Another Error, Another Win

Some day, maybe, I will get caught.

Oh, wait a minute. I already did get caught.

Some day, maybe, I will learn.

Oh, wait a minute, I once did know.

Well - next time I hope to remember...

In the meantime here's another Jerome Gambit game where I made what I knew was the wrong move, because I couldn't remember why it was wrong.

And I won in a near-miniature, anyhow.

perrypawnpusher - alvarzr
2 12, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf6

Last year my game against the same opponent continued 7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6  and I was out-played in a pitched battle, (missing one chance at a saving swindle) in perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, blitz, FICS, 2013, (0-1, 59). Hmmm... Looks like I haven't posted that game yet. My bad.

8.d4

I played this move even though I knew it was not the best move.

I had forgotten 8.Qxc5 d6 (8...Qe7 9.Qf5# perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010) 9.Qe3, with an edge for Black in perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 28).

8...Bxd4

Black doubles my error and sends it back to me...

In a game six years ago my opponent back then played the correct 8...Bb4+!?, but after  9.c3 he tried 9...c6 and after 10.Qg5+ I was on my way to sweet victory in perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 41).

A more recent game - the analysis from this blog should still have been clear in my memory - saw 8...h6 9.Qxc5 with Black a bit better, in perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 16).

9.Qg5+ 

This is fine, but 9.Bg5 would have been checkmate. (And 10.Bg5 would have been checkmate against whitepandora, too!)

9...Ke6 10.Qxd8 

These kind of positions make me verrrrrrry nervous. Sure, White has a Queen and a pawn for only two pieces, but that's the problem - what if I get overconfident and blunder it all away? (Sure, that would be almost as bad as losing to the Jerome Gambit, right?)

10...N8e7 11.Qxc7 Ne5 12.Qa5 b6 13.Qd2 Bc5 14.Nc3

I briefly looked at 14.b4!? but quickly decided that I didn't need more material, I needed to escape with what I had and to find a settled position. (Thanks, Dan Heisman.)

14...Ba6 15.Nd5!? Rac8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.Qg5+ Ke6 18.Qf5+ Kd6 19.Bf4 Rce8 20.0-0-0+ 

Hold the Xanax. I think I've got things under control now.

20...Kc6 21.Bxe5 Black resigned