Like the Big Boys

I like playing over the Jerome Gambit games of Bill Wall, mrjoker and axykk. They look like patient predators, sitting, waiting, waiting, waiting... and then pouncing on their prey.

The following game of mine is a little like that. Except for the "pouncing" part.

 perrypawnpusher - pitrisko
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

I have had this position in over 30 games, scoring over 80%. I don't have it quite mastered, but I can get to it quickly (and that counts in blitz).

10.0-0 Ng4 11.Qg3

Surprisingly bad is 11.Qe2 which unravels quickly: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ 'Nuff said.

11...Qh4

Forcing the exchange of Queens. For 11...h6 see perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 14) and for 11...h5 see perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18)

12.Qxh4 Nxh4

I don't play the Jerome Gambit with a Queenless middlegame in mind, but it can't be helped. I decided a while back that in this position it didn't pay to spend any time (on the clock) worrying, I needed to make the swap and then move on.

13.f4 Nf6 14.Nc3 Ng6 15.f5 Ne5

This gives away more tempos to the "Jerome pawns", and White is now close to having full compensation for his sacrificed piece. 

16.d4 Nc6 17.e5

It was easier to decide on this move here than it was in my game against mtibuk.

17...dxe5 18.dxe5

18...Ng4

Black does not want to give the piece back with 18...Nxe5 19.Re1, etc., when White would have an edge; but perhaps he should have. 

19.e6

This move is okay, but after the game Rybka 3 preferred 19.Nb5 Kf8 20.e6 b6 21.Nxc7 Rb8 22.Bf4 with the idea 22...Bb7 23.Bd6+ Ne7 when White will be able to win the exchange with 24.Nd6, adding to his three-pawns-for-a-piece material balance and Black's blocked King Rook.

This is certainly a position I need to return to and study some more.

19...Rf8

Instead, Black had a chance to prepare a better defense by playing 19...Ne7, so that if 20.Nb5, then 20...Nd5.

20.h3

Missing 20.Nb(or d)5 entirely. It could also be played on my next move, with advantage.

20...Nf6

21.Bf4

I was happy with my game so far. I had kept everything in balance,
keeping a roughly even game, just like the "big boys", and all I needed was a slip by my opponent to take advantage of. 

21...Nb4 22.Bxc7 Nxc2 23.Rac1

Sensible.

Rybka 3's suggestion shows chess being played at a higher level than either my opponent or I were capable of in this game: 23.Rad1 (attacking the back rank) Bxe6 (forced, but useful) 24.fxe6 Ne3 (has White blundered??) 25.e7 Rg8 26.Rd8+ Kxe7 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 (White's "Jerome pawns" have disappeared, but that is all that he has to regret) 28.Re1 Kd7 29.Rxe3 Kxc7 30.Re7+ Kc6 31.Rxg7. White has won a pawn, but the endgame looks tricky.

Strong chess players can get blood from a stone.

23...Ne3 24.Rf3 Ned5 25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Bd6 Ne7

Finally Black slips, and it is time to pounce!

27.Rfc3

No, this not it. It is a paw swipe, not a pounce.

With the pressure from 27.Rc7  Black is forced to liquidate with 27...Nxf5 28.Bxf8 Bxe6 29.Bxg7 Rd8 30.g4 Nxg7 31.Rxg7 Rd7 32.Rxd7 Kxd7 and White is up the exchange and a pawn.

That is not a lot, but it is enough to win the endgame.
Black now wisely gives back his extra piece for the two "Jerome pawns" and the game slides into a draw...

I pursued things for a while, waiting for another chance to "pounce" but it was not to be.

