Final: JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009

JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009

----------------------1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9-10-11-12-13-14-15

1 Piratepaul --------** 01 10 11 11 10 11 01 11 11 01 11 11 10 11 -22.0/28
2 stampyshortlegs ---10 ** 11 01 01 11 01 10 10 1½ 11 11 11 10 11 -20.5/28
3 Sir Osis ----------01 00 ** 00 11 11 11 11 11 00 01 11 01 11 11 -19.0/28
4 DREWBEAR63---------00 10 11 ** 11 01 01 01 00 00 11 11 01 11 11 -17.0/28
5 GladtoMateYou------00 10 00 00 ** 01 01 01 11 01 11 11 11 11 11 -17.0/28
6 Luke Warm ---------01 00 00 10 10 ** 10 01 ½1 11 01 01 ½1 11 01 -15.0/28
7 Haroldlee123-------00 10 00 10 10 01 ** 11 11 00 0½ ½0 11 11 11 -15.0/28
8 eddie43------------10 01 00 10 10 10 00 ** 11 1½ 10 00 01 11 11 -14.5/28
9 TWODOGS------------00 01 00 11 00 ½0 00 00 ** ½1 11 11 01 11 11 -14.0/28
10 Black Puma--------00 0½ 11 11 10 00 11 0½ ½0 ** 01 00 01 01 11 -13.5/28
11 blackburne--------10 00 10 00 00 10 1½ 01 00 10 ** 11 11 01 11 -13.5/28
12 gwyn1-------------00 00 00 00 00 10 ½1 11 00 11 00 ** 01 00 11 -9.5/28
13 metalwarrior1969--00 00 10 10 00 ½0 00 10 10 10 00 10 ** 01 11 -9.5/28
14 Crusader Rabbit---01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 10 10 11 10 ** 00 -7.0/28
15 calchess10--------00 00 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 11 ** -3.0/28

Prized Players

Prizes have been mailed to the top three finishers of the Chessworld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament: Piratepaul, stampyshortlegs and Sir Osis of the Liver.

I would like to express my thanks to blackburne, who hosted the tournament, and to all of the other players who combined to produce 210 interesting Jerome Gambit games: DREWBEAR 63, GladtoMateYou, Luke Warm, Haroldlee123, eddie43, TWODOGS, Black Puma, gwyn1, metalwarrior1969, Crusader Rabbit and calchess10.

Strike when the time is right!

In an unbalanced and tactical game – such as in a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – opportunites for attack arrive and depart, often move-by-move. I want to share a snapshot of the following game from the almost-concluded Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, where stampyshortlegs, battling for top honors, made a sacrifice in an attack on the enemy King; but in not following it up, he saw the game swing back violently against him, whereupon Haroldlee123 presented stampyshortlegs with one of his few losses.

Haroldlee123 - stampyshortlegs
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.Nc3 Rf8 7.d3 Kg8 8.a3 d6 9.Bg5 Bg4 10.Nd5 Qd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6

Here we have a typical "modern" Jerome Gambit: White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece, but he has been careful to create no further weaknesses. Black has castled-by-hand, only to have the pawns in front of him be disrupted by White.

Fritz8 considers Black to be winning, of course – because of the material superiority – but suggests another "safe" move for White, here, 12.h3, kicking the enemy Bishop back to e6.

12.h3 Bxh3

Instead of retreating, however, stampyshorlegs has a different idea in mind: he will return his extra piece to bust open White's King's position. He expects that his investment of his extra piece will pay off nicely. (For a similar idea, see "Like a bull in a china shop...")

13.Nh4

An unusual defense, but White was not interested in opening things up: after 13.gxh3 Qxh3 14.Nh2 f5 Black has the initiative, the attack – and an extra pawn






analysis diagram






13...Bg4 14.Qd2 Qg7

Black plans to use the g-file for attack.

15.g3

Understandable, but this will cause more problems.

15...Bh3 16.Rfe1 Qxg3+

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.

17.Kh1


17...Bxf2

The question here is: was it reasonable to expect Black to see that the alternative, 17...Qxh4, led to mate? Look at the variations open to White: they all lose material and then allow mate.

After the text move, White has a tricky counter to try to turn the game around.

18.Rg1 Qxg1+ 19.Rxg1+ Bxg1 20.Kxg1

With two Rooks and two pawns for his Queen, Black is still winning, but he has to be bothered by the disappearance of his attack on the King. After a few less-than-best moves, he has a lost game to contend with.

