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11. Bg5
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Another idea is to play 11. h3, Be3, and Qd2 followed by Bh6. Exchanging the dark square bishops is in white's best interest. |
 
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11... Bb7
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Attacking the e-pawn, and developing the last of his minor pieces. |
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12. Bxf6
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12. Re1 defending the e-pawn, was better. The bishop, which has moved twice is exchanged for a knight that has only moved once. Black is now left with the advantage of the "two bishops." |
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12... Bxf6
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Restoring material equality, while preserving his pawn structure. |
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13. Re1
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Activating the rook and preparing for a possible push e4-e5. |
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13... Qb6
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Hitting the b2 pawn and clearing the back rank for the rooks. Notice that the b-pawn cannot move or the c-pawn would be lost. |
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14. Qc2
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Developing and defending at the same time. |
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14... Rab8
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Black intends to increase the pressure along the half-open b-file. |
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15. e5
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Just about the only hope for activity. |
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15... Bg7
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Black wants to keep the two bishops. Capturing on e5 would only allow white to activate his knight. 15. ...Bxf3 16. exf6 is better for white. |
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16. exd6
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16. e6 was also to be considered. |
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16... exd6
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Again, taking on f3 is bad. 16. ...Bxf3 17. dxe7! |
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17. Rab1
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Defending the b-pawn, but allowing black to ruin white's pawn structure. |
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17... Rfe8
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Objectively, 17. ...Bxf3 is correct. |
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18. Rxe8+
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Black welcomes exchanges, because the power of the bishops increases the closer we get to an endgame. |
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18... Rxe8
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Forced. |
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19. Re1
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Black is again happy to exchange. Players often think that exchanges lead to draws, and that is sometimes the case. Strong players sometimes say they got "Hoovered into a draw." They mean that their opponent vacuumed off all the pieces leaving them with no winning chances. However, if you have an endgame edge, exchanges are to be welcomed, not avoided. |
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19... Rxe1+ 20. Nxe1 d5
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Black would ideally like to exchange queens. His next objective is to obtain a past pawn. The bishops are superior to a knight when there are pawns on both sides of the board. |
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21. b3
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White is tired of defending the b-pawn, but now the c-pawn must be defended. Notice that, if white's c-pawn advances, Black's bishop on g7 gets even stronger. |
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21... Qe6
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Moving to the only open file. |
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(2129)