Of Such Little Things...

Of such little things, it seems, victories are made.

In the following game the players quickly reach a Queenless middle game, with Black holding the extra piece while White has two extra pawns. Both have to decide their strategies - but, in the meantime, a small tactical "pothole" crashes the second player in short order.

Wall, Bill - Guest2651667
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5
d6 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.d3 Qxf4 10.Bxf4 Nf6 

Bill Wall, like Philidor 1792 (to name another in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde) is comfortable playing without Her Majesty.

11.Nc3 

Other games in The Database have seen 11.h3, 11.c3, 11.O-O, and 11.Be3.

11...a6 12.f3 

Bill is not in a hurry - yet. He can afford to see what else his opponent has on his mind.

12...Be6 13.Bg3 g5 14.e5 

Breaking in the center makes sense now that Black has further weakened his King with another pawn move (11...a6, 13...g5). The move also contains a trap that the second player immediately falls into.

14...dxe5

Better was 14...Nd5. 

15.Bxe5 Kf7

It all looks so routine and uneventful, but 15...Be7 was the proper defense. White could then snatch a pawn with 16.Ne4 (i.e. 16...Kg7 17.Nxg5) but Black might still have a small edge.

Now a simple combination decides.

16.Bxf6 Kxf6 17.Ne4+ Black resigned

After 18.Nxc5 White will have recovered his sacrificed piece and be a couple of pawns up; not something Black wanted to continue against.