Move

   My best ever tournament result - winning the 1996 Cairnhill International Open ($1000!) with 8/9 (tying with FM Ong Chong Ghee). This win propelled me to 4/4. FM Chia was trying to give me enough rope to hang myself and I nearly overreached...
1. e4 Nf6
   The tricky Alekhine's Defence. My first encounter with it was on the Black side in my second tournament experience in 1986 when I was up against Jimmy Ng in the Buona Vista Open. He had turned up half an hour late, proceeded to get a cup of tea before settling down to play. Then I thought maybe the obscure (or so it seems then) Alekhine's Defence might keep him thinking. Instead he shoved the Four Pawns Attack variation at me and massacred me in 18 moves even before finishing his cup of tea!
2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6
   Catching me out of my book preparation. I had previously faced 4...g6 once against Mark Chan and 5...c6 twice against Malaysian players.
6. O-O Be7 7. c4 Nb6 8. exd6 cxd6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. b3!?
    I was aware that 10.h3 is the theoretical continuation as played in Spassky - Fischer, WC1973. Also, Spassky only got a mere draw out of 2 Alekhine games with Fischer in that match. Some theoreticalpreparationhuh!?
d5 11. c5 Nc8 12. Bf4 Nc6 13. Ne5N Bxe2 14. Nxc6 bxc6?! 15. Qxe2+/= Qa5!?
   Allowing White to consolidate with
16. Qd2! Qa6?! 17. a4 Bf6 18. b4 Qc4 19. Ne2 Re8 20. Rfc1 Qa6 21. Nc3
    I should have played
Ne7 22. b5 Qb7 23. Rab1 Ng6 24. Be3
   At this stage, Alphonsus was poised to counterattack with 24...e5 but inexplicably, he chose to withdraw all his pieces and invite me to overextend.
Red8 25. f4+-
   and White takes all the space offered.
Nh4 26. Rb3 Nf5 27. Bf2 g6 28. g4 Ne7 29. Rcb1 Rac8 30. Na2 Rc7 31. Nc1 Qc8 32. Qe2 Rb7 33. Nd3 Rdd7 34. Ne5 Bxe5 35. fxe5 Kg7 36. Bh4 Ng8 37. Qf2 Rb8 38. Bf6+
   I knew that ramming the passed pawn down with 38.b6 is good enough for a win. Instead, I got complacent and tried playing for mate without much thought.
Kf8 39. Rh3 h6 40. Qh4?
    I must try to play less obvious moves than this
Rdb7
    I was playing for the cheap shot
41. Rhb3 Qd7 1-0

Move

   I picked up the King's Gambit after watching GM Joe Gallagher maul a fellow compatriot in the 1992 Commonwealth Championships. He generously showed plenty of swashbuckling ideas during the post mortem and I was immediately hooked.
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Na4 Bb6 7. Nxb6 axb6 8. O-O Nge7 9. d3 O-O 10. f5 f6 11. Bc4+ Kh8 12. Nh4 Be8 13. Qg4 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Ng6+ hxg6 16. fxg6 Bxg6 17. Qxg6 Nce7 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Bd2 Qe8 20. Qh3 Rd8 21. Rae1 Qg6 22. Re4 Qh7 23. Rh4 Qg6 24. Rf3 f5 25. Rg3 Qd6 26. Bh6 Rf7 27. Bg5 Kf8 28. Rh8+ Ng8 29. Qh7 1-0

Move

   I think the worst game both of us have ever played...See for yourself!
1. e4
   This one I'd better put in, before IM Giam carries out his threat of sending this game to the INFORMATOR people.
e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. d4 c6 6. dxc6 Nxc6 7. Bc4 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Ne4 Rc8 11. Bb3 Bb8 12. c3 Qb6!? 13. Qe1? Ng6 14. h3 Bf5 15. g4 fxg3 16. Nfg5! Nh4 17. Nxf7?!
    "One of us is not gonna leave this town alive", said the new cowboy in town.
Nxd4!
   "Yeah, pardner", replied the gunslinger.
18. cxd4 Rxc1 19. Qe3 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Qxd4??
   !$%^&%^ ....
21. Qxd4??
    Yeah, yeah....Ng5+ wins a whole queen. Don't start telling me that!
Nf3+ 22. Kg2 Nxd4 23. Bd5 Bxe4+ 24. Bxe4 Kxf7
   Is this a first in a National Championship game? Two finalists making colossal blunders in consecutive moves. ... Hey! Li Yang, we may have created Chess History ( for the wrong reasons!).
0-1

