Back to Preschool

 

Today, I was back, again, at the very informal chess club that gathers at a local library.

A decade and a half earlier, in the post "A Return to Pre-School" I made the point

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".

So, this afternoon, with a BDG sharpened by my study of the "pre-school" that is the Jerome Gambit, I played sharp, sacrificial attacking chess, culminating in checkmating my opponent.

Then, I defended against the Grob opening (1.g4) and weasled my way through the game, grabbing pawns, until my opponent, totally unimpressed with my opening play (sound like some reactions to the Jerome Gambit?) hung a Rook... Not that he was intimidated or anything by my play - he made me play out my King + Queen vs his King endgame, just to see if I would slip into a stalemate.  

I didn't slip.