Annotated Game #303: A strategically won game...is not an actually won game

The next tournament game illustrates how well one can be placed out of the opening, in this case a Stonewall Attack, and yet fail to convert a positional advantage. By move 13 my pieces were dominant and by move 18 I could effectively have been winning on both the queenside and kingside. Unfortunately a mishandled attack, which could at least have led to a perpetual check, failed and Black emerged with a winning material advantage.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D00"] [PlyCount "104"] [GameId "2133320567857269"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 d5 4. f4 {a standard Stonewall Attack opening position} c5 5. c3 b6 {unusual to see this early, but consistent with how Black will need to develop the light-square bishop.} 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 {the usual rule in the Stonewall is to recapture with the e-pawn, which points towards future kingside play, but recapturing with the c-pawn is fine as well.} Bb7 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nbd2 {developing and controlling e4.} Qc7 {a signal that my opponent may be looking to castle queenside. It also attacks the f4 pawn.} 10. Ne5 $14 {blocking the attack on the f-pawn and placing my knight on its best outpost. White has achieved a small plus out of the opening, due to the space advantage.} O-O-O {sensing danger on the kingside, the king is removed elsewhere. However, the Stonewall setup is flexible and I should be able to shift my attack.} 11. Qe2 $16 {played after some thought. The B+Q battery is useful and the rooks are closer to being connected.} Nxe5 $6 {my opponent wants to get rid of the advanced knight, but the advanced pawn on e5 and semi-open f-file are advantageous to White.} (11... Kb8 $5 {getting the king off the diagonal and adding a defender to a7.}) 12. fxe5 {the advanced e-pawn is now a major thorn in Black's side.} Ne8 $18 {at this point White has a strategically won game, with my pieces and pawns dominating the board; however, this is not the same thing as an actually won game. I recognized this and thought about my plan, starting off well enough.} 13. Nf3 {this best activates the knight, which may be able to profitably go to g5, as well as freeing the diagonal for the Bc1.} h6 14. a4 {I now correctly shift to a direct attack on the Black king position, which is vulnerable. The a-pawn in this case can be used much like the h-pawn would be against a normally castled king.} Qd7 15. a5 Nc7 16. axb6 {so far so good.} axb6 {another long think. Unfortunately I start to lose the thread here. I need to connect the rooks and move the bishop, but e3 or f4 would be much better squares.} 17. Bd2 {here it blocks the ability of the queen to move laterally to the a-file, and the e1-a5 diagonal is less promising if it opens up, unlike the g1-a7 or h2-b8 ones.} f5 18. Ra7 {not a bad move, but I was too afraid of opening the kingside to play the best one, per the engine.} (18. exf6 {the Stonewall, when most effective, allows play on both sides of the board.} gxf6 19. Nh4 $18 {and White is dominant on both the kingside and queenside, with Ng6 likely coming.}) 18... Kb8 19. Rfa1 {the obvious and effective follow-up.} g5 20. Ne1 {with the idea of repositioning the knight either to help the queenside attack, or if needed to defend the king.} (20. b4 g4 21. Ne1 {looks like a superior version of the same idea, with b4-b5 coming.}) 20... Be7 {connecting the rooks and giving the bishop some future prospects on the kingside.} 21. Nc2 (21. b4 $5 {the alternative idea of advancing the b-pawn, as mentioned earlier, may have been a more effective attack. For example} h5 22. b5 h4 23. Qd1 {with the idea of bringing the queen to a4, and if} Nxb5 {then} 24. R7a2 $18 {retreating is best, and now White has the half-open b-file to target Black's weak b-pawn and king position, for example with Qb3 and Rb2 to follow up.}) 21... f4 {my opponent is doing a good job of attempting counterplay, despite still being significantly under pressure. After another long think, I go astray with the attack.} 22. c4 $2 {I did not assess and calculate accurately here, simply going for the attack based on the open long diagonal after} (22. Nb4 {would be the logical continuation of the knight maneuver, but I did not see past the piece exchange and doubled pawns.} Bxb4 23. cxb4 {and White is doing well with the additional open lines, for example after} Rhf8 24. b5 Qf7 25. Bb4 f3 26. gxf3 $18) 22... dxc4 23. Rxb7+ $11 Kxb7 24. Be4+ Nd5 25. Qxc4 {is the best I could find at the board, but now the attack stalls. Grabbing the pawn is worth less than opening lines.} (25. b3 $1 {is the non-obvious move found by the engine. The point is that it threatens to take on c4 and win the pinned Nd5, and White keeps the initiative, moving with tempo after} cxb3 26. Qa6+ $11 {with a draw by perpetual check.}) 25... Rc8 $6 (25... Ra8 $1 $17 {cutting off control of a6.}) 26. Bxd5+ $2 {again sub-par calculation.} (26. Qa6+ {should maintain a dynamic balance.} Kc7 27. Nb4 {the knight sacrifice is only temporary, and other moves are fine too.} Nxb4 28. Qb7+ Kd8 29. Qxb6+ Ke8 30. Bxb4 Bxb4 31. Qxb4 $11) 26... Qxd5 $17 {now White does not have any compensation for the exchange.} 27. Qa6+ Kc7 {now the point of the placement of the Qd5 is the fact there is no check on b7, unlike in the above variation, and White does not have enough pieces near the Black king to threaten it.} 28. Rc1 {from this point, I simply try to make threats and hope for the best, knowing I'm losing.} Kd7 $19 29. Qxb6 {at this point I correctly assessed that I was essentially lost, but still hoped to swindle a draw based on Black's exposed king position and/or setting up a fortress.} Rb8 30. Qa7+ Qb7 31. Qa4+ Qb5 32. Qxb5+ {the best choice technically, although simplification of material also makes Black's job easier on the brain.} Rxb5 33. Bc3 {the engine validates this as the best choice, but Black is still winning.} Ra8 34. Kf2 Ke8 35. Kf3 Kf7 36. Rf1 Kg6 37. Ke4 h5 {at this point Black's kingside majority looks like it will cruise to victory.} 38. h3 Rbb8 39. Rf3 {using a rook as a physical blocker against pawns is rarely a good idea.} Rf8 40. Nb4 $2 {the idea of a fortress, although perhaps technically doomed, was much more likely to work in practical terms with the knight helping.} Bxb4 41. Bxb4 Rf7 42. Bc5 Ra1 43. Ra3 Re1+ {now it's essentially over.} 44. Kf3 Kf5 45. Kf2 Rc1 46. b4 g4 47. h4 g3+ 48. Kf3 Rf1+ 49. Ke2 Rf2+ 50. Ke1 Rxg2 51. Kf1 Rb2 52. Ra8 f3 0-1