I won my third round game - an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - in the "Italian game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, when my opponent and I seemed to have the same "hallucination" about a tense, tactical position. Up until then, I had been awkwardly struggling to lurch my way back to equality - only to be smacked around by a violent return of my sacrificed material.
Given the distracted level of my play, I consider myself quite lucky.
perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5
Whew! My game against Winawer99 in the same round continued 4...Nxe4, and I decided to avoid my past suffering with the Noa Gambit / Monck Gambit / Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - 5.Bxf7+ - and played, instead, 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.d4, a line that I also have struggled with. It showed: on my way to a possibly drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, I overlooked a checkmate in 2 moves (0-1, 21).
5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
What difference does the addition of Knights at c3 and f6 make, when compared to the regular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?
Komodo 10 shows it to improve Black's position by about 3/4 of a pawn.
The Database has 2,731 games with the Four Knights version, with Black scoring 61%. This compares to 15,157 games with the Jerome, proper, with Black scoring 54%.
I have to admit, in my own games, Black scores 25% in my Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games (62) versus scoring 17% in my regular Jerome Gambit games (336).
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8
I like this move. Instead of worrying which piece to save, Black develops another one, on a crucial file. Let White figure it out!
8.dxc5
In preparing this post, I was amused to discover that Komodo 10's second choice, here, was not a capture, but 8.0-0, fully relying on the fact that not all of the pieces will be able to escape, e.g. 8...Bd6 9.f4!? Nc6 10.e5, etc.
That line, in turn, raised a question for me: Has anyone ever tried moving the f-pawn right away, i.e. 8.f4 ? It turns out that The Database has two examples - Svirfneblin - cosmoo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24) and Mvskoke - Panico, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 36). It is an example of going too far, however, as Black has 8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 and he is doing better than in the normal lines.
By the way, The Database has 6 games with 8.0-0 (Black scores 56%) - and in 3 of them, Svirfneblin had the White pieces. I will have to look at more of his games...
8...Kg8
Finishing castling-by-hand. I have noted
This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),
9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 cxd6
This is probably an improvement over 10...Qxd6, which I faced a couple of times perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - strandskatan, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 38). I was prepared, sort of
After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.
11.Be3
An odd move; the Bishop usually goes to g5. I was planning to play f2-f4, but, for some reason I was worried about ...Qb6+ at some point, so I protected the a7-g1 diagonal. Of course, White's b-pawn is not vulnerable to that enemy double attack, until the Bishop moves. I suspect Caffeine Deficiency Disorder.
11...Be6 12.f3
This is the move that White sometimes plays when he gives up on his plan to attack, and decides to hunker down and challenge Black to do something with his material advantage. Suddenly - comparatively, as the time control was 3 days per move - that became my plan.
The word "collywobbles" comes to mind.
[to be continued]
Although the attack in my most recent Jerome Gambit game was unsound, it succeeded in winning back the sacrificed piece, reaching a drawn 2Rs + Ps vs 2Rs + Ps endgame. Alas, I let up my focus too soon, and my opponent's tactic won a rook, and the game.
perrypawnpusher - spince
blitz, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
An earlier game against the same opponent continued 3...Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8, perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 23).
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Re8
9.0-0
Instead, 9.Bg5 followed by 10.0-0-0 was seen in Wall,B - PLMW, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 24).
9...Kg8
This is an improvement over 9...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - DrHilarius, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 27) and 9...Nfg4 of perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).
10.f4
A bit stronger is 10.Bg5 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20) and billwall - chiefh1, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 29).
10...Nc6 11.Qd3 d6 12.Bd2 Be6
Or 12...Kh8 as in perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36).
13.f5 Bf7 14.a3 Re5 15.Bf4 Re7 16.Rae1 Ne5 17.Qh3 Qe8 18.Bg5 Rd7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.g4
This kind of thing always seems to work for Bill Wall.
20...Qf8 21.Kh1 Qg7 22.Rg1 Kf8 23.Qg3 Ke7 24.Nd5+ Kd8 25.Qf4 c6 26.Nc3 Kc7 27.h4 Rg8 28.Re3 Qf8
Black could have played 28...Nxg4, but he had already decided on his defense.
