Stepping Out of the Ring (temporarily)

I'm always up for a Jerome Gambit, if my opponent allows it.

Well - almost always. Sometimes my patience falters.

But that doesn't mean that I can't still play cheesy chess.

perrypawnpusher  - kanidonara
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

Side-stepping the Jerome Gambit for the Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0

Hoping for 4...Bc5 and a chance at the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

4...Nf6 5.Nc3

Okay. Looking for 5...Bc5 and the ability to play the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...a6 

My opponent holds off on his ...Bc5. I've fussed about this before, in "Are We There Yet?"

6.d4

Giving up on the Jerome Gambit.

Previously I prevaricated with 6.a3 and then my opponents allowed me my wish by playing ...Bc5: perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28); and perrypawnpusher - Olito, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 35).

I also "passed" with 6.d3, getting a chance to sacrifice my Bishop as well, in perrypawnpusher - tschup, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 18)

Bill Wall played 6.a4 and scored with 6...Bd6 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qe2 Re8 9.Qc4+ Kf8 10.Nh4 Ne7 11.d3 b6 12.f4 a5 13.fxe5 Bxe5 14.d4 d5 15.exd5 Bd6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Rxf6+ Kg7 18.Raf1 Ba6 19.Nb5 Be5 20.dxe5 Qxd5 21.Qg4+ Kh7 22.Rf7+ Kh8 23.Qg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Kamyar,K, Chess.com, 2011.

6...exd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 

8.Be3

I suppose that I could have still tried 8.Bxf7+, (although there are no examples in The Database) but I wanted to play this not-very-deep "trappy" move, as it was easy to guess my opponent's routine response.

8...0-0

Routine, but trouble.

9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bxc5

My opponent resigned a few moves later.

Here are a couple of similar examples, by long-time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member PlatinumKnight.

PlatinumKnight - strawks
blitz, FICS, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bxc5 Nxe4 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Qf3+ Nf6 11.Bd4 Qe7+ 12.Kd1 Re8 13.Qb3+ d5 14.Nd2 Qe2+ 15.Kc1 Qe1+ 16.Rxe1 Rxe1 checkmate

PlatinumKnight - warehouse
blitz, FICS, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxc6 Bxe3 9.Nxd8+ Rxd8 10.0-0 Bg5 11.e5 Ng8 12.Qf3+ Ke6 13.Re1 c6 14.Nc3 b5 15.Ne4 Ne7 16.Nxg5+ hxg5 17.Qg4+ Kd5 18.Qxg5 g6 19.Rad1+ Kc5 20.e6+ Kb6 21.Qxe7 a5 22.Qxd8+ Kc5 23.e7 Bb7 24.Qxd7 Bc8 25.Qc7 Bf5 26.Re5+ Kb4 27.c3+ Ka4 28.Qxc6 Rb8 29.Rd4 checkmate

Boring

Coming to this game right after a painful loss (see "Done in by Greed") I felt comfortable, but I was in no mood to risk anything. This led to a certain level of "boring" in my play.

perrypawnpusher - Olito
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

This position has been good to me previously: 14 wins and 2 draws.

8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Qf6

11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 Bd7 13.f5 Ne5

The same old dance. White has been creeping toward equality, and this gives him a boost.

14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Nb6 16.Bf4 Ne7 17.Rae1 Kf7

It is understandable that Black's King no longer wants to be on the e-file, but there is too much going on on the f-file for it to be safe there, either.

After the game Rybka 3 suggested a way for Black to reach a pawn-down endgame that might have been preferrable: 17...Nbc8 18.e5 dxe5 19.Bxe5 Bxf5 20.Rxf5 Qxf5 21.Qxf5 Nxf5 22.Bxg7+ Kf7 23.Bxh8 Ncd6 24.Be5 Nc4 25.Rf1 Kg6 26.Ne2 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Re8 28.Nf4+ Kg5 29.Nd3 b6

18.g4

Protecting the f-pawn so that the e-pawn can advance. Stronger was 18.Bg3.

