Penang boy in Bangkok Chess Club Open

The 2022 edition of the Bangkok Open chess tournament has started and there is a big group of 21 Malaysians participating in the Open and Challenger events. Leading the Malaysians' charge in the Open tournament is 13-year-old Poh Yu Tian (newly minted FIDE Master with a current rating of 2340) and in the third round, he scored a sloppy but precious victory against German grandmaster Jan Gustafsson (rated at 2638). I said sloppy because Yu Tian could have finished off Gustafsson much earlier when he had caught the German by the balls but for a series of blunders by both players, the German got off the hook. However in an endgame position which looked likely drawn, the German played the final blunder of the game and lost. With three points from three games, he will now meet a Polish grandmaster, Grzegorz Nasuta (rated 2542), in the fourth round. We shall all be cheering Yu Tian on.

[Event "Bangkok Open 2022"]

[Site "Shangri-La Hotel, Chiangmai, Thailand"]

[Date "2022.10.24"]

[Round "32"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Jan Gustafsson"]

[Black "Poh Yu Tian"]

[Result "0-1"]

[EventCountry "THA"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Be2 O-O 13. Nh4 Bxe2 14. Nxe2 Re8 15. Nf3 Ne4 16. b3 Qf6 17. Ned4 Ne5 18. Bb2? (18. Ne1 Bb4 19. Bb2 Qa6 20. a3 Nd2 21. Nef3 Nexf3+ 22. Nxf3 Qxf1+ 23. Qxf1 Nxf1 24. axb4 Nxe3) 18...Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qe5 20. Rfd1?! (Inaccurate. 20. Qf4 Qxf4 21. exf4 Bxf4 22. Rfe1 f6 23. Re2 Rac8 24. Rd1 Kf7 25. g3 Be5 26. Kg2 Red8) 20...Qh2+ 21. Kf1 Rac8 22. Ke2 Be5 23. Rac1 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 g6 25. Rc2 h5 26. Rc1 Rd8 27. g4?! (27. h4 Qxh4) 27. ... h4 28. a4 Rd6?? (Big blunder. 28...Bg3 was best. After 28...Rd6?? White could have gained the upper hand with 29. Rc8+ Kg7 30. Qf4.) 29. g5?? (Returning the favour.) 29...Rd8 30. Ba1 Nxg5?? (Third blunder in the game. 30...Re8 31. Bb2 a6 32. Ba1 Bg3 33. Rf1 Bb8 34. Rc1 Be5 35. Bb2 Bg7 36. Ba1 Nxg5 37. Qh1) 31. Qh1 Qxh1 32. Rxh1 Bg7 33. Nf3 Ne4 34. Bxg7 Kxg7 35. Rc1 Rd6 36. Rc7 Rb6 37. Nd4 a5 38. Rd7 Kf6 39. Kf3 Nd2+ 40. Kg4 Nxb3 41. Nxb3 Rxb3 42. Rxd5 Rb4+ 43. f4 Rxa4 44. Rb5 Ra1 45. Rb6+ Kg7 46. Rxb7 a4 47. Ra7 a3 48. Kxh4 a2 49. e4 Kf6 50. Ra6+ Ke7 51. f5?? (The final blunder. 51. Ra5 was best.) 51...g5+ (It took Yu Tian one minute 29 seconds to find this winning move.) (see diagram) 52. Kh5 g4 (And another one minute 17 seconds for him to confirm that this pawn push was indeed winning.) 0-1