Morphing The French XIV

PLAYING on board eight (of 10) for Battersea last night against Athenaeum in the London League, I had my 14th chance to try to meet the French in the style of Paul Morphy.
Spanton (170) - John S Walton (152)
French Exchange
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7
Second in popularity to 5...Bd6.
6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3
Five moves are more popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, led by 7.h3, which restricts the black light-square bishop.
7...Re8
Another less-popular move, but there seems nothing wrong with it.
8.Re1 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Bg5 Bg6?
Missing a tactic.

What did Black miss?

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11.Bxf6 gxf6
If 11...Bxf6, then 12.Rxe8+ Qxe8 13.Nxd5.
12.Nh4 Qd7 13.Qf3 Nc6 14.Nf5
14.Nxd5 is also good.
14...Nb4 15.Nxe7+
Stockfish10 and Komodo10 prefer 15.h4.
15...Rxe7 16.Rxe7 Qxe7 17.Bxg6
Here the engines prefer 17.a3 Nxd3 18.Nxd5 Qd6 19.cxd3 Kg7 20.Nf4.
17...hxg6 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Qxd5 Qb4 20.Qb3!?
Returning the pawn in the hope of a small positional edge. The engines give 20.Rb1 Re8 21.c3 with a slight edge for White.
20...Qxd4 21.c3 Qb6 22.Rd1 Qxb3 23.axb3 Kf8
White is slightly better thanks to having his rook on an open file and having the possibility of creating a passed h pawn.
24.Kf1
The engines like 24.Rd7 Rc8 followed by gaining space with g4 or b4.
24...Ke7 25.Ke2 Rd8?
The pawn-ending is problematic for Black.
One line given by the engines runs 25...a5 26.h4 Ra6 with a position they reckon is equal.
26.Rxd8 Kxd8 27.Ke3 Ke7 28.h4 Kf8!?
This move looks silly at first glance, but it comes to be Komodo10's choice. The idea is that the white king will have great difficulty invading the queenside, so Black moves his king to the h file to combat White's potential passer.
29.g4 Kg7 30.Ke4 Kh6 31.b4 f5+!?
A good practical try.
32.gxf5 Kh5 33.c4 Kxh4 34.c5
Simpler is 34.fxg6, eg 34...fxg6 35.b5 Kg4 36.c5 g5 37.c6 bxc6 38.bxc6 a5 39.b3 Kh3 40.Kf5 g4 41.Kg5 g3 42.fxg3 Kxg3 43.Kf5 etc.
34...g5

How should White proceed?

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35.Kf3??
This turns a win into a loss.
I rejected the winning 35.Ke5 (35.b5 is also good) because of 35...Kg4, missing that 36.Kf6 leads to a winning queen-and-pawn ending, eg 36...a6 37.Ke7 Kxf5 38.Kd7 c6 39.Kc7 Kg4 40.Kxb7 Kf3 41.Kxa6 g4 42.b5 Kxf2 43.bxc6 g3 44.c7 g2 45.c8Q g1Q 46.Qf5+ Ke3 47.c6 etc.
35...f6
White loses because he will eventually be in zugzwang.
36.b5 c6 37.bxc6 bxc6 38.Ke4 Kg4 39.f3+ Kg3 40.b4 a6 41.Ke3 g4 42.fxg4 Kxg4 43.Ke4 Kg5 0-1
Battersea won the match 7-3.
My updated Battersea statistics for 2019-20
Event*..Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
CLL..…...B....…..168...………169...……….....W
CLL...…..B...…...168...………196...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..168...………176...…………..L
LL....……W...…..168...…....…175...………….D
CLL...…..B...…...168...………192...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..168...………181...…………..L
LL...…….W...…..168...………168...…………..L
EC...…….B...…..168...………175...……….….L
CLL...…...B.........170...………172...…………..L
LL...…….W...…..170...………183...…………..D
LL............W........170...…........180......……......L
LL....…….B...…..170....……...182...………….W
CLL...…...B...…..170...………183...……….….D
LL...……..B...…..170...………162...…………..W
LL...…….W...…..170...………172...…………..W
LL...…….W...…..170...………152...…………..L
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +4=5-7 for a grading performance of 167.
In season 2018-19 I scored +12=12-13 for a grading performance of 169.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9 for a grading performance of 175.
*CLL: Central London League; LL: London League; EC: Eastman Cup.