KEG: Post II
16... BxN?
A serious mistake from which Kupchuk never really recovered. Though the White Knight on e5 had been a serious thorn in Kupchik's side, the remedy here was far worse than the disease, since White now can dominate the Black squares in Black camp. The only move to give Kupchik a real camp was 16...Bxc5!, as suggested on this site by <optimal play> six years ago. This move sacrifices the exchange (16...Bxc5 17. Ng6! followed by 18. NxR but gives Black decent counterchances. The H/L tournament book missed 16...Bxc5. An excellent find by <optimal play>. After the text, Dake had matters pretty much his way for the balance of the contest: 17. BxB Qd8
click for larger viewWith his dominant Bishops and with Kupchil saddled with an isolated c-pawn, Dake had a strategically won game at this point. Converting this to victory, however, required patience and creativity, all of which Dake displayed in what followed. 18. Rfd1
18. Rad1 was arguably ecen stronger. 18. b4 was another strong option. But Dake's move got the job of attacking on the d-file. 18... Nd5!
The only real chance. H/L rightly called Black's Knight the "pride and glory" of his troops. Given Black's feeble Bishops and the relative impotence of his Rooks, this description is fitting. 19. Qg4!
As H/L also correctly note, the text was a fine means of forcing further weaknesses in the Black camp. 19... g6
H/L called this "forced," and points out that 19...Nf6 would get crushed by 20. Qb4! Qc8 (sad but best) 21. BxN gxB 22. Qh4 Kg7 (22...f5 is somewhat better than H/L's move, but also hopeless) 23. Rd4. After 19...g6, the position was:
click for larger view20. Rd4
H/L eloquently described the upcoming maneuvers of this Rook on the fourth rank as "extremly agile." But it would have been even better to realign the White Rooks with 20. Re1 followed by Rad1. 20... Bc8?
Tangling up his already constricted position even further. 20...Re8 or 20...Bq6 or even 20...a5 were better tries. 21. Qe2
Nicely played by Dake. The White Queen was now poised to use c2 or d2 as the best position to support the intended storming of the Black fortress. 21... Re8
22. Qd2
Even better were 22. Qc2; 22. Bd6; or 22. Re1.
22... Qe7
Sloppy. Since he was going to have to play f6, better to play it immediately. The text gave Dake the opportunity (which he missed) to get a firm grip on the Black camp with 23. Bd6, the position now being: 
click for larger view23. Rh4
As noted above, 23. Bd6 (before Black has played f6) would have been very awkward for Kupchik. 23... f6
Sadly, Black has nothing better than to submit to this additional weakness. As H/L noted, 23...Qxc5? would get crushed by 24. Qh6, after which Black can delay checkmate for a very few moves. 24. Bd6 Qf7
This resource would not have been available had Dake played 23. Bd6. 25. Rd1 Bd7
This Bishop was a pathetic spectacle for much of the game. But I see nothing significantly better for Black here. 26. Ra4
Dake's use of this Rook on his 4th rank was rightly praised by H/L. 26... Bc8
Continuing his hopeless little Bishop dance between b7, c8, and d7. While Black is likely list anyway, Kupchik should have striven for counter-play with 26...e5. 27. f4
click for larger view | 
Kibitzing
