Awkward...

I was pleased with this game until I played it over afterward. Then I felt like someone who had given a nice speech which kept the audience's attention, only to discover after it was over that I had been up in front of everyone with a giant stain on my shirt or pants...

perrypawnpusher - Fendertele
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Re8

This line was seen not-so-long-ago in my game against Frele.

9.dxc5 Kg8

9...d6 while it was still easy to play, was seen in perrypawnpusher - louarn, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 49).

Instead, 9...b6 also attacking the White c5 pawn right away, was seen in perrypawnpusher - catri, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 42).


Rybka has a third suggestion, 9...Qe7.

10.f4 Nc6

10...Nc4 was punished in Wall - Santiago, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28) with 11.e5 Nh7 12.Qd5+ Kh8 13.Qxc4.

Rybka suggests the discrete 10...Nf7.

11.e5 Nh7

12.Ne4

I admit that I played 12.Qd5+ in perrypawnpusher - Frele, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) with the hope that Black would blunder with 12...Re6, but I had to find another way to win when he answered with the sensible 12...Kh8.

12...Nxe5

Nifty thinking: he returns the piece for two pawns and a roughly even game.

13.fxe5 Rxe5 14.Qd4 Qe8

Material is even, but White's c5 pawn continues to exert pressure on Black's game.

15.Ng3 Re1

Leading to trouble. Black should have challenged White's annoying pawn with 15...b6.

16.Bf4

After the game Rybka pointed out what I had missed, that 16.Bxh6 (linking White's Rooks like the text, but also grabbing a pawn and attacking Black's King) was much stronger. Then 16...Re5 would be answered by the simple 17.Bf4; while 16...Qe5 would see the Queen sac 17.Qc4+ Qe6 18.Raxe1; and 16...gxh6 would be crushed by the same 17.Raxe1.

16...Rxa1 17.Rxa1 c6

Saving the c-pawn, but emphasizing the cramp in his Queenside. Black would have done better to simply give up a pawn with 17...d6 18.cxd6 cxd6 to free his development.

18.Nf5 Qg6

A slip. However, I was so enamored with the positional strength of my next move that I totally missed a much stronger tactical move. 

19.Nd6

Owwww...

Everyone together: 19.Ne7+ would win the Queen!!

How awkward.

19...Ng5

Maybe my opponent saw what was coming, but he should have routed the Knight along a safer path: 19...Nf8 20.Re1 Ne6.

20.Bxg5 Qxg5 21.Re1

Black will lose a piece.

21...Kh7 22.Qe4+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Re8 a5 25.Rxc8

25...Ra7 26.Rc7 a4 27.Rxb7 Ra5 28.Rxd7 Rxc5 29.Ne4 Rxc2 30.Rd2 Rc1+ 31.Kf2 Rc4 32.Kf3 Kf5

Another slip, but this was my day to miss Knight forks. Sigh...

33.g4+ Kg6 34.h4 h5 35.g5 Kf5 36.Nd6+

Saw it this time. Consequently, Black resigned.

One Thousand Posts

This post marks a milestone, the 1,000th one to this blog.

It marks only 998 consecutive days of posting, however, as on two days in that span I posted twice. (For fun, figure out which two.)

The milestone of 1,000 consecutive days of posting will come the day after tomorrow.

In the meantime, what would make this blog better? Drop me an email or make a Comment below and let me know.

What I'd like:
a) to receive more games from readers, annotated if possible
b) to see analysis of readers' favorite variations
c) to receive a large data dump of Jerome Gambit / Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit / Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit / Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games from a site other than FICS, which I already have access to. The Database, now numbering over 23,3000 games (perhaps as many as 20k are FICS games), could easily increase by 25% - 50% - 75% if someone at ICC, Chess.com, RedHotPawn.com, ChessWorld.net or other sites could mine their databases and share the results. Pretty please?  

