Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Old vs Whippersnapper

 



At the chess club the other day, an elementary school player challenged me to a 1 0 game of chess.

I pointed out that, at my age, I couldn't even move that fast, let alone think that fast.

He went over to check on four players involved in bugouse chess, and listened to a discussion of duck chess.

I sat there, feeling old.

(However, later, without a clock, I checkmated that young whippersnapper.)

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

My Drawn Simultaneous Exhibition Game Against GM Alexander Zlochevskij At 'The Chess Square 2026'

                                                         


                      My Drawn Simultaneous Exhibition Game 

Against GM Alexander Zlochevskij

At 'The Chess Square 2026'

(by Yury V. Bukayev)

Dear readers, now I'd like to inform you briefly about my recent drawn game against the famous Grandmaster in his simultaneous exhibition in Moscow. All official materials on this event can be shown by the editors of https://moscowchess.org . After my previous drawn game against famous Grandmaster Sergey B. Smagin (later I'll tell you about this game, where 1. e2-e4 was played), where in some moments I played risky for myself, this my new draw seems to be suitable even for theoretical middlegame investigations on Pseudo-Trompowsky Opening (Pseudo-Tromp, Pseudo-Levitsky Variation). 

 Thus, here is this notable game.

GM Alexander B. Zlochevskij - Yury V. Bukayev
 13-board simultaneous exhibition, Moscow, 2026,
August 23 ('The Chess Square 2026')


1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bh4 Nf6 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Bf5 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 c6 8. c4 dxc4 9. Qxc4 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 Nd7 11. Ne2 Nb6 12. Qb3 f5 13. O-O Qb4 14. Qxb4 Bxb4 15. a3 Be7 16. Nf4 O-O 17. Rfc1 a5 18. Rc2 



18...Rfc8 19. Rac1 g5 20. Nd3 Nd7 21. Na4 Rd8 22. Nac5 Nxc5 23. Nxc5 

23...Ra7 24. g3 Kh7 25. Kf1 Rd5 26. Ke2 f4 27. gxf4 gxf4 28. Kd3 Rh5 29. Rh1 Rh3 draw  


 We can see that the game was always about even and that the interesting Black's attack at the end of the game has given some advantage to Black.

And here are else the photos of  maestro Alexander Zlochevskij's simultaneous exhibition:







Monday, August 31, 2026

My Won Simultaneous Exhibition Game Against GM Yury Piskov At 'The Chess Square 2026'

 



My Won Simultaneous Exhibition Game 

Against GM Yury Piskov

At 'The Chess Square 2026'

(by Yury V. Bukayev)

Dear readers, now I'd like to inform you briefly about my recent won game against the famous Grandmaster in his simultaneous exhibition in Moscow. All official materials on this event can be shown by the editors of https://moscowchess.org . After my previous drawn games against famous Grandmasters Sergey B. Smagin and Alexander B. Zlochevskij (I'll tell you about both of these games later), where I had an advantage in final positions, this my new success seems to be even more important. 

 Thus, here is this notable game.

GM Yury V. Piskov - Yury V. Bukayev
 20-board simultaneous exhibition, Moscow, 2026,
August 29 ('The Chess Square 2026')

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Be7 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.O-O Nbd7 7.Ne5 Nxe5 8.dxe5 Nd7 9.f4 g6 10.Nf3 Nc5 11.b3 Nxd3 12.cxd3 c5 13.Bb2 Bd7 14.Rc1 b5 15.Qe1 a5 16.h4 a4 17.h5 axb3 18.axb3 Ra2 19.Rc2 c4 20.dxc4 bxc4 21.bxc4 dxc4 22.h6 Qa8 23.Nd4 Rb8 24.Bc3 Rxc2 25.Nxc2 Qe4 26.Nd4 Black won 
 We can see that the right STRATEGY was a cause of my rapid win. After the trivial move 26...Bf8! White loses the pawn h6. 
And here are the photos of maestro Yury Piskov's simultaneous exhibition:

After maestro Piskov's move 8.dxe5. Note: The player near me is listening music loudly, his game was stopped by the arbiter


After maestro Piskov's move 16.h4



                       GM Yury Piskov has made the move 17.h5




GM Yury Piskov has made the move 23.Nd4






The final position

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Jerome Gambit: Oh, Never Mind...

                                                        

Today (I was not able to make the last meeting), I was back, again, at the very informal chess club that gathers at a local library every-other-week.

