In the first game of the 10 game match between former FIDE World Champion Ponomariov and America’s top player Nakamura, the former champ passed the B+N vs. K test to earn the win. The position of B+N vs. K was reached on move 80 and Nakamura resigned on move 93 after mate was inevitable.
In the other match, Robson scored with Black in game one to take a 1-0 lead.
Ponomariov, Ruslan (2754) – Nakamura, Hikaru (2774)
Exhibition Classical Match
St Louis (1), 2011.05.17O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.g4 h5 14.h3 Rf6 15.Nd3 Rh6 16.Kg2 c5 17.dxc6 Nxc6 18.c5 dxc5 19.Nxc5 Nd4 20.Bc4+ Kh7 21.Nb3 Nf6 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.e5 hxg4 24.hxg4 Nxg4 25.fxg4 Bxe5 26.Rh1 Qd7 27.Ne4 Rxh1 28.Qxh1+ Kg7 29.Qh5 Qxg4+ 30.Qxg4 Bxg4 31.Nxg5 d3 32.Bxd3 Rd8 33.Be2 Bf5 34.Rd1 Rxd1 35.Bxd1 Bxb2 36.Bxa7 Kf6 37.Nf3 Bd3 38.Kf2 Bc1 39.Bb3 Be4 40.Ke2 Ke7 41.Bb8 Be3 42.Be5 Kd7 43.Ng5 Bc6 44.Bc4 Bc1 45.Nf3 Be3 46.Bc3 Kd6 47.Bb4+ Kc7 48.Ne5 Be8 49.Bd5 Bh5+ 50.Kd3 Bc1 51.Bc5 b5 52.Ke4 Bd2 53.Nf3 Bg6+ 54.Ke5 Be3 55.Bxe3 fxe3 56.Kd4 e2 57.Ke3 Kd6 58.Bg8 Kc5 59.Kxe2 Bh5 60.Ke3 Kb4 61.Nd4 Bg6 62.Kd2 Kc5 63.Nc2 Bf5 64.Kc3 Be4 65.a3 Kb6 66.Nd4 Ka5 67.Bb3 Bg2 68.Bc2 Bf1 69.Nb3+ Ka4 70.Nd2+ Kxa3 71.Bb3 Bd3 72.Kxd3 Kb2 73.Be6 Kc1 74.Nb3+ Kb2 75.Kd2 b4 76.Kd3 Ka3 77.Kc4 Ka4 78.Bf5 Ka3 79.Nc5 Kb2 80.Kxb4 Ka2 81.Kc3 Ka1 82.Nb3+ Ka2 83.Be4 Ka3 84.Bb1 Ka4 85.Nd4 Ka5 86.Kc4 Kb6 87.Nb5 Kb7 88.Bf5 Kc6 89.Bc8 Kb6 90.Bd7 Kb7 91.Kc5 Ka6 92.Nd6 Ka5 93.Nb7+ 1-0
St Louis (1), 2011.05.17
1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3Finegold, Ben (2494) – Robson, Ray (2545)
Exhibition Classical Match
St Louis (1), 2011.05.17O-O Be6 10.Bxe6 Qxe6 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.cxd4 Qd7 13.Bf4 e6 14.Be5 Qc6 15.Qg4 h5 16.Qe2 Nd5 17.Nc3 f6 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Bf4 Be7 20.Rad1 Kf7 21.a3 Rac8 22.Rfe1 Rc4 23.Be3 Rhc8 24.h3 g6 25.Qd3 Rc2 26.Rd2 Rc1 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Rd1 Rc4 29.Qb1 a6 30.Rc1 Qc6 31.Rxc4 Qxc4 32.Qd1 Qc6 33.Qd3 b5 34.Bd2 Qc4 35.Qe3 Qc2 36.Bc3 Qb1+ 37.Kh2 Bd6+ 38.g3 h4 39.Qf3 hxg3+ 40.fxg3 Qc2+ 41.Kh1 g5 42.d5 e5 43.Qg4 Bc5 44.Be1 Qd3 45.Kg2 Qxd5+ 46.Qf3 e4 47.Qe2 Qd4 48.h4 Qg1+ 49.Kh3 Qh1+ 50.Kg4 Kg6 51.h5+ Qxh5# 0-1
Exhibition Classical Match
St Louis (1), 2011.05.17
1.e4
c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d5 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar
May 18, 2011
Chess Improvement, Daily News, General News, Major Tournaments, Scholastic Chess
3 Comments
Go Pono!
B+N vs K is a fun ending and really easy after a little practice, not at all like the torture of Q vs R or Q+P vs Q. The ‘hardest’ part of the mate, shepherding the lone King across the edge of the board to the right colored corner, involves some counter-intuitive knight moves, but is easy to learn because the winning method works practically independently of your opponent’s moves, enlarging the box without opening it, then closing it again and squeezing the king to the right corner.
A pent up Pono is a dangerous opponent.
Did Nakamura put Pono thru the elementary mate (B+N) due to Pono’s jet lag? Or just out of sheer jackass-ery?
Grindmeister Lenya Gristmilli