But Blackburne Made It Look So Easy!

The most famous Jerome Gambit game is the one by Blackburne, where he sacrificed material as Black to build a counter attack that led to a Queen sacrifice and checkmate.

Never mind that subsequent analysis and play has shown that, "objectively", the best Black should be able to hope for is a draw.

The fact is, the Blackburne Defense leads to sharp and complicated play, and it is important to have a concrete knowledge of the line - if either Black or White wishes to survive. As we have seen, and will see in the game below, "half a defense is worse than no defense at all..." Better to "Commit It To Memory".

fehim - KramMan
blitz, FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5
d6

Here we go! To capture the excitement of the play ahead, it is fun to return to Geoff Chandler's comparison of the Blackburne Defense with "Mars Attacks!"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O Qxe4

Wait a minute... Sure, Black flashes out his Queen to h4, all big and bad and scary. But - then what? Certainly not to pawn-grab. What did he miss? What did he miss??

Hint: 9...Nf6! Black wants to trap White's Queen and make threats against her (as well as the King), eventually offering his other Rook as well.

10.Qxh7+

This is not going to go well for Black.

10.d3 worked in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 17)

10...Kf8 11.Nc3

Or 11.d3 Qe2 (or 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 [1-0, 20]; or 11...Qe6 in ubluk - bfcace, Chess.com, 2012 [1-0, 18]) 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Kf6 15.Qxc7 Bf5 16.Nc3 Qxc2 17.Nd5+ Kg5 18.Qe7+ Kh6 19.h4 Rh8 20.Qg5+ Kg7 21.Rae1 Rf8 22.h5 Bxd3 23.h6+ Kg8 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.Nh7 Kg8 26.Nxf8 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Bxf2+ 28.Rxf2 Qc1+ 29.Qxc1 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - pedroregistro, FICS, 2015

11...Qf5

Or 11...Qxc2 12.Qh4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010; or 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009.

12.d3 Nf6 13.Qh4

This move is okay, as White is up the exchange plus a couple of pawns, so he can consolidate. He could continue his attack, however, with 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rae1+ Be6 15.Qg7.

13...Kg7 14.Be3 Be6 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Qf6

The next few moves bring some excitement, but the game is pretty much over. Black's slip at move 23 just ends things

18.c3 Rh8 19.f4 c6 20.c4 Qh4 21.Qxe6 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 Qxf4+ 23.Ke2 Qg4+ 24.Qxg4 Black resigned

Cuts Like A Knife

Sharp variations can work in favor of the gambiteer, or cut against him. It is important to be as up-to-date as possible on the tricky variations.

I recently downloaded some more games from the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), and, as well as checking out some "old" Jerome Gambiteers (e.g. drumme, HauntedKnight, Petasluk), looked at the efforts of a relatively new member of the Gemeinde, ZahariSokolov.

In the following game he faces a rare, but old and dangerous defense, and, under pressure, chooses the wrong line (although, in another game in the notes, this also leads to victory), and suffers defeat.

I have added some game references for Readers to have a better idea of how to deal with this kind of play.   

ZahariSokolov - Quarte
standard, FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nf3+ 

This surprising move, attributed to Norton - who defeated Alonzo Wheeler Jerome with it in a correspondence game in the early years of the gambit - rips open White's Kingside and makes him vulnerable to attack.

9.gxf3

Probably the only move, although I have gotten away with 9.Kf1 a couple of times in perrypawnpusher - igormsp, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13), and perrypawnpusher - rheapennata, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0,12); while Jerome, as mentioned, did not - Jerome,A - Norton,D, Correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 42).

