Don't Try to Out-Think Me Redux

There is plenty of room in chess, at all levels, for a dash of "psychology", but it should only replace "good moves" in dire (or controlled) circumstances. Otherwise the outcome is likely to be something like the following.

(Here we have another example of the aphorism: in the Jerome Gambit, when White has equalized, he has the advantage.)

Wall,B - Igidius

PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nc3 

This time Bill chooses to develop his Knight over castling in this "modern" Jerome Gambit - for alternatives, see "Winning With the Jerome Gambit: A Game Full of Lessons".

6...Bxf2+

There was nothing wrong with 6...d6.

In other games opponents have tried 6...Ng4 (Wall,B - Richard123, Chess.com, 2010 [1-0, 10]); and 6...Rf8 (Wall,B - BarAbbas, PlayChess.com, 2012 [1-0, 45]).

With the text Black returns the "favor" of a sacrificed piece to create a displaced (and possibly vulnerable) King. Of course, he also moves from an "objectively" won game to an even game, which is generous of him. Such "psychology" appears regularly in Jerome Gambit games, and White can always say "thank you".

As I have cautioned the defender before: Don't try to out-think me, just play the refutation. 

7.Kxf2 Ng4+ 8.Kf1

Black's attack goes nowhere, but it is fun to include a game to show how it might have gone - with a good bit of luck and cooperation - 8.Kg3 d6 9.Ng5+ Kg6 10.h3 h6 11.hxg4 hxg5 12.Rxh8 Qxh8 13.Nd5 Qh4+ 14.Kf3 Bxg4+ 15.Ke3 Bxd1 16.Bd2 Qg3 checkmate, RomanDurdis - varsa, FICS, 2005. 

8...Rf8 9.Bg5 Qe8

Bill suggests, instead, 9...Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne7 with a roughly equal game. 

10.h3 h6 11.hxg4 hxg5 12.Qd2 Kg8 

Black gives up a pawn, perhaps thinking that it leaves White only a doubled, isolated pawn ahead; and, in the meantime, he safeguards his King. He puts his faith in his counter-attacking Knight.

13.Qxg5 Nd4

The piece hits the Knight at f3 and the pawn at c2. Surely this is compensation?!

14.Nd5 Nxf3 15.gxf3 Rxf3+ 

See, Black now has his pawn back.

Alas, White now has checkmate.

How did this happen??

16.Kg2 Qf7 17.Ne7+ Black resigned

A New Day in the Life of the Jerome Gambit

It is always nice to come across a Jerome Gambit game with a player who is new to me, and who appears to be new to the gambit.

In the following game White achieves a significant advantage, and then follows a sedate course to the full point. While it may be fun to point out some slam-bang checkmates along the way (it is worth playing them all out), it is always important to remember that "a win is a win". The end is inexorable, either way.

filipokpok - djernigan
blitz, FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+

The "nudge", usually a sign that the player is at least a little bit familiar with Jerome Gambit theory.

7...Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Ne5 

This move is not so much "bad" as it is provocative. It is perhaps telling that there is only one other game in The Database with this move.

10.O-O Nf6 11.d4

An improvement over 11.f4 as in perrypawnpusher - mconst, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 25).

11...Neg4

"When in doubt, neglect your development and attack the enemy Queen."

12.Qe2 Qe8 13.Nc3 c6 14.f4 Bd7 

Here we have a typical Jerome Gambit dynamic: Black has a somewhat restricted development (especially on the Queenside) while White has a menacing pawn center. Both need plans. Perhaps Black could threaten to undermine the "Jerome pawns" with 14...b5!? instead. 

15. f5 Nh6

Falling in with White's plans. Perhaps, analagous to the previous note, Black could look at 15...c5!?

16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Nd5 19.e6 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Bc8

If you are a tactical maniac, then the game is already over.

If you would like a quiet, step-by-step game that leads to "1-0", you can find that here, too.

Let's continue.

21.Rae1

Solid. When the "Jerome pawns" advance, they will sweep everything before them.

Alternately, there is 21.Qe5 h5 22.Qxh8+ Ke7 23.Qg7+ Kd8
24.Rad1+ Bd7 25.Rxd7+ Kc8 26.Rc7+ Kd8 27.Rd1+ Qd7 28.Qxd7 checkmate. Check it out, the thematic moves are instructive.

21...Qe7

Black's strongest defense is 21...Rg8, but then comes 22.e7+ Kf7 23.Qh5+ Kf6 24.Qxh6+ Kf7 25.Re6 Bxe6 26.Qxe6+ Kg7 27.f6+ Kh6 28.f7+ Rg6 29.Qe3+ Kg7 30.Qe5+ Kh6 31.Rf5 Rxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Qg8+ 33.Kh3 c5 34.Qe6+ Qg6 35.f8=Q+ Rxf8 36.exf8=Q checkmate. Of course, the defender would probably turn over his King before the 36th move.

