Annotated chess game

Interestingly enough, this move order (Qf3 before d3) appears in the line I gave in my previous comment (at move 10). The idea was to commit Black to defending the a- or b-pawn, and THEN develop the bishop. Ha! Listen to me. Forty-odd years ago I would hardly have dreamed of playing like that!

Black ought to have a slight concern about his e-pawn. Fairly weak on e7, soon it will have to advance a square to shore up the e-file. This rook move lays Black open to the possibility of a pin (Bg5) when it does advance. I have an uneasy feeling it might have been better to 'get in' ...e6 first, and then figure out how to follow.

Again, I will have to agree with the archduke  

Nicely put Ion  

White immediately takes aim at the e-pawn. It dare not advance (13...e6 14.Bg5), so Black is committed to his planned knight manoeuvre.

I would have thought 14.Bg5, but Be3 isn't that bad, neither. I don't think 13...Ne8 was at all a mistake. If anything the previous move was, and even then not a huge one.

I would have thought 14. Bg5, too, but that is wrong

14. Bg5 would be my first thought as well.

Well...

I think this is weak. Black should just continue developing his knight with 14. ...Nc7

A little confused here. I still think 14. Bg5 is better putting more pressure on the on the vulnerable e7 square and connecting white's rooks.

You might have turned the thing into a species of gambit: 14...Nc7 15.Qxc5 ... (guess why not 15.Qxe7) 15...Ne6 16.Qe3 Nd4 17.Qd2, at which Black is at liberty to regain the pawn (...Nxb5) or carry on as if nothing had happened (...e6).

Unfortunately!

15...c4 looks vaguely tempting, but I think I would have played as Black has here, myself.

So do I. 16...Ng7 17.Rxa7!! would have been unpleasant for Black, and 16...c4 would have met with the same response.

As Black I'd be seriously worried about my K-side dark squares, given White's possession of the dark-square bishop. Black has the better structure, broadly speaking, and absent the minor pieces might even have a slight edge. The minor pieces make all the difference, though: and, once it gets its a. into g. the bishop will be much the better piece. The poor knight has no really useful squares available, for defence or attack.

Yes. Strengthening of e8 was required (18. ...Rdd8)

Yes. This weakening had to come, of course, but timing was everything. 18...Rc7 and then 19...f6 if necessary (after 19.Re2, say).

I also concur, the d-rook has to come back to defend the 8th rank.

I think I might have been inclined to play 19.QxNch 'on spec' on the grounds that it drives the King out into the open where at least a perpetual might be achievable. The capture 22.Rxa7 never even crossed my mind: it HAD to be 22.Re1ch, and then sort out what happens after [a] 22...Rd6 {23.Rxf6ch wins}; [b] 22...Rd5 {23.c4ch Kd4 24.Bd2!}; [c] 22...Rf5 {23.Re4 g5 24.Rg8 forces Black to give up Q for R}. (This line came easily to me because I had 'seen' it in a slightly different context a move earlier. It didn't work, then, of course - not even close! But 'noticing' things that don't work is useful because every now and then it turns out that some little tweak will make it work!)

Golden words, archduke...

In the game you mention, Joe, you had the exchange lead, and your d-pawns were doubled. Far from being a liability to you (or an asset to your opponent), they were indeed an asset to you, for two reasons: 1. You had the half-open e-file to work with, and 2. you had TWO levers - f- and the rear d-pawn - with which to prise open the e-file. The lead d-pawn kept the enemy d-pawn back, so White had no effective way to prevent your opening up the e-file and invading White's position. Doubled pawns aren't always a liability!

Continuing from the previous comment, this position reminds me greatly of a similar structure (with colours reversed) in the game A. Nimzovitch vs J. R. Capablanca (St Petersburg, 1914), except that Capablanca, in possession of the doubled pawns, was a pawn down as well! White's passed pawn in that game made it to a7, but not one whit further. In that game, the relative activity of each side's pieces made all the difference. +++++++++ Incidentally, White could here have allowed Black to carry out his threat: 20.h4 (say) ...Nd5 21.Rxa7!