The World Champion Has Used Yury Bukayev’s Advice on 4…Be7 in Game 11 of the Match with Enough Success

 The World Champion Has Used Yury Bukayev’s Advice  

on 4…Be7 in Game 11 of the Match with Enough Success  

(by Yury V. Bukayev) 

 

Let’s analyse the opening stage of today’s main chess game GM Lei Tingjie – WCC GM Ju Wenjun (Game 11 of the World Chess Championship Match 2023: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2548557  ):  

 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7  

In my recent analytical publication (https://jeromegambit.blogspot.com/2023/07/lei-tingjie-has-beaten-ju-wenjun-in.html) on Game 5 (and partially on Game 3) I have written about opponents’ moves 4.d3 Bc5: “This sequence is very popular among top chess players in the modern time, but I don’t recommend both 4.d3?! and 4…Bc5?!, if you want to make the best move. Thus, after 4…Be7! White doesn’t have an advantage”. Thus, Ms. Ju has used my advice on 4…Be7 today. 

 

5.Nc3 d6 6.a4 0-0 7.Bg5 Be6 

Black has a very good alternative: 7…h6! AN 8.Bh4 [8.h4? hxg5 9.hxg5 Ng4!, and Black has a large advantage; 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nd5 g6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.h3 Be6 or 11…Kg7, and Black stands slightly better in both cases; 8.Be3 Be6 9.Nd5 Bxd5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.c3 Nbxd5 12.Bxd5 Nxd5 13.Qb3 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Rb8!?, and Black has a large advantage] 8…Nh7!? 9.Bg3 [9.Bxe7 Qxe7 =] 9…Bg4! 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bh2 Ng5 12.g4 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Nd4, and after 14…Bg6 Black has a good position.  

It is very interesting that after 9…Re8 10.0-0!? (10.h3) 10…Bg4 11.h3 Bh5?! White plays 12.Nxe5!!, and after the natural move 12…Bxd1? White gets a very large advantage after 13.Nxf7!: if 13…Qb8 (Black gets an enormous material advantage) 14.Ne5+! Kh8 15.Ng6#, and it is much more complicated than the Legal’s Mate – one of topics of this famous blog. 

 

8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nd5 Bxd5 

The move 8.Bxf6 isn’t the best one, although it is impossible for White to get an advantage here. After 9…Bxd5 the game’s position is almost even. Black has a very good alternative: 9…g6! AN (with the idea 10…Bg7!) 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 (here Black plans to capture White’s Bishop) 11.Bxe6 Qxe6! with the following …f7-f5!, and Black stands better.  

 

And let me finish this research. I recommend the Women’s World Champion Ms. Ju to choose more strong and more aggressive opening system in the 12th classical game of the Match, its result depends on its early opening stage enough strongly. Thus, I recommend her to play 1.e4, 1.c4 or 1.d4 instead of 1.Nf3. 

 

 Contact the author:  istinayubukayev@yandex.ru   

  

© 2023 Yury V. Bukayev (Copyright © Bukayev Yury Vyacheslavovich 2023). All rights reserved.   

[A legal using of this investigation with a reference to it is permitted   

and doesn’t require author’s consent.]  

 

International Chess Day

 

Jerome Gambit: 17th Piece Again

It is important to remember that in very fast time controls, the challanges that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) provides to the defender are not always on the board.

Black can sometimes "solve" the Jerome, but that comes at the cost of thinking time. Sometimes too much thinking time.

The following game is an excellent example. Playing through the moves, you might get a bit of indigestion on the part of angelcamina, but, never fear, his "17th piece" comes through.

angelcamina - Jigsaw71

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ N8e7 9.O-O d6 10.Qc4 c6 

(10...Ne5 11.Qb3 N7c6 12.f4 Nd7 13.Nc3 Qe8 14.d3 Qf7 15.Qa3 Kg8 16.Bd2 h5 17.Rae1 h4 18.Nd5 Nf6 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 20.Bc3 h3 21.g3 Bd7 22.e5 Qd5 23.Rf2 fxe5 24.fxe5 Nxe5 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Qe7 Re8 27.Qg5+ Kh7 28.Rf6 Qg2 checkmate, angelcamina - lucasmaps, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022) 

