Jerome Gambit: Too Fast, Too Furious (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - TobiasBrunner

"Let's Play The Italian Game" tournament

Chess.com, 2018 

Striking back, the Knight that has been kicked around targets the Queen.

I have seen the retreat 13...Nc6 three times: perrypawnpusher - Heler, Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015 (1-0, 33); perrypawnpusher - apurv83, Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015 (1/2-1/2, 29); and perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Italian Game tournament, Chess.com, 2015 (0-1, 44).

Stockfish 9 prefers the retreat 13...Ned7; there are no games with this move in The Database.

14.Qb3+ 

Delivering the check before Black can sequester his King at g8.

14...Kf8

Better than 14...d5 15.e5 (15.h3!? Rxe4 16.hxg4 Rxg4 17.Bf4 Bxf5 =) Ne4 (15...Nxe5!? 16.dxe5 Rxe5 17.Bf4 Re8 =) 16.h3 (16.Nc3!? Ngf6 17.exf6 Nxf6) Ngf2 (16...Nxe5 17.dxe5 Rxe5) as in perrypawnpusher-whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2011(1-0, 64) 

15.h3 Nh6

Instead, 15...Rxe4 16.hxg4 Rxg4 was seen in Vazquez,A - Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match 1876 (1-0, 34)

16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Nd2 

It is rather curious that Stockfish 9, after the game, now recommended 17...b6!? for Black, giving 18.Qe3 Qe7 19.Rae1 Bb7 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Nd7 22.Qxh6+ Qg7 23.Qxg7+ Kxg7 24.e6 Nf6 25.g4 as even.

Clearly the e-pawn is poisoned, but why is that?

17...Nxe4 18.f6 

This advance and offer of a "Jerome pawn" is the reason. After 18...Nxf6 White will double his Rooks on the f-file and swing his Queen over to the g-file. As is often the case, Black will be troubled by having his Bishop on its home square, blocking entry of his other Rook.

I wish I could take credit for the move, but I had already seen it in Wall - Vijay, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22). Of course, I had already played it, then, in perrypawnpusher - Bunnywarrior, Giuoco Piano thematic tournament, Chess.com, 2016 (1-0, 20)

18...Be6

This moves seems to solve Black's problems at first glance, avoiding the tempting 18...Nxd2? which led to a crush after 19.Qg3!? in Wall, - Vijay, Chess.com, 2010. It also improves on my game against Bunnywarrior, which makes me wonder - was TobiasBrunner aware of that game?

19.Qd3 Nxd2 

The Knight grabs material, abandoning his King.

After the game, Stockfish 9 said something like "Bwahaha! White now has a checkmate in 12." I didn't have any idea at the time, but I knew that White was going to have a strong attack.

What could Black have done, instead? He could have (temporarily) protected the h-pawn with 19...Ng5, although 20.h4 Bf7 21.hxg5 Bg6 22.Qf3 looks good for White. He could also have tried 19...d5, although 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qe3!? targeting the advanced h-pawn, looks dangerous.

Looking at White's f-pawn, I remembered the villains' line from various Scooby Doo cartoons, "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids"

20.Qxh7 Qd7 21.Qh8+ Bg8 22.Qxh6+ Kf7 

Now, 23.d5! would effectively block the Black King's avenue of escape, and he could only delay checkmate by returning lots of material.

I missed the move because, two pieces down, I was mostly thinking about - material.

23.Qg7+ Ke6 24.d5+

This certainly accomplishes the task of moving the King away from his defense of the Queen, but 24.Rae1+ would have provided more of an attack, and would have been stronger. 

24...Kxd5 25.Qxd7 

25...Nxf1 26.Rxf1 Be6 

Black has a Rook and a Bishop for his Queen (and a couple of pawns), and decides that he can fight on.

[to be continued]

Still More Errors in Thinking 4.1

[continued]

perrypawnpusher - apurv83

Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015

At this point I decided that Black was behind enough in development - either blocked on the Queenside or over-shifted in that direction - that I could use up a few tempos myself.

19.Qh3 Rh8 20.Qh6 Qd8

Well, my opponent had "un-developed" his two pieces in his last two moves - that had to count for something, right?

Maybe I could now get a Rook into play like I tried to do against Hywel2 and Heler.The ongoing question is: what can Black do in the meantime?

21.Rf3 Nxe4 22.Qh5+

I found this move after initially wanting to play 22.Rg3, which would fall to 22...Bxf5 23.exf5 Nxf5 and while Black would have returned his extra piece, White's "Jerome pawns" would be all gone (and he would be a pawn down). True, then 24.Qg5+ Ke6 would get all weird - and then I noticed that the simple refutation of 22.Rg3 is 22...Ne2+. Oops!

22...Kf8 23.Rg3 Ne2+

A surprise move, but encouraging. Black giving back a piece to displace the White Queen meant I was getting close to something.

