Faster Than A Speeding Neuron

I can understand that playing the Jerome Gambit, or one of its variants, can give a player an edge in a fast tempo game where the defender has little time to analyze (or even recall) lines. Still, the following internet game, played at 0 seconds with a 1 second increment per move is very fast, and the result is sudden and surprising.

tomi36 - SanChess2005
01, lichess.org, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7 5.Nxd4 Kxf7 6.Qf3+ Nf6 7.Qh5+ 

Here Black forfeited on time.

I am reminded of the statement of World Champion Alexander Alekhine

The fact that a player is very short of time is, to my mind, as little to be considered an excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time he committed the crime.

This game, however, presents more as the players trading (alcoholic) shots until one falls over.

Never Bring A Knife To A Gunfight

In the following game Black plays well, until he becomes caught up in tactics on the Queenside. What starts out as a leveling return of a piece for a couple of pawns turns into a conflict where the second player is out-gunned, move after move. 

Wall, Bill - Anonymous
lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Qe2

The Database has almost two dozen examples of Bill playing this line. He plays it patiently, with an eye open to tactical possibilities.

6...d6 7.Na4 Bb6 8.h3 Rf8 9.O-O Kg8 

10.c3 d5 11.d3 dxe4 12.dxe4 Qe7 13.b4 

Black has castled-by-hand and kept up with his development - an excellent way to deal with the Jerome Gambit.

13...Nxb4

Here he plans on returning the sacrificed piece for a couple of pawns, putting himself a pawn ahead in a comfortable position.

Instead, Bill recommends 13...Nd8, 13...Bd7 or 13...Rd8.

14.Ba3

A surprise. Probably Black was expecting 14.cxb4 Qxb4 15.Nxb6 axb6 16.Re1 Ra4.

14...Ba5

Stumbling. Bill suggests 14...Qe8 (threatening 15...Qxa4) 15.Qc4+ Be6 16. Qxb4 Qh5 still with an edge.

15.cxb4 Bxb4

Slipping again. Instead, 15...Bb6 would keep things in balance. It was okay to back away from the tangle of pieces. Perhaps he was expecting 16.Bxb4?.

16.Qc4+ Be6 17.Qxb4

17...c5

The fatal fall.

18.Nxc5 b6 19.Nxe6 Qxe6 20.Ng5 Qc6 21.Qb3+ Kh8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 

After a tactical flurry, White is a Rook up, but he has one more shot.

23.Nf7+

Winning a further exchange, as 23...Kg8 would lose the Black Queen with 24.Nxe5+ Kh8 25.Nxc6. 

23...Rxf7 24.Qxf7 Qa8 25.Rfc1 Black resigned

Consolidation

The following educational game, mentioned in the previous post (see "White Punishes Errors Quickly"), was played online at InstantChess.com at its "classic" time control, 30 minutes or more per game.

SA3OD - gianluca
classic, InstantChess.com, 2016

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5

Asking for trouble, allowing a transposition to the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

6.Bxf7+ Kf8

I know this sounds silly, but there are 30 games with this position in The Database. White scores 48%. (Which sounds even sillier.)

7.Nf5

A thoughtful idea, although stronger was 7.Nxc6!? Qh4!? 8.O-O bxc6 9.Bb3 Qxe4 when White has recovered his sacrificed piece, as a better pawn structure and a safer King.

7...Kxf7 8.Qd5+ Kf8 

Instead, 8...Kf6 would be too bold: 9.Qxc5 Nge7 10.Nc3 (10.Qc3+!) 10...d6 11.Nd5+ Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Re8 13.O-O Re5 14.Qd3 Bxf5 15.exf5 Rxf5 16.b3 Kg6 $2 17.Bb2 (17.g4!) 17...Ne5 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rad1 Qe7 21.Rd7 Qg5 22.Rxc7 (22.Qc6+!?) 22...Raf8 23.Qe2 e4 24.Qxe4 Kh7 25.Rxa7 Kh8 26.Re7 Rxf2 27.Rxf2 Qc5 28.Ref7 Rxf7 29.Qe8+ Rf8 30.Qxf8+Qxf8 31.Rxf8+ Kh7 32.Rb8 Black resigned, MidKnightBlue - cesrmathurine, FICS, 2005. 

