Vicious Attack Fizzles Into a Draw: English Opening

The computer decides to open with the English today, and since I'm tired of the Reversed Sicilian (1. ... e5) as the Sicilian doesn't work that well when you're a tempo down, I decided to play an Indian Defense, hoping to transpose into a Queen's Gambit position.

I'm not sure why the computer played 12. a4?! I'm guess it's trying to gain space and attack the b-pawn, but it seems like a waste of tempo. Does anyone see a deeper strategic plan?

I was able to predict the computer's response to moves 16-21, so that made me feel good and gave me a boost in confidence. I was able to achieve equality in the opening and began a vicious attack that left White hanging on the ropes, but I wasn't able to finish the job and the computer slipped away. Was there a better way to press this attack?

LCP might have played 12.a4 in order to play  Ba3 later on. 

At move 26 you have five pieces attacking the f3 pawn, while white has only three defenders. Could there be some advantage to playing Nxf3+ instead of Nh3+?

Bur_Oak

Hi. Thanks for the suggestion. I did think long and hard about playing something like 26. ... Nxf3+ but I decided against it because while I do have more pieces attacking the pawn/square than White has defenders, his defenders are better placed. The White Knight and Bishop have direct access to the f3-square, whereas after my Knight, I have to recapture with the Queen (which is instant suicide) or the Rooks, which would require some sacrifice on my part, and so I would need a mating net or some forcing combination in return. It looks somewhat promising, but I'm not really seeing anything pop into my head.

26. ... Nxf3+ 27. Nxf3 Rxf3 28. Bxf3

28. ... Qxf3 29. Qxf3 and my attack dwindles.

28. ... Rxf3 and White has a tempo to set up his defenses again.

Do you see anything?

Not really, which is why I phrased it in the form of a question.

After 29. Qxf3 ... Bxf3 and it looks like you can regain the exchange to come out of the whole mess a pawn up and heading toward an endgame that's over my pay grade.

Here's a neat mating attack that ends with a queen sacrifice and a discovered/double check checkmate.

25...Rxd4 26. cxd4 Nxf3 27.Bxf3 Rxf3+ 28.Kg1 Qxd4+ 29.Kh1 Qxg4 30.Rxg4 Rf1#

I haven't worked out all the variations but I think removing one of white's defenders of f3 is vital.

I was asked to comment on this game, as I do play the English Opening  My quick answer Is I would not have moved the g4 pawn as it invites all this that is happening and White's Queen side material is of no use so black attack is very nice in answer to White's 14 g4!? A move that gains White nothing but a heartache and is lucky to have gotten a draw from BrandonQDSH.

A good question here is why is chesspartner(hard) making the 14 g4!? move in the first place what does it gain from allowing such an attack on the f3 sqare and White's king side?

Maybe 14 h5 instead if White has to move any pawns! Even at this point with pawns been protected by white's Queen bishop, Black position looks very nice at this point. Also Whites Bishop at 9. Bg2 would seen better to have stayed home or e3 or d2 instead as it would have provided some backup to Whites defense if indeed 14 g4 was Whites best move at that time!

When we look at these positions we should also look at what caused the position to become so strong for Black.

Bulla,

Wow that is a sick combo. I had to go through the move order twice in my head in order to see that both the Rook and fianchetto light Bishop deliver an unstoppable mate.

The move order seems very logical, as the computer has to either accept material loss or be mated. However, they could have a very sneaky saving move or two, as I thought some of my attacks were very strong, but the computer was able to parry most of them.

Bur_Oak

Yeah you're right. I didn't realize that after 29. ... Bxf3 the White Rook is trapped, so I do win my exchange back plus a pawn. The endgame looks pretty good for Black, with the likely hood of same-color Bishops and White's inactive Rook, and Black has an extra center pawn.

Thanks for the suggestion. It was very helpful. I wanted to be like you and pull the trigger with 26. ... Nxf3+ but it was like a five-to-six-move combo to win a pawn! I'll try to be more bold in future games. 

Thanks. I didn't see the rook being trapped, either, until I played the line out on a board, physically moving the pieces. As a lower rated player, the 5 to 3 pile-up on f3 looked tempting, but I wasn't sure where it got you in the end.

Bulla's combination was interesting, and it may indeed work coming a move earlier than the position on which I focused. I don't see a fundamental difference with removing an f3 defender by exchanging a rook for it on d4 versus making the exchange on f3, however, having the white king still on f1 rather than g1 at the start seems to be crucial.