Annotated chess game: The Power of the Bishop Pair

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ANNOTATED GAME

The Power of the Bishop Pair
byakuugan3 (1635) vs. Bruce B. (1678)
Annotated by: byakuugan3 (1200)
Chess opening: Reti (A05), King's Indian attack, Spassky's variation

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28. Nf4 Nc7

This is a blunder by Black, because I have the tactic b6 double attacking the rook and knight, and my pawn can promote faster than Black can regain his piece

29. Nd5

I thought this was a good move because I'm threatening Ne7 fork, so it forces a knight trade and allows the advance of my b-pawn to be easy with the assistance of my bishops. I had about 4 minutes left here, so I wanted to move quickly, but I was moving too fast I totally missed my chance to get a winning position. Black's next move is also horrible blunder, and I didn't spend time to exploit it. Black gave me two winning positions in a row, but when you're making split-second decisions, it's easy to miss tactics.

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29... Rxe4

I cannot believe Black would make a move like this. He probably expected I would play Ne7 fork, which isn't really a good move since Black can trade down to an ending where I have only a slight advantage. If I had actually spent time looking at this position, I would've played Nxc7 which is totally winning.

30. Ne7+ Rxe7 31. Bxe7 Nxb5

This is what Black wanted, and now material is even. I shouldn't have been too confident and thinking that any move I made was winning. I made about six or seven moves in less than ten seconds, and now I'm not winning anymore. Black is also threatening Nd4 getting my pinned bishop

32. Rd1

I started to get scared here, but luckily I have this move that saves my bishop. If Black takes my bishop, then Rd8 Nf8 Rxf8 Kh7 Rxf7, and I'm up a pawn with an attack on the king. I have also broken the pin, so Bxb5 is also a threat

32... Na7 33. Bb7 Rb8 34. Rd8+

I wanted to trade as quickly as possible because I had less than three minutes here. The game had no time delay or time increments added after each move, so losing on time was an issue here.

34... Rxd8 35. Bxd8 Kf8 36. Bb6

I was moving fast, so attacking the knight while getting my bishop active seemed logical. My only advantage here is that I have the bishop pair. Black's knights are not as powerful because they don't have the long range abilities that the bishops have on the open board. The knight's abilities to jump over pieces are also not important in this position.

36... Nb5 37. Bc6 Nc3 38. Bc5+ Kg8 39. Kf2 g6

This is a mistake, because of Black's one simple pawn weakening move, I win a pawn by force.

40. fxg6 fxg6 41. Bd4

If Black plays Na2, then Bd5 wins the knight. If Black gives check with Nd1, then Ke1 attacks the immobile knight. The bishops are definitely stronger because the knights limited range allows them to get trapped easily.

41... Nb1

This is the only move that doesn't lose the knight, but allows me to get Black's weakened pawn

42. Be4 Nd2 43. Bxg6 Ng5 44. h4 Ne6 45. Bc3 Nc4 46. g4 Nf4 47. Be4 Nd6 48. Bc6 h5

Here my first instinct was to advance the pawn, and I almost did, but then I saw that simple Nf5 and Ng6 maneuvers would win my weak pawn, going into a probably drawn position. It's better just to trade, which should be winning.

49. gxh5 Nxh5 50. Kf3

I had less than two minutes here, but it was enough to win the game, especially since I had almost caught up on time

50... Nf5 51. Kg4 Nxh4

Instead of playing Nf5, I think Black has a better chance by keeping the knights and trying to defend. Both of us have slightly more than a minute here, so it's very difficult to analyse with hardly any time to think. This variation gives me a position that is easier to play with little time, so Black should've kept the knights back and have a better chance of drawing

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52. Bd5+

This check probably wasn't necessary, but my mouse cursor was closer to the bishop and I didn't want to spend an extra 0.5 seconds moving it to my king, which i did during Black's move.

52... Kf8 53. Kxh5 Nf5

This position is theoretically won, but without time to think, I might screw it up.

54. Kg5 Ne7

The knight should stay close to the king, since it will just get trapped if it ventures off in the range of my bishops.

55. Be6 Ke8 56. Kf6 Kd8 57. Ke5 Kc7 58. Ba5+

Black's king can't get closer to the center with Kc6 because I play Bd8 and then Black's knight is forced away from the king.

58... Kb7 59. Kd6

Winning this type of endgame just takes logical moves, and the position is simple enough not to require long analysis.

59... Nc6 60. Bd5 Ka6 61. Bc7

Taking the knight is an obvious draw

61... Nb4 62. Bc4+ Kb7 63. Kd7

I am slowly pushing Black's king to the corner, while all he can do is make random maneuvers that won't save the game

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