Move

   After misplaying the opening, Mark made a nice Knight for two pawns sac to get some play. However, he missed my 39.Rxe4! which snags his Queen.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 Bg7 7. Ng5 O-O 8. e6 f6 9. Nf7 Qe8 10. d5 Na4 11. c4 Nc5 12. Nc3 c6 13. h4 h5 14. g4 Nxe6 15. dxe6 Bxe6 16. Nh6+ Kh7 17. Qe2 Bd7 18. g5 f5 19. Bd2 Na6 20. O-O Nc5 21. Bc2 Ne6 22. Be3 Nd4 23. Bxd4 Bxd4 24. Qd2 Bb6 25. Rfe1 Rd8 26. Na4 Bc7 27. Qe3 e5 28. Qxa7 Bc8 29. Nb6 Bxb6 30. Qxb6 Qe6 31. Qb3 f4 32. Qf3 Kg7 33. Qe4 Rfe8 34. Rad1 d5 35. cxd5 cxd5 36. Qf3 Rf8 37. Bb3 e4 38. Qc3+ Kh7 39. Rxe4 Qxe4 40. Re1 Qxe1+ 41. Qxe1 Rfe8 42. Qd2 f3 43. Qf4 Be6 44. Qf6 1-0

Move

   I was having a miserable 2nd half in the tourney and was hell-bent on beating Frank who was poised for 2nd place. Ghee, Malcolm and Hus's standings also depended on this game.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
   Frank thought real long before deciding to play the Open Sicilian. Was he thinking how to avoid the Dragon since Chong Ghee had such a hard time in Rd2?
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Be2
   Shucks! No slaughterhouse game today. Frank intends to grind me down with the quiet Classical Dragon.
O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. h3
    Baseline chess which is probably not so accurate as 9.Nb3. 9.f4 runs into 9... Qb6 which White may have to shed a pawn or more to hold his position.
d5
    ! The typical Sicilian liberating move.
10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Bf3 Qa5 13. Nxc6 bxc6
    Black has an isolated c pawn which may have been better left undigested.
14. Bxc6 Rb8 15. Qd5
   A suprising Queen trade which I declined for it allows the White bishop to settle back on the the b3 square.
Qc7 16. Qc5 Rxb2 17. Ba4 Rb7 18. Rad1 Be6 19. Bb3 Qxc5 20. Bxc5 Rc8 21. Be3 Rbc7 22. Rfe1
   At this stage both sides were at a dilemna. Frank had to win to finish clear second and I had to beat him to avoid the cellar. Assuming both sides' queenside pawns were swiped off, winning chances were practically zilch.
Bc3 23. Bxe6
   The prelude to a Kingside attack which elimates the crucial defender of the c2 pawn.
fxe6 24. Re2 Bf6
   ?! A wasted move. I should have tried 24... Bb4 or 24... a5 which intensifies the pressure on c2.
25. Rdd2 Kf7 26. g4 Bc3 27. Rd3 Bb4 28. Rd4 a5 29. Bh6 Rxc2 30. Re3
    Setting a devious trap!!??
Bd6 31. Rf3+ Ke8 32. a3 Ra2 33. Rdd3 Rcc2 34. Kg2 a4 35. h4 e5
    By now, Frank was in chronic time trouble and decided to shed the a pawn.
36. Rf8+ Kd7 37. Be3 Rxa3 38. Rxa3 Bxa3 39. h5 gxh5 40. gxh5 Bb2 41. Ra8 a3 42. Kf3 Ke6
   The adjourned move. I was fortunate to have Hus and Ghee analysing for me. After analysing 43.Ke4 to a clear win, Ghee went "sorry, Frank!?" and he did not go for this continuation.
43. Bg5 Bd4 44. Rxa3 Rxf2+ 45. Ke4 Re2+ 46. Kd3 Rh2 47. Ra6+ Kf5 48. Bxe7 Rh3+ 49. Kc4 Rxh5 50. Kd5 Kf4
    A dumb waiting move! I should have gotten on with Rh1, followed by h5, h4.
51. Bf8 Rh1 52. Rf6+ Kg4 53. Bd6 h5 54. Bxe5 Bxe5 55. Kxe5 Re1+
    Aha! Kicks the Kink one file back.
56. Kd4 h4 57. Rg6+ Kf3 58. Rf6+ Kg2 59. Rg6+ Kh2 60. Rh6 h3 61. Kd3 Kg2 62. Kd2 Re4
    Now the rook shields from the file and Frank is lost.
63. Rg6+ Kf3 64. Kd3 Rg4 65. Rf6+ Kg2 66. Ke2 h2 67. Rf2+ Kg3 68. Rf3+ Kh4 69. Rf7 Rg5 70. Rf4+ Kh3 71. Rf3+ Rg3 72. Rf1 Rg1
   And Frank resigned. Thus this win ensured that Malcolm finish clear second, Ghee and Hus figure on the prize list. Of course, it got me a decent 7th placing though.
0-1