11.f4 d5 12.exd5 cxd5 13.Qb3 Bf5 14.Nc3 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Qxb3 16.axb3 Bxc2 17.b4 Bd3 18.Re1 a6 19.Re3 Bf5 20.d4 Kf7 21.g3 Rhe8 22.h3 Bxh3 23.Kh2 Bg4 24.Bd2 Nf5 25.Re5 Nxe5 26.dxe5 g6 27.Rh1 d4 28.Ne4 Rad8 29.Ng5+ Kg7 30.Kg2 d3 31.Rxh7+ Kg8 32.Rxb7 Nd4 33.Bc3 Ne2 34.Bd2 Rc8 35.Nh7 Rc2 36.Nf6+ White won on time

Jerome Gambit: Psychology

There is a psychological aspect to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). The defender, expecting to enter into a quiet game (Giuoco Piano), suddenly is under a wild attack that can come as a surprise and be very unsettling.

Black also has a few psychological counters.

Simplest is to decline the Bishop sacrifice with 4...Kf8. White, intent upon some kind of Bashi-Bazouk attack, has to be content with withdrawing the Bishop to d5 or c4 or b3; and a realization that he is playing a quiet game, although with an extra pawn, against a displaced King. (Stockfish 15 rates White as better by more than 2 pawns.)

Black can decline the offered Knight after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ with 5...Kf8; again the game does not turn out as White planned.

A more developed psychological counter by Black is seen in the "Counter-Jerome Defense" or the "Counter-Jerome Gambit", as is seen in the following game.

Anonymous - Anonymous

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

Here, Black can play Blackburne's 7...d6, or Whistler's 7...Qe7.

Instead, he initiates a Jerome-like piece sacrifice to promote the exchange of Queens.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Rf1 Nxe4+ 11.Kg1+

I find this a fascinating position.

Material is equal and development is roughly balanced, although King safety may become an issue for Black.

I was surprised to see that Stockfish 15 (35 ply) rates White as about 4 pawns better.

The database has 24 games with this position, with White scoring 79%.

This game demonstrates. 

11...Kg7 12.b3 

Targeting the Black King along the long a1-h8 diagonal.

12...Kh6 

Dodging the upcoming Bishop attack which would skewer the King and win the Rook.

But this walks into more danger. 

Remember, this is a 3-minute blitz game, and accidents can happen.

13.d3+ g5 14.dxe4 Re8 

Black's Rook is out of danger - for now.

15.Re1 d5 16.Nc3 d4 17.Nd5 Re6 

Stumbling, in order to prevent Rf6+, but overlooking the possible fork with 18.Nxc7. It is a difficult day for the piece.

18.h4  

Focusing on the King.

18...Kh5 19.Bxg5 c6 20.Nf4+ Kg4 21.Nxe6 Bxe6 

White is a Rook up. Can he bring the game home before his flag falls?

22.Rad1 c5 23.Rf1 Kh5 24.Rf6 Re8 

White has a forced checkmate.

25.Rdf1 Bg8 26.Rf8 

An exchange of Rooks increases his advantage.

26...Rxf8 27.Rxf8 Be6 

White can easily grind out an endgame win, or go for a checkmate.

For the latter he will need to involve one more piece.

28.Rf6 Bd7 29.Kf2 b5 30.Kf3 Bg4+ 31.Kf4 Bd1 32.Rh6 checkmate

It does not appear that White was troubled in the least by the absence of his Queen.

Jerome Gambit: Just What the Doctor Ordered

I have been ill the last few days, with a fever up to 102 degrees, which is not good for an old brain.

Today I was restless: life on ginger ale and crackers can get pretty boring, fever dreams notwithstanding.

So, after Oooo-ing and Ahhhh-ing over the latest pictures of the grandkids, I decided to again ("Jerome Gambit: Doggone") wander over to the Chess.com website and occupy my mind with another tussle with a cyber version ("Hide Your Homework! The New Dog Bots Are Here") of "man's best friend".

