Annotated Game #296: Activity should win

One of the factors that distinguishes master-level play from typical Class-level is the value placed on piece activity, rather than static factors. This final-round tournament game is an excellent illustration of the superiority of this approach, including sacrificial ideas even when not leading to a forced win; this will also be the subject of an upcoming Mastery Concept post.

Here a common theme that I've identified, unnecessarily holding back the e4 pawn break in a Colle System-type position, also appears. At least I eventually play that, and the interesting recurring idea of a sacrificial c4-c5 pawn break, although later than I should have in both cases. And once again opposite-colored bishops are the deciding factor, in the end.

[Event "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "?"] [Site "?"] [Round "?"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "????.??.??"] [ECO "A47"] [PlyCount "129"] [GameId "2099915250376809"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 c5 4. c3 (4. Nf3 {This is the way to go to transpose to the Colle-Zukertort.} b6 5. O-O Bb7 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. b3) 4... b6 5. Nf3 {This is now a Colle System.} (5. f4 {would keep the Stonewall Attack going, although Black now has the option of trading bishops with ...Ba6!?}) 5... Bb7 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 {hesitating before committing to the center.} (8. e4 {is the critical idea in the Colle System.}) (8. Re1 $5 {would prepare the e-pawn advance further.}) 8... d6 {Given my opponent's opening setup, I had expected he would refrain from ...d5, but I had wanted to confirm his intentions before moving a central pawn.} 9. Bb2 $11 Nbd7 10. c4 {this is the second most played move in the position, according to the database, and is essentially a tempo loss by the c-pawn. This is not critical; however, it does mean that I can't recapture with a pawn on d4 after the later e4 push, which is important.} (10. e4 $14 {this remains the key idea in the Colle setup, followed by Qe2.}) 10... Re8 11. Qc2 {developing the queen to a useful square to clear the first rank and form a battery on the b1-h7 diagonal.} Qc7 12. Rfe1 h6 {removing the threat from the battery on the diagonal.} 13. e4 {a little late in coming, but still good to play.} cxd4 {best, as other moves give up more space to White.} 14. Nxd4 Nc5 15. Nb5 Qd7 {now I had a long think, since there was not an obvious plan to pursue.} 16. f3 $6 {solid but inflexible, and opening the a7-g1 diagonal is an additional weakness.} (16. Bf1 {this removes the bishop from the knight's attack and keeps it out of the way of the other pieces.}) (16. Rad1 {activating the rook would also be logical.}) 16... a6 $15 17. Nc3 (17. Nd4 $5 {I did not even consider, but it looks marginally more active.}) 17... Rac8 {Black has an easier time finding a middlegame plan, simply getting heavy pieces more centralized then pushing pawns.} 18. Nf1 {looking to improve my worst piece, although it's still better to retreat the bishop.} d5 19. exd5 exd5 $6 {not a terrible move in objective terms,, but now my light-square bishop has more life in it, and I am able to take the initiative.} (19... Nxd3 20. Qxd3 exd5 21. cxd5 $15) 20. Bf5 Ne6 $11 {I confess I missed the backwards knight move here, being too excited by the skewer on the diagonal.} 21. Rad1 {the logical follow-up, adding another pin against the queen.} Bc5+ 22. Kh1 d4 {I underestimated the strength of this move. The position is still equal, but the rest of the game revolves around the struggle over the d-pawn.} 23. Ng3 (23. Na4 $5 {I also considered, but eventually decided it was better to reactivate the other knight.}) (23. a3 $5 {is also a consideration, taking away the b4 square from the Bc5.}) 23... g6 24. Nce4 {while this offers up some chances for Black to go astray, it essentially simplifies the game. Some other possibilities involved exchanging on e6.} (24. Bxe6 Rxe6 25. Rxe6 Qxe6 26. Nce2 $14 {I had not calculated this far and did not see this would be an effective move.}) 24... Nxe4 25. Nxe4 Bxe4 26. Bxe4 Bb4 {illustrating how an earlier a2-a3 would have been useful; the bishop moves with tempo.} 27. Rf1 f5 28. Bd3 {not a bad square for the bishop, with some ideas of sacrificing on the kingside in the future.} Rcd8 29. a3 {played after a good deal of thought. The engine approves.} Bf8 30. Rfe1 {also played after some thought, but this is the "safe" follow-up.} (30. c5 {is the active idea I play later on. The pawn is temporarily sacrificed for piece activity, including access to the c4 square and the now-open a6-f1 diagonal.