All's Well That Ends Well

The following game shows Philidor 1792 giving the "Jerome treatment" to the Berlin Defense of the Bishop Opening... The final position is worth bringing in a not-exactly-Jerome-Gambit line.

Philidor 1792 - guest63
3 0 blitz,www.peshka.me, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+

3...Kxf7 4.Qe2 d5

Alternatives:
4...d6 5.Nf3 h6 6.c3 Bg4 7.Qc4+ Ke8 8.Qb5+ Nc6 9.Qxb7 Ne7 10.Qb5+ c6 11.Qe2 g5 12.d4 Ng6 13.Nbd2 Bg7 14.O-O Kf7 15.Qc4+ d5 16.Qxc6 dxe4 17.Nxe5+ Nxe5 18.dxe5 Nd7 19.Qxe4 Bxe5 20.Qxg4 Qf6 21.Qxd7+ Kg6 22.Nf3 g4 23.Qxg4+ Kf7 24.Qh5+ Ke7 25.Nxe5 Rhf8 26.Ng6+ Black resigned, Philidor1792 - Stranger, Chess-samara.ru. 2014;

4...Bc5 5.Qc4+ d5 6.Qxc5 Na6 7.Qe3 Nxe4 8.Nf3 Qf6 9.d3 Nd6 10.Nxe5+ Kg8 11.Nc3 Nb4 12.Kd1 Be6 13.a3 Nc6 14.Re1 d4 15.Qe2 dxc3 16.Nxc6 cxb2 17.Bxb2 Qxb2 18.Qxe6+ Kf8 19.Qe7+ Kg8 20.Qe6+ Kf8 21.Qe5 Qxe5 22.Nxe5 Re8 23.Rb1 b6 24.Rb4 Re6 25.Rf4+ Ke7 26.d4 Rd8 27.d5 Nb5 28.Nc6+ Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest52, www.peshka.me, 2014.

4...Nc6 5.Nf3 h6 6.c3 d6 7.h3 (7.b4 a6 8.h3 g5 9.a3 Qe8 10.Bb2 Bg7 11.d3 Rf8 12.Nbd2 Kg8 13.O-O-O b5 14.d4 Bd7 15.c4 exd4 16.Nxd4 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 c5 18.Bc3 cxb4 19.axb4 Rc8 20.f3 a5 21.bxa5 b4 22.Bxb4 Be6 23.Bxd6 Qa4 24.Bxf8 Bxc4 25.Nxc4 Rxc4+ 26.Kb1 Bxf8 27.Qa2 Qb5+ 28.Ka1 Kh8 29.Rb1 Qe5+ 30.Rb2 Bg7 31.Qxc4 Nd5 32.Qc8+ Kh7 33.Qf5+ Qxf5 34.exf5 Nb4 35.Kb1 Black resigned,  Philidor 1792 - guest83, www.bereg.ru, 2014) 7...Be6 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.O-O Be7 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Rf8 14.Qb5 Rb8 15.Nh2 Kg8 16.f4 a6 17.Qb3 Na5 18.Qd1 Nc4 19.g4 g6 20.Qd3 Kg7 21.f5 gxf5 22.gxf5 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Qd7 24.Rxf8 Rxf8 25.Ng4 Bg5 26.Bxg5 hxg5 27.Nf6 Rxf6 28.exf6+ Kxf6 29.Rf1+ Kg7 30.Qf5 Qxf5 31.Rxf5 Kg6 32.Rxd5 Nb6 33.Re5 Kf6 34.Kg2 Na4 35.c4 Nc3 36.a3 Nb1 37.a4 Nd2 38.Rc5 c6 39.d5 Nb3 40.dxc6 Nxc5 41.c7 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest164, www.peshka.me, 2014

5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nd4 7.Nxe5+ Kg8 

Black has a piece for two pawns, but must continue to monitor the safety of his King.

8.Qd3 dxe4 9.Qc4+ Be6 10.Qa4 Qd6 11.Nc4 Nxc2+ 12. Kd1 Bxc4

This is a slip, as White will recapture with check.