22.f6

Well, that certainly would be enough for me to quail on defense.

Black does not take the hint, so perhaps it is okay to mention 22.Qe5 Rg8 23.f6 Qxe6 24.Qc5+ Kf7 25.Rxe6 Bxe6 26.Qe7+ Kg6 27.Qxe6 Rgf8 28.Qf5+ Kf7 29.Qxh7+ Ke6 30.Qe7+ Kd5 31.Rf5+ Kc4 32.Rc5 checkmate 

22...Qc5+ 23.Kh1 Qd5 

24.c4 

Black's Queen has escaped from under the footsteps of White's pawns, and White will have none of that: it is time to get his sacrificed material back, followed by a solid Rook and pawn endgame.

Alternately, there was 24.e7+ Ke8 25.f7+ Qxf7 26.Rxf7 Kxf7 27.Rf1+ Ke8 28.Qe5 Bh3 29.gxh3 Kd7 30.e8=Q+ Rhxe8 31.Rf7+ Re7 32.Rxe7+ Kd8 33.Qc7 checkmate. Remember, you attack your way and I'll attack my way...

24...Qxe6 25.Qxe6

It is silly to even mention the alternative: 25.Qd2 Kf7 26.Qxh6 Ke8 27.f7+ Kd8 28.Rxe6 Bxe6 29.Qxe6 Rf8 30.c5 h6 31.Rd1+ Kc7 32.Rd7+ Kc8 33.Qe8+ Rxe8 34.fxe8=Q checkmate

25...Bxe6 26.Rxe6 Kf7 

As filipokpok planned.

27.Re7+ Kg6 28.Rxb7

The text is enough. Congratulations if you also saw 28.Rg7+ Kh5 29.g3 c5 30.Rf5 checkmate 

28...Rhf8 29.f7 

White has this all figured out. (He could have been distracted by 29.Rg7+ Kh5 30.Rf3 c5 31.Rh3 checkmate.) 

29...a5 30.Rc7 Ra6 31.c5 a4 32.Rd7 Ra5 33.Rd6+ Kg7 34.Rxc6 Rxf7 35.Rxf7+ Kxf7 

Often in blitz "simpler is better" and so White has been willing to give up his advanced f-pawn to swap Rooks. There are more passed pawns available!

36.Rxh6 Kg7 37.Rc6 Rb5 38.Kg1 Rb2 39.Ra6 Rxc2 40.Rxa4 Rxc5 41.g4 Kg6 42.h4 Black resigned

Splendid!

[This is post #2,100 for the blog. August 2015 was also the 4th most visited month for jeromegambit.blogspot.com. Many thanks for the support and encouragement of Readers everywhere - Rick]

Fast, Faster, Fastest

Here are 3 Jerome Gambit games I picked up from the site lichess.org. Since the time limits were, respectively, 5 0, 3 0 and 1 0, you can expect some inaccuracies - but never a lack of excitement! (Interesting: the shorter the time limit, the longer the game.)

praentitong - fortescxi
5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.d3 d6 8.Bg5 Nf6 9.0-0 Nxh5 White resigned


We have seen White in the next game before, in an earlier Abrahams Jerome Gambit.

obamaGANDON - rpap
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Kf8 5.Qxe5 Qe7 6.Qf4+ Nf6 7.d3 Ke8 8.Qxc7 Nc6 9.Bg5 Qe5 10.Qxe5+ Nxe5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.0-0-0 Bxc3 14.bxc3 d6 15.f4 Ng4 16.h3 Nf2 17.Nf3 Nxh1 18.Rxh1 Be6 19.g4 Bxa2 20.f5 Bf7 21.g5 fxg5 22.Nxg5 Rc8 23.c4 a6 24.Re1 b5 25.e5 dxe5 26.Rxe5+ Kf8 27.d4 Rxc4 28.d5 Rc5 29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Kd2 Rd8 31.Kd3 Rcxd5+ 32.Rxd5 Rxd5+ 33.Ke4 Rc5 34.h4 Rxc2 35.h5 Rc5 36.Kf4 b4
White resigned