29.Reg3 Qe7 30.g5 fxg5 31.hxg5 d5 32.exd5 Bxd5+ 33.Nxd5+ Rxd5 34.Re3
Instead, c2-c4, either here or the next move, would give White the advantage.
34...Kc8 35.Rge1 Qxg5 36.Qxg5 Rxg5 37.Rxe5 Rd4 38.R1e2
This move is okay, but 38.Re8+ Kc7 39.Re7+ Kb6 40.Rxh7 Rxf5 41.Ree7 would have made the draw clear.
38...Rh5+ 39.Rh2
A blunder, which my opponent quickly spotted. Even was 39.Kg2.
39...Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Rd2+ 41.Kg3 Rdxh2 White resigned
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Many players question the value of the Jerome Gambit. Their task is to play one of the refutations, follow through, and claim the point. One risk, however, is that of being so dismissive of the attack that the defender becomes inaccurate in his play. Again, observe the motto: In the Jerome Gambit, Black wins by force, White wins by farce.
perrypawnpusher - strandskatan
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8 8.dxc5 Kg8
Black's play is solid and scientific. He has castled-by-hand and is ready to counter-attack.
Alternately, 8...Nc6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13); while 8...Nc4 9.Qd5+?? Nxd5 was one of my personal nightmares, perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1,9).
9.0-0 d6 10.cxd6 Qxd6 11.Qe2
After the game, Houdini recommended 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Nb5. I wasn't ready to trade Queens.
11...Bg4
Instead, 11...Be6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) while 11...Neg4 was Houdini's post-game recommendation. (Often, harassing White's Queen with a Knight proves to be a time-waster, but not in this case.)
12.f3 Bh5 13.Bf4 Qe6 14.Qf2 c6 15.g4
Objectively, not the best move, but I was pretty sure that my opponent liked his 2-piece advantage on the Kingside, and would figure that he had an extra piece to invest in an attack - if he were properly provoked.
15...Nfxg4?!
Ah, so many of us can resist anything but temptation. The boring 15...Bf7! was probably better, keeping Black's advantage.
16.fxg4 Nxg4 17.Qh4 Bg6 18.Rae1 Rad8 19.h3 Nf6 20.Bg5 Rd4
Despite Black's huffing and puffing, the game is even - which is not the expected outcome of the sacrifice.
Worse, it is time to recall the ironic aphorism inspired by many of Bill Wall's games: Often in the Jerome Gambit, when the game is equal, White is better. In this case, Black has invested (and continues to invest) too much time in his calculations, and his clock soon will become an issue.
21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Rxf6 Qe5 23.Rf4 Rd2 24.Rf2 Qd4 25.Kg2 Rxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Kf7 28.Ke3 Ke6 29.Rd1 Ke5
White's extra pawn doesn't give him much more than a slight edge, but time is now on his side.
30.Rd7 Rb8 31.a4 a6 32.a5 b5 33.axb6
Better was 33.Ra7
33...Rxb6 34.b3 Rb5
A time-pressure mistake that I missed. I wonder how much precious time my opponent spent trying to figure out why I didn't simply capture the Rook.
35.Rd4 Rc5 36.Rd3 a5 37.Na4
Almost coming to Black's rescue by dropping material - my clock was ticking too. After the game Houdini suggested the patient 37.h4 Ke6 38.Kd4 Rh5 39.Rh3 Kd6 40.Ne2.
37...Rxc2 38.Nb6
Another error.
Here, Black is better, and can now win a pawn with 38...Bxe4, but, unfortunately, he forfeited on time.
There are a lot of explanations for the following game. It was a Jerome Gambit. It was blitz. It was played by a couple of club players. In the end, I think the most salient factor was that it was played in the early morning, and my opponent and I each could have used some coffee.
perrypawnpusher - hklett
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8
Instead, 7...Bxd4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18) and perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20).
8.dxc5 Kg8
This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),
9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 Qxd6 11.Qe2
After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.
