Showing posts with label Mueller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mueller. Show all posts

Monday, November 5, 2018

Jerome Gambit: Over the Rainbow (Part 1)




Over the years, I have loosely classified Jerome Gambit games by strategy: "White attacks aggressively", "Black counter-attacks aggressively", and "Black counters well, so White adopts a slow, solid, come-get-me approach". That covers a lot of games in The Database.

Then there are games like the following, however, which might as well be classified as "somewhere over the rainbow". 


Wall, Bill - Guest4105968
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 



4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Ke6

The move appears in 28 games in The Database (updated). It is somewhat understood, after some serious blog coverage, here - the most recent being in another of Bill Wall's games from 2 years ago (see "Jerome Gambit: This Is How It's Done"), where I wrote
This move follows the "psychology" of "If you want me to take the Knight, then I won't take the Knight", but it is simply not a good move. It is relatively rare: The Database has 24 games, with White scoring 65% . 
Still, it is worth knowing the followup, as this "defense" has shown up in the games of Jerome Gambit regulars: blackburne, MrJoker, Petasluk, stretto, UNPREDICTABLE, and ZahariSokolov. I have faced it a couple of times and come away with wins. 
In fact, I have posted a disproportionate number of times on the line - although, in fairness, they were all interesting posts, going back to "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory" and including "A Strange, But Intriguing Path, Parts 1, 2, & 3" and "Still Strange, Still Intriguing Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4." The most recent post on the line is "We Know What We're Doing (Sort of)".  
Curiously enough, there is still more to learn about the variation, as we shall see.

6.Qg4+

This move, Stockfish 9's preference, is probably the best move, although it has appeared only 5 times in The Database before the current game.

Actually, computer analysis is only slightly helpful in choosing the proper move. Some examples are: 6.d4, evaluated as 0.00 by Stockfish 9 at 35 ply, is seen as the second best move; while the retrograde 6.Nf3!? (no games in The Database), evaluated as -.28 by Stockfish 9 at 35 ply, is seen as the third best move.

Certainly 6.0-0 (no games in The Database) should be playable, although Stockfish 9 at 35 ply evaluates it as -.65 - what's 2/3 of a pawn between friends, right? The game should continue  6...Nxe5 (the only move for advantage) 7.d4 d6.

Most popular for White, and probably most thematic, has been 6.Nxc6, which Stockfish 9 evaluates (at 35 ply) as -.81 after 6...dxc6. A mistake is 6...bxc6?, as it is strongly met by 7.Qg4+!. Black can mix everything up by not capturing the Knight and playing, instead, 6...Qh4!? although Stockfish 9 rates the position after 7.Qe2, then, as roughly even, +.10 (at 35 ply).

With Stockfish 9 pontificating as usual, it is important to remember that we are usually talking about games between club players, and Geoff Chandler's humorous but accurate blunder table always needs to be taken into account - especially because we are talking about the Jerome Gambit! Play what you feel comfortable playing.

6... Kxe5 7.d4+! Bxd4 8.Bf4+! Kf6 9.Bg5+! Kf7 10.Bxd8 Nxd8

Okay, White has played the "best" moves, and now has a Queen and a pawn for three pieces. As Dorothy said, in "The Wizard of Oz", "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Indeed, the position looks like a challenge to play. Nobody is going to attack or counter-attack aggressively, and it looks like it would be to White's disadvantage to sit back and do nothing.

(By the way, the snarky 10...Bxb2?!, instead of capturing the Knight at d8, would be met by 11.Qf3+! Ke8 12.Bxc7, when, after 12...Bxa1 13.Na3, White would have an advantage in development and King safety to offset the material imbalance [Q + P vs R + B + N]. White can respond to either 13...d5 or 13...Nf6 with 14.0-0 and Black will not be able to get his defenders out fast enough, as they will also have to run the risk of going to the wrong square and being picked off by the enemy Queen with a checking fork. This is a return to the Jerome theme of "White attacks aggressively".)

Looking for guidance, I discovered that the venerable Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine (1941) has about 1/4 of a page covering "QUEEN vs THREE PIECES", which can easily be summarized
Without Pawns this is drawn, but there are a few positions where the pieces win... With Pawns the two forces are roughly equivalent. However, with no other material Q + P vs 3 pieces is drawn, while 3 pieces + Pawn win vs Queen. 
The newer Fundamental Chess Endings (2001) by Karsetn Mueller and Frank Lamprecht has about a page of coverage, devoted to the analysis of two game examples, and the terse bit of advice
Outposts, king security and passed pawns again play a major role
 I then checked out the internet to see what was available. One such article that I found to be helpful is here.