18...g5

This is a rash move which should have been strongly met by 19.e5, as Black has no good answer: to start, 19...dxe5 is met by 20.Bxe5.

My response, opening the f-file, returns the game almost to even.

19.fxg6+ Qxg6 20.Be5+ Ke8

Black, at least temporarily, forgets that he is a  piece up, and can afford to return some material: 20...Kg8 21.Bxh8 Qxg4+ 22.Kh1 Kxh8 followed by 23...Rg8 and his two pieces are at least a match for White's Rook and pawn.

21.Bxh8 Qxg4+ 22.Kh1 Ng6 23.Bf6

Readers with good tactical vision probably saw the strength in 23.e5, instead, as 23...dxe5 (23...Nxh8 24.exd6+ is crushing) 24.Bxe5 allowed the Bishop to return unharmed.

After the text White is up the exchange and a pawn, and my timid brain began to yell "that is enough, it is time to consolidate!" instead of the more appropriate (for the board, although perhaps not for me at the time) "Black's Queen Knight and Rook are still offside, it is time to attack!"

23...Nf4 24.Qg3 Qxg3 25.hxg3 Ne6 26.e5 d5 27.Ne2 Nc4 28.b3 Na3

White's extra pawn is now passed and protected. As soon as he takes care of that annoying enemy Knight, he can get down to the "technique" that it takes to win.

Yawn.

29.c3 Nc2 30.Rb1 Ne3 31.Rf3 Ng4 32.Nf4 Kf7 33.Nxe6 Kxe6 34.Rbf1 Be8

35.Bg7 h5 36.Kg2 Bg6 37.b4

Both my opponent and I missed a tactic here, which I finally saw at move 40.

37...b5 38.a3 a5 39.Bf8 Ra7 40.Rf6+

40...Nxf6 41.Rxf6+ Kd7 42.Rxg6 Ra8

 43.Bc5

I was still on auto-pilot, which is a pity, as 43.e6+ was a super move, since it has both mating net and pawn promotion threats.

43...Rh8 44.bxa5 h4 45.a6 h3+ 46.Kh2 Ra8 47.a7 Rh8 48.Rg7+ Ke6 49.Rb7

I had my winnning idea worked out, but sharp-eyed readers probably noticed that 49.g4 instead sets up a mating net. 

49...Kf5 50.Rb8 Rh6 51.a8Q Ke4 52.Rf8 Kd3 53.Rf6 Rh5 54.Qxc6 Kxc3 55.Qxb5 Rg5 56.Rf3+ Kd2 57.Qb2+ Ke1 58.Bb4+ Kd1 59.Rf1 checkmate

Satisfaction: Still Quite Légal

As I've mentioned in "Housekeeping..." and "Barely Legal", there is still a chance for satisfaction when you try for a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and your opponent opts for a defense with ...d7-d6

perrypawnpusher - Olito
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian opening.

4.O-O d6

The Hungarian Defense, or a variation of the Philidor.

5.d4 Bg4 6.Nc3 Nxd4 7.Nxe5 Bxd1

Oooops.

8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9. Nd5 checkmate

 

Totally Psyched Out

"I don't believe in psychology," Bobby Fischer supposedly said. "I believe in strong moves."

Then, again, Bobby probably never played the Jerome Gambit. If he had, he would have known the power of psychology (causing surprise, confusion, doubt and fear in the opponent) to make up for shortcomings, in an otherwise busted chess opening.

In the following game my opponent totally out-psychs me, though,and then adds some strong moves, too, for a well-deserved (for him) and painful (for me) victory.

perrypawnpusher  - Olito
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6

With 4...a6 the game would transpose to perrypawnpusher - angelosgoulianos, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 40).

The whole Rook-pawns idea should not have been unsettling to me, but the fact that my opponent was playing his moves quickly sort of cued the ominous violin music to start playing in the background... See "If I write all this and someone reads it...".

5.Nc3 a6 6.a3

Temporizing. Last year I had tried a similar time-wasting idea, d2-d3-d4, in perrypawnpusher - tschup, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

Of course, there certainly was nothing wrong with 6.d4 and a small advantage. I was still hoping for a Jerome Gambit-style game.

