Yeoh Li Tian was aiming for his third and final Grandmaster norm at the Dubai Open earlier this month but despite playing very valiantly, the mountain was a bit too high for him to climb at the end. Here are his games from the event. There are good lessons in attack and defence for the amateur chess players to learn from them.
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| Position after 24 Ng4 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.01"]
[Round "1"]
[Board "22"]
[White "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Black "Ammar, Sedrani"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2064"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Ne5 Nf6 5. d4 g6 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 a6 10. Bf1 Re8 11. a4 e6 12. f4 b6 13. Bd3 Bb7 14. g4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 Nd7 16. g5 Nb8 17. Qg4 Nc6 18. Nd1 Ne7 19. Nf2 Nf5 20. c3 h6 21. gxh6 Bxh6 22. Bxh6 Nxh6 23. Qf4 Kg7 24. Ng4 Rh8 25. Qf6+ Qxf6 26. exf6+ Kf8 27. Ne5 Ke8 28. Re3 Kd8 29. Rh3 Kc7 30. Rf1 Nf5 31. Bxf5 gxf5 32. Rff3 Bc6 33. Nxf7 Rxh3 34. Rxh3 Rg8+ 35. Kf2 Rg6 36. Rh6 Rxh6 37. Nxh6 Kd8 38. Nf7+ Ke8 39. Ne5 Bxa4 40. h4 Kf8 41. h5 Be8 42. h6 Kg8 43. Kg3 1-0
A very instructional game below, which I would term as "the dance of the four knights." Just concentrate on the play after 33...Rxg2+.
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| Position after 41...Ned5 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.02"]
[Round "2"]
[Board "18"]
[White "Quizon, Daniel"]
[Black "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2340"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 d6 10. Re1 Be6 11. Bxe6 Rxe6 12. Nf1 Bb6 13. Be3 d5 14. Bxb6 cxb6 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. d4 e4 17. N3d2 f5 18. a4 b4 19. Nc4 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rc8 21. Qb3 Nce7 22. Nfe3 f4 23. Ng4 b5 24. axb5 axb5 25. Nd2 e3 26. fxe3 fxe3 27. Nf3 Rxc3 28. Qxb5 Qc8 29. Nge5 Rb6 30. Qa5 Rc2 31. Ra2 Rbb2 32. Rxb2 Rxb2 33. Nd3 Rxg2+ 34. Kh1 h6 35. Nde5 Rc2 36. Rg1 Rc1 37. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 38. Qe1 Qc2 39. Qf1 e2 40. Qe1 Nf4 41. Kg1 Ned5 42. Kf2 Nf6 43. Kg3 N4h5+ 44. Kg2 Ne4 45. Ng1 Nf4+ 46. Kf3 Qd1 47. Nd3 Nxd3 48. Qxe2 Ng5+ 49. Ke3 Qxg1+ 50. Kxd3 Qb1+ 51. Kc3 Qc1+ 52. Kb4 Qc6 53. Qa2+ Ne6 54. d5 Qc5+ 0-1
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| Position after 22...Nfxe4 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.03"]
[Round "3"]
[Board "11"]
[White "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Black "Mendonca, Leon Luke"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2427"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. g3 g6 2. Bg2 Bg7 3. c4 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. O-O a5 9. h3 Na6 10. e4 Nc5 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qc2 c6 13. Rfe1 Qc7 14. Rad1 Be6 15. b3 Rad8 16. Qc1 Bc8 17. Bg5 Re5 18. Bf4 Ree8 19. Qa3 Qb6 20. Bg5 h6 21. Be3 Qb4 22. Qc1 Nfxe4 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 24. Nc2 Qc3 25. Bb6 Ng5 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 27. Re3 Qf6 28. Kh2 Qf5 29. Nd4 Bxd4 30. Rxd4 Qxf2 31. Rf4 Qxa2 32. Kg1 Bf5 33. g4 Qb1 34. Qxb1 Bxb1 35. Rf1 Bc2 36. Rc1 1-0
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| Final position |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.04"]
[Round "4"]
[Board "2"]
[White "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Black "Kuzubov, Yuriy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C48"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2653"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. e5 dxc3 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. dxc3 Qe5+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2 c6 11. Bd3 d5 12. Re1 Be6 13. Bf4 O-O-O 14. Kf1 Bd6 15. Bxd6 Rxd6 16. Re5 Kd8 17. Rae1 g6 18. f4 Re8 19. Kf2 Bd7 20. Rxe8+ Bxe8 21. g3 Bd7 22. c4 dxc4 23. Bxc4 Bg4 24. Bd3 c5 25. b3 Be6 26. Ke3 Ke7 27. Kd2 b6 28. a4 Rd4 29. Kc3 Kd6 30. Re3 Kd7 1/2-1/2
Li Tian's game plan was very simple: to beat the lower-rated players while against the higher-rated grandmasters, he was play solidly to draw with them. As such, his full point from Sethuraman, the eighth-ranked player in India and the highest-rated Indian player in the Dubai tournament, came as an unexpected present. It certainly eased his quest towards the third norm.