Move

   Mok is one of Malaysia's top player for the past decade. He has just made his IM norm at the Penang Masters 1999. For whatever reason the Singapore Captain decided to put me on Bd 1 for this SIP-MAL challenge match, it worked as Mok put up little resistance. He was to avenge this defeat with a 1.5-0.5 win over me in 1997.
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c4 Nc6 4. Be3 d6 5. Nc3 e5 6. d5 Nce7 7. c5 f5 8. cxd6 cxd6 9. f3 Nf6 10. Bb5+ Nd7 11. Nge2 O-O 12. O-O Nf6 13. Bd3 f4 14. Bf2 g5 15. a4 Bd7 16. Nb5 Bxb5 17. axb5 b6 18. Nc3 h5 19. Na2 Ne8 20. Nb4 Nc7 21. Qc2 Qd7 22. Nc6 Nxc6 23. Qxc6 Qxc6 24. bxc6 Bf6 25. Ba6 Rab8 26. Rfc1 Bd8 27. Rc4 Rf7 28. Rb4 Nxa6 29. Rxa6 Rc8 30. Rba4 Rcc7 31. Be1 Rce7 32. Kf1 Bc7 33. Rxa7 1-0

Move

   I accompanied my then-girlfriend (now wife) when she took part in the Asian Zonals 3.1 Genting. The organiser IA Hamid Masjid invited me to play in this rating tournament for the top Malaysian Juniors. After a first round defeat, I managed to score 7.5 out of 9 remaining games. This is my favourite of the tourney. I had to find the 24...Rxc2! resource (cheapo??) on move 20. Lim went on to become Malaysian National Champion.
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 d6 7. f3 Nf6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. h4 Ne5 12. Bb3 Rfc8 13. Kb1 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Nb3 Qa6 16. h5 Rac8 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Bh6 Bh8 19. Qe3 Be6 20. Rd3 b5 21. Rc1 b4 22. Nd5 Nxd5 23. exd5 Bf5 24. g4 Rxc2 25. Rxc2 Qxd3 26. Na1 Rxc2 27. Qxd3 Rxb2+ 0-1

Move

   My opponent just got out-prepared...
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 c6 6. O-O Bxf3 7. Bxf3 dxe5 8. dxe5 e6 9. Qe2 Nd7
   I lost to Fa dli Zakaria in Rd 1 after playing 10.Rd1? and the e pawn fell after Qc7, Ne7-g6. That night, Tony Dempsey showed me a Leko-Onischuk game which allowed me to improve on the disasterous loss.
10. Re1 Qc7 11. g3 a5 12. Bg2 Bc5 13. Nd2 Ne7
   Here, Julian deviated from Leko-Onischuk which went 13... b5 14. h4 h6 and draw in a few more moves. His plan is to use all his minor pieces to pressurise the e pawn.
14. h4 h5 15. Kh1
   Preventing Nf5xg3 ideas.
Ng6 16. Nf3 Ba7 17. b3 Bb8 18. Bb2 a4 19. c4 Qb6 20. Qc2 O-O 21. Bd4 Qa5 22. Bc3 Qc5 23. Bd4 Qa5 24. b4!
   Sacrificing the e pawn for a huge initiative.
Qxb4 25. Rab1 Qa5 26. Rxb7 Ndxe5 27. Reb1 Ng4 28. Ng5 e5
    What a pity he did not allow me to play Qxg6!
29. Bb6 Qa6 30. Bxc6
    Black's pieces are too bottled up to save the game.
Ba7 31. Bd5 e4 32. Rxf7 Rxf7 33. Bxf7+ Kf8 34. Bxa7 Qxa7 35. Bxg6 1-0