27...Rxf5 28.Bxe7 Kxe7 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Rxc8 Kxe6 31.Rc7 Rf7 32.Rxf7 Kxf7 33.Kf2 Ke6 34.Ke3 Kd5 35.Kd3 h5 36.h4 Ke5 37.Ke3 Kf5 38.Kf3 g5 39.hxg5 Kxg5 40.Kg3 Kf5 41.Kh4 Kg6 42.g4 hxg4 43.Kxg4 Kf6 44.Kf4 Ke6 45.Ke4 Kd6 46.Kd4 Kc6 47.Kc4 b6 48.a4 a6 49.b3 b5+ bxa4 51.bxa4 Kb6 52.a5+ Kc6 53.Kc4 Kd6 54.Kd4 Game drawn by mutual agreement

Deep Thinks

Although the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game was played at blitz speed (2 12), it contained two relatively long "deep thinks". With mine, I accidentally avoided an immediate destruction; with my opponent's, he immediately percipitated one.

perrypawnpusher - lorecai
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.0-0 Ng4

This is a multi-purpose move: attacking the Queen, preparing to attack the King (if White castles Kingside) and arranging to exchange Queens, if need be.

Our earlier game went 10...Rf8 11.f4 Ng4, perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47).

11.Qg3

This was my move choice after a pretty deep think, at least for a blitz time control. It seems like a prety obvious move, and I would bet that my opponent was wondering what was taking me so long to find it. What could I possibly be seeing in the position??

In part, I didn't like 11...Qh4 as a response, forcing the exchange of Queens, although things worked out well for tedhorst and Ghandy in their games with that move: tedhort - popasile, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 30) and Ghandy - julianaajedrez, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 26, a loss on time in an even game).

In my deliberations I eventually discarded 11.Qe2 – a move which, unbeknownst to me, quickly goes horribly wrong: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ White resigned, mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008.

So, although I did not come up with anything spectacularly good with my "deep think" at least I did not come up with something spectaularly bad, like 11.Qe2 would have been. 

11...h6

I am not sure what to think about this move. It could have been a mouse-slip for an intended 11...h5, as I faced last year in perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

In any event, it un-protects  the Black Knight at g6, which makes my next move easy to see (although 12.f3 might have been a tiny bit better).

12.h3 N4e5

It might have been time to try the "fishing pole" move, 12...h5!?, although the placement of White's Queen allows him to take the Knight and survive, e.g. 13.hxg4 hxg4 14.f4!? followed by developing the rest of his pieces and attention to defense (of course).

13.d4

For concrete reasons, 13.f4, which accomplishes the same thing (attacking and either winning or chasing away the defender of the Knight on g6), was better.

After the text, Black now has 13...Qh4, and 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 would only give White a small edge. If White opts to exchange Queens himself after 13...Qh4 with 14.Qxh4, Black would have the annoying 14...Nf3+ which breaks up White's pawns, 15.gxf3 before recapturing the Queen with 15...Nxh4. As White would then be due to lose another pawn, his advantage, again, would be small.

My opponent went into a deep think now.

13...Qg5

Wow.

Was this another mouse-slip for an intended 13...Qh4 ? Or was he counting on seeing 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 ?

Either way, this was an unfortunate move.

14.Bxg5 Black resigned

The Equalizing Injustice of Chess

Blitz. You can play a refuted opening against an opponent who has out-prepared you. You can make tactical mistakes and fall even further behind in material. You can be a move or two away from being summarily executed. And then you can win.

It's not fair.
 

perrypawnpusher  - dkahnd
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

I was pretty sure that I had played my opponent before, but after the game I consulted The Database and found that this was our fourth matchup.

Last year dkahnd had chosen 6...Kf8 against me in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 20).

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

dkahnd was taking his time on his moves. He was not going to do anything silly.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4 Ng4

Or 11...Rf7 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 as in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).

12.Qg3 h5

Varying from 12...Qf6 as in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37)


I had expected 12...Qh4 like perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 47).

It appears that in the current game, ...Rh8-f8 was not a preparation for castling-by-hand but a move in support of a Kingside attack!

13.h3

Fritz10 sees this as a tiny improvement over 13.d4, but it would have been nice to be able to answer 13...h4 with 14.Qd3 as I did in perrypawnpusher - lorecai, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47).

My opponent continued to play slowly, seriously and strongly. 

13...h4 14.Qb3

I had no idea how terrible this move was at the time. Of course, I had no idea how terrible my position had become, too.

