Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Attacking is Hard; Defending is Harder


Every time I play a game that seems "good" to me, I turn it over to my friends Houdini, Rybka or Fritz and they tear it all apart.

Just this one time, let me keep the notes light and pretend that my Jerome Gambit's attack carried the day...



perrypawnpusher - yasserr
blitz, FICS, 2011

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


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6


7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6


10.0-0 Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5


There are a number of games in The Database with 12.d3, including some by mrjoker and myself, but I think the text, properly followed up, is better.

12...Ne5 13.Nc3

Hesitating, when 13.d4 was the right move, from Vazquez - Carrington, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876 (1-0, 34) to Wall -Vijay, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 64).

13...b6 14.d4 Ned7 15.Qd3 Bb7 16.Bg5 Qc8 17.Rae1 Ba6


18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.Qxb5 Kf8 20.Qd3 a5


I think my 18.Nb5 surprised my opponent, and after he exchanged off the piece (perhaps not figuring out what else to do) I sent my Queen back to support the center.

Yasserr's pawn move is odd, and I am not sure what he intended.

I intended a killing attack, but, as often happens, it deflated slowly, like a baloon losing air...

21.Bxf6 Nxf6 22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Nd7 24.f6


24...g6 25.e6

After the game, my, er, friend, Houdini, suggested 25.Qh3 Kg8 26.f7+ Kg7 27.fxe8N+ Qxe8 28.e6 Nf6 29.Rxf6 Kxf6 30.Qc3+ Ke7 31.Qxc7+ Kf6 32.Qe5+ Ke7 33.Rd1 h5 34.Rd7+ Qxd7 35.exd7+ Kxd7 36.Qd5+.

25...Nc5 26.e7+

And here, 26.Qe3, with mate threats, is more brutal, i.e. 26...Nxe6 27.Qh6+ Kg8 28.Rxe6 Qd7 29.f7+ Qxf7 30.Rxf7 Kxf7.

26...Kf7 27.Qd5+

(Try 27.Qe3)

27...Ne6 28.Rf3 c6 29.Qb3


 At least White will be able to exchange his "Jerome pawns" for the sacrificed piece.

29...Qd7 30.Rfe3 Kxf6 31.Rxe6+ Kf7 32.Rd6+ Black resigned
at

4 comments:

  1. Pete (blackburne)October 18, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    Hi Rick,
    I thought you might like to know that I've played the Classical Jerome again tonight in a OTB League game. I won, naturally, though it was a tough game against a junior with the same grade as me (which probably means he was stronger). I'll try to get an annotated version to you in the next day or two. It will probably go on the Halesowen site first.

    Pete

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rick KennedyOctober 18, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    Pete,

    Great work!

    Always good to instruct the young ones, and caution them against too much rigid thought and play -- lest they fall victim to some outrageous opening like the Jerome Gambit.

    Will certainly enjoy the game when it appears; I'll keep an eye on the Halesowen site.

    Rick

    ReplyDelete
  3. PeteOctober 18, 2011 at 6:35 PM

    Rick,
    I'll keep you informed when it's loaded, and I'll try to remember to put a link to this site.
    I have to maintain my position as the leading OTB player of the Jerome :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. PeteOctober 20, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    Hi Rick,

    My latest OTB Classical Jerome is here:

    http://www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/pbcollect.htm. It's the first game in the list.

    Feel free to use my notes or add to or replace them.

    ReplyDelete