At least you are when your opponent is one of history’s greatest players. In the following game Dr. Peter Trifunovic, who was famous for drawing games, makes a couple of minuscule mistakes in the opening and pays for them by losing the game. Against a lesser player they probably wouldn’t have mattered even if they had been recognized as such!
The game was played in Noordwijk, a town in the west of the Netherlands, in 1965. Besides its beaches, Noordwijk is also known for its bulb flower fields and is the location of the headquarters for the European Space Research and Technology Center, part of the European Space Agency.
There was a great tournament held in Noordwijk in back in1938. Games started at 5:30 pm to enable Euwe to finish his classes in Amsterdam before driving to the tournament. The results were: 1) Eliskases (7.5), 2) Keres (6.5), 3) Pirc (5.5), 4) Euwe (5), 5-6) Bogoljubow and Landau (4.5), 7) Thomas (4), 8-10) Schmidt, Spielmann and Tartakower (2.5).
In 1965, eight players participated in the annual Noteboom Memorial held in Noordwijk from February 21st to the 28th. The winner was Botvinnik who had lost his world championship to Petrosian in 1963 and had decided to no longer participate in the world championship cycle.
Although he was no longer participating in the world championship cycle, he had not retired from tournament play. In 1965 he played in two Moscow Trade Union Spartakiads, the Trud team competition in Moscow, the Moscow-Leningrad match and in the European Team Championship. In the European Team Championship he had a miserable result, scoring +2 -3 =3. His combined score for those events was +12 -5 =6; he was hardly the invincible player he had been, but Noordwijk was a happy exception.
Botvinnik continued playing competitively until age 59 in 1970 when he decided to concentrate on the development of computer chess programs and assisting with the training of younger Soviet players.
From 1966 to 1970 he played in five team matches and six international tournaments which included first place finished at Hastings 1966-67 and tied for first in Beverwijk in 1969. During the period from 1966 to 1970 he scored +58 -11 =60.
Besides Botvinnik, a Soviet GM of a bygone era, 57-year old Salo Flohr, also participated in the 1965 event. As was his custom Flohr scored one win and drew the rest of his games.
Dr. Peter Trifunovic, the drawing GM from Yugoslavia with a colorless style turned in a score of +3 -1 =3 which was rather surprising considering his willingness to split the point. His sole loss was to Botvinnik.
Beginning with the 1958 Interzonal, Larsen had not been playing well and in the early 1960s he had diversified his style by switching over to risky and unusual openings which often threw his opponents off balance. As a result he recovered his form and furthered his development. So his finish was disappointing; he lost to the three players who finished above him.
GM Jan Hein Donner led the Dutch contingent that included the 20-year old Jacob Kort and veteran Carl Van den Berg.
The Bulgarian GM Milko Bobotsov (October 1931 - April 2000) is not well known. He was the first Bulgarian to attain the GM title which he was awarded in 1961. He was Bulgarian champion in 1958 and had mostly modest results in international tournaments. He was not a full-time player, working as a gymnastics instructor for several years before suffering a near-fatal stroke in 1972 that severely curtailed his activities. He was married to the Woman GM Antonia Ivanova who passed away in 2004.
1) Botvinnik 6.0-1.0
2) Trifunovic 4.5-2.5
3) Flohr 4.0-3.0
4-5) Larsen and Van den Berg 3.5-3.5
6-7) Bobotsov and Donner 3.0-4.0
8) Kort 0.5-6.5
[Event "Noordwijk"]
[Site "Noordwijk NED"]
[Date "1965.2.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Petar Trifunovic"]
[Black "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 {Botvinnik called this a cautious move and
explained it by the fact that Trifunovic was well placed in the tournament and
so had no objection to a draw. } 4... Nf6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Bc4 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8.
dxe5 dxe5 {Botvinnik explained that capturing with the N was the simplest, but
he didn't want a draw and so it was too dangerous...meaning it was too drawish
and Trifunovic was the drawing master.} 9. Re1 {Botvinnik suggested that if
Trifunovic wanted a draw he could have initiated multiple exchanges with 9.Bb5
and if 9...Bd7 then 10.Bxc6 and 11.Nxe5. } 9... a6 10. a4 Nh5 11. Nf1 Qxd1
{The trade of Qs may make things look drawish, but Botvinnik was satisfied
that he can gain just a tiny advantage in that he can now advantageously
develop his light squared B.} 12. Rxd1 Bg4 13. h3 {This drew harsh criticism
from Botvinnik because it weakens his h-Pawn. After 13.Ne3 Bxf3 14.gxf3 it's
true white has white has weakened Ps, but compensation in the possibility of
placing a N on d5. Such little nuances are what constitutes chess as it is
played at such high levels. } 13... Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nf4 15. Bxf4 {Another tiny
mistake that draws criticism from Botvinnik who calls it too straightforward
because it gives black's N a convenient square on e5 and at the same time the
P on f4 restricts white's development...his N doesn't have a good square.
