Annotated Game #336: Breaking the streak

Winning ugly is better than not winning at all, as this round 2 tournament game shows. I hadn't won a game in a while, after a frankly miserable previous tournament, so I took what I could get here. The opening was a solid success, in response to my opponent's early deviation from theory. My Slav formation as Black was fine, but I missed opportunities for more active piece play, including misplaying things with my light-square bishop. My opponent got some pressure and both of us missed a winning "removal of the guard" tactic in the early endgame. However, after that I played much more actively and obtained successful counterplay - enough for equality. I could tell my opponent still wanted very much to win, however, and he ended up over-pressing and blundered while under major time pressure.

While my play had some holes, I'll give myself credit for mental toughness after blundering and almost losing, to then up my level of play and press back against my opponent in a correct assessment of the position. Had he accepted that it was a draw, he wouldn't have lost, but the over-pressing phenomenon is one way I've beaten a number of higher-rated players over the years.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "82"] [GameId "2267422749081693"] 1. c4 c6 2. b3 {an independent way to proceed, for sure.} d5 3. Bb2 Nf6 {I certainly would not mind having the knight exchanged on f6, for White's excellent bishop.} 4. g3 Bf5 {Black now has a standard Slav setup and is equal.} 5. d3 e6 (5... d4 $5 {followed by ...e5 would more assertively claim the center.}) 6. Bg2 Be7 7. Nf3 Nbd7 (7... h6 $5 {immediately also looks good, preserving the bishop in the event of Nh4.}) 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 h6 10. Re1 Qb6 {long think here about what to do. Black has nothing forcing and is in no hurry to resolve the central pawn tension. The text move gets the queen to a more active square and connects my rooks.} (10... a5 $5) (10... Bh7) 11. e4 $6 {this forces the issue in the center, but not to White's benefit.} dxe4 12. dxe4 Bg4 {this is OK for Black, but the pin is meaningless.} (12... Bh7 $5 $15 {would remove the bishop as a target and keep up the pressure on the h7-b1 diagonal.}) 13. e5 Nh7 {this is actually the best move, per the engine, although it looks like a passive retreat. The knight does not get in the way of my other pieces and can re-emerge relatively easily via g5 or potentially f8 after the rook moves.} 14. Ne4 Rad8 {activating the rook and lining up against the queen, threatening a discovered attack.} 15. Qc2 Bxf3 $6 {while the general idea of trading minor pieces is good, this is not the best choice. The bishop still has plenty of life in it, and the Nf3 was not a superior piece.} (15... Bf5 {moves the bishop to a more effective diagonal.} 16. Nh4 Bxh4 17. gxh4 Nc5 $11) (15... Nc5 16. Nd6 (16. Ned2 $2 Nd3 $19 (16... Bf5)) 16... Bxd6 17. exd6 Rxd6 {and White has compensation for the pawn, with open lines for the queen, bishop and rooks, but Black is fine.}) 16. Bxf3 c5 $2 {long think, wrong think. The c5 square is taken away from Black's pieces, with no real upside. Other moves would improve piece activity.} (16... Qc7 {dropping the queen back to pressure e5 looks simplest and best.}) (16... Nc5) (16... Ng5) 17. Rad1 $16 Nb8 {this is best, according to the engine, but still a significant plus for White. The knight has to get active via a roundabout route.} 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Rd1 Qc7 $6 {this should have been played earlier; here it just wastes a tempo.} (19... Ng5 {reactivates the knight to good effect.} 20. Nxg5 (20. Rxd8+ Bxd8 $11) 20... Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 hxg5 $11) 20. Rxd8+ Qxd8 $14 21. Qd1 b6 $6 {this lets White exchange and displace the bishop.} (21... Qxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Nc6 $14) 22. Qxd8+ Bxd8 23. Nd6 Bc7 $4 {both my opponent and I were in some time pressure already here, and I did not see the potential winning tactic for White yet.} (23... Nf8 {is better on principle in any case, getting the piece into the fight via g6 or d7 by targeting the e-pawn.}) 24. Nb5 $1 $18 Na6 25. Nxa7 $6 {my opponent misses the tactic as well, being fixated on the loose pawn.} (25. Bb7 $1 $18 {I spotted this "removal of the guard" themed tactic shortly after I moved.}) 25... Nb4 $1 {White still has an advantage, but finally I get some counterplay.} 26. Nb5 $16 Bb8 27. Be2 $6 {at this point my opponent was moving quickly, to gain clock time.} (27. a4 $16) 27... Nxa2 $11 {material and positional equality are now restored.} 28. f4 Nf8 {naturally I want to reactivate my knight, although other decent options are available.} (28... f6) (28... Nb4) 29. Kg2 Nd7 30. Kf3 Kf8 31. h4 {around here I got the impression my opponent was still very interested in trying to win, but the position does not support that.} Nb4 32. h5 Ke7 33. g4 f6 {this seemed the most straightforward way to defend, restraining g4-g5.} 34. Ke4 fxe5 35. g5 $6 {trying too hard to win.} Nc6 {the knight had been admirably restraining White's light-square bishop from going to d3 on its previous square, but I thought it could now be shifted to the central action on e5. I preferred that to snagging the f4 pawn, which would have resulted in more complications.} (35... exf4 $5 36. Bxg7 hxg5 37. h6 Nf6+ 38. Bxf6+ Kxf6 39. Bh5 Nc6 40. Nc3 $17 {is the engine line.}) 36. gxh6 gxh6 37. Bc1 $2 {my opponent was very low on time by this point.} (37. fxe5 Ncxe5 $11) 37... Nf6+ $17 38. Kd3 $2 (38. Kf3 Nxh5 $17) 38... exf4 $17 {now I am two pawns up and have a won endgame.} 39. Bf3 {this hastens the process.} Ne5+ 40. Ke2 Nxf3 41. Kxf3 Nxh5 $19 0-1