9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qc3 Bxf5 11.exf5 Nf6 

White has an extra pawn (temporarily) and a safer King, but he lags in development.

12.O-O Ne7 13.Nd2 Nxf5 14.Nf3 Kf7 15.Qb3+ Kg6 

The King needed to go back to f8, as SA3OD immediatly shows.

16.Qd3 Qd7 17.Nh4+ Kf7 18.Qxf5 Qxf5 19.Nxf5 Rhe8 

20.g4

In the next few moves, White is thinking of attack. (Instead, he should heed American National Master Dan Heisman's advice to club players, that after winning material one should think about consolidation first, not wild aggression. The simple 20.Be3 comes to mind.) 

20...Re2 21.h3

Instead, the consolidating 21.Ne3! would have saved a world of headaches. 

21...Rxc2 22.f4 

Everybody is going to the party, but, by the time they get there, the party will have moved on.

White still had time for 22.Ne3, evicting the enemy Rook. Even 22.Be3 was possible, as 22...Rxb2?! would be well met by 23.Rac1!? with counterplay.

22...Re8 23.g5 Ree2 

24.Nh4

The correct way to protect g2 (and attack Black's Rook) was 24.Ne3! 

24...Ne4 25.gxh6

Instead, 25.Rf3 would have kept the enemy Knight out of g3 and lead to an even game.

25...gxh6

Better to invade: 25...Ng3. 

26.f5

Still attacking. Still overlooking 26.Rf3. 

26...h5

Black overlooks his last chance for 26...Ng3.

White is in a turned-around situation for a Jerome Gambit player, being up a piece and down a pawn. His King is in more danger, too.

Although Black has more practical chances, the game is still about even.

27.Bf4 Rxb2 28.Ng6 Rxa2 29.Rxa2 Rxa2 30.Re1 Ra4 

31.Nh8+

Not the solution to a difficult position, especially if time was getting short. Stockfish 7 suggests: 31.Kg2 Kf6 32.Kf3 Ng5+ 33.Bxg5+ Kxg5 34.h4+ Kxf5 35.Ne7+ Kf6 36.Nd5+ Kg7 37.Re7+ Kg6 38.Rxc7 b5 39.Nf4+ Kf5 40.Nxh5 Rxh4 41.Ng3+ Ke5 42.Rxa7 and White should hold on. Whew!

Now Black's game improves step-by-step.

31...Kf6 32.h4 Kxf5 33.Bg5 Nxg5 34.hxg5 Kxg5

35.Nf7+ Kg6 36.Nd8 b6 37.Ne6 c5 38.Rd1 Rg4+ 39.Kh2 c4 

40.Rxd6 Kf7 41.Nc7 Rg5 42.Rc6 Rc5 43.Rh6 Kg7 44.Re6 Rxc7 45.Kg2 b5 46.Kf2 b4 47.Ke3 b3 48.Ra6 b2 49.Ra5 b1=Q 50.Rxh5 c3 51.Rg5+ Kh6 52.Rd5 c2 53.Rd6+ Kh7 54.Kd4 Qd1+ 55.Ke5 Qxd6+ 56.Kxd6 c1=Q 57.Kd5 Rd7+ 58.Ke6 Rd2 59.Ke5 Qe1+ 60.Kf4 Rf2+ 61.Kg3 Qg1+ 62.Kh3 Rh2 checkmate

White Punishes Errors Quickly

Here are a couple more games from United Arab Emirates player SA3OD (mentioned in the previous post), playing online at the InstantChess.com website. White punishes errors quickly.

SA3OD - buckeyes435
rapid, InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.d4

Although SA3OD plays the regular Jerome Gambit move order in his games, too - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ - he often likes to insert d2-d4 before the sacrifice. In the case of the current game, his 4th move is good on its own merits; while the alternatives 4.0-0 and 4.Nc3 serve both to advance White's development and act as a waiting move to "allow" Black to play ...Bc5.

4...exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 

Black's move is not the best, as it invites trouble. Perhaps, having played ...h6, he is feeling protected from danger. (On the InstantChess.com website the opening is referred to as the "Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense" because Black is apparently protecting against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5?! 6.Nxf7!?)

