Some games in the ongoing Jerome Gambit tournament at RedHotPawn were over in an eye-blink. I present six (plus one), for completeness sake - but don't look away, as you might miss something. Stay with me until the end, however, as the last game is a textbook lesson in tactical suddenness! rkmmax - HikaruShindo Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
rkmmax -junnujannu Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
rkmmax - Dalradian Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
HikaroShindo - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
junnujannu - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
Dalradian - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
Missing that this allows a checkmate in three moves. 11...Bh5 Or 11...Ne2+ 12.Kh1 Ng3+ 13.hxg3 hxg5 checkmate. 12.Nh3 Missing something. 12...Nxf3+ White resigned
Oh, my. Bill Wall just sent me his latest Jerome Gambit game and I wrote back and said it was an example of "existential chess". I was thinking about the idea of a "negative halo effect" that I had touched on in earlier posts (see "Halo Effect", "Feeling Lucky", "Kick Me" and "Dizziness Due to Success"). I mean the perception that if one starts a game with the "wrong" opening then one can be expected to continue to produce "wrong" chess and the whole game can be expected to be equally "wrong". How dare Bill, instead, follow up with strong play, avoid missteps and win with a mating attack?? It reminds me of a quote from Justin E. H. Smith's essay "The Flight of Curiosity"
To take an interest in that false belief is not to reject the truth, but only to wish to fill out our picture of the truth with as much detail as possible, and not because of some aesthetic inclination to the baroque, but rather because false theories are an important part of the puzzle that we ... should be trying to complete: that of determining the range of ways people conceptualize the world around them.
White has only a pawn for his sacrificed piece. However, beyond the "theory of infinite resistance" this particular White has a lot of experience (over 400 games in The Database, for example) and if there are tricks, traps or nuances to be exploited, he will know about them or be ready to find them. 8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 Instead, for 9.f3 seeWall,B - Guest903719, Playchess.com, 2013 (1-0, 47). The related 9.f4 was seen as far back as Jerome,A - Shinkman,W, Iowa, USA, 1874 (1/2-1/2, 42). 9...Re8 Recently played: 9...c6 10.f4 c5 11.Qf2 Neg4 12.Qd2 Rf8 13.h3 Nh6 14.e5 Nh5 15.g4 Ng3 16.Rf3 Qh4 17.Kg2 Bxg4 18.hxg4 Nxg4 19.Qd5+ Ke7 20.Qxb7+ Ke6 21.Qd5+ Kf5 22.Qd3+ Ke6 23.Qxd6+ Kf7 24.Qd5+ Kg6 25.Rxg3 Qh2+ 26.Kf3 Qf2+ 27.Kxg4 Rxf4+ 28.Bxf4 h5+ 29.Kh4+ Kh7 30.Qe4+ g6 31.Qxg6+ Kh8 32.Qg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest708676, PlayChess.com, 2016. 10.Bg5 Kg8
Cute. Better, though was 14...Kh8 15.Qb3+ Nf7 There are plenty of complications to offer White, including: 15...Be6 16.Qa4 b5 17.Qxb5 c6 18.Qa4 Neg4 19.Qxc6 Rc8 20.Qa6 Bc4 21.Qxa7 Bxf1. 16.e5 Bill is not interested in either 16.Qxb7 Rb8 17.Qxa7 Rxb2 18.Nd5 Rxc2 or 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qxb7 Qd4+ 18.Kh1 Qb6. The truth lies elsewhere. 16...dxe5 A bit of a better choice for Black is 16...Be6, when either 17.Bxf6 or 17.Qxb7 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxf6 gxf6 would be good for him; although the draw with 17.Qa4 Bd7 18.Qb3 Be6 19.Qa4 etc might arise. 17.fxe5 Be6 18.Qa4 As Bill points out, again not 18.Qxb7 Nxe5 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Rf4 (20.Rd1 Qb8) 20...Rb8. 18...Bd7 Instead, 18...Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Qd7 20.Bxf6 Qxa4 21.Nxa4 gxf6 22.Rc5 c6 23.Rxf6 looks about equal. 19.Qd4 Not 19.Qf4 g5; nor 19.Qa3 Nxe5 nor 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Qh4 f5. This Wall guy is becoming troublesome by avoiding trouble! 19...g5
This looks like either frustration or impatience. 20.exf6 gxh4 Or 20...Rxe1 21.Bxe1 Bc6 22.Qe3. 21.Rd1 Now Bill goes from threat to threat, first threatening 22.Qxd7. 21...Nd6 22.Qd3 Threatening 23.Qg6+. 22...Bf5 Time to give some material back, but not 22...Kh8 23.Qg6 Nf5 24.Rxf5 Bxf5 25.Qg7 checkmate 23.Rxf5 Bill gives the alternative 23.f7+ Kxf7 24.Rxf5+ Nxf5 25.Qxf5+ Kg7 26.Rd7+ Qxd7 27.Qxd7+ and White would also be better. 23...Nxf5 24.Qxf5
The field for the Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn (see "New Jerome Gambit Tournament") is complete, and the games have started - in fact, almost 2/3 of them have been completed already! Group 1 SeinfeldFan91 ZorroTheFox RODbr eagleswing Group 2 procyk deriver69 rigidwithfear golddog2 Group 3 kristjan LittleDonkey JeanTylerGabriel BigD00 Group 4 junnujannu HikaruShindo Dalradian rkmmax There is an interesting mix of Jerome Gambit veterans and novices, so the play is quite interesting. A win is worth 3 points. A draw is worth 1 point. The leader(s) of each group will advance to a final group, the winner of which will win the tournament. Results and games will appear here.