The Irish Championship 1997 came down to the final game between Anthony Fox and Stephen Brady. A win for Brady would leave him tied with Joe Ryan for first, on the astounding score of 8½/9, thus sharing the title, while a draw would leave Ryan as sole champion.
As described by Colm Daly in the Irish Chess Journal report,
“The game looked drawish for about 95% of the time but just when it seemed to be turning in Stephen’s favour, his opponent started to play passively and allowed Stephen to build up a Q-side initiative. Soon the position was winning for Stephen (even if it had to be proved) but he went badly wrong and allowed a perpetual check.”
The diagram shows the crucial position.
68… ?
Here Stephen played 68… Ka7?, and after 69. Be4 b3+ 70. Kc3 Qb4+ 71. Kd4 c3+ 72. Ke3 c2 73. Qd7+, the game soon ended in a perpetual check, thus giving Joe Ryan the championship outright. Here 69… Bd6 is no better, as White has an immediate perpetual starting with 70. Qd7+.
But what about the alternative, from the diagram, 68… Bd6, as suggested by Daly? Does this in fact win?
It would certainly have made the defence more difficult. But it seems to me that with best play, there is no win.
After 70. Be4 Qd4 71. Kc1 b3, it seems that after 72. Bh7, Black will eventually be able to break through, but White has the saving resource 72. f4!!. After 72… gxf4 73. g5 Ka5 74. Qd5+ Qxd5 75. Bxd5 Kb4 76. g6 Bf6 77. Be4, Black is unable to break through with the king (77… Kc5 78. Bg2 Kd4 79. Kd2), while the breakthrough 77… c3 78. bxc3 Kxc3 is a tablebase draw: White plays 79. Kd1 and holds the f-pawn with the king, leaving the b-pawn to the bishop. If instead 77… Bg7!?, seeking to place the white bishop on a less favourable square, it is essential for White to respond 78. Bc6 or 78. Bd5: the bishop must be on one of the squares e4, d5, c6 when Black plays … c3.
[Click to replay the full game.]
The report on the event in the Tournament pages here has been greatly expanded. Once again, I’m indebted to John Gibson for providing a huge trove of material.