Annotated Game #321: The supremacy of piece activity

This next tournament game follows a common pattern that has been more evident as of late, a lack of an ability (or desire?) to maximize my piece activity. The game itself is reasonably hard-fought, but after I end up with an isolated queen pawn (IQP) in the middlegame, piece activity becomes even more important to offset the long-term structural weakness, and my play is not up to the task. Structurally, I should have opted for hanging pawns, since my pieces were actually well-placed to support them. As is the case with many "lost" games, my opponent gave me opportunities to re-enter it on even terms. In particular I failed to spot the "heroic" engine defense (as I labeled it in the annotations) on move 35, which is an excellent example of the supremacy of piece activity, as opposed to an overly materialistic and sometimes passive approach. 

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "117"] [GameId "2218878855508068"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 {the Keymer Variation.} Nf6 3. b3 e6 {not bad but unnecessarily passive, blocking the c8 bishop in immediately, and although it is the #2 choice in the database, it scores notably worse than the main alternatives:} (3... Bg4) (3... Bf5) (3... c5) 4. Bb2 Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. Be2 b6 $11 {heading for a solid Queen's Indian formation.} 7. O-O Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 {all of the recaptures work here. The engines slightly prefer the knight recapture, which is paralelled by the results in the database.} 9. d4 Nbd7 {the engine validates this choice of a developing move. Naturally the knight does not want to go to c6 and block both the Bb7 and the c-pawn.} (9... Ne4 $5 {I considered, but it does not seem to lead to anything special.}) (9... c5 {seems a little premature. However, I wait too long for this pawn break during the game.}) 10. Nc3 Rc8 {placing the rook to support a c-pawn thrust.} (10... a6 $5 {preparing to improve a piece with ...Bd6, by preventing Nb5. This is a mirror idea of the Colle-Zukertort for White.}) (10... Re8 {this rook is doing nothing, unlike the Ra8 potentially doing something where it is, so no reason not to do this first.}) 11. Bd3 {White spots a similar idea, to centralize and improve his bishop.} Re8 {Black does well to activate both rooks.} 12. Bf5 {this was unexpected, but after a short think I decide the simplest path is to kick the bishop back. White is not in a position to exploit the dark squares around Black's king.} g6 13. Bd3 Bf8 {done primarily to free the Re8's power projection. The bishop is fine on f8, retaining its mobility along the f8-a3 diagonal and watching the dark squares around my king.} (13... a6 {is still a good plan, as the bishop would be better on d6 and does not in fact have to plug the kingside dark-square holes.}) 14. Re1 Ne4 {I'm fine with an exchange on e4, something White wisely avoids.} 15. Qe2 Bg7 {while this adds to control of e5, the bishop is not actually better here.} (15... c5 {is better, gaining space and putting pressure on d4. However, I would end up with an IQP or hanging pawns, which I was reluctant to go for at the time.} 16. dxc5 Nxc3 17. Bxc3 bxc5 $11) (15... c6 $5 {would consolidate the queenside and keep the position more closed.}) 16. Ba6 {I was surprised by this, but it is not to White's advantage.} Nxc3 17. Bxc3 Bxa6 18. Qxa6 {while the queen threatens the a7 pawn, this could easily lead to it being trapped. I had a long think here and decided to play actively, if perhaps not optimally.} c5 {not bad, but I did not find some other resources in the position.} (18... Nc5 $5 {would activate the knight, nicely taking advantage of the pin on the long diagonal against the hanging Bc3.} 19. Qe2 Ne4) (18... Nf6 {I rejected because I thought the White queen could sneak away after} 19. Qxa7 Ra8 20. Qb7 {but now} Qd6 $1 {I did not see this possibility during calculation.}) 19. Rec1 Rc7 {deciding for safety first, guarding a7 and also opening the c8 square for another heavy piece.} 20. Qf1 {no better square for the queen's evacuation.} Qc8 {another think here, without an obvious plan to follow. Improving the queen's reach by doubling on the c-file is in any case a positive idea.} (20... c4 $5 {would create an imbalanced pawn structure after} 21. bxc4 dxc4 {which the engine evaluates as equal, but at the time I did not like White's apparent central dominance.}) 21. dxc5 Nxc5 {not terrible, but this gives me an IQP and appears to be the worst of the recapture options.} (21... bxc5 $11 {Black is OK in the hanging pawns structure, with adequate support for them.}) (21... Bxc3 22. Rxc3 Rxc5 {and Black will have pressure on the c-file unless the Rc5 is exchanged, creating hanging pawns again.