Sometimes when I am playing the Jerome Gambit I think I should take Nike's advice and "Just Do It!"... Over-thinking something has its problems. In the following game, by the time I figured out what I was supposed to remember, the game had wandered off.
perrypawnpusher - catmandu
blitz, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nf3+
A sharp and realatively unknown idea - this game is only the 10th example in The Database. It seemed familiar to me, though - and it actually was. I had responded with 8.gxf3 four years ago in perrypawnpusher - wertu, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 20).
8.Qxf3
During the game against catmandu, however, I thought I remembered perrypawnpusher - AirmanLeonidas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18), where, in my annotations, I had suggested that capturing with the Queen was better.
This was not entirely correct: against AirmanLeonidas I was playing the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - with 0-0 and ...h6 added to the current position - so that certain lines were playable then, but not now.
8...Bxd4
At this point I realized that 9.e5 would not work (it hadn't worked in stretto - NoWar, FICS, 2007 [0-1, 28] or yorgos - ANDGREG, FICS, 2009 [0-1, 51] either, I learned later); and that the idea starting with 9.Nb5 followed by 10.Qb3+, as in my game against AirmanLeonidas, would stumble upon the fact that my King in this game was still on the e-file.
I could have made more of a game of it with 9.Ne2 Be5 10.Qd3 c6 11.f4 Bc7 but of course Black would still be better.
Without any particular idea in mind, I just started "making moves".
9.Bg5 Rf8 10.0-0
After the game Houdini suggested the move complicated (hence, giving me more chances) 10.Ne2 Bxb2 11.Qb3+ Kg6 12.h4 h6 13.Nf4+ Kh7 14.Qxb2 Qe8 15.0-0-0 Qxe4 16.g3 Qc4 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 with Black still for choice.
10...Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand, and compensation for White's piece sacrifice is insufficient.
11.Nd5 Nxd5
One last oversight.
12.Qb3 Qxg5 White resigned
Next time, instead of trying to do all that remembering, I'll just focus on playing the game.
I cannot tell if my opponent in the following game was so dismissive of the Jerome Gambit that he hardly spent any thought at all on his moves (see "Not Worth One's Full Attention"), or if he was so overwhelmed by it that he could not. Either way, the end came quickly.
(You could check out our earlier game, which showed what kind of creativity we could conjure up when we put both our minds to it.)
perrypawnpusher - wertu
blitz, FICS, 2012
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 Qe7 10.0-0
10.Nc3 and 10.d4 are alternatives, although they all may transpose.
10...Be6 11.f4 Kd7
Cold-bloodedly returning a piece. Probably 11...Bc4 12.d3 Ba6 13.Nd2 Nf6 14.Nf3, which led to an equal game, was better.
12.f5 Bc4
Again, curous. With 12...Bxf5 13.exf5 Qxe3+ 14.dxe3 Ne5 Black could have minimized White's edge.
13.d3 Bxd3 14.cxd3 Ne5 15.d4 Ng4
The eternal lure of attacking the Queen.
16.Qf3 N8f6 17.Nc3 h5 18.Bg5
This is an oversight of its own, as Black now has 18...Nxh2 19.Kxh2 Ng5+ 20.Kg1 Qxg5, picking up a pawn.
After the game Rybka showed how White could complicate things, but it is not a line that I would have thought of over-the-board: 18...Nxh2 19.Qd3 Nxf1 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5+ Kc8 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Bf4 Rd8 24.Qxf1 Qc5+ 25.Kh2 Rd4 26.Re1 Qxf5 27.Re8+ Kd7 28.Rxa8 Rxf4 29.Qe1 Qe5 30.Qxe5 fxe5 31.Rxa7 Kc6 when Black has only a pawn for his piece.
18...Rae8 19.Rae1 c6
He still had 19...Nxh2.
20.h3
Finally.
20...Nh6
21.Kh1
Cautious, not wanting to allow the Queen check at c5, but it was possible to survive the move: 21.e5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Qc5+ 23.Be3 and after 23...Qxe5 White has 24.Bxh6 Qxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 26.Kf2 Re7 27.Be3 when he has a Queen and a Bishop against Black's two Rooks.
21...Qf7 22.e5 Nd5
Over- or under-thinking the move.
23.e6+ Rxe6 24.fxe6+ Qxe6 25.Rxe6 Black resigned
My Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) intrusions into various Four Knights Games (see "I am not Bill Wall...", "Bloodied but Unbowed", and "The Adventure Continues") have all had a level of strangeness about them. The following game is no exception.
perrypawnpusher - wertu
blitz FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5
The Italian Four Knights Game, via the Two Knights Defense.