6.Nxc6

White played the more accurate 6.Bxf7+  in SA3OD - gianluca, classic, InstantChess, 2016 (0-1, 62); SA3OD - yeah bite, rapid, InstantChess, 2016 (1/2-1/2, 75); and SA3OD - Joseph S. DiBernardo, rapid, InstantChess, 2016 (1-0, 30).

6...bxc6

Likely a reflex response, but 6...Qf6!? defended better, i.e. 7.O-O dxc6 (not 7...Qxc6 because of 8.Qh5!?) although White would still be for choice. 

7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ Black resigned

SA3OD - Ray777
blitz, InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Na5 

Black is going for the advantage of the "two Bishops", but, like in the Jerome Gambit, there is a sharp response to this offside Knight.

6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.e5 Ne8 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qd5 checkmate

InstantChess

A recent internet search brought me to the online site InstantChess.com, where I discovered a player from the United Arab Emirates with the handle SA3OD who plays the Jerome Gambit - and who likes to play Bxf7+ in other circumstances as well. The following very exciting game, with another in the notes, gives an example of his style in lightning chess, which is defined by the site as 1 to 4 minutes per game. (Fast!) His opponent, Zmei Gorinich, is from the Russian Federation.

SA3OD - Gorinich, Zmei
lightning, InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 

The Italian Gambit, highlighted in The Italian Gambit System (2006) by Jude Acers and George Laven. I love the comment on the move in the November 1874 Dubuque Chess Journal: "Brilliant but not sound."

I am still exploring the InstantChess website, and have found one (I am sure that there are more) of SA3OD's Jerome Gambits (also at lightning time control) against Gorinich: 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 (this move scores 38% in 2,154 games in The Database) Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qh5+ Kf8 8.Qd1 {TN} Nf6 9.c3 Ne6 10.O-O d6 11.Na3 Kf7 12.Bg5 Rf8 13.Nc4 Nxg5 14.Ne3 Kg8 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.exf5 Qe8 17.h4 Nge4 18.g4 Qc6 19.g5 Nd5 20.f6 Nf4 21.fxg7 Kxg7 22.f3 Ng3 23.Kh2 Nxf1+ 24.Qxf1 Nh5 25.Kh3 Rxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kh2 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qxh4+ 29.Kg2 Qg3+ 30.Kf1 Rf8+ 31.Ke2 Qf2+ 32.Kd3 Nf4+ 33.Kc4 a6 34.Kb3 b5 35.a4 bxa4+ 36.Rxa4 Rb8+ 37.Ka3 Qc2 38.Rb4 Rxb4 39.cxb4 Nd3 40.g6 Qxb2+ 41.Ka4 Qxb4 checkmate.

4...exd4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ 

This move is at least as old as Wright - Hunn, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1874 (0-1, 18).

6...Kf8 7.Qf3+

Next time he might look (if he hasn't already) at the goofy 7.Qh5 Qf6 8.Nxh7 Rxh7 9.Qxh7.

7...Nf6 8.O-O Ne5 9.Qb3 h6 10.f4

White is thinking: Attack!

10...hxg5 11.fxe5 Qe8

In a lightning tempo game there is not always time to catch subtleties. Here, Black should have first played 11...e3+, putting a road block in front of White's Queen, and then moved his own Queen to e8. After 12.Kh1 Qe8, White could not afford to capture Black's Knight with 13.exf6? - we will see why, shortly. 

12.exf6

White, in turn, misses his opportunity. He needed to play 12.Qg3! when he could then safely capture Black's Knight, e.g. 12...d6 13.exf6. The position would then be unclear, but probably balanced. Stockfish 7 gives the wild continuation: 13...Rh5 14.Bxg5 Qg6 15.h4 d3+ 16.Kh2 dxc2 17.Nc3 Qxg5!? 18.Qxg5 Rxg5 19.hxg5 Be3 20.g6 Be6 21.f7 when Black will eventually regain the exchange for his advanced c-pawn.

12...d3+ 13.Kh1 Rxh2+!

Nice. Forces chekmate. (Or: it should.)

14.Kxh2 Qh5+ 15.Kg3 Qh4+ 16.Kf3 gxf6 

Oh, no! With 16...d5 Black would threaten mate with ...dxe4. Time must have been short. Now White has 17.cxd3! and his defense would hold.