} bxc5 31. Bc1 {another key idea in the position, to contest f4, with the ideas of g2-g4, Qc4 or Bxa6 to follow up.} (31. Bxa6 {immediately is also possible.})) 30... Bg7 31. b4 {taking the c5 square away from the knight.} Nf4 32. g3 {played after a long think. In calculating the variations I was concerned about back-rank threats. It is also forcing in nature.} (32. Bc1 {looks like a more solid choice, leading to further exchanges.}) 32... Nh3 $6 {this was surprising and I thought must be bad, but unfortunately I did not find the best solution.} (32... Nxd3 33. Qxd3 Re6 34. Rxe6 Qxe6 $11) 33. Qg2 {good enough for equality, but there were better options.} (33. Kg2 Ng5 (33... f4 $2 {is what I was concerned about, as the Nh3 is protected and the king's pawn shield attacked, but} 34. Bxg6 fxg3 35. hxg3 Ng5 36. Qf5 $1 $18 {forces exchanges into what should be a winning endgame.}) 34. h4 Nf7 35. c5 $16) (33. c5 $5 {this idea works again.}) 33... Ng5 34. h4 Nf7 35. Qf2 {this just loses a tempo, since the queen has to go to f1 shortly.} (35. Qf1) (35. f4 $5 {I considered but didn't like giving up the e4 square.}) 35... Ne5 36. Kg2 $6 (36. Bf1 {and} d3 $2 {is a mistake due to} 37. Bxe5 Bxe5 38. Rxd3 $18) 36... Qc6 (36... Nxd3 {would seem to be a more consistent follow-up, taking away the best blockader of the d-pawn, but my opponent apparently is more interested in using the knight for a kingside attack.} 37. Rxd3 Rxe1 38. Qxe1 g5 $17) 37. Qf1 {defending c4 again} Ng4 {unexpected and safe due to the pin on the f3 pawn, but not actually threatening.} 38. Bc1 {played after some thought, the correct idea and essentially forced. The obvious threat is the fork on e3.} Ne3+ 39. Bxe3 dxe3 {now under pressure, I became too concerned about physically blockading the advanced pawn.} 40. Qe2 $6 {this unnecessarily cramps White.} (40. c5 $11 {here's this idea again. With more active pieces come compensation in the form of tactics. For example} bxc5 41. Rxe3 Rxe3 42. Bc4+ Kh7 43. Rxd8 $11 {and if} cxb4 $2 44. Bg8+ $1 $18) 40... Bc3 $1 $17 41. Rg1 Qf6 $6 (41... Bd2 $17) {My opponent clearly felt that he was squeezing me to death, but here I finally buckle down and play the freeing move} 42. c5 $1 $11 bxc5 43. bxc5 Bd2 44. Rb1 {now the active rook on the b-file makes a big difference, so I prioritize that over capturing the a6 pawn, although that also works.} Qc3 45. Bc4+ Kh8 {I was unsure of what was best in this open position and was in the sudden death time control, so just chose to capture material and try to hold onto my a-pawn afterwards. Continuing with active play is better.} 46. Bxa6 (46. c6 $5 {and if} Rc8 47. Bxa6 $14 {and the c-pawn is tactically defended, due to the skewer on the a4-e8 diagonal.}) (46. h5 $5 gxh5 $6 47. Rh1 $14) (46. Bf7) 46... Qxc5 47. a4 (47. Rb7 $5 {I felt was too risky, with the e-pawn so advanced, but the engine demonstrates that it's a draw, given mutually exposed kings. For example} Qxa3 48. Qc4 Re7 49. Rxe7 Qxe7 50. Rb1 $11 {the e-pawn will be captured if it advances, due to the reverse battery on the a6-f1 diagonal.}) 47... Bb4 48. Rgd1 {finally getting the rook back into play.} Rd2 49. Rxd2 Bxd2 {now time pressure really starts to be felt} 50. Rb7 f4 $2 {my opponent however by this point has even less time on the clock.} 51. g4 {I saw this would be safe.} (51. Qd3 $1 {this correct but risky move was beyond my ability to calculate at the time.} e2 52. Qxg6 $18 {wins, although it's scary.} Qf2+ 53. Kxf2 e1=Q+ 54. Kg2 Qxg3+ 55. Qxg3 fxg3 56. Kxg3 $18 {with a won endgame.}) 51... Bc1 {best guess here, due to time scramble handwriting} 52. Bb5 (52. Qa2 {the engine says is winning, but again risky and sacrificial.} e2 53. Rh7+ Kxh7 54. Qf7+ Kh8 55. Qxe8+ $18) 52... Rd8 53. Rd7 Rxd7 54. Bxd7 Qd4 {with the exchanges and opposite-colored bishops, now a draw seems inevitable.} 55. Bb5 Bd2 56. Bd3 g5 57. h5 Qxa4 {while I had missed in the time scramble that my opponent could pick up the pawn, as we'll soon see it does not matter, due to the blockade of e2 on the light squares.} 58. Bc4 Qc2 59. Bd3 Qc3 60. Bb5 Kg7 61. Qc4 {forcing the issue, as Black's king has no screening from checks.} Qxc4 62. Bxc4 Kf6 63. Kf1 Ke5 64. Ke2 Kd4 65. Ba6 {I offered a draw here and my opponent declined, although he had just seconds on his clock to my minute or so; there was a 5-second delay. After my bishop bounced back and forth on the diagonal several more times, I offered another draw and he accepted. This was all a bit strange for me, since the position was obviously blocked and he was the only one who could lose (on time).} 1/2-1/2