The Irish Championship for 1977, held in Cork, attracted a field of 34 players. It was a very young field, in which 15 players were playing in their first championship, including future winners Philip Short, John Delaney, Eugene Curtin, and Paul Delaney, as well as Keith Allen, Tom Clarke, and Tim Harding.
The defending champion Bernard Kernan was not there—in fact he never played in any subsequent Irish championship either—and the path was open for a new winner. After four rounds Colm Barry and Eugene Curtin, both of whom played in the Glorney Cup later that month, were in the lead, having dropped only a half point against each other. By round 6, Alan Ludgate, co-champion in 1975, had taken a lead which he never subsequently relinquished, finishing with three draws for an undefeated 6½/9 and his second shared title.
The sensation of the event, though, was the performance of Ray Devenney, who beat Barry, Curtin, Paul Delaney, and Eamon Keogh to finish with 6½/9 and become joint champion. Devenney suffered his only setback in round 6 when, on 4/5, he lost to John Gibson in a game in which he stood much better. He bounced back in the next round with a critical win against Eamon Keogh.
26… ?
In this game it was Keogh who stood better earlier, before blundering a pawn. In the diagrammed position, it is still all to play for: after 26… Rf8 27. f4 Bh6 28. e3 Rae8 Black would have full compensation. Instead play continued 26… Re8 27. Qg4 Qe5? (27… Qh6!=) 28. Bf5 Qxe2? (28… Re7, with advantage to White) 29. Qh3 h6 30. Rxd6 Rad8 31. Rxh6+! with a decisive attack.
[Click to replay the full game.]
A full report on the championship has been added to the tournament pages here.