Annotated Game #304: Just enough activity

This last-round tournament game follows a trajectory that is all too typical of many of my games: I play reasonably well in the opening, then neglect the possibility of a pawn break or two, then somehow end up with my pieces passively placed on the back ranks while my opponent gains space. In this Caro-Kann Classical, however, I manage to find just enough activity and then open things up in the endgame, for an almost but not-quite win. In fact White may have had more chances, but I demonstrate how to use my bishop as a long-range piece effectively versus his knight, and thereby seal the draw.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class C"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "B19"] [PlyCount "112"] [GameId "2148113476542647"] {[%evp 0,112,25,16,59,71,77,32,50,50,42,44,38,36,23,21,20,18,23,23,17,17,18,26,26,26,45,40,40,42,35,17,44,44,24,11,23,14,18,21,8,-7,-3,2,3,20,28,26,5,-6,15,8,-2,-2,-34,-21,-18,-14,-11,-49,-22,-41,-45,-51,-41,-27,-25,-29,-25,-6,0,0,-2,0,0,0,0,0,19,-5,0,-85,-92,-103,-97,-100,-102,-95,0,0,0,0,5,0,7,6,9,2,3,3,3,3,6,3,3,2,2,2,2,3,2,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 {the Classical Caro-Kann} 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ (11... Bd6 {is another option, uniquely enabled by this variation's move-order, as there is no knight on d7 to block the queen from protecting d6.}) (11... Bb4+ {I also considered during the game.} 12. c3 Bd6 {is considered a better version of the ...Bd6 idea by the engine. The d4 pawn is reinforced, but was not really threatened in the first place, while White having moved the c-pawn means increasing the space around his king if it castles queenside.}) 12. c3 Qa6 {this was drawn from an similar idea in other variations, but perhaps simple development is better.} (12... Nbd7 $11) 13. Qxa6 Nxa6 14. O-O Nd5 {chasing the bishop.} (14... Be7 {is more conservative, also preparing to castle.}) 15. Bd2 Bd6 $6 {this just loses a tempo after White's next move.} 16. Ne4 Be7 17. a3 {White essentially returns the tempo here.} O-O $11 18. c4 {the c-pawn advance against a Nd5 is something Black always has to watch for. Here the knight can simply retreat.} Nf6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Bf4 Rfd8 21. Rfd1 Rac8 {getting my rooks into action before starting anything. My opponent does likewise.} 22. Rac1 Nc7 {bringing the knight back into play, but foregoing the ..c5 pawn break.} (22... c5 {I considered this carefully but in the end thought it premature. However, it is likely Black's best plan and natural, it just has to be calculated properly.} 23. d5 exd5 24. cxd5 b6 {and then the knight can come back into play via c7.} (24... Bxb2 {is a little wilder.} 25. Rb1 Bxa3 26. Rxb7 c4 27. Rxa7 Bd6 $11) 25. Rc2 Nc7 26. d6 Ne6 27. Bg3 Kf8 {with the idea of using the king as blockader on d7 if necessary.} 28. d7 Ra8 29. Bd6+ Be7 $11 {White cannot force the d-pawn to queen and will be tied up defending it.}) 23. b4 Ne8 24. Be5 Kf8 25. Kf1 Be7 {not a good look, with all of Black's pieces on the bottom two ranks.} 26. Rd3 Nf6 {the idea behind the bishop maneuver.} 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 (27... gxf6 $5 {should not be feared, as the doubled pawn controls e5.}) 28. Rcd1 Ke7 29. Ng1 Rd7 {this is fine, but now would also be a good time for a pawn break on the queenside, to break up White's formation.} (29... b5) (29... a5 {and Black will easily recover the pawn after ...Ra8}) 30. Ne2 Rcd8 31. f4 b5 {finally some Black pawn action.} 32. cxb5 cxb5 33. Kf2 {my ability to target the d-pawn is already at maximum pressure, so I play a waiting move rather than commit a rook to the c-file (which also is fine).} a6 34. Ke3 Rd5 {I had this idea in mind, physically blocking the d-pawn and putting lateral pressure on the h5 pawn.} 35. g4 g5 {I thought for some time here and could not see anything better. The engine validates my active choice.} 36. hxg6 fxg6 37. Nc3 R5d7 38. Ne4 g5 39. Nc5 gxf4+ 40. Kxf4 {I now spent a lot of time looking at the various options for capturing on d4, and picked the best (only) one that works.} Rxd4+ 41. Rxd4 Rxd4+ 42. Rxd4 Bxd4 43. Nxa6 Kd6 {I'd originally thought that I had an advantage here, but the knight cannot be trapped.} 44. Ke4 e5 45. Nc5 Bb2 {choosing to keep the bishop on the board. I knew I could draw even if White ended up with one pawn left.} (45... Bxc5 {I thought I might screw up the K+P ending afterwards, so did not choose this option.} 46. bxc5+ Kxc5 47. Kxe5 Kc4 $11) 46. a4 bxa4 47. Nxa4 Bc1 48. Nb6 Kc6 49. Nc4 Kb5 50. Nxe5 Bg5 (50... Kxb4 $4 51. Nd3+ $18) 51. Nf7 Bc1 {showing how the bishop as a long-range piece works.} 52. Kf5 Kxb4 53. Kg6 Kc5 54. Nxh6 Kd5 55. Kf5 Bxh6 56. g5 Bxg5 1/2-1/2