Ooops, I did it again...

In preparing yesterday's post (see "New, Old, New, Old..."), I discovered that I had neglected to share one of my earlier games against gmann. Here it is now, "better late than never", with a quirky opening line and a tale that might be titled "Pawns Acting Badly".



perrypawnpusher - gmann
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Kf6

This is a strange move, one that I have not seen before, and if the idea was to confuse me from the start, it worked well enough.

This time.

7.Nxc6

Treating the position as if Black had played ...Ke6 against a regular Jerome Gambit, as in my game against johnde.

There is more in the position for White, if he is willing to attack wildly and sacrifice when necessary, e.g.: 7.Qh5 g5 8.Qf7+ Kxe5 9.b4 Bd4 10.c3 Nf6 11.cxd4+ Nxd4 12.f4+ gxf4 13.Na3 Rf8 14.Qg7 dxe4 15.Nb5 Kd5 16.Bxd4 a6 17.Rxf4 axb5 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 when White has recovered his material and still has a strong attack. This line deserves more attention in future posts.

7...dxc6 8.d3 g5

9.Nc3 Kg7 10.Be3 Bb4 11.f4 g4 12.d4

Stronger was 12.f5

12...Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qe8

White should now play 14.Qd3 and be very happy with his "Jerome pawns".

14.e5 Bf5 15.c4 Qe6 16.d5 cxd5 17.cxd5 Qg6 18.c4 Ne7 19.e6 Kh7 20.Qe1 Rhe8 21.Rd1 Bd3

Up to this point Black has done a good job of countering White's center pawns with his pieces. Now, instead of the text, returning the extra piece would allow complete destruction: 21...b5 22.Bc5 bxc4 23.Qb4 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 Qxe6

22.f5 Bxf5 23.Qh4 h5 

This is too loosening.

24.Qg5

Missing the strong 24.Bg5. Suddenly, by exchanging Queens, I unbalance the position in Black's favor.

24...Qxg5 25.Bxg5 Kg6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7

Black is simply better, again, and White needs to keep busy and look for handouts...

27.Rf4 Kg5 28.Rdf1 Bd3 29.Rf7 Rae8 30.Rxe7 Bxf1

Here we go. Shortness of time may have been a factor.

31.Rxe8 Bxc4

32.e7 Kf6 33.Rc8 Kxe7 34.Rxc7+ Kd6 35.Rxc4


The "Jerome pawns" are gone, but it no longer matters.

35...Kxd5 36.Rc7 b5 37.Rxa7 b4 38.Rb7 Kc4 39.Kf2 Black resigned