Brave Play

Using the opening explorer at lichess.org mentioned in "New Resource" in the previous post, I came across the following very exciting game. The Jerome Gambit player may well be familiar with this opening, in which case I feel I owe him some attention, some support, some encouragement and some assistance for his brave play. The games in the notes are well worth playing over, as they contain relevant themes of attack and defense.

killer23111953 - slava55
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Game.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

Here we have a very unbalanced position. White has sacrificed 2 (!) pieces to drag the enemy King into the middle of the board.

The Database has 9 games with this position, with White scoring 56% (5 wins, 4 losses). It is useful to share some of these games and some related analysis.

9.Nb5+

About equal in strength to the text is Stockfish 7's suggestion 9.b4, i.e. 9...Bd4 10.Nb5+ Ke7 11.Nxd4 d6 12.Qf4 Nf6 13.O-O when White also recovers one of his sacrificed pieces.

Aggressive, but not enough is 9.d4, i.e. 9...Bxd4 10.Bf4 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qf6 12.O-O-O+ Kc5 13.Rd5+ Kc6 14.Rxe5 Qxf5 15.exf5 d6 16.Re8 b6 17.Rd1 Bb7 18.Re4 Kd7 19.Re3 Nf6 20.Rg3 Rhg8 21.Rg6 Ne4 22.Re1 Rge8 23.Rxg7+ Kc6 24.c4 Nxf2 25.Rge7 Rxe7 26.Rxe7 Ba6 27.Bxh6 Bxc4 28.f6 Ng4 29.Bg7 Ne5 30.h3 Bxa2 31.g4 a5 32.g5 Ng6 33.Re2 Nf4 34.Rh2 a4 35.h4 Nh5 36.Kb2 Bd5 37.Rd2 a3+ 38.Ka1 a2 39.Rxd5 Kxd5 40.f7 Nxg7 41.g6 Ke6 42.h5 Nxh5 43.f8=Q Rxf8 44.Kxa2 Kf6 White resigned, swamishashi - wdiedrich, 8 0 blitz, lichess.com, 2015.

9...Kc6

Not 9...Ke7 10.Qxe5+ Kf8 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxc7 Black resigned, morphyavatar - noobtwokey, FICS, 2013. 

10.Qxe5

Again 10.d4 is insufficient, if messy: 10...Kxb5 11.Qxe5 d6 (11... Qe7 12. a4+ Ka6 13.Qxc7 Qxe4+ 14. Be3 Qc6 15. Qxc6+ dxc6 16. dxc5 Nf6 17. O-O-O Nd5 18. c4 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Ka5 20. Kc2 Kb4 21. Ra1 Kxc4 22. Rhd1 Kxc5 23. a5 Bf5+ 24. Kc3 Rad8
25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Ra4 Rd3+ 27. Kc2 Ra3+ White resigned, coder3 - more, GameKnot.com, 2004) 12. Qd5 (12. Qxg7 Qf6 13. a4+ Kc6 14. d5+ Kb6 15. a5+ Ka6 16. Qg3 b5 17. axb6+ Kb7 18. bxc7 Kxc7 19. O-O Bd7 20. Be3 Ne7 21. Bxc5 Rhg8 22. Bxd6+ Qxd6 23. Qc3+ Kd8 24. f4 Qg6 25. g3 Qxe4 26. Qa5+ Ke8 27. Rae1 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 h5 29. Qa3 Rg7 30. d6 h4 31. Kg2 hxg3 32.
hxg3 Qd5+ 33. Kg1 Rh7 34. Rf3 Qd4+ 35. Rfe3 Black forfeited on time, MIG - Tshark, FICS, 2003) 12...Ne7 (allows mate) 13. a4+ Ka6 14. Qc4+ b5 15. Qxb5 checkmate, Manishsprasad - TimJonez, FICS, 2010. 