All of this information is enlightening, but, in the meantime, two people were playing the game.

[to be continued]

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Jerome Gambit Declined


Just say "No!"

"No Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)!"

You have a right to decline the Jerome Gambit.

Maybe not in the way my opponent did, though...


perrypawnpusher - santor
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f6

That's one way to keep me from playing Bxf7! (I've also seen 3...Nh6, as in perrypawnpusher - Xasquete, blitz FICS 2009, 1-0, 47.)
I was admiring my opponent's boldness and creativity – especially after his next move.

4.d4 Na5

Or 4...Nge7 5.0-0 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.dxe5 Be6 8.exf6 gxf6 9.Re1 Bb4 10.Rxe6+ Kf7 11.Bxd5 Kg7 12.Nh4 Re8 13.Rxe8 Qxe8 14.g3 Rd8 15.c4 Ne5 16.Bf4 Qe7 17.Qh5 c6 18.Nf5+ Black resigned, Sirotinin - Oleshko, Moscow 1999; or 4...d6 5.c3 Na5 6.Be2 exd4 7.cxd4 Nc6 8.Nc3 Nge7 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Nh4 g6 11.f4 Bh6 12.f5 g5 13.Bh5+ Kf8 14.Nf3 Black resigned, Srinivasan - Mueller, DESC email 2001.

5.Nxe5

The move was simply irresistible: since my opponent had transposed into an unusual Damiano Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6) I thought it appropriate to offer the traditional Knight sacrifice. Plus – he was harassing my Jerome Bishop!
5...Nxc4


According to plan (?) or simply not wanting to taste the craziness of 5...fxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5+ when White can afford to capture the Rook on h8 since Black has no effective counterattack, even if he tries 7...Qe7 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Be2 Qxg2 10.Rf1.

Black could try 5...Qe7 directly, although after 6.Bf7+ Kd8 7.h4 or 7.Bxg8 Rxg8 8.Qh5 the complications favor White.

By avoiding unclear positions, santor chooses one that is clearly better for White. Perhaps that is, ultimately, wisest: what's a pawn among friends?
6.Nxc4 Qe7 7.Nc3 Qb4
I felt like the Black Queen was scolding my Knight: How dare you try to play the Jerome Gambit against me? And where is your Bishop now – not around to protect you, is it??

I'm sure it was just my imagination.

8.Ne3 d6 9.Ned5

I'm a peaceable guy, but it seemed about time to deliver my own lecture on "Queens that wander too far from home."

9...Qa5

Thematic was 9...Qc4 10.Nb5 for starters.

10.b4


I certainly don't have time to debate this with you, I imagined the Queen replied.
And it was true, for at that point Black forfeited on time.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Don't make me go Jerome all over you...

Sometimes you just want to play something Piano like the Giuoco, when all of a sudden your opponent does some thing really aggravating, and you're practically forced to get all aggressive on him – and what would be better than a lesson drawn from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Kedar - Dijkstra

Twente Young Masters B 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Na5



See what I mean?

5.Bxf7+
Look what you made me do!

5...Kxf7

Readers who are familiar with the Jerome Gambit will understand that there is at least one game where Black declined the sacrifice, as if to ask innocently What did I do?: 5...Kf8 6.Bxg8 Rxg8 7.b4 Bxb4 8.cxb4 Nc4 9.d3 Nd6 10.Nxe5 Nb5 11.Qb3 Nd6 12.Nc3 Qf6 13.d4 a5 14.Ba3 Ra6 15.Nd5 Qh4 16.Qf3+ Qf6 17.Nxf6 Nc4 18.Nxh7+ Ke7 19.Nxc4 d6 20.b5 Rb6 21.Nxb6 cxb6 22.e5 Black resigned, johnnybgood - richye, net-chess.com 2001.

6.Nxe5+

To be fair, this is not the only (or even the best) choice available to White here. There's always 6.b4, forking Black's pieces and winning one, leaving the first player with the better game.

6...Kf8

As expected, 6...Ke8 falls to the consistent 7.Qh5+ while 6...Ke7 can still be met with 7.b4.

7.Qh5

Of course.

7...Bxf2+



Perhaps more readily explained by psychology than raw calculation.

