It is a good idea to play over your games, win or lose. You can pick up tactical tricks that you missed during the contest. You can learn more about your openings and prepare for the next time they show up on the board.
The following game is a good example. Bill's experience with the Jerome Gambit is significant, and his experience with the particular defense that his opponent constructed means that the number of moves that were "new" was quite small.
Wall, Bill - MYGZ
FICS, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+
This is a reasonable way to deal with White's pawn fork: Black will move one piece and return the other for a pawn. The Database has 314 game examples; White scores 57%. (Since there are 2,018 games with the position after 6.d4, where White scores 55%, Black's choice in this game - from a practical point of view - is, if anything, better than average.)
7.c3 Bxc3+
Bill has already seen 7...Be7 8.dxe5 Nh6 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qf5 checkmate, Wall, Bill - ChrSav, FICS, 2010.
8.Nxc3 Ng6
Instead, 8...Nc6 was seen in Wall, Bill - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) and Wall, Bill - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 27).
9.O-O Nf6
Black tried 9...N8e7 in Wall, Bill - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 18) and Wall, Bill - Jamato, lichess.org, 2017 (1-0, 55).
10.e5
An improvement over 10.Bg5, as in Wall, Bill - Shatskov, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 16).
10...Ne8
No more effective was 10...Ng8, seen in Wall, Bill - Guest2372880, lichess.org, 2018: 11.f4 d6 12.e6+ Bxe6 13.f5 Bxf5 14.Rxf5+ Nf6 15.Qb3+ Ke8 16.Bg5 Rf8 17.Re1+ Ne7 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Nd5 f5 21.Nxe7 Qxe7 22.Qg8+ Kd7 23.Rxe7+ Kxe7 24.Qxa8 Black resigned
11.f4
Stronger than 11.Qf3+, seen in Wall, Bill - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31).
11...Rf8
12.f5 Ne7
This loses quickly, but the "best" move, 12...Kg8, just tosses a piece.
13.Qb3+ d5 14.exd6+
Here, Black resigned in Wall, Bill - FJBS, FICS, 2015.
14...Kf6 15.Ne4 checkmate
Why does Bill Wall continue to play the Jerome Gambit, an opening that has many refutations? Probably because of games like the following, that almost seem to play themselves...
Wall, Bill - Facundo
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+
Black keeps playing this move, so White needs to keep aware.
7.c3
Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 Ng6
The Knight went to c6 in Wall,B - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 27).
9.O-O d6
Or 9...N8e7 as in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org 2016, (1-0, 18) and Wall,B - Jamato, lichess.org, 2017 (1-0, 55);
or 9...Nf6 as in Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31) and Wall,B - FJBS, FICS, 2015 (1-0, 14).
10.f4 Nh6
A novelty, keeping the Black Queen's diagonal open - but an error.
11.f5 Ne7 12.Qh5+ Kg8 13.f6
13...Ng6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Qxh6 Kf7 16.Qg7+ Black resigned
It helps to know the basics of the opening variations that you are playing. Here, Bill Wall has plenty of experience with the Jerome Gambit. But he also has plenty of experience in transitioning to an advantageous endgame, and then winning it.
Wall, Bill - Jamato
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bxc3+
Or 7...Be7 as in Wall,B - ChrSav, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 11).
8.Nxc3 Ng6
Instead, 8...Nc6 was seen in Wall,B - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 27)
9.O-O N8e7
Or 9...Nf6 as seen in Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31) and Wall,B - FJBS, FICS 2015 (1-0, 14).
10.f4 Re8
Bill has also faced 10...Rf8 in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 18)
11.Qb3+ d5 12.f5 Nf8 13.Bg5 c6 14.f6 gxf6 15.Bxf6 Kg8
Surprisingly enough, at this point Bill is ready to let the air out of the position and win the endgame. His opponent trys to tag along, but can not.
16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.Nxd5 Be6 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7 20.Rae1 Qd6
There were better chances to hold the game after 20...Bxb3 21.Rxe7 Bd5.
21.Rxf8+ Rxf8 22.Qxe6+ Qxe6 23.Rxe6 Rf7 24.d5 Rd7 25.d6 Kf7 26.Re7+ Rxe7 27.dxe7 Kxe7
The game is only half over, but it is over.
28.Kf2 b5 29.Ke3 a5 30.Kd4 Kd6 31.g4 h6 32.h4 b4 33.b3 Ke6 34.Kc5 Ke5 35.Kb5 Kf4 36.g5 hxg5 37.hxg5 Kxg5 38.Kxa5 Kf6 39.Kxb4 Ke6 40.Kb5 Kd6 41.Kb6 Kd7 42.a4 Kc8 43.a5 Kb8 44.b4 Ka8 45.Kc7 Ka7 46.b5 Ka8 47.a6 Ka7 48.Kc6 Ka8 49.b6 Kb8 50.a7+ Ka8 51.b7+ Kxa7 52.Kc7 Ka6 53.b8=Q Ka5 54.Qb3 Ka6 55.Qb6 checkmate.