24.Qxe2

24...c6 25.Qh5

Very committal, but logical. Black's Bishop is still parked at home, and it still blocks the neighboring Rook. If Black takes the Knight, then exd5 will open the e-file against the King for my other Rook.

Instead, 25.Nf4 seemed playable, but slow. After the game, Stockfish 6 pointed out that 25.Qg4 was the killer move.

25...cxd5 26.Qh6+ 

Here I expected 26...Ke8, when, after 27.exd5 White will have too many open lines into Black's position for the latter to survive. Instead, my opponent gave me one more important tempo, and this led to mate.

26...Ke7 27.Rg7+ Ke8 28.Qh5+ Kf8 29.Qf7 checkmate

It looks like the defense based on ...Kf7, ...Rh8 and ...Qd8 will have to be re-thought a bit.

That is a good thing. Only one more game needs to be completed in the Italian Game tournament at Chess.com before I move on to the next round and try my hand at some Jerome Gambits (if allowed this time).

In the Giuoco Piano tournament at Chess.com, where this (i.e. perrypawnpusher - apurv83) game was played, I had given up on advancing to the next round, as only one player from my group will make the cut. However, the aggression between players has been strong enough that I now find myself at the top of the heap, a half-point ahead of auswebby, whose last game sees him currently down the exchange and a couple of pawns (his opponent has three connected passed pawns). Of course, if auswebby is able to recover and win, he will leap over me to first place; and if he draws, his tie-break (he beat me twice) should be enough to again assure that he advances. More nail-biting, but I have been here before.

Still More Errors In Thinking 4.0

The Jerome Gambit is beginning to feel a bit like a "normal" chess opening - at times, anyhow.

I mean, I play a game, I publish it on this blog, someone takes that information and uses it in another one of my Jerome Gambits. I publish that game in this blog, someone else uses that information in another of my Jerome Gambits...

Innovate or perish, as Edward Kahn wrote.

I have shared the prelude to this saga before

After my discouraging loss with the Jerome Gambit in my previous Chess.com Italian Game tournament (perrypawnpusher - Buddy_Thompson), I knew that I had to cook up something new, or risk facing a future opponent who just "looked the refutation up" (and not even on this blog, mind you, but in my recent games on Chess.com).

Such worry bore fruit, however, in terms of a win in my return game with djdave28, as the post showed.

Today's tale started with perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Italian Game tournament, Chess.com, 2015 (0-1, 44). Of particular interest - besides my missing a chance for a nifty draw - was a novelty (according to The Database) my opponent played on the 13th move.

I received some enlightening notes to the game from Bill Wall, and I added them to what I had written about the game, sharing it all with readers in "More Errors in Thinking 2.0".

Then came perrypawnpusher - Heler, Giauoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015,  (1-0, 33), which had Hywel2's TN and followed the earlier game until I varied on move 17 (Bill's earlier suggestion). There was an opportunity to transpose back to the earlier game at move 19, but I didn't take it.

Most recently I played perrypawnpusher - apurv83, Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015. Black again followed the lead of  perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, only this time he varied on the 14th move, nudging his a-pawn instead of placing his King in the corner. How much would that matter? Let's see.

(By the way, my  opponent several times played "The Vacation Gambit" against me. If he was truly on vacation, and not messing with my head - good for him! I wish I could play something like a "retirement gambit"...)


perrypawnpusher - apurv83
Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

A typical Jerome Gambit position. Black has an extra piece, while White has a couple of extra pawns.

10.0-0 Kf7 11.f4 Re8 

White castles, Black castles-by-hand.

12.f5 Nd5 13.d4 Nc6 

Hywel2's move. Then Heler's move. Now apurv83's.

Instead, 13...Neg4 goes back at least as far as Vazquez,A -Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876 (1-0, 34).

14.Nc3 a6 

apurv83's innovation is not to be dismissed. Is it a crucial "loss of tempo"? I don't think so. After all, with ...b7-b5 Black will be able to fianchetto his light-squared Bishop, as in earlier games; plus he will have the chance to kick my Knight on c3 with ...b5-b4. That was not enough for me to change my general plans, however. I followed earlier games, a tempo up.

15.Qd3 Kg8 16.Bg5 Qd7 17.Bxf6

This capture is based on Bill Wall's suggestion after perrypawnpusher - Hywel2.

17...gxf6 18.Nd5 Kf7

Well, somebody has to guard the f-pawn. In earlier games, the Queen was properly given the responsibility.

After my last move, I was pondering the typical malady for Black in this kind of position - the light-squared Bishop and Queenside Rook are still at home. In fact, the Queen currently blocks the Bishop - and with Black's 18th move, the King, in turn, blocks the Queen (from the Kingside).

My challenge here was: could I add this possible "gained time" to Black's 14th move and make something out of it?