Three games, three wins; all by checkmate.

Two as Black, one as White.

No Jerome Gambit.

Maybe I need to work up a "reversed Jerome Gambit" - wait, I think I read something about that on a blog post, here...*






*(I suppose that I could start with "Worth a Second Look..." Part 1Part 2 and Part 3, featuring a sort-of "reversed Jerome Gambit.")

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Jerome Gamit: Maybe Not the Best Choice


Choices.

In the following Jerome Gambit game, the defender can choose to protect his King or to strike back in the center.

He chooses his King - and then doesn't - and has to deal with the consequences.


angelcamina - bullet62

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Rf8


Black begins to castle-by-hand.

The thematic 7..d5 was for choice. 

8.dxe5 Ne8

He would do better to continue his hand-castling, e.g. 8...Kg8 as in angelcamina - erfin, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 20209.exf6 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Qxf6+ 11.Qf3 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Rxf3+ 13.gxf3 Qf6 14.Rhg1 d6 15.Bg5 Qd4+ 16.Be3 Qb4 17.Rg3 Qxb2 18.Bd4 Qxc2+ 19.Ne2 Be6 20.Rxg7+ Kf8 21.Rag1 Re8 22.Rxh7 c5 23.Bc3 Qd3 24.Rgg7 b5 25.Rh8+ Bg8 26.Rhxg8 checkmate.

9.Qd5+ Kg6 

White dealt with the other retreat handily, 9...Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.exd6+ cxd6 12.Qg5+ Black resigned, angelcamina - kkkkkuuuuuuuu, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021. 

10.Qxc5 d6 

11.exd6 

Slightly better than 11.Qd4 h6 12.O-O Kh7 13.f4 Be6 14.f5 Bg8 15.e6 Nf6 16.Nd5 c6 17.Nxf6+ Rxf6 18.b3 d5 19.e5 Rxe6 20.fxe6 Bxe6 21.Qd3+ Kh8 22.Bb2 Qd7 23.Rae1 Re8 24.Rf2 c5 25.Ref1 g6 26.Rf8+ Rxf8 27.Rxf8+ Kg7 28.Qf3 Qe7 29.Rf6 Black resigned, angelcamina - MF-S, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 

11...Nxd6 12.Qe3 Qf6 13.O-O h6 14.e5 Black resigned


The pawn fork will win a piece, and that is enough for Black to turn over his King.

Friday, August 28, 2026

Jerome Gambit: Super Fast



The player DutchLiLi has almost 2,500 games in The Database (scoring 58%), with time controls of 3 minutes and 1 minute.

That's super fast.


DutchLiLi - BACollin

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 


7.Qxe5 

Black can now go into Blackburne's defense with 7...d6, Whistler's defense with 7...Qe7, or come up with a defense of his own.

7...d6 8.Qxh8 

White can take the Rook - if he knows what he is doing.

8...Qh4 


Played by "X" against Lieut. Sorensen in Denmark in 1888

9.O-O

The strongest move is 9.d4, but in a 1-minute game, will it matter?

9...Bh3 

The move certainly has shock value.

Still, it appears in 34 games in The Database, and White scores 74%.

Perhaps Black got his moves mixed up? After 9...Nf6 10.Qd8 then 10...Bh3 and one side or the other can pursue multiple checks of the enemy King.

10.d4 

White's one move for advantage is 10.Qc3.

10...Qg4 


Bullet games! Arggghhh!

Instead, Black wins with the Blackburne-like offer of a Rook, 10...Nf6.

11.Qxh7+ 

White's Queen escapes, rushes to Her King's defense, and wins the game.

11...Kf6 12.Qxh3 Qg5 

A slip, but it hardly matters.

13.dxc5 

Giving the enemy Queen a chance to escape, but, again, it hardly matters.

13...dxc5 14.Bxg5+ Black resigned




Thursday, August 27, 2026

Jerome Gambit: SpeakChess

SpeakChess


There is a very interesting website, SpeakChess ("Build an opening repertoire - and remember it under pressure") that covers, among other openings, the Jerome Gambit.

Special for this site, it is set so that one can "Train as White" or "Train as Black" for the opening, on the given board, as well as being able to "Explore All Variations".

Another section gives the first 12 moves of the Jerome, with explanations for each.

There is also a chart, compiled from online games, that shows "Wins by Rating".

There is a Frequently Asked Questions section, as well.

It is well worth taking a look.