This week, I present to you another game played by Razvan Preotu from the Spice Cup where he scored his second GM norm. I chose to annonate a second game of his for several reasons: he has been playing fantastic chess, and scoring great results. Hopefully the public (and me too) can learn from his games.
[Event "Spice Cup 2014"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Preotu, R."]
[Black "Durarbayli, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B67"]
[Annotator "Kleinman,M"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.11.02"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {The Classical Sicilian.
Razvan opts for the English Attack setup.} 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9.
f3 Rc8 {I think this is a rare(ish) move, though by no means a bad one. The
rook heads to the open c-file, where it is always placed well.} (9... Be7 10.
h4 h6 11. Be3 h5 12. Bg5 {is what I thought to be the main line}) 10. h4 h6 11.
Be3 h5 12. Bg5 Be7 {This is a transposition to the main line with Black having
chosen to play Rc8 here.} 13. Kb1 {As a general rule, in Sicilian positions,
if you don't have a clear attack plan, play Kb1.} Qa5 14. Nxc6 {White chooses
to liquidate in the center in order to finish developing his light square
bishop.} Bxc6 15. Bd3 b5 16. Rhe1 Bb7 17. a3 {Up to now, both side's moves
have made a lot of sense. They have both put their pieces to natural squares,
and are preempting their opponents attacks. I do not believe Black was
threatening to play b4 at this point, but it's hard to suggest a better move
than a3.} Qd8 {I'd be curious to know what Razvan was planning on playing
against a waiting move like (don't laugh) Ba8. I think trading queens is in
Black's favor, but White really wants to reposition his Knight from c3.} 18.
Ne2 {Now White has a very comfortable position. Once Black had played h5, he
is reluctant to castle, and all of White's pieces are primed to the center.}
Nd7 19. Ng3 {A multi-purpose move hitting the weakness h5, as well as
preparing for potential sacrifices on f5.} Bxg5 20. hxg5 h4 21. Nf5 exf5 22.
exf5+ Kf8 {While White does not have a clear win, he chooses to sacrifice for
the iniative and some pawns.} 23. Bxb5 {Continuing the enterprising play.} Ne5
({After:} 23... axb5 24. Qxd6+ Kg8 25. Re7 {Black is under tremendous pressue.}
Bc6 {Trying to retain all the material. White continues:} ({If Black tries to
liquidate with} 25... Qc7 26. Qxc7 Rxc7 27. Rdxd7 Rxd7 28. Rxd7 Bc6 29. Rc7 Bd5
30. g6 $1 $18) 26. g6 Rh6 {Opening up a square to protect against mates} 27.
Rxf7 {leads to a super unclear position where the computer seems to evaluate
it as equal, but Black is walking on thin ice here; there is no room for
inaccuracies.}) 24. Rxe5 axb5 25. Rxb5 Bc6 26. Rb4 {Taking stock of the
position, White has three pawns for the piece, Black's king looks sort of safe
now, and should Black activate his rook on h8 he will stand better. To do this
he tries:} h3 27. Rh1 Kg8 28. Rd4 Rh5 29. Rxh3 Qxg5 $4 {Black blunders the game
} (29... Rxh3 {was necessary, but blunders like Qxg5 are what happens when
faced with pressure on each move} 30. gxh3 Bxf3 31. Rxd6 Qe8 32. Rd3 Be4 33.
Rc3 Rd8 34. Qf4 $15) 30. Qxg5 Rxg5 31. Rdh4 {And Black is forced to lose a
rook to protect against mate.} 1-0
