Photo Finish?

It's beginning to look like the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld will go down to the wire before a winner is determined.

Currently, stampyshortlegs holds the lead, with 20.5 points out of 26 games completed. He has leap-frogged over Piratepaul, who has 20 points out of 25 games completed.

Sir Osis of the Liver (19 points out of 28 games completed), is secure in third place.

Fourth place is occupied by DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games); although he could be joined there by GladtoMateYou (16 points out of 27 games) or Haroldlee123 (14 points out of 25 games) – but not both, as they are playing a game against each other.

Luke Warm is sitting still with 15 points out of 28 games, as is Eddie43 with 14.5 points out of 28 games.

The Jerome Gambit has kept its score of 39%. stampyshortlegs has gained 9.5 points with the gambit, while PiratePaul and Sir Osis of the Liver have gained 9 points.

Fifteen Games to Go: Much Unsettled

With only 15 of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld left to be completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored an almost-credible 39%.

The tournament leader Piratepaul (20 points out of 25 games completed) has 9 points from the Jerome. Second place is held by Sir Osis of the Liver (19 points out of 28 games completed), who has 8 points from the Gambit.

stampyshortlegs (18.5 points out of 24 games) is in third place, with 8.5 points from the Jerome Gambit .

Fourth place is occupied by DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games, 7 JG points); fifth by GladtoMateYou (16 points out of 27 games, 8 JG points); and sixth by LukeWarm (15 points out of 28 games, 3 JG points).

Nearing the Final Turn

With 86% (180 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has kept steady, scoring 37%.

Piratepaul (19 points out of 24 games completed) remains the player to beat. Second place is held by Sir Osis of the Liver (17 points out of 26 games completed) and DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games).

Fourth place is occupied by GladtoMateYou (15 points out of 25 games), while fifth place is held by the surging stampyshortlegs (14 points out of 19 games).

Three players are tied for sixth: LukeWarm (13.5 points out of 25 games), eddie43 (13.5 points out of 26 games) and blackburne (13.5 points out of 27 games).

While Piratepaul holds the top winning percentage of 79%, the second highest remains a threat: stampyshortlegs, 74%; and 9 games yet undecided.

Race to the Finish

With 80% (169 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored 37%.

Piratepaul (19 points out of 23 games completed) maintains his lead. DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 28 games), who had been first throughout most of the play, was the first to complete his games; and shares second place with Sir Osis of the Liver (17 points out of 26 games completed).

Sitting behind them are GladtoMateYou (14 points out of 24 games), then blackburne and eddie43 (13.5 points out of 26 games), and stampyshortlegs (13 points out of 17 games).

Only one player, because of the number of games he has yet to complete, has a statistical chance of topping Piratepaul's (current) 19 points: stampyshortlegs (maximum score possible - 24).

From a practical point of view, it looks like it will be a race between Piratepaul (maximum score possible - 24) and stampyshortlegs for top honors.

Ugly

The other day I got in a couple of blitz Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) at FICS (Free Internet Chess Server). The first game I shared with readers yesterday (see"Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight"). The second one, well, er, um... I guess I can say that there's "winning ugly" and "losing ugly," and it's better to win ugly...

perrypawnpusher - Lark
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5
It turned out that this game was the third time that I'd played the Jerome Gambit against Lark. Our first game continued: 5...Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.f4 g6 9.d4 Bd7 10.Nc3 Nh6 11.f5 Qh4 12.e5 Nxf5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.g4 Re8 15.gxf5 Bxf5 16.Qf3 Qxd4+ 17.Kh1 Kg7 18.Qf2 Black forfeited on time, perrypawnpusher - Lark, FICS, 2009

6.Qh5+ Ng6


My second game with Lark lasted a bit longer than the first: 6...Kf8 7.Qxe5 Bd6 8.Qc3 Nf6 9.d3 Qe7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Bc5 12.0-0 d6 13.d4 g5 14.dxc5 gxh4 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Nd2 Rg8 17.f4 Bh3 18.Qxh3 Qxd2 19.Rf2 Qd4 20.Qf5 Qxb2 21.Re1 Qb6 22.e5 Rg7 23.exf6 Rf7 24.Re6 Qb1+ 25.Rf1 Qxa2 26.Rfe1 Qb2 27.Qg6 Qd4+ 28.Kh1 Qxf4 29.Re7 Rxe7 30.fxe7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz FICS, 2009

