A Closer Look (Part III)

Here are some more interesting and enjoyable games to play over from the recently completed Ninja Knights T3 Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) thematic tournament at ChessWorld (see "A Closer Look (Part I)" and "A Closer Look (Part II)").

Although the "modern" Jerome Gambit with 5.0-0 (instead of 5.Nxe5; see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter IV") risks less, it also gives White less for his sacrifice, and he must rely on development and attack against the enemy King in order to bring home the point.

The following game has an amusing mate at the end.


drewbear - braken, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.0-0 Nh6 6.d3 Ng4 7.h3 Bxf2+ 8.Rxf2 Nxf2 9.Kxf2 Qf6 10.Nc3 Nd4 11.Nd5 Qd6 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Qf3+ Ke8 14.e5 Qc5 15.Kg1 c6 16.Nc7+ Kd8 17.Nxa8 Rf8 18.Bg5+ Ke8 19.Nc7 checkmate


Sometimes White just doesn't have enough:

casker - mediax, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.0-0 Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Nc3 h6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Kg8 10.d4 d6 11.d5 Ne7 12.Ne2 c5 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.b4 Nxe4 15.c3 Ba6 16.Re1 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Nxc3 18.Qc4+ Ncd5 19.e4 Rc8 20.exd5 cxd5 21.Qb3 Kh8 22.a4 d4 23.b5 Rc3 24.Qb4 Nd5 25.Qb1 Rcxf3 26.gxf3 Qg5+ 27.Kf2 Qh4+ 28.Kg2 Nf4+ 29.Kf1 Qh3+ White resigns

By far the most popular line in the tournament was the "modern" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter V" and "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter VI").

Combining 5.d3 with c2-c3 and b2-b4 was seen a number of times, including in the following game:

casker - drewbear, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.d3 Nf6 6.c3 b5 7.0-0 h6 8.Na3 g5 9.b4 Bd6 10.Qb3+ Kg7 11.Nxb5 a6 12.Na3 g4 13.Nh4 Ne7 14.Nc4 Ne8 15.g3 Ng6 16.Nf5+ Kh7 17.Ncxd6 cxd6 18.Qf7+ Black resigned

Sometimes White simply out-played his opponent:

drewbear - queen st, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Bg5 Qe7 8.Nc3 Re8 9.Nd5 Qe6 10.Nxc7 Qd7 11.Nxa8 b5 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nh4 Bb7 14.Nf5 Bxa8 15.Qh5+ Kf8 16.Qh6+ Kg8 17.Qxf6 h5 18.Qg6+ Kf8 19.Qxh5 Ne7 20.Qh6+ Kf7 21.Nxe7 Kxe7 22.Qh7+ Kd8 23.Qxd7+ Kxd7 24.Kh1 b4 25.c3 Rb8 26.c4 Bd4 27.Rab1 Rg8 28.f3 Kc6 29.a3 Bc5 30.axb4 Bxb4 31.Ra1 Kb7 32.Ra4 Bc5 33.b4 Bd4 34.b5 Kb8 35.Ra6 Bc5 36.g4 Bb7 37.Ra2 Rh8 38.Kg2 Kc7 39.Kg3 Kd7 40.h4 Ke6 41.g5 Bc8 42.Rh1 Kf7 43.h5 Be3 44.g6+ Kg7 45.Re2 Bf4+ 46.Kh4 Bb7 47.Ra1 Ra8 48.Rd1 a6 49.b6 a5 50.d4 Ba6 51.Rc2 Rb8 52.c5 exd4 53.Rxd4 dxc5 54.Rxc5 Be3 55.Rd7+ Kh6 56.Rh7 checkmate

Sometimes when White didn't outplay his opponent, the "clock" proved helpful:

drewbear - willitfw, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3+ Nf6 9.g4 d5 10.g5 dxe4 11.dxe4 Nd4 12.Qc3 Ne2+ 13.Kg2 Black lost on time.

Even the idea of a "delayed classical Jerome Gambit" popped up:

mediax - casker, www.chessworld.net 2008: 5.d3 h6 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.Bf4 Qf6 10.c3 Qxf5 11.Bxe5+ Qxe5 12.Nd2 Ke7 13.0-0 Qg5 14.Nf3 Qg6 15.d4 Bb6 16.Nh4 Qh7 17.f4 Kd8 18.f5 Nf6 19.e5 Nd5 20.Rad1 Ne3 21.Ng6 Nxd1 22.Rxd1 Re8 23.b4 d5 24.c4 dxc4 25.Kh1 Bxf5 26.Nf4 Bd3 27.e6 Qf5 28.g3 Qe4+ 29.Ng2 White resigned

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"