Botvinnik suggested 15.Kh2, a move which Stockfish also finds acceptable.
Botvinnik was quite correct that the move isn't very good...Stockfish's
evaluation now swings in black's favor.} 15... exf4 16. Nd2 Rab8 17. Be2
{Another small error involving squares. After this move Botvinnik's N lands
on e5 therefore it was preferable to play 17.a5. In that case there would be
no black P on b5 and white would be able to challenge the N on e5 with Nc4}
17... b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Ra6 Ne5 {Now if white tries to challenge the N on
e5 he has to play c3-c4 which would then allow black to activate his R on the
open b-file. } 20. Nb3 b4 21. c4 Rfd8 {Now it's time for black to trade a pair
of Rs. } 22. Rd5 c6 {A little temptation for white to attack the P on b4 which
Trifunovic falls for.} 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Rb6 Bf8 25. c5 Ra8 {Black has
control of the a-file. The cost of a P is only temporary.} 26. Rxb4 Ra2 27.
Nd2 {Best. White does not want to allow black control of his 2nd rank. For
example, pinning the B with 27.Rb8 is disastrous after 27...Rxb2 pinning the
N and attacking the B. } 27... Bxc5 28. Rb8+ Kg7 29. Nc4 {White has finally
succeeded in challenging the N on e5, but now it's offset by the activity of
black's R on the 2nd rank. } 29... Bd4 30. Rb7 {This is serious
miscalculation. Trifunovic should have sought an ending with Bs of opposite
color which despite his previous small inaccuracies would have given him
drawing chances. Instead he is trying to force black to exchange Ns so his B
will be on c4 and he will be attacking black's c7. What he has overlooked is
that he will now have to give up his B for the N. Correct was 30.Nxe5. }
30... Ra1+ 31. Kg2 Re1 32. Nxe5 {There is no choice. If 32.Bf1 then
32...Nxf3. } 32... Rxe2 {Not 32...Bxe5 because it results in an ending with Bs
of opposite color. } 33. Nxc6 Rxf2+ 34. Kh1 Bxb2 35. Nd8 Kh6 {White is looking
at a lost ending even if he takes the f-Pawn. If 36.Nx7+ Kh5 and black K
becomes an active participant on the K-side. And if 36.Rxf7 Rxf3 black has a
decisive material advantage. } 36. Rb5 Kg7 {Even better was 36...f6. Even
though his K gets confined to the last rank after 37.Nf7+ he can then move his
B followed by the capture of the P on f3. } 37. Rb7 Kh6 38. Rb5 {Botvinnik
conveniently does not comment on this move. If 38.Rxf7 black captures the P on
c3, defends his f-Pawn with ...g5 and then gets his K into play. However,
38.Nxf7+ is another story. After 38...Kh5 39.e5 black will have a hard time
demonstrating any superiority. } 38... f6 39. Nf7+ Kg7 40. Rb7 Kf8 41. Nd8
Be5 42. Ne6+ Ke8 43. Ng7+ Kd8 44. Ne6+ Kc8 45. Rxh7 {Defending the f-Pawn with
45.Rb3 would allow black's K to escape from the back rank with 45...Kd7. }
45... Rxf3 46. Kg2 Rg3+ 47. Kf2 g5 48. h4 Rh3 {Here the game was adjourned and
analysis convinced Botvinnik that he needed to play this because if 48...g4
white has an easy draw with 49.Rg7. That's not true. Lengthy analysis by
Stockfish does not give white any chances whatsoever of drawing. Nor does he
have any after 48...Rh3, so it's a moot point.} 49. h5 g4 50. Rg7 Rh2+ 51.
Kg1 g3 52. h6 f3 {White mates in 9 moves. } 0-1
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