Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Jerome Gambit: Battle of Wits

I have received another game from recent Jerome Gambit convert "Cliff Hardy" (see "Jerome Gambit: You Gotta Believe"), playing incognito at InstantChess. Starting with move 2, and escalating with move 5, his opponent engages in a bit of chess psychology which reminds me of the "battle of wits" in the movie "The Princess Bride" - and his efforts are equally unsuccessful.

The notes to the game are by "Cliff". I have added a couple of comments in blue.

gfdgfd - leleos
InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4

3.Nxe5? Bxf2+! 4.Kxf2 would give me a winning advantage theoretically but I lose the valuable psychological advantage! 

3...Nc6 4.Bxf7+! 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8? 6.Qh5+?



I am astonished! This move looked obvious but it is poor!
The text is thematic, but 6.Nxc6 is += (Stockfish), intending 6...d/bxc6 7.Qh5 and 8.Qxc5.

[Welcome to the bizarre world of the Jerome Gambit, "Cliff"! Black does not want the second piece, and it seems logical to go after him right away with 6.Qh5+, except that 6.Nxc6 is a better move, as you note. Wilder, still, is that Black can answer 6.Nxc6 with 6...Qh4!? and White needs to be prepared for this shock. 7.d4!? seems to be the best response, allowing 7...Qxe4+ 8.Be3 Qxg2 - although it might be better for those with a heart condition to opt for 8.Qe2. Anyhow, the game becomes a wonderful mess after 9.Qh5+ Kf8 10.Ne5!? and Stockfish 7 continues with 10...Bb4+ 11.c3 Qxh1+ 12.Kd2 g6 13.Nxg6+ hxg6 14.Qxh8 g5 15.cxb4 d6 16.Qh5 Bf5 17.Qd1 Qxd1+ 18.Kxd1 Ne7 19.Nc3 and White has an edge. Uh, sure, right... No surprise that I haven't found any game examples with 6...Qh4!? - Rick]

6...g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6

Haha! The best move for black, according to Stockfish, is the Jeromesque 7...Bxf2! 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qh4 Rg8! =+. This game is a good example of the principle: the first to get in the Jerome wins!

8.Qxh8 Kf7

9.Qh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 Qe7 11.Nc3 Qf7 12.Qg3 Bd6 13.Qe3 Qf4 14.d4 Nf6 15.Qxf4 Bxf4 16.Bxf4 Nxd4 17.O-O-O Black resigned



[White has handled Black's ploys, has gained material (the exchange and three pawns) and has moved the game into a safe (for himself) Queenless middle game. There is not much for the defender to look forward to. - Rick] 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Both players needed to play the Jerome first to win - but one had the better access to iocane powder...