Steady as she goes...

The following game was a rather steady affair: I pursued my attack, and my opponent had very clear ideas on how to defend. I was fortunate to produce a "scary" move (which should have led to an exchange of pieces and a likely draw) which tilted the game in my favor.

perrypawnpusher - abedinejad
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.f4

Or 10.0-0 as in perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 37) and perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 38).

10...Bg4

Looking for trouble; he has something in mind.

11.h3 Bh5 12.g4 Bxg4 13.hxg4 Nxg4

Black has returned the piece and made Kingside castling dangerous for White. Under certain circumstances, ...h7-h5 could prove to be useful.

14.Qg3 Qe7 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.d3 d5 17.e5 d4

18.Ne2 Nd5 19.Bd2

After the game, Rybka 3 preferred 19.Qxg6, with the idea of winning two Rooks and a Knight for the Queen. I am not sure that this is best, however.

After 19...hxg6 20.Rxh8+ Kf7 21.Rxa8 Black has 21...Qh4+ 22.Kd2 Nxf4 and Black would draw by repetition after 23.Nxf4, 23.Nxd4 or 23.e6+.

White can be sneaky and toss in 21.e6+ Qxe6 before capturing the final Rook with 22.Rxa8, but Black still seems to finagle a draw after 22...Qh3, for example 23.b3 g5 24.Rd8 Nxf4 25.Nxf4 Qg3+ 26.Kd2 Qxf4+ 27.Ke1 Qg3+ draw.

Black's resources are based on White's insecure King and undeveloped Queenside – where have we seen that lately?

19...c5 20.0-0-0 Qf7

Still hammering away at the backward White pawn at f4, but it seems somewhat risky to put the Queen in front of the King, on a half-open file. 

21.f5 Nge7 22.e6 Qf6 23.Bg5

This was my idea behind advancing the "Jerome pawns", to harass the Black Queen.

After the game, Rybka preferred 23.Qd6, on one hand adding pressure to the enemy King's position, and on the other hand planning to grab the pawn on c5, and possibly the one on d4 as well. 

23...Qxf5

Panic.

It was time for Black to liquidate the position with 23...Nxf5 24.Bxf6 Nxg3 25.Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.Nxg3 Ne3 27.Rdg1 Rag8 when White might have an edge, but only a small one.

24.Rdf1 Qxf1+ 25.Rxf1+ Ke8 26.Bxe7 Kxe7 27.Qxg7+

Black resigned

Two Positions

In the following game my opponent out-played me, encouraging me to extend a shell of "Jerome pawns" which he then cracked like an egg. I'd like to look at a couple of interesting positions from the game, neither of which I "solved" correctly.

 perrypawnpusher - mconst
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Ne5

This is the first position. Black is clearly being provocative, asking for the d-pawn or the f-pawn to kick the Knight to g4. I've not seen it before.

Instead, I've seen 9...Nf6 in perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 37); perrypawnpusher - joejox, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1/2- 1/2, 27); perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23); perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS,  2009 (1-0, 38); perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 25);  perrypawnpusher - SkypeFro, blitz, FICS 2010 (1-0, 39);   perrypawnpusher - BishopChris, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22);

I've also faced 9...Be6 in perrypawnpusher - jamtaylo, blitz, ChessWorld Welcome JG, 2009 (1-0, 27).

10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4

Likely better is 11.d4, which would cause me to re-think my understanding of how to play this position. The attraction of the move is obvious: kicking the Knight on e5 and opening the c1-h6 diagonal for White's dark squared Bishop. It also means that White should then answer 11...Neg4 (not the best response) with 12.Qd3, giving up, at least for the moment, the idea of pinning Black's Knight along the f-file with either the Rook or Queen and then attacking it with e4-e5.

11...Neg4

This is probably not as solid as 11...Nc6 but it is much more annoying.

12.Qf3 Nh6

13.h3 Kf7 14.e5 Ne8 15.g4 Rf8 16.Qd5+ Be6 17.Qxb7 Qh4

Here's the second position of interest. The question is: Is Black bluffing?

He had the choice of the ordinary 17...dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Qe4 Nf7 which is about equal.

Instead, he offers a Rook.

18.Qg2

I played this too quickly, but it is worth looking at 18.Qxa8 d5, locking the Queen out. The alternatives to the pawn move, 18...Qxh3, 18...Nf6 and 18...Nxg4, are all well met by 19.Qg2.

When White then covers his h-pawn with 19.Kg2, Black has 19...Nd6, exposing an attack on the Queen.

