Located in central California, the small town of Lone Pine was the site of very strong international Swiss tournaments from 1971 to 1981. The winner of the 1978 event was Bent Larsen.
For this tournament the eligibility requirements were increased, yet again. Entrants needed ti have an IM or GM title plus an FIDE rating of 2350 or higher. Juniors had to be rated at least 2250.
As a point of reference, the top players on the 1978 FIDE rating list were Anatolt Karpov (2725), Viktor Korchnoy (2665), Henrique Mecking (2630), Lajos Portisch (2630) and Boris Spassky (2630).
The winner, Larsen, was #8 at 2620. The 1978 event had 44 players, 22 of whom were GMs.
The winner of this game was England’s Jonathan Speelman (born 1956) wgo was awarded the IM title in 1978 and the GM title in 1980. He was British Champion in 1978, 1985 and 1986. Early in his career he had a problem with his eyesight but when this was resolved his strength increased dramatically. Hans Ree (born in 1944) of Holland has held the GM title since 1980 and was Dutch champion in 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1982.
[Event "Lone Pine"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1978.04.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jonathan Speelman"]
[Black "Hans Ree"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A21"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1/Speelman"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1978.04.02"]
{A21: English Opening} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. Bg5 Nf6 6. Nd2
Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. h4 {More enterprising than the usual 8.Be2} c6 9. Be2 Na6 10.
a3 {Speelman wants to play g4, but first takes time to limit the scope of
black's N by preventing ...Nb4} Nc7 11. g4 {Technically the solid 11.Rc1 is
the best move, but Speelman plays what he later described as a move he would
only play in a blitz game!} d5 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Qb3 {Black's main choice are
the precautionary 13...Kh8 (best) or 13...h6 pretty much compelling white to
part with his B by 14.Bxf6 or he can play 13...fxg4 which gets a bit
complicated.} Nxg4 {A clever P offer which white wisely declines.} (13... fxg4
14. Ncxe4 {The resaon why 13...Kh8 comes into consideration.} h5 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6
{with complications.}) ({Black should play} 13... Kh8 $17) 14. Bxg4 {An
unfortunate choice that give black the advantage.} (14. Bxe7 {Objectively this
may be the best move.} Qxe7 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5+ Be6 17. Qxe6+ Qxe6 18. Bc4
Qxc4 19. Nxc4 Rac8 20. Ne5 (20. Nd2 {would be a losing blooper.} Rc2 {followed
by ...Rfc8 with a decisive advantage.}) 20... Nxe5 {This simply leads to a
transposition.} 21. dxe5 Rc5 {with an active position.}) (14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15.
Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Qxd5+ Be6 17. Qxe6+ Qxe6 18. Bc4) 14... Bxg5 15. hxg5 fxg4 16.
Ndxe4 Be6 17. Ng3 {A safety precaution. From here the N helps defend the K.}
Qxg5 18. Qxb7 {Speelman wrote that he believed his position was "quite a lot
worse", but the position was unclear enough that draw offer would not be
"impolite." Quite the gentleman! Black is better, but only by a tad over a P.}
Qe7 19. Qb3 (19. Nb5 {Speelman considered this, but rejected it.} Qf7 20. f4 (
20. Qxc7 Qxf2+ 21. Kd1 Rac8 {is cutains.}) 20... Nxb5 21. Qxb5 Bf5 {Black will
now place his Rs on the b- and c-files as appropriate leaving him with a
decisive advantage.}) (19. Rc1 {This prosaic move keeps things fairly even
agfter} Rfb8 20. Qc6 Rb6 21. Qc5 Qxc5 22. dxc5 Rxb2 {and black is only
slightly better.}) 19... Rab8 20. Qc2 {Black is clearly better here, but there
is no immediate way of winning, so he must find moves that keep up the
pressure.} g6 21. Rc1 Nb5 {Hoping to exchange Ns leavinbg white with a very
weak Q-side; naturally, Speelman is unwilling to make the trade. Stockfish
suggested an interesting idea here: 21...Bd8 followed by ...Ba6 placing the B
on an active diagona;.} 22. Na4 {A tactical error. 22.Nce2 was correct.} Nxd4 {
[%mdl 512] Speelman was not convinced that this was the right move, but it os,
in fact, the best and now black is winning.} 23. exd4 {Black must now prevent
0-0.} Bd7+ 24. Kd1 {Nw Ree conceived a flashy finish, but there is a fly in
the ointment.} Rxf2 (24... Rf4 25. Ne2 {And now is the time for...} Rxf2 26.
Re1 Re8 27. Nac3 g3 {with an easy win.}) 25. Qxf2 {The position is equal.}
Bxa4+ {Apparently white has to interpose his Q or R on c2, or if the K goes to
d2 then ...Rxb2+} 26. b3 {The fly!} Rxb3 {White's K looks to be in serious
trouble. So, the only thing to do is counterattack which in this case is
enough to keep things equal.} (26... Bxb3+ 27. Kd2 Bc4 28. Rb1 {and the K has
evaded all threats and the chances are now equal.}) 27. Rc8+ Kg7 28. Nf5+ {
The only move, but it's a beauty.} gxf5 {Now what. Again, there is only one
movem but it, too, is a beauty.} 29. Rxh7+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} Kxh7 30. Qxf5+ {
Black has to be careful because if the K goes to h6 he gets nated.} Kg7 {
Now white has no choice except to take the draw.} (30... Kh6 31. Rh8+ Kg7 32.
Rh7+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kf8 34. Rh8#) 31. Qxg4+ Kf6 32. Qf4+ Kg6 33. Qg4+ Kf6 {
( -> ...Rc3+)} 34. Qf4+ {Drawn, It's interesting to note that the Accuracy
evaluation that Fritz assigned to the players' moves shows Ree with 76% to
have played far better than Speelman (45%) which proves that it only takes one
move (here 24...Rxf2) to spoil the game.} 1/2-1/2
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