There was another international Christmas tournament in Lucerne, Switzerland, but it only lasted from 1947-48 to 1953-54 and the most prominent winner was former World Champion Max Euwe in 1950-51 who tied with Herman Pilnik of Argentina.
Just three weeks before, in the 1950 Amsterdam tournament, Euwe and Pilnik met in round 7; Pilnik won and they ended up sharing sixth place. There were 18 players and Najdorf finished ahead of Reshevsky.
At Lucerne they met in the last round, played 25 moves and called it a draw.
In the following game, in a good position, the Swiss Master Martin Christoffel strives for more than he should have and his plans were frustrated by two counters by Pilnik...one on the Q-side, the other on the K-side. Black was then left with the better ending and managed to win against demoralized resistance.
A game that I liked (Komodo 14)
Dr. Martin Christoffel–Herman Pilnik0–1B91Lucerne1950Stockfish 15
Sicilian Najdorf 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 a6 6.g3
This is known as either the Fianchetto Variation or the Zagreb Variation.
Despite its quiet appearance black has to play accurately. Spanish GM Javier
Moreno Carnero explains, "...in general, theoreticians have not investigated
this line deeply enough, probably because they consider it a minor line, and
as result underestimate its real value. Many Najdorf specialists have
experienced some problems due to this, mainly because they did not really know
the dangers hidden in this scheme. This variation is not only strategically
complex, but also a bit of transpositional chaos because many lines can be
reached through different move orders." g4 Very seldom played. Black almost
always replies with 6...e5 7.f3 d7 8.g2 White continues in a slow, but
solid, way. More aggressive is 8. g4, the loss of time being insignificant
because clack has also lost time with his B. The initiative is what is
important here. 8.g4 h6 9.e3 e6 10.d2 10.h4 This is also good. e7 11.d2 c6 12.0-0-0 b5 13.g2 xd4 14.xd4 b4 15.e2 with a sharp
position. Popovic,P (2550)-Ljubojevic,L (2635) Belgrade 1989 10...c6 11.0-0-0 e5 12.h4 c7 13.g1 b5 14.f2 c8 15.g5 White has a strong attack.
Stefansson,H (2585)-Miton,K (2600) Reykjavik 2011 8...c6 9.e3 9.b3 g6 10.e3 g7 11.a4 e5 12.d2 c8 13.a5 c4 14.xc4 xc4 15.b6 c8 16.0-0 Black is slightly better. Hernandez,A (2285) -Gormally,D (2484) Cardiff 2015 9...c8 10.0-0 10.de2 e5 11.b3 g6 12.0-0 g7 13.d5 xd5 14.exd5
is equal. Stoyanov,I (1978)-Fedoseev,V (2321) Herceg Novi 2008 10...xd4 11.xd4 e5 12.e3 e7 13.f2 0-0 14.d2 b5 15.a3 e6 16.e2 c6 By
transposition the position has reached one very similar to the Boleslavsky
Variation. where the entire game centers around one single strategic goal: the
control of d5. It's complicated...opposite flank attacks often happen as do
breaks in the center and tactics can erupt. So far white has played well and
holds a a slight advantage. He ought to now continue with 17.Nd5. 17.h3
Christoffel wants to continue with 18.f4 so first guards first against 18...
Ng4, but he is aiming for more than the position justifies and black now
obtains strong counterplay. 17.d5 xd5 This deprives black of his better
B, but it's the best way for black to get counterplay. 17...xd5 of course
loses a piece. 18.exd5 c4 19.dxe6 18.exd5 c4 with equal chances. 17.d5 h5 17...d7 18.b4 18.a4 c4 19.xe7+ xe7 20.axb5 axb5 21.a6
Although black is on the defensive with careful play he should have adequate
resources. 17.f4 at once is met by xc3 18.bxc3 a5 19.f5 c4 and
black has fully equalized. 17...c8 Sacrificing the exchange with 17...
