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14... dxc4 15. O-O
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Releasing the pin and preparing Ne4. |
 
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15... Ne7
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Logical play from Black, who seeks to exploit the new d5-outpost square. |
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16. Qe2
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Clearing the back rank to link the rooks, vacating d1 for a rook and attacking the c-pawn. The queen also keeps an eye on the kingside here in case too many of Black's pieces head for the queenside. |
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16... Nd5
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Hitting the knight twice, however, I decided to set a positional trap for my opponent. |
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17. Nd2
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This prepares to route the d2-knight to e4. My reasoning is that the open b-file will only benefit the White pieces, as Black wants to use the b6-square for his queen and the c-file for the rooks. As the Black c-pawn is hanging, I wasn't worried about 17...Bxc3; 18. bxc3 Nxc3; 19. Qxc4 Nd5; 20. Rb1 with quite a bit of pressure on the queenside and a nice outpost on d6 for the knight after Ne4-d6. I also wasn't concerned with 17...Nxc3; 18. bxc3 Bxc3; 19. Rxf8 Qxf8; 20. Rf1 Qe7; 21. Qxc4, when Black's Weaknesses are more prominent and White has control of both of the open files. |
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17... Bd7
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Probably a wise choice, Black is seeking piece activity (a dynamic imbalance) to offset his space and pawn structure disadvantage (a static imbalance). |
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18. Rxf8+
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I thought about Nde4, however, this move gives me some initiative. Notice how Black does not have this luxury on move 17, as his Queen is not off the back rank and cannot challenge the f-file after 17...Rxf1; 18. Rxf1, with the initiative and maintaining the static plusses in the position. |
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18... Qxf8
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19. Rf1
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19... Qe7
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20. Nce4
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After the previous forced sequence of moves, I decided against my previous plan of Nde4 and opted for this move. My reasoning was that if Black was ever going to exchange the d5-knight, I would rather have him take the crappy e3-bishop than one of my good knights. Again, a bishop swap for a knight is only good for White. |
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20... b5
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Expanding on the queenside and safe guarding the pawn. Taking the pawn was never a consideration. With black having the two bishops, I was trying to keep the position as closed as possible. Black would have had ample compensation for the pawn. |
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21. a3
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Not just kicking the bishop, but trying to erect some kind of dark-square influence on the queenside. Especially c5 and d6! |
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21... Ba5
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22. Bg5
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Forcing the queen back and preventing a swap of Rooks on the f-file. |
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22... Qe8
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23. Nc5
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23. Nd6 Qb8; 24. Qf3 Qf8! and I wasn't so sure that White was accomplishing anything. |
1 comment
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23... Bc6
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Not sure about this move. I wasn't really interested in taking the bishop. |
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24. Nde4
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24... h6
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This is makes the situation go from bad to worse. |
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