In the following game I had the typical Jerome Gambit extra pawns vs extra piece imbalance. As my time ran short, I think my opponent tried to push things a bit, and it was then, as he focused upon his own ideas, that my opportunity appeared.
perrypawnpusher - trmii
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening.
4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3
10...Ne5 11.f4
Slightly better might be 11.d4, as in perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - Eferio, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24).
11...Nc4 12.Qd4 b5 13.Qxg7 Qf6 14.Qxc7 Ne7
White has 4 "extra" pawns for the sacrificed piece, but I was uncomfortable with my Queen's cramped quarters, so I decided to give one back immediately. I could have tried 15.d3, instead.
15.e5 Qe6 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Qxd6 Nxd6 18.Nc3 Bb7 19.d3 Rg8
The Queens are off the board, but Black has a nice attacking idea on the Kingside.
20.Rf2 Nef5 21.Bd2 Nh4 22.Re1+ Kd7 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.dxe4 Rae8 25. g3 Ng6
26.Rfe2 Ba6 27.Bb4 Bb7 28.Rd2+ Kc7 29.e5 Ne7 30.Bxe7 Rxe7 31.Red1 Bc6
I am sure that my central "Jerome pawns" could advance and act spear-like, but I was a bit short of calculating time and decided to use the pawns as a shield instead. My opponent seemed to be moving quickly now, as if he wanted to take advantage of my time pressure.
32.Kf2 a5 33.Rd6 Rh8 34.R1d3 h5
Attacking the "shield" but overlooking the idea behind my last move.
35.Rc3 Rd8 36.Rcxc6+ Kb7 37.Rxd8 Kxc6 38.Rd6+ Kc5 39.Rh6
39...Kd4 40.Rxh5 b4 41.Ke2 a4 42.Rh6 b3 43.c3+ Kc5 44.a3 Black resigned
The following game takes its time getting where it's going. In fact, it probably could have taken even longer, if my opponent had not forseen the future and decided to stop travelling.
perrypawnpusher - VGxdys
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qd5+
Interestingly, Rybka 3 (at a depth of 20 ply) sees this "nudge" as 1/2 pawn better than the immediate capture, 8.Qxc5.
8...Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Nf6
A standard Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit position, although Black has also played 10...Qf6 in perrypawnpusher - saltos, blitz FICS 2009 (1-0, 28); 10...Ne5 in perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz FICS, 2009 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - Eferio, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24); 10...Qe7 in perrypawnpusher - Macgregr, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 23); and 10...N8e7 in perrypawnpusher - apinheiro, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 59), perrypawnpusher - VGxdys, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 32) and perrypawnpusher - apinheiro, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 25).
11.f4
Or 11.d4 and then 12.f4 as in perrypawnpusher - KenWhitaker, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 27).
11...Kf8
Taking the King off of the dangerous e-file, if temporarily putting him on the dangerous f-file. Black's plan is to castle-by-hand, with the King ending up on h7. Instead a center strike with 11...Qe7 12.d3 d5 occurred in perrypawnpusher - LeifPetersen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).
12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc4
It was probably safer to play 13...Nf7, but who can resist harassing the Queen?
14.Qd3 b5
Oddly similar to our earlier game, referred to above.
15.b3 Nb6 16.Nc3 Kg8 17.Qxb5 a6 18.Qe2 Kh7
White has grabbed a Queenside pawn while Black has castled-by-hand on the Kingside. The game is about even.
19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nfd5 21.Bb2
Good enough, although with White's forces focusing on the f6 square, 21.Ne4 would have been even better.
21...Re8 22.Rad1 Qg5
This was Black's idea, attacking White's King.
25.Rd2 a5 26.Qf2 Ba6 27.Rfd1 Rad8 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Rxd8 Qxd8
30.Qd4 Qg5 31.e6 Bb7 32.Qf2 Be4 33.f6 gxf6 34.Bxf6 Qc1+
The game has taken on some of the annoying aspects of the typical Jerome Gambit Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame. Still, I was willing to exchange Queens and try my luck. Too, exchanging Queens was Black's best chance.
35.Qf1 Qe3+ 36.Kh1 Bxc2 37.e7 Bd3
A slip, which should have been punished by 38.e8/Q, winning the Bishop.
38.Qg1 Qe6 39.Bh4 Qf7
40.Qe1 Bb5 41.Qe4+ Kg7
Another slip: White can now check the King and win the Bishop.
My opponent seems to have been a bit too comfortable with his assessment of the endgame as drawish. That made two of us.