ZahariSokolov, himself, a few days earlier, had gotten away with 
9.Kd1: 9...Nd4 (9...Ne7!) 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxd4 Bg4+ 13.Ke1 c5 14.Qxg7+ Ke8 15.Qxg4 Nf6 16.Qe6+ Qe7 17.Qxe7+ Kxe7 18.d3 h6 19.Nc3 a6 20.Be3 b5 21.Ke2 Rhg8 22.g3 b4 23.Nd5+ Nxd5 24.exd5 Kf6 25.Rae1 Kf5 26.Kd2 h5 27.Bf2 Rae8 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Re1 Rxe1 30.Bxe1 Kg4 31.Ke3 Kh3 32.f5 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - LAVAL, standard, FICS, 2015


9...Qh4+ 10.Ke2

The "only" move, this time, is 10.Kd1: CFBBlind - Quandary, FICS, 2001 (1-0, 18); perrypawnpusher - Sir Osis of the Liver, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (1-0, 19);  perrypawnpusher - sjeijk, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 19);  ZahariSokolov - GhengusFungus, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 11).

10...Qf2+ 11.Kd3 Qxf3+ 12.Kc4 b5+ 13.Kxb5 Qe2+

A testimony to White's ability to struggle and survive: 13...a6+ 14.Kc4 Nf6? 15.Qxc5+ Ke6 16.Re1 Qxf4 17.d3 Qd6 18.Qxd6+ Kxd6 19.e5+ Kc6 20.exf6 gxf6 21.b3 d5+ 22.Kc3 Bg4 23.Bf4 h5 24.h4 f5 25.d4 Rhe8 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Be5 Rf8 28.Nd2 f4 29.Rf1 f3 30.Rf2 Kb6 31.Kd3 c5 32.c4 dxc4+ 33.bxc4 cxd4 34.Bxd4+ Kc6 35.Ke4 Re8+ 36.Kf4 Rf8+ 37.Kg3 Rd8 38.Bf6 Rd3 39.Nxf3 Bxf3 40.Rxf3 Rxf3+ 41.Kxf3 Kc5 42.a3 Kxc4 43.Kf4 Kd5 44.Kg5 Ke6 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.Kxh5 Kg8 47.Kg6 Kf8 48.h5 Black resigned, gibonacci - jschulte, GameKnot.com, 2007.

A testimony to an early chess computer's terrible addiction to grabbing material: 13...Rb8+ 14.Ka5 Bb4+ 15.Ka4 Qxh1 16.Qe5+ Kc6 17.Qd5+ Kb6 18.Qb5 checkmate,  Young,J - Chess, Computer game, 1979. 

14.d3 Rb8+ 15.Ka5 Bb4+ 16.Ka4 Qxc2+ 17.b3 Qc6+ White resigned

Always Dangerous

The Blackburne Defense to the Jerome Gambit leads to a tense and complicated game for both sides. As Joseph Henry Blackburne demonstrated early in the life of the Jerome, Black can generate a wild counter-attack by returning one sacrificed piece and offering a Rook as well. On the other hand, analysis since has shown that White can draw, and practical play shows he can often do better - in games in The Database White scores 68%.

Philidor 1792 - NN
2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qd5+ 

White decides to steer clear of the dangers of 8.Qxh8 and grab another pawn. He hopes to show his three extra pawns will outweigh his opponent's extra piece. Philidor1792 has had significant success with the pawns vs the piece in the Jerome Gambit.

8...Be6

Seen previously was 8...Kg7 in RevvedUp - Fritz 8, 2 12, 2006 (0-1, 19).

9.Qxb7

Or 9.Qd3 Nf6 10.O-O Qe7 11.b3 Ng4 12.Bb2 Ne5 13.Qf3+ Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bh3 15.Bxh8 Qg5+ 16.Kh1 Qg2 checkmate, hattta - VictoriaBot, FICS, 2012. 

9...Rb8

An anternate idea was 9...Rc8 seen in stampyshortlegs - Sir Osis of the Liver, JG Tourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 39). 

10.Qa6 Qh4 

At first glance it looks like Black is the one playing a gambit, with the subsequent lead in development of pieces. However, if White can consolidate his position behind his pawns, he can eventually put them on the march and look for balance.

