Welcome to Game 2 of my short series of annotated games from division 1, board 1 of the current 3/7 league. This was my second win of the round. This was a difficult game because my opponent played an early novelty. I am not a specialist in the opening as black, so it took a lot of intuition to get into the middle game.
1. d4 Ng8f6 2. c4 e6 3. Nb1c3 Bf8b4 4. Qd1c2 O-O
This is the classical variation of the Nizmo-Indian.
5. h3
?! After some database work and looking into a couple books on nizmo theory I could not find much if anything on this move. I was a little thrown off here. 5. a3 is the more common response. For a recent great game as black in the nizmo-indian look up Karpov vs Nakamura 2010 0 - 1 Cap d'Agde CCAS Group A
This seems to be logical as the exchange will leave black with a poorer pawn structure with three separated pawn islands and a weak d pawn. At the same time white is opening up the c column. Fast action on either side can grab this open file and gain a stronghold early in the game.
!? This is an interesting move. It seems at first to be a nuissance. White wants to put the dark bishop onto a3 and control the diagnal. White wants to also catch black sleeping with the queen diagnally in front of the rook. Unfortunately it has no merit, because black can now put his knight on b4...which is a much more optimal situation opening up the c column which I have now been able to stake claim too.
15... Nc6b4 16. Bc1a3
If Nxa2 then Bxe7 and white wins the exchange with both the knight and Rook hanging. I considered a5 right away, but the position is relatively stable. I decided to continue to build upon my control of the C file.
16... Rf8c8 17. Qa2d2 a5 18. Nf3e5 Rc7c3
!? Puts more pressure on d3.
19. Qd2b2 Rc8c7 20. Rf1b1
White is starting to set up for an exchange on b4, which I assume white thinks will help alleviate pressure on squares such as d3 and c2.
20... Bd7e6 21. Qb2e2 Nf6d7
! The knight on e5 is really white's bright spot so far in the middle game. It not only provides extra support for the bishop on d3, it stops black from putting any real pressure on the a4-e8 diagnal. The pawn is weak on a4 with two pawns ready to break down the queen side and hopefully end up with a passed pawn going into the endgame.
22. Ne5xd7 Qe7xd7
As you can see, without the knight on e5 the position starts to favor black. The c file is dominated on a queen side that has an extra pawn. The knight is positioned well on b4 and the queen is hitting the weak a4 pawn.
23. Ba3xb4
White goes ahead with the exchange to save the a4 pawn.
