The latest Jerome Gambit game from Cliff Hardy is a doozy. Cliff takes the white pieces and appears to give his opponent "Jerome Gambit odds". His higher-rated opponent, however, returns the favor with "Berserk" odds.
As Mr. Hardy quickly demonstrates, there is much to be said for knowing the basic Jerome strategy and tactics when the time control is "think fast!" The play with the heavy pieces at the end is quite instructive.
Notes are by Cliff Hardy. Diagrams are by me.
As Mr. Hardy quickly demonstrates, there is much to be said for knowing the basic Jerome strategy and tactics when the time control is "think fast!" The play with the heavy pieces at the end is quite instructive.
Notes are by Cliff Hardy. Diagrams are by me.
The following game was played in a tournament on Lichess. I must say it wasn't a totally fair game though: in Lichess tournaments, you have the option of pressing the "Berserk" button at the start of the game, which shortens your total clock time by 50%. IM Eric Rosen did this so he actually had only 2 and a half minutes for the game, while I had a whole 5 minutes.
Cliff Hardy (2105) - IM Eric Rosen (2297),
Lichess, 2018
Lichess, 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6?! -+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6?! -+
6...Kf8 -++
7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0 Qe7 11.Nc3 Bd7?! =+
Attempting to artificially castle with the standard 11...Kf7 -+ would have been better.
12.f4 Bc6 13.f5 Ne5 14.Qg3?
Oops! I left the e-pawn unguarded so 14.d3 += instead would have been better!
14...Nf7? =+
14...Bxe4 -++
15.d3 h6?! =
Weakening the pawns in front of the king is not advisable; 15...Re8 =+ would have been a superior move here.
16.Bd2 Qe5 17.Qh3 Re8 18.Rae1 b5
19.Kh1 b4 20.Nd1 Kg8?
19.Kh1 b4 20.Nd1 Kg8?
Lol, another oops! Black leaves his b-pawn on but I missed that I could take it. Defending it with 20...a5 would have been best.
21.c3? Qa5 22.cxb4 Qxa2 23.Bc3 Ng5 24.Qh4 Kh7 25.Ne3 Re7 26.Ng4
26...Nxg4? ++-
26...Nxg4? ++-
White's kingside pawns will now savage Black in the usual Jerome style; whereas 26...Rf8 += would have defended much better.
27.Qxg4
Black is in huge trouble, as White intends to play 28.h4 and if Black then were to save the knight with 28...Nf7??, he would wander into 29.Qxg7 mate.
Black is in huge trouble, as White intends to play 28.h4 and if Black then were to save the knight with 28...Nf7??, he would wander into 29.Qxg7 mate.
27...Rg8 28.h4 Nf7 29.Qg6+ Kh8
Black has successfully defended against Qxg7 mate, but now White's f-pawn is set to cause trouble by crawling down the board like a creeping terror.
30.f6 Ne5
There was no adequate defence to both of White's threats of fxe7 and fxg7+.
31.Bxe5 Rxe5 32.fxg7+ Rxg7 33.Rf8+ Qg8
Unfortunately, 33...Rg8? would have lost to 34.Qxh6 mate.
34.Qxh6+ Rh7 35.Qf6+ Rg7 36.Re3 Re8 37.Rxg8+ Rxg8
38.g3 Kh7 39.Rf3 Bd7 40.h5 Bg4 41.Rf4 Bxh5 42.Rh4 Rg5 43.Qf7+ Kh6 44.Qf6+
44...R8g6??
38.g3 Kh7 39.Rf3 Bd7 40.h5 Bg4 41.Rf4 Bxh5 42.Rh4 Rg5 43.Qf7+ Kh6 44.Qf6+
44...R8g6??
Black makes it easy for me. As I was moving back and forth, I clearly couldn't work out how to win this position, even with the overwhelming advantage that I had. The IM perhaps saw that 44...R5g6?? would have lost to 45.Rxh5+! Kxh5 46.Qh4 mate and probably he was still hoping to win and didn't want to let me repeat for a draw with 44...Kh7 45.Qf7+, although there the superior 45.g4! R8g6 46.Qf7+ and then 47.Rxh5+ instead would have been crushing.
45.Qh8 mate