As Her Majesty runs back home, Black breaks through: 20.Qxa7 Ne4 21.Qa3, however I have not been able to find anything better for Black than either 21...Bxg4 or 21...Nxg4 each which yield nothing more than a draw through perpetual check after 22.hxg4.

18...Rb8 19.f5 Bc8 20.d4 Bb7 

The game is complicated, and my play from here on out is not good.

21.Qh2

White needed to shield himself from that Bishop with 21.d5 dxe5 22.c4, when Black might have a slight edge.

21...Kg8

Prudent, but there were good attacking chances with 21...Nxg4.

22.Nd2

White needed to get rid of that Knight with 22.Bxh6
22...Nxf5

Even more deadly was 22...Nxg4, but my game was collapsing fast.

23.gxf5 Qxd4+ 24.Rf2 Rxf5 25.Nb3 Qd1+ White resigned

A Simple Game (?)

I was having fun playing my most recent Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). It seemed like a simple, straight-forward game. Afterward I gave it to Rybka to look over, and I found that things are not always as simple as they seem...

perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

My first game with andrecoenen continued 6...g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Re8 10.d3 d5 11.f3 dxe4 12.fxe4 Ng4 13.Qf3+ Kg7 14.0-0 Qh4 15.Qf7+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen, blitz FICS, 2010

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

This is a solid position for Black, although the updated New Year's Database has 33 previous games with this position — and White scored 61%.

10.Nc3

Varying from 10.0-0, which I had played three times before: 10...b6 (10...Bd7 11.f4 Qe7 12.d3 Kf7 13.Nc3 Rhf8 14.h3 Kg8 15.g4 Bxg4 16.hxg4 Nxg4 17.Qg3 Nf6 18.f5 Ne5 19.Bg5 Qd7 20.d4 Nc4 21.b3 Nb6 22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Qd4+ 24.Qe3 Qg4+ 25.Kh2 Nfd5 26.Nxd5 Nxd5 27.Qg3 Qh5+ 28.Kg2 Qe2+ 29.Rf2 Qe4+ 30.Kh3 Rxf5 31.Rxf5 Qxf5+ 32.Kh4 Qg6 33.c4 Nb4 34.a3 Nc2 35.Rf1 Nd4 36.Qf4 Ne6 37.Qe3 h6 38.Be7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz FICS, 2009; 10...Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5 Ne5 13.Nc3 Nc4 14.Qd4 Ne5 15.d3 Kg8 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Qd5+ Be6 19.fxe6 c6 20.e7+ Kg7 21.exd8Q Raxd8 22.Qd4 c5 23.Qf2 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz FICS, 2009) 11.f4 Bb7 12.d3 Qe7 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Bd2 h6 15.h3 Qd7 16.Qg3 Ne7 17.e5 Nfg8 18.Rae1 Nf5 19.Qf2 Nge7 20.g4 g6 21.gxf5 gxf5 22.Re3 Rg8+ 23.Rg3 Kf7 24.Ne2 h5 25.Kh2 Rg6 26.Rfg1 Reg8 27.Nd4 dxe5 28.Rxg6 exd4 29.Rxg8 Nxg8 30.Qg3 Ne7 31.Qg7+ Ke6 32.Re1+ Kd6 33.Qe5+ Kc6 34.Qxe7 Qxe7 35.Rxe7 Kd6 36.Re5 Bc8 37.Kg3 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008.

10...c6 11.f4 Kf7 12.0-0 Re8

My game against joejox continued, instead 12...Rf8 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Nb6 16.Bg5 Kg8 17.g4 Nbd7 18.Rae1 Qb6 19.Na4 Qb4 20.b3 Nxg4 21.Bd2 Qa3 22.Bc3 b5 23.Bb2 Qb4 24.Bc3 Qa3 25.Bb2 Qb4 26.Bc3 Qa3 27.Bb2 draw perrypawnpusher - joejox, blitz FICS, 2009

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Neg4 15.Qg3 Qb6

Black's Queen move is a good one — which I under-estimated during the game. Now, against best play, White cannot both support his center and move it forward on the attack.

16.Be3

I was unhappy with this move (I could not think of anything better) and was even unhappier after the game when I saw what Rybka had suggested that I play instead: 16.Qd3 Ne5 17.Qd1 Ned7 18.Qd3 Kg8 19.b3 c5 20.Be3 cxd4 21.Bxd4 Qc6 22.Rf4 Ne5 and Black is better.

analysis diagram






This line needs some serious examination for White, starting with 10.Nc3

16...Nxe3 17.Qxe3 d5

This is part of the reason that the game seemed simple to me at the time: Black hits my center with his d-pawn and I advance my e-pawn to bypass it. Instead, though, Black had 17...c5 when 18.Rad1 cxd4 19.Rxd4 Bd7 and again White's pawns have been banged up and the second player is better.

