Again the Nightmare

In light of the earlier "The Pawns! The Pawns!", alternate titles for this post easily came to mind, such as "Nothing Succeeds Like Excess" or "Too Much is Not Enough" - but whatever you call it, today we see more bad dreams for Black, thanks to the "Jerome pawns."

Wall, Bill - Atacan
PlayChess.com, 2013

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 

9...Be6

Also seen is 9...N8e7, from perrypawnpusher - rsiemon, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0,23).

10.f4

Or 10.O-O, as in Wall,B - Parsom, Chess.com, 2010, (1-0, 25).

10...Bd7

The Bishop can  also go the other way, 10...Bf7, as in perrypawnpusher - Kingsmeal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 25) and perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 33).

A more spirited reply is 10...Qh4+, as in perrypawnpusher - udofink, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29). 

11.O-O N8e7 12.d4

Or 12.f5 as in perrypawnpusher - nmuffjgp, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 23).

12...h5

Black looks like he wants to join in the pawn fun, but he soon is out-played.

13.c4 h4 14.b4 h3 15.g3 Bg4 16.f5 Nf8 17.d5

The "Jerome pawns" in all their (initial) glory.

A humorous alternative, pointed out by Bill, is 17.Rf4 Bh5 18.Rh4 winning Black's advanced pawn.

17...c6 18.a4 cxd5 19.exd5 Qc7 20.Rf4 Bd1

Humorous, but Black cannot really afford this levity.

21.Nc3 Bc2 22.f6 gxf6 23.Nb5 Qb6 24.c5 dxc5 25.bxc5 Qa5

Now comes the finish, and the "Jerome pawns" do their part.

26.Rxf6 Qd8 27.Nd6+ Kd7 28.Nxb7 Qe8 29.c6+ Kc7 30.d6+ Kxc6 31.Qc5+ Kxb7 32.Qc7+ Ka6 33.d7+ Black resigned

Spicy!

It is said that "variety is the spice of life." 

While a defender may know that Bill Wall is going to play the Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, he certainly will not know what variation Bill is going to spring upon him.

Wall,B - Guest2360621
PlayChess.com, 2013

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.Qa3

This is the 6th different Queen move that Bill has played in this position. As he notes, " I try to make a new move every time when I can, to see what happens.  The Queen can probably go anywhere as long as it is not taken or trapped."

Previously,

9.Qe3 - Wall,B - Parsom, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 25); Wall,B - HeHe, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 19); Wall,B - Reza,A, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 43); Wall,B - G3LC, PlayChess.com, 2011 (1-0, 22); Wall,B - Guest3312852, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 26);

9.Qh5 - Wall,B - Guest1475978, Sofia, 2013 (1-0, 28);

9.Qb5+ - Wall,B - Zhu,Y, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 19); Wall,B - Guest327668, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 22);

9.Qc4  - Wall,B - Royercordova, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0,18);

9.Qc3  - Wall,B - NFTM, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22); Wall,B - Jaar,J, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 19).

For the record, Houdini 3, given 10 minutes "thought" for "infinite analysis", prefers 9.Qe3 (-.92), followed by 9.Qc3 (-1.17) and 9.Qb5+ (-1.29).

9...Nf6

The current game is the only one in The Database with this line. Bill suggests as an alternative 9...Qh4.

10.0-0 Be6

Not 10...Nxe4? because of 11.Qa4+.

11.f4 Bf7 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc6 14.d5

Bill suggests as well the alternative 14.Qd3

14...Ne5 

15.Re1 Qd7 16.Bf4 Nc4 17.Qc3 b5 18.b3 Nb6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Bxe5 

Threatening 21.Bxf6+, winning the knight. Now Black could keep things in balance with 20...Nxd5, but the threatened discovered check is too uncomfortable.

20...Kd8 21.Bxf6+ Kc8 22.Bxg7

A little stronger might be Bill's suggestion 22.Re7

22...Rg8 23.f6 

Threatening Re7 

23...Nxd5 24.Qd4 Qd6 25.c4 bxc4 26.bxc4 Nb6 

A bit better was 26...Nb4, threatening ...Nc2, winning the Rook, although White is still better after 27.Qxd6 cxd6 28.Nc3. 

27.Qxd6 cxd6 28.Re7 

28...Bxc4 29.f7 Bxf7 30.Rxf7 Nd7

The advanced "Jerome pawn" has cost Black a piece.

31.a4 Kc7 32.a5 Kc6 33.Na3 Nc5 34.Nc2 Rab8 35.Nd4+ Kd5 

Black threatens 36...Rxg7 37.Rxg7 Kxd4 

36.Nf5 Ne4 37.Rxa7 

Threatening Ne7+, forking King and Rook, but Black had enough here and resigned.

Over/Under

I have to wonder exactly what an OverwiseMan would think about playing against an under-wise chess opening like the Jerome Gambit...


perrypawnpusher - OverwiseMan
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

Earlier my opponent had tried 6...Ke6 against me in perrypawnpusher - OverwiseMan, blitz, FICS, 2010.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Be6

Or 9...N8e7 as in perrypawnpusher - OverwiseMan, blitz, FICS, 2010.

10.0-0 Qf6

11.f4 Nh4

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire."

Instead, Wall,B - Parsom, Chess.com, 2010, continued 11...N6e7 12.d4 Bc4 13.Re1 Kd7 14.Na3 Ba6 15.b4 b6 16.c4 Re8 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Qe6 19.Qf3 Bxc4 20.Nxc4 Qxc4 21.e6+ Kd6 22.Bb2 Nc6 23.Rad1+ Ke7 24.Rd7+ Kf8 25.Bxg7 checkmate 

12.f5 Bd7 13.g3 Bxf5

Giving back the sacrificed piece seems like a reasonable idea, but Black should use the stranded Knight for that purpose, not the Bishop. Now he loses both.

14.exf5+ Kd7 15.gxh4 Re8

16.Qf4 g5 17.hxg5 Qe7 18.Nc3 h6 19.f6 Nxf6

Hoping that the opened line against White's King will give him counterplay.

20.gxf6 Rhg8+ 21.Kh1 Qe1

Black's idea: now if 22.Rxe1? Rxe1+ 23.Qf1 Rxf1 checkmate!

22.f7 Rg4 23.fxe8Q+ Kxe8 24.Rxe1+ Black resigned