}) 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qd1 Qb7 {another long-ish think in an unclear position for me. I go for supporting the pressured d-pawn, although there were other active options I did not see.} (23... Ree7 {the engine line.} 24. Qxd5 Red7 25. Qe5+ f6 26. Qb2 Nd3 27. Rxc7 Rxc7 28. Qe2 Rc1+ 29. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 30. Qf1 Qxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Nc1 $11 {and Black recovers the pawn.}) (23... Ne4 $5 {should have been an obvious move candidate to improve piece activity.} 24. Qd4+ Nf6 $11) 24. Qd4+ {White correctly plays actively with his queen.} f6 $6 {unfortunately, unlike in the above variation, this now creates a permanent weakness on the 7th rank.} (24... Kg8 $11) 25. Rd1 $14 Rd7 (25... Ne4 {the engine prefers active play again, over static defense.} 26. Qxd5 Qxd5 27. Rxd5 Rc2 28. Rd7+ Kf8 $14) 26. b4 {this should simply drive my knight to a better square, but} (26. Qb2 Ne4 27. Nd4 $14) 26... Ne6 $6 {is not optimal.} (26... Ne4 {I still was not considering this idea.}) 27. Qb2 Rc8 28. Rd2 {while the engine now considers the position equal, Black has strategic problems here, having to defend the IQP.} Kf7 $6 {rather than attempt to bring the king into the action - we are still in the middlegame - it would have been better to activate the queen, as White's pieces are better coordinated and more threatening.} (28... Qc6 29. Rad1 Qc3 30. Qxc3 Rxc3 31. Rxd5 $4 Rxd5 32. Rxd5 Rc1+) 29. Rad1 $14 Rcd8 $2 {now a difficult position has become close to losing.} (29... Rc4 {with a more active defense, is the engine preference.} 30. h4 h5 31. Nd4 Nxd4 32. Rxd4 b5 $14) 30. Nd4 $16 Ng5 $6 (30... Nxd4 {it would be better to exchange, since White's knight is simply better.}) 31. f3 (31. Qb3 {adding pressure to d5.}) 31... Re8 $6 {a one-move threat which is well answered by White.} (31... Ne6 {it would be no shame to return, having provoked f3.}) 32. h4 $18 Ne6 33. Nxe6 {now this makes more sense, since Black's rooks are misaligned.} Rxe6 34. e4 $1 {the classic exploitation of an IQP, attacking it while it is effectively pinned to an inadequately defended piece.} Red6 35. e5 $6 {missing a forcing sequence that establishes a brutal pin on the remaining black rook. However, this is not immediately fatal, so my opponent likely overlooked it.} (35. Rxd5 $1 Rxd5 36. exd5 Rxd5 37. Qb3 Ke6 38. Qc4 $18) 35... fxe5 (35... Re6 $1 {is the heroic engine defense.} 36. exf6 Qb8 {the pawn is temporarily sacrificed so that the queen can penetrate on the kingside, for active defense.} 37. Rd4 Qg3 $11) 36. Qxe5 Re6 $2 {as often occurs, a move played too late becomes a liability rather than a good idea.} 37. Qh8 $1 $18 {I did not see the power of this move. White now has a won game, since the queen cannot be evicted without destroying Black's kingside in the process.} h5 {I decided to at least save the pawn, though I realized the seriousness of my position.} 38. Rd4 $6 Qc6 $2 {almost the right idea.} (38... Qc7 $1 $11 {I rejected because of the eventual skewer on the 7th rank, but after} 39. Rxd5 Rxd5 40. Qh7+ Kf6 41. Qxc7 Rxd1+ {saves the day; I did not see this finish.}) 39. Qh7+ Ke8 40. Qh8+ Ke7 41. Rf4 {correctly bringing another piece into the attack.} Kd6 {I still thought I might wriggle out of White's net, but my opponent plays accurately and does not let me escape.} 42. Qb8+ Rc7 43. Qf8+ Rce7 44. Rfd4 {now White threatens to simply capture on d5.} Re2 {desperation, but also an admission that Black simply cannot parry all of White's threats.} 45. Qd8+ Ke6 {time was very low for both of us at this point, which helps explain the following sequence.} 46. Rxd5 $6 (46. Qg8+ $18) 46... Kf7 $16 {the best move, but also the most obvious. White's queen is no longer such a direct threat to the king.} 47. R5d4 Qf6 48. Qd5+ Kg7 49. a3 R2e5 $6 {now playing at blitz speed} (49... Kh6 $5 $16 {would tuck the king away more, but I was concerned it did not have an escape route .}) 50. Qd6 R5e6 $2 (50... Qxd6 {I should have seized the chance to go into a pawn-down double-rook endgame.} 51. Rxd6 Kh6 $16) 51. Qg3 $18 {because of Black's relative 7th rank weakness, there are no good moves here.} Qf7 (51... Re2 52. Kh2 Kh7 53. Rd6 R2e6 54. a4 {is one sample line. White's more effective queen makes a big difference.}) 52. Rd5 Kh7 53. Rd8 Qg7 54. Qf2 Re2 55. Qd4 {evidently the idea of the queen transfer. Now, with no time to spare, I simply exchange down.} Qxd4+ 56. R8xd4 Re1+ {this quickens the loss.} (56... Kh6 57. Rd7 $18) 57. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 58. Kf2 Ra1 59. Rd7+ {making it clear why the king was better on h6. With further material loss coming and no time on the clock, I resigned.} 1-0