Jerome Gambit: Lost Games (Part 1)

Recently, I discovered a few of my older games that have escaped being posted on this blog, so I am sharing them - it just seems fair to those who also risk the Jerome.

The following game has some of my typical tactical oversights (perhaps this is why the game got "lost"), ending when my opponent decided the future was not very bright for him. 

perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

This is the line we have been looking at. There is a bit of psychology in the counter-sacrifice.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Nc3 Re8 

As noted before, better is 10...d5 11.exd5 Rd8. 

11.d3 c6 12.Rf1 Kg7 13.Kg1 Rf8 14.Bg5 Nh5

Kicking the Bishop with 14...h6 was better. 

15.Rxf8 

I decided on the exchange-Rooks-and-then-check-with-a-Rook tactic, when I should have seen 15.Bh6+! Kxh6 16. Rxf8 winning the exchange.

15...Kxf8 16.Rf1+ Kg7 17.g4 h6 

18.Bh4 

Planning on exchanging pieces and breaking up the pawns on Black's Kingside. Instead, 18.Be3! would simply win the Knight, e.g. 18...Nf6 19.Bd4 etc.

18...g5 19.gxh5 gxh4 20.Rf4 h3 

Black would have done better to ignore the pawn and focus on development, 20...d6 21.Rxh4 Be6.

21.Rg4+ Kf6 22.Rg6+ Black resigned

The pawn on h6 is a goner, and the one on h3 may soon follow. My opponent apprently had better things to do with his time than to wait for the inevitible advance of my h pawns.

Jerome Gambit: Reassessing a Variation (Part 1)

I just completed my 3rd Jerome Gambit game in the first round of the "Italian Battleground" tournament at Chess.com. The win, making me 2 - 0 - 1 with my favorite opening, so far, should be enough to earn me first place in my group, and allow me to eventually move on to the second round.


perrypawnpusher - zmarian
"Italian Battleground" tournament, Chess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ 

Despite Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's early preference, and that of Bill Wall and others, I have only played 6.d4 once, and that game took a bit of a swindle for me to get a draw. To each one's own.

6...g6 

This move was not a surprise. The best known Jerome Gambit game, Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!" and "Jerome Gambit: Dr. Harding Checks In") features this move, and if my opponent was likely to know anything about the opening, this would be it.

7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

A bit of a surprise - but not really.

Instead of offering a Rook with the Blackburne Defense, 7...d6!?, or preparing a wicked counterattack with Whistler's Defense, 7...Qe7!?, my opponent plays what I have elsewhere referred to as an "inoffensive defense" (see "An Inoffensive Defense") and a "calming defense" (see "Nothing Happened").

The Database has a surprising 1,375 games with this position, with White scoring 53%, which compares favorably with ther 46% produced by 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. (Nine games are mine, with White scoring 89%).

In our first game in this tournament, we quickly moved to an endgame where I was a pawn up - but it took some fancy calculating to win the game. My opponent currently has fashioned a very interesting blockading position in one of his other games (he is a pawn down) and should soon split the point. So, to see our game move quickly to a Queenless middlegame, with the promise of an endgame, was understandable - zmarian likes endgames.

8.Kxf2

ZahariSokolov of FICS has played 8.Ke2?!, but I can't recommend the move: 8...d6? 9.Qxh8? Qf6? 10.Qxh7+Kf8 11.h3 b6 12.Rf1 Ba6+ 13.d3 Re8 14.Rxf2 Rxe4+ 15.Be3 Qxf2+ 16.Kxf2 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - Posapiano, standard, FICS, 2015. 

8...Qf6+ 

Black did not improve things by playing 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Qf6+ 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.Nc3 Re8 12.d3 c6 13.Kg2 Kg7 14.Bg5 Ng4 15.h3 Nh6 16.Rhf1 d6 17.Rf2 Be6 18.Raf1 Rf8 19.Bxh6+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Hensel, blitz, FICS, 2014.

9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 

The curious game perrypawnpusher - ronn, blitz, FICS, 2009, continued 9...Kxf6 Black resigned.

10.Nc3

I have played 10.d3 a couple of times, in perrypawnpusher - Edvardinho, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 42) and perrypawnpusher - Dubnobase, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 49).

10...d6 


Black has a number of replies. I have faced 10...Re8 a couple of times: perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - BEEB, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 63).

(Oddly enough, I don't seem to have posted either of these games on this blog. I will have to remedy that.)

11.d4 

Playable is 11.d3, which I have tried a couple of times: AlonzoJerome - adroit, blitz, ICC, 2011 (1-0, 25) and perrypawnpusher - HelloGoodbye, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1/2-1/2, 34).

(You wouldn't have known it by this blog, though: two more games to find and post. What was going on in 2011 and 2012, I wonder.)

11...Bd7 

Interesting. Understandable was 11...Rf8, which I have also faced in perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 48).

(Also not posted here. Very odd. My "to do list" is growing.)

[To be continued]

Be Careful What You Read

It was pleasant to have my opponent choose the defense that he did, as it leaves White with a pawn plus advantage, even if attacking prospects have diminished. (Alas, because I believed that previous statement, I eventually got careless in my "zombie walk" and drew the game, as you will see.)




perrypawnpusher - HelloGoodby
blitz, FICS, 2012


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

This defense does not have a name, but it might as well be called "the thinking player's defense," as it usually is composed by Black on the fly, to force the exchange of Queens and stifle White's attack. It is all very logical, although Black does exchange a won position for one that has him a pawn down...


