That Variation

What can I say?

I can handle most variations of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), even the refutation lines, but I keep tripping over the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit – even after my opponent has blundered back a piece to me.

It must be psychological: the loss this time had nothing to do with the opening, I blundered away a Rook in an even ending. For other unfortunate examples of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" see "My Turn to Blunder" and "My Turn Again".

perrypawnpusher - Angstrem
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4

8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3

The full Queen retreat was seein in ontocaustic - defjavid, FICS, 2009: 11.Qd1 Bg4 12.Qd3 Nb4 13.Qc4+ Kf8 14.Qxb4 Qe7 15.e5 Nh5 16.f5 Qe6 17.fxe6+ Black reigned.

11...Re8

Alternately: 11...Be6 12.Bd2 Nb4 13.Qg3 Nxc2 14.Rac1 Nd4 15.f5 Bd7 16.Qg6+ Kg8 17.Be3 Be8 18.Qg3 Nc6 19.Bf4 Nh5 20.Qe3 Nxf4 21.Rxf4 Qg5 22.Qf2 Ne5 23.h4 Qh5 24.Rd1 a5 25.f6 Ng4 26.Qg3 Qc5+ 27.Kh1 h5 28.Rxg4 hxg4 29.Qxg4 Rh7 30.Rd5 Qf2 31.h5 Qf1+ 32.Kh2 Qxf6 33.Rf5 Qd4 34.Qf3 Bd7 35.Rd5 Qf6 36.Qxf6 gxf6 37.Kg3 Rg7+ 38.Kf3 Bg4+ 39.Kf4 Be6 40.Rd2 Rg5 White resigned, perrypawnpusher - HRoark, blitz FICS, 2010; and


11...Rf8 12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 Nb4 14.Qc4+ d5 15.Qxb4 Ng4 16.Nxd5 Qh4 17.h3 Nf6 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.e5 Rg6 20.Qb3+ Be6 21.Qf3 Bxh3 22.Rf2 Rg3 23.Qxb7 Rf8 24.e6 Rf6 25.e7 Bd7 26.e8Q+ Bxe8 27.Rxe8+ Kh7 28.Qe4+ Rgg6 29.Qd3 Qg4 30.Ree2 h5 31.f5 Rd6 32.fxg6+ Rxg6 33.Qf5 Qd4 34.Qxh5+ Rh6 35.Bxh6 gxh6 36.Re7+ Kg8 37.Qg6+ Kh8 38.Re8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - pwr, blitz, FICS, 2010. 

12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 Nb4

Black has brought his King to safety, and should continue with his development. The text move loses a piece, unless Black prepares it, as he did in perrypawnpusher - JohnBr, blitz, FICS, 2010: 13...Kh8 14.h3 Nb4 15.Qe2 Bd7 16.Bc1 Nfd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Qh5 Nf6 19.Qg6 Re6 20.e5 Ng8 21.Qg3 Qe7 22.exd6 cxd6 23.b3 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Qf7 25.Bb2 Re8 26.Rf1 Nf6 27.Qd3 d5 28.g4 Ne4 29.f5 Qe7 30.Qxd5 Ng5 31.Kg2 Bc6 White resigned

14.Qc4+ Be6 15.Qxb4 c5 16.Qxb7

White should be able to survive his pawn-grabbing, but it complicates the position.

16...Bc4 17.Rf3 a6 18.Nd5 Rb8

19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 20.e5 dxe5

It is possible that Black should have gotten the Queens off the board and gone towards a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, i.e. : 20...Rxb7 21.exf6 Rxe1+ 22.Bxe1 Bxa2 23.b3 gxf6 24.Rd3 Re7 25.Kf2 Bb1 26.Rxd6 Bxc2 27.Rxf6 Bxb3.

analysis diagram






21.fxe5

White did not need this pawn, but he did need to get his Queen off of the diagonal that she shared with his Rook: 21.Qe4.

21...Qh4

A missed opportunity to win the exchange: 21...Qd8 22.Qe4 Bd5

22.Qe4 Qxe4 23.Rxe4

23...Bxa2

The same opportunity to win the exchange existed with 23...Bd5.

24.b3 Bb1 25.Rc3 Red8 26.Be1 Rd1

It looks like Black is whipping up some counter-play, but 27.e6 now for White shows that the first player has the advantage.

By ignoring his e-pawn, White misses chances to put the game away; and the game drifts toward drawn.

27.Kf2 Rf8+ 28.Ke2 Rdd8 29.Ra4 Rfe8

30.Rxc5 Rc8 31.Rxc8 Rxc8

32.Kd2 Bxc2 33.Rxa6 Bxb3

34.Ke2

A blunder in a mostly-even position.

34...Bc4+ 35.Kf3 Bxa6 White resigned

Business Expense

A career criminal knows that he will be arrested. He sees that as a "business expense" that has to be paid as part of his life as a crook.

