OTB Game Analysis 4

Losing the thread of the game

This is my round 5 game from my recent OTB tournament. At this point one of my opponents didn't show up and I scored 0.5/3 out of the games I actually played so this was a very bad tournament for me up to this point.

The game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3

Usually, I play 2.c4 but I wanted to play something a little bit different this game to avoid preperation from my opponent since I suspected that they prepared a sharp line.

2...g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.a3 Bd7?!

I'm not sure why the bishop is better on d7 than on c8. 8...Na5 9.b3 c5 looks like a better continuation for black.

9.b4 Rb8


White to play

Here I thought about playing d5 to kick the knight to a7, but felt that I should improve my rook and get it off of the long diagonal first.

10.Rb1

10.d5 Ng4! (I didn't see this during the game. White is better after 10...Na7) 11.Bb2 Nce5 and black is fine

10...e5 11.d5 Ne7

I thought that the knight had to go to a7 right until my opponent picked the knight up and I was shocked when they moved it to e7. 11...Nd4!? (I also didn't see that this was possible during the game) 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Qxd4?! Bf5 14.Rb3 Ne4 15.Qd3 Nc5 16.Qd1 Nxb3 17.Qxb3 and black has a slight advantage

12.e4


Black to play

12...b6

12...Nh5 13.c5 f5 14.Ng5 f4 15.Ne6


Black to play

This looks scary since the pawn on e6 will be a bit lose but the tactics work in white's favour. 15...Bxe6 16.dxe6 Nc6 17.Nd5 Re8 18.e7 Nxe7 19.Nxc7!

13.Bg5?!

My opponent suggested the following after the game: 13.a4 Ne8 14.Qc2 f5 15.a5 and white has a slight advantage

13...Ne8?!

13...h6 This would have forced the bishop back to c1 because of 14.Be3?! Ng4 15.Bc1


White to play

14.Qd2

14.c5!? (White should open the queenside while almost all of black's pieces are on the kingside) 14...bxc5 15.bxc5 Rxb1 16.Qxb1 dxc5 17.Qd3 and white has an advantage

14...f6 15.Be3

15.Bh6 (I didn't want to exchange dark squared bishops since almost all of black's pawns are on dark squares but this is also good for white) 15...g5 16.Bxg7 Nxg7

15...f5 16.exf5

During the game I was constantly afraid of f4 from black but I didn't realise that it doesn't work most of the time. 16.Rbc1 fxe4 (16...f4? 17.gxf4 exf4 18.Bxf4 And white is a clear pawn up) 17.Nxe4 Nf5 18.Bg5 Nf6 19.Qc2 h6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.c5

16...Nxf5 17.Bg5 Nf6


White to play

18.Qe2

I played my last move with the intetion of 19.Ne4 but the move wastes time: 18.c5!? h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.c6 Bc8 Compared to the game, white has gained a lot of space on the queenside and the knight can now go to e4

18...h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Ne4 Qf7

I somehow dismissed this move in my calculations and intended to follow Ne4 up with 21.c5 but this is impossible now since the black queen is attacking d5.

21.Rfd1 Rbe8 22.c5 bxc5 23.bxc5 dxc5


White to play

24.Nxc5

The engine says that 24.Qxa6 is better but I was too afraid of black's pressure along the f-file during the game. In general, I felt uncomfortable with my position at this point.

24...Nd4

24...e4!? (This should be fine for white but would have been harder to meet during the game) 25.Nxe4 Qe7 26.Nfd2 Bb5 27.Qg4 g5

25.Nxd4 exd4 26.Qa2 Bf5 27.Rbc1 Kh8

Black's last move sidesteps a tactical threat: 27...a5? 28.Ne6 Bxe6 29.dxe6 Qxe6 30.Bd5 and white should win.
I still felt a bit uncomfortable with my position during the game so I decided to simplify

28.Ne6

28.Bf1 c6 29.Ne6 Bxe6 30.dxe6 Qxe6 31.Qc2 Qf6 32.Re1 Rb8 33.Rb1 Rbd8 34.Bd3 c5 35.Rb7


Black to play

This line was suggested by the engine and white has a slight advantage. However, during the game, the pressure on the f-file and black's passed pawns looked too dangerous to me so I didn't even consider pressing for a win.

28...Bxe6 29.dxe6 Qxe6

29...Rxe6? 30.Bd5 and white wins

30.Qxe6 Rxe6 31 Rxc7

Here I offered a draw and my opponent accepted it 1/2-1/2