Annotated Game #320: Look at the pieces

This next first-round tournament game shows me as White getting a nice position with a small advantage out of a Colle System opening. I remembered the correct general idea, which was to chase and exchange Black's bishop, then develop with c2-c4, Nc3 and Qb3. I am a little slow at getting out the light-squared bishop to d3, by which point it would have been better to fianchetto it for both defense and pressure on the long diagonal. The rest of the game, while being either close to even on the engine evaluation, or with a small Black plus, is in practical terms dominated by Black's better-placed and more-active pieces. The final Black knight maneuver is particularly instructive in that regard, as I fail to get my pieces out of their own way, and its fork threats prove decisive. Look at the pieces and their placement, and you'll see the full story of the game.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Expert"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "68"] [GameId "2218878855508067"] {[%evp 0,68,26,26,26,20,22,12,35,-12,47,33,38,43,69,65,106,56,66,67,66,72,72,51,51,46,44,30,50,51,56,55,53,23,14,6,12,-10,-2,0,5,-11,-23,-1,-2,-14,21,26,25,-10,6,-37,-23,-23,-55,-103,-97,-134,-138,-138,-159,-154,-148,-145,-128,-241,-168,-200,-96,-601,-684]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 {versus the Colle System, this typically heads towards a classical Slav Defense setup.} 4. Nh4 {an independent Colle line, rather than transposing to a Slow Slav with c2-c4. The point is to immediately harass the bishop.} e6 5. Nxf5 {otherwise what's the point of having moved the knight?} exf5 6. c4 {the correct follow-up, grabbing space and challenging in the center.} c6 {now we have the Slav structure, but instead of a strong e-pawn there is a doubled f-pawn for Black. Since White is not weak down the half-open e-file, this is fine for me.} 7. Nc3 Bd6 8. Qb3 {again the correct follow-up, taking advantage of the (now permanent) absence of the Black light-square bishop on the queenside to pressure b7 and d5.} Qd7 9. cxd5 {it is important to exchange in the center to continue development and give Black an isolated queen pawn.} cxd5 10. Bd2 {continuing to mobilize the pieces and clearing c1 for a rook.} (10. Bb5 Nc6 {gives White nothing.}) (10. Nxd5 $4 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Bb4+ $19) 10... Be7 {now necessary to protect the d-pawn, as White's last eliminated the discovered attack tactic in the above variation.} 11. Rc1 {not bad in itself, but the kingside should get fully developed first, and the bishop belongs on d3 ideally.} (11. Bd3 $14) (11. g4 $5 {is the funky engine line.} fxg4 {diverting this pawn cedes control of the e4 square to White, and after} 12. Bg2 {now the d-pawn cannot be saved} O-O 13. Nxd5 $16 {White's dominant central presence and passed d-pawn give White a significant plus, according to the engine.}) 11... O-O 12. Bd3 $11 (12. g3 $5 {followed by Bg2 and kingside castling is preferred by the engine. This would offer better defense for the king combined with pressure on the long diagonal.}) 12... Nc6 13. O-O Rad8 14. a3 {taking away b4 from the Nc6, before doing anything else.} Bd6 {now the bishop is nicely centralized and Black's pieces are pointing towards a rather bare White kingside.} 15. Ne2 {a prudent defensive shift.} Ne4 {while a good move, I moved too hastily - perhaps even a little panicked - to eliminate the knight.} 16. Bxe4 (16. Be1) (16. Rc2) 16... fxe4 {now the advanced e-pawn is still a threat and should have been immediately addressed in a similar fashion.} 17. Ng3 $6 {while this blocks the diagonal for the Bd6, it still leaves Black in a favorable position.} (17. f3 $5) (17. Qxd5 $4 {would fail to another discovered attack with check after} Bxh2+) 17... Bb8 $15 {as before, the bishop retreats so that d5 is now protected again.} 18. Qd1 {also a defensive shift, the queen not having much prospect for queenside counterplay.} Rfe8 19. f4 {the engine agrees this is necessary. If for some reason the pawn is not captured en passant, it will nicely block the diagonal.} exf3 20. Rxf3 $6 {here I significantly overcomplicated the situation and picked the wrong recapture, burning too much time in the process.} (20. Qxf3 $11 {is natural, best and consistent with my previous shift of the queen.}) 20... Bxg3 $15 {Black decides to eliminate the defending knight.} 21. Rxg3 {while the number of potential attackers has decreased, I still have too many pieces essentially not playing, while Black has an easier game and the initiative.} Re4 22. Qh5 {reasonably looking for some active counterplay, although I over-estimated its potential.} (22. h3 $5) 22... Rde8 23. Rf1 {activating this rook, at least.} g6 {kicking the queen and strengthening the g-file defense.} 24. Qh6 {by now I was getting low on time, so picked the simplest continuation.} (24. h4 $5 {I considered and was definitely better. The correct idea would be to then play the queen to g5 or h6 and threaten a further h-pawn advance.}) 24... f5 25. Rf4 $6 {under pressure on both the board and time, I make a serious error.} (25. h4 $11) 25... Rxf4 $17 26. Qxf4 Nd8 {recognizing the need to bring the knight into action on the kingside.} 27. Qf2 $6 {I understood that White's pieces were awkwardly placed and would be under threat, but this was not the way to deal with it.} (27. Rf3 Nf7 28. Rf1 $15 {is an awkward but necessary retreat.}) 27... Nf7 28. h4 $2 {the final error - played too late.} Nd6 $19 {now the slowly repositioning knight becomes dominant, after I fail to get out of its way in time.} 29. Rf3 Ne4 30. Qe2 Qa4 {threatening to penetrate on the queenside. Combined with the Black rook entering the action, I do not have enough of a defense.} 31. Bb4 Rc8 32. h5 {a desperate attempt at distraction.} Rc2 33. Qe1 Qc6 {now the back-rank skewer of Q+K is a major threat.} 34. Kh2 {here I didn't notice until too late that the fork on g5 would occur after a check on c7, but it was a lost position anyway.} Qc7+ 0-1