What Am I Doing Here (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Zingowahnsinn

"Italian Game" tournament, Chess.com, 2026

The most significant item in the game at this point is Black's advanced, isolated pawn, which becomes the focus of play.

14...Nf7 14.Nc3 e3 

Liquidating the pawn.

15.Bxe3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Rxe3 17.Nd5 

This tempo grab (by attacking the Rook) assists in the pawn (at c7) grab, but, in itself only promises me an edge, given the position.

17...Re5 18.Nxc7 Rb8 19.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Bd7 

If you play the Jerome Gambit, you still have to know how to play the endgame. I plan on out-playing my opponent in this pawn-up position; this is where our 200 rating points difference might show up.

By the way, looking back at "Jerome Gambit for Dummies (5)" there is this relevant insight

Charting each win and loss against a range of strength differences between the players – White is 0-100 points higher (or lower) than Black, White is 101-200 points higher (or lower) than Black, White is 201-300 points higher (or lower) than Black, etc. shows that in this Jerome Gambit Tournament, White needed to be rated only 200 points higher than his opponent to overcome the handicap of “giving Jerome Gambit odds” and have strong winning chances.

21.Nd5 Bc6 22.Ne7+ Kf8 23.Nxc6 bxc6 

Accumulating small advantages, one by one.

24.b3 Nd6 25.Re6 Rd8 26.Kf2 

His Majesty must help on the Queenside.

26...Kf7 27.Re3 Nb5 28.Rd3 Rd5 

Black passes up the chance to create an isolated pawn for White at d3 (by exchanging Rooks) and, so, gives White a chance to give Black an isolated pawn at d5.

Ah, but I have better things to do.

[to be continued]