Saturday, February 11, 2012

Successful

If you inquired how someone can regularly be successful with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), you might first find that it is helpful to be a strong player.

You might also learn that becoming familiar with a large number of Jerome games, by working with The Database, is an advantage.

Finally, you might see that experience in playing the Jerome Gambit is a great help, too.

Which is a pretty handy introduction to the latest Bill Wall game.

Wall,B - guest2170544
PlayChess.com, 2012


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


4...Kxf7 5.0-0

A "modern" variation of the Jerome Gambit (i.e. not 5.Nxe5+).

5...h6

Provoking a transition to the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4

Of course, there is also 7.Qh5+ Ng6 (7...Ke6 Wall,B - Guest473534, PlayChess.com, 2011 [1-0, 21]) 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 Wall,B - Castro,S, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 23).

7...Nf6

A quick position search in The Database will find 5 games (before this one), with Black winning 80% of them. Does that make any sense?

A second look will show that in all of those games it is Black to move; that White first played d2-d3, and then, later, d3-d4. The loss of tempo changes everything.

That makes Black's 7th move in this game a novelty   understandable, perhaps, in that the second player does not choose which piece to surrender, he merely develops another  but his choice is not as strong as the old 7...Bxd4, as in 8.Qxd4 Qe7 (8...Qf6 9.Be3 Ne7 10.Nc3 Rf8 11.Nb5 c6 12.Nc7 Rb8 13.f4 Nf3+ 14.Rxf3 Qxd4 15.Bxd4 Kg8 16.Bxa7 1-0 Wall,B - Foman, Chess.com, 2010 [1-0, 16]; 8...Ng6 9.Qc4+ Kf8 10.Nc3 c6 11.Be3 b5 12.Qb4+ N8e7 13.f4 a5 14.Qd6 Kf7 15.f5 Nf8 16.f6 Ne6 17.fxe7+ 1-0 Wall,B - Merdiyev,F, Chess.com, 2010 [1-0, 17]) 9.f4 Nc6  Wall,B - Ratebabb, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 28)

8.dxe5 Nh7

Choosing this time, but not wisely. Black would have done better to hold onto the Bishop with 8...d6, and, after 8.exf6 Qxf6 he would at least have the two Bishops as partial compensation for his lost pawn.

9.Qd5+ Kf8 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Rd1 Black resigned


Black sees that it is time to let the game go, as he will be down three pawns after 11...Be6 12.exd6 cxd6 13.Rxd6

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