure.} 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Nf1 {the knight is doing marginally more here, helping defend the kingside at least.} Ne5 {this allows me to exchange rooks and un-cramp some.} 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rd1 $15 Kf7 {a bit of a tempo-waster, as I now un-cramp further.} 24. Rxd8 Qxd8 $11 25. Qd1 {here I decided I could hold with the queens off. I probably could have achieved a draw more easily with them on, but was also fairly mentally tired by this stage, so it seemed simpler.} Qxd1 26. Bxd1 Nd3 27. f4 $6 {an unnecessary weakening of the e3 and g3 squares.} (27. Nd2 $11) 27... Bc6 $15 {the idea is to make progress and open up the queenside using the b-pawn as a lever.} 28. a3 $6 {this takes away the b4 square from the knight, but weakens b3 and leaves the bishop doing nothing.} (28. Bc2 $5) 28... b5 $17 29. Nd2 Ke6 30. Kf1 $2 {both of us missed how strong it would be for Black to take on c4 after this.} (30. cxb5 Bxb5 31. Be2 $17) 30... Kd6 $6 (30... bxc4 31. bxc4 Be8 32. Bb3 Bf7 33. Ke2 Nb2 $19 {and White's pieces get in the way of each other, so that eventually Black can get to one of the White weaknesses (a- and c-pawns) with his much more mobile ones.}) 31. Bc2 $6 (31. Be2 {is superior, pinning the Nd3 at least temporarily}) 31... Nb2 32. Ke1 a6 33. Ke2 {there's not much to be done here.} Bd7 34. Ke1 Be6 35. cxb5 {now this is the least worst option.} axb5 $19 36. Nb1 Kc6 {Black still has an advantage, but now I can at least try to threaten to trap the Nb2.} (36... Nd3+ 37. Bxd3 exd3 $19) 37. Kd2 c4 $6 38. b4 $11 Nd3 39. Nc3 {now my blockade is set and the position equal.} Bf7 40. Ne2 Kb6 41. Nd4 (41. Nc3 {there's really no reason not to just repeat moves.}) 41... Be8 42. Bd1 Nf2 43. Ke1 Nd3+ 44. Kd2 Bf7 45. Bc2 Nf2 46. Bd1 $2 {with a draw agreed. My opponent and I only spotted ...c3+! after the game. I was making it too complicated and provided him with that opportunity for a deflection tactic.} (46. Ne2 Ng4 {and the knight escapes, but so what?}) 1/2-1/2