20...Kf7

Making way for the Rook, but it was better to have the piece cross in front of him with 20...Rf7.

21.Qf2

Instead, 21.Qh6 and Black's King is in more danger than White's.

21...Rg8+

According to plan. Fritz8 suggests, instead: 21...Rad8 22.Qxf6+ Kg8 23.Qh6 Rd7 24.Nf6+ Rxf6 25.Qxf6 Rf7 which looks terribly unclear, but probably White has a small advantage.

22.Kh2


And White went on to win.

22...Bg4 23.Qxf6++- Ke8 24.Nxc7+ Kd7 25.Nxa8 Rxa8 26.Qg7+ Ne7 27.Qxg4+ Kc6 28.Qg7 Re8 29.Qxh7 Nc8 30.Nf5 Nb6 31.Ne7+ Kb5 32.c4+ Kc5 33.Qh4 Kd4 34.Nf5+ Kxd3 35.Nxd6 Nxc4 36.Nxe8 Nxb2 37.Nd6 b6 38.Qg3+ Kd4 39.Qb3 Nd3 40.Nf5+ Kxe4 41.Nd6+ Kd4 42.Qc4+ Ke3 43.Qe4+ Kd2 44.Nc8 b5 45.Nxa7 b4 46.axb4 Kc3 47.b5 Nc5 48.Qxe5+ Kb4 49.b6 Nb7 50.Qb5+ Kc3 51.Qc6+ Kd2 52.Qxb7 Ke2 53.Qe7+ Kd2 54.b7 Kc2 55.b8Q Kc3 56.Qec7+ Kd3 57.Qbd8+ Ke4 58.Qce7+ Kf4 59.Qdf8+ Kg4 60.Qeg7+ Kh5 61.Qfh8 checkmate

Photo Finish?

It's beginning to look like the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld will go down to the wire before a winner is determined.

Currently, stampyshortlegs holds the lead, with 20.5 points out of 26 games completed. He has leap-frogged over Piratepaul, who has 20 points out of 25 games completed.

Sir Osis of the Liver (19 points out of 28 games completed), is secure in third place.

Fourth place is occupied by DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games); although he could be joined there by GladtoMateYou (16 points out of 27 games) or Haroldlee123 (14 points out of 25 games) – but not both, as they are playing a game against each other.

Luke Warm is sitting still with 15 points out of 28 games, as is Eddie43 with 14.5 points out of 28 games.

The Jerome Gambit has kept its score of 39%. stampyshortlegs has gained 9.5 points with the gambit, while PiratePaul and Sir Osis of the Liver have gained 9 points.

The D-word

Members of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Gemeinde do not play their opening "with a draw in hand," but to win madly, or expire trying. Still, there can come a time when the wisest course just might be to split the point, and leave conquest for the next encounter... The following game is a lot of fun to play over, from start to finish (use the chess publisher application at the end of this post, if you wish), but I want to focus on some positions in the middle game, where choosing "the better part of valor" might have a good choice for White. 

 

TWODOGS - Haroldlee123 JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Here we have a "typical" Jerome Gambit middlegame: a real mess. Black-to-move has a choice of two captures, one which will leave him a piece ahead and one which (apparently) will leave him a Rook ahead. A simple choice? Nothing is simple in the Jerome Gambit! 16...Bxe1 The wrong choice.

White's opening 4.Bxf7+ and Black's superfluous ...h6 and later exchange of his light-squared Bishop left some clear light-squared weaknesses around his King.

White now has 17.Qf5+ and after 17...Kg8 18.Qe6+ he can produce a draw by repetition. If Black should try 17...Ke8 instead, then 18.Qg6+ either again leads to a draw by repetition – or a calamity for Black.