42.Qg4+ Kh7 43.Qe4+ Kg8 44.h3
A small idea, but a useful one. With the back-rank checkmate prevented, my Queen can wander more successfully, not just limiting herself to offeres to exchange or checks on the enemy King.
44...Bd7 45.Kh2 Qe8
White's e-pawn is effectively blockaded, his Queenside pawns will not produce a passer on their own, and creating one on the Kingside will expose the White King to plenty of attacks. A win for for me, if it is there, is a long way down the road.
46.Qc4+ Kh7 47.Qxc7 Black resigned
With my King safe, however, my pawns do not have to do it on their own. The Queen will soon pick off Black's a-pawn, and then White's Queenside pawns will begin to advance and assert themselves.
My opponent decided that there was no need to let things go that far.
23.Nxd5 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 Bb7
When a player's position becomes difficult, he might seek complications, hoping that his opponent will lose his way, and then the game. In the following fight, however, the alternative strategy of not getting "too fancy" would have brought better results for my opponent.
perrypawnpusher - Eferio
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Ne5
An "in your face" kind of move. In this or similar positions I have faced it twice against Kotimatka (see "Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight" and "Echoes"), twice against mikelars (see "Rumors of My Death" and "Kick Me"), and once against Irhall (see "One Little Pawn").
11.d4 Nc4
Of course 11...Nc4 is not the only way to attack White's Queen. There is 11...Ng4 as in perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 21)
12.Qd3 Be6
Black weaves a complicated defense for his Knight, avoiding the "simple" 12...Nb6.
13.d5 Ne5
Back again.
14.Qg3 Bd7 15.f4 Bb5
More complications. It was time to give material back and keep the loss to a pawn: 15...Ng4 16.h3 N4f6 17.e5 Kf8 18.exf6 Qxf6.
16.fxe5
Instead, 16.Re1 was good enough for advantage, as in 16...Nf7 17.e5, but I was perfectly happy to fall into Black's combination.
16...Bxf1 17.Qxg7 Qh4
If it were not for the White "Jerome pawn" at e5, Black could have defended with 17....Qf6, etc. Now he has to scare up some kind of counter-play, with the accent upon "scare".
18.Qxh8 Kf8 19.Kxf1 Qxe4
"Best" for Black was probably 19...Qxh2 but it held no promise for long-term survival.
20.Bxh6+ Kf7 21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.Qxg8+ Kd7 23.Qf7+ Kc8 24.Qe8 checkmate
I have had many duels with Knights that have used the e5 square for a resting place before hopping off (usually to the g4 square) to harass my Queen. This time I avoided my usual knee-jerk f2-f4 and still found a way to effectively deliver the boot.
perrypawnpusher - mikelars
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+
The "nudge". White invests a move to drive Black's King back. If the second player is going to ever develop his Rook currently sitting on h8, he will eventually have to return the move with ...Kf7 or ...Ke7.
7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6
I have had this position in 24 games previously, and scored 77%.
In an earlier game my opponent had challenged me with 9...Ne5, either a provocation or a heavy-handed way of preventing e4-e5. Our game continued 10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4 Neg4 (11...Nfg4 12.Qg3 Ng6 13.f5 N6e5 14.d4 c6 15.dxe5 Qb6+ 16.Kh1 Nxe5 17.Qxg7 Rf8 18.f6 Be6 19.Qe7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS, 2010) 12.Qe2 Qe7 13.d3 Rf8 14.Nc3 Nh5 15.Nd5 Qd7 16.f5 Ngf6 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 Nxf6 19.Nf4 Qb5 20.c3 Bd7 21.Rae1 Qa5 22.a3 Bb5 23.e5 dxe5 24.Qxe5+ Kd7 25.Qe7+ Kc8 26.Qxf8+ Black forfeited on time, perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2010.
10.0-0 Qe7
I noticed in The Database that mrjoker (Louis Morin) had this position 5 times in 2009, playing 11.d3 four times (2-1-1) and 11.Nc3 once (1-0),
11.Nc3 Ne5
Again (see our earlier game, above) mikelars' Knight seems to scream "Kick me!"
12.d4 Nc4 13.Qd3 Na5
This did not look right to me: the steed must retire instead to b6. I forced myself to spend time to analyze my next move, as this was an opportunity that I did not want to miss.
14.Qb5+ Nc6 15.d5 a6 16.Qa4 b5
I had anticipated this, but less bad was 16...Bd7, i.e. 17.dxc6 Bxc6 and White is up a pawn.
