Jerome Gambit: Boom Again

It is interesting how often Black defends well against the Jerome Gambit, until he suddenly lets his game go - Boom! Here is another recent example.

Wall, Bill - Guest6791785
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb6 

Black does better giving up the Bishop with the direct 6...Bxd4, but he still is better after the text move.

7.dxe5 Ne7 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qb3+ Kf8 10.O-O 

Bill points out that he could draw with a repetition, i.e. 10.Qf3+ Kg8 11.Qb3+ Kf8 etc, - but, seriously, nobody plays the Jerome Gambit to draw.

10...d5 11.Nc3 Be6

This sets up some interesting play concerning the d-pawn.

12.Bg5 c6 13.Rad1 Qd7 14.Bxe7+ Qxe7 15.exd5 cxd516.Nxd5

White has won the pawn - but, wait, can't Black take advantage of the pin along the a2-f7 diagonal?

16...Qf7

Better was to forget about the pawn, and play something like 16...g6, which would lead to a balanced game.

17.Qa3+

Ouch! Bill points out this threatens 18.Nxb6 winning the Bishop, as the a-pawn is pinned.

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Boom!

I have long subscribed to the "time bomb" notion in club chess: that players are apt to play reasonable chess until, suddenly, a cognitive "time bomb" goes off, and they make a blunder. The frequency of these "explosions"/blunders depends upon the level of skill of the player: strong players may slip only once a game (or even less often) while more "average" club players can have their "time bombs" go off much more often, even every other move.

The following game shows Black defending reasonably well (and White, solidly) until - Boom! The unbalanced and unbalancing Jerome Gambit is the kind of opening that increases the likelihood of such a slip. 

Wall, Bill - Guest4148523
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 

8.O-O Nf6 9.Re1 Be6 10.f4 c5

A common move in similar positions, and not bad - despite my sense that it can be dangerous to "kick" the Queen. In this game, White works to prove that the backward d-pawn is a liability.

11.Qc3 Nc6 12.f5 Bd7 13.Bf4 Qe7 

This is not a bad move, but Black might have done better to have defended the pawn tactically with 13...Re8.

14.Nd2 Ne5 15.Nc4 Nxc4 16.Qxc4+ Kf8 

The d-pawn is still alive.

White can now try to pick up a pawn with 17.e5 dxe5 18.Rxe5 Qf7 19.Qxc5+, but Black has the sharp alternative 18...b5!?, instead, to keep things in balance.

Black now relaxes a bit too soon, and his position goes Boom! 

17.Rad1 Bc6 18.Bxd6 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Chess in my life

Just ran across Jerzy Konikowski's Polish language blog "Chess in my life" that provides the additional "We provide information that is successful or not, but always true!"

His post on the Jerome Gambit has a link to Jonathan Speelman's "Agony" column #24, at the chessbase website, that covers a couple of my Jerome Gambit games.

Nice to be causing mischief the world over! 

Well, Well, Well...

Well, well, well...

It looks like I have one more Jerome Gambit  to play in my current Chess.com tournament, after all.

I had better get to work: due to an unexpected run of good fortune,  a win or two more might catapult me into the third round of play - and allow me to try more Jeromes.

It's a good day.☺

Jerome Gambit: The Velveteen Rabbit (Part 3)

[continued from earlier post]

perrypawnpusher - warwar
"Italian Battleground ", Chess.com, 2018

Although White will be only the exchange up, the Rook's ability to attack both sides of the board will be sufficient to bring home the win.

31.b3 Bxg4 32.c4 b6 33.Kf2 

There was also the straight forward 33.c5 bxc5 34.dxc5 dxc5 35.Rc1 which would open lines for the Rook. I wanted to position my King, first.

33...h5 34.Kg3 h6

35.Kf4 a6 

Black is getting squeezed. If 35...Bd7, then 36.Rh1 Bg4 37.c5 was one way to proceed. My choice was slower.

36.b4 Bd7 37.c5 bxc5 38.bxc5 dxc5 39.dxc5 Black resigned

Black cannot stop White's passed pawn and protect his own pawns at the same time.

Jerome Gambit: Velveteen Rabbit (Part 2)

[continued from earlier post]

perrypawnpusher - warwar

"Italian Battleground" , Chess.com, 2018

17...Nxe4 18.f6

As I wrote earlier, now "it will be interesting to see which one of us unveils his 'improvement' on the play first." 

18...Nxf6!?

My opponent takes the pawn, with a move not seen in any of the games in The Database, in effect saying "Show me!".

I think the text move leads to an edge for White, despite Black being up a piece, but it is necessary to prove that - and my opponent had a defensive plan in mind.

19.Rf4 Kg7 20.Raf1 Be6 21.Qg3+ 

21...Ng4

A scientific idea - the proper way to deal with a gambit is to take the material, and then return it at a time when it will intefere with the attack.

22.hxg4

Later, I became curious and asked Stockfish what I should have decided upon, here. It cranked out 22.d5!?.

