Back to Preschool

                                        

Years ago (see "A Return to Pre-School") I suggested

I think if the bodacious Blackmar Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxd4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3) can be referred to as a "high school for tactics" then the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can at least be dubbed a "pre-school for tactics".

I remembered this reference as I defended in a Giuoco Piano game, in a recent tournament at Chess.com.

It was not a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but I like to think that the bits of tactical thinking that I picked up in pre-school helped me out when the game reached the following position. I had the Black pieces.

My opponent has sacrificed a Knight and a Bishop for a Rook and a pawn. With an "extra" piece to play with, this should give me the advantage. Allegedly, as they say.

After the game, I checked The Database, and saw that in 52 games with this position, Black had scored 73%. The lichess.org database was not as enthusiastic, but with 147,500 games with this position, it still had Black scoring a decent 63%.

9.Qf3

Okay, I could appreciate the idea of pinning my Knight, followed by Nd5 or d3 & Bg5, but this seemed too slow.

It was time to put down my crayons and come up with something creative.

9...Nd4 10.Qd1

The Queen returns home to protect the c2 pawn and prevent the enemy Knight from grabbing it.

At this point your tactical senses should be tingling. Mine were. It didn't take long to find my next move.

10...Bg4 

This is more than harassment, this is extreme danger for the first player.

11.Qe1 Nc2

Okay, so, I got the c2 pawn and a fork - Rook and Queen - after all.

Wait a minute - the Queen is attacked and has no escape squares!

Probably best was 11.f3, but then 11...Nxf3+ 12.Kh1 Nxh2+ 13.Qe1 Nxf1 14.Qxf1 and Black would be a pawn and a piece up.

White resigns

Tactical savants are likely to say "So, what?" but remember, we are talking about preschool here.