Jerome Gambit: Smothered

Sometimes the finish to a game is the most sparkling part. Witness the following between Bill Wall and an opponent who will remain anonymous.

For all practial purposes, the game has been over for a while - but Black has been hanging on. Not for much longer, though.

28.Nf7+ Kg8

Now White has the routine discovered check 29.Nd8+, and the game ends either after 29...Kf8 30.Qf7# or 29...Kh8 30.Qe8#.

Why overlook a Queen sacrifice and a smothered mate, however? There is double, discovered check.

29.Nh6+ Kh8

Instead, 29...Kf8 30.Qf7# is again routine.

30.Qg8+ Rxg8 31.Nf7 checkmate

Nice.

Recall the game rigidwithfear - golddog2, Jerome Gambit Tournament, RedHotPawn.com, 2016 for another smother.

It is interesting that The Database has 8 games with the same checkmating pattern, including 2 that ended with an unforced ...Rg8 followed by Nf7#.

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!

Is A Draw Enough For White in the Jerome Gambit?

Given that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a "refuted" opening, should White grab the chance for a draw if he sees one? Or does this go against the whole idea of playing a wild, destabilizing and gambling opening?

Is there a point where the Gambiteer should realize that things have gotten difficult enough that he should save a half point, rather than surrender the whole thing?

The following game is an interesting example of these issues.

deriver69 - golddog2
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com 2016.

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

4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nd4

An odd move, reminiscent of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit; but perhaps not too odd: there are 10 previous examples in The Database, and White won 6, lost 4.

6.Nxe5+ Ke7

Better was 6...Kf8 7.c3 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.d4 Bb6 which is about equal according to Stockfish 7.

7.d3

Instead, after 7.c3 Ne6 8.d4 Bb6 Stockfish 7 says White has the advantage.

7...d6 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Ng4 Bxg4 10.Qxg4 Nxc2

Here we have a typical messy Jerome Gambit position. Stockfish suggests that Black should take the time to get his King out of the pin, with 11...Kf8.

11.Nc3 Nxa1 12.Rxa1

White overlooks (or ignores?) the fact that his sacrifice allows him now to draw with 12.Bxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nd5+ Kf7 14.Qf5+ Kg8 15.Qe6+ Kf8 16.Qf5+ etc. But - was he even looking for a draw?

12...c6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Re1 Bd4 15.Ne4

White continues to pressure the Knight at f6.

Black would do well to further consolidate with something like 15...Qd5. Instead, he decides to be a bit more aggressive - and this gives White an opportunity that he does not miss a second time.

15...Qb6 16.Bxf6+ gxf6 17.Qg7+ Ke6 18.Qxf6+ Kd7 19.Qg7+ Ke6 20.Qf6+ Kd7 21.Qg7+ Ke6 22.Qf6+ Kd7 23.Qg7+ Ke6 24.Qf6+ Kd7 25.Qg7+ drawn by repetition

Sang Froid

The ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament continues to produce interesting and educational games.

Be sure to follow the games in the notes, too, for extra excitment!


golddog2 - deriver69
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.Nc3 

Sang froid. White answers Black's wild counter-attack (which leaves two pieces en prise; see "A Pie-in-the-Face Variation") with a rare, but simple developing move. Anything is worth a try in such a precarious position.

For the adventurer with White, despite what a computer player might say about the position, it is reassuring to know that in 222 games in The Database, White scored a scintillating 67%!

7...Bb4

Instead, 7...Nd3+ was the odd idea of the coputer Milobot, in a crazy game that veered all over the place: 8.cxd3 (8.Qxd3) 8...Bf8 (8...Bxd4) 9.Qf3+ (9.Qb3+ or 9.O-O) 9...Qf6 10.Qh5+ Qg6 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.O-O a6 13.f3 Ra7 14.Bf4 b5 15.Bxc7 Nh6 (15...Rxc7 16.Qe5+ Kd8) 16.f4 Qf7 (16...Rxc7) 17.Rae1 (17. Qe5+) 17...Qg6 (17...Rxc7) 18.f5 Qg4 $18 19.Qe5+ Be7 20.Bd6 Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 Kf8 22.Qxe7+ Kg8 23.Qf8 checkmate, LeoJustino - MiloBot, FICS, 2012. Wow.

7...Ng4, like the text in the game, also preserves Black's advantage 8.Qf3+ (8.g3 Qf6 9.Qxg4 Bxd4 10.Nd5 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qh4 Qf3+ 14.Kd2 Qxh1 15.c3 Qg2+ 16.Kd3 Be5 17.Bh6 Qh3 18.Qd8 Qxh6 19.Qxc7+ Ke8 20.Rf1 Qg7 21.Qc4 Be6 22.Nc7+ Kd7 23.Qxe6+ Kxc7 24. Rf7+ Qxf7 25.Qxf7+ Kc6 26.Qc4+ Kd7 27.Qf7+ Ne7 28.Qb3 b6 29.Qb5+ Nc6 30 b4 Rhf8 31.Qd5 Rf3+ 32.Ke2 Raf8 33.b5 Rf2+ 34.Ke1 Bxc3+ 35.Kd1 Rd2+ 36.Ke1 Rxd5+ White resigned, CoachCrupp - mathgk, FICS, 2010) 8...N8f6 9.dxc5 Nxh2 10.Qh3 Qxh3 11.gxh3 Nf3+ 12.Ke2 Nd4+ 13.Kd3 Nc6 14.a3 b6 15.Be3 Ba6+ 16.Kd2 Ne5 17.Rad1 Rhe8 18.Kc1 Nc4 19.cxb6 cxb6 20.Bf4 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Rxd7+ Ke6 White resigned, Darthnik - picator, FICS, 2011. 

8.dxe5 

The wildness continued after 8.O-O with 8...Ng4 9.h3 h5 10.Qf3+ Qf6 11.hxg4 hxg4 12.Qxg4 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qh4 14.Qf5+ Nf6 15.f3 d6 16.Qf4 Qxf4 17.Bxf4 b6 18.e5 Nd5 19.Bd2 Ba6 20.Rf2 dxe5 21.dxe5 Rae8 22.f4 g6 23.Re1 Ke6 24.g4 Rhf8 25.Kg2 Ne7 26.Kg3 Bb7 27.c4 c5 28.Bc3 Ba6 29.Re4 Rd8 30 a4 Rd1 31.Rh2 Rg1+ 32.Kf3 Bb7 33.Ke3 Rxg4 34.Rf2 Black forfeited on time in a winning position,  PLURkidIT - CEZRUN, FICS, 2007.

8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxe4+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Kxe2 Ne7 

A lot of the tension has been taken out of the position, and with only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, White needs to find a way to make use of his open lines and Black's slightly unsafe King.

This time, he is not successful.

12.c4 b6 13.g4 Bb7 14.f3 Rae8 15.Bb2 Ng6 

16.Kf2 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Rxe5 18.Rad1 d6 19.Rd3 Rhe8 20.Rf1 Re2+ 21.Kg3 Rxc2 22.Rd4 Ree2 23.h3 g5 24.f4 Re3+ 25.Rf3 Rxf3 checkmate