Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

12...Nc4 

Of course. (I write that now, but the move came as a surprise.) White's Bishop is unprotected, and it's capture would lead to a brutal fork. At the same time, the b-pawn is available for capture.

13.Bd4 

After the game, Komodo 10 suggested 13.Qc1, to protect the Bishop and the pawn. Assessing 13...Nxe3 14.Qxe3, Black would have exchanged a piece that had moved 4 times for one that had moved once. On the other hand, White's Queen would be pulled onto the same file as Black's Rook, with a possible ...d5 coming.

The text move avoids the Knight-for-Bishop exchange, while threatening Bxf6 - as if the piece had moved to g5 in the first place (but taking an extra move).

13...a6 

After the game, Komodo 10 recommended 13...Nxb2 14.Qb1 Nc4 15.Qxb7, when White's Queen would be drawn dangerously far away from the Kingside, should Black choose to attack.

Was my opponent planning to support his Knight at c4 with ...b5 ? I thought so, but his next move suggested otherwise.

14.Ne2 Ne5 15.Nc3 

A craven attempt to suggest a draw, by repetition of position - another symptom of my bad emotional state. 

I got a chuckle out of the quick assessment that the Chess.com site provided, after the game, labelling both my 14th and 15th moves as "excellent". Black's response was best.

15...Nc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 

Breaking up the Kingside pawn structure, rather than play 16...Qxf6, losing a pawn to 17.Rxd6.

17.Qd2 Qe7 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Qf4 Kh8 20.Rfe1 Ne5

Black is not in a hurry. Let White take the risk and make the mistake.

21.Nd5 Qg7

Giving up a pawn to get the Queens off of the board. The alternative was 21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 (planning pressure on the d-pawn down the file), when one of Black's Rooks, or his Queen, can go to either of the semi-open files; perhaps 22...Rg8 was best.

One line I never considered at the time was 21.Bxd5 22.Rxd5 f5!?, which would have revealed some of the structural problems of my Kingside after 23.Qxf5?! Rg8. More about this, later in the game.

22.Qxf6 Qxf6 23.Nxf6 Re7 24.b3

With 3 pawns for the piece, White has probably equalized. Black's pawn on d6 is still a weakness, and if White can get in c2-c4, he can apply pressure to keep things in balance.

I was catching my breath, but the game was going to take a wild turn.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 1)

I won my third round game - an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - in the "Italian game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, when my opponent and I seemed to have the same "hallucination" about a tense, tactical position. Up until then, I had been awkwardly struggling to lurch my way back to equality - only to be smacked around by a violent return of my sacrificed material.

Given the distracted level of my play, I consider myself quite lucky.

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 

Whew! My game against Winawer99 in the same round continued 4...Nxe4, and I decided to avoid my past suffering with the Noa Gambit / Monck Gambit / Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - 5.Bxf7+ - and played, instead, 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.d4, a line that I also have struggled with. It showed: on my way to a possibly drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, I overlooked a checkmate in 2 moves (0-1, 21).

5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

What difference does the addition of Knights at c3 and f6 make, when compared to the regular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Komodo 10 shows it to improve Black's position by about 3/4 of a pawn.

The Database has 2,731 games with the Four Knights version, with Black scoring 61%. This compares to 15,157 games with the Jerome, proper, with Black scoring 54%.

I have to admit, in my own games, Black scores 25% in my Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games (62) versus scoring 17% in my regular Jerome Gambit games (336). 

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8

I like this move. Instead of worrying which piece to save, Black develops another one, on a crucial file. Let White figure it out!

8.dxc5 

In preparing this post, I was amused to discover that Komodo 10's second choice, here, was not a capture, but 8.0-0, fully relying on the fact that not all of the pieces will be able to escape, e.g. 8...Bd6 9.f4!? Nc6 10.e5, etc. 

That line, in turn, raised a question for me: Has anyone ever tried moving the f-pawn right away, i.e. 8.f4 ? It turns out that The Database has two examples - Svirfneblin - cosmoo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24) and Mvskoke - Panico, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 36). It is an example of going too far, however, as Black has 8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 and he is doing better than in the normal lines.

