Good Knight

I have been enjoying the games of the RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament (over 80% of the first round games have been completed). I have shared some of the games here, but only the short ones and the ones with unusual (for the Jerome Gambit!) lines - it is clear that players are putting serious effort into opening play, and I don't want to spill anyone's "secrets" in case they want to use them in later rounds.

Still, it is possible to look at a few fun endings, each making use of a Knight or Knights.

For example, here LittleDonkey uses three pieces to achieve a checkmate.

Jean TylerGabriel - LittleDonkey

He didn't need a Queen, you say? He could have used a pawn to do the same job (cover the g2 square)? Here is another checkmate that uses a hearty, helpful pawn -

RODbr - SeinfeldFan91

As a matter of fact, Black's last move was 29...Ra2-g2#. For fun, he also could have played 29...h2# - thanks, in part, to the stalwart Knight.

Here are a couple more Knights at work:

rigidwithfear - procyk

And a single Knight:

RODbr - ZorroTheFox

And a Knight with a lot of helpers:

BigD00 - kristjan

In this last position, Black and White are roughly equal in material, but White has a move that should win the exchange. Black is not willing to give up the material, and so faces a Queen sacrifice and then suffers death by suffication...

rigidwithfear - golddog2

33.Ne5+ Kg8 34.Qe6+ Kh8 35.Nf7+ Kg8 36.Nh6+ Kh8 37.Qg8+ Rxg8 38.Nf7 checkmate

Good Knight!

New Jerome Gambit Tournament

I will be following the progress of the upcoming (to start this month) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn.

The list of players signed up so far includes SeinfeldFan91, who won last year's Jerome Gambit tournament. Playing as well will be rigidwithfear, who played in one RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014 as well as last year's; and ZorroTheFox, deriver69, and BigD00, who played in another RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014.

The tournament is open to subscribers, not just RedHotPawn members, so I will not be joining in the fun.

RHP JG Tourney Round 3: Unexpected End

The ongoing Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at RedHotPawn.com came to a sudden end in the third round, when the two-game match between SeinfeldFan91 and Swiss Toni, the two top-rated players, was decided by two early resignations.

SeinfeldFan91 - Swiss Toni
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Black resigned

Swiss Toni - SeinfeldFan91
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Kxf7 White resigned

RHP JG Tourney Round 2 Games (1)

In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, there have been some more completed games, from the second round.

SeinfeldFan91 defeated Red House two games to none, to advance to the next round.

SeinfeldFan91 - Red House

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5 Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 (returning the two sacrificed pieces) 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 (TN according to The Database) Re8 11.d3 Kg8 12.O-O a6 13.Qb3 Kh8 14.Nc3 Rab8 15.f5 h6 16.Be3 Ng4 17.Ba7 Ra8 18.Bd4 Qh4 (a short-lived counter-attack) 19.h3 Ne5 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.f6 gxf6 22.Rxf6 Re6 23.Raf1 Rxf6 24.Rxf6 Kh7 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Rf7 Kh8 27.Nf6 Black resigned

Red House - SeinfeldFan91

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.O-O (A "modern" Jerome Gambit variation; in this game White's attack never quite gets going.) Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d3 Rf8 8.h3 Kg8 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Nce2 Qe8 11.c3 Qg6 12.Ng3 Kh8 13.b4 Bb6 14.a4 a6 15.b5 Na5 16.Rb1 axb5 17.axb5 Nd7 18.Bd2 Qxg3 19.d4 Qg6 20.Qe2 Bc4 White Resigned


Swiss Toni defeated Marko Krale two games to none, to advance to the next round.