This can be seen after 17.Qf5+ Ke7, when 18.Rxe1 leads either to checkmate or a pile of material after 18...Ne5 19.Nc5 Kd6 20.Nxb7+, etc. Any member of the Gemeinde would be proud of such a "swindle." Of course, after the correct 16...dxd4 17.Rxe4 White will have to keep up the pressure and look elsewhere for his salvation. 17.Rxe1 Nb4

A perplexing move, not only allowing 18.Qf5+ drawing as above, but also allowing the flashy 18.Bd6+ which also draws. White's response in the game, however, allows the routine capture of his Knight, and the magic is again gone. 18.Qg6 dxe4 The light-square weaknesses are still around the Black King, but White no longer has his Knight to keep check-blockers off of f6. 19.Rxe4 Nxc2 Well, yes, this was Black's idea, although there was certainly nothing wrong with 19...Nc6. However, now White has 20.Be5 when 20...Qe7 21.Rf4 Kg8 22.Bxg7 Qxg7 again allows White to repeat positions with 23.Qe6+ Kh7 24.Qe5+ for the draw. Black can try the alternative, 20...Qg5 but after 21.Qe6 White has the better game. 20.Qf5+ Right idea, wrong time. 20...Kg8 Instead of interposing the Queen with 20...Qf6, allowing 21.Qc5+ and 22.Qxc2, reducing his advantage, Black again allows the light-square repetitions and the draw: 21.Qe6+ Kh7 22.Qf5+ Kg8 23.Qe6+ etc. White, in turn, chooses to fight on – from a worse position. 21.Be5 d3 Black's advancing pawn will soon star in a whole collection of dramas itself, but for now the second player needed to first defend with 21...Qf8. 22.Bxg7 White is beginning to grasp the situation. The text move, indeed, allows a draw after 22...Qg5 23.Qe6+ Kxg7 24.h4 Qc1+ 25.Kh2 Rhg8 26.Rg4+ etc. However, White had more in the position: 22.Qe6+ Kh7 23.Rg4 Qf8 24.Qg6+ Kg8 25.Bxg7 Qf7 26.Qxd3. Black is temporarily a Rook up, but he will shortly need to surrender his Queen. 22...d2 This move should seriously scare White into going for a draw. For a moment, it looks like it does.

23.Qe6+

Okay: Now, after 23...Kxg7 24.Rg4+ Qg5 25.Qd7+ Kf6 26.Rxg5+ hxg5 27.Qxd2 White will have a Queen and a pawn to balance out Black's two Rooks. A complicated, but roughly even, game.

Instead, Black distrusts the passive Bishop sacrifice, and immediately falls into a doomed situation.

23...Kh7 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Qxh8+ There is no need for 25.Qe6+ now. 25...Kf7 26.Rf4+ 26...Ke6 27.Qh6+ Kd7 Now 28.Qh5, guarding against the passed pawn Queening (if 28...Kc8, 29.Rf8) and preparing to finish up the King, looks like the proper reward for White's fighting spirit. Unfortunately, he has a worried eye on Black's passer, and decides that "more checks to the King" is the answer. It is not – but the excitement is hardly over.

28.Rf7+ Kc8 Black can afford to allow his Queen to be pinned to his King: he plans on getting another one. 29.Qe6+ Kb8 30.Kh2 d1Q Black has travelled far from his "doomed situation" mentioned in the note to White's 23rd move. He figures from here on out, it's just a matter of technique.

It is – but it has to be proper technique.

31.Rf8 a6 What was called for was something that ends the clutter, something like 31...Qxf8 32.Bxf8 Qd8. Black's move, however, lets loose the chaos again. White now has the remarkable 32.Qe7, after which, despite being a Queen down, he can enforce the draw, obtain a better position, or checkmate Black: 32...Ka7 ( 32...Qc8 33.Rxc8+ Kxc8 34.Qf8+ Qd8 35.Qf5+ Qd7 ( 35...Kb8 36.Qxc2 +-) 36.Qf8+ Qd8 37.Qf5+ draw) 33.Qc5+ b6 34.Rxd8 Rxd8 35.Qxc7+ Ka8 36.Qc6+ Ka7 37.Qc7+ draw Amazing! 32.Rxd8+ Aquiescing to the loss. Well, not exactly: White still has a handful of "Jerome pawns" and decides to put them to use. Still, thirty moves later White resigned.

Is there any wonder why the Jerome Gambit still fascinates me??

Like a bull in a china shop...

When you know the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) as well as Pete Banks ("blackburne"), you can be dangerous with either the White or the Black pieces. Until they invent Gray pieces (and maybe not even then) no game that includes him is going to be safe.

Haroldlee123 - blackburne
JGTourney4 Chessworld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.0-0

One of the Modern Jerome Gambit variations, in which White limits his sacrifices.

5...d6 6.h3 Nf6 7.d3 Rf8 8.Bd2 Kg8

Black has taken advantage of the "quietness" of the position to castle-by-hand, and even leads in development.

