Crunch game

Crunch time between two local Fide Masters, chess prodigies of their time. Lye Lik Zang and Poh Yu Tian had met in the fifth round of the Penang Open chess tournament on 20 December 2023. Who would prevail? Yu Tian had surprised Lik Zang with a line in the Grunfeld and ended up a pawn down while giving his rival isolated doubled pawns. Would that be enough compensation? Lik Zang maintained his grip on the game and never gave Yu Tian any chance to come back into the game, even winning a second pawn later. Yu Tian tried hard to mess up the kingside for some counterplay but it was never enough. Lik Zang methodically hounded his opponent's king to the queenside where it was soon cornered and checkmated. 

Position after 34 Rb8

[Event "15th Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2023 (Open)"]
[Site "St Xavier's Institution, Penang"]
[Date "2023.12.20"]
[Round "5"]
[Board "3"]
[White "Lye, Lik Zang"]
[Black "Poh, Yu Tian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2279"]
[BlackElo "2405"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2023.12.18"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MAS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h4 c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Bf4 Nc6 8. e3 Bg4 9. Be2 Qa5 10. Qb3 Qb4 11. Ne5 Qxb3 12. axb3 Bxe2 13. Nxc6 Bg4 (Was this played on purpose or did Black actually blunder away his a-pawn?) 14. Nxa7 O-O 15. Be5 Be6 16. f3 Ne8 17. Bf4 Nf6 18. Kd2 Nh5 19. Bc7 f5 20. g3 h6 21. Ne2 Bd7 22. Ra5 e6 23. Rha1 Rf7 24. Bd6 b6 25. Ra6 Be8 26. Nc3 g5 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Nab5 Rxa6 29. Rxa6 Kh7 30. Rxb6 g4 31. Ke2 Rf6 32. Be5 Rh6 33. Rb7 Kg8 34. Rb8 Bxe5 35. dxe5 Kf8 36. Nd6 Ng7 37. fxg4 fxg4 38. Ncb5 Ke7 39. Rb7+ Kf8 40. Nd4 Rh2+ 41. Kf1 Bg6 42. Rb8+ Ke7 43. Rg8 Bd3+ 44. Kg1 Rh7 45. Nc6+ Kd7 46. Nb8+ Kc7 (The decisive mistake in the game, allowing White to corner the black King and kill it off quickly) 47. Rc8+ Kb6 48. Nd7+ Ka5 49. Rb8 Nf5 50. b4+ Ka6 51. Ra8# 1-0