I could see some of that - capturing the pawn with 22...Bxd5 would allow White to swing a Rook over to the g-file, doubling with the Queen, i.e. 23.Rxg4+. It turns out that, then, White would have a mate in 30-something moves, but I would never have figured that out.

But, what if Black did what he sometimes does, protect his King while giving White the choice of which piece to grab back - as with 22...Kh8!? ? Stockfish was confident that after 23.dxe6 Ne5 White would still be better (almost 3 pawns better, according to the computer), but even now I can not become excited by the position.

All in all, I am happy with having just captured the Knight.

22...Qg5 

Black's idea. It falls victim to my initiative, however.

23.Ne4 Qd5 24.Nf6 Qg5

25.Nxe8+

Later, I discovered that this was not Stockfish's choice, either. It liked 25.Re4!?, with White holding the advantage of almost a Queen. I still don't understand that.

25...Rxe8 26.Qc3 Kg8 27.Qxc7 

Okay, White is the exchange and a pawn better. A win, right?

"Won" games don't win themselves.

27...Qe7 28.Qxe7+ Rxe7 29.Re1

Wrong Rook. I had better with 29.Re4 d5 30.Re5 Re8 31.Rf6!? when, after an exchange of Rooks, Black's pawns are too weak to save from attack.

29...Rf7 30.Rxf7 Kxf7 

Black's King and Bishop are more active than they should have been allowed to be.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Can He Do That? (Part 3)

?????

Here we have another Jerome Gambit game by Bill Wall, where he experiments and stretches the boundaries of the opening even further.

What to say of his 5th move? Well, in his notes he gives it a "?" - but that may be because he scored only a draw with it. 

Still, that is another argument that in the Jerome Gambit, "having said A, one must say B", that is, having played 4.Bxf7+, one must play 5.Nxe5+. 
On the other hand, so many players still essay the "modern" Jerome Gambit variations...

Wall, Bill - Guest709058
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Qe2 

The culprit.

5...d6

Bill has also faced 5...Nf6 6.Qc4+ d5 7.Qxc5 Qd6 (7...dxe4 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Re8 10.Qb5 Qd4 11.O-O c6 12.Qb3+ Nd5 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Qxb7+ Ne7 15.Re1 Bd5 16.b3 Kg8 17.Bb2 Rf8 18.Qxe7 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.Qg5 e3 21.Nxd5 exd2 22.Qxg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Asesino, Chess.com, 2010) 8.Qxd6 cxd6 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d3 Bg4 11.Ng5+ Kg6 12.Ne4 Rad8 13.f3 Bf5 14.Bd2 Rhe8 15.h4 Bxe4 16.dxe4 Ndb4 17.Kd1 Rc8 18.Nc3 Nd4 19.Rc1 Nbc6 20.h5+ Kf6 21.Be3 Red8 22.Kd2 d5 23.Nxd5+ Ke6 24.h6 g6 25.c3 Nb5 26.c4 Nbd4 27.b4 a6 28.Rhd1 Ne7 29.Bg5 Rd7 30.Nxe7 Rxe7 31.Bxe7 Kxe7 32.Ke3 Rd8 33.c5 Nc6 34.Rxd8 Kxd8 35.Rd1+ Ke7 36.Rd6 Nxb4 37.Rb6 Nxa2 38.Rxb7+ Ke6 39.Rxh7 Nb4 40.Ra7 Kf6 41.h7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest933324, PlayChess.com, 2018. 

6.O-O Nd4 7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.d3 Nf6 9.h3 Rf8 10.Nd2 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand and his position looks rock solid. White will have to work hard to get the game back in his favor.

11. c3 Bb6 12. a4 a6 13. b4 Be6 14. a5 Ba7 15.Nf3 Qd7

16.Ng5 h6 17.Nxe6 Qxe6 18.Bd2 Rf7 19.c4 Bd4 20.Rab1 Raf8 

Black is ready to attack.

White defends - but he also distracts. His resources will draw upon the psychological.

21.Be1 g5 22.Kh2 Ne8 23.f3 Ng7 24.Bf2 Bxf2 25.Qxf2 Nh5 26.b5 Nf4 27.Qa7 axb5 28.Qxb7 bxc4 29.dxc4 Qxc4 30.Rg1 c5

White fights on.

31.Qc6 Qe6 32.Rb6 Nxh3 

Somewhat impatient (but playable) - why won't White give up??

33.gxh3 Rxf3 34.Qd5 Qxd5

Exchanging Queens should take the starch out of White's resistance, Black figures. Bill points out that 34...Rxh3 was stronger - but he wasn't under the pressure to "win a won game", as his opponent was; he was simply "losing a lost game", and that is easier (sometimes). 

35.exd5 

35...R8f6

And, suddenly, weirdly, the game is drawn, as both players realize. It's not just the "all Rook endings are drawn" situation, White's passed a-pawn is a danger, and it will cost too much to sideline it.

36.Ra1 Rf2+ 37.Kg1 R2f3 38.a6 Rg3+ 39.Kh2 Rff3 40.Rb8+ Kg7 41.Rb7+ Kg6 42.a7 Rxh3+ 43.Kg2 drawn