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Advice: Positional Mistakes

Hi all, normally I just run through my games with an engine and this, of course is very nice for revealing tactical variations that I missed. I need a bit of human advice here though:

http://en.lichess.org/ENeTdA7P/black#0

Please forgive everything after move 25, I was in severe time pressure, I'm not really interested in sorting through my mistakes after that point. I just can't figure why until that point my position was just sliding into worse and worse territory. I've sifted through the engine recommendations and variations and tried to justify the recommendations positionally and see the problems with what I played but it feels really artificial. If anyone could just look at blacks position and tell me what they think black's general plan should be and why I would really appreciate it.

Positions of greatest concern:
After 8. O-O
After 13. bxc3
Any other suggestions would be really welcome.
I think I prefer 6...e5 over c5. And I think you're not losing a pawn after dxe5, since if Nxe5 you can play Nxe4. If they close the center after 6...e5, then I would play a5 with a plan to plant a knight on c5.

After 7. d5 I think your plan should either be a b5 break(this takes a lot of time to prepare though...(Na6-c7, Bd7, a6, Qe8, Rb8, b6 would probably have to be played at some point to prevent a white a5) or f5 break (Nd7,Ne8) which is more inline with KID.
I see. I normally struggle after an f5 break in these sorts of positions though. The problem generally is that after simplification in the center, even if I'm a pawn up, there are just too many open lines to my king. Is trying to preserve the white pawns on d5 and c4 to keep lines closed part of the plan, or do I just need to be more careful with the timing of f5 and still aim to pick apart the white center?
Well, to be fair, I think after c5, the f5 plan is worse and maybe b5 should be the proper break, but you have to gain space somewhere otherwise white will own the position.

f5 isn't only to mess with the white center. It gains space and prepares(hopefully) a kingside attack. The problem seems to be the e6 square becomes very weak. I'm not entirely sure how to prelude f5 after 7.d5. After Nbd7, Ne8, you may have to play e5 first. Now if the center remains closed black king is safer and can always move to h8. If the center opens, then black will have a central pawn majority.
Ah I see, yeah... e5 first does look nice - well, to my eye at least. Even if the center opens the black pawn on e6 looks quite defensible to keep the diagonal to the black king secure and the f-file could be nice for the rooks.

Thank you very much for the advice! I wasn't expecting such a quick reply =)
6..c5 is playable and indeed "theory", but you do a strategical mistake afterwards. You need to think about how you are going to combat the white pawn chain and gain some more space for your cramped pieces. You got two possible pawn breaks: e6 followed by exd and b5 -> bxc after preparation. I would prefer the latter, but it is a matter of taste.

B5-Plan:
You must prepare b5, white will try to prevent you. If he doesn't, play b5 as soon as tactics allow. You usually need to use a number of pieces to force b5 through.
* Put your knight on c7 (Na6->c7).
* Play a6, if white plays a4, which he will, play b6 to prevent a5
* Play Rb1
* If necessary: play Bd7
Now you should be ready to force through b5.

Bxc3, doubling the pawns is often an interesting idea, and you should always consider it when the opportunity is there. Here though white's play on the kingside is too dangerous, with terribly weak dark-squares and no way to prevent white crashing through with e4-e5.
@XPJ-v134

I weighed b5 and did consider the preparation, but I thought all that preparation would simply take too long. Incorrect conclusion I suppose. Deciding instead to aim the bishop and queen at h3 proved fruitless so just stomaching the preparation time and defending on the kingside where necessary does seem like it offers more hope.

I will try some variations and put your advice into practice the next time I have the opportunity.

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