Jerome Gambit: A Real Battle (Part 3)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - graintrader69

3 days/move, "Giuoco Piano Game", Chess.com, 2022-2023

19.Rfe1 Kh7 

Black's best move was the most direct - 19...Re8 to blockade the advanced e-pawn. It would still leave him with the problem of his locked-in Rook on h8, but the game would remain in balance while he sorted that out. 

White could even follow one of Stockfish 15.1's suggested grab-the-draw-and-run lines that it often seems to be finding, since according to the computer a draw is all that White "deserves" in the Jerome Gambit... Anyhow: 19...Re8 20.Ne4 Nd5 21.R3e2 Nf4 22.Re3 Nd5 23.R3e2, etc. draw

The text move allowed Black to cover the enemy pawn's Queening square three times. However, his minor pieces were troubled.

20.Rf3 g5 21.hxg5 

Stronger would have been 21.Ne4 directly.

21...hxg5 22.Ne4 Kg6 

23.Nd6 Be8 

Minor pieces are usually better blockaders than Rooks, but in this particular case the square f8 quickly became a problem for the defender - something not anticipated 4 moves earlier.

Stockfish 15.1's recommendation, instead, was 23...Bd5, although a transition to a simple endgame would ensue: 24.Rxf4 gxf4 25.e8=Q+ Rhxe8 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Nxe8 Bxa2 28.Nd6 and White would be much better.  

24.g3 Nd5 25.Rf8 Kg7 

26.Rf5 

Chasing a pawn. Instead, White had three sharp moves in a row: 26.Nf5+ Kh7 27.c4 Nc7 28.Kg2 and the threat of Rh1 would be decisive, e.g. 28...Bh5 29.g4 Raxf8 30.exf8/Q Rxf8 31.gxh5 Rxf5 32.Re7+ Kh6 33.Rxc7 Kxh5 34.Rxb7. This long line should not have been hard for me to find.

26...Kg6 27.Re6+ Kh5 28.Ree5 

Consistent, although 28.Rf8 had more bite.

28...Rg8 29.Ne4 

Again, okay, but either 29.f4 or 29.Rf8 were better.

29...Kh6 

Black continued to hang on. Here 29...Bg6 was more annoying to White.

30.Rxg5

Dissipating most of the advantage. Best was 30.Rf8.

30...Rxg5 31.Nxg5 Kg6 

Things would have leveled out after 31...Nxe7 32.Rxe7 Kxg5 33.Rxb7.

32.f4 Kf6 33.Ne4+ Kf7 34.Nd6+ Kf6 

After some back-and-forth, White's advantage is clear - three connected passed pawns outweigh a piece.

[to be continued]