James J. Doyle was a long-time stalwart of Dublin C.C., playing on Armstrong Cup-winning teams spanning at least the 1921-22 to 1949-50 seasons, and was Leinster champion in 1925. He was also a regular at tournaments at Margate and Hastings.
One of his games has recently shown up at John Saunders’ outstanding BritBase site. It was found by Brian Denham in the Borough of West Ham, East Ham and Stratford Express, January 20, 1934, and it is a sprightly win from the Hastings Major C in 1933-34.
17… ?
After an eventful opening, White has just played 17. Bc1-h6. Black now erred with 17… Bh5?, which is far too slow, and after 18. Bxg7 Rfe8, White would have had a decisive advantage with the straightforward 19. Rg1 Bg6 20. f3.
Instead Doyle played the inaccurate 19. Be5?!, allowing Black counterplay after 19… f6 20. Bxf6, when 20… Rxe4, though still leaving White with a substantial advantage, would have kept Black well in the game. Instead Ward played the disastrous 20… Bf3?? and found himself in a mating net after 21. Nh6+ Kf8 22. Rg1. After a couple of spite checks, Black resigned.
Final position
[Click to replay the full game.]
Up to now, the ICU games archive has had only two of Doyle’s games, both losses, so this game is a very welcome addition to the archives.