Caffeine Deficiency Disorder

There are a lot of explanations for the following game. It was a Jerome Gambit. It was blitz. It was played by a couple of club players. In the end, I think the most salient factor was that it was played in the early morning, and my opponent and I each could have used some coffee.

perrypawnpusher - hklett
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

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

Instead, 7...Bxd4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18) and perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20).

8.dxc5 Kg8 

This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),

9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 Qxd6 11.Qe2

After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.

Neither White's Queen nor his e-pawn are going to be comfortable with Black's Rook on e8, and a timely f2-f3 (despite f2-f4 being thematic in the Jerome Gambit) will soon be helpful. 

11...Be6 12.b3

Protecting against a possible ...Bc4, skewering White's Queen and Rook, but this is one-dimensional. A more complete response would have been 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.f3, which safeguards White's major pieces, chases Black's Queen off of the dangerous b8-h2 diagonal, and reinforces the pawn at e4.

12...Rad8 

Maybe the Bishop move was all that my opponent was threatening, but, instead of the text, he could have loosened up my Kingside a bit with 12...Neg4 13.g3 Ne5 14.f3.

Alas, most of these subtle opportunities were wasted on us. 

13.Bg5 

Instead, 13.Bf4 would have kept Black's Knight in place at e5. 

13...Qf8

14.h3 Nc6 15.e5 

If only chess were this easy.

15...Nxe5 

Cooperating. (I told you it was early in the morning.) More scrappy was 15...Nd4!? when things don't look so good for the first player after 16.Qe3 Nxc2 17.Qe2 Nxa1 18.exf6 Qc5. 

16.Qxe5 Bxh3 

Trying to catch me napping.

17.Qg3 Bc8 

The game is about equal, and White might now get a small edge after 18.Qxc7.

18.Qh4 Rd6 19.Rad1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Bf5 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.Rd2 Kf7 

The game is about even, with Black's somewhat weaker pawns offsetting his B vs N advantage. Lucky for me, while I was playing the game I believed in the offbeat notion that, from a practical perspective, When White has equalized in the Jerome Gambit, he actually has the advantage.

24.Kf1 Kg6 25.Nd1 Kg5 26.Ne3 Bg6 27.c4 Bb1 

My opponent probably was dreaming of the two of us cooperatively erasing all 6 of the Queenside pawns, when a draw would be an overdue conclusion. Alas, it is necessary to call attention to the sleepy word dreaming.

28.Rd7 Bxa2 

Instead, the defensive 28...Rc8 probably gave enough for Black to hang on. My opponent has missed something.

29.Rxc7 Bxb3 30.Rxb7 Bxc4+ 

After the game, Houdini's best play for both sides showed that by giving up a couple of pawns with 30...Ba4 31.Rxa7 Bc6 32.Rxh7 Black could have still hung on, with a complicated game and drawing chances for Black. Certainly I couldn't have pushed through to the full point with White in the time that I had left.

31.Nxc4 Black resigned