As the game goes, Black uses his pieces to keep pressuring his opponent, and the point is his.

11.Qe2 Bg4 12.Qf1 Nf6 13.d3 d5 14.Nc3 Rhe8 15.h3 Bd7 16.g3 Qh5 17.f3 Bd4 18.Nd1 Kg7 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Nxe3 dxe4 21.fxe4 Qa5+ 22. Kd1 Qc5 

So far White's pawn cover has held up, but his oppponent's pressure is relentless and his lead in development is crushing.

23.Qf2 Nxe4 24.dxe4 Rxe4 25.Re1 Rxb2 26.Re2 Bxh3 27.Ng2 Qd6+ 28.Kc1 Rbb4 29.Nf4 Bg4 30.Rxe4 Qd1 checkmate.

We Know What We're Doing (Sort Of)

I chuckled when I was putting together the earlier blog post, "Opening Discussion, Not Quite Closed". The idea that there were several very good moves to be played in an opening position, and I chose none of them -- and won the game, anyhow -- seemed very appropriate in a Jerome Gambit blog.

Anyone who has browsed through the 51,000+ games in The Database has come away with an appreciation of the fact that Jerome Gambiteers frequently play second (or third, or fourth, or fifth...) best moves successfully. Some of that is due to their creativity, or their familiarity with the strategies of the opening. Some of that is due to the time control (blitz) or level of play (club chess).

Finally, some of White's success is due to the strangeness of the Jerome Gambit itself, which forces defenders to continually figure things out - or perish. I am reminded of the following anecdote from the "Blackmar Diemer Gambit World", #43, January, 1991, told by IM Gerard Welling, and reprinted in "Tom's BDG Pages"

At the Hastings Chess Congress in 1937 Emil Josef Diemer created a stir in a game with an English gentleman. Diemer had a bad position, but after a move by his opponent he replied quickly, then jumped up, and to the chagrin of his opponent exclaimed: "Precisely the blunder that I have been expecting!" 

White in the following encounter has 15 games in The Database. Perhaps that is not enough, yet, to allow too much straying from the "straight and narrow". He has interesting chances to win or draw, but eventually succumbs in a madcap ending to the ticking clock.

bemillsy - Dpouchy
blitz, FICS, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Nxc6 dxc6

6...bxc6, as in fehim - Pawnshop, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 48) could have been punished by 7.Qg4+!?

7.Qg4+

Possibly the best move. I mention that, because of the following games, where White varied:

7.d4 Be7 8.Qg4+ Kf7 9.Qh5+ Kf8 10.O-O Nf6 11.Qe2 Be6 12.e5 Nd5 13.c4 Nb4 14.a3 Na6 15.Nc3 Qxd4 16.Rd1 Qxc4 17.Qf3+ Kg8 18.Be3 Bg4 19.Qg3 Bxd1 20.Bh6 Qg4 21.Rxd1 Qxg3 22.hxg3 gxh6 23.Rd7 Kf7 24.f4 Rad8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Kh2 Rd2 27.b4 Rd3 28.Nb1 Rb3 29.Nd2 Rxa3 White resigned, blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, ChessWorld JG6, 2011. White has 155 games in The Database.

7.d3 Qf6 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3 Rd8 10.d4 Bb6 11. Nd2 Kf7 12. Qb3+ Kf8 13. Nf3 c5 14. e5 Qc6 15. Bg5 Re8 16. Bxe7+ Rxe7 17. d5 Qd7 18. c4 Qg4 19. h3 Qg6 20. e6 c6 21. Rad1 cxd5 22. cxd5 Bc7 23.Rfe1 b6 24. d6 Bxd6 25. Rxd6 Bb7 26. Rd7 Bc8 27. Rd8+ Re8 28. e7  checkmate, UNPREDICTABLE - jrauch, FICS, 2010. White has 450 games in The Database.