13.Qxc4+ Nd5 14.Nxd5 h6 15.Nf6 checkmate

Ouch!

Tug-Of-War: Pawns vs Piece

I suspect that, given the choice of an extra piece or an extra couple of pawns, a chess master would usually prefer the piece - unless those were the only things left on the board besides the Kings, in which case the promotion power of the pawns would give them an edge.

As Philidor1792 shows in the following game, at the club level the pawns can be for choice in the tug-of-war with a piece. We have seen many times previously that Philidor1792 is not afraid to exchange Queens in the Jerome Gambit; and here he gives a good example of how to press ahead.

Just follow along.

Philidor1792 - mihailsoloha,
Casual Game, Chess-samara.ru, 2014

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Nxe7

9.c3 Bb6 10.d4 d6 11.Nd2 Bd7 12.Nc4 Bb5 13.Nxb6 axb6

14.Be3 Kf7 15.Kd2 Rhf8 16.f3 Kg8

17.b3 Ng6 18.c4 Bd7 19.Rhf1 Nf4 20.g3 Ng6 21.Rf2 Rf7 22.Kd3 Raf8 23.f4 Ne7

24.f5 g6 25.g4 gxf5 26.gxf5 Kh8 27.Rg1 Rg8 28.Rxg8+ Nxg8 29.Bg5 Nf6 30.h3 Nh5 31.Ke3 Kg7 32.Rg2 Kf8

33.Bd8 Be8 34.Bg5 Nf6 35.e5 dxe5 36.dxe5 Ng8 37.Kf4 h6 38.Bh4 Rg7 39.Rd2 Rd7 40.Rd5 c6 41.Rxd7 Bxd7

42.e6 Be8 43.Ke5 Kg7 44.f6+ Nxf6 45.Bxf6+ Kg6

46.Bd8 b5 47.cxb5 cxb5 48.Kd6 Kf5 49.Bh4 Kg6 50.Ke7 Bc6 51.Kf8 Kh5 52.Bd8 Kg6 53.e7 Kf5 54.e8Q Bxe8 55.Kxe8 Ke4

56.Ba5 Kf3 57.h4 Kg4 58.Be1 Kf4 59.Kd7 Ke3 60.Kc7 Ke2 61.Bb4 Kf3 62.Kxb7 Kg4

63.Be7 Kf5 64.a4 bxa4 65.bxa4 Ke6 66.Bd8 Kd7 67.Bb6 Kd6 68.a5 Kd5 69.a6 Ke4 70.a7 Kf5 71.Be3 h5 72.Bg5 Kg4 73.a8Q Kf3 74.Qa4 Kg3 75.Qf4+ Kg2 76.Qe3 Kf1 77.Qd2 Kg1 78.Kc6 Kf1 79.Kd5 Kg1 80.Ke4 Kf1 81.Kf3 Black resigned

Think Fast!

Here we have another collection of blitz games by Philidor 1792, fuelled by ideas from the Jerome Gambit, but launched in some Two Knights Defenses... Beware the attack! And - if you successfully defend - ask not for whom the time clock ticks, it ticks for thee!


Philidor 1792 - guest5
3-minutes blitz www.bereg.ru, 04.03.2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ 