Those of us who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) will also be subject to periodic ugly games and losses. It's part of the "job".

perrypawnpusher - JohnBr
blitz FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

For some reason I have issues with this particular line (see "...sometimes the bear gets you", "Bloodied but Unbowed" and "What an idea" for examples). Including this game, I have scored only 50% with it – that's about 35% less than my success with the Jerome Gambit and its other variants.

8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4

This is what White has to work with in the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit: a pawn for his sacrificed piece, a slight lead in development, two "Jerome pawns" in the center, a Rook on the same file as the enemy King, and the chance to bring a second Rook into play faster than Black.

With any luck, what Black has to work with includes: surprise, inattention, over-confidence, shallow analysis and a well-timed unfortunate blunder...

An alternate plan, 10.Nd5, was tried by Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member yorgos, whose game continued:  10...Nxd5 11.Qxd5+ Be6 12.Qxb7 Re8 13.f4 Ng4 14.f5 Bd7 15.Qd5+ Kf8 16.f6 Nxf6 17.Qc4 Be6 18.Qb4 Kg8 19.Qc3 Nxe4 20.Qe3 Nf6 21.Qg3 g5 22.b3 Kh7 23.Bb2 Ne4 24.Qd3 d5 25.c4 c6 26.Qd4 Re7 27.Ba3 Rf7 28.Rxf7+ Bxf7 29.Bb2 Qg8 30.Rf1 Rf8 31.h4 dxc4 32.Qe5 Ng3 33.Rf6 cxb3 34.a3 Nh5 35.Qe4+ Bg6 36.Qe7+ Rf7 37.Qd6 Nxf6 38.Bxf6 Rxf6 39.Qxf6 Qg7 40.Qxc6 Qa1+ 41.Kh2 gxh4 42.Qb7+ Qg7 43.Qxb3 h3 44.Kxh3 Qe5 45.a4 Bf5+ 46.g4 Bxg4+ 47.Kxg4 Qg7+ 48.Kf3 Qg6 49.Ke3 Black resigned, yorgos - ambaradann, FICS, 2009.

In future games I might try placing my Bishop on the long diagonal with 10.b3 Re8 11.Bb2 Kg8.

10...Nc6 11.Qd3

Fritz8 slightly prefers this over 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qa4, but I think that takes the Queen away from a hoped-for attack on the King.

Another idea is the full retreat 11.Qd1, although it did not get a full test in ontocaustic - defjavid, FICS, 2009: 11...Bg4 12.Qd3 Nb4 13.Qc4+ Kf8 14.Qxb4 Qe7 15.e5 Nh5 16.f5 Qe6 17.fxe6+ Black resigned.

11...Re8

Two other of my games continued: 11...Be6 12.Bd2 Nb4 13.Qg3 Nxc2 14.Rac1 Nd4 15.f5 Bd7 16.Qg6+ Kg8 17.Be3 Be8 18.Qg3 Nc6 19.Bf4 Nh5 20.Qe3 Nxf4 21.Rxf4 Qg5 22.Qf2 Ne5 23.h4 Qh5 24.Rd1 a5 25.f6 Ng4 26.Qg3 Qc5+ 27.Kh1 h5 28.Rxg4 hxg4 29.Qxg4 Rh7 30.Rd5 Qf2 31.h5 Qf1+ 32.Kh2 Qxf6 33.Rf5 Qd4 34.Qf3 Bd7 35.Rd5 Qf6 36.Qxf6 gxf6 37.Kg3 Rg7+ 38.Kf3 Bg4+ 39.Kf4 Be6 40.Rd2 Rg5 White resigned, perrypawnpusher - HRoark, blitz FICS, 2010; and

11...Rf8 12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 Nb4 14.Qc4+ d5 15.Qxb4 Ng4 16.Nxd5 Qh4 17.h3 Nf6 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.e5 Rg6 20.Qb3+ Be6 21.Qf3 Bxh3 22.Rf2 Rg3 23.Qxb7 Rf8 24.e6 Rf6 25.e7 Bd7 26.e8Q+ Bxe8 27.Rxe8+ Kh7 28.Qe4+ Rgg6 29.Qd3 Qg4 30.Ree2 h5 31.f5 Rd6 32.fxg6+ Rxg6 33.Qf5 Qd4 34.Qxh5+ Rh6 35.Bxh6 gxh6 36.Re7+ Kg8 37.Qg6+ Kh8 38.Re8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - pwr, blitz FICS, 2010.

12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 Kh8 14.h3

White's last move was to prepare g2-g4.

I gave a look at 14.Nd5, instead, but didn't like my position after 14...Nxd5 15.exd5 Ne7. That is what Rybka recommended after the game, however, with White aiming his Bishop at the Kingside with 16.Bc3 and then patiently advancing his pawns. Even so, Rybka saw Black as better.

14...Nb4 15.Qe2 Bd7

Of course 15...Nxc2 was possible.

