Monday, January 11, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Outplayed, Alas (Part 1)



When you get out-played in a chess game - as I was in the following Jerome Gambit - it is still tempting to look for the one move that set you on the path to defeat. It is more likely, at least in my experience, that there are a number of mistakes, topped by one big one, that leads to a loss.

It is clear, in any event, that my opponent was the better player in this contest.


perrypawnpusher - ZlikoM

"Piano Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 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 


So far, pretty routine. The Database has 226 games with this position, going back to Charlick - Mann, correspondence, 1881 (1-0, 72).

10.O-O Qe7 

Pressure against the e-pawn. I had scored 8 - 1 - 1 against this move, previously. Komodo 11 prefers 10...d5, which has not yet showed up in The Database.

11.Nc3 

White has a number of Jerome-ish ideas available to him here, from reinforcing his e-pawn with either 11.d3 or 11.f3, or advancing one of those pawns with 11.f4. The last looks a little iffy, according to Stockfish 11: 11.f4 Nxe4 12.Re1 d5 13.d3 Nd6 14.Qf2 Be6 15.g4 Rf8 16.f5 Nxf5 17.gxf5 Rxf5.

I decided to sidestep all of that and reinforce the e-pawn differently.

11...b6 


The Database has 4 games with this position, including perrypawnpusher - navarrra, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24), perrypawnpusher - alvarz, blitz, FICS, 2013 (0-1, 59), and perrypawnpusher - MarkHundleby1, "Italian Game" tournament, Chess.com, 2016 (1-0, 27).

12.f4 Bb7 13.f5 

A typical Jerome Gambit advance. Stockfish 11 prefers the more solid 13.d3, which I played against alvarz (above) and which transposes to perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 22).

13...Ne5 14.d4 Neg4

Withdrawing the Knight to f7 would have been more solid, but it is too much of a temptation to attack the White Queen. Certainly Black's pieces appear to be controlling the "Jerome pawns".

15.Qg3 Kd7 


Is Black's King safer on the d-file? What will happen when Black's Rooks enter the game? How should White proceed?

[to be continued]

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