 17.Qxd3 d6

Yikes! White's slip on move 17 gives Black another chance to play...d5. The pawn two-step would help open the d-file, giving the second player strong play against the enemy King: 7...d5 18.Ke2 Bg4+ 19.Kd2 dxe4 20.Qxe4 Rd8+ 21.Kc3 Bd4+ 22.Kb3 Rd6 etc.

18.Nc3

Zeitnot. White's King could, instead, play 18.Ke2 as in the previous note, and survive because of the closed d-file. 

18...Qg4 checkmate

Fun!

Brave Play

Using the opening explorer at lichess.org mentioned in "New Resource" in the previous post, I came across the following very exciting game. The Jerome Gambit player may well be familiar with this opening, in which case I feel I owe him some attention, some support, some encouragement and some assistance for his brave play. The games in the notes are well worth playing over, as they contain relevant themes of attack and defense.

killer23111953 - slava55
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Game.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

Here we have a very unbalanced position. White has sacrificed 2 (!) pieces to drag the enemy King into the middle of the board.

The Database has 9 games with this position, with White scoring 56% (5 wins, 4 losses). It is useful to share some of these games and some related analysis.

9.Nb5+

About equal in strength to the text is Stockfish 7's suggestion 9.b4, i.e. 9...Bd4 10.Nb5+ Ke7 11.Nxd4 d6 12.Qf4 Nf6 13.O-O when White also recovers one of his sacrificed pieces.

Aggressive, but not enough is 9.d4, i.e. 9...Bxd4 10.Bf4 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qf6 12.O-O-O+ Kc5 13.Rd5+ Kc6 14.Rxe5 Qxf5 15.exf5 d6 16.Re8 b6 17.Rd1 Bb7 18.Re4 Kd7 19.Re3 Nf6 20.Rg3 Rhg8 21.Rg6 Ne4 22.Re1 Rge8 23.Rxg7+ Kc6 24.c4 Nxf2 25.Rge7 Rxe7 26.Rxe7 Ba6 27.Bxh6 Bxc4 28.f6 Ng4 29.Bg7 Ne5 30.h3 Bxa2 31.g4 a5 32.g5 Ng6 33.Re2 Nf4 34.Rh2 a4 35.h4 Nh5 36.Kb2 Bd5 37.Rd2 a3+ 38.Ka1 a2 39.Rxd5 Kxd5 40.f7 Nxg7 41.g6 Ke6 42.h5 Nxh5 43.f8=Q Rxf8 44.Kxa2 Kf6 White resigned, swamishashi - wdiedrich, 8 0 blitz, lichess.com, 2015.

9...Kc6

Not 9...Ke7 10.Qxe5+ Kf8 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxc7 Black resigned, morphyavatar - noobtwokey, FICS, 2013. 

10.Qxe5

Again 10.d4 is insufficient, if messy: 10...Kxb5 11.Qxe5 d6 (11... Qe7 12. a4+ Ka6 13.Qxc7 Qxe4+ 14. Be3 Qc6 15. Qxc6+ dxc6 16. dxc5 Nf6 17. O-O-O Nd5 18. c4 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Ka5 20. Kc2 Kb4 21. Ra1 Kxc4 22. Rhd1 Kxc5 23. a5 Bf5+ 24. Kc3 Rad8
25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Ra4 Rd3+ 27. Kc2 Ra3+ White resigned, coder3 - more, GameKnot.com, 2004) 12. Qd5 (12. Qxg7 Qf6 13. a4+ Kc6 14. d5+ Kb6 15. a5+ Ka6 16. Qg3 b5 17. axb6+ Kb7 18. bxc7 Kxc7 19. O-O Bd7 20. Be3 Ne7 21. Bxc5 Rhg8 22. Bxd6+ Qxd6 23. Qc3+ Kd8 24. f4 Qg6 25. g3 Qxe4 26. Qa5+ Ke8 27. Rae1 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 h5 29. Qa3 Rg7 30. d6 h4 31. Kg2 hxg3 32.
hxg3 Qd5+ 33. Kg1 Rh7 34. Rf3 Qd4+ 35. Rfe3 Black forfeited on time, MIG - Tshark, FICS, 2003) 12...Ne7 (allows mate) 13. a4+ Ka6 14. Qc4+ b5 15. Qxb5 checkmate, Manishsprasad - TimJonez, FICS, 2010. 