18.e5 Ng4

Unnecessarily aggressive, moving the game toward equality. The cold-blooded 18...Kg8 was the right idea, as the White e-pawn is pinned to the Queen.

19.e6+

Rybka evaluated this as too early, preferring 19.Qf4.

19...Kf6

This was Black's last chance to finish castling-by-hand with 19...Kg8. Instead, he steps into the line of fire.

20.Qf4 Bxe6

It is not the time to return the piece for two pawns, although neither retreating nor protecting the Knight will help, either.

21.fxe6+ Kxe6 22.Rae1+ Kd7

The "Jerome pawns" are gone, but the files they have opened will win the day.

23.Qxg4+ Kd6 24.Qf4+ Kd7 25.Qf7+ Black resigned

A Little Magic

It's always fun when the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) brings about a little magic. The following game starts off routine, moves to a middlegame that is 21st Century, and then finishes with a sparkle. I can overlook a number of blemishes along the way and appreciate the final position. 

perrypawnpusher  - pfink

blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

My opponent plans a defensive setup using a fianchettoed Queen Bishop. This is a relatively new idea in the Jerome Gambit, one that I've seen only a few times.

One example came out of the Semi-Italian game: 3...h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ N8e7 10.Nc3 b6 11.Qe3 Bb7 12.f4 d5 13.f5 d4 14.fxg6+ Kg8 15.Qf4 dxc3 16.Qf7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - sarBear, blitz FICS, 2009.

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

As with my game against sarBear, I think that the 6...Ng6 defense, while one of the recognized Jerome Gambit refutations, has the slight disability of losing the Bishop at c5 – allowing White's f-pawn to advance after he castles.

7.Qd5+ Kf8

An alternative: 7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 N8e7 9.0-0 b6 10.Qe3 Rf8 11.f4 d6 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc4 14.Qg3 Rf7 15.Nc3 Kf8 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bc1 Bb7 18.f6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6+ gxf6 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Qg7 Kd7 22.Qg4+ Ke8 23.Qg7 Nd2 24.Qxf6 Bxe4 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Qh8+ Kd7 27.Qxd8+ Rxd8µ 28.Re1 Nf5 29.Rxe4 Nxh6 30.Rh4 Nf5 31.Rh7+ Kc6 32.c3 Re8 33.Kf2 a5 34.b3 Rf8 35.Ke2 Re8+ 36.Kd2 Ne3 37.Rg7 Nf1+ 38.Kd3 Nxh2 39.g4 Nf3 40.g5 Nh4 41.c4 Nf5 42.d5+ Kb7 43.Rh7 Re7 44.Rxe7 Nxe7 45.Ke4 Ng6 46.Kf5 Nh4+ 47.Kf6 Kc8 48.g6 Nxg6 49.Kxg6 Kd7 50.Kf6 c6 51.Kf7 cxd5 52.cxd5 b5 53.a3 Kc7 54.Ke7 b4 55.a4 Kb6 56.Kxd6 Ka6 57.Kc6 Ka7 58.Kc7 Ka6 59.d6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz FICS, 2009

8.Qxc5+ Qe7

9.Qe3 Nf6 10.d3 d6

Black by-passes the (probably better) freeing (and center-crunching) 10...d5 because he has a different idea in mind. The "hyper-modern Jerome Gambit"?

11.0-0 b6 12.f4 Bb7 13.f5

An alternative which was about equal to the text, with Black also having a bit of an advantage, was 13.Nc3, as in 13...Re8 14.Bd2 h6 15.h3 Qd7 16.Qg3 Ne7 17.e5 Nfg8 18.Rae1 Nf5 19.Qf2 Nge7 20.g4 g6 21.gxf5 gxf5 22.Re3 Rg8+ 23.Rg3 Kf7 24.Ne2 h5 25.Kh2 Rg6 26.Rfg1 Reg8 27.Nd4 dxe5 28.Rxg6 exd4 29.Rxg8 Nxg8 30.Qg3 Ne7 31.Qg7+ Ke6 32.Re1+ Kd6 33.Qe5+ Kc6 34.Qxe7 Qxe7 35.Rxe7 Kd6 36.Re5 Bc8 37.Kg3 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, Chessworld,  2008.