7.Qd5+ Ke8

A game in the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament continued: 7...Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.d3 Qf8 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Be3 Ne5 13.h3 Kd7 14.f4 h6 15.Qg3 Nc6 16.0-0-0 Rd8 17.f5 Bf7 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Qf2 a6 20.b3 b5 21.d4 Nc6 22.g4 Kc8 23.Qf3 b4 24.Na4 a5 25.d5 Ne5 26.Qe2 Nfd7 27.Qa6+ Kb8 28.Ba7+ Ka8 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qxc7 checkmate, stampyshortlegs - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009

8.Qxc5 Another, not-quite-completed game in the same Chessworld JG tournament has gone: 8.d4 N8e7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qh5 c6 11.f4 d5 12.f5 dxe4 13.fxg6 Nxg6 14.c3 Qe7 15.Bg5 Qe6 16.0-0 Kd7 17.Na3 Kc7 18.Bf4+ Kb6 19.Qc5+ Ka6 20.Nc4 b6 21.Qa3+ Kb7 22.Nd6+ Kc7 23.Nf7+ Nxf4 24.Nxh8 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Bb7 26.Rae1 a5 27.Rxe2 Rxh8 28.Qb3 Qxb3 29.axb3 b5 30.Rf7+ Kb6 31.Rxe4 g6 32.Ree7 Bc8 33.Rxh7 stampyshortlegs - Luke Warm, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009
8...N8e7 9.0-0 b6
An alternative: 9...d6 10.Qe3 Rf8 11.d4 c5 12.c3 Bd7 13.f4 Rc8 14.f5 Bxf5 15.exf5 Rxf5 16.Rxf5 Qd7 17.Rf1 cxd4 18.cxd4 Rc2 19.Nc3 Qg4 20.Qf3 Qxd4+ 21.Be3 Qe5 22.Rae1 Nh4 23.Qf7+ Kd7 24.Bf2 Qg5 25.Rxe7+ Kc6 26.Rc7 checkmate, guest6567 - guest4702, Internet Chess Club, 2004.

10.Qe3 Rf8

Or 10...Bb7 11.f4 Rf8 12.d4 d6 13.f5 Nh8 14.g4 Qd7 15.c4 Nf7 16.Nc3 Kd8 17.b3 h6 18.h4 g5 19.h5 Nc6 20.Ba3 Qe8 21.Rad1 Kd7 22.e5 Nfxe5 23.dxe5 Qxe5 24.Qd3 Rae8 25.Rde1 Qd4+ 26.Qxd4 Nxd4 27.Rxe8 Rxe8 28.Bb2 Nf3+ 29.Kf2 Nh2 30.Rg1 Bf3 31.Rg3 Bxg4 32.Rg2 Bxf5 33.Rxh2 c6 34.Kf3 Rf8 35.Kg3 Be6 36.Ne2 c5 37.Bg7 Rf1 38.Bxh6 Ra1 39.Nc3 Rg1+ 40.Kf2 g4 41.Kxg1 g3 42.Rg2 Bg4 43.Rxg3 Bxh5 44.Ne4 Kc6 45.Rg5 b5 46.Rxh5 bxc4 47.bxc4 a5 48.Bf4 a4 49.Rh6 Kb6 50.Rxd6+ Ka5 51.Bd2 checkmate, guest1730 - guest1656, Internet Chess Club, 2001

Louis Morin of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde was the "guest" playing White in the two aforementioned games.

11.f4 d6 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc4 14.Qg3
14...Rf7 15.Nc3 Kf8 16.Bg5

I spent way too much time trying to figure out if 16.f6 worked here. It does – but I didn't play it. The line is complicated, but leads to White's advantage: 16.f6 gxf6 (not 16...Rxf6 17.Bg5 Ng6 18.Nd5 winning) 17.Bh6+ Ke8 18.Nd5 f5 19.Rae1 Kd7 20.Qb3 Nxd5 21.Qxc4 Bb7 22.exd5 a6.