I think my opponent's incomplete analysis of this tactical position may have been another example of the negative "halo effect" that the Jerome Gambit inspires – if my early moves are bad, many of my later moves must be bad, too, (and they can be defeated with little thought or effort).
17.Nxb5 Ne5
Again, Black needed to bail and concede the piece with 17...Kf7 18.dxc6 Rb8 19.Nc3 although my three extra pawns will then keep me better.
18.Nxc7+ Kf7 19.Nxa8 Bd7
White is going to come out of this up the exchange and a handful of pawns. The next few moves I focused on exchanging pieces to reduce counter-play; then I played "simple" moves to avoid throwing the game away.
20.Qxa6 Nxe4 21.Nb6 Nc5 22.Qe2 Rb8 23.Nxd7 Ncxd7 24.f4 Ng6 25.Qxe7+ Nxe7 26.c4 Nf5 27.b3 Ra8
A visual assessment is that the pawns win, but I wanted to have my time a bit more under control, too, so I continued to play simply.
28.Bb2 Ne3 29.Rf2 Nc5 30.Bd4 Nd3
My opponent believed that I had overlooked the loss of the exchange, but he was really giving up two pieces for a Rook.
31.Bxe3 Nxf2 32.Kxf2 Kf6
33.g4 h6 34.Bd4+ Kf7 35.h4 Re8 36.Re1 Ra8 37.Re2 Rf8 38.Kf3 Kg6 39.a4
The outside passed pawn wins, but so does 39.Re7 or 39.Re6+.
39...Rb8 40.Re3 h5 41.Re6+ Kh7 42.gxh5 Rf8 43.Rxd6 Rf5 44.Rd7 Rxh5 45.Rxg7+ Kh6 46.d6 Rxh4 47.d7 Rh3+ 48.Ke4 Rxb3 49.d8Q Rh3 50.Qh8 checkmate
The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is one of those attack-or-die kind of openings (which too often becomes an attack-and-die affair). If the attack is countered, White may not have much left for his effort and valor.
perrypawnpusher - irhall
blitz 4 10, FICS, 2010
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
I've seen this position 20 times, scoring 75% (14-4-2). That's not bad, but it's about 10% below my total Jerome and Jerome-ish score.
10.0-0 Ne5
Transferring the Knight closer to my Kingside, where it will annoy my Queen. It was better to castle-by-hand with 10...Kf7, ...Re8 and ...Kf8.
11.d4
Probably better than 11.f4 as in perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 26), and perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 19).
11...Neg4 12.Qf3
White had an even game and went on to win with the slightly better 12.Qb3 b6 13.h3 Nh6 14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nfg8 16.Qf3 Be6 17.Rd1 Qc8 18.Nc3 Ne7 19.Nb5 Rf8 20.Qxa8 Kf7 21.Qxc8 Rxc8 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Nxa7 Rg8 24.Kh2 Nf5 25.g4 Ne7 26.Nb5 h5 27.Nxc7 hxg4 28.Rd6 Bf5 29.Rf6+ Kg7 30.hxg4 Bg6 31.Rd1 Bxc2 32.Rd7 Black resigned, Ghandybh - Noel1942, Chess.com, 2009.
12...Bd7
13.h3 Nh6 14.Bxh6 gxh6
The Knight's adventures are at an end.
15.Nc3 Qe7
White has an even game, but no more than that. It was important for Black to get something going before the first player can take advantage of Black's open Kingside. Both 15...Rg8 and 15...Bc6 come to mind.
16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Bc6
Black protects his Queenside, gives his Bishop better development, and returns the gambit piece.
18.Qxf6 Qxf6 19.exf6 Rg8
It seems that for all his attacking efforts, White has achieved only one little pawn on f6, something that Black can blockade with his King and then capture. He does have a winning endgame advantage on the Kingside, but he faces a coordinated defense from Black's Bishop and Rook.
20.Rfe1+ Kd8
Suddenly, the future looked brighter for me.
After 20...Kf7 21.Ne4 Rae8 22.Ng3 Kxf6 Black can fight on.
21.g3
It turns out that this defensive move is not necessary: White can play instead 21.Rad1+ Kc8 22.Nd5
21...Rg6
Picking on the poor defenseless little pawn. After the game Rybka suggested, instead, 21...Rf8, although White still has the familiar 22.Rad1+ Kc8 23.Nd5 with advantage.
22.Rad1+ Kc8 23.f7
23...Rf6
Capitulating, but 23...b6 can be met by either 24.Rd8+, 24.Re8+ or 24.f8/Q+.
24.Re8+ Bxe8 25.fxe8Q checkmate