Sometimes "Simple" is Better

When a player's position becomes difficult, he might seek complications, hoping that his opponent will lose his way, and then the game. In the following fight, however, the alternative strategy of not getting "too fancy" would have brought better results for my opponent.

perrypawnpusher - Eferio
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6

8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Ne5

An "in your face" kind of move. In this or similar positions I have faced it twice against Kotimatka (see "Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight" and "Echoes"), twice against mikelars (see "Rumors of My Death" and "Kick Me"), and once against Irhall (see "One Little Pawn").

11.d4 Nc4

Of course 11...Nc4 is not the only way to attack White's Queen. There is 11...Ng4 as in perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 21)

12.Qd3 Be6

Black weaves a complicated defense for his Knight, avoiding the "simple" 12...Nb6.

13.d5 Ne5

Back again.

14.Qg3 Bd7 15.f4 Bb5

More complications. It was time to give material back and keep the loss to a pawn: 15...Ng4 16.h3 N4f6 17.e5 Kf8 18.exf6 Qxf6.

16.fxe5

Instead, 16.Re1 was good enough for advantage, as in 16...Nf7 17.e5, but I was perfectly happy to fall into Black's combination.

16...Bxf1 17.Qxg7 Qh4

If it were not for the White "Jerome pawn" at e5, Black could have defended with 17....Qf6, etc. Now he has to scare up some kind of counter-play, with the accent upon "scare".

18.Qxh8 Kf8 19.Kxf1 Qxe4

"Best" for Black was probably 19...Qxh2 but it held no promise for long-term survival. 

20.Bxh6+ Kf7 21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.Qxg8+ Kd7 23.Qf7+ Kc8 24.Qe8 checkmate

Pawns 1, Piece 0

Sometimes White wins by attack in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and sometimes he has to "play out" the game and use his pawns against his opponent's extra piece. Proper defense by Black should save at least half of the point, but that doesn't always happen...

perrypawnpusher - CorH

blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

Our earlier game, featuring 5...Kf8, was a pretty good example of Black and his extra piece out-duelling White and his extra pawns (although I had my chances)  perrypawnpusher - CorH, blitz, FICS, 2009, (0-1, 74).

6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+

A check of The Database shows that I don't always play this "nudge": 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qe3 Nf6 9.0-0 Re8, perrypawnpusher - MoonCat, blitz, FICS, 2007, (1-0, 29).


7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0 Kf7

Returning the extra tempo lost by the "nudge".

11.f4


Also seen: 11.Nc3 as in perrypawnpusher-joejox, blitz, FICS, 2009 (½-½, 27).

I did not find Rybka's apparent "let's not risk anything else" recommendation that it made after the game to be appealing: 11.d4 Re8 12.Qb3+ Kf8 13.f3 c6 14.c4 Qb6 15.Be3 Be6 16.Nc3 Bf7 17.Rfe1 

analysis diagram








11...Re8

Of course, Black's Knight can aways kick White's Queen instead, with 11...Ng4 as in perrypawnpusher - Feestt, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 19).

12.f5 Ne5


Instead, the precipitous 12...Rxe4 did not work at all after 13.fxg6+ hxg6 14.Qxe4 in perrypawnpusher - bnxr, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 29).


13.Nc3


I wanted to play 13.d4 but could not figure out how to meet 13...Neg4. The moves are from Vazquez -Carrington, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876 and I should have remembered them for historical reasons, if no others: 14.Qb3+ Kf8 15.h3 Rxe4 16.hxg4 Rxg4 17.Qf3 c6 18.Nc3 d5 19.Bf4 Kg8 20.Be5 h5 21.Rae1 Bd7 22.Re3 Qb6 23.b3 Rf8 24.Na4 Qb4 25.Nc5 Bc8 26.c3 Qb6 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Qh3 Rg5 29.Ne6 Bxe6 30.fxe6 Qc7 31.e7 Re8 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Qxf6+ Rg7 34.Qf8+ Black resigned

13...Kg8


Prudent. There was always the kick at the Queen with 13...Nc4 as an alternative, although it did not lead to much difference after 14.Qd4 Ne5 15.d3 Kg8 in perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23).


