What Hole?

Ah! Another unsound attack with the Jerome Gambit by Yours Truly! At first glance, it looks powerful - but, there is a hole in it. (Or maybe more than one...) Lucky for me, my opponent missed his escape, and perished in rolling thunder.

perrypawnpusher - kenkenaitya
blitz, FICS, 2014

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

The Jerome Gambit.

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

I like facing this defense, as it allows White to get rid of the annoying Black dark-squared Bishop and to get his "Jerome pawns" rolling.

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

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

Or 11.f3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009 (1-0,35).

11...Kf7

Alternatives:

11...Qe7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 20),  perrypawnpusher - obturator, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - fogab, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 27);

11...Ng4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47), perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 58) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2011 (24); and

11...Rf7 was seen in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 49) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qd3 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand, but White already has a small edge.

15.h3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Nc3 a6 18.Qe3 Kg7

Rybka 3 gives a very complicated defense starting with 18...Ne8, and including ...Qe7 and ...Qf6 to exchange (or drive) off White's Queen.

19.Qg3+

Here, and for the next few moves, Rybka 3 prefers e4-e5. Then, when I finally play the move, it prefers something different. The reason? See the note to Black's 23nd move.

19...Kf7 20.Qh4 Rg8 21.Qxh6 Rg7

22.e5?

First White should play 22.Rae1.

22...dxe5 23.dxe5 Ng8

Instead, 23...Qd4+ 24.Rf2 Qxe5 gives Black the edge. White must always be wary of the Black Queen check and capture, if he plays the e4-e5 break.

24.e6+ Kf8 25.Qf4 b5

Here Rybka 3 suggests that Black try his luck in a Rooks and pawns endgame (where he is still worse): 25...Nf6 26.Rad1 Qe7 27.Nd5 Qc5+ 28.Ne3 Qe7 29.Ng4 Nxg4 30.hxg4 Bxe6 31.fxe6+ Kg8 32.Qc4 Rg6 33.Rfe1 b5 34.Rd7 bxc4 35.Rxe7 Rg7 36.Rd7 c3 37.bxc3 Re8 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.e7 Kf6.

Now White finishes off the game in sparkling style.

26.Rad1 Qe8 27.f6 Rg6 28.f7 Qe7 29.fxg8Q+ Kxg8 30.Qf7+ Qxf7 31.exf7+ Kf8 32.Rd8+ Ke7 33.f8Q+ Ke6 
Black resigned as I played 34.Re1

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Half-Way Home Is Not Far Enough

Although the attack in my most recent Jerome Gambit game was unsound, it succeeded in winning back the sacrificed piece, reaching a drawn 2Rs + Ps vs 2Rs + Ps endgame. Alas, I let up my focus too soon, and my opponent's tactic won a rook, and the game.

perrypawnpusher - spince
blitz, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

An earlier game against the same opponent continued 3...Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8, perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 23). 

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Re8

9.0-0

Instead, 9.Bg5 followed by 10.0-0-0 was seen in Wall,B - PLMW, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 24).

9...Kg8

This is an improvement over 9...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - DrHilarius, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 27) and 9...Nfg4 of perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

10.f4

A bit stronger is 10.Bg5 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20) and billwall - chiefh1, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 29). 

10...Nc6 11.Qd3 d6 12.Bd2 Be6 

Or 12...Kh8 as in perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36).

13.f5 Bf7 14.a3 Re5 15.Bf4 Re7 16.Rae1 Ne5 17.Qh3 Qe8 18.Bg5 Rd7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.g4 

This kind of thing always seems to work for Bill Wall.

20...Qf8 21.Kh1 Qg7 22.Rg1 Kf8 23.Qg3 Ke7 24.Nd5+ Kd8 25.Qf4 c6 26.Nc3 Kc7 27.h4 Rg8 28.Re3 Qf8 

Black could have played 28...Nxg4, but he had already decided on his defense.

29.Reg3 Qe7 30.g5 fxg5 31.hxg5 d5 32.exd5 Bxd5+ 33.Nxd5+ Rxd5 34.Re3 

Instead, c2-c4, either here or the next move, would give White the advantage.

34...Kc8 35.Rge1 Qxg5 36.Qxg5 Rxg5 37.Rxe5 Rd4 38.R1e2

This move is okay, but 38.Re8+ Kc7 39.Re7+ Kb6 40.Rxh7 Rxf5 41.Ree7 would have made the draw clear.

38...Rh5+ 39.Rh2

A blunder, which my opponent quickly spotted. Even was 39.Kg2. 

39...Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Rd2+ 41.Kg3 Rdxh2 White resigned

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Go Ahead And Do Your Worst!

In the following game, White is ready for Black's counter-attack - at first. He misses a consolidating line, and, as a result, takes it on the chin, after all.

zinoukako - JJTh

blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.c3 Qg5

The thematic counter-attack of the BSG. White has everything covered, though, as we saw in "Too Fast, Too Furious" and "A Head Scratcher".

7.cxd4

White rightly says "Go ahead and do your worst!"

7...Qxg2 8.Rf1

This, though, is more bravado (or routine) than science. Instead, 8.Qf3 holds everything together for the first player: after the exchange of Queens at f3, he is up a pawn, he has the better pawn center, and his King is safer. 

8...Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxe2+ 10.Kxe2 d6 11.Nf3 Bg4 12.Nc3 Kd7

13.Rg1

White could hold on with 13.d3, as he then has a way to meet Black's next move.

13...Re8+ White resigned