bbyd - jposthuma 
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Qf6+ 7.Qxf6+ Nxf6 8.Nf3 Nxe4+ 9.Ke3 d5 10.Rf1 Re8 11.d3 Ng3+ 12.Kf2 Nxf1 13.Ng5+ Kf6 14.Kxf1 Bg4 15.Nc3 c6 16.Nxh7+ Kg7 17.Ng5 Nd7 18.Bf4 Nf6 19.Bc7 Bf5 20.Ba5 Re7 21.Bb4 Re3 22.Bc5 Rae8 23.Bxe3 Rxe3 24.Re1 Rxe1+ 25.Kxe1 Ng4 26.Nf3 Kf6 27.Ke2 Ne5 28.Nxe5 Kxe5 29.Nd1 Bg4+ 30.Ke1 Bxd1 31.Kxd1 Kf4 32.Ke2 d4 33.g3+ Kg4 34.Kf2 Kh3 35.Kg1 g5 36.Kh1 g4 37.Kg1 c5 38.Kh1 b6 39.a3 b5 40.b3 a6 41.b4 c4 42.dxc4 bxc4 43.a4 d3 44.cxd3 cxd3 45.b5 d2 46.b6 d1Q checkmate

Off On A Brief Tangent

I recently acquired Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3 by Harald Keilhack, an updated English version of his German language Der Linksspringer. I really like the book, and I am not alone - see the review by Paul Kane and review by lefthandsketch on the Brooklyn 64 site.

I noticed that in his chapter "Against the Sicilian - 1.Nc3 c5 2.Nf3" Keilhack took time to digress and address "The French Marshall" connection (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c5), where he mentioned my 1988 effort:

There is a booklet The Marshall Gambit in the French and Siclian Defenses by Kennedy/Sheffield with interesting material, however, its rather confusing presentation doesn't allow clear conclusions either.

Oh, well. In our book Riley and I opted to group the lines of play by patterns of piece development, rather than give example master games (with notes) or structure things along lines such as A1b1(c), etc. (By the way, we wrote back before electronic chess databases were prevalent - collecting the games from books, including those in the White Collection of the Cleveland Public Library.)

I will remember Keilhack's concerns as I prepare All or Nothing! The Jerome Gambit, my magnum opus on my current favorite opening.

Outwitted

I certainly wish that I could find a definite link between Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, the "inventor" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), and the similar line in the Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+) - other than the references Gerald Abrahams made in two of his books, hence my naming the line the Abrahams Jerome Gambit.

Still, it's hard to overlook the following game, where White tops a player rated over 350 points above him. "outwitted"? I don't think so!  (When he looks over his game, I hope my notes help.)

outwitted - perece
standard, FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ 

Currently there are 16,200 Abrahams Jerome Gambit games in The Database (with many more to add). White wins 51%. This compares with 11,645 standard Jerome Gambit games (not counting transpositions from the Four Knights or the Semi-Italian) where White scores 45%.

3...Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Ke6 5.Nf3

While going over this game I found an interesting glitch in Stockfish 6. It evaluates the alternative move 5.Qg4+ as "=" (0.00) and keeps that evaluation even after the move 5...Kf7 is played, saying that after 6.Qh5+ the evaluation will still be "0.00". However, when I play 6.Qh5+ I immediately see that after 6...Kf8 Black is rated 1.5 (or so) pawns better!?

For other thoughts on the move see "Exploring".

5...Qf6 

This is not as strong a move as in many of the regular Jerome Gambit lines.

6.d4

Opening a line to add his Bishop to the attack. Next time outwitted will be ready with 6.Qe8+ Qe7 7.Qxc8 winning a piece.

6...Bxd4

6...Nc6, best for Black, is still better for White. 

7.Bg5 

Straight forward. However, 7.Nxd4+ is the right way to go after the Queen, i.e. 7...exd4 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Bg5. (This is the second time that outwitted appears in The Database with the white pieces, and he is still feeling his way around.)

7...Qg6

Now Black is OK.

8.Qg4+ Kd6

A better defense was 8...Kf7 9.Nh4 (9.c3 Bb6 10.Nxe5+ Black resigned, bobx - ABoni, FICS, 2007) 9...Qe6 10.c3 h6 11.Qxe6+ dxe6 12.Bd2 Bb6 13.O-O Nf6 14.Be3 Rf8 15.Bxb6 axb6 16.f4 exf4 17.Rxf4 g5 18.Rf1 gxh4 19.e5 Kg6 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.Rxf6+ Kxf6 22.Nd2 Ra4 23.Rf1+ Kg7 24.a3 Nc6 25.Nf3 h3 26.g3 e5 27.Re1 Kf6 28.Nh4 Rxh4 29.gxh4 Bg4 30.Rf1+ Ke6 31.Rf8 h5 32.Re8+ Kd5 33.Rc8 Kd6 34.Rh8 e4 35.Rh6+ Kd5 36.Rh8 e3 37.Re8 e2 38.Kf2 Ne5 39.Rd8+ Ke4 40.Re8 Kf4 41.Rf8+ Ke4 42.Re8 Kd5 43.Rd8+ Kc4 44.Rd4+ Kb3 45.Re4 Nd3+ 46.Ke3 e1=Q+ 47.Kxd3 Bf5 48.c4 Qxe4+ 49.Kd2 Qd3+ 50.Ke1 Kxb2 51.Kf2 Qe4 52.Kf1 Qf3+ 53.Ke1 Kc2 54.c5 Bd3 55.cxb6 Qe2 checkmate,  RattyMouse - vballmike, FICS, 2009. 