16...h6 17.Bc1
It looks like 17.f6 was playable, too.

17...Bb7 18.f6 Rxf6
I guess I wasn't the only player having trouble with this position. Better was 18...gxf6, although after 19.b3 Na5 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Rae1 my position is beginning to look better.

19.Rxf6+
Sigh. 19.Bxh6 was the move.
19...gxf6 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Qg7
Inviting another piece to the party with 21.Rf1 was stronger.

21...Kd7 22.Qg4+ Ke8 23.Qg7
Repeating the position, and considering a draw, which was silly: 23.Qh5+ Kd7 24.Qb5+ instead would have won a piece.

Now both my opponent and I seem to have been mesmerized by the clock.
23...Nd2 24.Qxf6
Or, well, just take the gift Knight at d2...

24...Bxe4 25.Nxe4

Or, well, 25.Bxd2...

25...Nxe4 26.Qh8+
At this point my nerves got the better of me (clock ticking) and I decided to swap to an endgame where I thought I had at least drawing chances. Wrong. Plus: 26.Qe6 instead was still strong.

26...Kd7 27.Qxd8+ Rxd8 28.Re1 Nf5
29.Rxe4 Nxh6 30.Rh4 Well, my intentions are clear: play the two pawns against the Knight. At my level of play there are "drawing chances" but as they say on television, "don't try this at home, folks!"

30...Nf5 31.Rh7+ Kc6 32.c3 Re8 33.Kf2
This move and next, I would have done better to start my pawns rolling with g2-g4.
33...a5 34.b3 Rf8
35.Ke2 Re8+ 36.Kd2 Ne3 37.Rg7 Nf1+ 38.Kd3 Nxh2

Not so good (for me).

39.g4 Nf3 40.g5 Nh4 41.c4 Nf5 42.d5+ Kb7 43.Rh7 Re7 44.Rxe7 Nxe7
Things are going just as I planned – except that Black still has a won game. Lucky for me, neither one of us seemed to notice.

45.Ke4 Ng6
The win for Black comes after he busts up White's Queenside pawns and then infiltrates with his King: 45...b5 46.cxb5 Kb6 47.Kd4 Kxb5
46.Kf5 Nh4+ 47.Kf6
White has a draw here either playing tag with the Black Knight – 47.Kg4 Ng6 48.Kf5 Nh4+ 49.Kg4, etc. – repeating the position; or by advancing toward the enemy pawns with 47.Ke6, so that the ...b5 break is not good enough to win.

The text is "playing for the loss".
47...Kc8
Of course 47...b5 wins.
48.g6 Nxg6 49.Kxg6 Kd7 50.Kf6
The position is drawn. White's King cannot make progress toward attacking Black's pawn base at c7 (as long as the Black King is dilligent), and if he is foolish enough to try entry through a3, a4 and b5, Black's King will follow him and pick off the White pawns.
50...c6
Dear Readers, let this be a lesson to you: eat your vegetables, get daily exercise – and study your chess endings!
51.Kf7 cxd5 52.cxd5 b5 53.a3 Kc7 54.Ke7 b4 55.a4


55...Kb6 56.Kxd6 Ka6 57.Kc6 Ka7 58.Kc7 Ka6 59.d6 Black resigns 1-0

Harried

The (in)famous historical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885 featured a harried White Queen that captured one Rook on a diagonal and another by sliding across a rank – only to watch her King be checkmated across the board.


The following game, from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, features two of the top players and highlights a harried Black Queen shuttling forward and back, until her own demise.

stampyshortlegs - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7


5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

White reaches an interesting position, historically. Here "Amateur" played 8.Qxh8 and after 8...Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 he was crushed by Blackburne: 10...Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate.
At that time, 10.Qd8 was suggested by J.B. and E.M. Munoz, giving White the better game; although, almost 120 years later, Chandler and Dimitrov showed that Black could hold the draw.

Throughout this tournament stampyshortlegs has shown a good understanding of the Jerome Gambit. Will he "fall into" and become a victim of Blackburne's "trap" – will he grab the Rook and ask his Queen to fight her way out, "risking" a draw in the process – or has he come up with an improvement, himself?