[to be continued]

More Errors in Thinking 3.2

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Heler, 

Chess.com, Giuoco Piano tournament, 2015

17.Bxf6

As Bill Wall had suggested, as an improvement over the previously played 17.Rae1.

17...gxf6 18.Nd5

As in my play against Hywel2. I wasn't sure if my change in move order was going to bring about anything more than a transposition; for example, if Black were now to play 18...Qg7 and I were to follow up with 19.Rae1, then 19...b6 would put us back in the earlier game.

18...Qf7

Black varies, as well, with the placement of his Queen.

19.Rae1 b6 20.Nf4 a5

The difference from the previous game is that White's Knight is now at f4, not d5, and his Rook is at f1, not f3. This allows Black's threat of ...Ba6 skewering White's Queen and winning the exchange.

I thought pressure along the c-file was the answer, allowing White's Knight to reach a beautiful outpost, but putting his Queen in the line of fire. Her Majesty eventually has to move again.

21.Qc3 Bb7 22.Ne6 Rac8 23.Rf3 Nd8 24.d5 c6 25.Qd2 cxd5 26.exd5

White has two pawns for a  piece, and a nice-looking Knight, but Black's army looks pretty active.

26...Qh5

A shock. I was planning on playing on the Kingside. What was my opponent doing??

I figured out a line that might give White the initiative, but I was still worried about Black's Queenside forces.

27.Nf4 Rxe1+ 28.Qxe1 Qf7 29.Re3 Nc6

White pins his hopes on the e-file and Black's weakened back rank, (as well as the possibility of a tricky tactic from the Hywel2 game). My opponent decided it was time to return the sacrificed piece.

30.dxc6 Bxc6 31.Re7

White is a pawn up, and Black decides to level the material.

31...Qxa2 32.Qc3

Suddenly, Black is in grave danger.

For example, if now 32...Rf8, to protect the f-pawn, White has 33.Ng6+ (a tactic right out of the earlier perrypawnpusher - Hywel2 game, which made it easy to see) Kg8 (if 33...hxg6 then 34.Qh3+ leads to mate) 34.Nxf8, and Black can only avoid checkmate by giving up his Queen, e.g. 34...Qa1+ 35.Re1 Qxe1 (or 35...Qa2 36.Ne6 Qxe6 37.fxe6) 36.Qxe1 Kxf8 when the imbalance in material is too great.

32...Kg8 33.Qg3+ Black resigned

More Errors in Thinking 3.1

The title of this post comes from a couple of previous ones - "More Errors in Thinking" and "More Errors in Thinking 2.0" - and can be explained by the truism I related earlier

One of my interests in exploring the Jerome Gambit comes from observing - and occasionally provoking - "errors in thinking". Essentially, the only way White can win is if Black errs - sometimes in the most fascinating of ways.

In the first of the two posts I presented the Jerome Gambit game perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Chess.com Italian Game tournament, 2015, with the gushing note

For a while it looked like it was going to be one of my best Jeromes ever, thanks to some fun tactics - but I fell victim to my own "error in thinking", and it was all for naught...

In the second of the two above posts, I presented the game again, adding notes and suggestions by Bill Wall, longtime Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member.

It all was in the service of some mental hand-wringing, the likes of which I have done before, for example, about a year ago in "Jerome pawns - Clowning Around"

After my discouraging loss with the Jerome Gambit in my previous Chess.com Italian Game tournament (perrypawnpusher - Buddy_Thompson), I knew that I had to cook up something new, or risk facing a future opponent who just "looked the refutation up" (and not even on this blog, mind you, but in my recent games on Chess.com).

Such worry bore fruit, however, in terms of a win in my return game with djdave28, as the post showed.

So - recently I played a couple of Jerome Gambits, one too-quickly leading "Toward Disaster" with the other "following, step-by-step, a recent loss of mine from a Chess.com Italian Game tournament."

As you might guess, that "recent loss" was the game chronicled in "More Errors in Thinking" and "More Errors in Thinking 2.0", perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Chess.com Italian Game tournament, 2015.

So, "without further ado" as they say, let us take a look at my latest Jerome Gambit win, (with earlier notes cribbed from earlier posts).

perrypawnpusher - Heler, 
Chess.com, Giuoco Piano tournament, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 

I have also tried 13.Nc3 in perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23); perrypawnpusher - darqknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 63); perrypawnpusher - CorH, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24); and perrypawnpusher - yasserr, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 32).

13...Nc6

Oddly, this natural move was a TN according to The Database until perrypawnpusher- Hywel2, Chess.com, Italian Game tournament, 2015

Instead, 13...Neg4 was seen in Vazquez,A - Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match 1876 (1-0, 34);Wall,B - Vijay,V, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0. 64).

14.Nc3 Kg8 15.Qd3 Kh8 16.Bg5 Qd7

So far, all replay of the earlier game; but things were about to change.

[to be continued]