14.d4 Neg4

Of course.

15.Qf3 Bd7


An opponent tried 15...c6 in perrypawnpusher - avgur, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 23) but the pawn probably needed to take two steps. 


16.h3 Nh6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.Rae1 Kh8

19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Ng8

Active defense with 20...Bc6 (followed by 21...Rg8) was more likely to be successful in holding back the pawns, reaching  a balanced game.

21.f6 Bc6 22.Qf4 Rf8 23.f7

White's "Jerome pawn" threatens to win back the sacrificed piece: 23...Qg5 24.Qxg5 hxg5 25.fxg8/Q+ Kxg8. White would be a pawn better, but the win would be far off.

Instead, Black saves his Knight and loses his King.

23...Ne7 24.Qf6 checkmate

Lazy, lazy, lazy

I ran across the following game the other day, one that I played last year, that I had not presented on this blog.

No, it is not because I lost the game that it had slipped my mind. It is because how I won the game.

perrypawnpusher - maxmi
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3

In an earlier game my opponent faced 8.Qf4+ Nf6 9.d3 Kg8 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd7 12.Nd2 b5 13.d4 Qf8 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.f3 d5 16.e5 Nh5 17.Qb3 c6 18.Qa3 Ra8 19.Rhf1 Nf4 20.Rf2 Be8 21.h3 Bg6 22.Qa6 h5 23.Qxc6 Rc8 24.Qxd5+ Kh7 25.Qxb5 Qf5 26.Ne4 Qd7 27.Qxd7 Black resigned, piratebopper - maxmi, FICS, 2010.

8...Nf6 9.d3 Nh5

Played in a trio of internet games by belgje a number of years ago -- destinyx - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 80); obviously - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (0-1, 19); and raes - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (0-1,49) – and more recently against a Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, Petasluk - brittaundvolker, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 32).

10.Qf3+ Ke8

Reflex.

11.Qxh5+ g6 12.Qg5

Two pawns up, my brain dropped into L for Lazy: Why think when you can just push pieces? This is a habit that has hurt me in the past, so it is actually painful to see it be successful in this game.

12...Qxg5 13.Bxg5 Rf8 14.0-0 h6

This does not help, giving a free pawn. From now on I play almost on auto-pilot.

15.Bxh6 Rf7 16.Nc3 c6 17.Be3 a5 18.Bxc5 dxc5

19.f4 b5 20.Rae1 b4 21.Nd1 Bd7 22.Ne3 Ke7 23.Nc4 a4 24.Ne5 Rh7 25.Nxd7 Kxd7

Anyone still awake out there?

26.f5 gxf5 27.Rxf5 Rah8 28.h3 Kd6 29.Ref1 c4 30.d4 Re7 31.Rf6+ Kd7 32.Rf7 Rh4 33.Rxe7+ Kxe7 34.Re1 Kd6

35.c3 c5 36.dxc5+ Kxc5 37.e5 Kd5 38.cxb4 Re4

Unwittingly or wittingly bringing the game to a close.

39.Rxe4 Kxe4 40.e6 Ke5 41.e7 Ke6 42.e8Q+ Black resigned

Hardly a Hopeless Patzer

I am going to leave the final words on the "Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit" (see "...or should they?") to the host of the blog "Hopeless Patzer", whose perspective I find both entertaining and educational. (I have added a few diagrams.)

BlackKnight8 - lindseyann
www.ChessWorld.net , 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7

Everything was book until now. Although, taking the pawn is not the best, doing this with the knight is even worse.

6...Qxe4+ 7.Kf1 Qc4+

This move lets me win the knight and retain my ablilty to castle.

