1. e4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Be3 c6 5. a4 Nd7 6. Bc4 Ngf6 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 d5! 9. Bb3 dxe4 10. O-O-O!?

If 10. fxe4 c5! .

10... exf3 11. Nxf3 Nb6 12. h3 Nbd5 13. Bh6 Nxc3 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qxc3 Nd5 16. Qe1 Qd6 17. Kb1 f6! 18. g4 Be6 19. Qe4 Rae8 20. Rde1 Bf7 21. h4 b5! 22. g5 bxa4 23. Bxa4 Nc3+?!

'!', 'White overlooked the sacrifice. His king is now exposed'—CHESS.

Better 23... Qb4 24. Bb3 Rb8: Black simply plays ...a5-a4.

[RR There is indeed a win, though it's not so simple. After 23... Qb4 24. Bb3 Rb8? 25. h5! a5 26. Nh4! a4? (26... Rg8 gives about equal chances ) 27. hxg6 and White wins in all variations.

The right way is 23... Qb4 24. Bb3 a5! immediately. ]

24. bxc3 Qa3 25. Bb3 Bxb3 26. cxb3 Qxb3+ 27. Kc1 Qxc3+ 28. Kd1 e5! 29. Nd2 f5 30. Qe3 Qa1+ 31. Kc2 Qa2+ 32. Kd1 Qa4+! 33. Qb3 Qxd4 34. h5 Rd8 35. Qe3 Qa4+? 36. Ke2 Rd5 37. hxg6 hxg6 38. Ra1! Qg4+ 39. Ke1

Black had 3 minutes for his next 11 moves.

39... Qd4 40. Rxa7+ Rf7 41. Rxf7+ Kxf7 42. Qxd4 Rxd4? 43. Nf3 Re4+ 44. Kd2 Kg7

[RR Black should have played 44... Ke6=: see next note.]

45. Rc1!

[RR The '!' is misplaced: White had a win with 45. Re1!.]

45... Rg4 46. Rxc6 e4 47. Rc7+ Kf8 48. Ne5 Rxg5 49. Ke3 Ke8??

Better 49... Rg1 but it's still drawn.

50. Rg7 Kf8

[RR J.J. Walsh reported that "Ludgate gained a winning position against Delaney and appeared certain to wn the title outright, but he mishandled the attack in time pressure and allowed the alert Delaney to escape with a draw" (Irish Times, July 21, 1975). This description now appears inaccurate: Ludgate appears to have had no win after move 23, and in fact it was Delaney who missed a win later on.]

Times: White: 2.29; Black: virtually 2.30.

51. Rxg6

1/2-1/2

Annotator(s): Alan Ludgate (see source) (shown above); CHESS (see source).

Source(s): Alan Ludgate scoresheet; CHESS, vol. 41, December 1975, pp. 93-96.

Event information: Tournament report.

Note: 'RR' denotes editorial comments added in April 2018.