Or 4.Bb3, offering the Delayed Jerome Gambit, but 4...a6 (4...Nxe4 5.Qe2 d5 6.d3 Nf6 (6...Nc5 7.Nxe5 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Be6 10.Nc3 Nxb3 11.axb3 Nxe5 12.Qxe5 Bd6 13.Qh5 c6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Rxe6 fxg5 16.Rae1 h6 17.Nb1 Qc7 18.Nd2 Bc5 19.Nf3 Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Rxf7 21.d4 Bb6 22.Re7 Raf8 23.c3 g4 24.Rxf7 Rxf7 25.Ne5 Re7 26.f4 h5 27.Kf2 c5 28.dxc5 Bxc5+ 29.Kg3 Kh7 30.Rd1 d4 31.cxd4 Bb6 32.d5 g5 33.d6 Re8 34.d7 Rd8 35.fxg5 Bc7 36.Kf4 Bxe5+ 37.Kxe5 Kg6 38.Ke6 Black resigned, Philidor1792 - Sasha63, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014) 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.Qxe5+ Qe7 9.Bf4 Qxe5+ 10.Bxe5 c6 11.c4 Be7 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.dxc4 0-0 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.Rhe1 Bg4 16.f3 Bf5 17.Bc2 Bxc2 18.Kxc2 Rad8 19.Bc7 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Kf8 21.g4 h6 22.a3 Bc5 23.Bd6+ Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.c5 Rd8 26.Rxd8 Kxd8 27.Kd3 Ke7 28.Kd4 Ke6 29.b4 a6 30.h4 g6 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 Ne8 33.Ke4 f5+ 34.Kd4 Ng7 35.Na4 Nh5 36.Nb6 Nf4 37.Nc4 Nh3 38.Nd6 Nxg5 39.f4 Nh3 40.Ke3 Kd5 41.Nxb7 g5 42.Nd6 gxf4+ 43.Kf3 Ke6 44.Nc4 Kd5 45.Nd6 Ke5 46.Nf7+ Kf6 47.Nd6 Ke6 48.Nc4 Kd5 49.Nd6 Ke5 50.Nf7+ Ke6 51.Nd6 Kf6 52.a4 Kg5 53.Nf7+ Kg6 54.Ne5+ Kg5 55.Nxc6 Ng1+ 56.Kg2 Ne2 57.Nb8 Nd4 58.c6 Kg4 59.c7 f3+ 60.Kf2 Ne6 61.c8Q Ng5 62.Qg8 Kf4 63.Qxg5+ Kxg5 64.Nxa6 Kf6 65.Nc5 Ke5 66.Kxf3 Kd6 67.Kf4 Kc6 68.Kxf5 Kb6 69.Ke5 Kc6 70.Kd4 Kb6 71.Kd5 Ka7 72.b5 Kb6 73.Nb3 Ka7 74.Kc6 Kb8 75.a5 Ka7 76.a6 Kb8 77.b6 Ka8 78.Na5 1-0 Philidor1792 - vlad2201, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014) 5.Nxe5 Going Halloween Gambit, after all, Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.f4 Ng6 9.e5 Ng8 10.Nc3 Bc5 11.Ne4 Bb6 12.h4 Nxh4 13.Qg4 Ng6 14.f5 h5 15.fxg6 hxg4 16.Rxh8 Kf8 17.d6 cxd6 18.gxf7 Qc7 19.fxg8Q+ Ke7 20.Qxg7 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest1223, www.bereg.ru, 2014.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6

Or, retreating the other way 6...Nc6 7.e5 Ne8 (7...Qe7 8.0-0 Ng8 9.Nc3 Qb4 10.Nd5 Qxd4 11.Qf3+ Nf6 12.exf6 gxf6 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.Bf4 h6 15.c3 Qc4 16.Nxf6+ Kg7 17.Ne8+ Kh7 18.Qf5+ Kg8 19.Qg6+ Bg7 20.Qxg7 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest1334, www.bereg.ru, 2014; and 7...Ng8 8.0-0 d5 9.Nc3 Be6 10.f4 g6 11.g4 Qd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.gxf5 Bxf5 14.Qh5+ Ke7 15.Rxf5 Nd8 16.Bg5+ Ke6 17.Rxf8 Qg7 18.Qg4 checkmate, You - Stranger, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014) 8.Qf3+ Kg6 9.Qe4+ Kf7 10.Qf3+ Kg6 11.Qe4+ Kh5 (11...Kf7 12.Qd5+ Ke7 13.Bg5+ Nf6 14.0-0 Ke8 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Re1+ Be7 17.Bxf6 Rf8 18.Qh5+ Rf7 19.d5 Kf8 20.Qh6+ Kg8 21.Qg5+ Kf8 22.Qh6+ Kg8 23.Qg5+ Kf8 24.Qh6+ draw, Philidor 1792 - guest3018, www.bereg.ru 2014) 12.g4+ Kh4 13.Qg2 Bb4+ 14.c3 Nxe5 15.Qg3 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest345, www.bereg.ru, 2014; or

