In the game, Black offers an exchange of bishops on f5, which White only briefly hesitated before executing, giving Black a sort of Stonewall-type pawn structure and an open g-file. While familiar with the general ideas of this variation, I did not execute it particularly well, in general being a little too slow (for example on move 11). Given White's structural advantages, Black needs to press harder and quicker, looking to activate a rook on the g-file and get his king out of the way - things I accomplish too late. The critical position, however, did not occur until move 29, when White after a long think offered the h-pawn; after a shorter think, I took it, not seeing the full consequences of the action. My opponent well deserved the win, but I gained a great deal of understanding about the variation as a result, so it was good for training purposes.
[Event "DHLC Slow Swiss #11"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2014.01.25"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Da-Waaagh"]
[Black "ChessAdmin_01"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "1567"]
[BlackElo "1453"]
[Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[TimeControl "45"]
{B13: Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation and Panov-Botvinnik Attack} 1. e4 c6 2. d4
d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. O-O Bf5 {the most
aggressive form of this variation for Black.} 9. Bxf5 gxf5 10. Re1 {White
immediately deploys the rook on the e-file, to good effect. Black will need to
watch out for tactics involving the pin of the e-pawn.} e6 $146 {I thought for
a little while here and decided that since ...e6 would eventually be played,
might as well do it sooner rather than later.} 11. Nbd2 h6 {Covers g5, notes
Houdini via the Fritz interface, but this is too slow and unnecessarily
cautious.} (11... Ne4 $5) 12. Nb3 $14 (12. Ne5 {would be the most aggressive
continuation.} Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Rg8 $14 {I thought that Black would be all right
here, although the kingside is looking a little airy.}) 12... Ne4 {the obvious
reaction, establishing a strong centralized knight.} 13. Ne5 {I welcomed this,
as it gave the opportunity to trade my terrible bishop for a very good knight.
The drawback is that it leaves Black weaker on the dark squares.} Bxe5 14. Bxe5
Nxe5 15. dxe5 {at this point I was happy with my position, as the White e-pawn
now blocks tactics down the e-file and White has fewer possible threats with
most of the minor pieces off the board.} Rg8 {this seemed like an obvious move,
but was not the most effective. No immediate threat is created.} (15... Qb6 {
would immediately get the queen into play in an effective way, targeting f2
while also playing an important role covering the queenside.}) (15... Rc8 {
is another useful idea, which occurred to me a couple moves later. The rook is
activated and firmly controls the half-open c-file, including the key c4 and
c5 squares. There is also the idea of transferring the rook via the fourth
rank at some point to the kingside, if the opportunity appears.}) 16. f3 {
this would have been more difficult and time-consuming to execute after ...Qb6.
} Ng5 (16... Qb6+ {was something I looked at, but I did not like the fact that
White could simply block on d4.} 17. Qd4 Ng5 18. Kf1 Nh7 $14) 17. Kh1 Rc8 18.
Nd4 {A comfortable square for the white knight, says Houdini. However, Black
can neutralized it fairly easily with ...a6} (18. Qd2 Rc4 19. Nd4 {is better
for White.}) 18... Qb6 {it is worth noting that when the Black queen finally
does sally forth from d8, it's much less effective than it could have been on
move 15.} (18... a6 19. Qb3 Rc7 20. Rac1 Kf8 $14) 19. Qa4+ {an unexpected
development. Not unwelcome, however, since I thought it simply helped chase my
king to where it would be better placed.} (19. a4 {is a move that certainly
didn't occur to me, nor to my opponent most likely. It contains a trap, though,
as} Qxb2 $2 {fails because of} 20. Rb1 Qxc3 21. Nb5 $18 {and Black cannot stop
the knight fork on d6.}) 19... Kf8 20. h4 $6 {this weakens White's kingside
and should be more effectively punished by Black.} Nh7 $11 {while this looks
awkward for the knight, it can redevelop itself to a good square via f8...
which unfortunately never happens in the game.} 21. Re2 Kg7 $6 {here I did not
give sufficient thought to alternative ideas, instead focusing on getting the
king to the corner and the knight redeveloped.} (21... Rc4 22. Qa3+ Qc5 23.
Qxc5+ Rxc5 24. Kg1 $11) (21... Qd8 {would also be good.}) 22. Qd7 Rgd8 {
as usual, one always picks the wrong rook when there's an option.} (22... Rcd8
{Houdini evalutes that the rook is worth more on the c-file.}) 23. Qe7 {
this is good for a cheap threat, but nothing more.} (23. Qa4) 23... Re8 24. Qd7
Red8 {Twofold repetition} (24... Qd8 {would be best, but I was still looking
for winning chances, which meant avoiding a queen trade.}) 25. Qb5 Qc7 $6 {
now Black starts a downhill positional slide. My pieces are uncoordinated and
White can transfer his much more effectively to the kingside to start making
threats.} (25... Qxb5 $5 26. Nxb5 a6 {I rejected this during the game because
of Nd6, but although the knight is temporarily annoying, it can't hurt Black.}
27. Nd6 Rc7 28. Rg1 f6 29. f4 h5 $11) 26. Qd3 a6 27. g4 fxg4 {forced,
otherwise Black's pawns are shattered.} 28. fxg4 Qe7 {a key position for the
defense. Unfortunately, I go astray with this plausible-looking queen move.
Better would have been to get the king in the corner and off the g-file.} (
28... Kh8 29. Qf3 Rg8 $14) 29. Rg1 {offering the h-pawn. After several minutes
of thought, I did not see a direct win for White if I took it (seeing through
move 32), so I decided not to believe my opponent. However, he was correct.}
Qxh4+ $2 (29... Kh8) 30. Rh2 Qg5 $2 (30... Qe7 31. g5 Nxg5 32. Rxg5+ Qxg5 $18)
31. Nf5+ $18 {the point being that after an exchange on f5, the g-pawn takes
and leaves the Rg1 pinning the queen against the Kg7.} Kf8 $2 {this turns out
to be worse than h8 as a flight square, although Black is losing in either
continuation.} (31... Kh8 32. Rh5 exf5 33. Rxg5 Nxg5 34. gxf5 Rc4 $18) 32. Nxh6
Qg6 (32... Rc7 {does not help much} 33. Qxh7 Qxe5 34. Qg8+ Ke7 35. Qxf7+ Kd6
36. Qf3 $18) 33. Qxg6 fxg6 34. Rf1+ Ke8 35. Nf7 $1 {now Black loses too much
material to stay in the game.} 1-0
