Annotated Game #324: A (mostly) clean start

In this first-round game as Black, I was pleased to have an almost entirely clean start to my last tournament. The Caro-Kann continues to perform well for me and it feels like putting on a comfortable, protective glove every time I go into it. My opponent was higher-rated, but in the Panov Variation was unable to get more than equality, missing the best follow-up to my one slip on move 19. While I also passed up a few chances for a little more pressure, I did not miss anything else significant, and correctly defended with "only" moves in the final sequence. I was also proud of resisting materialist impulses and avoiding the temptation to snatch the b2 pawn, which might not have lost, but would certainly have been fully compensated by White's subsequent initiative.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2241828936024153"] {[%evp 0,31,19,38,78,76,65,58,56,22,14,17,42,33,31,23,23,15,16,24,19,13,22,44,-14,6,75,34,42,48,69,-2,-5,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Bd3 dxc4 {a common idea, to exchange the pawn to create an IQP structure, when White has to use an additional tempo with the bishop for the recapture.} 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1 {White can play a lot of things here, but occupying the e-file and pressuring e6 is very common and logical.} a6 {Black needs to get the light-squared bishop developed and can grab some queenside space as well.} 11. Bf4 b5 12. Bb3 Bb7 {I recognized this would likely provoke d5 and the resulting exchanges, but thought the bishop development was worth it.} (12... Na5 {was my other serious candidate move and is an option to avoid central liquidation.} 13. Ne5 Qb6 $11 {covering c6 and developing the queen}) (12... Nb4 $5 {scores well in the database, with ...Bb7 to follow. The knight can go to d5 if kicked.}) 13. d5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 {forced} 15. Qxd5 {I did not seriously consider this, focusing instead on the bishop recapture, which looked more threatening.} Bf6 {the best defensive move, as the bishop could otherwise be left hanging in some lines.} 16. Qh5 {I did not see this, although it is not terribly threatening.} g6 {I felt gaining a tempo on the queen was worth the dark-square weakness, given I had pieces in place to cover it.} (16... Nd4 {immediately is also good.}) 17. Qg4 {unfortunately the queen cannot be trapped, as after ...h5, Qxg6 is possible due to the pin by the Bb3 on f7.} Nd4 {I felt this centralization was likely to be more effective than the alternative knight move, but the engine rates them equivalent.} (17... Na5 18. Be5 Nxb3 19. axb3 Bg7 $11) 18. Nxd4 {best option for White, to remove the well-placed knight.} Qxd4 {moving carefully and rather slowly through here, which paid off. The queen capture is beest, as among other things there is now a lateral pin on the Bf4.} 19. Rad1 {and now I forgot the back-rank tactic I had seen earlier as the best reaction.} Qb4 $6 {this could have made things awkward.} (19... Rae8 $1 {and the back-rack threat keeps things equal.} 20. Rxe8 (20. Rxd4 $4 Rxe1#) 20... Rxe8 $11 {and the queen is still immune.}) 20. Qg3 {my opponent misses the most threatening response.} (20. Re3 $1 {causes problems.} Rae8 {threatening an x-ray on e1, but now after} 21. a3 $1 {Black's queen has to move and the Bb3 is protected. White has a lot of pressure, although Black still has some defensive resources after} Bc8 22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. Rd7+ Bxd7 24. Qxd7+ Qe7 25. Rxe7+ Rxe7 26. Qd5+ Kg7 27. g3 $16) 20... Rfe8 $11 21. Be3 {this is OK for White, although I thought having the bishop effectively pinned against the mate threat on e1 meant that my opponent had lost the initiative, at minimum.} Rad8 22. Rf1 $6 {both of us were starting to chew through our clock time here, so that may explain the unnecessarily passive move. It does at least remove the rook from direct attacks on e1.} (22. h3 $11 {would remove the back-rank mate threat.}) 22... Rxd1 {the best moveI could come up with, although I spotted at some point the idea of} (22... Qe4 $5 $15 {maintaining the tension, which is in Black's favor.}) 23. Rxd1 Kg7 {a good enough move, maintaining equality. I correctly continue to resist pawn grabbing on b2, which would hand back the initiative to White.} (23... Be5 24. Qg5 {and I didn't see any real advantage for Black; the engine agrees.}) 24. h4 {this is not in fact a blunder, because White has the following forcing sequence, but I still felt good after taking the pawn correctly with the queen (not bishop).} Qxh4 (24... Bxh4 $4 25. Qc7 $18) 25. Rd7 {at first glance this looks scary, but Black has everything covered.} Re7 (25... Qxg3 {is possible, but I thought it was not worth giving up the f-pawn, and it looked scarier at first glance. In reality, it was probably a simpler way to reach an equal endgame after} 26. Rxf7+ Kh8 27. fxg3 Rxe3 (27... Bxb2 28. Rxb7 Rxe3 29. Rb8+ Kg7 30. Ra8 $11) 28. Rxf6 Re7 $11) 26. Qxh4 {played after some thought. This is a bit trappy.} Bxh4 27. Bd4+ Kh6 {only move, everything else loses.} (27... Kf8 $4 28. Bc5 $18) 28. Be3+ Kg7 {also an only move} 29. Bd4+ {and the engine agrees repeating moves is best for both sides.} Kh6 30. Be3+ Kg7 1/2-1/2