Casino Barcelona kicks off

[Event "18th Casino de Barcelona 2013"] [Site "Barcelona ESP"] [Date "2013.10.26"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Lopez Martinez, Josep Manuel"] [Black "Hansen, Eric"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2555"] [BlackElo "2567"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2013.10.25"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 {it is for this reason that many players prefer to play 7...d6 instead of castling, but then Black loses the possibility of playing the Marshall.} b4 9. d3 Bc5 $5 {Despite the cost of a tempo, this move makes sense. White's knight can no longer go to c3, which makes the pin on the h4-d8 diagonal less threatening as White would never have Nd5 to reinforce Bg5. Hansen is not only a talented player, but he is a very hard worker and this shows that he has been studying his Spanish and has new ideas.} (9... d6 {has been played almost exclusively.}) 10. h3 d6 11. c3 bxc3 12. bxc3 Rb8 13. Ba2 Ne7 {The transfer of the knight might be too soon.} (13... Be6 {works well with putting the bishop on c5 as the f-file opening will favor Black.}) 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Bb4 16. Bd2 a5 $6 {a little slow. There was no reason to reinforce the bishop.} (16... d5 $1 17. e5 Ne4 18. Bxb4 Rxb4 19. Nbd2 Bf5 {with chances for both sides. Black is active while White has the better pawn structure.}) 17. Nc3 Bb7 18. Qc2 Ng6 19. Nb5 c6 20. Nc3 {A clever maneouver, how Black's bishop is locked behind its own pawn.} Ba6 21. Rad1 Nd7 22. e5 $1 {Perfect timing.} dxe5 23. dxe5 Nc5 24. Bg5 Qc8 (24... Bd3 {is not a human move; no one wants to pin themselves like this.}) 25. Re3 $1 {Very powerful! The rook joins the fray by allowing itself to transfer to the kingside as well as taking control of d3 and defending the knight on c3.} Re8 26. h4 Nf8 27. Nd4 Qc7 $2 {Losing, but it was hard to suggest something.} 28. Nf5 Nce6 29. Nxg7 $1 {A pretty way of demolishing Black's defenses.} Nxg7 30. Nd5 $1 {This is the point.} Qa7 31. Nf6+ Kh8 32. Nxe8 Rxe8 33. Bf6 {Material is about even, but with Black's king's position it is impossible for him to survive. Black is a few tempi short to be able to save his majesty.} Kg8 34. Rg3 Ng6 35. h5 {The Spanish is a tricky opening. It seems equal at point to the eyes of the uninitiated, but suddenly a couple of precise strikes gives one side a winning edge.} 1-0