8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Nc3 

Or 10.d3 as in perrypawnpusher - ScudRocket, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 24) 


10...d6 


I have also played 10...Re8 as in perrypawnpusher - BEEB, blitz, FICS, 2011 (½-½, 63) and perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22); and 10...Rf8 as in perrypawnpusher - Edvardinho, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 42). 


11.Rf1 


Alternatives include 11.d4 from perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 48) and 11.d3 from AlonzoJerome - adroit, ICC, 2011 (1-0, 25). 


11...Kg7 12.Kg1 Re8 


With aggressive intentions, but I have to think that the more modest 12...Rf8 would have been better. 


13.d3 a6 14.Bg5 Rf8 15.Bxf6+ Rxf6 16.Rxf6 Kxf6 17.Nd5+ 

Leading to the gain of a secone pawn. Black's better King position and Bishop do not compensate.


17...Ke5 18.Nxc7 Rb8 19.Rf1 Bg4 20.Nd5 

After the game Rybka preferred more aggressive play: 20.Rf7 d5 (20...Bd1 21.Kf2 Bxc2 22.Ke3) 21.Nxd5 Be6 22.Rxh7 Bxd5 23.exd5 Kxd5. 


20...Rc8 21.Rc1 


Making routine, not-thought-out moves, instead of 21.c3 Be2 (21...Bd7 22.d4+ Kxe4 23.Nf6+; or 21...Be6 22.d4+ Kxe4 23.Ne7 Re8 24.Re1+) 22.Rf7 Bxd3 23.Re7# 


To checkmate a King, you first have to realize that it might be possible, and then look for the right lines.


21...Be6 22.Ne3 


Thoughtless. Why not 22.Nc3 ? 


22...Bxa2 

Losing this pawn is not the end of the world for White, but it almost looks like the beginning of the end, and White's thinking has collapsed.


23.b3 Bxb3 24.Rb1 Bxc2 


Too greedy. Rybka suggested: 24...Kd4 25.Rxb3 Kxe3 26.Rxb7 Rxc2 27.h4 Kxd3 28.Rxh7 Kxe4.


25.Nxc2 


Overlooking the opportunity of 25.Rc1.


25...Rxc2 26.Rxb7 h6 

I have managed to squander my two pawn advantage, and Black might well be better here. Time to use the active Rook to get the draw.


27.Ra7 Ra2 28.Rh7 h5 29.Rg7 Kf6 30.Rd7 Ke6 31.Rg7 Kf6 32.Rd7 Ke6 33.Rg7 Kf6 34.Rd7 Ke6 Game drawn by repetition 

I suppose that both of us felt lucky with the outcome.

Shorter and Even More Unbecoming

I just meant to check on my opponent, but I hit the "play" button instead of the "history" button, and wound up inflicting another annoying game on him. Perhaps it was his extravagant use of time, again, but for the second game in a row my play was sad, sad, sad. 


perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

A strong and practical defense: Black decides that he has enough material to win, and takes no further risks.

6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Qf6

Commanding the dark squares and targetting f2.

8.0-0 Nh6 9.Be3 Bd6

10.f4 Ng4 11.e5

This move apparently scared my opponent, but it is a disaster-in-the-making for me. Sadly, I was clueless at the time.

11...Nxe3

Instead, Black should escape the fork with 11...Qh6 and after 12.h3 (to stop mate) administer one of his own with 12...Nxe3.

12.Qe2

Horrible. Instead, 12.Qf3 would have kept Black's advantage to a minimum.

12...Nxf1

Lucky for me Black was seeing as much (or as little) as I was, or he would have simply played 12...Bxe5, since 13.fxe5 Qxf1+ 14.Qxf1+ Nxf1 15.Kxf1 Ke7 would leave him a Rook ahead.

13.exf6 Black resigned

I don't think I dare play Conspicuous again!

Short and Unbecoming

The following Jerome Gambit game is short and unbecoming, a collection of moves on my behalf which look like a multiple choice test where the answers are all a) best, b) good, or c) barely adequate and I keep selecting c) as my choice.


perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

With the promise of an exciting game ahead.

7.Qxe5 Bxf2+

Or not. The text is a counter occasionally seen: there are 63 games in The Database, with White scoring 67%.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6

At the cost of exchanging a won game for one in which he is a pawn down, Black has reached a Queenless middlegame that is not what every Jerome Gambiteer wishes for.

On the other hand, I figured that it would not be difficult to grind this one out.

10.Nc3 Re8 11.d3 c6 12.Rf1

More energetic was 12.Ke2, as in Ghandybh - brownplant, Chess.com, 2009 (1-0, 20).

12...Kg7 13.Kg1 Rf8 14.Bg5 Nh5

This leaves Black open to a tactical shot, but I was only thinking "exchange with tempo".

If you compare Queensides, you can see that White's development advantage is significant.

15.Rxf8

Fine, but why not 15.Bh6+ ?

15...Kxf8 16.Rf1+ Kg7 17.g4 h6 18.Bh4

I had figured out the following line of play, but where would Black's Knight go after 18.Be3, instead?

18...g5 19.gxh5 gxh4 20.Rf4

Winning a rather meaningless pawn, as Black's remaining Kingside pawn holds back two of White's, anyhow.

20...h3 21.Rg4+

Making more sense was 21.e5

21...Kf6 22.Rg6+ Black resigned

Yes, White is better, but who's to say that Black didn't expire of boredom?