9.Nc3 Nd4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Rb1 Be6 12.Nb5 Bb6 13.b3 Qd7 14.Nc3 Rf7 15.Qf3 Raf8

Black even plans to make use of the f-file, which White opened for him.

16.Qe2 Bxh3
17.Qf3

Taking the Bishop leads quickly to mate. Now Black wraps the game up with play against the f-pawn.

17...Bg4 18.Qg3 Nh5 19.Qh4 Rxf2 20.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 21.Qxf2 Rxf2 22.Kxf2

22...Qf7+ 23.Kg1 Ng3 White resigned

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Against the Semi-Italian

I've been having second thoughts about the accuracy of my strategy against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) cousin: Jerome-ized play against the Semi-Italian Opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 (my choice) Bc5 5.Bxf7+.

Recently, I've collected 138 games which suggest the brute-force method of "no waiting": 4.Bxf7+, anyhow. At first glance, however, that seems a bit blunt to me, even if it's perfectly playable in lightning chess.

So I was happy to receive the following game, from Welton Vaz, (see "Xadrez, Ficção Cientifíca e Paz").


Ghandy - devgru
blitz FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6


4.c3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+

Just like with the Jerome Gambit proper, there has developed a "modern" treatment of the Jerome-ized Semi-Italian opening, one which does not include 6.Nxe5+. Several games in the current Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at Chessworld have developed that theme:

6.d3 Nf6 ( 6...d6 7.0-0 Bg4 8.a4 Nf6 9.b4 Bxb4 10.cxb4 a6 11.Bd2 b5 12.a5 Bh5 13.Bc3 Rf8 14.Nbd2 Ne7 15.Qb3+ Kg6 16.d4 exd4 17.Bxd4 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Kh7 19.Qh3 Ng6 20.g3 c5 21.bxc5 dxc5 22.Be3 c4 23.Qg2 Qe7 24.f3 Rad8 25.Qf2 Ng4 26.Qe1 h5 27.fxg4 hxg4 28.Rxf8 Rxf8 29.Bd4 Rd8 30.Qe3 b4 31.Nxc4 Qe6 32.Nb6 b3 33.Rb1 Ne7 34.Rxb3 Nc6 35.Bb2 Rd1+ 36.Kg2 Qf7 37.Qf4 Qxb3 38.Qf5+ g6 39.Qf2 Nxa5 40.Nd5 Qd3 41.Qf7+ Kh6 42.Qg7+ Kh5 43.Nf4+ Kg5 44.Bf6 checkmate, Piratepaul - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009) 7.0-0 d6 (7...Rf8 8.Kh1 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.b4 Bd6 11.g3 b6 12.Nh4 Kg8 13.Nd2 Nxc3 14.Qb3+ Rf7 15.Qxc3 Nd4 16.Ne4 Bb7 17.Be3 c5 18.bxc5 bxc5 19.Rab1 Bxe4+ 20.dxe4 g5 21.Nf5 Nxf5 22.exf5 Rxf5 23.Rb7 Bc7 24.Qxc5 Qd3 25.Kg1 Qd6 26.Qxc7 Qxc7 27.Rxc7 a5 28.a3 Rf7 29.Rc5 e4 30.Re5 Rd7 31.Rxe4 Rad8 32.Bb6 Ra8 33.Ra4 Ra6 34.Be3 Kf7 35.Rb1 Rd5 36.Kg2 Ke6 37.Rb7 h5 38.Re4+ Kf6 39.Rb6+ Rxb6 40.Bxb6 Rb5 41.Bd8+ Kf5 42.Ra4 g4 43.Bxa5 Kg5 44.Bb4 h4 45.Be7+ Black resigned, Piratepaul - Black Puma, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009) 8.a4 a6 9.b4 Ba7 10.Qb3+ Be6 11.c4 Nd4 12.Qd1 Rf8 13.Nc3 Kg8 14.Kh1 Bg4 15.Be3 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nh5 17.Rg1 Nxf3 18.Rg2 Qh4 19.Ne2 Rf7 20.Bxa7 Rxa7 21.b5 Ra8 22.a5 Raf8 23.Qb3 Nd2 24.Qc2 Rxf2 25.Qxd2 Rxg2 26.Rg1 Rxh2 checkmate, Piratepaul - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009;