6...Bc5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.d4 Nf3+

This hit me like a ton of bricks.

Not just the move – I had seen it in my game against AirmanLeonidas – but the ideas behind it.

My game with Olito was taking place later on in the same day that I had posted my ICC game against HenryV . In the notes to HenryV I had pointed out that White could capture the Black Knight on f3 with his Queen, because if Black retaliated with with ...Bxd4, White had a neat maneuver starting with Nc3-b5.

Of course, my opponent had just prevented Nc3-b5 with his a-pawn move.

Apparently, Olito was familiar with my blog post and had planned accordingly. Panic ran screaming down the hallways of my brain – which is reason #253 as to why I will never be a good chess player...

For the record, the text move is better than 9...Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

10.Qxf3

I decided to go along with a modification of my original plan, anyhow.

Next time I will take a look at 10.gxf3, breaking up my Kingside pawns, but giving me a chance to scatter Black's pieces after 10...Ba7 11.e5 Nh7. Both Rybka 3 and Fritz 8 then suggest marching White's d-pawn to d6:  12.d5 Qh4 13.d6 c6 14.Qd3 Qh5 15.f4 when the "Jerome pawns" could still cause some grief.

10...Bxd4 11.Ne2 Be5 12.Qb3+

I was playing quickly, too, but more with a sense of desperation: I didn't like being out-prepared in my own, favorite opening!

Now Black has 12...d5 when 13.f4 Bd6 14.e5 forks two pieces, but there is escape with either 14...Bc5+ or 14...Re8.

12...Kg6

A mistake, or more psychological warfare?

13.f4 Bd6 14.f5+

Going after the King! To punish it! To checkmate it!

Yes, I had kind of lost my head by this point.

Sticking with the obvious, instead, would have given White at lease an even game, and perhaps a small edge: 14.e5 (the fork) Bc5+ (one piece escapes) 15.Be3 Ne4 (the other piece escapes) 16.Bxc5 Nxc5 17.Qc4 (chasing off the defender) d6 18.b4 Na4 19.e6 Qf6 20.f5+ Kh7 21.Qxc7

analysis diagram






But, back to the real world.

14...Kh7

15.Bf4 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Nxe4

White is mostly just a piece down now. Still, I thought it was worth taking a swipe at the enemy King.

17.Qf3 d5 18.g4 Qh4 19.Ng3 Nxg3+ 20.Bxg3 Qg5 21.h4

White has, as my Dad would say, "a whole lot of nothing", but Jerome Gambiteers have gotten out of worse messes than this one.

21...Qf6 22.Qxd5 Bd6 23.Bxd6 Qxh4+

Somewhere out there, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") is saying "I told you so!" I've seen Pete hang on and survive some pretty desperate positions – the Jerome Gambit is complicated for Black, as well as White.

24.Bh2 Qxg4

25.Rg1

After the game, Rybka 3 liked White's position enough to suggest: 25.Rf4 Qh5 26.Rg1 Rg8 27.Rg2 Re8 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Rg2 Re8 30.Rg1 Rg8 31.Rg2 Re8 32.Rg1 Rg8 33.Rg2 Re8 34.Rg1 Rg8 35.Rg2 Re8 36.Rg1 Rg8 37.Rg2 Re8 38.Rg1 Rg8 39.Rg2 Re8 40.Rg1– that's right, White repeats the position and Black goes along with him: a draw.

Of course, my line of play gives up a pawn, and my opponent's generosity (giving back the piece) is all for naught.

25...Qxf5 26.Rad1 c6 27.Qg2 Rg8 28.Rgf1 Qh3 29.Qxh3 Bxh3 30.Rf7 b5 31.Rg1

The idea of active Rooks trying to win a pawn before transitioning into a hopefully-drawable Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame is an attractive one, but it needs to be executed properly. My move overlooks a nice response by Black.

31...Be6 32.Re7 Bd5+ 33.Rg2 Bxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Rad8 35.Be5 Rd2+ White resigned

What a mess...

Hat off to my opponent Olito, who seriously schooled me in this game.