Well, well, well...
It looks like I have one more Jerome Gambit to play in my current Chess.com tournament, after all.
I had better get to work: due to an unexpected run of good fortune, a win or two more might catapult me into the third round of play - and allow me to try more Jeromes.
It's a good day.☺
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Jerome Gambit: The Velveteen Rabbit (Part 3)
[continued from earlier post]
"Italian Battleground ", Chess.com, 2018
Although White will be only the exchange up, the Rook's ability to attack both sides of the board will be sufficient to bring home the win.
31.b3 Bxg4 32.c4 b6 33.Kf2
There was also the straight forward 33.c5 bxc5 34.dxc5 dxc5 35.Rc1 which would open lines for the Rook. I wanted to position my King, first.
33...h5 34.Kg3 h6
35.Kf4 a6
Black is getting squeezed. If 35...Bd7, then 36.Rh1 Bg4 37.c5 was one way to proceed. My choice was slower.
36.b4 Bd7 37.c5 bxc5 38.bxc5 dxc5 39.dxc5 Black resigned
Black cannot stop White's passed pawn and protect his own pawns at the same time.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Jerome Gambit: Velveteen Rabbit (Part 2)
17...Nxe4 18.f6
As I wrote earlier, now "it will be interesting to see which one of us unveils his 'improvement' on the play first."
18...Nxf6!?
My opponent takes the pawn, with a move not seen in any of the games in The Database, in effect saying "Show me!".
I think the text move leads to an edge for White, despite Black being up a piece, but it is necessary to prove that - and my opponent had a defensive plan in mind.
19.Rf4 Kg7 20.Raf1 Be6 21.Qg3+
21...Ng4
A scientific idea - the proper way to deal with a gambit is to take the material, and then return it at a time when it will intefere with the attack.
22.hxg4
Later, I became curious and asked Stockfish what I should have decided upon, here. It cranked out 22.d5!?.
I could see some of that - capturing the pawn with 22...Bxd5 would allow White to swing a Rook over to the g-file, doubling with the Queen, i.e. 23.Rxg4+. It turns out that, then, White would have a mate in 30-something moves, but I would never have figured that out.
But, what if Black did what he sometimes does, protect his King while giving White the choice of which piece to grab back - as with 22...Kh8!? ? Stockfish was confident that after 23.dxe6 Ne5 White would still be better (almost 3 pawns better, according to the computer), but even now I can not become excited by the position.
All in all, I am happy with having just captured the Knight.
22...Qg5
Black's idea. It falls victim to my initiative, however.
23.Ne4 Qd5 24.Nf6 Qg5
25.Nxe8+
Later, I discovered that this was not Stockfish's choice, either. It liked 25.Re4!?, with White holding the advantage of almost a Queen. I still don't understand that.
25...Rxe8 26.Qc3 Kg8 27.Qxc7
Okay, White is the exchange and a pawn better. A win, right?
"Won" games don't win themselves.
27...Qe7 28.Qxe7+ Rxe7 29.Re1
Wrong Rook. I had better with 29.Re4 d5 30.Re5 Re8 31.Rf6!? when, after an exchange of Rooks, Black's pawns are too weak to save from attack.
29...Rf7 30.Rxf7 Kxf7
Black's King and Bishop are more active than they should have been allowed to be.
[to be continued]
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Jerome Gambit: Can He Do That? (Part 3)
?????
Here we have another Jerome Gambit game by Bill Wall, where he experiments and stretches the boundaries of the opening even further.
What to say of his 5th move? Well, in his notes he gives it a "?" - but that may be because he scored only a draw with it.
Still, that is another argument that in the Jerome Gambit, "having said A, one must say B", that is, having played 4.Bxf7+, one must play 5.Nxe5+.
On the other hand, so many players still essay the "modern" Jerome Gambit variations...
Wall, Bill - Guest709058
PlayChess.com, 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Qe2
The culprit.
5...d6
Bill has also faced 5...Nf6 6.Qc4+ d5 7.Qxc5 Qd6 (7...dxe4 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Re8 10.Qb5 Qd4 11.O-O c6 12.Qb3+ Nd5 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Qxb7+ Ne7 15.Re1 Bd5 16.b3 Kg8 17.Bb2 Rf8 18.Qxe7 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.Qg5 e3 21.Nxd5 exd2 22.Qxg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Asesino, Chess.com, 2010) 8.Qxd6 cxd6 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d3 Bg4 11.Ng5+ Kg6 12.Ne4 Rad8 13.f3 Bf5 14.Bd2 Rhe8 15.h4 Bxe4 16.dxe4 Ndb4 17.Kd1 Rc8 18.Nc3 Nd4 19.Rc1 Nbc6 20.h5+ Kf6 21.Be3 Red8 22.Kd2 d5 23.Nxd5+ Ke6 24.h6 g6 25.c3 Nb5 26.c4 Nbd4 27.b4 a6 28.Rhd1 Ne7 29.Bg5 Rd7 30.Nxe7 Rxe7 31.Bxe7 Kxe7 32.Ke3 Rd8 33.c5 Nc6 34.Rxd8 Kxd8 35.Rd1+ Ke7 36.Rd6 Nxb4 37.Rb6 Nxa2 38.Rxb7+ Ke6 39.Rxh7 Nb4 40.Ra7 Kf6 41.h7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest933324, PlayChess.com, 2018.
6.O-O Nd4 7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.d3 Nf6 9.h3 Rf8 10.Nd2 Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand and his position looks rock solid. White will have to work hard to get the game back in his favor.
11. c3 Bb6 12. a4 a6 13. b4 Be6 14. a5 Ba7 15.Nf3 Qd7
16.Ng5 h6 17.Nxe6 Qxe6 18.Bd2 Rf7 19.c4 Bd4 20.Rab1 Raf8
Black is ready to attack.
White defends - but he also distracts. His resources will draw upon the psychological.
21.Be1 g5 22.Kh2 Ne8 23.f3 Ng7 24.Bf2 Bxf2 25.Qxf2 Nh5 26.b5 Nf4 27.Qa7 axb5 28.Qxb7 bxc4 29.dxc4 Qxc4 30.Rg1 c5
White fights on.
31.Qc6 Qe6 32.Rb6 Nxh3
Somewhat impatient (but playable) - why won't White give up??
33.gxh3 Rxf3 34.Qd5 Qxd5
Exchanging Queens should take the starch out of White's resistance, Black figures. Bill points out that 34...Rxh3 was stronger - but he wasn't under the pressure to "win a won game", as his opponent was; he was simply "losing a lost game", and that is easier (sometimes).
35.exd5
35...R8f6
And, suddenly, weirdly, the game is drawn, as both players realize. It's not just the "all Rook endings are drawn" situation, White's passed a-pawn is a danger, and it will cost too much to sideline it.
36.Ra1 Rf2+ 37.Kg1 R2f3 38.a6 Rg3+ 39.Kh2 Rff3 40.Rb8+ Kg7 41.Rb7+ Kg6 42.a7 Rxh3+ 43.Kg2 drawn
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