We have previously posted about Patrick Brendan Kennedy’s victory in the 1949 Irish Championship. As that article pointed out, all seven of his games from that event are in the ICU database, but beyond those very few others appear to have survived. So, it was a very pleasant surprise to come across one in B.H. Wood’s magazine Chess. Alongside the magazine, Wood organised the simply-named Postal Chess Club and Postal Chess League, catering for respectively individual and team correspondence chess competition. In 1949 a team representing Cork (and having amongst its number the young Kennedy) finished 5th in Division 1 of Wood’s Postal Chess League. The Kennedy game appeared in a triple-issue of Chess published in August 1949 so it was possibly completed just before his Irish title success.
P.B. Kennedy (Cork) – H.G. Rice (Mutual)
1949 Postal Chess League, Division 1
[Game source: Chess, Volume 14, page 236]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.O-O O-O
9.Qe2 Bg4 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.h3 Bh5 12.e4 Qe8 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 h6 15.g4 Bg6 16.g5 h5 17.Ng3 Bf5 18.Nxh5 Bxh3 19.Nh4 Bf5 20.Nxf5 exf5 21.Qf3 N7b6
22.Nf6+ Nxf6
(Capturing with the pawn by 22…gxf6 loses to 23.gxf6 Nxf6 and now not 24. exf6 all0wing 24…Qe4! but 24.Qxf5! e.g. 24…Qd7 (or 24…Nxc4 25.exf6 when the threat of Qg5+ and Qg7# is decisive.) 25.Qg6+ Kh8 26.Qxf6+ Kg8 27.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Bh6 Kh8 30.Bg5+ Kg8 31.Qg6+ Kh8 32.Bf6#)
23.gxf6 Qd7
( 23…Nxc4 24.Qg3 g6 25.Qh3 with Qh6 and Qg7# to follow; or 23…g6 24.Qh3 with the Queen again heading for the g7 square.)
24.Qg3 Black resigned.
(If 24…g6 White can play 25.Qxg6+ because the pinned f-pawn cannot recapture.)