Rxc3 was good here, too. 18.h2 xc3 For the exchange, black seizes the
initiative, gets one P and sooner or later he may pick up a second one. Even
so, at this point the position is equal. 19.bxc3 xc3 White has two
reasonable, but passive, moves: 20.Rdd1 and 20.Qe1 20.ad1 White still
dreams of getting an attack going with the advance of the f-Pawn and so
willingly gives up another P...a questionable decision. xa3 21.f4 This
move does not help white's position, but practically speaking, no other move
is better. 21.e1 c3 22.d3 c6 and black remains with the slightly
better position. 21.g5 c5 22.xf6 xf6 22...gxf6 is also playable. 23.f4 a5 Black is slightly better. 23.xd6 a8 24.f4 Finally, but blck
is better. 21...g4 A little tactical trick that works...white plays into
an unfavorable endgame. 21...h5 keeps the initiative and was a better move
as after 22.d3 a5 23.e2 c3 24.d3 c8 White has no attacking
prospects and all he can do is shift pieces while black further builds up his
position. Still, white's game can hardly be considered lost. 22.hxg4 xe3 23.g5 xe2 24.xe2 d7 25.fxe5 It's hard to explain this move which
completely spoils his P-formation and gives black's pieces good squares. 25.ed2 keeps the chances equal. For example... a8 26.a1 c5 27.d5 a5 28.f1 b4 29.c4 is doubtful black can make any real progress. 25...xe5 26.a1 a8 26...xg5 27.xa6 d8 28.b6 and white has equalized. 27.c3 g6 28.ea2 c8 29.xa6 xc3 Black's passed P gives him all the winning chances.
Perhaps white can manage to save the game, but the pressure is on him to keep
finding the best defense. 30.b1 xg5 Now is the right time to play this.
It's instructive to watch how Pilnik is able to conjure up an attack against
Christoffel's King. 31.xb5 Capturing the right P because the b-Pawn is
more dangerous than the d-Pawn. h5 White is is grave danger from the threta
of ...Ng4+ 32.h1 32.xd6 g4+ 33.g1 c1+ 34.f1 e3+ 35.g2 c2+ 36.e2 xe2+ 37.f1 f2+ 38.e1 f3 with a won ending/ 32...e7 33.b7 f6 34.xd6 g4 34...c1+ would have been a knockout punch. 35.h2 g4+ 36.h3 c3 37.db6 e5 38.b3 f2+ 39.h2 xg3+ 40.g1 c1+ 41.f1 xe4 35.h3 f2+ 36.h2 xe4 37.a6 The final mistake after which white
is clearly lost. 37.d5 keeps him in the game. e3 38.dd7
Counterattack! Now there is nothing black can do because of the Rs on the 7th
rank. e2+ 39.g1 xg3 40.b8+ g7 41.bb7 and if h6 42.d3 h4 43.xf7 and five Shootouts were all drawn. 37...h4 An interesting situation has
arisen and it demonstrates why old pre-engine analysis is so often
untrustworthy. In many cases annotations were based on the result and they
were also quite superficial. Hans Kmoch gave this move a ! and called it the
finishing touch. In fact, it's question mark worthy because it should have
allowed white to equalize. Of course, Kmoch didn't have Stockfish. 37...e5 is winning. 38.e7 g5 39.h1 39.xe5 f3+ 39...xg3 38.a8+
White misses a chance to equalize. The next few moves are poorly
played by both players and it may very likely have been due to time pressure. 38.b4 e3 39.xe4 By returning the exchange white eliminates all danger
to his K. hxg3+ 40.g2 xe4 41.xf6 e3 and white can draw. 38...g7 39.c8 hxg3+ Better was 39...Rxg3 and ...Ng5 40.g2 a3 After this we are
back to equality! 40...d3 41.c2 Or else black has a winning check on d2.
41.cc7 d2+ 42.f1 f2+ 43.g1 d4 wins 41...d6 42.d7 h6 43.c5 d2+ 44.xg3 e4+ 45.f3 xd7 46.xe4 Black scored five wins in Shootouts. 41.cc7 Logical, doubling Rs on the 7th, but it turns out to
be the final mistake that loses the game. 41.e6 This powerful move makes
a draw a likely outcome. d6 42.cc7 Now is the time for this. xb7 43.xf7+ h6 44.xb7 draws 41...a2+ Black is now back on track and wraps
it up. 42.f3 g5+ 43.g4 a4+ 44.xg3 e5+ 45.g2 xc7 46.xc7 a2+
White resigned 0–1
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