Jerome Gambit: Time Management

 

I continue to be impressed at how angelcamina at lichess.org regularly turns Jerome Gambit games into 1-minute wins.

The following game is another example, where he averages a little more than one second per move thinking time, but stays ahead of his opponent and brings home the full point.

angelcamina - adrenalin87

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

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.Qc4 Qe7 

We saw 9...Nf6 in yesterday's game.

10.Nc3

He castled first in angelcamina - Jigsaw71, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021:  10.O-O Nf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Qb4 Kf7 13.f4 Bd7 14.d4 Rhf8 15.f5 Nh4 16.Qc4+ Ke8 17.Bg5 Nxf5 18.exf5 c6 19.Rae1 d5 20.Rxe7+ Black resigned, 

10...Be6 11.Qb4 

Or 11.Qa4 Nf6 12.O-O c6 13.f4 Bg4 14.h3 Bh5 15.g4 Nxg4 16.hxg4 Bxg4 17.f5 Ne5 18.d4 Qh4 19.Bf4 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Qh3+ 21.Kf2 g5 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Rh1 Qxh1 24.Rxh1 Rxh1 25.e5 d5 26.Qb4+ Kg8 27.Qe7 Rf8 28.Ne2 Nxd4 29.Nxd4 Rxf4+ Black won on time, angelcamina - Anatoliy-64, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022. 

11...Rb8 

Black's Rook takes on the menial task of guarding the b-pawn, while White's Queen remains a bit out of play.

12.O-O Nf6 13.f4 Bd7 14.f5 Ne5 15.d4 Nc6 16.Qc4 

White's "Jerome pawns" are coming to life.

16...h5 17.Bg5 h4 18.Rae1 Re8 19.e5 

Possibly an oversight, but likely premature. 19.Nd5, taking advantage of the pin on the Knight at f6 and the placement of Black's Queen, looks more in tune with the position.

19...dxe5 20.dxe5 Nxe5 21.Qf4 Kf7 22.Nd5 

Now, however, the move has tactical issues.

22...Nxd5 23.Bxe7 Nxf4 24.Rxe5 Rxe7 25.Rxe7+ Kxe7 26.Rxf4 Rf8 

Okay, Black is ahead materially, a piece for a pawn; but how is he doing on the clock? Can White keep him busy until time runs out?

27.f6+ Rxf6 28.Rxh4 Rh6 29.Re4+ Be6 30.Rb4 b6 31.b3 a5 32.Re4 Kd6 33.g3 Rf6 34.Rd4+ Bd5 

A slip that White can take advantage of - but will the simplified position make it easier for Black to defend, despite the loss of material?

35.c4 Re6 36.cxd5 Re5 37.Kf2 Rxd5 38.Rxd5+ Kxd5 

The position is even.

39.Ke3 Kc5 

Taking a step too far from the Kingside. White's pawns there can now advance, which will cause Black's King to scurry over there, which will allow White's King to capture material on the Queenside...

40.Kd3 

Winning chances lay with 40.h4 - and the clock.

40...Kb4 41.Kc2 a4 42.bxa4 Kxa4 

The position is equal. White has an interesting drawing play that includes allowing Black to promote a pawn first: 43.h4 Ka3 44.g4 Kxa2 45.Kc3 Ka3 46.h5 b5 47.g5 b4+ 48.Kc2 Ka2 49.h6 b3+ 50.Kc3 gxh6 51.g6 b2 52.g7 b1/Q 53.g8/Q+ Ka1 54.Qa8+ Qa2 55.Qh1+ Qb1 56.Qa8+ etc draw

43.g4 Kb5 

For the record, 43...g5 would have led to a complicated Queen plus pawns vs Queen plus pawns endgame where time would also be an issue: 44.h4 gxh4 45.g5 h3 45.g6 h2 46.g7 h1/Q 47.g8/Q.

The game continues to be even on the board, but not on the clock.

44.h4 Kc6 45.g5 Kd6 46.Kd3 Ke6 47.Ke4 Kf7 48.Kf5 g6+ 49.Ke5 Ke7 50.Kd5 Kd7 51.Ke5 Ke7 52.Kd5 White won on time