After the game Rybka 3 recommended 14.Qe1, when White is barely able to survive Black's attack: 14...Nxf4 15.d4 (instead, 15.hxg4 can be answered by 15...Qf6 and 16...Nxg2) Qf6 16.e5 Nxh3+ (As someone once said: I'm up a piece? Great! Then I have two that I can sacrifice!) 17.gxh3 Qxf1+ 18.Qxf1 Rxf1+ 19.Kxf1 Nh6 20.Kg2 dxe5 21.dxe5 Bd7 22.Nc3 Bc6+ 23.Kf2 Ke7 24.Bxh6 Rf8+ 25.Ke2 gxh6 26.Rg1 Rf3 27.Rg7+ Kf8 28.Rxc7 Rxh3 29.Rh7 Rg3 30.Rxh6 h3.

analysis diagram





With luck, White might be able to grovel himself to a draw... Or not.

14...Nxf4 15.hxg4

Overlooking Black's response. Actually, for a move, Black overlooked his response, too.

15...Bxg4

This is good. As Black discovers a move later, ...Ne2+ is even better.

16.d4

I was still pretty clueless, but Rybka 3 later showed a tortuous route to completing my development: 16.Kh2 Be6 17.Qf3 h3 18.g3 Ng6 19.Qe2 Ne5 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.d4 Bg4 22.Qf2+ Nf3+ 23.Kh1 Kg8 24.Be3 Qe7 25.Nc3 Rf8

analysis diagram







Gruesome, Black is still better. As if I could think as strong or as quick as a computer, anyhow...

16...Ne2+ 17.Kh2 Rxf1

I was now down a Rook. Could my Queenside look any more ridiculous?

My only "hope", such as it was, as my opponent prepared to wrap up the game, was that he had used up a lot of time and was now playing on the increments.

18.Qg8+ Rf8 19.Qxg7 Be6 20.Bg5 Qd7 21.Qg6+ Bf7 22.Qf6

Certainly not the objectively best move, but when your only chance left is an opponent's time error, you go for concrete threats. 

22...Ng3 23.Nc3 Qg4

Zeitnot.

24.Qe7 checkmate

Whew! This game is going to get a lot of in-depth study from me before I try the Jerome Gambit again!

It's Not A Blunder If It Doesn't Get Refuted

I was feeling pretty good about the following game until I played it over and almost choked on the winning 21st move. I wonder if my opponent had the same experience? Oh, well, strange things happen in blitz...

perrypawnpusher  - dkahnd
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

My opponent and I have met a couple of times before. Once he chose 6...Kf8 (1-0, 20) perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0

There are 48 games with this position in the updated New Year's Database. White has scored 66%, but it has caused me my share of headaches.

10...Rf8 11.f4

Here 11...Ng4 12.Qg3 looks critical.

MRBarupal beat me with 12...Qh4 (perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 [0-1, 47]) while I was able to hold jgknight to a draw in that line (perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 [½-½, 58]).

Less effective was 12...h5 (perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010, [1-0,47]).

Strongest may be 12...Qf6, which was reached by transposition (10.f4 Ng4 11.Qg3 Rf8 12.0-0 Qf6) in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37).

11...Rf7

11...Kd7 was perhaps a bit too risky in perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 38)

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4

Certainly tempting, given the above lines, but 13...Nc6 might be better.

14.Qf3 Re7

15.h3 Rxe4

The play is heating up. Black did not like the looks of 15...Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6, so he pushes ahead.

16.hxg4

After the game Rybka offered 16.Bg5 Rxd4 17.hxg4 as a bit better.

16...Rxg4 17.Re1+ Kf8 18.Nc3

A reasonable pawn sacrifice to focus on development to further the attack.

18...Rxd4 19.Bg5 Bd7 20.Qe3

More in line with the position was repositioning the Knight with 20.Ne2 Rc4 21.Nf4 giving an edge to White.

20...c5 21.Nd5

Wow.

If we had eggs, we could have ham an eggs – if we had ham.

Readers can probably see that 21.Rad1 keeps the game even.

21...Rg4

Double Wow.

Now Black goes down in flames.

