Monday, June 1, 2015

Toward Disaster



As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I have joined a Chess.com 12-player "Giuoco Piano" tournament (3 groups of 4 players each).
I immediately got to start a couple of Jerome Gambits, so we'll see how they turn out.The first game is racing along the lines of a refutation that has many blog posts here, all saying that White is lost, White is lost...
Well, sad to say, White did lose - but part of the reason was my refusal to play a thematic "Jerome pawn" advance which would have helped keep the play dynamic. The second big mistake was to not be as familiar with Jerome Gambit history as I should be. Ouch.

perrypawnpusher - auswebby

Giuoco Piano Tournament, Chess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 




4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ Ke8



Instead, 8...Nf6 was seen in a couple of correspondence games between Daniel Jaeger (White) and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome  in 1880.


More reently, Bill Wall faced 8...Qf6 in a handful of games: Wall,B - GoldCoinCollector, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 17);  Wall,B - GuestZCLK, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15); Wall,B - Guest340293, PlayChess.com 2012 (1-0, 41); Wall,B - Josti, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 26); and Wall,B - Guest4644930, PlayChess.com, 2014, (1-0, 26).


9.Nc3 Nf6 10.0-0 d6 


Or 10...Bd6 as in perrypawnpusher - Chesssafety, Chess.com 2012, (1-0, 25).


11.d3


White got away with the Knight jump 11.Nd5 in xcvbnm -SAHFAN, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 28), but I should have been more familiar with the game (in The Database) as Black was better most of the game; and White's win came only when his opponent blundered into a mate-in-2.


11...Be6 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Qxe3 Kd7 14.f4 Rhf8 15.f5 Bg8 16.d4 Rae8 17.Rae1 Kc8 18.Qg3 




Instead, it was time for 18.e5. The text allows Black to take a step toward preventing that move, and my response (see the note to White's 11th move) sealed my doom.


18...Nd7 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Qf6 




I thought I had a few tricks against Black's King on the back rank, but, really, there was nothing.


21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.c3 Nb6 23.Re1 Qf7 24.f6 Rxe1+ 25.Qxe1 Qxf6 26.Qe8+ Qd8 27.Qf7 Qh8 28.b3 Nd7 29.c4 Kd8 30.Kf2 Qf8 31.Qxf8+ Nxf8 32.Kf3 Ke7 33.Ke4 Kf6 34.c5 Ng6 35.g3 b6 36.b4 Ne7 37.a3 b5 White resigned.





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