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.

[Event "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class C"] [Site "?"] [Round "?"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "????.??.??"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "50"] [GameId "2108267701342262"] {[%evp 0,50,25,26,13,20,5,-37,2,-3,12,-6,39,27,49,49,48,47,41,31,39,54,38,32,23,10,31,-3,1,-2,19,26,38,-45,12,-60,32,14,46,-99,-94,-466,-436,-461,-472,-516,-512,-549,-469,-565,-572,-586,-591]} 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 $5) (8. O-O {is probably the least committal route.}) 8... Bg6 9. O-O Bxd3 10. Qxd3 {I did not mind the exchange on d3, since it brings my queen to a good square.} O-O 11. Bb2 {consistent, if not the most dynamic move.} (11. e4 $5 {gives White some initiative in the center.}) 11... Nbd7 $11 {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 $11) 12... e5 $15 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 $5 {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 $2 Qxb6 17. a3 Ne5 $1 $17) 16... Nf8 {repositioning the knight is positionally justified, but this is too slow.} (16... a5 $1 {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 $1 {takes a lot of the sting out of the situation. For example} Qxb6 20. bxa5 Qxa5 21. Nxe7+ Rxe7 22. a4 $11) 19... axb4 $19 20. Nd6 {largely done out of desperation, but I was still hopeful that I was not yet losing.} Bxd6 21. cxd6 Ra3 $1 {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