22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Qh6+ Rg7 24.Re7

24...Qxe7 25.Nxe7 Re8 26.Re1 Rexe7 27.Rxe7 Kxe7 28.Qxg7+ Kd8 29.Qxf6+ Kc7 30.Qe7 Black resigned

Win, Lose, Draw

Here we have another game that went bad just as it was getting good... Luckily, the Jerome Gambit has an endgame swamp that White can often disappear into. 

perrypawnpusher - jgknight
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

So far, all pretty standard. As usual, Black is better.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4 Ng4

Ah, the harassing horsie! This is better than the bodacious 11...Kd7 of perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 38), though not as thematic as the thoughtful 11...Rf7 followed by 12...Kf8 as in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-49). Of course, 11...Kf7 followed by 12...Kg8 was a fine plan, too.

12.Qg3 Qh4

This seems a little bit better than the 12...h5 of perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47) and a bit less good than 12...Qf6, seen in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0,  37), but all three moves, plus 12...c6 and 12...Ne7, seem very playable.

I know that the Jerome Gambiteer thinks of "attack!" but exchanging Queens is now best.

13.Qxh4 Nxh4 14.f5

This is not so much an improvement upon as an alternative to the 14.d3 of perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 47), a game which saw 15.f5, anyhow. The goal is to work toward winning one of Black's two advanced Knights.

14...Ne5

Black sees what is up and evacuates a Knight. Instead, he chould have attacked White's advance pawn with 14...g6, an idea which he comes to, shortly.

15.g3

A complete mis-reading of the position. White needed to try 15.d4, and after 15...Nc6 he had either 16.d5 or 16.c3, each of which would have helped his lagging development and would have strengthened his position, not weakened it.

15...Nhf3+

And I thought that the Knights were annoying before!

16.Kg2 g6 17.c3 gxf5 18.exf5 Rxf5 19.d4

White's position is a mess (lack of development, for starters) and all Black needs to do is find 19...Nd3 to show this. Instead, he chooses the wrong square for his Knight.

19...Ng4

I've tried for a win, I've blundered into a loss, but this move gives me a chance for a draw...

20.Rxf3 Rxf3 21.Kxf3 Nxh2+ 22.Kg2 Ng4 23.Bg5 h6 24.Bf4 Bf5 25.Nd2 Kf7 26.Re1 Re8 27.Rxe8 Kxe8 28.Nc4 b5 29.Ne3 Nxe3+ 30.Bxe3

Around here, or soon after, I offered my opponent a draw, as we've reached a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame which is quite even. jgknight declined, either out of principle or pique, or maybe he figured his "good" Bishop could out-duel my "bad" one.

As a result, we almost doubled the length of the game, but eventually, as my opponent fell behind in time, he decided to concede the half point.

30...Be4+ 31.Kh3 h5 32.Kh4 Bf3 33.Kg5 Kf7 34.a3 a5 35.Bf4 Ke6 36.Kg6 c5 37.dxc5 dxc5 38.Be3 Kd5 39.Kf5 b4 40.cxb4 axb4 41.axb4 cxb4 42.Bh6 Kc4 43.Kf4 Bg4 44.Bg7 Kd3 45.Be5 Kc2 46.Bd4 b3 47.Be5 Kd3 48.Bf6 Ke2 49.Be5 Kf2 50.Bf6 Kg2 51.Bh4 Kh3 52.Bf6 Bd1 53.Bh4 Bg4 54.Bf6 Bd1 55.Bh4 Bg4 56.Bf6 Bd1 57.Bh4 Bg4 58.Bf6 Game drawn by repetition

If you want them to stop laughing...

...first you have to stop telling jokes.

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is overly-long. That's not my opponent's fault – in fact, he thought my opening was such a joke that he rushed several "aggressive" moves that either put him at a disadvantage, or lost the chance at a serious advantage.

