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| White has just played 11.Nb1-c3, adding to the pressure on the black d pawn |
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The first thing to note is Black cannot grab the white d pawn as 11...Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Bxd4 is met by 13.Nxd5, when 13...0-0 can be strongly answered by 14.Bg5!, winning a piece, eg 14...Rae8 15.Rae1 etc, or 14...Bxb5 15.Nxe7+ and 16.Qxb5.
So White's threat to d5 is real, which might prompt the move 11...Be6?! However White then has 12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.Na4, with a nice outpost at c5 (Stockfish17 and Dragon1 also like 13.Bf4).
I played 11...0-0!?, the point being that after 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Black has 13...Be6, putting huge pressure on White's d pawn.
Since 14.Qe4?! is met by 14...Bd5, 15...Bxf3 and 16...Nxd4, my opponent played 14.Qxd8, and after 14...Rfd8 it can be seen d4 must fall unless White makes positional concessions to hold on to the extra pawn.
He did this by giving up the bishop-pair with 15.Bxc6, the game continuing 15...bxc6 16.Be3 Rab8 (possibly better is 16...Rdb8!? or 16...Bd5) 17.b3.
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| Black remains a pawn down, but has the bishops, a lead in development and pressure against d4 |
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I could have won the exchange with 17...c5 18.dxc5 Bxa1, but after 19.Rxa1 White has two pawns for it, and the bishop-pair has gone, meaning White is probably for preference.
White could also avoid giving up the exchange with, for example, 18.Rad1, but then the engines' 18...c4! exposes the fragility of White's queenside.
Another try is 18.Rfd1!? Bg4 19.Rd2, but 19...Bxf3 20.gxf3 cxd4 21.Rad1 Rb4 is equal, according to the engines.
I eschewed the exchange with 17...a5!?, relying on the bishop-pair and pressure against White's queenside pawns to provide compensation for being a pawn down.
LESSON: the motif of Black allowing d5 to fall, knowing there will be sufficient pressure against an isolani on d4, arises more frequently than might be thought, and is a useful 'trick' to remember.
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