10...Qf6

Black avoids the tempting capture, 10...Kxb5: 11.a4+ Kb6 (better is 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5) 12.a5+ (12.d4 d6 13.dxc5+ dxc5 14.Qxg7 [14. a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5 b6 16. axb6+ Kb7 17. bxa7 Qd6 18. Qb5+ Qb6 19. Qd5+ Qc6 20. Qb3+ Qb6 21.Qf7 Qb4+ 22. c3 Qxe4+ 23. Be3 Be6 24. Qxg7 Ne7 25. Qxe7 Rhe8 26. Qc5 Qxg2 27.Qb5+ Kc8 28. Qxe8+ Kb7 29. Qb5+ Kc8 30. Qa6+ Kd8 31. O-O-O+ Black resigned, MIG - jirikb, FICS, 2000] 14... Ne7 15. Be3 Rg8 16.Qxh6+ c6 17. a5+ Kc7 18. Bxc5 Rxg2 19. Qf4+ Kd7 20. Rd1+ Black resigned, avgur - rajpal, FICS, 2009) 12... Kb5 13. c4+ Kxc4 14. Qc3+ Kb5 15. Qd3+ Kc6 16. Qd5+ Kb5 17. Qd3+ Kc6 18. Qd5+ Kb5 19. d4 c6 20. Qxc5+ Ka6 21. b4 Nf6 22. b5+ cxb5 23. Qd6+ b6 24. axb6+ Kb7 25.bxa7 Rxa7 26. Rxa7+ Kxa7 27. O-O Qb6 28. Be3 Qxd6 29. e5 Qa3 30. d5+ Kb7 31.exf6 gxf6 32. d6 Qxd6 33. Ra1 Kc7 34. g3 b4 35. Bf4 Qxf4 36. gxf4 Bb7 37. Ra7 b3 38. Ra1 Be4 39. Kf1 b2 40. Ra7+ Kb6 41. Rxd7 b1=Q+ White resigned,  Sanrink - wojowhiskey, FICS, 2012.

A couple of alternatives that transpose into each other are: 10...d6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Nf6 and 10...Nf6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 d6. 

11.Qd5+

Continuing to force the issue, but missing 11.Qxc7+!? Kxb5 12.a4+ Ka6 (other moves allow mate) 13.Qxc5 b6 14.Qa3 Qe7 15.Qd3+ Kb7 16.Qd5+ Kc7 17.d3 Bb7 18.Bf4+ d6 19.Qc4+ Kd7 when Black's King has escaped to relative safety, but it is likely that White's three extra pawns outweigh Black's extra piece.

This is a 10-minute game, and the advantages can go back and forth. 

11...Kxb5 12.O-O

Instead, Stockfish 7 suggests that with 12.a4+ Kb6 13.a5+ Ka6 14.Qxc5 Qc6 15.Qd4 Qxc2 16.d3 Ne7 17.O-O d6 18.Be3 Nc6 the game would be equal. Of course, that's easy for a computer to say. It looks like a big mess to me. 

12...Ne7 13.a4+ 

After Black's last, inaccurate move, White's attack gives him slightly better chances.

13...Kb6 14.Qb3+

Going after the King. Stronger was 14.a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5, going after the piece. 

14...Kc6 15.Qb5+ Kd6

Black's King remains uneasy, but the defender pulls his position together.

16.c3 c6 17.Qd3+ Kc7 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Bb2 Ba5 

20.e5 Qxe5 21.Rae1 Qg5 22.Re3 Nd5 23.Rg3 Nf4 24.Qe4 Qf6 25.Rf3 g5 26.Kh1 d5 

27.Qe1 Qd6 28.Kg1 Bd7 29.Qa1 Rhe8 30.Ba3 Qe6 

White continues to fight, but with Black's improved development and time a factor, the Hunter has become the Hunted.

31.Re3 Qg4 32.g3 Rxe3 33.dxe3 Nh5 34.Bb4 Bb6 35.Qe1 Qf3 36.a5 Bh3 37.axb6+ axb6 38.Qd1 Qg2 checkmate

An exciting game in a very sharp variation!

Rampaging

Black's 3...h6 in the Semi-Italian Opening suggests a wish for a calm, safe game. In reply, in the following game, White, instead, goes on a rampage, playing the Jerome Gambit with wild abandon. Is it sound? Perhaps not. Did it win? Yes, quickly.


Manishsprasad  - TimJonez
standard game, FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

Despite my preference for 4.0-0, I noticed that the New Year's Database has twice as many 4.Nc3 games.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

This position is similar to one from the main line classical Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6. White's extra move, Nc3, seems more helpful to him in the current game than Black's extra move, ...h6.

9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.d4

Forking two pieces and opening lines. White gets away with it this time, but perhaps next time he might try the less flashy 10.Qxe5.

10...Kxb5

In the games of the old Masters we see many an opponent grab the offered material, only to regret it soon after. Here, 10...d6, protecting the attacked pieces and counter-attacking the Queen, was the proper defense. But, where's the fun in that?

11.Qxe5 d6 12.Qd5 Ne7

Visceral chess. Get that Queen out of here!

Is there a defense for Black, however?

Rybka suggests 12...a5 giving the King some breathing room, and after 13.dxc5 it likes 13...Nf6. At that point White has to retreat his Queen with 14.Qd3+ Kc6 (14...Kxc5 allows a draw by repetition after 15.Be3+; other moves lose) and after a flurry of tactics the computer sees Black as slightly better with a Knight for four pawns: 15.a4 b6 16.cxb6 Ba6 17.bxc7Qxc7 18.Qc3+ Kd7 19.Qxc7+ Kxc7 20.f3 Rhe8

13.a4+ Ka6 14.Qc4+ b5 15.Qxb5 checkmate