charging ahead 6...Nc4 7.e5 Ne4 8.Qf3+ Ke8 9.Qxe4 d5 10.Qe2 Bb4+ 11.c3 Ba5 12.b3 Nb6 13.b4 Nc4 14.bxa5 Nxa5 15.0-0 Bf5 16.g4 Be4 17.f3 Bg6 18.Nd2 Qe7 19.f4 h5 20.f5 Bf7 21.Qb5+ Nc6 22.Qxb7 Rb8 23.Qxc6+ Kd8 24.e6 Rb6 25.Qxd5+ Rd6 26.Qa8 checkmate, You - Stranger, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014. 

7.e5 d5 

Two ways to resist the capture: 7...Qe7 8.0-0 Nd5 9.Qf3+ Nf6 10.Bg5 h6 11.exf6 gxf6 12.Bd2 Kg7 13.Nc3 c6 14.Ne4 d5 15.Ng3 Qd7 16.h3 Be7 17.Rfe1 h5 18.Re3 h4 19.Nh5+ Rxh5 20.Qxh5 Qf5 21.Qe2 Bd6 22.Re8 Kf7 23.Re1 Nf4 24.Bxf4 Bxf4 25.Qe7+ Kg6 26.Rg8+ Kh5 27.Qf7+ Kh6 28.Rh8+ Kg5 29.Qh5 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest1278, www.bereg.ru, 2014; and

7...Nd5 8.Qf3+ Ke7 (8...Ngf4 9.Bxf4 Nxf4 10.Qxf4+ Kg8 11.Nc3 Be7 12.0-0 Bg5 13.Qe4 Qe7 14.f4 Bh4 15.g3 Qb4 16.gxh4 Qxb2 17.Nd5 Black resigned, You - Stranger, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014) 9.Qxd5 Ke8 10.0-0 c6 11.Qe4 Be7 12.f4 Bb4 13.c3 d5 14.exd6+ Kf8 15.cxb4 Kf7 16.f5 Black resigned, You - Stranger, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014. 

8.0-0 Be7 9.f4 Bg4 10.Qe1 Bf5 11.Qe2 h5 12.exf6 Bxf6

13.c3 Qe7 14.Qb5 c6 15.Qb3 Rae8 16.Nd2 Bd3 17.Rd1 Nxf4 18.Nf3 Be2 19.Bxf4 Bxd1 20.Rxd1 Qd7 

21.Rf1 Rhf8 22.Bg5 Kg8 23.Bxf6 Rxf6 24.Qd1 Qf7 25.Qd3 Qg6 26.Qxg6 Rxg6 

27.Ne5 Rge6 28.Rf5 g6 29.Rg5 Kg7 30.Kf2 Rf6+ 31.Ke2 Ree6 32.Rg3 Rf5 33.Re3 g5 34.b3 b6 35.a4 c5 36.Rh3 Rfxe5+ 37.dxe5 Rxe5+ 38.Kd2 Kg6 39.Rf3 a5 40.Rf8 Rf5 41.Re8 Kf7 42.Rb8 Black lost on time

"...All of the way up to the point that I checkmated you."

Years ago I regularly played chess against a co-worker, and he constantly complained that he was winning the whole time - "All of the way up to the point that I checkmated you," I would reply.

Philidor 1792's play here reminds me of those fun days.

Philidor 1792 - guest2445
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian opening.

4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+ 

Instead, 5.0-0, hoping for 5...Bc5, so that White can play 6.Bxf7+, would be the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

In the game, White stops waiting and makes his sacrifice. It is a that was favored by Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member yorgos about 5 years ago.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nc6

An earlier game was over before Black knew what was going on: 7...Ng6 8.e5 Nh7 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Qd5 checkmate, You - Stranger, blitz, Chess-Samara.ru 2014. 

8.e5 Ne8 9.0-0 Kg8 10.f4 d6 11.Be3 Bf5 12.g4 Bh7 13.Qe2 dxe5 14.Qc4+ Qd5 15.Qxd5 checkmate

A Whole Lot In There

Chessfriend Philidor 1792 has delivered another large collection of exciting games: some Jerome Gambits and some Jerome Gambit-related openings.

