Annotated Game #319: Going for an imbalanced win versus the KID

This final-round tournament game displayed my weak understanding of an only partially-remembered line against the King's Indian Defense (KID); hopefully I have rectified that for the future. However, my opponent was evidently unfamilar as well with the position, failing to spot the early-appearing hole in my camp. Despite missing the best move, he continued to put the pressure on my position correctly, using the initiative, but apparently over-estimated his chances in a sequence ending in a dynamic material imbalance (rook and two pawns vs. the two bishops for me). Visually, Black's preponderance on the kingside looks threatening, but it is White that has the most attacking chances in an open game. Eventually I am able to fully activate my pieces - the key to victory in most situations - and exploit Black's weaknesses across-the-board, leading to a nice forced win.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "65"] [GameId "2202563857469532"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Be2 O-O 5. O-O d6 {the KID pawn formation, which was not a surprise, given the opening sequence.} 6. b4 $5 {while a relative rarity, this actually scores well in the database, more so than the more popular lines.} (6. c4 {is the standard move for White's setup here, controlling d5.}) 6... Nbd7 {evidently preparing Black's next move.} (6... c5 $5 {interestingly is the most played in the database, although White's last move was specifically designed to inhibit the c-pawn's advance.} 7. bxc5 dxc5 8. c3 $11 {White should avoid shattering his pawn structure by capturing on c5.}) (6... a5 $5 7. b5 {again White should avoid trading a more centralized pawn for a wing pawn.}) (6... e5 {immediately is also possible, after which White faces a strategic choice to capture, develop with Bb2, or advance the c-pawn.}) 7. Nbd2 $6 {this is actually something of a blunder in this unfamiliar position for me, although the knight should eventually go here. The problem is that the b-pawn is unprotected and now the c3 square is too.} (7. Bb2 {covers the c3 square and develops the bishop.}) (7. c4 $5) 7... e5 {this lets me off the hook.} (7... Nd5 $1 $17 {forks the b-pawn and c3. The engine assesses it's best just to jettison the pawn for development after} 8. Bb2 (8. a3 Nc3 9. Qe1 e5 10. Bb2 exd4 11. exd4 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Nb6 $17 {and Black's two bishops are doing very nicely.}) 8... Nxb4) 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bb2 $11 (9. e4 $5 {would fight more directly for the center, as well as physically block Black's e-pawn from advancing further.}) 9... Qe7 10. a4 Rd8 11. Ba3 {this is more of a cheap threat than an actual plan.} Nd5 12. Ne4 $6 {while I was not ignorant of the latent threat posed by the Rd8 against my queen, I did not fully take it into account in my calculations.} (12. Qe1 {this looks awkward but holds everything together. The b-pawn is not in fact hanging, since} Nxb4 13. c3 e4 14. cxb4 exf3 15. Nxf3 {is equal.}) 12... N7f6 {now I have to worry about ...Nxe3. This at least spurs me to find the best move in the position.} 13. b5 Qe8 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Qe1 $11 {by this point I can admit my mistake, having escaped any major consequences. Also, with the piece trades the position is less cluttered.} Bg4 16. e4 {now this is less favorable, since the Nd5 has a good square to go to in response.} (16. c4 e4 17. Nd4 $11) 16... Nf4 17. h3 {here I felt under pressure and was still mostly focused on relieving it. This is the correct way to go about it, and I also felt that Black might over-estimate his chances by sacrificing on h3, which is what he does.} Nxh3+ $2 18. gxh3 Bxh3 19. Kh2 Bxf1 20. Qxf1 $16 {material on a "points" basis is balanced, or perhaps with a slight bonus for Black, as he has a rook and two pawns for the two pieces. However, with the two bishops and attacking possibilities on the g- and h-files for White, both I and the engine prefer this.} Qe6 21. Qg2 {this is the engine's third choice.} (21. Qh3 {interestingly, the engine assesses allowing a queen trade is better for White.} Qxh3+ 22. Kxh3 {with Bb2, Bd3 and Kg2/Rh1 piece deployments as ideas. One sample line:} h5 23. Bd3 Kg7 24. Bb2 Re8 25. a5 $18 {and White's two bishops have a great deal of scope and maneuverability, compared with Black's rooks.}) (21. Bd3 {is the engine's second choice, sealing off the d-file and inhibiting Black's counterplay.}) 21... h6 $6 {this just gives White a target after} 22. Bc1 Kg7 23. Qg3 Rh8 24. Bb2 {correctly redeploying the bishop after some thought. I decided targeting e5 again would be more profitable.} Rae8 $6 {now I have to figure out how to make progress against other targets in Black's camp. Black with the text move made the strategic decision to have both rooks on the kingside, which at least visually enhances his attacking chances, but leaves the queenside under-defended.} 25. Ra3 {I was trying to figure out how to activate the rook here, since it was not playing in the game yet. Here the intention is to go to the c-file and target the undefended pawn. The engine approves of this, although assesses repositioning the knight is even better.} (25. Nd2 $1 {following the "when in doubt, improve your worst piece" rule. This supports either Bc4 or Nc4-e3 ideas, while leaving the rook multiple options.}) 25... g5 $2 {again with an over-aggressive move. Here my opponent apparently missed} (25... c6 {would proactively address the c-pawn weakness, although Black still has major problems.}) 26. Nh4 $18 {now I get to significantly improve my knight after all, due to the pin on the g-pawn. Now I felt that after it reached f5, Black could not survive.} Reg8 27. Nf5+ {a relatively long think here for me. I ultimately decided to play this now, based on the expectation that the king would go to f8, which is the only reason my opponent would have played the previous move.} (27. Rc3 {was the other (also good) option.}) 27... Kf8 {this accelerates Black's loss by cutting off any kingside escape routes.} (27... Kh7 $18 {and Black is losing, but at least not getting mated soon.}) 28. Rc3 c6 {it is now too late for this idea.} 29. bxc6 bxc6 30. Ba3+ Ke8 {now I invested some time in finding the best way to finish off the game, spotting the tactic relatively early.} 31. Rxc6 $1 Qd7 (31... Qxc6 {is still theoretically best but lost after} 32. Bb5 Qxb5 33. axb5 {and White's queen comes over for the kill.}) 32. Rxf6 {here I decided not to make things complicated and win simply.} Qd2 33. Qxe5+ 1-0