2017 Cleveland Open Round 3 CM Surya Parasuraman, 2089 - Anton Taylor, 2002 Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik (B13)

2017 Cleveland Open Round 3 
CM Surya Parasuraman, 2089 - Anton Taylor, 2002 
Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik (B13)

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. c5 Nc6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bb5 Bd7 An inaccuracy. O-O is the standard move and preserves the Bishop's potential to go to a6 or b7 in some lines. 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 Nh5?? I knew this was the wrong move even as I played it. Ne4 seems so obvious in this "rested" moment but I had no idea how to proceed during the game. It is a common outpost for the knight in such positions and black needs active play or he gets ground down in an inferior endgame. 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Re1 Nf6 14. Bxc6? Bxc6 This minor piece exchange trades a strong piece for black's weaker knight. I was happy to see it. 15. Ne5 Ne8? Repositioning to control b5 but removing a defender from the kingside is chronic. Fortunately, my opponent misses his chances through repeated inaccuracy. 16. b4 Nc7 17. a4 a6 18. Qd3 Qe8 19. Ng4? While this is still winning for white it is far clearer for white to simply play Re3! 19. ... f5?? Taking a drowning position and making it a whole lot worse by making the move Ng4 worth the effort. I did not spend enough time thinking about this move. Rc8 was probably necessary just preventing the queen fork. 20. Nxh6+ gxh6 21. Qg3+ Kh7 22. Qxc7+ Rf7 23. Qe5? Qd6 was the move I expected and is the one recommended by Komodo. My opponent didn't even seem to consider it. He made the last few moves quickly so I suspect he thought of Qe5 when he played Nxh6+. 23. ... Bd7 24. f4? Piling up the pieces against the backward d-pawn is the cleanest plan to win at this point with an easy endgame to convert. To that end Ne2-f4 should just win. 24. ... Rg7 25. Qe2 Qg6 26. g3 Rag8 27. Qf3 h5 28. Kf2 Black had been forming some reasonable threats and the king rightly decides to start sidestepping. Even if the battle is lost on this flank the war will be won in the center in an endgame. The more active king either wins or hides himself away in the opposite corner and let the pieces fight it out. Black should be winning now with fewer complications. 28. ... Qh6 29. Ne2 h4 30. Rh1 Be8 31. Qe3 Bh5 32. Rag1 Be8 33. Nc3 Rg4 34. Re1 R8g6 35. a5 Qg7 36. Qe5 Qxe5 37. Rxe5 Bd7 38. Re3 Kg8 39. Ne2 Bb5 40. Nc3 Bd7 41. Ne2 Ba4 42. h3 hxg3+ 43. Rxg3 Rxg3 44. Nxg3 Bc2 45. Rg1 Kf8 46. Ne2 Rh6 47. Rg3 Rh4 48. Ke3 Bd1 49. Nc3 Bh5 50. b5 axb5?? The pawn advances on this side will eventually lead to a white win but this accelerates the win quite a bit. 51. c6 e5 52. cxb7 1-0

I have no excuse for the blunderous and planless 11. ... Nh5? or the terminal move 15. ... Ne8? The plateauing continues.