Sunday Tournament Update

Like a field of long-distance runners who start together at the same time and place, and then, after the starter's gun, stretch out along the route as they each find their pace, the 15 competitors in the current double-round-robin ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament have made their moves quickly or more deliberately, each according to a personal tempo.

One player has completed half his games. Another, on holiday, has yet to make a half-dozen moves in any of his. (Black has rebounded: having won only 2 of 8 games, for 25%, by last Sunday, Black has now scored 29 out of 43 games, for 67%.)

Questions of tempo and pacing come up in a ChessWorld tournament, one of the benefits of which is, according to the site, a

Relaxed Pace. Games played on ChessWorld are an up-to-date version of traditional 'correspondence style' chess. We believe that our easy-to-use style encourages accurate and instructive play whilst, at the same time, providing you with an opportunity to exchange friendly messages and ideas with your Opponents.

What this means in a tournament like the Jerome Gambit Thematic, which has a 5-day-per-move time limit, is that games can last for months. This is great for developing play that expands the understanding of the opening; but it can be tough, emotionally, for those who like the cut-and-slash of the Jerome.

So, some players will move much faster, sometimes even finding their opponent online when they can play the equivalent of a few moves of blitz chess...

How else to explain the following examples?

Black has the typical piece-for-pawn advantage in a quiet "modern" Jerome Gambit line, until White decides to disrupt his plans to castle-by-hand: 9.Qb3+ Be6 10.Ng5+ Black resigned, as he will have to give back the piece, and then an exchange.

Here we have another "modern" variation, and White's full pawn center is part of his compensation for the sacrificed piece – as is Black's unsafe King. With moves similar to the previous example, White grabs the point: 8.Qb3+ Kf8 9.Ng5 Nxd4 10.Qf7 checkmate.

To complete the trio, we have the following

If you have been paying attention, the ending should not be a surprise: 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qb3+ Black resigned. This outcome is doubly unfortunate for Black, as he overlooked the fact that 7...d5! would have prevented the checkmate at f7 and maintained the second player's advantage.

Finally, a bonus item:

This *yawn* ordinary position can be found over 75 times in The Database. What makes it relevant to our discussion is Black's next move (a TN), and White's reply: 8...Bh3 9.gxh3 and White resigned.