Marko Krale - Swiss Toni

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.O-O (Another "modern" Jerome) Nf6 6.c3 Nxe4 7.Qe2 d5 8.d3 Nf6 9.Bg5 Bd6 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Bh4 Re8 12.Re1 g5 13.Bg3 Kg8 14.Nb3 Kh7 15.h3 Nh5 16.Bh2 g4 17.hxg4 Bxg4 18.Qe3 Ng7 19.Bg3 Nf5 White Resigned

Swiss Toni - Marko Krale

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.Qh5 Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.d4 Qe7 11.O-O Bd7 (Charlick - Mann, corres, 1881, [1-0, 72] continued 11...Ng4) 12.Nc3 Bc6 13.Bd2 Kf7 14.f4 Nxe4 15.f5 Nf8 16.d5 Bd7 17.Nxe4 h6 18.f6 gxf6 19.Bc3 f5 20.Bxh8 Black resigned


Although Swiss Toni - jecidi and jecidi - Marko Krale from the second round have yet to be completed, round three's match between SeinfeldFan91 and Swiss Toni has begun. 

RHP JG Tourney Round 1 Games (4)

In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, a couple of kinds of players need to be mentioned: those who join because the opening looks new and interesting or challenging or fun; and those who join because they have some knowledge of the opening, and want to test their understanding against others.

Although SeinfeldFan91 does not appear to have experience in the Jerome Gambit, according to The Database, he again shows an understanding of the opening beyond that of his experienced opponent, winning his mini-match with rigidwithfear, 2-0.

SeinfeldFan91 - rigidwithfear
Giuoco Piano Jerome gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+

It is worth mentioning that Bill Wall has played this move with success on a number of occasions.

8...Be6 9.Qxb7 Nf6 10.d3 Qd7 11.Nc3 Rhb8 12.Qa6 Kg8

Finally departing from Siggus - metalshredder, standard, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 39) which had the equally playable 12...Rb6. In both cases, Black has the advantage.

13.O-O Nh4

This move and Black's next are not the best way to start the Kingside attack, as it allows the "Jerome pawns" to come to White's rescue.

14.f4 Bg4 15.f5 Nxf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qa3 Bg6

Black has returned his extra piece, and now White has a pawn edge. Now SeinfeldFan91 proceeds to outplay his opponent.

18.Bg5 Rf8 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Nd5 f5 21.Qc3 Qf7 22.Qc6 Rae8 23.Rf2 Rec8 24.Re1 Qg7 25.Ne7 Black resigned

Swiss Toni, Marko Krale, jecidi (Group 1), and Red House and SeinfeldFan91 (Group 2) have advanced to Round 2.

RHP JG Tourney Round 1 Games (2)

In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament previously mentioned, a couple of kinds of players need to be mentioned: those who join because the opening looks new and interesting or challenging or fun; and those who join because they have some knowledge of the opening, and want to test their understanding against others.

The following two games feature at least one player who has Jerome Gambit experience, and, as a result, theory gets a boost..

We have seen rigidwithfear's games before (#1 and #2)

rigidwithfear - SeinfeldFan91

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2014
Round 1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.dxc5 (7.0-0 is better, but Black still would have the advantage) Qxe4 8.Be3 Qxg2 9.Kd2 (a TN; 9.Qh5+ has been played before, but White is still worse) Nf6 10.Kc1 d5 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Rg1 Qxh2 13.b3 Bg4 14.Rxg4 Ne5xg4 15.Bd4 Qf4 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rab1 Nxf2 18.Qf1 Re3 White resigned

Swiss Toni - bikingviking

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2014
Round 1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Bd6 (recently seen in Philidor 1792 - Guest839182, 3 0 blitz, PlayChess.com, 2014 [1-0, 16] ) 8.fxe5 (good, but 8.Qf5+, as in Wall - xChristopher, FICS, 2010, [1-0, 13] was even stronger) Bxe5 9.Qf5 Kd6 10.d4 Qh4+ 11.Ke2 Bxd4 12.Qd5+ Ke7 13.Bg5 (an improvement over 13.Qxd4 of mrjoker - russiamacedo, 2 12 blitz, ICC, 2009, [0-1, 33]) Black resigned

Swiss Toni advances to the next round.