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| Position after 17...Bc5 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.06"]
[Round "5"]
[Board "6"]
[White "Sethuraman, S.P."]
[Black "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2624"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Be4 6. f3 Bh7 7. e6 Qd6 8. exf7+ Kxf7 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. Nbc3 e5 11. Be3 Re8 12. Bg2 exd4 13. Qxd4 Bxc2 14. Qxa7 Qb4 15. a3 Qxb2 16. O-O Ngf6 17. Bf2 Bc5 18. Bxc5 Ra8 19. Ra2 Qb3 20. Nc1 Qc4 21. Qxb7 Qxc5+ 22. Rf2 Rab8 23. Qc7 Bb1 24. g5 hxg5 25. hxg5 Qxc3 26. gxf6 Qxc1+ 27. Rf1 Qe3+ 28. Raf2 Bf5 29. fxg7 Rhc8 30. Qg3 Rg8 31. Qd6 Qe6 32. Qf4 Qe5 33. Qc1 Qf6 34. a4 Rxg7 35. a5 Bh3 0-1
But here came the first setback: Li Tian had to give back the surplus half-point from playing a grandmaster. Both the fifth and sixth rounds were played in the same day. Whether or not Li Tian was tired from the morning's exhilarating win was debatable but he did not play his usual game in the afternoon. Chopping off the knight with 16...Nxe5 would have been called for. Instead, he had to give up the exchange meekly.
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| Position after 16 Ne5 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.06"]
[Round "6"]
[Board "3"]
[White "Indjic, Aleksandar"]
[Black "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2592"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. Bd3 a6 8. O-O Bf5 9. Bxf5 gxf5 10. b3 Ne4 11. Bb2 Nd7 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. Bxc3 cxd5 14. Qd3 e6 15. Rfc1 Qb6 16. Ne5 Qd6 17. Qd2 Nxe5 18. Bb4 Qd8 19. Bxf8 Qxf8 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21. Rab1 Qg7 22. Rc2 Qf8 23. Rbc1 Bd6 24. Qd4 Rb8 25. g3 h6 26. Rb1 Bb4 27. a3 Bxa3 28. b4 Rc8 29. Rc3 Rc4 30. Rxc4 dxc4 31. Qc3 Bxb4 32. Qxb4 Qxb4 33. Rxb4 b5 34. Kf1 Kf8 35. Ke2 Ke7 36. Rb1 1-0
This next game in the seventh round was very interesting. The Vietnamese grandmaster managed to break Li Tian's pawn formation into several pawn islands and mopped them up. In the final position, the draw surprised many but the story came out later that both players had thought that their respective positions were worse off. Running short of time, they agreed on the draw. Later, Li Tian's father, Chin Seng, explained that his son was playing well until around the 60th move. He then tried to win but it was a wrong judgement. As a result, Liem then had a winning position. His play was accurate enough but he blundered with 92...Nc2+. After 93 Kb3, Li Tian was better. Liem realised that and he offered the draw. Li Tian said he was too stunned by the offer, thinking that he was losing, and thus agreed to the draw.
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| Final position |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.07"]
[Round "7"]
[Board "4"]
[White "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Black "Le, Quang Liem"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2711"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. a3 O-O 8. Ne1 d6 9. Nc2 Be6 10. Ne3 Qd7 11. d3 Bh3 12. Ned5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 f5 14. Rb1 h6 15. b4 g5 16. b5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Nd4 18. e3 Ne6 19. Qh5 Kh7 20. h3 Bh8 21. Bd2 Rf7 22. Rh1 Rg8 23. Qe2 Nf8 24. f3 Ng6 25. e4 f4 26. g4 Bf6 27. Be1 Bd8 28. Qc2 h5 29. Qa4 b6 30. Qa6 Rh8 31. Bf2 Kg8 32. Rh2 Rfh7 33. Rbh1 Kf7 34. Be1 Nf8 35. Kg1 Ne6 36. Bf2 Ke8 37. Kg2 Rh6 38. Kg1 Kf7 39. Kg2 Kg6 40. Kg1 Bf6 41. Kg2 R8h7 42. Qa4 Qg7 43. Qd1 Qh8 44. Qg1 Kf7 45. Kf1 Bd8 46. gxh5 Rxh5 47. Qg4 R7h6 48. Ke2 Qh7 49. Kd2 Ke8 50. Kc3 Qd7 51. a4 Nf8 52. Qxd7+ Kxd7 53. Kd2 Rh7 54. Ke2 Ke6 55. Kf1 Ng6 56. Kg2 R5h6 57. Nc3 Nh8 58. Be1 Nf7 59. Nd1 Nh8 60. Nf2 Ng6 61. Ng4 Rh5 62. Kf1 a6 63. bxa6 Ra7 64. Ra2 Rxa6 65. Ke2 Rh7 66. Bc3 Rha7 67. Rha1 Kd7 68. Be1 Nf8 69. Bc3 Ne6 70. Kd2 Nc7 71. Kc2 b5 72. Kb3 bxc4+ 73. Kxc4 Kc6 74. Nh6 d5+ 75. exd5+ Nxd5 76. Ng4 Bc7 77. Nxe5+ Bxe5 78. Bxe5 Rb6 79. Rb2 Re7 80. Bh8 Re8 81. Bg7 Re7 82. Bh8 Rh7 83. Be5 Rxh3 84. Rg1 Rxb2 85. Bxb2 Rg3 86. Rh1 Ne3+ 87. Kb3 Rxf3 88. Rh6+ Kd5 89. a5 c4+ 90. Kb4 cxd3 91. a6 Rf2 92. Bc3 Nc2+ 93. Kb3 Ke5 1/2-1/2
And here was the second setback which proved disastrous for Li Tian: losing against someone who was rated lower than him. At first, there was enterprising play and Li Tian gave up his queen and netted his opponent's rook and pair of knights. Ordinarily, this swap would prove more advantageous for the player with the more pieces but Vignesh made some incredibly strong moves to deny Li Tian's pieces from coordinating properly.