True, Buddy Buckets is rated 1350, and this is hardly a good game, but I was looking for a therapy dog, not a chess lesson (otherwise known as "receiving a beat-down"). Canine kindness prevailed, and Dr. Dog helped lift my spirits.

perrypawnpusher - buddybuckets-dog (c)

casual game, Chess.com, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6 

The Jerome Gambit is known as a "refuted" opening, but it still helps to know a little theory to combat it. This move, protecting the Knight, is overly optimistic. The Database has 283 games with this position; White scores 79%.

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Bd7 

Take back two sacrificed pieces and call me in the morning.

11.Nc3 Be6 12.O-O c6 13.f4 Bf7 14.d4 Ne7 

Black's play has been too cautious. His King is still in the center, and files will be opened against it.

15.e5 Rc8 16.e6 Bg8 17.f5 h5 

The computer's equivalent of yelling Squirrel! to distract me. 17...h6 or 17...Ke8 were better, but would not have put off Buddy's problems.

The "Jerome pawns" will continue their advance.

18.f6 Ng6 19.e7+ 

It is unfortunate that the best move, now, is 19...Qxe7, giving up the Queen. Black's choice, instead, leads to inescapable mate.

19...Nxe7 20.fxe7+ Ke8 21.exd8=Q+ Kxd8 22.Rf8+ Kd7 23.Rxc8 Kxc8 24.Qe8+ Kc7 25.Bg5 Kb6 26.Bd8+ Ka6 27.Qe2+ b5 28.a4 Rh6 29.axb5+ Kb7 30.Qe7+ Kb8 31.Qc7+ Ka8 32.Qc8 checkmate

Thank you, Buddy Buckets.

Jerome Gambit: Appearances Can Be Deceiving

The following game requires some attention to accurately assess the positions that arise. That is easy for us to do, as readers, but a bit more difficult for the players who were moving at a very rapid rate.

angelcamina - BubbleBabble

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qc4 Qf6 

Did Black overlook the loss of the c-pawn, or was he gambitting it? In bullet chess, sometimes it can be hard to tell.

Angelcamina's response shows his assessment.

10.O-O 

Seriously. With 60 seconds thinking time for the game, why even wander into 10.Qxc7 Nh4 11.Rg1 etc.

10...Be6 11.Qxc7  

But now the pawn is worth it? Well, White's King is protected, and Black's d-pawn is not.

By the way, a couple of years ago angelcamina declined the gift: 11.Qb4 b6 12.Nc3 N8e7 13.f4 Kf7 14.f5 Ke8 15.fxe6 Qxe6 16.d3 Ne5 17.Qb5+ c6 18.Qa6 Nc8 19.Qb7 Nd7 20.Qxa8 Ke7 21.Qxc6 a5 White now has a forced checkmate 22.Nd5+ Ke8 23.Nc7+ Ke7 24.Nxe6 Kxe6 25.Qd5+ Ke7 26.Bg5+ Nf6 27.e5 dxe5 28.Qxe5+ Kf7 29.Bxf6 Kg6 30.Bxg7 Re8 31.Qf6+ Kh5 32.Rf5+ White won on time, angelcamina - hosein_1374, lichess.org, 2021.

11...Rc8 12.Qxd6+ N8e7 

An interesting position. 

White has 4 pawns for his sacrificed piece.

Black is far ahead in development, but except for his Rook his pieces don't seem to be attacking anything.

White now buys himself a little trouble by neglecting his c-pawn.

13.f4 

After the game he probably figured 13.Nc3 was better. Or - maybe that he took a risk and it paid off.

13...Rc6 14.Qa3 Bc4 

Instead, 14...Rxc2 led to an equal position.

15.d3 Kf7 16.e5 Qh4 17.dxc4 Nf5 

Again, Black looks like he is doing okay, despite his pawn shortage. Stockfish 15, however, assesses him as being down about a Rook and a piece.

18.Qxa7 Rhc8 19.Qxb7+ R8c7 20.Qb3 Rxc4 21.Nd2 Ne3 

Finally, the White Queen gets some help.

22.Nxc4 Nxf1 23.Nd6+ Ke7 24.Qf7+ Kd8 25.Qe8 checkmate