Neither White's Queen nor his e-pawn are going to be comfortable with Black's Rook on e8, and a timely f2-f3 (despite f2-f4 being thematic in the Jerome Gambit) will soon be helpful.
11...Be6 12.b3
Protecting against a possible ...Bc4, skewering White's Queen and Rook, but this is one-dimensional. A more complete response would have been 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.f3, which safeguards White's major pieces, chases Black's Queen off of the dangerous b8-h2 diagonal, and reinforces the pawn at e4.
12...Rad8
Maybe the Bishop move was all that my opponent was threatening, but, instead of the text, he could have loosened up my Kingside a bit with 12...Neg4 13.g3 Ne5 14.f3.
Alas, most of these subtle opportunities were wasted on us.
13.Bg5
Instead, 13.Bf4 would have kept Black's Knight in place at e5.
13...Qf8
14.h3 Nc6 15.e5
If only chess were this easy.
15...Nxe5
Cooperating. (I told you it was early in the morning.) More scrappy was 15...Nd4!? when things don't look so good for the first player after 16.Qe3 Nxc2 17.Qe2 Nxa1 18.exf6 Qc5.
16.Qxe5 Bxh3
Trying to catch me napping.
17.Qg3 Bc8
The game is about equal, and White might now get a small edge after 18.Qxc7.
18.Qh4 Rd6 19.Rad1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Bf5 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.Rd2 Kf7
The game is about even, with Black's somewhat weaker pawns offsetting his B vs N advantage. Lucky for me, while I was playing the game I believed in the offbeat notion that, from a practical perspective, When White has equalized in the Jerome Gambit, he actually has the advantage.
24.Kf1 Kg6 25.Nd1 Kg5 26.Ne3 Bg6 27.c4 Bb1
My opponent probably was dreaming of the two of us cooperatively erasing all 6 of the Queenside pawns, when a draw would be an overdue conclusion. Alas, it is necessary to call attention to the sleepy word dreaming.
28.Rd7 Bxa2
Instead, the defensive 28...Rc8 probably gave enough for Black to hang on. My opponent has missed something.
29.Rxc7 Bxb3 30.Rxb7 Bxc4+
After the game, Houdini's best play for both sides showed that by giving up a couple of pawns with 30...Ba4 31.Rxa7 Bc6 32.Rxh7 Black could have still hung on, with a complicated game and drawing chances for Black. Certainly I couldn't have pushed through to the full point with White in the time that I had left.
31.Nxc4 Black resigned
I can think of no explanation for Black's 16th move pawn-grab other than the one that I provided for another opponent's 11th move swipe, about a week ago: he simply did not see that the pawn was protected.
perrypawnpusher - eduborio
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6
9.0-0 Be6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Rf8
Preparing to castle by hand.
12.f5 Bd7 13.Bg5
Instead, 13.Qc4+ first, as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18), was more accurate.
13...Ne5 14.Qg3 c6 15.Rad1 Qb6+ 16.Kh1
16...Nxe4
Inexplicable, as are Black's next two moves as well. Perhaps he lost interest in the game.
17.Nxe4 Nc4 18.Nxd6+ Kg8 19.Nxc4 Black resigned
Black is not only down a piece and a pawn, his Bishop is difficult to defend – and he faces a mating attack on his King with Bh6 (a move that White could have played instead of capturing the Knight).
The Jerome Gambit is not a "cool" opening.
Once upon a time, the King's Gambit was cool. The Evans Gambit was cool (and maybe is cool again). Even the Benko Gambit had a time when it was very, very cool.
For some, apparently the Jerome Gambit isn't worth their time.
perrypawnpusher - obmanovichhh
blitz 14 0, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5
The Italian Four Knights Game, transposing from the Petroff Defense.
5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+
Last year, duraysteeus played 6.Ng5+ against my opponent, not very successfully (0-1, 49)
6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4
This is the most popular response in The Database, occuring in 34% of the games.
Previously, my opponent had tried 7...Bb4, which certainly has its positive attributes.
The strongest response, 7...Bd6, appears only 6% of the time. (Perhaps that is one reason that people play the Jerome Gambit.)