It's my fault. Several times when it looked like it was time for Black to exit, I made jokey moves that gave him hope that there would be more pratfalls like that ahead. It's fortunate for me that he didn't hold out until the moment of checkmate!

perrypawnpusher  - lorecai

blitz FICS, 2010


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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

It is pleasant to watch my opponent take time over every move, especially when I've been here a number of times before.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

A different approach was seen in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009: 11.f3 Kf7 12.Qb3+ Be6 13.Qxb7 Kg8 14.d3 Nd7 15.d4 Bc4 16.Re1 Qb8 17.Qxb8 Raxb8 18.b3 Ba6 19.c4 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.Nc3 c6 22.Ne2 Rf6 23.f4 Rbf8 24.g4 h6 25.h4 Bc8 26.Kg2 Nb8 27.Kg3 Na6 28.a3 Nc7 29.g5 hxg5 30.hxg5 Rg6 31.d5 cxd5 32.exd5 Bf5 33.Nd4 Na6 34.Nxf5 Rxf5 35.Kg4 Black resigned 

11...Ng4

A very radical approach was taken by Pete Banks a couple of years ago: 11...Kd7 12.Nc3 b6 13.d4 c6 14.f5 Ne7 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nfd5 17.e6+ Kc7 18.Qe5+ Kb7 19.Qxg7 Nf6 20.Bg5 Nfg8 21.f6 Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Rxf6 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Qxe7+ Nd7 25.exd7 Qxd7 26.Qxd7+ Bxd7 27.Rf7 Kc7 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.Ne4 Kc8 30.Nf6 Be6 31.Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rxa7 Bf5 33.Nxh7 Bxc2 34.h4 Ke8 35.h5 Bxh7 36.Rxh7 Kf8 37.h6 Kg8 38.Rb7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic Chessworld,2008;


Wheras Louis Morin saw another defensive plan: 11...Rf7 12.Nc3 Kf8 13.d4 c6 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.f5 Ne7 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.h3 Re8 18.g4 b5 19.g5 Nfg8 20.Qg3 b4 21.Nd1 Qb6 22.Qxd6 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.exf5 Rd8 25.Qxb4 Qxd4+ 26.Qxd4 Rxd4 27.Bc3 Rf4 28.f6 gxf6 29.gxf6 Nxf6 30.Bxf6 Rxf6 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Nd5 33.a3 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kd6 35.Ne3 Nf4 36.Kg3 Ne2+ 37.Kf3 Nd4+ 38.Ke4 Ne6 39.h4 a5 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 c5 42.b5 Nd4 43.c4 h6 44.Nf5+ Ke6 45.Nxd4+ cxd4 46.b6 d3 47.Kxd3 Kf5 48.b7 Kg4 49.b8Q Kxh4 Black resigned, mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008.

12.Qg3 h5

13.d4 h4 14.Qd3 Rxf4

A surprising slip – enough so that I capture with the wrong piece. Still, White now gets the advantage.

15.Rxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qf6

17.Be3 h3 18.Nc3 hxg2 19.Kxg2 Qh4

This attack should not succeed, unless it is underestimated.

20.Bf4

This is silly: 20.h3 holds just fine – which I am sure that my opponent figured out, right after he mis-played his next move.

20...Nf2

If the Queen goes to f2, instead, Black wins a piece.

Lorecai must be convinced by now that he was playing a lucky someone who survives despite poor play. 

21.Qg3

The Queen's rush to defense makes everything okay for White.

21...Bh3+

An angry, impatient move; while the exchange of Queens would have saved the trapped Knight, at the cost of ending Black's attack.

22.Kxf2 Qxg3+ 23.hxg3

I'm up a pawn and a piece, but my play so far encourages Black to stay in the game.

23...Kd7 24.Rh1 Bg4

For the second half of the game, I focused on turning my material advantage into a win.

25.Ne2 Rf8 26.Ke3 Bxe2 27.Kxe2 Re8 28.Rh7 Rxe4+ 29.Kd3 Re7

30.c4 Rf7 31.d5 c6 32.dxc6+ bxc6 33.b4 Ke6 34.Kd4

34...Kf6 35.Bxd6 Rd7 36.Kc5 Ke6 37.Bf8 Kf6

38.Kxc6 Rd3 39.Rxg7 Rd2 40.Rxa7 Rd3

I was a little embarassed at this point that my opponent still didn't want to admit defeat – that he still thought he had a chance against me in this game.

41.Bd6 Ke6 42.c5 Rd4 43.b5 Rg4 44.b6 Rg8

45.Re7+ Kf5 46.b7 Kf6 47.Re3 Black resigned