Everybody knows about the annual Hastings Christmas tournament. The first one took place in 1920-21 and was a four player double round-robin of British Champions, won by Frederick Yates ahead of R.H.V. Scott, Henry Atkins and Richard Griffith. It grew in importance and the winner's list became a Who's Who of chess champions.
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)
[Event "Lucerne"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dr. Martin Christoffel"]
[Black "Herman Pilnik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B91"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
{Sicilian Najdorf} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 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."} Bg4 {Very seldom played. Black almost
always replies with 6...e5} 7. f3 Bd7 8. Bg2 {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. Be3 e6 10. Qd2 (10. h4 {This is also good.} Be7
11. Qd2 Nc6 12. O-O-O b5 13. Qg2 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 b4 15. Ne2 {with a sharp
position. Popovic,P (2550)-Ljubojevic,L (2635) Belgrade 1989}) 10... Nc6 11.
O-O-O Ne5 12. h4 Qc7 13. Rg1 b5 14. Qf2 Rc8 15. g5 {White has a strong attack.
Stefansson,H (2585)-Miton,K (2600) Reykjavik 2011}) 8... Nc6 9. Be3 (9. Nb3 g6
10. Be3 Bg7 11. a4 Ne5 12. Nd2 Rc8 13. a5 Nc4 14. Nxc4 Rxc4 15. Bb6 Qc8 16. O-O
{Black is slightly better. Hernandez,A (2285) -Gormally,D (2484) Cardiff 2015})
9... Rc8 10. O-O (10. Nde2 Ne5 11. b3 g6 12. O-O Bg7 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 {
is equal. Stoyanov,I (1978)-Fedoseev,V (2321) Herceg Novi 2008}) 10... Nxd4 11.
Bxd4 e5 12. Be3 Be7 13. Rf2 O-O 14. Rd2 b5 15. a3 Be6 16. Qe2 Rc6 {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. Nd5 Bxd5 {This deprives black of his better
B, but it's the best way for black to get counterplay.} (17... Nxd5 {of course
loses a piece.} 18. exd5 Rc4 19. dxe6) 18. exd5 Rc4 {with equal chances.}) (17.
Nd5 h5 (17... Qd7 18. Nb4) 18. a4 Rc4 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. axb5 axb5 21. Ra6 {
Although black is on the defensive with careful play he should have adequate
resources.}) (17. f4 {at once is met by} Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qa5 19. f5 Bc4 {and
black has fully equalized.}) 17... Qc8 {Sacrificing the exchange with 17...
Rxc3 was good here, too.} 18. Kh2 Rxc3 {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 Qxc3 {White has two
reasonable, but passive, moves: 20.Rdd1 and 20.Qe1} 20. Rad1 {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.} Qxa3 21. f4 {This
move does not help white's position, but practically speaking, no other move
is better.} (21. Qe1 Qc3 22. Rd3 Qc6 {and black remains with the slightly
better position.}) (21. Bg5 Qc5 22. Bxf6 Bxf6 (22... gxf6 {is also playable.}
23. f4 a5 {Black is slightly better.}) 23. Rxd6 Ra8 24. f4 {Finally, but blck
is better.}) 21... Bg4 {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. Qd3 Qa5 23. Qe2 Qc3 24. Qd3 Rc8 {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 Qxe3
23. g5 Qxe2 24. Rxe2 Nd7 25. fxe5 {It's hard to explain this move which
completely spoils his P-formation and gives black's pieces good squares.} (25.
Red2 {keeps the chances equal. For example...} Ra8 26. Ra1 Nc5 27. Rd5 a5 28.
Bf1 b4 29. Bc4 {is doubtful black can make any real progress.}) 25... Nxe5 26.
Ra1 Ra8 (26... Bxg5 27. Rxa6 Rd8 28. Rb6 {and white has equalized.}) 27. c3 g6
28. Rea2 Rc8 29. Rxa6 Rxc3 {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. Rb1 Bxg5 {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. Rxb5 {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. Kh1 (32. Rxd6 Ng4+ 33. Kg1 Rc1+ 34. Bf1 Be3+ 35. Kg2 Rc2+ 36.
Be2 Rxe2+ 37. Kf1 Rf2+ 38. Ke1 Rf3 {with a won ending/}) 32... Be7 33. Rb7 Bf6
34. Rxd6 Ng4 (34... Rc1+ {would have been a knockout punch.} 35. Kh2 Ng4+ 36.
Kh3 Rc3 37. Rdb6 Be5 38. Rb3 Nf2+ 39. Kh2 Bxg3+ 40. Kg1 Rc1+ 41. Bf1 Nxe4) 35.
Bh3 Nf2+ 36. Kh2 Nxe4 37. Ra6 {[%mdl 8192] The final mistake after which white
is clearly lost.} (37. Rd5 {keeps him in the game.} Re3 38. Rdd7 {
Counterattack! Now there is nothing black can do because of the Rs on the 7th
rank.} Re2+ 39. Kg1 Nxg3 40. Rb8+ Kg7 41. Rbb7 {and if} Kh6 42. Rd3 h4 43. Rxf7
{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... Be5
{is winning.} 38. Re7 Ng5 39. Kh1 (39. Rxe5 Nf3+) 39... Bxg3) 38. Ra8+ {
[%mdl 8192] 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. Rb4 Re3 39. Rxe4 {By returning the exchange white eliminates all danger
to his K.} hxg3+ 40. Kg2 Rxe4 41. Rxf6 Re3 {and white can draw.}) 38... Kg7 39.
Rc8 hxg3+ {Better was 39...Rxg3 and ...Ng5} 40. Kg2 Ra3 {After this we are
back to equality!} (40... Rd3 41. Rc2 {Or else black has a winning check on d2.
} (41. Rcc7 Rd2+ 42. Kf1 Rf2+ 43. Kg1 Bd4 {wins}) 41... Nd6 42. Rd7 Kh6 43. Rc5
Rd2+ 44. Kxg3 Ne4+ 45. Kf3 Rxd7 46. Kxe4 {Black scored five wins in Shootouts.}
) 41. Rcc7 {[%mdl 8192] Logical, doubling Rs on the 7th, but it turns out to
be the final mistake that loses the game.} (41. Be6 {This powerful move makes
a draw a likely outcome.} Nd6 42. Rcc7 {Now is the time for this.} Nxb7 43.
Rxf7+ Kh6 44. Rxb7 {draws}) 41... Ra2+ {Black is now back on track and wraps
it up.} 42. Kf3 Ng5+ 43. Kg4 Ra4+ 44. Kxg3 Be5+ 45. Kg2 Bxc7 46. Rxc7 Ra2+ {
White resigned} 0-1
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