8.Qd5+

There's a pawn to be taken.

8...Be6

Fritz8 preferred 8...Kg7 9.d4 Nf6 10.Qc4 Bb6 11.Nc3 Re8 12.f3 d5 13.Qd3 dxe4 14.fxe4 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Bxd4 16.Bd2 Bg4 17.h3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 19.Kf1 Rf8+ White Resigned, RevvedUp - Fritz 8, blitz 2 12, 2006.

9.Qxb7
White has three pawns for his piece, but with Black's King not under attack, and with White's pieces not developed, the position has to be judged better for the second player. As in most Jerome Gambit games, however, the player who is more comfortable and creative with the advantages at hand will be successful.9...Rc8 10.Nc3 Qf6 11.f3 Bb6 12.Nd5 Qh4+
Sir Osis sees his opponent's King as vulnerable, and assigns his Queen to harass it.

13.g3 Qh3 14.Nf4 Qh6
An inglorious retreat.

15.Nxe6 Ne7 16.d3 Qh3 Dodging the attack of the Bishop, but the return to this square is even more dangerous than the first visit.

17.Ng5+ Kg7 18.Nxh3

Black fights gamely for another 20 moves, but the point is already decided.

18...Rb8 19.Qa6 Nc6 20.Qc4 Ne5 21.Qe6 Rbe8 22.Qb3 Nxf3+ 23.Kd1 Rhf8 24.Bf4 Nd4 25.Qc3 h6 26.Be3 c5 27.b4 Rf3 28.Bxd4+ cxd4 29.Qc6 Ref8 30.Qxd6 Rf1+ 31.Ke2 R1f6 32.Qe5 Kh7 33.Rhf1 R6f7 34.Rxf7+ Rxf7 35.Rf1 Rc7 36.Kd2 Rg7 37.Qe6 h5 38.Rf7 Kg8 39.Ng5 Black resigned

Tournament Update

With almost three-fourths (156 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored 36%.

Piratepaul (17 points out of 20 games) and DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 27 games) lead, followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (16 points out of 25 games completed).

The next pack is headed by blackburne (13.5 points out of 26 games), followed closely by eddie43 (12.5 points out of 25 games), GladtoMateU (12 points out of 22 games) and Black Puma (12 points out of 26 games).

Those players with with the best winning percentage (85%) are stampyshortlegs (a formidable 11 points out of 13 games) and Piratepaul.

Beware: The Sneak!

Black's biggest dangers in playing against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) are overconfidence, a dismissive attitude and inattention. If any of these plague the second player in the early moves of the game, an otherwise blatant maneuver called The Sneak might arise.

In its starkest form, The Sneak looks like this:

I know what you're thinking: nobody would fall for that, letting the Bishop get trapped.

It is true, not everybody does fall for it. Here are some warnings, though:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3

2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.d3 Nc6 5.c3 Bc5 6.a4 d6 7.Nf3 Ng4 8.0-0 Rf8 9.b4 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Nxf2 11.Kxf2, Viejoasquerosos - BigJase, redhotpawn, 2006 (1-0, 40)

2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

4...Kf8 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.c3 Qf6 7.d3 d6 8.a4 Ke8 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Qe6 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2, SIRMO - AAlekhine, chessworld, 2007 (1-0, 47)

5.d3

5.c3 d6 ( 5...Nf6 6.d3 h6 7.0-0 g5 8.Qb3+ Ke8 9.Kh1 g4 10.Ng1 h5 11.Bg5 Rh7 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qg8+ Qf8 14.Qxh7 g3 15.Qg6+ Qf7 16.Qxg3 d6 17.a4 Be6 18.b4 Nxb4 19.cxb4 Bxb4 Piratepaul - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 26)) 6.d3 Nf6 ( 6...Bg4 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.Qxg4 Qe7 9.Ne6+ Ke8 10.Nxg7+ Kf7 11.Nf5 Qf6 12.Bg5 Qe6 13.a4 Nf6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.b4 Bb6 16.a5 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2, Piratepaul - metalwarrior1969, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 36)) 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Bh4 Qd7 12.a4 h5 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Bxf2, Piratepaul - blackburne, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 22);

