Friday, March 13, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Be Prepared

If you are going to play bullet chess, you have to be prepared for just about anything. The story of the following game is that Black was not prepared - for the Jerome Gambit.

angelcamina - ShadowKnight314
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.O-O Bc5 6.Bxf7+ 



The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 



9...Qe7 10.f4 c5 

Sometimes this pawn "kick" works, sometimes it doesn't. It is best to work it out beforehand, as there is not a lot of time to figure it out as the play develops in bullet.

11.Qxe5 Qxe5 12.fxe5 Black resigned



Black will be down a piece, with no compensation.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

BSJG: The Win Is The Thing

angelcamina, playing online at lichess.org, likes to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and other Jerome variants in bullet games with a time control of one minute, no increment. (Kind of like heavyweight boxers, wearing roller skates, on ice.) He beats his opponents when he has the advantage, and he beats them when they have the advantage. Both ways, quickly.

angelcamina - regullele
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 


The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5



I have already pointed out

White's strongest move here is 6.c3, but any Queen move has to be scary for Black, and takes up thinking time to figure out how to deal with it.
6...Qf6 

A little bit stronger was 6...Nf6, as in angelcamina - rabirabi, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13) and angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13).

7.Ng4

A small improvement over 7.Qe8+ in angelcamina -Skhokho1507, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 12). 

7...Nxc2+ 

This fork is always tempting when it appears in the BSJG, but it would have been wiser to settle things down with 7...Qg6 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Qxd4 Qxg4 10.O-O Kd8, with Black for choice. 

8.Kd1 Qg6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Ne5 Qe6 


11.Qxe6+ 

The Queens probably have to be exchanged, but 11.Kxc2 Qxd5 12.exd5 was the way to do it, with a roughly balanced game. With the text, White sheds his advantage - which only means he has to work a little bit harder.

11...Kxe6 12.Kxc2 Kxe5 13.d3 d5 14.f4+ Kd4 


Inexplicably headed for trouble. angelcamina obliges. 

15.Re1 Be6 16.Be3 checkmate



Monday, March 9, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Careful What You Wish For

?!?


Now that you have what you want, do you really want what you have?

The above question appears twice in the first six moves of the following game. The game turns on the answer to each of the questions.

Wall, Bill - Guest1573554
PlayChess.com, 2020.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 

"The Italian Game", perhaps Black muses. "I wish I had a few more defenders to play against it."

4.Bxf7+


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 

"Wow! An extra Knight and an extra Bishop!" celebrates Black.

"I would like to get a return on my investment," thinks White. "As in my earlier games."

6.Qh5+ Kf6 

"This will do," smiles White.

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ 

Black resigned here in Wall,B - Guest2892618, PlayChess.com, 2015.


8...Kf8 

Or 8...Kf7 as in Wall,B - Guest1468523, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 14). 

9.Qxc5+ d6 

Bill has also seen 9...Ne7, as in Wall,B - SMNN, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 27). 

White has regained his two sacrificed pieces, and remains two pawns up. There is still more work to do, but this is a decent start.

In the meantime, too, Black has to figure out what he is going to do.

10.Qb5 Nf6 

Or 10...c6 as in Wall,B - Guest733407, PlayChess.com 2014 (1-0, 21).

11.O-O 

White could have protected his e-pawn  - e.g. 11.d3 as in Wall,B - KSPF, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 23) - but he would happily respond to 11...Nxe4 now with 12.Re1.

11...h5

Black considers activating his Rook, to attack White's King. He is not finished fighting - but what to do?. Perhaps White's Queen is misplaced?


12.d3 Ng4 13.Nc3 c6 14.Qb3 Qe7 



Where to put the Queen? Can the Bishop move without giving up a pawn? Must the King Rook stay at home? Things to figure out.

15.f4 h4 16.h3 Nf6 17.f5 Black resigned



I think Black decided that his game was just too uncomfortable, and that there were better opportunites, elsewhere.