5.Bxf7+
I might as well give it a try here. It should come as a shock in a very quiet opening.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4
7...Nf3+
I like this move. It's not the strongest one – 7...Bxd4 and 7...Bd6 are stronger – but the text shows that my opponent is thinking and has an interesting plan for his defense.
I found 7...Nf3+ in 5 games in the New Year's Database. Black scored 80%, in part because in 3 of those games White chose to capture the Knight with 8.Qxf3, scoring 0-3.
8.gxf3 Bb4 9.Bg5
A more solid idea was played by yorgos (who has 517 games in the New Year's Database, scoring 50%) who liked 9.Bd2, preserving the integrety of his Queenside pawns and allowing White to castle long later: 9...Re8 10.e5 Ng8 11.Nd5 Bxd2+ 12.Qxd2 d6 13.Qf4+ Ke6 14.Nc3 Kd7 15.0-0-0 b6 16.e6+ Rxe6 17.Qg4 Kc6 18.d5+ Kb7 19.dxe6 Qe7 20.Qe4+ Kb8 21.Nb5 Bb7 22.Qe3 a6 23.Nd4 Ka7 24.Nf5 Qe8 25.e7 Bc8 26.Nxg7 Black resigned, yorgos - fogmay, FICS, 2009;
That was a more successful plan than the one he executed a few weeks later: 9.e5 Nd5 10.Rg1 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bxc3+ 12.Ke2 Bxa1 13.c3 Bxc3 14.Qb3+ d5 15.Qxc3 Be6 16.f4 Qh4 17.Qxc7+ Qe7 18.Qc3 Rac8 19.Qg3 Rc2+ 20.Bd2 g6 21.h4 Bf5 22.Qe3 Qe6 23.Qb3 Qa6+ 24.Kf3 Qd3+ 25.Qxd3 Bxd3 26.Ke3 Be4 27.Bb4 Rxa2 28.Rb1 Rc8 29.Rg1 Rcc2 30.Re1 a5 31.Bd6 b5 32.e6+ Kxe6 33.Be5 b4 34.f3 Rc3 checkmate, yorgos - pmackinney, FICS, 2009.
9...h6 10.Bh4 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 g5 12.Bg3
There are a lot of "Jerome pawns" gathered together, but wertu plans to fix them in place.
12...d5 13.e5 Nd7 14.h4
My plan was to let my King hang out on the second rank, behind the pawn wall, while opening up the Kingside for my Bishop and an attack.
14...Nb6 15.hxg5
Not surprisingly, Rybka sees this as premature, and recommends 15.Qd3.
15...Qxg5
Recapturing with the pawn was stronger. Black plans to have his Queen infiltrate White's position, which is a risky adventure.
In either case, though, Black is still better (despite White's three "connected passed pawns").
16.Bh4 Qg2 17.Ke2
17...Ke6
Blockading the advanced pawn, but, instead, the Queen needed to retreat with 17...Qg6.
18.Qd2
Planning to swing the Rook at a1 over to g1 to win the Queen.
Readers with a tactical eye will see that the other Rook would do just as well, now: 18.Rg1 Qh3 19.Rg7 Qxh4 (what else?) 20.Qd3 Qg5 21.Rxg5 hxg5 22.Qg6+, etc.
18...Rf8
The kind of knee-jerk response that can happen in blitz – Black attacks White's f3 pawn twice and can answer 19.Qe3 with 19...Nc4.
Instead, Black could stay in the game with the remarkable 18...Bd7, as after 19.Rag1 he has 19...Bb5+ when 20.c4 is forced – but good.
analysis diagram
After 20...Nxc4 21.Rxg2 Nxd2+ 22.Kxd2 Rag8 23.Rg3 White is better.
After 20...Bxc4+ 21.Ke3, Black continues with the fun 21...Bf1, threatening to fork White's King and Queen. White's response, 22.Qb4 is sufficient, but only if he realizes that with 22...Kf5 Black is planning checkmate!
analysis diagram
After 23.Rxg2 Nc4+ White gives up his Queen with 24.Qxc4+ and is a pawn up, with Black's Bishop hanging after 24...dxc4 25.Rg7.
analysis diagram
Wow.
Back to the game.
19.Qxh6+ Kd7 20.Qxf8 Black resigned
