Dizziness Due to Success

Alexander Kotov, in his classic Think Like A Grandmaster, wrote about players who were

over-confident, complacent in their recognition of the fact that they had a marked advantage, and so their vigilance was blunted.
We call this widespread complacency when the win is near 'Dizziness due to success' .

perrypawnpusher - bnxr
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.O-O Kf7

Black returns the tempo that I spent on "the nudge" (see "Nudge 2.0")

11.f4 Re8 12.f5 Rxe4

While analyzing my game against stcamillis (see "Stand up! Fight back!") where I had played 12.d3, I had realized that 12.f5 was playable – in fact, it had been played as early as Vazquez - Carrington, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876, because the immediate threat against the pawn at e4 was an illusion.

That my opponent grabbed the pawn (his plan from move 10) is one more example of the negative "halo effect" that surrounds the Jerome Gambit: If White blunders so badly in the opening, he is going to blunder throughout the game. So any move that appears bad [like 12.f5], must be bad.

13.fxg6+ hxg6

An unfortunate reflex action. Black needed to play 13...Kg8, when 14.gxh7+ Kh8 15.Qd3 would have left White with a pawn advantage.

14.Qxe4

14...Bf5 15.Rxf5

The position looked messy after 15.Qxb7 Bxc2, so I decided to return a bit of my extra material (Rook for Knight + pawn) to reach a quieter position.


15...gxf5 16.Qxf5 Qe7 17.Qf1

This borders on anxiety, however. Simply 17.Nc3 was fine.

17...Rh8 18.d3 Qe5 19.Nc3

Up  a piece, a little bit of development – what could go wrong?

19...Qxh2+

Well, that's annoying.

The game would have been much simpler after the alert 19.h3. Now my opponent had chances to make my life uncomfortable, and I was fortunate that he did not torture me as much as he could have.

20.Kf2 Qh4+

After the game Rybka preferred 20... Re8, and showed that White would be fine after 21.Ne2 Nd5 22.Ke1+ Kg8 23.Bd2 b5 24.Rc1 c5 25.Kd1 Rf8 26.Qg1 Qe5 27.Rb1 Re8 28.Qf1 c4 29.dxc4 bxc4 30.Ng1.

analysis diagram








Uh, right...


21.Ke2 Kg8

I was very happy to see Black block his Rook from the e-file.

22.Bd2 Qg4+ 23. Qf3 Qe6+ 24.Kf2 Ng4+

Enter: the Knight.

25.Kg3 Nh2

I would not be surprised to learn that my opponent was feeling a bit dizzy, himself. This move allowed me to exchange Queens – and win the Knight.

26.Qd5 Qxd5 27.Nxd5 c6

This move is a slight distraction from the fact that Black's Knight has no safe retreat.

28.Nc3 Kf7 29.Rh1 Black resigned

Stand up! Fight back!

In the following game I was giving "Jerome Gambit odds" to a player rated a couple hundred points lower.

I was impressed by how well he was able to stand up to my "bullying" – for about a dozen moves, anyhow. Unfortunately, he became over-confident and fell apart.

 perrypawnpusher - stcamillis
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, so good.

10.0-0 Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.d3

Or 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qb3+ Kf8 15.h3 Rxe4 16.hxg4 Rxg4 17.Qf3 c6 18.Nc3 d5 19.Bf4 Kg8 20.Be5 h5 21.Rae1 Bd7 22.Re3 Qb6 23.b3 Rf8 24.Na4 Qb4 25.Nc5 Bc8 26.c3 Qb6 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Qh3 Rg5 29.Ne6 Bxe6 30.fxe6 Qc7 31.e7 Re8 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Qxf6+ Rg7 34.Qf8+ Black resigned, Vazquez - Carringtonm Mexico, 2nd match, 1876.

12...Kg8 13.Nc3

More solid than 13.f5 Ne5 14.Nc3 c6 15.d4 Nc4 16.Qf3 Qb6 17.Qd3 d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.b3 Ncxe5 20.Qd1 Nf7 21.Na4 Qd8 22.Qh5 Nf6 23.Qh4 Ne4 24.Qg4 b5 25.Nc5 Nxc5 26.dxc5 Qf6 27.Bd2 Re4 28.Qf3 Ne5 29.Qh3 Ba6 30.Bc3 Re8 31.Rae1 b4 32.Rxe4 dxe4 33.Bxe5 Qxe5 34.Re1 Qf6 35.g4 Bc8 36.Qe3 Qh4 37.h3 Qf6 38.Kg2 Qe5 39.h4 Qd5 40.Kg3 a5 41.Re2 Qf7 42.Qd4 g6 43.Rxe4 Rxe4 44.Qxe4 gxf5 45.gxf5 Bxf5 46.Qxc6 Qg7+ 47.Kh2 Qe5+ 48.Kg1 Qg3+ 49.Qg2 Qxg2+ 50.Kxg2 Bxc2 51.Kf3 Kf7 52.Kf4 Ke6 53.c6 Kd6 54.c7 Kxc7 55.Ke5 Bb1 56.Kd5 Bxa2 57.Kc4 Kc6 58.h5 Bb1 59.h6 Bc2 White resigned, perrypawnpusher - Nadante, blitz, FICS, 2010.

13...Bd7 14.f5 Ng4

With his King castled-by-hand and with a lead in development, my opponent decides to harass my impudent Queen. It will cost him a piece, but it should not cost him the game.

15.Qg3 N6e5 16.d4

Typical Knights vs "Jerome pawns" action.

Now, after 16...Nf6 17.dxe5 Rxe5 18.Bf4 Re7 19.Bg5 Qf8 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.exd5 Rf7 White is a long way from triumph.

16...Nxh2 17.Qxh2 Ng4 18.Qg3

White is a pawn ahead, and his pawn center promises trouble for his opponent. Black, however, continues to target White's Queen – without enough forethought in this case...

18...Qg5 and Black resigned