[Event "Irish Championship 1999"]
[Site "Drogheda IRL"]
[Date "1999.04.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "O'Cinneide, Mel"]
[Black "Clarke, Tom"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A89"]
[ICUid "28339"]
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 $3 { 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 $6 {
About here the pressure got to me... } 29... Qe8 30. Bc3 $2 Rxe5 31. Bxe5
$2 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+ { Thanks for the many
fascinating battles, Tom. Rest in Peace. } 0-1