9.c3

This works, in light of Black's response, but next time White might follow RattyMouse: 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.Qg3 Nxe4 11.Nxe4+ Qxe4+ 12.Kd1 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Qd5+ 14.Ke2 Bc3 15.Rhd1 Bd4 16.Nxd4 Qc4+ 17.Ke3 Qc3+ 18.Rd3 Qc5 19.Rbb3 Nc6 20.Rbc3 Qxc3 21.Rxc3 Nxd4 22.Kd3 b6 23.Be3 Ba6+ 24.Kd2 Nc6 25.Qxg7 Rhg8 26.Qxh7 Rxg2 27.Qh6+ Ke7 28.Qh7+ Kd6 29.Qh6+ Ke7 30.Bg5+ Kf7 31.Qf6+ Ke8 32.Qh8+ Kf7 33.Qxa8 Rxf2+ 34.Ke3 Re2+ 35.Kf3 e4+ 36.Kf4 Black forfeited on time, RattyMouse - Udon, FICS, 2008. 

Stockfish 6's suggestion is 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5+ Kc6 11.O-O Qe6 12.Qf3+ Kb6 13.c3 Ne7 14.cxd4 c6 15.Nc3 Nd5. 

9...Bxf2+

Lashing out. There is an idea behind the move, but White figures it out.

10.Kxf2 h6

The White Bishop is pinned.

11.Rd1+ Kc5 12.Rd5+ 

12. Be3+ is fine, too.

12...Kc4 13.Nxe5 checkmate.

Wilderness

Compared to the urban superhighways of the Ruy Lopez or King's Indian Defense, the Jerome Gambit is a path through the woods. Some lesser-played lines are a trudge through the wilderness. In the following game, White, with 155 games in The Database, travels, then wanders, then gets a bit lost - fortunately for him, his opponent is even less prepared for the journey.

fehim - sonikf
blitz, FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+Kf8 8.Qxc5+ N8e7

A playable, but not often played, move. (More often seen is 8...d6.) All of the relevant games from The Database can be given or linked to.

9.O-O d6 10.Qe3

10.Qc4 was seen in  Wall,B - Guesty1960624, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 30) while fehim, himself, tried earlier: 10.Qb4 b6 11.d3 Bb7 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 Qd7 14.Nd2 Kf7 15.Qb3+ Qe6 16.Qc3 Rhf8 17.Qxc7 Rab8 18.Qc3 Kg8 19.Nf3 Rfc8 20.Qd2 Ne5 21.Nd4 Qf6 22.h3 N7c6 23.Nf5 Ne7 24.Ng3 d5 25.f4 N5g6 26.e5 Qf7 27.d4 Nf5 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.g4 Qxc2 30.Qb4 Nh4 31.Rf2 Qe4 32.Re1 Nf3+ 33.Kf1 Nxe1 34.Qxe1 Rc2 35.Rxc2 Qxc2 36.Qd2 Qxd2 37.Bxd2 Rc8 38.Bc3 Kf7 39.a3 Ke6 40.Kf2 a6 41.Kf3 b5 42.f5+ Ke7 43.Kf4 g5+ 44.fxg6 Rg8 45.h4 Rxg6 46.h5 Rg8 47.Kf5 Rf8+ 48.Kg6 Rf4 49.Kxh6 Rxg4 50.Kh7 White forfeited on time. fehim - HarryPaul, FICS, 2006.

