Launching a Kingside Attack in the Maróczy Bind

I have started learning how to play the white side of the Maróczy Bind in the Bb5+ Sicilian. One thing that has surprised me is how white can drum up kingside attacks. I had always assumed that white was playing to positionally squeeze black and aim to grind out a win, but it seems one benefit of the bind is that white suffocates any chance of counterplay by black, which then enables white to mobilize on the kingside.

I was able to apply this insight in a 3+0 game I just played. In this game, black captured on d7 with the knight instead of the queen. I find white has a harder time attacking in the 4...Qxd7 line, so when I saw 4...Nxd7, I was relieved.

Let's look at the game:

I have to say, I was quite proud of my play here. In the game review, the engine awarded me two brilliancies: 21. Nh6+!! and later 27. Nf6+!! 

So, why did the kingside attack succeed?

White's attack is dangerous in large part because of the exchange that happened right out of the opening: the light-squared bishops are exchanged after 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+. Why is this significant? Well, black no longer has his light-squared bishop, which is often posted on b7 in the hedgehog setup. This bishop makes it difficult for white to launch a kingside pawn storm with g4. In the game there wasn't any pressure on the a8-h1 diagonal, so I was comfortable playing Kh1 and then pushing the f- and g-pawns.

These pawn advances obviously frightened black, and black mishandled the position after ...e5, allowing my knights into both f5 and d5. Also, black empowered the bishop on b2 after ...exf4, and the piece pressure along the a1-h8 diagonal and g-file was simply too much for black to handle.

I hope you enjoyed the game! Even if you don't encounter Maróczy Bind positions in your games, perhaps you learned how to attack (or how not to defend) in a game with a pawn-led assault on the kingside.

Questions or comments welcome!