10...Qf6

Black avoids the tempting capture, 10...Kxb5: 11.a4+ Kb6 (better is 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5) 12.a5+ (12.d4 d6 13.dxc5+ dxc5 14.Qxg7 [14. a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5 b6 16. axb6+ Kb7 17. bxa7 Qd6 18. Qb5+ Qb6 19. Qd5+ Qc6 20. Qb3+ Qb6 21.Qf7 Qb4+ 22. c3 Qxe4+ 23. Be3 Be6 24. Qxg7 Ne7 25. Qxe7 Rhe8 26. Qc5 Qxg2 27.Qb5+ Kc8 28. Qxe8+ Kb7 29. Qb5+ Kc8 30. Qa6+ Kd8 31. O-O-O+ Black resigned, MIG - jirikb, FICS, 2000] 14... Ne7 15. Be3 Rg8 16.Qxh6+ c6 17. a5+ Kc7 18. Bxc5 Rxg2 19. Qf4+ Kd7 20. Rd1+ Black resigned, avgur - rajpal, FICS, 2009) 12... Kb5 13. c4+ Kxc4 14. Qc3+ Kb5 15. Qd3+ Kc6 16. Qd5+ Kb5 17. Qd3+ Kc6 18. Qd5+ Kb5 19. d4 c6 20. Qxc5+ Ka6 21. b4 Nf6 22. b5+ cxb5 23. Qd6+ b6 24. axb6+ Kb7 25.bxa7 Rxa7 26. Rxa7+ Kxa7 27. O-O Qb6 28. Be3 Qxd6 29. e5 Qa3 30. d5+ Kb7 31.exf6 gxf6 32. d6 Qxd6 33. Ra1 Kc7 34. g3 b4 35. Bf4 Qxf4 36. gxf4 Bb7 37. Ra7 b3 38. Ra1 Be4 39. Kf1 b2 40. Ra7+ Kb6 41. Rxd7 b1=Q+ White resigned,  Sanrink - wojowhiskey, FICS, 2012.

A couple of alternatives that transpose into each other are: 10...d6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Nf6 and 10...Nf6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 d6. 

11.Qd5+

Continuing to force the issue, but missing 11.Qxc7+!? Kxb5 12.a4+ Ka6 (other moves allow mate) 13.Qxc5 b6 14.Qa3 Qe7 15.Qd3+ Kb7 16.Qd5+ Kc7 17.d3 Bb7 18.Bf4+ d6 19.Qc4+ Kd7 when Black's King has escaped to relative safety, but it is likely that White's three extra pawns outweigh Black's extra piece.

This is a 10-minute game, and the advantages can go back and forth. 

11...Kxb5 12.O-O

Instead, Stockfish 7 suggests that with 12.a4+ Kb6 13.a5+ Ka6 14.Qxc5 Qc6 15.Qd4 Qxc2 16.d3 Ne7 17.O-O d6 18.Be3 Nc6 the game would be equal. Of course, that's easy for a computer to say. It looks like a big mess to me. 

12...Ne7 13.a4+ 

After Black's last, inaccurate move, White's attack gives him slightly better chances.

13...Kb6 14.Qb3+

Going after the King. Stronger was 14.a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5, going after the piece. 

14...Kc6 15.Qb5+ Kd6

Black's King remains uneasy, but the defender pulls his position together.

16.c3 c6 17.Qd3+ Kc7 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Bb2 Ba5 

20.e5 Qxe5 21.Rae1 Qg5 22.Re3 Nd5 23.Rg3 Nf4 24.Qe4 Qf6 25.Rf3 g5 26.Kh1 d5 

27.Qe1 Qd6 28.Kg1 Bd7 29.Qa1 Rhe8 30.Ba3 Qe6 

White continues to fight, but with Black's improved development and time a factor, the Hunter has become the Hunted.

31.Re3 Qg4 32.g3 Rxe3 33.dxe3 Nh5 34.Bb4 Bb6 35.Qe1 Qf3 36.a5 Bh3 37.axb6+ axb6 38.Qd1 Qg2 checkmate

An exciting game in a very sharp variation!