16.Bc1 Nfd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5

18.Qh5 Nf6 19.Qg6 Re6 20.e5 Ng8 21.Qg3 Qe7

22.exd6 cxd6 23.b3 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Qf7 25.Bb2 Re8 26.Rf1 Nf6 27.Qd3 d5

Still pushing, but Black has resisted at every turn. His King is safe, and the pawn at d5 only appears weak.

28.g4 Ne4 29.f5 Qe7 30.Qxd5 
 

Tempting, but deadly. Now my game collapsed, ending with a blunder.

30...Ng5 31.Kg2 Bc6 White resigned
 

Send in the Clones...

One of the values of playing (and then analyzing) an opening repeatedly – especially a dubious one like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – is that the time needed to "think" over-the-board about the first dozen or so moves generally decreases, which can have a psychological impact on an opponent and be doubly useful in a blitz game.

perrypawnpusher - pwr
blitz FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Jerome Gambit way, just like yesterday.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4

Before this game I'd only seen this position in my games 5 times – and lost 3 of the games. Well, maybe having a bit more time this time around will be helpful.

8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6

10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3

So far, just like yesterday's game.

11...Rf8

Instead, perrypawnpusher - HRoark, blitz FICS, 2010 continued 11...Be6 12.Bd2 Nb4 13.Qg3 Nxc2 14.Rac1 Nd4 15.f5 Bd7 16.Qg6+ Kg8 17.Be3 Be8 18.Qg3 Nc6 19.Bf4 Nh5 20.Qe3 Nxf4 21.Rxf4 Qg5 22.Qf2 Ne5 23.h4 Qh5 24.Rd1 a5 25.f6 Ng4 26.Qg3 Qc5+ 27.Kh1 h5 28.Rxg4 hxg4 29.Qxg4 Rh7 30.Rd5 Qf2 31.h5 Qf1+ 32.Kh2 Qxf6 33.Rf5 Qd4 34.Qf3 Bd7 35.Rd5 Qf6 36.Qxf6 gxf6 37.Kg3 Rg7+ 38.Kf3 Bg4+ 39.Kf4 Be6 40.Rd2 Rg5 White resigned

12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1

Black has castled-by-hand. White has developed his pieces.

White does not have enough compensation (a pawn, better center control, better development) for his sacrifice (a piece).

Eventually I am going to have to stop playing this position.

13...Nb4

This move caught me by surprise: What's this? I thought my Queen was safe at d3...

Then I remembered that odd game ontocaustic - defjavid, FICS, 2009 that I had looked while studying my game against HRoark: 11.Qd1 Bg4 12.Qd3 Nb4 13.Qc4+ Kf8 14.Qxb4 Qe7 15.e5 Nh5 16.f5 Qe6 17.fxe6+ Black resigned

Of course my opponent would have kept his advantage with 13...Be6, similar to the HRoark game.

14.Qc4+ d5 15.Qxb4

15...Ng4

Very energetic! Almost enough to make me wonder if my opponent had sacrificed (returned) his Knight to draw my Queen further out of position – so that he could attack on the Kingside...

The more routine 15...dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Rxe4 Bf5 would have left White better.

16.Nxd5 Qh4

Here we go...

17.h3 Nf6

Well, that didn't last long. I hastened to undo the attacker.

18.Nxf6+

After the game Rybka gave me a chuckle by recommending 18.Ne7+ instead. It's a move worth appreciating.

analysis diagram







Black's King can now go one of three places, and 18...Kh8 is out of the question as it's followed by the fork 19.Ng6+, winning the Queen. The problem is that both 18...Kf7 and 18...Kh7 are answered by 12.Ng6, anyway – and after 12...Kxg6 White captures the Rook on f8, winning the exchange.

18...Rxf6

19.e5

I intended to follow up with f4-f5. It turns out that the pawns would have worked better if I had moved them in the opposite order.

19...Rg6

20.Qb3+

It was only after I chose this move that I realized that 20.f5 was playable (and better) because White's Queen was protected by the Bishop on d2. 

20...Be6 21.Qf3 Bxh3

Attack, attack, attack!

A scarier try would have been 21...Rg3, as after 22.Qe2 Black has the creepy 22...Qxh3. Stil, White would have held it together with 23.Rf3.

22.Rf2 Rg3

23.Qxb7

What, me worry??

23...Rf8 24.e6 Rf6

The Black Queen needed to come back to f6, but my opponent wanted to add yet another piece to his attack.

25.e7 Bd7 26.e8Q+ Bxe8 27.Rxe8+

Triumph of the Jerome pawn.

27...Kh7 28.Qe4+ Rgg6

29.Qd3

Even stronger was 29.Qa8.

29...Qg4 30.Ree2 h5

pwr is still attacking!

31.f5 Rd6 32.fxg6+ Rxg6 33.Qf5

33...Qd4 34.Qxh5+ Rh6 35.Bxh6 gxh6 36.Re7+ Kg8 37.Qg6+ Kh8 38.Re8 checkmate