Sunday, October 22, 2023

Jerome Gambit: Don't Blink



Bullet games always carry the risk of mistake. 

The following game shows Black well on his way to victory - until he blinks. Suddenly, White is better. Is there time enough for the defender to recover?


angelcamina - Mxhosa

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+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 

9.Nc3 d6 10.Qb5+ c6 11.Qe2 

White has arranged for his Queen to retreat to e2, instead of the more usual e3.

11...Rf8 12.O-O Kf7 13.Qc4+ Be6 14.Qb4 Qc7 15.f4 


Black has done well with his defense and is clearly better.

His response to White's threat of a pawn fork should be to move either his Bishop on e6 or his Knight on g6.

Alas, this is a 1-minute game, and Black moves a third piece, instead.

15...Nd7 16.f5 Black resigned

Black has the option of 16...Kg8, when 17.fxg6 hxg6 would give White only an edge. Perhaps with a different time control, Black might have played on. 


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