Monday, September 5, 2022

Jerome Gambit: Full of Ideas



As I mentioned years ago in "What an Idea",

Gerald Abrahams wrote in his book, The Chess Mind [1960], that the smallest unit in a chess game was not the move, but the idea. 

The following 1-minute game has a number of interesting ideas, which account for its educational and entertainment value.


angelcamina - LambertLambert

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 


Here we have a typical Jerome Gambit setup, where White has two "Jerome pawns" for a sacrificed piece. His goal is to attack the enemy King. His opponent is aware of this, and takes steps.

10.Nc3 Kg8 11.O-O h6 12.f4 Kh7 13.d4 Re8 

LambertLambert seems to be knowledgeable about the Jerome Gambit. Indeed, according to The Database, he defended against it at least once, a month earlier, in Alexzy19 - LambertLambert, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 (1-0, 43).

Black has castled-by-hand.

White's pawns are ready.

14.f5 Nf8 15.Bd2 b6 16.Rae1 Bb7 17.Qf4 Qe7 


Black acts to resist White's pawn advance, but misses the more effective 17...N8d7.

Remember, this is a 1-minute game, and these kinds of things are going to happen.

18.e5 dxe5 19.dxe5 Nh5 20.Qg4 Qf7 21.e6 


White's e-pawn creates problems, and Black decides to deal with it by returning a piece.

21...Nxe6 22.fxe6 Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.e7 Nf6 


The passer is a pain. However, White shows that there are other things to worry about, as well, and the defender's game falls apart.

25.Nb5 Rac8 26.Nxa7 Ra8 27.Nb5 Rac8 28.Bf4 c6 29.Nd6 Rc7 30.Nxe8 Nxe8 Black resigned


After 31.Bxc7 Nxc7 32.e8/Q Nxe8 33.Rxe8 White's material advantage would be overwhelming, and it looks like Black did not see the chess clock coming to his rescue.

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