5.0-0 Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Nc3 Kg8 8.Ne2 d6 9.a4 Be6 10.c3 h6 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Ng4 13.Rf1 Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0,35)

5...Nf6

[ 5...h6 6.c3 ( 6.0-0 g5 7.h3 Nf6 8.a4 d6 9.c3 g4 10.hxg4 Bxg4 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Black Puma - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 21)) 6...d6 7.0-0 ( 7.a4 Bg4 ( 7...Qf6 8.b4 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2, SIRMO - Ratscales, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 36)) 8.b4 Bxf3 9.Qxf3+ Qf6 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.bxc5 dxc5, braken - willitfw, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 51)) 7...Nf6 8.a4 Na5 ( 8...Bg4 9.b4 Nxb4 ( 9...Bxb4 10.cxb4, Piratepaul - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 44)) 10.cxb4 Bd4 11.Ra2 a6 ( 11...Nh5 Piratepaul - TWODOGS, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (1-0, 32)) 12.Nbd2 Nh5, Piratepaul - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 56)) 9.b4 Bb6 10.bxa5 Bxa5, braken - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 23)

6.Bg5

6.a4 Rf8 7.c3 d6 8.0-0 Kg8 9.Ng5 ( 9.b4 Nxb4 10.cxb4 Bxb4 11.Qb3+ Kh8 12.Qxb4 0-1 Black Puma - stampyshortlegs, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (0-1, 24)) 9...Bg4 10.Qe1 Nh5 11.h3 Bxh3 12.Nxh3 Ng3 13.b4 Nxb4 14.cxb4 Bd4 15.Ra2 Nxf1 16.Kxf1, SIRMO - manago, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 18)

6...Rf8 7.0-0 Kg8 8.c3 Qe8 9.Kh1 d6 10.a4 Bg4 11.b4 Qh5 12.Bd2 d5 13.bxc5 dxe4 14.dxe4 Nxe4 Piratepaul - delboy138, chessworld, 2008 (1-0,17)

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics

It is not likely that Richard Teichmann, who opined that chess was "99% tactics" ever played the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but what he said was especially true about such a dodgy opening: by and large the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three examples from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

Luke Warm - DREWBEAR 63
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Both players have attacks against their enemy King - enough so to keep the game even. Straying from this theme becomes instantly deadly.

22.Rh4 Qxf3 23.Qd2 Ref7 24.a3 Qxd5 25.Qh2 Rf1+ White resigned

Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

This game has been a hammer and tongs affair so far, but seems to have resulted in a balanced, Bishops-of-Opposite-Colors endgame, with a draw in sight. It will take some care, as each side still has a Rook, but the point should soon be split.

34.Be5 g6 35.Rh2+ Black resigned, as he will lose a Rook after 35...Kg8 36.Rh8+





stampyshortlegs - calchess10
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
Here is a messy, if balanced, game. Maybe White should consider 26.Qe2, and after 26...Nxe4 he can get a draw with 27.Qa6+ Kd7 28.Qb5+ etc?


26.Qe2 Nfd7 27.Qa6+ Kb8 28.Ba7+ Ka8 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qxc7 checkmate

Aarrgghhhh!

With over two-thirds (144 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, White has scored 34%.

It looks like a change in leadership is immenent.

DREWBEAR 63 is the leader, with 16 points out of 26 games completed, but he is followed closely by the surging Piratepaul (15 points out of 18 games completed) and Sir Osis of the Liver (15 points out of 24 games completed).

Fourth place is held by eddie43 (12.5 points out of 24 games), followed closely by GladtoMateU (12 points out of 22 games,) blackburne (11.5 points out of 22 games) and Black Puma (11 points out of 25 games).

Those players with with the best winning percentages are stampyshortlegs (a blistering 9 points out of 10 games) and Piratepaul.