6.d4 Bd6 ( 6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ ( 7...Bb6 8.Ne5+ Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qe7 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.0-0 Qxe5 12.Bf4 Qxb2 13.Nc3 Kd8 14.Nb5 Qxb5 15.Rab1 Qa5 16.Rbc1 d6 17.g3 Bh3 18.Rfd1 Kd7 19.e5 h5 20.Qxb7 Nh6 21.Rd5 Qxa2 22.Be3 Bxe3 23.Qxc7+ Ke8 24.Qc6+ Kf7 25.Qc2 Rac8 26.e6+ Ke7 27.Qb1 Qxf2+ 28.Kh1 Qg2 checkmate, yorkypuddn - braken, Chessworld, 2008) 8.Nfd2 Nxd4 9.0-0 d6 10.a3 Ba5 11.b4 Bb6 12.Nc4 Nc6 13.Nc3 Bd4 14.Qf3+ Qf6 15.Qxf6+ Nxf6 16.Kh1 Bxc3 17.Ra2 Be5 18.f4 Bd4 19.b5 Ne7 20.Bb2 Bxb2 21.Rxb2 Nxe4 22.Rb4 Nc5 23.f5 Nd5 24.Rb2 Rf8 25.g4 Nf6 26.h4 Nxg4 27.Rg1 h5 28.Rbg2 Bxf5 29.Nd2 g6 30.Re2 Kg7 31.Kg2 Bd3 32.Re7+ Rf7 33.Rge1 Bxb5 34.Nf3 Bc6 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 36.Kg3 Bxf3 37.Rf1 Ne5 38.Rxf3+ Nxf3 39.Kxf3 Re8 40.Kf4 Kf6 41.Kg3 Kf5 42.Kf3 Re4 43.Kf2 Kf4 44.a4 Rxa4 White resigned, TWODOGS - Piratepaul, JG2 Chessworld, 2008) 7.d5 ( 7.dxe5 Be7 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.b4 a6 10.e6 dxe6 11.Qh5+ Kf8 12.c4 Bxb4+ 13.Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.Nbxd2 Qf6 15.0-0 Nge7 16.Qc5 Kg8 17.e5 Qf5 18.Nd4 Qxe5 19.Qxe5 Nxe5 20.f4 Nf7 21.Rae1 g6 22.Nxe6 Bxe6 23.Rxe6 Kf8 24.Rfe1 Re8 25.Ne4 Nc6 26.Rxg6 h5 27.Kf2 Rh6 28.Rg3 h4 29.Rg4 Nd6 30.Nxd6 Rxe1 31.Kxe1 cxd6 32.h3 Kf7 33.Ke2 Kf6 34.Rg5 Na7 35.Kf3 b5 36.cxb5 Nxb5 37.Kg4 Rh7 38.a4 Nc7 39.f5 Rg7 40.Rxg7 Kxg7 41.Kxh4 Kf6 42.g4 Ke5 43.Kg3 Nd5 44.h4 Nf6 45.h5 Nxh5+ 46.gxh5 Kxf5 47.Kh4 a5 48.h6 Kg6 49.Kg4 Black resigned, pawn_starr - astandenuk, Gameknot, 2006) 7...Nce7 8.c4 Ng6 9.a3 Nf6 10.Nbd2 Nf4 11.0-0 Qe7 12.Nb3 Nxe4 13.Bxf4 exf4 14.Re1 Re8 15.Nbd2 Qf6 16.Nxe4 Qg6 17.Nh4 Qh7 18.Nf6 gxf6 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Rxe8+ Bf8 21.Ng6 Kg7 22.Nxf8 Qd3 23.Re7+ Black resigned, TWODOGS - eddie43, JG2 Chessworld, 2008;

6.a4 Nf6 7.d3 Ng4 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nf6 10.b4 Nxb4 11.cxb4 Bd4 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.f4 Re8 14.f5 Ng8 15.Qg4 Nf6 16.Qf3 Kg8 17.Ra2 a5 18.b5 c6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Rb2 Ba6 21.Re1 c5 22.Rbe2 Rb8 23.Nd2 d5 24.e5 Nh7 25.Qg3 Qc7 26.Nf1 c4 27.f6 g5 28.Nh2 Nxf6 29.Ng4 Nxg4 30.hxg4 cxd3 31.Rd2 Re6 32.Bb2 Rxb2 33.Rxb2 Rc6 34.Qf2 Rc1 35.Rd2 Rc2 36.e6 Rc1 37.e7 Qxe7 38.Rxc1 Bc4 39.Qxd4 Qb4 40.Rb2 d2 41.Qxd2 Qc5+ 42.Kh1 Qd6 43.Rxc4 Qf6 44.Rc8+ Kf7 45.Rb7+ Black resigned, Haroldlee123 - TWODOGS, JGTourney4, Chessworld, 2009;

6.Qb3+ Ke7 ( 6...Kf8 7.0-0 Nf6 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Be7 10.Nh4 d5 11.Ng6+ Kf7 12.Nxh8+ Qxh8 13.exd5 Ne5 14.d6+ Kf8 15.dxe7+ Kxe7 16.dxe5 Nh5 17.Qb4+ Kf7 18.Re1 Kg8 19.Qc4+ Kh7 20.e6 Qe8 21.Nc3 b6 22.Nd5 Bxe6 23.Qxc7 Rc8 24.Qxa7 Qd8 25.Bxh6 Bxd5 26.Re5 Black forfeited on time, majorminor - Entangle, FICS, 2004) 7.0-0 Nf6 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.Be3 d6 11.Nbd2 Qe8 12.Rfe1 Kd8 13.e5 dxe5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Bxb6 Nxf3+ 16.Nxf3 Qc6 17.Rad1+ Bd7 18.Ne5 Qxb6 19.Nf7+ Kc8 20.Qd3 Rd8 21.Nxd8 Kxd8 22.Qa3 c5 23.Qe3 Kc7 24.Qe5+ Kd8 25.Rxd7+ Nxd7 26.Qe8+ Kc7 27.Qxa8 Nb8 28.Re8 Qxb2 29.Qxb8+ Kb6 30.Re6+ Ka5 31.Qxa7+ Kb4 in progress, Crusader Rabbit - metalwarrior1969, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009;

6.b4 Bb6 7.a4 ( 7.b5 Nce7 8.Nxe5+ Ke8 ( 8...Ke6 9.d4 d5 10.exd5+ Qxd5 11.Qg4+ Kd6 12.Ba3+ Bc5 13.0-0 Bxa3 14.Nxa3 Bxg4 15.Nxg4 Nf6 16.c4 Qg5 17.c5+ Ke6 18.Rae1+ Kf7 19.Ne5+ Kg8 20.Nf3 Qd5 21.Rxe7 Kh7 22.Rxc7 b6 23.Nc2 bxc5 24.Rxc5 Qxa2 25.Nb4 Qb3 26.Nd5 Nd7 27.Nf6+ gxf6 28.Rc7 Rhd8 29.Re1 Qxb5 30.Re7+ Kg6 31.Nh4+ Kh5 32.Rc5+ Nxc5 33.dxc5 Qb1+ White resigned, majorminor - gamay, FICS, 2007) 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Nxg6 Nf6 11.Qe5 Bxf2+ 12.Kd1 Ng4 13.Qxh8+ Kf7 Black resigned, majorminor - Fugly, FICS, 2007) 7...a6 8.a5 Ba7 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Bb2 Re8 11.Qb3+ d5 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 Rxe4 14.Ne5+ Nxe5 15.dxe5 Rxe5 16.Bxe5 Be6 17.Nc3 d4 18.Qd1 dxc3 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Ra3 c2 22.Rf3 Qb2 23.Qg6 Bb3 White forfeited on time, majorminor - boepke, FICS 2004

6.0-0 d6 7.b4 Bb6 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Ne5 10.Qh5+ Kf8 11.f4 Nd3 12.f5 Nf6 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qe2 c5 15.Ne6+ Bxe6 16.fxe6 cxb4+ 17.Kh1 bxc3 18.Nxc3 Qe7 19.Nd5 Qxe6 20.Nxf6 gxf6 21.Ba3 Rg8 22.Rad1 Rd8 23.Qh5 Ng4 24.h3 Rg5 25.Qxg5 hxg5 26.hxg4 Qxe4 27.Rxf6+ Ke7 28.Rff1 Qxg4 29.Rde1+ Kd7 30.Rf7+ Kc8 31.Rc1+ Kb8 32.Rf6 Qh4 checkmate, majorminor - arkascha, FICS 2005

6...Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6


8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4 Ne7 Black is surprised, and makes a poor response.

An interesting alternative: 9...Nd3+ 10.Ke2 Nxc1+ 11.Rxc1 Qg5 12.Qxc5+ Qxc5 13.dxc5+ Kxc5 14.b4+ Kb6 15.a4 a5 16.bxa5+ Rxa5 17.Na3 Ka6 18.Nb5 c6 19.c4 Ne7 20.Rcb1 cxb5 21.axb5+ Kb6 22.c5+ Kxc5 23.Rxa5 b6 24.Ra8 Rf8 25.f3 d5 26.exd5 Kxd5 27.Rb8 Rf6 28.Kf2 Bf5 29.Rc1 Ng6 30.Rb7 Nf4 31.Rd1+ Kc4 32.Rxg7 Bd3 33.g3 Bc2 34.Rc7+ Kxb5 35.Rxc2 Ne6 36.Rd6 Kb4 37.Rb2+ Black resigned, kaboes - musix, Gameknot, 2007

10.dxc5+


This move leads to a winning advantage for White, but next time I am sure that Ghandy will take the simpler 10.Qxe5+ Kc6 11.Qxc5#.

10...Kxc5 11.Qxe5+ Kc6
White is up a pawn, but, more importantly, Black's King is not safe.

12.Be3 d6 13.Qd4 Bg4 14.Qa4+ b5 15.Qa6+ Kd7 16.Qxb5+ c6 17.Qd3

Black has some open lines (that he has purchased with his pawns) which he can place his Rooks on, but they are not adequate compensation.

17...d5 18.f3 Bh5 19.Na3 Kc7 20.Qa6 dxe4 21.Rd1 Qb8 22.Nc4


White's position is so overwhelming, he even had Bf4 on this move or the next. Instead, he captures more of Black's army, and that works just fine.
22...exf3 23.Qa5+ Kc8 24.Nd6+ Kd7 25.Nf7+ Ke8 26.Nxh8 fxg2 27.Qxh5+


Now Black has some hope of hanging on a bit longer with 27...g6, but decides instead to end it all quickly.

27...Kf8 28.Qf7 checkmate

Race to the Finish

With 80% (169 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored 37%.

Piratepaul (19 points out of 23 games completed) maintains his lead. DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games), who had been first throughout most of the play, was the first to complete his games; and shares second place with Sir Osis of the Liver (17 points out of 26 games completed).

Sitting behind them are GladtoMateYou (14 points out of 24 games), then blackburne and eddie43 (13.5 points out of 26 games), and stampyshortlegs (13 points out of 17 games).

Only one player, because of the number of games he has yet to complete, has a statistical chance of topping Piratepaul's (current) 19 points: stampyshortlegs (maximum score possible - 24).

From a practical point of view, it looks like it will be a race between Piratepaul (maximum score possible - 24) and stampyshortlegs for top honors.

More Tactics

For those who believe that chess is "99% tactics", and this is especially true for those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), very often one lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three more examples (a bit more challenging) from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

DREWBEAR 63 - GladtoMateYou

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Despite being the extra piece up that the Jerome Gambit defender often receives, Black finds that his King has wandered into a mating net. If he keeps his wits about him, though, he can still split the point.

Black had to try 30...Nxc4 31.Kxc4 Bd5+ 32.Rxd5 cxd5+ 33.Kxd5 Rxg7 when White, down the exchange, does best to force a draw by repetition: 34.Ra3+ Kxb5 35.Nd4+ Kb4 36.Nc2+ Kb5 37.Nd4+ draw

analysis diagram

Instead, Black walked right "into it"

30...Ka4 31.Ra3 checkmate

Black Puma - Haroldlee123

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this complicated position, Black holds the Jerome advantage of a piece for two pawns, but his development is a bit haphazard, and he needs to be careful. Troubling tactics lie right beneath the surface, and he should play 35...Nxg5 with a chance to settle things down a bit. Instead, he plays a very reasonable move, and receives a shock.

35...Rh8 36.g6 Kxg6 37.Nh4+ Kf6 38.Nf5 Qf7 39.Rh6+ Qg6 40.Rxg6+ Kf7 41.Rg7+ Black resigned



DREWBEAR 63 - TWODOGS

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this position, seeing that he was losing his Queen for a Rook, White resigned.

Instead, he could have tried 33.Nb5 Qxb2+ 34.Rxb2 Rxb7 35.Kxc4 a6 36.a4 axb5+ 37.axb5 with at least equal chances.












analysis diagram