Annotated Game #300: When the initiative turns

In analyzing this final-round tournament game, what struck me about it - other than yet again my failure to play the e3-e4 pawn break at the right time - was how quickly the game turned once I lost the initiative as White. The opening is unusual, but I come out of it in reasonable shape. The missed chance to play e3-e4 was the first inflection point in losing the initiative, but it really hurts only when my opponent targets the queenside pawn weaknesses I had ignored, once I had foolishly fixed the center by advancing the c-pawn. The collapse afterwards of White's structure is both quick and instructive.

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Move	N	Result	Elo	Players

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1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 Bg4 4.f3 this takes away transpositional possibilities and moves the game into more creative territory. However it's tricky to play right, since the move f2-f3 always creates a weakness. Bh5 5.c4 a standard response to Black's early bishop sortie, hitting d4 and opening up the diagonal for White's queen. c6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nge2 so far pursuing standard available development. Be7 now White has to make some decisions about how to proceed. 8.b3 this is a bit premature, since it's not clear where the Bc1 is best placed, and slow. 8.Nf4!? 8.0-0 is probably the least committal route. 8...Bg6 9.0-0 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 I did not mind the exchange on d3, since it brings my queen to a good square. 0-0 11.Bb2 consistent, if not the most dynamic move. 11.e4!? gives White some initiative in the center. 11...Nbd7= now Black is very solid. 12.c5 this idea backfires on me immediately. The d6 square is not particularly valuable now, and Black will now have the obvious plan of using the e-pawn lever. 12.cxd5= 12...e5 13.Ng3 13.b4 immediately may be better, trying to stir up some counterplay on the queenside. 13...Re8 14.b4 exd4 15.exd4 b6 this is possible due to the weak b4 pawn, which would be exposed after cxb6. White would lose time defending it and Black would gain even more positional dominacne. 16.Bc1 the general idea should be correct, repositioning the bishop, but the timing is poor. 16.a3!? protects the b-pawn and is probably simplest. 16.Nce2 immediately also keeps the rooks connected. 16.Rfe1 getting the rook into play. 16.cxb6? Qxb6 17.a3 Ne5! 16...Nf8 repositioning the knight is positionally justified, but this is too slow. 16...a5! would immediately break things open on the queenside. 17.Nce2 I play similarly slowly, however, so Black can catch up. 17.Nf5 immediately would be much better. 17...N6d7 18.Nf5 a5 I missed seeing the possibility and the potential strength of this break, although I could do a reasonable job of containing it. 19.Bd2 after a long think, this seemed to be the least worst approach; however, my position quickly falls apart. 19.cxb6! takes a lot of the sting out of the situation. For example Qxb6 20.bxa5 Qxa5 21.Nxe7+ Rxe7 22.a4= 19...axb4-+ 20.Nd6 largely done out of desperation, but I was still hopeful that I was not yet losing. Bxd6 21.cxd6 Ra3! now I'm lost, as the Ne2 is hanging after the queen is chased away. 22.Qb1 Rxe2 23.Bxb4 Rae3 24.Rf2 Qh4 25.Rxe2 Rxe2 and with the d-pawn also about to fall, it's past time to resign. 0–1

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White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res	ECO	Rnd

ChessAdmin

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Class C

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0–1

D00

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