Black's move is wasteful at this point. It is better to activate a minor piece here. Black also might want to consider playing g6 for a king side financhetto. But I may be biased :)

White now has three active minor pieces out compared with Black's one. Black has his advanced queen side pawns, and a gain in tempo since White must move the bishop. Positionally, the advantage to clearly to White.

Slightly more aggressive for White would have been Bd5, pinning the c6-knight. Black hopes to gain space and perhaps trap a minor piece with his pawn attack. This attack is doomed to be fruitless. Black will end up with some highly advanced a- and b-pawns, but nothing to protect his king when White brings his superior piece development to bear.

Black is too eager to kick the knight out. This move sets White up to obtain a crucial pin with his bishop, as we will see. Black can't play Bb7 because White's response of Ng5 is very dangerous. Be7 might be Black's best response, though trading knights removes some of the immediate pressures.

White has made good choices with this central tactical battle. Black has no choice but to give up his e-pawn. He can't allow White to play Ng5 - he would lose his f-pawn and the ability to castle. f6 protects the e-pawn and prevents Ng5, but White's light square bishop would prevent Black from an easy king side castle.

Neeeooooh! Let White trade off his two active minor pieces for the pawn and rook. Things would still not be great for Black, but the central pressure would be gone. If you call minor pieces three points, rooks five points, and pawns one point, the trade would be even. Plus, Black is now in a major bind.

Whoops, Black hangs his knight. Black doesn't have much going for him here, but perhaps Qe8 is a better move.

White opts to win the Exchange and reduce the king side guard, rather than grab a free knight, not sure if I agree with the decision - it is a close call.

Black should probably play Ne5 instead. White is just going to regain the pin otherwise.

And White's pesky light-square bishop continues to pin the c6-knight. Black might do better here with Qf6.

Black backs up his homey on b4. This does nothing to relieve the crippling pin on his knight, however. Moving a piece would probably be better at this point.

White has a good plan here, hoping to fianchetto the black bishop. However, Black has a nice response (which he does not make) of Bf3. Such a move would put a stop to White's bishop plans.

Bye, bye pin!

No. Black's king side is weak enough without opening the door for a check along the long a1-h8 diagonal, especially with White's bishop able to fianchetto.

Taking the other way might have been better. Now White can't play Bb2 because he is blocked by the pawn on d4.

White might want to consider f4 here, using the pawn to pry his way into weak Black king side. Black wisely moves his forces to the king side to prepare for the inevitable onslaught.

White wastes time, plopping his queen on a square where Black can easily chase her away.

The futile beatings of an insect trapped in a spider's web.

Black tries to get some action going on the queen side, but the need to protect his exposed king gives him little room for fighting. The out-of-place queen allows White the following move...

The tension is mounting quickly.

Game over. It is now mate in two for White. Black would do better with Qf6.

In summary, we can trace the beginning of Black's troubles to his initial a- and b-pawn charge. The displacement of those pawns allowed White superior piece development and a crippling pin of the c6 knight. White played very well in this game, recognizing Black's mistakes and using them to his advantage.