For a three-minute blitz game, the following match has a whole lot in it. White improves on earlier efforts (a dozen or so moves into the game) and carries the fight from the opening through the middle game to the endgame. When his opponent slips, Philidor 1792 executes a piquant checkmate.


Philidor 1792 - guest1200

3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Nxe7

Philidor 1792 previously played three games against the computer Crafty, which chose 8...Kxe7, winning one game, losing one, and drawing one. See "Long Distance Traveller" and "Which One Wins?"

9.c3 d5

Or 9...Bb6 10.d4 d6 11.Nd2 Kf7 12.Nc4 Re8 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.0-0 Bd7 15.f4 Bb5 16.Rf2 Ng8 17.e5 Ne7 18.b3 dxe5 19.fxe5+ Kg8 20.Bg5 Ng6 21.h4 h6 22.Bd2 Rf8 23.c4 Bd7 24.Bc3 Nxh4 25.d5 Bg4 26.Bb4 Rxf2 27.Kxf2 Re8 28.Kg3 Nxg2 29.Kxg4 Ne3+ 30.Kf4 Nc2 31.Bc3 Nxa1 32.Bxa1 Kf7 33.e6+ Kg6 34.Be5 Re7 35.Bd4 h5 36.Ke5 h4 37.b4 h3 38.Bg1 Kg5 39.c5 bxc5 40.bxc5 Re8 41.d6 cxd6+ 42.cxd6 Rf8 43.d7 Kg4 44.e7 Black resigned,  Philidor 1792- BigM, Internet online game, blitz, 2012.

10.d4 Bb6 11.e5 c5 12.Be3 Nf5

Improving over 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nc3 Nxd4 15.O-O-O Nc6 16.Nxd5 Bxe3+ 17.Nxe3 Ke7 18.Nd5+ Kf7 19.Nc7 Rb8 20.f4

Bg4 21.Rd6 Rhd8 22.Nb5 a6 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Nd6+ Ke6 25.Nxb7 Rd4 26.g3 Bf3 27.Rf1 Nb4 28.Nc5+ Kd5 29.Rxf3 Kxc5 30.a3 Nd3+ 31.Kb1 Ne1 32.Re3 Rd1+ 33.Ka2 Nd3 34.e6 Re1 35.Rxd3 Rxe6 36.Rd7 Re2 37.Rxg7 Rxh2 38.Kb3 Rh3 39.Ka4 h5 40.b4+ Kb6 41.Rg6+ Kb7 42.Ka5 h4 43.gxh4 Rxh4 44.Rb6+ Kc7 45.f5 Rh5 46.Kxa6 Rxf5, Black resigned, Philidor1792 - NN, 2012

13.O-O

An improvement over the earlier 13.Na3 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.O-O-O Bxe5 17.Rxd5 Bf4+ 18.Kb1 Be6 19.Rd4 Be5 20.Rd2 Bf5+ 21.Ka1 Kf7 22.f4 Bf6 23.Nc4 Rhd8 24.Nd6+ Kg8 25.h3 Be7 26.Nxf5 Rxd2 27.Nxe7+ Kf7 28.Nf5 g6 29.Nh4 Re8 30.g4 Ree2 31.Rb1 Rf2 32.f5 g5 White resigned, Philidor1792 - Kharitonoff, Casual Game, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014.

13...cxd4 14.cxd4 Nxd4 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Rfd1 Nc6 17.Bxb6 axb6 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Ke7

20.Rb5 Ra6 21.Rd1 Rd8 22.Rxd8 Nxd8 23.f4 Rxa2 24.Rxb6 Ra6 25.Rb4 Ke6 26.Kf2 h5 27.Kf3 Kf5 28.g3 g5 29.Rd4 Nf7 30.Rd7 g4+ 31.Ke3 Ke6 32.Rxb7 Nh6 33.Ke4 

33...Ra4+

The "Jerome pawns" are looking frisky, but 33...Nf5 would have kept the game even. 

34. b4 Ng8 35. f5 checkmate