The Norton - Hallock Game (Part 4)

We continue a look at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game Norton - Hallock, correspondence, 1877 (see "The Norton - Hallock Game" Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3), assessing the contemporary evaluations of American Chess Journal editor William Hallock and gambit originator Alonzo Wheeler Jerome; while adding a modern perspective, the insights of Rybka, and various contents of my ChessBase files...

9.Qe1 Kf7

Hallock: Very good again. Brings the KR into the field. Obviously the capture of the Knight would lose the Queen.

10.h3

Hallock: A mere waste of time. Should have played Kh1 or c3

Jerome: Note (e) says "waste of time" not so; on the contrary is much better than 10.c3, for if 10...Re8 11.d4 Bxd4 12.cd Qxd4 and the KP is lost and Black has the best position. 10.Kh1 is good and safe.

White's best move, giving up a pawn to get some breathing room for his Queen, was 10.d4, when either 10...Qxd4 or 10...Bxd4 can be answered by 11.exf6. Black will remain a pawn up, with intense piece pressure and the two Bishops, but that would be better for White than either 10.h3, as played in the game, or 10.Kh1 or 10.c3 as mentioned by Jerome (all of which still favor Black).

The line proposed by Jerome as good for Black, 10.c3 Re8 11.d4 Bxd4 12.cxd4 Qxd4 is advantageous for the second player, but 10...Qd3 would have been even more so.

10...Re8

Hallock: Sound and brilliant.

11.Kh2

Hallock: If White answer 11.hxg4 Nxg4! 12.g3 (12.Qe4 Qh4! 13.Qf3+ Kg8 14.Qh3 Bxf2+ 15.Kh1 Rxe5 wins easily) 12...Rxe5 13.Qd1 Nxf2 etc If 14.Rxf2+ (If 14.c3 Qg5) 14...Qf6.

Jerome: In note (f) there seems to me to be quite an oversight for if 13...Nxf2 14.Rxf2 and then if 14...Qf6 as suggested in the note, 15.d4 and it is Black's goose which is immediately done brown. Of course 13...Nxf2 is not best. Again I cannot see the easy win after 15...Rxe5 the attack is with White.

Clearly 10...Re8 is a good and thematic move for Black.

White's best response seems to be 11.d3, followed by Nb1-d2-f3 and possibly Bc1-f4; although Black would still have the advantage.

Hallock is correct that capturing Black's Bishop with 11.hxg4 is well-answered by 11...Nxg4. This is especially clear after the further 12.d4 Qxd4 13.Nc3 Rxe5 when Black's pieces dominate.

However, in extending his analysis Hallock leaves himself open to Jerome's retort that after 11.hxg4 Nxg4 12.g3 Rxe5 13.Qd1 Nxf2 14.Rxf2 Qf6 Black is bested by 15.d4. Black's last move is a mistake: substitute 14...Bxf2+ for 14...Qf6 and he is winning. In this line 13...Bxf2+ is better than Hallock's suggested 13...Nxf2 – supporting Jerome's assertion that the latter move was "not best" – but 13...Nxf2 is also good, just not best.

It is hard to accept Jerome's argument that after Hallock's 11.hxg4 Nxg4 12.Qe4 Qh4 13.Qf3+ Kg8 14.Qh3 Bxf2+ 15.Kh1 Rxe5 "the attack is with White."  Black's crushing threat of ...Re5-h5 forces White to exchange Queens, after which Black's development and King safety vastly overshadow White's game – over 3 pawns' worth, according to Rybka.

Hallock now wraps the game up nicely.

11...Rxe5 12.Qxe5 Bd6 13.f4 Bxe5 14.fxe5

14...Be2 15.Rf2 Qd4 16.Rxe2 Re8 17.d3 Rxe5 18.c3 Qd5 White resigned