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18. Ne2
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Preparing to castle. |
 
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18... h5
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Attacks the castled position. I was a little afraid of opening the g file, but thought my dark bishop would adaquately protect me. |
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19. Qc2
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Giving up on castling since the white king is all that protects white's knight. Preparing for Bb2, finally developing his remaining pieces. |
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19... h4 20. g4
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?! (Dubious)
gxh4 would have opened the g file for counterplay, which would have been dangerous for Black after Rg1 and Bb2; however, this also prevented Black from invading on the kingside. |
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20... Be5
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Preparing to advance the f pawn and half open the f file for my rook. |
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21. Bb2 f6
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With the option for a trade, I decided that opening the f file while strengthening my pawn center was much better. This also prevented counterplay on the g file. |
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22. Bxe5
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White commented that he traded because he felt my bishop was stronger than his. |
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22... fxe5 23. Ba4
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Avoiding the threat of 23. Qf6, forking the bishop and f pawn. |
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23... Qf6
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I spent a lot of time studying the next few positions, but still unsure if I had anything better. |
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24. Rh2
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Stronger than Rf1, which would have abandoned the h pawn to Qf3, Qd1 Qxh3. |
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24... Rb8
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Controlling the b file and preparing for Bd3 followed by Rb1.
24...Qf3 25. Qd1 Rb8 may be slightly stronger, but it also fails to Nc3. |
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25. Nc3
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! (Good move) |
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25... Kh8
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I was afraid of 26. Nxe4 dxe4 27. Qxc4 , taking initiative and destroying my pawn center.
Bd3!? was considered, but was delayed due to the possibility of 26. Nxd5 Qf3 (Bxc2? 27. Nxf6 Rf6 28. Bxc2, losing two pawns.) 27. Nd7 . There were far too many checks available with my king on g8. Looking back now, I don't think White could have sustained the checks and after an eventual white move of Bd1, Rb1 should have sealed the game. |
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26. Nxe4
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Exactly what I feared, without the fatal check. Qf3 goes no where after 27. Nc3, when I'm a pawn down for nothing. |
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26... dxe4 27. Qxc4 Rb1+ 28. Bd1
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Not Ke2 Qf3#. |
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28... Qf3 29. Qe2
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I expected 29. Qc2 Ra1 30. d3, but think this is stronger. |
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29... c4
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Preventing an eventual d3, allowing the trade since exf3 with trap the white king. |
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30. Qxf3 exf3 31. Rh1
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?? (Blunder)
g5 was required to allow white to escape the prison. This begins a series of passive moves that allow black to centralize his king and retain control of the game. |
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31... g5
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! (Good move)
White is almost completely trapped. The only play he really has at this point is 32. d4 (or d3) c3! prevents the king from moving and seems to lead to a draw, which black should be happy with. 32...dxc3? 33. Kd2 e4 34. Kc3 Kg7 wins for white. |
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32. Rg1 Kg7
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e4 is better, though at the time I thought I needed to centralize my king immediately. |
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(1968)