The Glorney Cup 1965 was held in Glasgow, at the new University of Strathclyde, on August 3 and 4. Four teams competed: the previous year’s event in London had included France and the Netherlands, but for cost reasons it was not feasible to repeat that in 1965.
The Irish team in board order was Ray Byrne, John Moles, Tony Cafferky, J. McCallion, John Gibson, Ken Clarke, and Paul Henry. The event won high praise for its playing conditions and organisation, but the results were disappointing from the Irish point of view: the team lost all three matches, by lop-sided scores, to finish last, winning no games and only drawing 7 out of 18.
We’re fortunate that the full tournament booklet is available, including all 36 games, thanks to John Gibson. Based on this, a full tournament report has been added here. As far as I know, these games are not available anywhere else.
One puzzle emerges: Ireland’s score would have been more respectable if John Moles had not agreed a draw in a clearly winning position and Ken Clarke in a near-winning position against Wales. Why?
The overall event is notable as the first, and still the only, occasion on which Scotland finished clear first. After Scotland and England each won 5-1 against Ireland and 4½-1½ against Wales, they met in the last round. With Scotland leading 3-2, it all came down to the last game to finish, the board 2 game between T. C. Fox (England) and John M. Glendinning (Scotland).
59. ?
The diagrammed position shows a critical moment. White wins easily via 59. a5, or by 59. Kf5 Bd2 60. Kg4; even 59. Kd7 wins. Instead Fox played 59. Ke5?, blocking the h2-b8 diagonal, and the win should have been gone. Even then, after 59… Bd2 60. Bd8, Glendinning erred with 60… e3? (60… Kh6! draws, as in the game), allowing 61. Bg5, again winning easily. After the game’s 61. Bh4? e2 62. Kd6 Kh6! 63. Kxc6 Kxh5 64. Bf2 Kg4, the win and the Cup had gone: the point is that 65. Kxd5 is met by 65… Kf3 66. Bh4 Kg4 with a repetition.