7.O-O Nf6 8.d3 Qd4 9.c3 Qd7 10.d4 Be7 11.e5 Ne8 12.f4 Rf8 13.Qh5 Kd5 14.c4+ Kxc4 15.Na3+ Kd5 16.Qxh7 Qg4 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Qh3 Qe2 19.Qg3 Be4 20.Rfe1 Qxb2 21.Bf2 Nf6 22.Qb3+ Qxb3 23.axb3 Ng4 24.Nc4 Rxf4 25.Rf1 Bb4 26.Rad1 Raf8 27.Be3 Rxf1+ 28.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Nxh2+ 30.Kg1 Ng4 31.g3 Nxe3 32.Nxe3+ Kxd4 33.Kf2 Be1+ 34.Ke2 Bxg3 35.e6 Kc3 36.e7 Bg6 37.Nf5 Be5 38.Nh4 Bd3+ 39.Ke3 g6 40.e8=Q Bd4+ 41.Kf4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010. White has 548 games in The Database. 

7...Kf7

Possibly the weakest of his choices. Better defense was found after 7...Kf6 8.Qh4+ g5 9.Qg3.

8.Qf3+

Instead, 8.Qh5+ wins back a piece by forking the King and Bishop. 

8... Nf6 9. c3 Re8 10. d4 Bb6

Cooperative. The alternative, 10... Rxe4+, looks stronger.

White battles on, eventually dropping the exchange, which puts him a Rook down - but he does not lose hope.

11.Bg5 Kg8 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.O-O c5 14.Qg3+ Kh8 15.d5 Rxe4 16.Nd2 Rg4 17.Qf3 c4 18.Ne4 f5 19.Ng3 f4 20.Ne2 Qg8 21.Nxf4 Rg5 22.Rfd1 Bg4 23.Qe4 Bxd1 24.Rxd1 Re8 25.Qxc4 c6 26.g3 Bc7 27.Ne6 cxd5 28.Qxc7 Rxe6 29.Qxb7 a5 30.Kg2 h5 31.Rxd5 h4 32.Rd7 Rh6 33.Qe4 

A glance shows Black attacking fiercely - with his extra Rook.

33...hxg3

Where is E. J. Diemer when you need him? Is this precisely the blunder that bemillsy had been expecting?? Now White has a draw.

34.Qd4+! Rg7 35.hxg3 Rhg6

And again??

Black needed to mildly accept a draw by repetition with 35...Kh7 36.Qe4+ Kh8 37.Qd4 Kh7 30.Qe4+ etc. Now White is better.

36.c4

Homer - I mean, bemillsy - nods. He is right, his advancing pawn will be important, but after he plays 36.Rd8 to win Black's Queen for a Rook. Q + 5Ps will then out-play 2Rs + P.

36...Kh7

Black takes his opportunity to avoid the above killing fork, but should have done so with a Queen move like 36...Qe6 or 36...Qa8+, when he would be better again.

Now White again has a plucky draw by repetition: 37.Qh4+ Rh6 38.Qe4+ Kh8 39.Qd4 etc.

37.Rxg7+

Making things difficult again, if Black correctly recaptures with the Queen. White would have plenty of checks to deliver to the enemy King, but eventually the extra Rook would prevail over the extra pawns.

37...Rxg7 38.Qh4+ Kg6 39.f4

White does not accept the 39.Qe4+ line, drawing, and looks for a mate that is not there. (This does have the feel of a blitz game as time runs down.)

39...Kf7 40.Qh5+ Kf8 41.Qf5+ Rf7 42.Qc8+ Kg7 43.Qxg8+ Kxg8

White puts his trust in what must still be considered his "Jerome pawns".

44.Kf3 Rd7 45.Ke3 Kf7 46.g4 Kf6 47.b3 Ke6 48.a3 Re7 49.b4 a4 50.b5 Kd6+ 51.Kd4 

The pawns look scary, especially with a ticking clock, but "objectively" the Rook still has time to pick them off, one-by-one.

