Annotated Game #325: You had one job [in the opening]

This next tournament game shows my failure to do the one job in the opening that is always strategically most important - open up the space in front of the opponent's king when it is still in the center. This is the one major takeaway I retained from reading GM Johan Hellsten's Mastering Opening Strategy, but in this game I still fail to apply it, either at the first opportunity on move 8, or on subsequent moves. This is all the more facepalm-worthy, since the e2-e4 break in particular is a well-known feature of the Colle. I was still even for the remainder of the game, but then transitioned into a slightly tricky NvB endgame where my visualization/calculation went wrong. This is another area to work on.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class C"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D05"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2248621732107421"] {[%evp 0,80,38,28,27,23,20,18,9,17,41,24,29,28,53,63,69,57,74,41,94,84,97,56,84,76,79,50,50,37,56,47,79,36,47,40,34,12,-5,-21,-8,-28,-28,-16,35,32,31,26,24,18,20,18,17,16,14,25,17,17,11,1,3,-25,-14,-28,-28,-42,-45,-37,-58,-127,-79,-651,-724,-934,-534,-801,-622,-730,-736,-1145,-1264,-1341,-1384]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 {Colle System} c6 {Black goes for a Semi-Slav formation.} 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 (6. Bb2 {would better control the e5 square.}) (6. c4 {here on on the previous move would transpose directly to the Semi-Slav.}) 6... b5 $6 {evidently played to restrain c2-c4, but slowing development.} 7. O-O $14 b4 $6 {this further retards Black's development.} 8. Bb2 $6 $14 {this is too slow a response, however.} (8. e4 $1 $16 {immediately breaking in the center is in the spirit and practice of the Colle. Black's king is still two moves away from castling, so that should be a big red flag for action.} dxe4 {otherwise e4-e5 is coming.} 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Bb7 11. Ne5 $16 {and White has a significant lead in both ddevelopment and space. Exchanging pieces does not help, either, for example:} Nxe5 12. dxe5 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Bc5 14. a3 a5 15. axb4 axb4 16. Be3 Rxa1 17. Rxa1 Bxe3 18. fxe3 $18 {and the doubled pawns are worth it, since the b4 pawn will fall.}) (8. a3 $5 bxa3 9. c4 $16 {is another idea to increase the central pressure on Black with a pawn lever.}) 8... c5 9. Ne5 {this is a less effective idea than a pawn lever, as the knight jump does not directly help to break open the position. Black however goes wrong with the following exchange.} (9. e4) 9... Nxe5 $6 (9... cxd4 10. exd4 Bb7 $14) 10. dxe5 {chasing away Black's defending knight.} Nd7 11. f4 $16 (11. e4 {is still a bit superior as an idea, being more forcing in the center.}) 11... g6 {somewhat awkward, but Black does need to develop the bishop.} 12. Qe2 Bg7 13. Rac1 $6 {again too slow} (13. a3 {with the idea of opening the a-file and generating pressure there, taking advantage of Black's still somewhat backward development.} O-O (13... bxa3 14. Rxa3 $16) 14. axb4 cxb4 15. Bd4 $16 {with a plausible continuation being} a5 16. Nf3 f6 17. c3 bxc3 18. Rac1 {now the rook can exploit the c-file better} fxe5 19. fxe5 Rf7 20. Rxc3) (13. e4) 13... O-O $14 14. c4 {while this is a decent move, I overestimated its forcing nature.} (14. a4 $5 {would help clarify the queenside and grab some space, allowing White to focus more on the center.} a5 15. e4 $14) 14... Bb7 $6 {this allows White's plan to succeed.} (14... bxc3 15. Bxc3 a5 $11) 15. cxd5 {the correct choice, opening the position.} exd5 16. Nf3 $16 (16. Bb5 {immediately may have more impact.} Rc8 17. Rfd1 $16) 16... Qe7 {I did not see this move, which is the best way to cover c5.} 17. Bb5 {threatening to take on d7 and remove the defenders of c5.} (17. h4 $5 {this is an idea that occurred to me, and could have been played at several points. White in many cases can follow up with an unsupported h4-h5, since taking on h5 would weaken Black's king position too much.}) 17... Rfd8 18. Rc2 {unfortunately the plan of doubling rooks on the c-file ultimately goes nowhere.} (18. Qf2 $5 {White's advantage is in fact on the kingside.} a6 19. Bxd7 Rxd7 20. f5 $1 $16 {I definitely did not see this pawn sac idea, threatening the fork on f6 if not taken.} gxf5 (20... Bh6 $2 21. f6 Qe6 22. Rxc5 $18) 21. Nh4 d4 22. exd4 cxd4 23. Nxf5 Qxe5 24. Rfe1 $16 {the d-pawn is weak and White has the dynamic advantages in the position, especially with the rooks.}) 18... a6 19. Bxd7 {now the position is equal, so an unfortunate decision to trade. Removal of the knight still leaves c5 in Black's hands.} (19. Bd3 {the engine wants to preserve the bishop for a kingside attack, for example supporting an h-pawn advance.}) 19... Rxd7 $11 20. Rfc1 Rc7 21. a3 $6 {I thought this was the only way to try to make progress, but Black is now quite solid, even a little better on the queenside.} (21. h4 $11) 21... Rac8 {luckily for me this removed the rook from the a-file, which otherwise would be better for Black.} (21... a5 22. axb4 axb4 23. Bd4 Rac8 24. Bb2 $17 {Black now has the two bishops and a queenside pawn majority.}) 22. axb4 cxb4 23. Nd4 (23. Rxc7 $5 Rxc7 24. Ra1 $14 {would take advantage of Black's relatively weak a-file by generating some pressure.}) 23... Rxc2 24. Rxc2 {I spent some time before playing the last two moves to make sure they were safe. Time pressure was now starting to be a bit of a factor, although I am still on pace for the time control.} Rxc2 25. Qxc2 Bf8 {evidently played with the idea of ...Qc5.} 26. Nf3 {the position is completely even and I should be able to score the draw from here.} Qc5 27. Qxc5 {while this is objectively fine, in light of how the rest of the game turns out, keeping queens on the board might have been simpler.} (27. Qd3 $11) 27... Bxc5 28. Bd4 (28. Kf2 {while the text move maintains equality, it would have been nice to start moving the king towards the center.}) 28... Bxd4 {here I did not calculate/visualize properly the sequence.} 29. exd4 $6 {this makes life a little more difficult, but White should still be OK. I was too attracted by the pawn structure and did not give enough weight to the knight activity.} (29. Nxd4 {is simpler.}) 29... a5 {the most testing line, immediately trying to mobilize the queenside majority. Now I incorrectly calculate Ne1, which was my original idea, and end up blundering by playing} 30. Nd2 $4 {this loses to multiple Black moves, but the one my opponent plays is the simplest.} (30. Ne1 Ba6 31. Kf2 $1 $11 {is the key. Now the king can run over to the queenside as needed without impediment. I had erroneously thought Black could get a pawn through.} a4 32. bxa4 b3 33. Nf3 $1 {is what I missed.} b2 34. Nd2 $11) 30... Ba6 $19 {now the knight is dominated by the bishop.} 31. Kf2 Bd3 $1 {winning, although I did not completely see this until after} 32. Ke3 Bc2 {and now both the knight and king are shut out of the queenside. The rest is desperation.} 33. g4 Kf8 34. h4 Ke7 35. Nc4 dxc4 36. bxc4 Bb3 37. c5 Bd5 38. f5 a4 39. Kd2 a3 40. Kc1 b3 0-1