Be careful what you wish for...

I am pleased that this blog is read all around the world (Mauritania: yes; Cape Verde Islands: yes; North Korea: no; China: no) and I hope readers try out a few of the strategies and tactics shared here by the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde – even the silly ideas, obviously reflective of Western decadence...

Sometimes, though, it seems that this broader knowledge of the Jerome Gambit (and its relatives) has a chance to come back and haunt me (see, for example, "Where are all of these Jeromes coming from?").

Today, for example, I was minding my own business, looking for a 3 0 blitz game on FICS – admittedly, way too fast a time control for an addled mind like my own – when suddenly familiarity struck!

leobrazer - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
The good old Two Knights Defense.

4.Bxf7+
Ha! says my opponent (in my imagination, anyhow).

Oh, bother! say I (to myself). In a three-minute game, of all things...

4...Kxf7 5.0-0 Bc5


Transposing to a "modern" Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6.

6.Nc3 Rf8 7.Ng5+

Trickier and stronger was the thematic 7.Nxe5+, when 7...Nxe5 8.d4 Bd6 9.f4 Nc6 10.e5 Kg8 11.exd6 cxd6 12.Be3 is okay for Black, although I would have probably chosen 7...Kg8 instead.

7...Kg8 8.d3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5

Move quickly, avoid a blunder, I have an extra piece...

11.Bd2 Bf5 12.c4 Qd7 13.Bc3 Qxd3 14.Qxd3 Bxd3

Faster, faster, a piece up in the endgame still wins...

15.Rfe1 Bxc4

Too fast: missing 15...Bxf2+

16.b3 Bf7

Ditto.

17.Nf3 Rae8 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Bd6

Better 19...Bxb3. The clock is ticking down, but I have more time than my opponent, who now slips...

20.Re4 Rxe5 21.Rxe5 Bxe5

Home free: just have to play Beat The Clock...

22.Re1 Re8 23.g3 Bd4 24.Rxe8+ Bxe8 25.Kg2 Bg6 26.Kf3 Bb1

We were banging out moves here.

27.Ke2 Bxa2 28.Kd3 Bf6 29.b4 Kf7 30.f4 Ke6 31.Ke4 Be7 32.f5+ Kf6 33.g4 Bxb4 34.h3 a5


There's enough time left for this to decide the game.

35.Kd4 a4 36.h4 h6 37.g5+ hxg5 38.hxg5+ Kxf5 39.Ke3 a3 40.Ke2 Bb3 41.Ke3 a2 42.g6 a1Q 43.Kf3 Qf1+ 44.Ke3 Bc5+ 45.Kd2 Qf3 46.Kc1 Qf2 47.Kb1 Qc2+ 48.Ka1 Qa2 checkmate

Whew!