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| Position after 30 Nxc2 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.08"]
[Round "8"]
[Board "12"]
[White "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Black "Vignesh, N R"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2522"]
[BlackElo "2457"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b5 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O e6 5. d3 d6 6. e4 Be7 7. Nd4 a6 8. Nb3 c5 9. e5 Bxg2 10. exf6 Bxf1 11. fxe7 Qxe7 12. Kxf1 Nc6 13. Be3 O-O 14. N1d2 Nb4 15. f3 Rfc8 16. Ne4 Nd5 17. Bd2 Nb6 18. Qe2 Na4 19. Rb1 d5 20. Nc3 Nb6 21. a3 b4 22. axb4 cxb4 23. Be3 Qd6 24. Bxb6 Qxb6 25. Na4 Qb5 26. Ra1 e5 27. Qxe5 Rxc2 28. Nd4 Re8 29. Qxe8+ Qxe8 30. Nxc2 h5 31. b3 Qe6 32. Kf2 h4 33. Rg1 d4 34. Nxd4 Qd5 35. Ne2 Qxb3 36. Nc5 Qa2 37. gxh4 b3 38. Ke3 Qc2 39. Na4 b2 40. Nec3 Qc1+ 41. Kf2 b1=Q 42. Nxb1 Qc2+ 43. Ke3 Qxa4 44. Nd2 Qxh4 45. Rg2 Qe7+ 46. Kd4 Qd6+ 47. Kc3 Qa3+ 48. Kc2 Qa2+ 49. Kc1 a5 50. Rg4 a4 51. Rc4 a3 52. Rb4 Qd5 53. Ra4 Qxd3 54. Nb1 Qf1+ 55. Kc2 Qf2+ 56. Nd2 Qc5+ 57. Nc4 Qc6 58. Rb4 Qxf3 59. Nd2 Qf5+ 60. Kc3 a2 61. Nb3 Qe5+ 62. Rd4 Qe1+ 0-1
The last round was a do-or-die mission for Li Tian. In order to achieve his third grandmaster title norm, he was required to win this game. So he took the risk. Made an exchange sacrifice and began swarming over Dhulipalla's king. But at the end, there was nothing more than a disheartening draw despite the heroics.
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| Position after 16...Rxe3 |
[Site "Dubai Chess & Culture Club"]
[Date "2019.04.09"]
[Round "9"]
[Board "15"]
[White "Dhulipalla, Bala Chandra Prasad"]
[Black "Yeoh, Li Tian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "2384"]
[BlackElo "2522"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2019.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "UAE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. c4 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 c6 10. h3 Re8 11. Re1 a5 12. b3 Nc5 13. Bf4 h6 14. Qc2 Nh5 15. Be3 f5 16. exf5 Rxe3 17. fxe3 Nxg3 18. fxg6 Qh4 19. Rad1 Bxh3 20. Bxh3 Qxh3 21. Qg2 Qh4 22. Nce2 Nce4 23. Nxg3 Nxg3 24. Nf3 Qg4 25. Kh2 Rf8 26. Qxg3 Qxf3 27. Qxf3 Rxf3 28. c5 d5 29. e4 Bc3 30. exd5 Bxe1 31. dxc6 bxc6 32. Rxe1 Kg7 33. Re6 Rf6 34. Re7+ Kxg6 35. Ra7 Rf2+ 36. Kg1 Rxa2 37. Ra6 Kf5 38. Rxc6 Rb2 39. Ra6 Rxb3 40. Rxa5 Ke5 1/2-1/2
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