English Woes

ONE problem with playing the English against a stronger opponent is that Black can unbalance the position without taking undue risks.
Not only that, but Black can unbalance the game in a way that often gives a kingside attack - never an easy thing for a lower-rated player to defend.
Borivoj Novak (1637) - Spanton (1881)
Olomouc seniors round 7
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3
The mainline in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database runs 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.g3, with a slight edge to White thanks to his better pawn-structure. Note that this virtually rules out a Black kingside attack.
4...Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nge7 7.d3 0-0 8.Bd2!?
The main move is 8.Rb1. The text may look like a bit of a nothing move, but it has been played by Romanishin and Pribyl.
8...Be6 9.Rc1!?
More normal in this type of position is Rb1, but 9.Rc1!? is liked by the analysis engine Komodo9.
9...Qd7 10. Ne4?!
Perhaps hoping for 10...h6? 11.Bxh6, but an obvious improvement is 10.Ng5.
10...Bh3 11.Neg5?
Now Black gets to exchange White's fianchettoed bishop, weakening the white king's position, and gets two free tempi for a kingside attack.

Black has an attack that almost plays itself (not that I managed to play it accurately)

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11...Bxg2 12.Kxg2 h6 13.Nh3?!
Almost certainly better is 13.Ne4, even though this allows 13...f5 with tempo.
13...g5 14.Nhg1 Ng6 15.e4 g4 16.Nh4?
Better is 16.Ne1, when Stockfish10's evaluation of plus-over-minus strikes me as much more likely to be right than Komodo9's "=".
16...Nxh4+ 17.gxh4 f5 18.f3 fxe4 19.dxe4 h5?
I rejected the superior 19...gxf3+ because I could not see a clear follow-up after 20.Nxf3 Qg4+ 21.Kh1, when I somehow missed the simple 21...Qxe4.
20.Bg5?
The reply I expected, but White had better, eg 20.h3, which protects against the threat of ...gxf3+ followed by ...Qg4. Instead, one line given by the engines runs 20...Nd4 21.fxg4 Rxf1+ 22.Qxf1 Rf8, when Black, although a pawn down, is at least equal.
20...Nd4
Best was probably still ...gxf3+, but the text is also good enough for an edge.
21.f4?
The engines still want White to play h3, but now reckon Black has the upper hand (Stockfish10) or is the equivalent of just under half-a-pawn ahead (Komodo9).
21...exf4 22.Bxf4 Rae8 23.Qd3 Qe7 24.Rce1 Qxh4 25.Qg3!?
Getting queens off might be prudent, but it greatly reduces White's chances of a swindle.
25...Qxg3+ 26.hxg3
This loses a second pawn, but 26.Bxg3 Rxf1 27.Kxf1 is also miserable for White; indeed the engines switch between preferring 26.Bxg3 and 26.hxg3.
26...Re6 (0-1, 44 moves)