Annotated Game #330: A flexible Stonewall and a false fortress

In this last-round tournament game, I follow an independent line of the Colle and end up in a Stonewall formation with White, which I am normally comfortable playing. However, as has often happened in past games, I accept (and choose) too many cramping versus freeing alternatives, and end up in a worse position. This was no fault of the Stonewall, which can in fact be flexible; see moves 14-18 for some examples in the analysis. In the end, I was lucky that both myself and my opponent believed I had successfully closed the position to further progress, which was not in fact the case, although there was no immediate knockout.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2254768247188867"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Nh4 {an independent alternative.} (4. c4 {would transpose into the main line Slow Slav after ...c6}) 4... Bg4 5. f3 Bd7 {choosing to withdraw and preserve the bishop.} 6. Bd3 (6. f4 {may be a better move-order. The point is to nullify the threat of ...g5, trapping the Nh4.}) 6... e6 7. f4 c5 8. c3 {we now have a classic Stonewall structure.} Nc6 9. O-O (9. Nf3 $5 {the knight eventually has to be brought back anyway.}) 9... Qb6 10. Kh1 {the ideas was to get off the a7-g1 diagonal to avoid potential future tactics, although this is not necessary immediately.} (10. Nf3 $11) 10... Be7 11. Nf3 O-O-O {evidently done to avoid a Stonewall Attack on the kingside.} 12. Ne5 {better to develop something else first before moving the knight yet again.} (12. b3) (12. Nbd2) (12. Qe2) 12... Be8 13. Nd2 Nd7 $6 14. Ndf3 $6 {missing my chance to generate a central initiative.} (14. Nxd7 Bxd7 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. e4 {the standard Colle break, which also leaves Black's Q+B battery hitting nothing but air. I recall looking at the e3-e4 idea, but not liking the Rd8 lined up against my queen on the open file following the pawn exchange. However, after} dxe4 17. Nxe4 $16 {Black has no good way to exploit this, while Qe2 is coming as an excellent queen development.}) 14... f6 15. Nxc6 {wrong knight trade} (15. Nxd7 $14) 15... Qxc6 16. Bd2 $6 {while this gets the bishop (sort of) developed and vacates c1 for a heavy piece, it also cramps the Nf3.} (16. b3 $5 {would give the bishop an alternative outlet and prepare c3-c4.}) 16... Bh5 (16... c4 $5 {and Black's king position would benefit from the closed center.}) 17. Rc1 $6 {this would be a waste of time if Black chose to close the center.} e5 $6 (17... c4) 18. Be2 (18. fxe5 $1 {I confess I never even looked at this idea, being fixated on the threat of e5-e4.} fxe5 19. Nxe5 $1 {I simply assumed the Nf3 was pinned. Instead, this wins a pawn.} Nxe5 (19... Bxd1 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21. Rcxd1 $16) 20. Qxh5 Nxd3 21. Qf5+ Kb8 22. Qxd3 $16 {what an adventure!}) 18... e4 19. Ne1 $6 (19. Ne5 $1 $11 {with similar tactical ideas to the above variation, although no longer winning material}) 19... Bxe2 $17 20. Qxe2 {White is now quite cramped.} b5 $6 {this gives me a chance to break in the center, but I play slowly.} 21. Nc2 $6 {sequencing matters.} (21. c4 bxc4 22. Nc2 $11 {the knight would love to go to d4, and after b2-b3 White has full compensation for the pawn, with all the open lines near Black's king.}) 21... Kc7 $2 (21... c4 $17) 22. b3 $2 {still too slow.} (22. dxc5 $1 {is the other idea to break in the center, involving a pawn sacrifice.} Nxc5 23. Nd4 $16 {at the time, I didn't like the idea of allowing Black's knight to reach d3, but with the threat against the queen he does not have time for that. For example} Qd7 24. c4 dxc4 25. a4 (25. Ba5+ {might be the easier/more human approach} Kb8 26. Bxd8 $16) 25... Nxa4 26. b3 $18 {the Black king's shield is about to dissolve.} Nb6 27. bxc4 bxc4 28. Ra1) (22. c4 $16 {is also still good.}) 22... c4 $1 {my opponent finally plays the strategically correct move, although I can blunt its impact somewhat now.} 23. Qg4 {I recognized here that I was being stifled and hoped to drum up some more active play with the queen.} (23. f5 $5 $17 {was another idea I briefly considered, opening up the h2-b8 diagonal.}) 23... g6 24. Nb4 {nothing better} Bxb4 25. cxb4 f5 26. Qd1 {routing the queen back to the defense.} Nf6 $6 $15 {the knight would have more action on the queenside.} (26... Nb6 $17) 27. a4 {using my only available pawn lever.} (27. Be1 {and Bh4 would reactivate the bishop on the kingside.}) 27... a6 28. bxc4 $2 {"long think, wrong think" here. The idea was of course to set up a blockade after Black retakes on c4.} (28. Bc3 $15 {it's better to simply set up the blockade immediately with the bishop.}) 28... dxc4 $19 {the problem now is that Black has a gorgeous square open on d5 for his knight.} 29. Qc2 Kd6 (29... Nd5 $19) 30. a5 {another long think here. I decided to go with the full blockade rather than try to open the a-file, which I thought Black could exploit.} (30. axb5 axb5 31. d5 $17 {is the engine's pawn sacrifice to get the bishop to a better square after Bc3.}) 30... Kd5 $19 {my opponent now offered a draw, which I was glad to take, although I legitimately thought I could hold (unlike the engine assessment).} 1/2-1/2