Rare local loss

It’s not often that I see Penang’s up-and-coming International Master Poh Yu Tian lose to another local player, but that’s exactly what happened today in this year’s Penang Closed Chess Tournament. Granted, his opponent, FIDE Master Wong Yinn Long (pictured), is no pushover, but games between these two have almost invariably drifted towards draws. This time was different.

Yu Tian seemed slightly out of sorts from the outset. As early as move eight - remarkably shallow territory for a player of his calibre - he made an inaccuracy in the opening, and it was very unlike him. That small slip allowed Yinn Long to impose a structural weakness, saddling White with compromised pawns and, more importantly, a long-term problem that never quite went away. From there, Black played with admirable patience, gradually tightening the screws before taking over completely in the later stages.

Here is the game, with a few brief observations along the way.

[UTCDate "2025.12.14"]
[UTCTime "02:04:10"]
[Event "Penang Closed Chess Tournament 2025"]
[Date "2025.12.13"]
[Round "5"]
[White "IM Poh, Yu Tian"]
[Black "FM Wong, Yinn Long"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Board "1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Qd8 8.Nc3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.f3 d6 11.Bh6 Rg8 12.Bg5 Nd7 13.Be2 b6 14.O-O Bb7 15.Qe1 f6 16.Be3 Nce5 17.f4 Nf7 18.Bf3 e5 19.Rd1 Qe7 20.g3 Qe6 21.Qe2 Rc8 22.Rd5 Bxd5 23.cxd5 Qe7 24.c4 Kf8 25.Bg4 Kg7 26.Be6 Rc7 27.fxe5 dxe5 28.g4 Rf8 29.Bxf7 Rxf7 30.h4 Qb4 31.Rc1 Rf8 32.Bd2 Qd6 33.Be3 Rfc8 34.Kg2 Qb4 35.Nd2 Qd6 36.Nb3 a5 37.c5 bxc5 38.Nxa5 c4 (See diagram) 39.Nc6 Rxc6 40.dxc6 Qxc6 41.Qf3 c3 42.Rc2 Qa4 43.Rf2 c2 44.Bc1 Qxa2 45.g5 Qe6 46.h5 fxg5 47.hxg6 hxg6 48.Qg3 g4 49.Qe3 Rf8 50.Rxc2 Rh8 51.Rf2 Nf6 52.Qa7+ Qd7 53.Qxd7+ Nxd7 54.Bb2 Re8 55.Rc2 Nf6 56.Kg3 Nxe4+ 57.Kxg4 Nd6 58.Rc6 Nf7 59.Kf3 Rb8 60.Bc3 Ng5+ 61.Kg4 Nf7 62.Kf3 Re8 63.Ke4 Re7 64.Bb4 Ng5+ 65.Kd5 Re8 66.Bc3 Nf7 67.Ke4 Kh6 68.Rc7 Ng5+ 69.Ke3 Kh5 70.Rc5 Nf7 71.Rc7 Nd6 72.Rc5 Kg4 73.Rd5 Re6 74.Rd1 g5 75.Rg1+ Kf5 76.Bb4 Nf7 77.Rf1+ Kg6 78.Bc5 Rf6 79.Rg1 Rf4 80.Be7 Kf5 81.Rh1 g4 82.Rh5+ Ke6 83.Bc5 Kd5 84.Be7 Rf3+ 85.Ke2 Ke4 86.Rh7 g3 87.Bh4 Nd6 88.Be7 Nf5 89.Bc5 Rc3 90.Bb6 Rc2+ 91.Ke1 Rb2 92.Bc5 Rb5 93.Ba7 Rb1+ 94.Ke2 g2  0-1

A well-earned win for Yinn Long, who capitalised ruthlessly on an early structural concession and never let go. For Yu Tian, this was one of those rare off-days where a small early lapse snowballed into something much larger. For the rest of us, it was an instructive reminder of how unforgiving chess can be at this level.