Black has several alternatives that lead to interesting struggles, as can be seen in the following games:

7...Qf6 8.d4 g6 9.Nxd7+ Bxd7 10.Qxc5+ Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Nxe7 12.Bh6+ Ke8 13.Nd2 Bb5 14.b3 Bd3 15.0-0-0 Rg8 16.h4 Rc8 17.Rhe1 b5 18.Re3 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Kd7 20.b4 Nac6 21.Nb3 Nd5 22.Nc5+ Kd8 23.Bg5+ Nce7 24.Rde1 Re8 25.Kd2 c6 26.Re6 Rc7 27.Na6 Rb7 28.Rxc6 Kd7 29.Rce6 Kc8 30.Nc5 Rc7 31.R1e5 h6 32.Bxh6 Rh8 33.Bg5 Rh7 34.Rxd5 Black resigned, Mueller - Laue, Badenweiler op, 1995;

7...Qe7 8.d4 Bb6 9.0-0 Qe8 10.Qf3+ Nf6 11.b4 Nc6 12.Nxc6 dxc6 13.e5 Bg4 14.Qf4 Be2 15.Re1 Bd3 16.Re3 Qg6 17.exf6 Re8 18.Rxe8+ Kxe8 19.Qe5+ Kd7 20.Qe7+ Kc8 21.f7 Qe4 22.Bg5 Qe2 23.f8Q+ Rxf8 24.Qxf8+ Kd7 25.Qxg7+ Kc8 26.Qf8+ Kd7 27.Qd8+ Ke6 28.Qe7+ Kd5 29.Qd7+ Kc4 30.Qf7+ Kb5 31.a4+ Ka6 32.b5+ Ka5 33.Nd2 Bc2 34.Nc4+ Qxc4 35.Qxc4 c5 36.dxc5 Bxc5 37.Qxc5 Black resigned, Steinert - Berg, Spree op, 1997;

7...Qe7 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Ng6+ hxg6 10.Qxh8 Qxe4 11.d4 Be7 12.Nd2 Qd5 13.Re1 d6 14.Nf1 Bd7 15.Bd2 Re8 16.Ne3 Qb5 17.b3 Kf7 18.c4 Qg5 19.f4 Qf6 20.Bc3 Bd8 21.Rac1 Nh6 22.Qh7 Nf5 23.Nd5 Qh4 24.Qxh4 Nxh4 25.Ne3 Nf5 26.Nxf5 gxf5 27.d5 Ne7 28.Kf2 Rh8 29.h3 c6 30.Bb4 c5 31.Bc3 Rh7 32.Re3 b5 33.Rce1 Ng6 34.Kf3 Rh4 35.g3 Rxh3 36.Kg2 Rh7 37.R1e2 b4 38.Ba1 Kf8 39.Kf3 Rh6 40.a3 a5 41.axb4 axb4 42.Ra2 Nxf4 43.gxf4 Rh3+ 44.Ke2 Rh2+ 45.Kd3 Rxa2 46.Re1 Kf7 47.Rb1 g5 48.fxg5 Bxg5 49.Bh8 Bf6 50.Bxf6 Kxf6 51.Ke3 Ke5 52.Kf3 Kf6 53.Kf4 Rf2+ 54.Ke3 Rh2 55.Kf4 Kg6 56.Kg3 Black resigned, Madureira -Petiz, Averio 1998.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Ke1



Simpler seemed 9.Nf3, but White liked the idea of lining up his Rook with Black's Queen and King on the f-file.

9...g6 10.Nxg6+ Qxg6 11.Rf1+ Kg7 12.Qe5+ Nf6 13.Qxa5



Not well thought out. White would have an edge after getting his piece back with the routine 13.Qe7+ Qf7 14.Qxf7+ Kxf7 15.e5.

13...Qxg2




Both players seem edgy: after 13...Qxe4+ 14.Kf2 Nd5 15.Kg1 Black seems to have enough activity to keep the position balanced.

The text allows White the opportunity to make more Rook threats against Queen and King, this time along the g-file, with the savvy 14.d3, threatening 15.Be3 (and Rg1).

Instead, the game slips to near even.

14.Qf5 Qxe4+ 15.Qxe4 Nxe4 16.d3 Nc5 17.Be3 Ne6


Prudent. Fritz8 gives White the edge after the pawn sacrifice 17...Nxd3+ 18.Kd2 Ne5 19.Na3.

18.Nd2 d5 19.Rf3 Bd7 20.Kf2 Rhg8 21.Rg1+ Black resigns


This has to be clock-related, or perhaps the second player was seeing ghosts. Certainly 21...Kh8 gave Black good chances of minimizing whatever disadvantage he had.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"