“Yury, Explain Bolsonaro’s Psychology in His Game against Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, Please!”

 

“Yury, Explain Bolsonaro’s

Psychology in His Game against

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, Please!”  

(by Yury V. Bukayev)

 

Dear readers, let me tell you now about an extraordinary letter with a web-game, which I have received recently from one Brazilian woman reader of this blog. 

Her name is Ana. Her letter is long and full of political and historical contents near chess contents, so I have solved to not publish it here as whole, although she has permitted me to do it. I should remain to be a neutral chess author and not to colour a neutral chess blog. Nevertheless, her interesting question on chess psychology of the player Bolsonaro2026 from Lichess.org requires to analyse not only chess aspects to find an answer.

Here is a game ( https://lichess.org/pjwkl ), which she sent me in her letter. 

 

vaizak  –  Bolsonaro2026 

10+0 rapid, Lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Ke7 5.Bb3 Nxb3 6.axb3 Ke8 7.0-0 d6 8.h3 Nf6 9.d4 Nxe4 10.dxe5 Be6 11.exd6 Bxd6 12.Re1 Ke7 13.Rxe4 c5 14.Qe2 Kd7 15.Rxe6 Re8 16.Rxe8 Qc7 17.Rxa8 Bh2+ 18.Kf1 c4 19.Qe8+ Kd6 20.Rd8+ Kc5 21.Rc8 Qxc8 22.Qxc8+ Kb4 23.Nxh2 a5 24.Qxc4 checkmate

It is easy to see that there are a lot of Black’s and White’s blunders in the game. This game can be educational for readers due to Black’s missed trivial combination – 13…Bh2+! 14.Kxh2 Qxd1 – mostly.

Ana has written in her letter:

“ … Dear Yury, could you explain Bolsonaro’s psychology in his game against Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, please! ... Why didn’t he make trivial captures 4…Kxf7, 16…Qxe8, first of all? If he is our former President Jair Bolsonaro, who fought “for being a President till 2026” officially, then I can explain these chess moves so: he was ready to think, to calculate, to care etc., when such act strengthens his supreme authority, makes him, family or other relatives more wealthy, but chess couldn’t give him it, of course. … If he is a son of Jair, then I know, his attitude to chess and to life is the same. Today, when this son and Lula da Silva have absolutely even - 50/50 - chances to win a new election, we can be sure, both Bolsonaros think about their future military dictatorship and not about their military board games with wooden pieces. … If he is an ultra-right supporter of Jair, then I can’t know about his attitude to chess. Probably, chess psychology didn’t let him capture White’s piece in both cases, but why? …”

 

What can I answer? A lot of chess beginners like to check, don’t like to face checks in their games. Thus, Bolsonaro2026 has avoided 5.Nxe5+ in the case of 4…Kxf7, has avoided 17.Qxe8+ in the case of 16…Qxe8. Moreover, a lot of them don’t like to play without a Queen.

 

But I have also an extraordinary version. Thus, let’s look at the board as Black. We can find that King’s track is e8-e7-e8-e7-d7-d6-c5-b4, Queen’s track is d8-c7-c8, so King and Queen have never gone to left. In any case, Bolsonaro2026 is an ultra-right person, as Ana proved. That is why he could solve before the game that he shouldn’t move these Black pieces to left, so this game is a ‘chess monument’ of his ‘ultra-right chess style’. A strange monument of a strange style.