10... Kf7

Alternatives:

10...Nc6 11.d4 Qe7 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nf8 14.c3 h6 15.Na3 Nh7 16.Bd2 Nf6 17.Rae1 a6 18.Nc2 Bd7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Qe4 Nb6 22.Kh1 Rf8 23.g4 Qh4 24.e6 Bc8 25.Rg1 Re8 26.Bf4 Re7 27.b3 h5 28.g5 Black forfeited on time, MrJoker - rex3, Internet Chess Club, 2012;

10...h6 11.d4 Kg8 12.c4 (12.f4 as in mrjoker - hp9000, Internet Chess Club, 2009 [1-0, 19])12... Kh7 13. f4 c5 14. dxc5dxc5 15. Qxc5 Qb6 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. Be3 Ra6 18. Nc3 Rf8 19. g3 Bg4 20. Kg2 h5 21. h3 Bd7 22. a4 Bc6 23. b4 Nf5 24. Bg1 Black forfeited on time, MrJoker - ilongavab, Internet Chess Club, 2012 (1-0,24);

10...b6 as in perrypawnpusher - Jaqueperpetuo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 25); 

10...Ke8 11.d4 Rf8 12.f4 Kf7 (12...d5 as in guest645 - guest1600, Internet Chess Club, 2001 [1-0, 31]) 13. f5 Nh8 14. Qb3+ d5
15. Bg5 c6 16. Nc3 h6 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. exd5 Kg8 19. dxc6+ Nf7 20. Nd5 Qd6 21.c7 Kh7 22. Rae1 b6 23. c4 Bb7 24. Re6 Qd7 25. Re7 Qc8 26. Qg3 Bxd5 27. Qg6+ Kg828. f6 Ng5 Black resigned, Ghandy - pratmanu, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 28); 

10... Be6 as in mrjoker - cherryhead, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (1-0, 50); and

10...Bd7 as in guest4097 - guest4686, Internet Chess Club, 2004 (1-0, 25);

11.f4 Rf8 12.f5 Ne5 13.Qb3+ d5 

White is working to interfere with Black castling-by-hand. He should take a moment, now, to support his center with 14.Nc3. Instead, he continues to go after the enemy King.

14.f6 gxf6 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Qg3

White does not want to exchange Queens and weaken his chances for an attack, but this move puts Her Majesty in a risky position and strengthens Black's counter-attack.

16...Bf5

Even stronger is 16...Rg8.

17.d3 Bg6 18.Nc3 Qe6 19.Bh6 Rg8 20.Rae1

In this complicated position Stockfish 6 recommends the bizarre 20...Be4!? 21.Bg5 Bf5!? when White's Bishop, not Black's, will be in danger, finishing up with 22.h4 h6 23.d4 Qb6 24.Qf2 hxg5 25.dxe5 Qxf2+ 26.Rxf2 gxh4 27.exf6 Kxf6 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Rxf5; Black is ahead the exchange.

However, the defender gets lost in the woods.

20...Qd6  21.Rxe5 Black resigned

This is a complicated position (exchanging Queens first with 21.Qxe5 Qxe5 22.Rxe5 might have helped White) and it is difficult to see Black resigning while just a pawn down, but perhaps he had his fill of the wilderness or his clock was winding down.

There Are Some Risks We Should Not Take.

Let's face it, some players succeed with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - even the more difficult lines - because they are strong, and they would succeed against their opponents whatever opening they used.

Then, there is the rest of us. Staying away from really bad lines (relatively speaking: remember, we are talking about the Jerome Gambit here) is essential. Never mind that our heroes have played them and escaped to triumph. There are some risks we should not take.

Galamon - GimpBishop
blitz, FICS, 2015

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 

Whistler's Defense. Stronger, much less known, and more dangerous for White than Blackburne's Defense (7...d6).

Do yourself a favor as a Jerome Gambiteer: don't take the Rook.

8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1

Yes, I know that Bill Wall once played the equally painful 9.Kd1 and managed a draw in Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, blitz 10 0, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 14). Better to remember the lessons of Jerome,A - Whistler,G, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 15)

9...Qxc2

Yes, I know that against 9...Nf6 ZahariSokolov at FICS won his game last year (ZahariSokolov - Dragonianlee, FICS, 2014 [1-0, 20]) and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome achieved a draw, a long time ago, in a correspondence game (Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 [½-½, 20]) but both were fortunate; and while the text is okay, 9...Qh4!? is stronger than either it or 9...Nf6.

10.Qxh7+ Kf8

If you have access to The Database you might want to point out to me that after 10...Kf6 White won in markinchrist - Gurucool, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 20) - but that was only because Black forfeited by disconnection when he had a forced checkmate in 9 moves.

11.Qxg6

A blunder.

Yes, chessmanjeff of FICS both won and lost games with 11.Nc3 (chessmanjeff - CHESSWILL, blitz, FICS, 2013 [1-0, 38]  and chessmanjeff - throwback, blitz, FICS, 2014 [0-1, 16]) - that's scoring 50%, right? - but "objectively" Black's game was still better.

11...Qd1 checkmate