Piratepaul Tops Wild Muzio Tournament

Some time back (see "Wild!") I mentioned that Chessworld was holding a Lolli / Wild Muzio (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+) Gambit Thematic Tournament (for some Wild Muzio's see "Wilder!", "Wildest!", and ""And Yet Wilder Still...") that might be of interest to Jerome Gambiteers.

The tournament is now complete, and Piratepaul – who is also leading the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament – was the winner, with 24 wins out of 28 games. Second place, on a tie-break, was blackburne, nudging out BigFace888 and Crusader Rabbit, all scoring 18 points out of 28.

Here are a few of the short games – one by the tournament winner, one by the runner-up, and one (his sole win, but always fighting) by the tail-ender, brain50.

Piratepaul - Macken
Chessworld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke8

7.Qxg4 d6

Black needed to play 7...Nf6, and according to old analysis after 8.Qxf4 d6 9.Nf3 Rg8 10.0-0 Rg4 11.Qe3 Rxe4 he would be much better.

8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Qf7 checkmate




TWODOGS - blackburne
Chessworld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke6 7.Qxg4+ Kxe5

8.d4+ Kxd4


Here, Black claimed a win on time – just when the game was getting interesting.

White had the crafty move 9.b4, and play could have continued 9...Bxb4+ 10.c3+ Kc5 – instead, 10...Bxc3+ 11.Nxc3 Kxc3 12.Bb2+ Kxb2 13.Qe2+ Kxa1 14.Kf2 checkmate was played by Spencer (see "And Yet Wilder Still...") – 11.cxb4+ Kb6 12.Bb2 and White had a chance for advantage.



brain50 - DREWBEAR 63
Chessworld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke6 7.d4 White's best was, instead, 7.Qxg4+ so that after 7...Kxe5 he would be able to force a draw by repeatedly checking Black's King.

Now Black can play 7...Qh4+ (a move familiar to those who play the Jerome Gambit) with advantage. Instead, he plays a quieter move.

7...d6 8.Qxg4+ Kf6

Black's best was 8...Ke7 9.Qh4+ Nf6 10.Ng6+ hxg6 11.Qxh8 with an unclear game that is still playable.


9.Qxf4+ Ke7 10.Qf7 checkmate