Annotated Game #298: No pawn lever, no plan (part 2)

This next tournament game is another excellent illustration of the saying "no pawn lever, no plan" - unfortunately not the first time; see the first part here. As White, I did in fact have several good pawn breaks available - including the thematic Colle/Stonewall e3-e4 in the center - but did not play any of them at the correct time. After that, my position deteriorated rapidly under pressure until I made a visualization blunder. That's pretty much the story.

 

[Event "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Site "?"] [Round "?"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "????.??.??"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "40"] [GameId "2108264990683174"] {[%evp 0,40,33,18,29,9,9,-7,13,-11,-12,-6,-9,-60,-35,-35,-21,-25,-29,-27,9,9,35,29,52,-18,1,-4,8,-7,-7,-66,-66,-70,-72,-73,9,-62,-69,-59,-4,-616,-597]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nd2 {choosing to prevent an early ...Ne4.} c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. f4 {reaching the Stonewall formation.} c4 7. Bc2 b5 {a popular move in the database, as Black quickly expands on the queenside, a logical follow-up to the previous move. However, it should not pose White any problems.} 8. Ngf3 {simple development in response.} Be7 9. O-O (9. e4 {is the key idea, reacting with the e-pawn lever after Black closes the center; it is already possible to execute.} dxe4 10. Nxe4 $11) 9... Bd7 $6 {putting the bishop on the long diagonal seems more logical.} 10. Ne5 a5 {my opponent is nothing if not consistent with pursuing queenside expansion plans.} 11. Qf3 $16 {long thought about a plan here. This is a good move, but is not followed up properly.} g6 {guarding against the f4-f5 advance.} 12. Qh3 {not a bad move, but White has multiple pawn breaks available that would cause more problems for Black.} (12. e4 {proceeds with White's play in the center.}) (12. a4 $5 {disrupts Black's queenside plans.} b4 {now allows the tactic} 13. Ndxc4 $1 {as the Nc6 is under-protected after the recapture on c4.}) 12... b4 13. g4 {an indication that I do not understand the needs of the position.} (13. e4 $1) 13... a4 $11 {now the queenside pressure is more meaningful (and concerning).} 14. g5 {the wrong pawn advance. It simply drives the knight away - to a decent square - and does not help with breaking through Black's defenses.} (14. f5 $11) 14... Nh5 {the knight is well-placed here to interfere with White's kingside plans, and can redeploy via g7 when needed.} 15. e4 $2 {played too late and now tactically flawed.} (15. Ndf3 $15) 15... Nxe5 {now either recapture is bad for White.} 16. dxe5 (16. fxe5 O-O $19 {and Black's king is safe, while White's advanced pawn shield and/or the queenside is about to collapse under pressure, with loss of material. One sample continuation:} 17. Nf3 b3 18. Bd1 a3 19. axb3 axb2 20. Bxb2 Rxa1 21. Bxa1 cxb3 22. Bxb3 dxe4 23. Nd2 Bc6 24. Bc2 e3 25. Qxe3 Bxg5 26. Qe1 Bxd2 27. Qxd2 Qh4) 16... Qb6+ $19 17. Kh1 Ng7 18. Re1 {I spotted the possibility of the queen penetrating on f2, but failed to calculate the consequences correctly.} Bc6 19. Nf3 Qf2 {this is actually not critical, and I recognized that, but then screwed up the calculation under pressure.} (19... Bc5 $19) 20. Nd4 $4 {this was a failure of visualization; the knight was the only piece protecting the Re1 and I did not change that piece status mentally, only focusing on the Bc2 and the possibility of Be3 trapping the queen. This is also an example of mental assumptions, specifically that normally the rooks are connected and therefore protected on the back rank.} (20. Qg3 {and things are still bad, but Black's queen has nothing better to do than retreat, as an exchange would release most of the pressure.} Qxg3 $2 21. hxg3 $15) 20... Qxe1+ 0-1