Friday, March 3, 2017

Jerome Gambit: Another Reasonable Line

Black's response to the initial moves of the Jerome Gambit in the following game is interesting. It is only his followup that gets him in trouble. As we have seen with the Jerome, even after the "refutation" there is always the possibility of "trouble".


Wall, Bill - TenAndOnly10
lichess.org, 2016

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



4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. d4  Nf6



A reasonable line. We have seen TenAndOnly10 choose "A Reasonable Line" in this position before.

7.dxe5 Nxe4

Interesting: 7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 d5 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Qxc3 Be6 13.Be3 c6 14.Rd1 Rf8 15.h3 Qh4 16.Rd4 Qg3 17.Rd3 Qg6 18.Kh2 Kd7 19.Qb4 b5 20.Qd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - MyDrunkAccount, lichess.org, 2016.

8.Qd5+ Kf8

Alternately: 8...Ke8 9.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Rf8+ 11.Kg1 d5 12.exd6+ Kd7 13.Nc3 Qf6 14.Bf4 g5 15.Rd1 cxd6 16.Rxd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016

9.Qxe4 d6 10.O-O Be6 11.Nc3 a6


I don't think that Black has time for this. Is he preparing for ...Ba7?

12.Be3 Bb6

I guess not.

13.Rad1 d5

A slip. More to come.

14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Rxd5 Qe7 16.Bxb6 cxb6


I think my notes say that Stockfish 8 evaluated the position as: White now has a checkmate in 59 moves. Astonishing!

17.Rfd1 Qe6 18.Rd6 Qxa2 19.Qf5+ Qf7 20.Rd8+ Ke7 21.Qd7 checkmate


Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Jerome Gambit: Swarming Pieces

In the following game White's pieces swarm like mosquitoes.

Wall, Bill - LethoStark
lichess.org, 2016

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



4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng4 



A fascinating way of choosing which piece to lose.

7.dxc5 

The only other two games with the 6...Ng4 move in The Database: 7.Qxg4 Bxd4 8.f4 (8.Qf5+ Nf6 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Rf8 11.O-O Kg8 12.Nc3 d5 13.Qe5 Re8 14.Qd4 dxe4 15.Qb4 Qd2 16.Rad1 Qxe3+ 17.Kh1 Qh6 18.Qc4+ Re6 19.Qxc7 Ng4 20.Qf7+ Black resigned, stretto - dadop, FICS, 2007) 8...d5 9.f5 Nf6 10.Qd1 Qe7 11.Qxd4 Bxf5 12.O-O Bxe4 13.Bg5 Bxc2 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Qxd5+ Kg7 16.Nc3 c6 17.Qd2 Bg6 18.Rae1 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Rad8 20.Qf4 Rd6 21.Re7+ Bf7 22.Ne4 Qc4 23.Qxd6 White resigned, stretto-pasche, FICS, 2009 

7...Qh4 8.Qe2 N8f6 9.Bf4 Re8 10.Nd2 d6 11.Bg3 Qg5 12.h3 Qxc5 

13.hxg4 Qxc2 14.f3 Qxb2 15.O-O Qb6+ 16.Bf2 Qa5 17.Nb3 Qe5 18.Qc4+ Be6 19.Qxc7+ Re7 20.Qc1 Rc8 21.Qd2 Bc4 22.Bd4 Qg3  

23.Rfc1 Be6 24.Rxc8 Bxc8 25.Bxa7 Rc7 26.Nd4 Nd7 

Trouble now breaks loose.

27.Nf5 Qe5 28.Bd4 Qe6 29.Qg5 g6 30.Qd8 Rc2 31.Nh6 checkmate

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Jerome Gambit: Troubling Pawns

In return for sacrificing one or two pieces in the Jerome Gambit, White gets some pawns. "Objectively" they are not enough compensation, but at times they can cause quite a number of problems for the defender. Witness the following game.

Wall, Bill - Chrisbow

lichess.org, 2017

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




4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O Nf6




And now for the pawns...

9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 d5 11.e5 Ne4 12.c4 Nc5



13.Qa3 b6 14.b4 Ne6 15.f5 Ned4 16.e6+ Kf6 



Off to his doom! 16...Kf8 was necessary.

17.Qe3 h6 18.Bb2 dxc4 19.b5 Na5 20.Bxd4+ Ke7 21f6+ Ke8 22.fxg7 Rg8 23.Rf8+ Rxf8 24.gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 25.Qf4+ Ke8 26.Qf7 checkmate

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Jerome Gambit: Slips

In the following game - likely played at a fast time control - Black's aggressive move turns out to be a defensive slip, and White is able to first pressure the enemy King, then checkmate it.

Wall, Bill - Leonid
lichess.org, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 


8.O-O c5 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Bg5+ Nf6 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bxf6+ gxf6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Qd3 Qb6 


Black attacks the enemy b-pawn and prepares a possible discovered check with ...c4. But he has left one of his own pawns open.

16.Qxd6+ Kf7 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5+ Kg7


The retreat to f8 was safer.

19.Qd7+ Kg6

Again, the safe square was f8. Running out into the open is deadly for the King.

20.f5+ Kh5 21.Qf7+ Kg4 22.Qg6+ Kh4 23.Rf4 checkmate