8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Be6
This move prevents a possible Qd3-c4+ in response to a careless ...Nc6-b4 – a tactic that has won more points for me than it should have.
It is likely that 10...d5 is stronger than the text, however, something that has me thinking about changing my opening move order, perhaps back to 10.0-0 as I played against jomme.
11.0-0 Re8
This is a bit stronger than 11...Rf8, where White had the annoying 12.f5 Bd7 13.Qc4+, as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18) although Black was still a bit better.
12.b3 Nb4 13.Qe2 c5 14.Bb2 Bg4 15.Qc4+ Be6
Was my opponent thinking of repeating the position, for a draw? I would have been okay with that, as I was getting nothing out of this game.
16.Qe2 Qb6
No, this does not look like a peaceful move.
17.Na4 Qc6 18.a3
My Knight move weakened the pawn at e4, so 18.Bxf6, taking some pressure off of the center, was appropriate, now and/or later. As it is, my opponent overlooked chances for counterplay.
18...Bg4
Instead, 18...Nxc2 19.Qxc2 Qxe4 was a creative way to return Black's extra piece, as his backward d-pawn would have a bright future to advance as a protected passer.
19.Qc4+ Kf8 20.axb4
After the game Rybka 3 showed me what was really going on in the game: 20.Bxf6 Rxe4 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qc3+ Kf7 23.axb4 Rae8 24.b5 Qd5 25.Qd3 Qxd3, about even.
20...cxb4 21.Qxc6 bxc6
22.Bxf6
Finally thinking to get rid of the Knight, although later Rybka 3 corrected me: 22.e5 Nd7 23.exd6 Re2 24.f5 Rd2 25.Rae1 Rxd6 26.h3 Bh5 27.Re6 Rd5 28.Rxc6 Re8 29.Rf2 a5 30.Rc7 Bf7 with an advantage for White.
22...gxf6 23.Rae1 Rac8 24.Nb2 c5 25.Nc4 Be6
My Knight has returned to play, and Black's Bishop has returned to its favorite square, e6. Unfortunately, the latter was an error (25...Rcd8 would have kept the game balanced).
26.Nxd6 Bg4
On revient toujours à ses premiers amours.
27.Nxc8 Rxc8 28.e5 f5 29.Ra1
White is up the exchange and a protected passed pawn and will now add another pawn and a strongly placed Rook to his list of small advantages.
29...Rc7 30.Ra6 Kf7 31.Rfa1 Be2 32.Rxa7 Rxa7 33.Rxa7+ Kg6 34.Rc7
At this point my opponent still had over half of his time left on the clock. Still, he let all 7 plus minutes run out, and lost on time, rather than resign. I guess finishing the game, again, was not worth his time.
We are approaching Halloween, that day for ghosts and ghouls and all things scary. Maybe my opponent in the following game got into the spirit of the day early, as he seems to have seen some kind of a ghost...
perrypawnpusher - hklett
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5
The Italian Four Knights Game.
5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4
7...Bxd4
Often played, although 7...Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5 is best.
8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Be6
Perhaps not the best move here, but at least it prevents Black from falling into the "optical illusion" variation.
11.0-0 Rf8 12.f5 Bd7 13.Qc4+ d5
The alternative, 13...Ke8, the move I was trying to force (to prevent castling-by-hand) was actually better.
14.exd5
Rybka prefers the Knight to capture here, but I am not sure that I understand why.
14...Ne5 15.Qd4 Re8 16.Bf4 c5
Planning 17.dxc6 Nxc6, safeguarding the Knight.
17.Qxc5 b6
Rybka says that the Queen should go to that square.
18.Qd4 Black resigned
This is somewhat reminiscent of my recent game against molerat, in that I cannot see why my opponent resigned.
Perhaps he thought he was losing his Knight on e5, but 18...Neg4 19.h3 Nh6 20.Bxh6 gxh6 led to a relatively even game, where White has three pawns for his sacrificed piece.
In any event, this game squared us with one win apiece. Rather, one loss apiece, as we have now each given away a game to the other (as I did in our earlier match).
