Up until now, White's game has had a ramshackle look, but 11.c3 ties it all together. White might be contemplating bringing in the c4-Bishop back to d3, so as to hit at h7. That the e1-a5 diagonal is shut off is no hardship: look which way the pawns are "pointing". Clearly a direct K-side attack is indicated, and the c1-h6 diagonal is much more interesting to the d2-Bishop. Finally, White's centre pawns are not lacking in mobility. More than likely they will get the opportunity to advance later on. The game looks pretty even here.

Broadly speaking, I agree with Thomas's ranking of the moves. 12.Bd3 would even tend to label 11...b5 as possibly an unnecessary move as I would probably have moved the Bishop there anyhow if I were White. 12.Bb3 continues to bite on the granite at e6, but he might be contemplating retiring it to c2 with a view to placing the Q in front of it at d3, eyeing h7. Very well, but there's the small matter of the B at f5. How do you break the pin? Some preparation is in order. By exchanging, White loses his "good" bishop - the one less retricted by his own pawns - which has a consequential tendency to devalue the "bad" one. Black's Q-side pawn structure ain't a pretty picture, but it won't be easy for White to exploit this. The B-pair and active game gives Black a slight edge here.

An oversight, most likely - the knight has no good retreat from here. 13.Ng3 had to be the right move.

17.BxB (17.Bxg5) seems preferable to the N capture, as Black has 17....R-K7 (17...Re2) If 17.BxB R-K7 18.P-QN3 (18.b3) keeps things even. Instead of 18.P-QN3, 18.N-Q2 B-Q6 19.B-K3 (18.Nd2 Bd3 19.Be3) looks interesting. Can White round up the corraled Rook? How? Will Black's cavalry arrive in time?

If Nh3 (only logical move), Black can play Nf6 and Qd7, eying h3.

15.Nh3 Bxh3 16.gxh3 breaks up White's K-side, but he night have had some hope of using the open g-file. Black looks to have a distinct edge, all the same. 15.Nxf7 just loses a knight: White has almost no resources with which to storm the breach.

17.Qxe5 Qd7 seems to hold everything for Black. Maybe the finesse looked more promising.