51...Kc7

Suddenly, Black's chances have crashed according to Stockfish 6, and the best he can hope for is now 52.g5 Rd7+ 53.Ke4 Re7+ 54.Kd4 Rd7+ and a draw by repetition. Instead of re-positioning his King, it looks like he needed to get his Rook into a pawn-flanking position.

52.c5

On the other hand, advancing the pawns on the wing where there is an in-place stopper will not bring victory. I do not think there is anything left for White now.

52...Rd7+ 53.Ke5 Rd3 

54.g5 Rxa3 55.f5 Re3+ 56.Kd5 a3 57.f6 a2 58.f7 Rf3 White forfeited on time

Theory on Non-Theory

Even in the non-main-line lines of the non-main-line Jerome Gambit, there is theory, and practice, as Philidor1792 demonstrates in the game below.

Philidor1792 - jenskun
Russia Central Federal District vs Phil, 
Chess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 

5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 

Infrequently played, but not bad.

8. Qxc5+

The experimental 8.Qg5+ was tried in Wall,B - CKFM, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 44). 

8... d6 9. Qe3 

The Database has three games with 9.Qg5+: fehim - Schiele, FICS, 2006, (0-1, 59); stampyshortlegs - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (1-0, 31); and Wall,B - Vassilev,R, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 32).

9... Be6

Instead, 9... Nf6 was seen in three MrJoker games:  MrJoker - Yuvi, ICC, 2011 (1-0, 16); MrJoker - Cleanbishop, ICC, 2012 (1-0, 46); and MrJoker - taz, ICC, 2013 (1-0, 43).

The Bishop move seems to invite f2-f4 by White, gaining a tempo.

10.O-O Nf6 11.f4 Bf7 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc6 14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nd5 16.Qg3 Kf8 

The extra tempo for White, the "Jerome pawns" and Black's uneasy King have lead to an equal game. As we have frequently seen in Jerome Gambit lore, when White has equalized, he has the advantage.

17.Bg5 Qc8 18.e6 Bh5 19.Nc3 Nxc3 20.Qxc3 Rg8 21.f6 gxf6 22.Qxf6+ Ke8 23.Rad1 Qd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.b4 b5 26.a4 a6 27.axb5 Black resigned

Nothing To It

Chess players who first encounter the Jerome Gambit often decide that there is nothing to it. They accept the first sacrificed piece. They accept the second sacrificed piece. They casually block White's brash Queen check with their g-pawn. Then they settle down to figure out how to play the rest of the game.

Too often, it is already too late.

perrypawnpusher - tripledubs
blitz, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

7.Qxe5 Nf6

Defenders familiar with the Jerome Gambit will try 7...d6 (Blackburne's Defense) or 7...Qe7 (Whistler's Defense) or some defense of their own concoction.

In the game, Black, in returning one piece, sees that his Rook is endangered, and so protects it - returning a second piece. 

8.Qxc5

White is two pawns ahead. He will be temporarily uncomfortable while behind in development (whose gambit is this, anyhow?) but his opening can be considered a success.

8...Re8

Best is 8... Nxe4 as in perrypawnpusher - LibertasProVita, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 45) and perrypawnpusher - ibnoe, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 16).

Also playable is  8... Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - marbleschess, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 48).

A bit better than the text is 8...d6 followed by ...Nxe4 as in perrypawnpusher - MsD, blitz, FICS, 2007 (0-1, 27), perrypawnpusher - brain50, JG3 thematic ChessWorld.net 2008 (1-0, 24) and perrypawnpusher - tiagorom, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 41).

9.d3 d5

More strident than 9... d6 as in perrypawnpusher - Alternative, blitz, FICS, 2005 (1-0, 63), perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 15), and perrypawnpusher - Gryllsy, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 33).

10.f3

This is an improvement over 10.O-O of Vuquoclong - VonKortez, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 22) and  10.Bg5 of UNPREDICTABLE - ornito, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36).