13...Ne5 14.Nc3 Rd8 15.Qg3 d5

As planned, although after the game Rybka 3 was skeptical, suggesting that the following keeps a slight advantage for Black: 15...Kf7 16.Ne2 c5 17.Bg5 Rhe8 18.Nf4 Kg8 19.Ne6 Rc8. A pretty complicated position.  

16.d4 Nf7 17.e5

This was my planned reaction to ...d6-d5. My hope was to put my "Jerome pawns" to work before Black was able to play ...c7-c5 and trouble my center.

17...Nd7

This is an error – 17...Ne8 – was better; but I think my opponent decided to return a piece for a less-complicated game.

18.e6 Nf6 19.exf7 Qxf7

At first glance this does not look too bad for Black: he is down a pawn, but the open e-file suggests that the major pieces (Rooks and Queens) might be exchanged there, and the possible outpost for the Black Knight at e4 suggests an exchange as well; leaving a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame that could be draw-able.

Black can hope.

20.Bg5 h6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6

Keeping his Kingside pawns intact, although 21...gxf6 was stronger, as now White can grab the c7-pawn.

22.Qe5

Mostly a bluff, as I didn't think my opponent wanted me to have a passed, protected pawn at e5 in an ending. Pulling my Queen Rook over to the e-file was a better move for me.

Pfink should have swapped Queens.

22...Qf7 23.f6

Looks scary...

23...Re8 

A costly slip. 23...g6 was necessary, if uncomfortable, because Black's "Jerome Rook" is still stuck in the corner.

24.fxg7+ Kg8 25.gxh8Q checkmate

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Every Game An Exploration, Every Move A Discovery

While I was planning what I thought would be a routine Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) treatment of the semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6), my opponent was working to achieve a defensive formation that he had found in the past to be successful against a handful of White piece setups. As a result, we created something new and interesting.

perrypawnpusher  - sarBear
blitz FICS, 2009

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

4.0-0

Although I am still not sure that this is the best "waiting" move (as opposed to 4.Nc3) I keep playing it.

4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+

For the record, after the game I asked Rybka to "blundercheck" (at 5 minutes per move) and this is what it suggested that I play, instead of the sacrifice: 5.c3 d6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.h3 0-0 10.Re1 a6 11.Bf4 Na5 12.Bf1 White has a slight advantage.

analysis diagram

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6

Here, again, there is a choice of moves, and I think that the one played is not best, as it allows me to capture the Black Bishop on c5, which in turn releases the pin on my f-pawn without me having to spend a move with my King to do so. 

8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ N8e7

This is a new move (9...d6 is more usual), and part of  sarBear's defensive formation.

10.Nc3 b6 11.Qe3

After the game Rybka suggested 11.Qh5 as better, but I don't think it fits in with what I'm trying to do.

11...Bb7

The fianchetto of the Queenside Bishop for Black in Jerome Gambit and Jerome-ish games is relatively modern – examples that I have are 21st Century ones.

I have faced something similar in one of my games, but, as usual, one of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (in this case, Louis Morin) had earlier contact. 

perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic chessworld, 2008: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0–0 b6 11.f4 Bb7

guest1730 - guest1656, ICC, 2001: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 N8e7 9.0–0 b6 10.Qe3 Bb7




12.f4 d5

This is Black's idea, to delay castling-by-hand (generally an early anti-Jerome strategy) and hit hard at the center.

13.f5

Of course, my idea was if 13...Ne5 then 14.d4 Nf7 15.e5 when White's "Jerome pawns" are advanced and Black's light-squared Bishop is misplaced. 

13...d4

I think that my opponent was excited about this move, which may explain his upcoming error. Whenever Black is pleased to have reached equality in a Jerome-style game, given that he started out with a couple of extra pieces, something strange is going on.

14.fxg6+ Kg8

Rybka prefers keeping the King in the center with 14...Ke8, something that at first glance seems counter-intuitive. The idea, of course, is to develop the imprisoned Rook from h8 to the deadly f-file, such as: 15.Qf3 dxc3 16.Qxc3 Rf8

15.Qf4

I admit that this was a gamble, that I was pretty sure that sarBear wanted his piece back. The correct continuation according to Rybka was 15.Qd3 Nxg6 16.Nd5 with advantage to White. Surely then there would be a lot of play left in the position.

15...dxc3

Black's one move to avoid disaster was 15...Nxg6. It was a move worth finding, as 16.Qg4 dxc3 17.Qxg6 cxd2 would force White to take the perpetual with 18.Qe6+ Kh7 19.Qf5+ Kg8 etc.

16.Qf7 checkmate