8.Kg1 Qxf7 9.d3 Bc5 10.Be3 Bd6 11.f3 Nf6 12.Kf2 0-0

Ng4+ was slightly better here. It would have allowed me to simplify, but I was trying to get as many pieces as I could pressuring his king.

13.Re1 Bxh2 14.Nc3 Nd5

Once again, Ng4+ was the best move.

15.Rh1 Be5 16.f4 Nxe3

This was not the best move, but it caused a flood of pieces that he could not recover from.

17.Kxe3

And with this move he stepped into a mate that was easy to spot.

17...Qxf4+ 18.Ke2 Bg4+

Well, I missed the mate in 1 this time, but not the next.

19.Ke1 Qf2 checkmate

jay8172  - lindseyann
www.ChessWorld.net, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6

I am really not a fan of the Ruy Lopez. I usually manage to make a mess of things. Let's see how this works out.

5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 Kxf7

Turns out he made a mess of this. I was probably beefing up on my openings when this was played. Now neither of us are able to castle, but at least I'm up a piece.

9.d4 Nf6 10.Rd1 Bg4+

Developing my bishop with a skewer that is easily defended.

11.f3 Re8+ 12.Kf2 Bf5 13.Nc3 c5

I probably should have just taken the material with 13...Bxc2. But, I was trying to get my dark-square bishop into the game. He could have protected the g1-a7 diagonal with 14. Be3, but he didn't.

14.dxc5 Bxc5+ 15.Kg3 Nh5+

This move was no good and gets me into trouble in a minute.

16.Kh4 g6

I miss the completely obvious response 17.g4

17.g4

At this point in the game, I was completely convinced that Be7 would be mate. I did not notice his bishop quietly waiting to come to the defense.

17...Bf2+ 18.Kh3

Now I realize his bishop can come to the defense. I actually wrote in my notes during the game: Bxc2 trying to trick him into playing Rd2, then my mate works. This is what happened, but its never good to rely on your opponent to make a big blunder to win.

18...Bxc2 19.Rd2 Nf4 checkmate

Long Lost Cousin?!

Much like the long lost cousin who you wish had stayed lost, the Knight sacrifice in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez bears a family resemblance to the Jerome Gambit. 

Jerome Gambit

Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit

Still, as suggested in the notes to Pigjuice - perrypawnpusher, blitz, FICS, 2011, 6...Qxe4+ was stronger than the move played and reduces the resemblance. The following ICCF game, where a 2200+ player is schooled by someone rated over 450 points lower, puts things in perspective.

Christiaens,R (2242) - Dumont,G (1777)
Tournoi Accession 009, ICCF, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6

The good old Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation.

Black's coming pawn grab and Knight sacrifice are not considered part of his best defense.

5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7

Recommended by Rybka is 6.Nf3 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 Be6 9.Re1 0-0-0 10.d3 h6 11.Kf1 Nf6 12.h3 Bd6 13.Nbd2 Rhe8 14.b3 Nd5 15.Nc4 where Black has an edge.

6...Qxe4+

If, instead, the weaker 6...Kxf6, the game takes on a resemblance to the Jerome Gambit after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6. Amusingly, in the Spanish Game the White Bishop is exchanged on c6 and the Knight is sacrificed on f7, while in the Jerome Gambit the Bishop is sacrificed on f7 and the Knight exchanged on c6.

7.Kf1 Kxf7 8.Nc3 Qf5 9.h3 Bb4 10.a3 Bxc3 11.dxc3 Nf6

White's compensation for the piece is negligible. His timid play hastens the end.

12.b4 Be6 13.Bb2 Bc4+ 14.Kg1 Rad8 15.Qc1 Rhe8 16.Kh2 Re2 17.Re1 Qxf2 18.Rf1 Qxg2 checkmate

I probably will continue to investigate the "Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit" for historical purposes (and I have added the couple hundred games that I have uncovered to The Database), but after tomorrow's post –  letting a self-styled "hopeless patzer" have the final words – I will not inflict it further upon readers.