Longest Decisive Game Without A Capture (continued)

WHAT grandmaster Larry Evans apparently did not know when writing his column for the October 2001 edition of Chess Life was that the record set in 1993 for the longest decisive game without a capture had been beaten by a couple of unrateds not long after it was set.
Reinhard Nuber - Roland Keckeisen
Oberschwaben B 1994
Hippopotamus Defence
1.e4 b6 2.d4 e6 3.Bd3 Bb7 4.Nf3 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Nbd2 Nge7 7.Re1 0-0 8.Nf1 d6 9.Qe2 Nd7 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Rad1 a5 12.c3 Rc8 13.Ng3 Kh8

A typical-looking Hippo

White has completed his development, including bringing his rooks to the centre files, without allowing himself to be provoked into overreaching.
Black presumably hopes White will present a target. Meanwhile he quietly manoeuvres with his pieces on the back two ranks. He has no obvious weaknesses, but is passive and lacks space.
14.Qd2 Ng8 15.h3 e5 16.Bc2 h6 17.Be3 Rd8 18.Nh2 Kh7 19.f4
White is at last ready to take some action on the kingside. This is often the critical point in Hippo games.
19...f6
My main analysis engines strongly dislike the text, but reckon White is better anyway after 19...c5  (Stockfish10) or 19...Ngf6 (Komodo9). They also reckon 19...Qe7 keeps White's advantage within manageable bounds.
20.Qf2 Ne7 21.Rd2 Rh8 22.f5
This has been in the air since White's 19th move. It is clear Black's king is less safe.
22...g5 23.Bd1 Rb8!? 24.Bh5 Qf8
More consistent with Black's last move was 24...Qd8 or 24...Qc8.
25.Ng4
An immediate 25.Bg6+ was possible, taking advantage of Black's undefended knight at d7, eg 25...Nxg6 26.fxg6+ Kg8 (26...Kxg6 27.Qf5+ etc) 27.Qe2 with a very strong attack.
25...Ba6 26.Red1 b5 27.b4 a4 28.a3 Bb7 29.Rd3 Nc6?
This allows mate. Black was positionally lost anyway, but should have made White prove it.
30.Bg6+ Kg8 31.Qa2+ 1-0
This beats the Gual Pascual - Bates game by one half-move. But Bates still holds the record for the longest decisive game won by Black without a capture...unless someone knows otherwise.

Longest Decisive Game Without A Capture

GOING through an old copy of Chess Life, the magazine of the US Chess Federation, I was surprised to see English international master Richard Bates credited as being the winner of the longest chess game to end decisively without a capture.
The game is given in grandmaster Larry Evans' column in the October 2001 issue of the magazine, albeit without notes (presumably for space reasons).
Antonio Gual Pascual (2350) - Bates (2235)
Lloyds Bank (London) 1993
King's Indian Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6. 5.Nge2!?
This move has been played by at least four world champions (or world-champions-to-be), Euwe, Botvinnik, Anand and Carlsen, scoring 57% in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database.
5...c6 6.f3 a6 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.a4 a5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.Nc1 e5 12.d5 Ne8 13.Nb3 c5 14.Bd3 f5 15.Qc2
The engines do not like this, reckoning White is much better after 15.Nb5 or the spoil-sport 15.exf5.
15...Nb6 16.Ra1 Qf7 17.Nb5 Nd7 18.Nd2 Nb8 19.Qc3 b6 20.Ke2!?
20.0-0 might have been better, but note that 20.0-0-0, although maybe desirable in view of the blocked nature of the queenside, is impossible - the queen's rook has already moved.
20...Na6 21.Raf1 Nb4 22.Bb1 Qe7 23.h4 f4 24.Bf2 Nf6 25.Rfg1 Nh5 26.Nf1 Rf7 27.Kd1 Qf8

Any idea who, if anyone, stands better?

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Positional battles with a full board of pieces are difficult for computers to assess as well as for humans. Komodo9 reckons Black has the upper hand, but Stockfish10 prefers White after a consolidating move such as 28.b3 or 28.Qd2.
28.Bd3 Kh8 29.Be2 Kg8
I am guessing time trouble was playing its part, especially in view of White's next move.
30.Kc1?? Na2+ 0-1
to be continued