Familiar

Here's a familiar "guest" (Louis Morin) playing a line we are familiar with (see "A Real Game") – suddenly wandering off into unfamiliar territory. Happily, he escapes – a theme not unfamiliar to Jerome Gambit devotés...

guest653 - guest643
ICC blitz game 2 12, 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qxc7


A very dangerous time to be grabbing material, as Black now has counter-play similar to that of Whistler's Defense (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter VIII"). Safer was the routine 9.Qe3.

9...Qxe4+ 10.Kd1 Qg4+ 11.f3 Qxg2


12.Re1+ N8e7 13.Qc3 Nf4


Black's Knight moves in for the kill, but he probably would have done better with 13...Rf8 with play against the f3-pawn. The text move actually "protects" that target.

14.d4 Nfd5 15.Qb3 Rf8


The same idea, in a different situation, is not the same thing...

In blitz games things can get overlooked, and Black's move has a major problem, even if it is understandable: he is hammering away at the White King and forgets that what he should do now is move his own King with 15...Kd8.

16.Qxd5 Qxf3+ 17.Qxf3 Rxf3

The heat is off of White, and he can now begin to take the initiative himself.

18.Bg5 Rf7 19.Nc3 h6 20.Bxe7 Rxe7 21.Kd2 d6 22.Nd5 Rxe1 23.Rxe1+ Kd7


White has both a "good" Knight against a "bad" Bishop and a "good" Rook against a "bad" one.

24.Re7+ Kc6 25.c4 g6

Not well thought out. Of course 25...Bd7 was necessary, but Black's Kingside pawns will fall quickly and White's passer will then be the advantage he needs to win.

26.Rc7 checkmate