By the way, The Database has 6 games with 8.0-0 (Black scores 56%) - and in 3 of them, Svirfneblin had the White pieces. I will have to look at more of his games...


8...Kg8 

Finishing castling-by-hand. I have noted

This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),

9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 cxd6 

This is probably an improvement over 10...Qxd6, which I faced a couple of times perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - strandskatan, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 38). I was prepared, sort of

After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.

11.Be3 

An odd move; the Bishop usually goes to g5. I was planning to play f2-f4, but, for some reason I was worried about ...Qb6+ at some point, so I protected the a7-g1 diagonal. Of course, White's b-pawn is not vulnerable to that enemy double attack, until the Bishop moves. I suspect Caffeine Deficiency Disorder.

11...Be6 12.f3 

This is the move that White sometimes plays when he gives up on his plan to attack, and decides to hunker down and challenge Black to do something with his material advantage. Suddenly - comparatively, as the time control was 3 days per move - that became my plan.

The word "collywobbles" comes to mind.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Tactics

The following game has some interesting tactics - those played and those missed. It might well have been decided by those imagined.

zzbaobao - givemeabreak
5 12 blitz, FICS, 2020

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

4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qc3

The Queen most often goes to e3, but White wants it to aim toward the enemy Kingside - the original intention of his 6th move. 

8...Nf6 9.d3 Re8 10.O-O Be6 11.Bg5 Qd7 

Unpinning the Knight, but also removing one of its defenders.

Jerome Gambiteers will also notice that the Queen move blocks in Black's light-squared Bishop, making it vulnerable to the thematic f2-f4-f5. As the game goes, it appears that this may not have been an oversight by the second player.

12.f4 Bg4 13.h3 Bxh3 

Tactics. Now, after 14.gxh3 Qxh3, Black would have an edge.

14.f5 Bxg2 15.fxg6+ 

The alternative, 15.Kxg2, was of about equal worth.

15...Kxg6 

Keeping his pawns intact? Komodo 10 prefers the fireworks. 15...Kg8 16.Rf4 Nh5 17.Rh4 h6 18.Be3 Bh3 19.Nd2 Bg4 20.Qb3+ Be6 21.Qc3 Nf6 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Qxf6 Rf8 24.Qd4 Qe7 25.Rh2 Qg7 and things are unclear, perhaps even.

Now, White sacs decisively.  

16.Rxf6+ Kxg5 17.Rf5+ 

17...Qxf5

Either a miscalculation, or a sense of panic. Still, 17...Kg6 18.Qd2 h6 19.Qxg2 would be good for White, as well.

18.exf5 Bc6 19.Qxg7+ Kxf5 20.Qxh7+ Ke6

With a Queen for a Rook, White is better, even undeveloped with a naked King.

21.Nc3 Rg8+ 22.Kf2 Rg2+ 23.Ke3 Rag8 24.Re1 R8g7 25.Kd4+ Kd7 26.Qf5+ Kd8 27.Qf8+ Kd7 28.Qe8 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Getting Carried Away With the Counter-Attack

One way to win a chess game quickly is to play quickly. Of course, that is also a way to lose quickly. Of course, in 1-minute chess, everything happens quickly.

In the following game, Black is doing well until he gets carried away with his attack

angelcamina - kursad33x
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

It feels like there are a gazillion games with this position in The Database, but there are actually only 203. Still, White scores 71%, so that's worth mentioning, too. (angelcamina got here in under 5 seconds.)

10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Qe7 12.Nc3 Re8 13.d3 Ng4 

When in doubt, hassle the enemy Queen.

14.Qg3 d5 

Sometimes the computer can be boring: it recommends, instead, 14...Nf6. The pawn at d5 is at risk.

15.e5 Kg8 16.Nxd5 Qc5+ 17.Ne3 Nxe3 18.Bxe3 Qxc2 

The position is about even, but Black's forces carelessly rush ahead. This can be dangerous in bullet chess.

19.f5 Nxe5 20.Bd4 Nxd3 21.Qxg7 checkmate