Computer says the position is equal, but...

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MayCaesar

I was playing a French game in a daily tournament against a player majorly outclassing me. From the start I expected to lose and only played for the learning experience. After the 31st move, the position seemed pretty hopeless to me, being down a pawn and having passive pieces, and I ran out of time trying to find a way to create some kind of counter-play. Surprisingly, when I plugged the game into Stockfish, the fish claimed that at the end the position was very equal. Here is the game:

 

 

This position seemed pretty hopeless to me. Black is down a pawn, his white-squared bishop is a "tall pawn", black pieces are tied to defending the d5 pawn, the rooks on the c-file aren't doing anything and can't invade without sacrificing an exchange, the king is widely exposed, and white knight has many potential outposts to take. Black does have a bishop pair, with the very strong unopposed dark-squared bishop, but white has two central dark-squared pawns that make it difficult for the bishop to do anything useful. I disliked my position strongly and ran out of time trying to come up with some kind of plan that doesn't involve me endlessly defending.

Strangely, the computer gives multiple lines with nearly-equal evaluation. Most of those lines involve the immediate or very near ...b6 move, consolidating the position, and then the bishops chasing away the e5 rook and waiting for white to commit his light pieces firmly to the king side, when black rooks can finally invade white's position through the c-file.

Now that I look at the position, it seems hard for white to make much progress. I expected the eventual e3-e4 break, followed by a march of the d-pawn - but that opens up the central black squares, and the unopposed dark-squared bishop enters the game, along with rooks creating some problems for white king. The position still seems winnable for white to me.

 

What do you think? Is the position really near-equal? Is black lost? Is Stockfish mistaken?

wilsonga0

I think stockfish is right. Although this is coming from a player of my rating, black seems to have plenty of counter play including the open c-file and the dominant bishop pair.

tygxc

It is equal indeed.
White has an extra pawn, but the pawn is backward and white cannot create a passed pawn. The pawn risks to fall quickly after ...Bd6 and ...Re7.
Black has the bishop's pair. The black rooks are more active.

Laskersnephew

A great example of how important it is to stay determined and keep fighting. You convinced yourself you were lost by listing all the things that were wrong with your position, but you made no effort to identify  Black's substantial assets: The two bishops and two very active rooks

MistakeEraser

From my dumb 1800 mind perspective, It looks like black(you) is just winning, two killer rooks on the open file, bishops that have a lot of scope, your pawns restrict the enemy bishop a lot and your opponent have a "bad" bishop blocked in by their own pawns. White's knight isn't really doing anything and can't move away without you infiltrating the position. White doesn't have a lot of good moves. If I was stockfish I would evaluate the position at -2. I don't get why you resigned. I don't resign unless I am dead lost. I would for sure take black in this position because I'm not good at finding only moves to keep the game going.

darkunorthodox88

it is a somewhat common motif that in an endgame where the bishop pair is good, and the opponent has a lukewarm bishop + knight that the latter needs to be up a whole pawn to just equalize.