1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qb3 h6 11. c5 Kh8 12. Rd1 g5 13. Bd2 f4 14. Be1 Bg4 15. Qc4 Qc8

Tom builds up an attacking position here, but White's position is perfectly solid.

16. Ne4 Bh3 17. Bh1 Ng4 18. Rac1 Qe8 19. Nd2 Qh5 20. Nf3 fxg3 21. hxg3 Bf1!!

This move, and the subsequent play, are in some way very typical of Tom's style. Nothing is threatened, and indeed the move may not be objectively good, but it ratchets up the tension in the position considerably. I spent my next 14 moves wondering how to exploit this cheeky bishop, before finally imploding:

22. Qe4 Rf7 23. Rc4 Raf8 24. d6 exd6 25. cxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Nf6 27. Qc2 e4 28. Ne5 Re7 29. g4?!

About here the pressure got to me...

29... Qe8 30. Bc3? Rxe5 31. Bxe5? Qxe5 32. Rxf6 Qxf6 33. f3 exf3 34. Bxf3

And here I dreamed briefly that Tom's bishop was trapped on f1. However

34... Bxe2

and it's all over

35. Bxe2 Qf2+ 36. Kh1 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Rf2+

0-1

Annotator(s): Anon., Irish Chess Journal, vol. 11, no. 4, September-October 1999, p. 14; Mel Ó Cinnéide, ICU games archive (excerpted here).

Reference(s): Tournament report.