Move

   What a Knight!
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 h6 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Qg4 g6 9. O-O-O h5 10. Qg3 a6 11. Nf3 c5 12. dxc5 Nc6 13. Bd3 Nxc5 14. Rhe1 Bd7 15. Qf4 Nb4 16. Kb1 Ncxd3 17. cxd3 O-O-O 18. a3 Nc6 19. Rc1 Kb8 20. Ne2 Rc8 21. Ng5 Rhf8 22. Nh7 Rfd8 23. Nf6 Rc7 24. Nd4 Rdc8 25. Nxc6+ Bxc6 26. Qd4 Bb5 27. a4 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 29. Kxc1 Qc7+ 30. Kb1 Bc6 31. Ka2 Qa5 32. Ka3 b5 33. Qb4 Qxa4+ 34. Qxa4 bxa4 35. Kb4 Kc7 36. Kc5 Bb5 37. d4 Bf1 38. g3 Bb5 39. Nh7 Kd7 40. Kb6 Ke7 41. Kc7 Bd3 42. f4 Bb5 43. Ng5 a3 44. bxa3 Ba4 45. Nf3 Bb5 46. Nd2 Bc4 47. Nb1 a5 48. Kb6 Kd7 49. Nc3 Bb3 50. Kxa5 Kc6 51. Nb5 Bc4 52. Nd6 f6 53. Nxc4 dxc4 54. Kb4 fxe5 55. fxe5 Kd5 56. Kc3 Ke4 57. Kxc4 Kf3 58. d5 exd5+ 59. Kxd5 Kxg3 60. e6 Kxh4 61. e7 g5 62. e8=Q g4 63. Ke4 g3 64. Kf3 1-0

Move

   I needn't drop so much material with 18.Ba3 but I couldn't resist allowing the strange array of heavy pieces on my second rank. Black can't do a thing though! Of course, it sure is nice to finish with a Queen sacrifice.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. c3 Bf5 7. Nf3 Qd5 8. g3 e6 9. Bg2 Qb5 10. Bf1 Qb6 11. Bg2 Nd7 12. O-O Bd6 13. c4 c5 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. b4 O-O-O 16. bxc5 Bxc5 17. Qa4 Bd3 18. Ba3 Bxf1 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Rxf1 Rd3 21. Rb1 Rhd8 22. Ne1 Rd2 23. Bxb7+ Kc7 24. Bg2 Rb8 25. Rc1 Rb4 26. Qa3 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 Rbb2 28. c5 Rxa2 29. Qb4 Rdb2 30. Qe4 Qd2 31. Qxh7 Qd7 32. c6 Qe7 33. Qd3 Rd2 34. Qb5 Rdb2 35. Qb7+ 1-0

Move

   Both sides trying to win this game for their teams. I managed to outlast Jimmy here.
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. Nd2 Nxd2 5. Qxd2 cxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qd2 Qb6 8. c3 g6 9. e4 d6 10. Nf3 Bg7 11. h3 O-O 12. Bd3 Bd7 13. O-O Rac8 14. Rfe1 Rfe8 15. Rac1 Qc7 16. Nd4 Qb8 17. Be3 Ne5 18. f4 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 b5 20. f5 Qb7 21. Re2 Bc6 22. Bf4 Qb6 23. Kh2 b4 24. e5 dxe5 25. Bxe5 Bxe5+ 26. Rxe5 Qb8 27. Qg3 bxc3 28. Rxc3 Ba8 29. Rb3 Qd6 30. Nb5 Qd2 31. Nc3 Rcd8 32. Re2 Qd6 33. Nb5 Qxg3+ 34. Kxg3 Rb8 35. Nxa7 Rxb3+ 36. axb3 Rb8 37. fxg6 hxg6 38. Rc2 Bb7 39. Rc5 Rd8 40. Rb5 Rd7 41. Kf2 Bxg2 42. Kxg2 Rxa7 43. Re5 Rb7 44. Re3 Kg7 45. Kf3 e5 46. Ke4 Rb5 47. Rc3 f5+ 48. Kd3 Rb4 49. Kc2 Kf6 50. Rc6+ Kg5 51. Kc3 Rh4 52. b4 Rxh3+ 53. Kc2 e4 54. b5 e3 55. b6 e2 56. Kd2 Rb3 57. Kxe2 Rxb2+ 58. Ke3 Rb3+ 59. Ke2 f4 0-1

Move

   18.Nxd5! seals his fate...
1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 c6 3. d4 g6 4. h3 Nf6 5. e5 Nh5 6. Nf3 Ng7 7. Be2 h5 8. O-O Bf5 9. Ne1 h4 10. Be3 Na6 11. a3 Nc7 12. Qd2 f6 13. Nf3 Nce6 14. b4 g5 15. Rfe1 Kd7 16. b5 Nh5 17. bxc6+ bxc6 18. Nxd5 Ke8 19. Nb4 Be4 20. exf6 exf6 21. Bc4 Bxb4 22. Qxb4 Rb8 23. Qa4 Nhg7 24. Bd2 Bd5 25. Bxd5 Qxd5 26. Qxa7 1-0