Quickies

Here are a few more games from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament – don't blink or they'll be over before you know it.

stampyshortlegs - GladtoMateYou

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.d4 TN 7...Bxd4 8.c3 Bc5 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.f4 Qe7 11.fxe5+ Qxe5 [ 11...Kc6 12.b4 d6 -+ ] 12.Bf4 Black resigned

GladtoMateYou - Haroldlee123

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qe2 Qf6 6.Qc4+ TN 6...Ke8 7.Qxc5 d6 +/= 8.Qa3 Bg4 9.Nc3 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qxf3 11.Rg1 Nd4 12.Rg3 Qh1+ White resigned

Luke Warm - stampyshortlegs

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Bg5 Kg8 8.h4 TN 8...d6 9.Qd2 Bg4 10.Nd5 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Nd4 12.Rg1 [ 12.0-0-0 -+ ] 12...Nxf3+ 13.Ke2 Nxd2 14.Bxd2 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qxh4 16.Be3 Bxe3 White resigned

TWODOGS - Crusader Rabbit

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Bxd4 6.0-0 TN 6...Ke8 7.Ng5 Bxb2 8.Qf3 Qf6 9.Bxb2 Qxg5 10.Na3 Nh6 11.Nc4 Rf8 12.Qc3 Nd4 13.Bc1 Qxc1 14.Qxd4 Qg5 15.Qc5 Kd8 [ 15...Rf4 -+ ] 16.Qxf8 checkmate

It's getting interesting...

With over half (112 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, White has so far scored a gloomy 33%, lagging behind other Jerome Gambit Tournaments.

DREWBEAR 63 remains the leader, with 16 points out of 26 games completed. He is still followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (12 points out of 17 games completed) and blackburne (10.5 points out of 20 games completed).

eddie43 (9.5 points out of 19 games) and Black Puma (9.5 points out of 20 games) have been surging lately, putting them ahead of Piratepaul (9 points out of 12 games completed) – but not by much.

Players to watch in the long run are those with the best winning percentages: stampyshortlegs (6 points out of 7 games), Piratepaul and TWO DOGS (5 points out of 7 games).

Not to be counted out are players like Haroldlee123 (5.5 points out of 10 games) and metalwarrior1969 (6 points out of 10 games) – and even Crusader Rabbit (1 point out of 5 games) – because they have so many more games to complete, and possibly win.

Ed, Ed and Eddie

Here are three recent wins by eddie43 from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) thematic tournament at Chessworld:

Black Puma - eddie43

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 h6 6.c3 Nf6 7.d4 Bd6 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nxe5+ Bxe5 10.f4 Bd6 11.e5 Bc5+ 12.Kh1 Ne4 13.Qd5+ Ke8 14.Qxe4 Be7 15.f5 d5 16.Qf3 b6 17.f6 gxf6 18.exf6 Bd6 19.f7+ [ 19.Qxd5] 19...Kd7 20.b4 Ba6 21.a4 Bxf1 22.Qf5+ Kc6 23.Qxf1 Qh4-+ 24.b5+ Kb7 25.h3 Qg3 26.Ba3 Qh2 checkmate

calchess10 - eddie43

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 h6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.h3 d6 8.0-0 Be6 9.a3 a6 10.b4 Ba7 11.Nh2 Bd4 12.Bb2 Qd7 13.Rb1 Na7 14.Ne2 Bb6 15.Kh1 g5 16.Ng3 h5 17.Nf3 Rag8 18.c4 g4 19.Nh4 gxh3 20.Ngf5 Ng4 21.gxh3 Nxf2+ 22.Rxf2 Bxf2 23.Ng2 Bxf5 24.exf5 Qxf5 25.Nf4 Qxf4 26.Qe2 Rg3 27.d4 Rxh3+ 28.Kg2 Qg3+ 29.Kf1 Rh1 checkmate

stampyshortlegs - eddie43

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.c3 Nh6 9.Qf4 Rf8 10.Qg3 White resigned

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Oooooooops...

Playing – or defending against – the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) requires close attention to what is going on, so that every tactical opportunity can be caught. Take advantage of your chances, you could take the point. Overlook a chance or two, and ooooooops...

stampyshortlegs - eddie43

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.c3 Nh6 9.Qf4 Rf8 10.Qg3 White resigned


TWODOGS - Black Puma

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Nxe5+ Kf8 7.0-0 Qf6 8.b4 Qxe5 9.bxc5 Qxc5 10.Ba3 Qxa3 11.Nxa3 Black resigned

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws