Cobras crush New York 4-0 !!

The week Jan Ehlvest entered the Tennessee house, the rest of the league's eyes fell on the Cobras as the team they'd most like to play. The Cobra's answer speaks for itself.

Simpson,Ron (2346) - Bonin,Jay (2370) [B32]
USCL Carolina vs New York Internet Chess Club (4), 17.09.2008

Comments by Ron Simpson

A little history:
I grew up in New York City and Jay Bonin was one of the many big guns in the metropolitan chess community. I met Jay in the mid 1970s. I was a teenager with a rating of about 1900 and Jay was a full IM. Speed Chess was the main chess activity and no one seemed to play for free, or at least the big guns didn't play me for free. Jay must have beaten me over a 1000 speed games and a few tournament games. It was almost impossible to go to the Marshall, Manhattan, or Long Island chess clubs without running into Jay Bonin. Beating Jay Bonin, on line, for all see, is just too good for words. Carolina beating NYC by the score of 4-0, was fantastic. But beating Jay Bonin, my childhood chess monitor, priceless!!

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Nc4 Rc8 9.Be3 Nd4 10.Bxd4 Bxc4 11.Bxc4 Rxc4 My thoughts about moves 9 to 12 is that Jay was trying to play very straight forward and achieve a innocuous position. The position favors white because of Black's underdevelopment, weak squares, and coordination difficulties. I think the idea to trade the knight and Bishop resulted in a position which doesn't allow Black much flexibility. 12.Be3 h6 Diagram

[12...Be7; 12...Nf6] 13.Qd3 Rc6 14.0-0-0 Nf6 15.f3 Be7 16.g4 Moves 12 to 16 where logical moves with respect to achieving a solid position with little risk. I wanted to play 15.f4 but this would only allow counter play for unclear attacking chances. So, Jay's 17...Kd7 appeared to be the best place to put the king under the circumstances. But after 18.g5. Black's position is problematic. How is Black going to connect his rooks, put the knight on a good square, and not jeopardize the g/h pawn? 16...Qa5



7.h4 Kd7 18.g5 Rxc3 18...Rxc3 sealed the deal for Black. Black is now playing for a draw because the next few moves are just about forced. 19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 hxg5 21.hxg5 Rxh1 22.Rxh1 Ne8 23.Rh7


Rh7 was difficult for me because all of my plans required long range calculations. The main ideas were to march my King up the b-file and attack the "a and b" pawns while holding my g-pawn. But I didn't want to put my rook on a completely defensive square (e.g.: g1). The point of Rh7 was that the Bishop and Knight could not attack my g-pawn and defend his g and f pawn simultaneously. The results were as the text showed a trade of pieces and pawns. 23...Bf8 24.f4 exf4 25.Bxf4 Nc7 26.Be3 Ne6 27.Kb2 Be7 28.Kb3 Bxg5 29.Bxg5 Nxg5 30.Rxg7 Nxe4 31.Rxf7+ Kc6 32.Re7 Nc5+ 33.Kc4 Diagram

The position stemming from move 32 was like playing with the house's money. White would have to make a really big blunder to lose. But the win was difficult to find. 33...Na4 34.Rh7 Nc5 35.Kb4 Ne4 36.a4 Nc5 37.a5 Ne4 38.Re7 Nc5 39.Kc4 Na4 40.Re1 Nc5 41.Rb1 Diagram

I found the plan to exploit the b6 square. The game is basically over. I focused on preventing any counter play that the lonely knight could try. A King and Rook vs a Knight is really an unfair fight. 41...Nd7 42.Kd4 Kc7 43.Kd5 Nf6+ 44.Ke6 Ne4 45.Rb4 Nc5+ 46.Kd5 Kd7 47.Rh4 Kc7 48.Rh7+ Kb8 49.c4 Ka7 50.Re7 Na4 51.Kxd6 Nb2 52.Kc5 Black resigns 1-0