Irish championship 1975

A report on the Irish championship 1975 has been added to the tournament archive pages here. In a field of 30 players, Eamon Keogh and Alan Ludgate tied for first and shared the title; this was the first time either of them was Irish champion.

This was until recently one of the most mysterious Irish championships: final totals were available, but very few round results were known. Possibly due to the large field, press reports gave only a sample of the leading results. Fortunately Alan Ludgate kept excellent records, which he has very kindly provided, with all of his games and almost all round results.

Opening choices reflected the era: Keene & Botterill’s The Modern Defence from the Batsford series was enormously influential: of the 11 games we have available, 1… g6 appeared in six.

The Indian player Sai Prakash, a student at T.C.D., started well, with 2/2 and later 3/4, but lost his last four games. After round 6 (out of 8), the teenagers Paul Delaney and Paul Wallace were tied for first. Both lost in round 7, to Keogh and Ludgate respectively. These shared the lead heading into the final round, where both had Black.

In the final round Keogh drew quickly with the defending champion Tony Doyle. Alan Ludgate was therefore assured of clear first if he won against Paul Delaney. The Irish Times reported that “Ludgate gained a winning position against Delaney and appeared certain to win the title outright, but he mishandled the attack in time pressure and allowed the alert Delaney to escape with a draw”. This is where it is very helpful to have the game score—previously not available—as this description is inaccurate in several respects.

The diagram shows what was perhaps the most critical moment. Ludgate, as Black, is to play. How would you continue? There are several continuations that seem promising, but all except one lead to no advantage.

[Click to reply the full game.]