I am in awe of those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - or any other chess opening, for that matter - at bullet speed, with 1 minute to complete their game.
Never played it, never will. I simply can't think that fast. As American social commentator Will Rogers once said, We can't all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.
I recently ran across the following position, which only reinforced my anxieties about chess at that time control, as each player used slightly more than a second per move.
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| msc87-mikemandont, 1 0 bullet, Lichess.org, 2024 |
White is ahead by 2 Queens, and has the possibility of promoting 5 more pawns to Queens. Mind you, White has over 3,430 games in The Database and is hardly stranger to the Jerome gambit.
What is the problem?
It is stalemate. A draw.
Ouch.
The computer gripes that White had a forced checkmate before the game reached a couple dozen moves, well before it was half over - which shows how off-base computers can be sometimes.
Sure, the computer can make such calculations, but when it comes to understanding human competition - well, you might as well race a Ferrari sf90 against Hicham El Guerrouj and consider that relevant.
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