10...c6 11.Bg5

Better is 11.Nc3 or 11.O-O, as the text allows Black to grab back a pawn with the combination 11...Nxe4 12.fxe4 Qxg5.

11...dxe4 12.dxe4

Thoughtless, expecting the game to "play itself". Better and more principled would be 12.fxe4 because then 0-0 would put more pressure on the Black Knight at f6.


12...Be6 13.Nc3 Kg7 14.O-O Qc7 15.Bxf6+ Kxf6

16.Rad1

Here I overlooked a nice tactic with 16.Nb5!? based on Black's pinned c-pawn, his attacked Queen, and the placement of his Rooks.

16...b6 17.Qf2 Red8 18.a3 Rd7 19.Rxd7 Bxd7 20.Rd1

So far I have been pretty good at doing nothing, but here I could have tried 20.Qh4+ Kg7 21.Qe7+ Kg8 22.Rd1. The funny thing is that I kind of get there, eventually.

20...Rd8 21.Qh4+ Kg7 22.Qg3

Cowardice. Better 22.Qe7+ Kg8 23.e5.

22...Qc8

It was probably better to exchange Queens.

23.Qe5+ Kg8 24.Qd6 Qa6 25.e5 Qc4 26.e6 Qc5+
27.Qxc5 bxc5

Black resigned

The Bishop is lost.

Outplayed

Although my opponent chose one of the stronger and more complicated defenses to the Jerome Gambit in the following game, I had my chance to level things out - but missed it. After that, I was simply out-played.

perrypawnpusher - HarlemKnight
blitz, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

The start of a complicated, but deadly counter-attack.

9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kf1 

For some reason I played the text (also see "Repairing A Variation" Part 1, 2, 3 and 4), instead of 10.Kd1, with which I was 6-0, including 3 games that ended after 10...Qe7 11.Qd5 checkmate (perrypawnpusher - fortytwooz, blitz, FICS, 2010; perrypawnpusher - javistas, blitz, FICS, 2010; and perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010).

10...Qf6

I don't think I'll ever be as lucky as to receive the mouse-slip 10...Qh3+ as in perrypawnpusher - rjbrigs, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 10) and perrypawnpusher - inasoy, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 51) again; although stranger things have happened.

On the other hand, 10...Nh2+ was good to me in perrypawnpusher - intssed, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12), perrypawnpusher - JTIV, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32), perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 12) and perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 68).

The retreat 10...Qh6, however, did not end so nicely for me, in the nonetheless enjoyable perrypawnpusher - Temmo, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1,43)

11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Kd8 13.e5

Better was 13.Kg2 as in perrypawnpusher - james042665, Chess.com, 2008 (0-1, 18). 

13...Qf7 14.Kf2 b6 15.Qe3 Bb7 16.Nc3 Nh6 17.h3 Nxd2

Up until this point, Black has been doing very well, and I was surprised to discover later that he has no other games, as Black or White, in The Database. It was time to pour on the heat with 17...Nf5, or let the advanced Knight escape with 17...Ng5.

18.Rd1

Missing my one chance - and they were not coming by very often. With 18.Bxd2 Bxh1 19.Rxh1 White would have a pawn for the exchange, and the game would be a long way from being decided.

18...Nc4 19.Qd3 Qe6

The text is okay, but 19...Nxe5 would be crushing. Black does not need to sacrifice to win, however.

20.g4 g6 21.f5

The only way to stay in the game, according to Houdini, was to make a  play against the wayward Knight with 21.Nd5, although after the exchanges 21...Qxd5 22.Qxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 White would be playing with one pawn for his sacrificed piece, and Black would not have to be in any hurry getting his pieces to better squares to press his attack.

21...gxf5 22.Bxh6 fxg4 23.hxg4 Nxe5 24.Qf5 

This blunder ended it all.

24...Nxg4+ White resigned