Just Makin' Moves

The following game, my most recent Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, is the kind of encounter where I made a move, then my opponent made a move, then I made a move... Afterward, Rybka criticized most of them. It's a lazy game.

perrypawnpusher - zimmernazl
blitz, FICS, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7 5.Bxg8

Of course, it is also possible to retreat the Bishop with 5.Bc4 as in perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14),  perrypawnpusher - PlatinumKnight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9); and perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 84); or with 5.Bb3 as in perrypawnpusher - Roetman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12).

5...Nxf3+

More routine is 5...Rxg8 as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16) and perrypawnpusher - issamica, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 8).

Downright strange was 5...Ke8 6.Nxe5 (6.Bb3) Qg5 7.Nf3 Qxg2 8.Nxd4 Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Rxg8 as in perrypawnpusher - zadox, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29).

6.Qxf3 Rxg8 7.Nc3 g6 

Or 7...d6 like in perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 49).

8.d4 Ke8 9.Be3

At this point I realized that I was just making moves, and so decided to focus on development and King safety, trusting that my extra pawn and my opponent's unsafe King would decide the game.

9...Bb4 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 exd4 12.cxd4 Rf8 13.Qe2 d6 14.f4 

In the "Jerome pawns" we trust.

14...b6 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Bb7 17.Rxf8+ Kxf8 18.Rf1+ Kg7 19.Qf2 Qe7 20.c3 Ba6 21.Qf6+ Qxf6 22.Rxf6 Rf8  23.Rxf8 

A little to routine. With 23.Bh6+ I could have won the exchange and made the endgame easier.

23...Kxf8 24.Kf2 Ke7 25.Kg3 Bb7 26.h4 c5 27.dxc5 bxc5 28.Bxc5+ Ke6 29.Bxa7 Kf5 30.Bd4 Black resigned

My guess is that my opponent resigned here when he noticed that he was just making moves here, too, and could have played 29...Kxe5, instead. It would have made a difference.

I was willing to go into the notoriously drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, and 3 pawns up, I think White would win; but 2 pawns up, I think Black had a draw...

Finishing It Off Smartly

In the following game, when jfhumphrey applies the "Jerome cure" to the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, the two players head into a sharp variation where jordibc's thematic BSG Queen sally looks scary, but proves to be his undoing.



jfhumphrey - jordibc
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Qg5

The main line of this variation is the Knight "exchange" 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+. Instead, Black brings out an idea that is often very dangerous in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

As we will see, though, White is quite ready.

7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qb3+

The much less effective 8.Qg4+ was seen in perrypawnpusher-TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 66).

8...Ke7

Black is simply being mated. Alternatives:

8...Kf6 9.Qf7+ Kg5 10.d3+ Kh4 11.Nf3+ Kh3 12.Qh5 checkmate, GOH - boggus, FICS, 2011;


8...Kd6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nc4+ Kc6 12.Qd5 checkmate, XprezzChezz - borodin, FICS, 2009;


8...d5 when 9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kg5 11.h4+ Kh6 12.d3+ Qg5 13.hxg5 would have been checkmate; instead, White played 9.exd5+, achieved an advantage, but lost on time in 37 moves in ReallyBadPlayer - skipi, FICS, 2006.

9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Qd5 checkmate

Move Along... Two Challenges

My opponent laid down two challenges in the following game, one in the opening and one in the endgame. I was very glad to take each of them up. 

perrypawnpusher  - zadox
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

I have classified declining the Bishop in this way, followed by returning the Black King to e8 (with the hopes of luring White into complacently playing Nxe5), as some sort of "Jedi mind trick".

My opponent may simply have been unwilling to go along with my plan, playing a psychological gambit ("if you want me to take the bishop, I won't take the bishop").

In any event, The Database has 11 games with zadox playing this move; showing a single win for Black (a time forfeit when White was a bit better). Perhaps it is time to move along to another line of play?

5.Bxg8

Also possible was 5.Bb3, as in perrypawnpusher - Roetman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and 5.Bc4, as in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 84), perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS 2010 (1-0, 14) and perrypawnpusher - PlatinumKnight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9).

5...Nxf3+

This was a switch from 5...Ke8 in  perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29) and 5...Rxg8 in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16).

6.Qxf3 Rxg8

Here is the first challenge: we are playing neither a "normal" Jerome Gambit nor a "normal" Blackburne Shilling Gambit, can I make something of the extra pawn.

I think so.

7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5+ Kd7 9.Qh3+ Kc6 10.Qxh7 Be6

Okay, it is nothing spectacular, but I am now up two pawns.

11.d3 Be7 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Qh5 b6 14.Bg5 Qf7 15.Qxf7 Bxf7

The outline of the second challenge is forming: do I think that I can take the game into a Bishops-of-opposite-colors ending and find more than half a point?

I think so.

We both raced through the next series of moves.

16.0-0-0 a5 17.b3 b5 18.Kb2 a4 19.Be3 axb3 20.axb3 Ra6 21.Ra1 Rga8 22.Rxa6+ Rxa6 23.Ra1 Rxa1 24.Kxa1

It is well-known that this kind of ending is very drawish, and an extra one, two, or even three pawns may not be enough for White to win.

In this particular ending, however, I was confident that I could convert. Readers are asked to point out a defense for Black that holds.

24...Bh5 25.f4 exf4 26.Bxf4 Bd1 27.Kb2 Be2 28.Kc3 Bd1 29.d4 d5

This is part of a strategy to get all of Black's pawns on the light squares, the same color as that of his Bishop, so that the drawish nature of the endgame can be enhanced; but the result, here, is a White pawn at e5 that is both passed and protected.

Might it have been better to hold the Black d-pawn back and wait for White to play e4-e5, exchanging at e5 and leaving the resulting passer without pawn protection? 

30.e5 Kd7 31.Kd2 Bh5 32.h3 Ke6 33.g4 Bf7 34.h4 g6

Black's King very effectively blockades the e5 pawn.

To win, White needs another passer.

35.Bg5 c6 36.b4 Be8 37.Ke3 Bf7 38.Kf4 Be8 39.Bd8 Bf7 40.Kg5 Be8 41.h5 gxh5 42.gxh5

42...Kd7 43.Bf6

This move wins, as planned, but I was amused later to see that I could have simply played 43.h6 and continued to advance the pawn to the end line. Better for Black would have been 42...Kf7, but White would still succeed.

43...Bf7 44.h6 Bg8 45.Kg6 Ke8 46.h7 Bxh7+ 47.Kxh7

Mission accomplished.

47...Kf7 48.Kh8 Ke6 49.Kg7 Black resigned

Simply Down Two

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!?) is supposed to lead to exciting chess for the second player, but when White responds in Jerome Gambit style (4.Bxf7+!?) there is excitement for both players (as GM Lev Alburt pointed out in his March 2011 Chess Life column, "How to Trick the Trickster").

If Black tries further psychology with 4...Ke7?!, either as a form of "Jedi mind trick" (search "mind trick" on this blog, or start here) or out of contrariness, it is up to White to claim his advantage.

The following game ends quickly, as Black realizes that he is simply down two pawns, and those are odds that he did not want to give.

perrypawnpusher  - issamica
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

I admit, the first time that zadox played this move against me, in a sort of "Jedi mind trick" (how else to explain my strange chess behavior?), it left me quite indisposed. Readers of this blog should not fall for such a thing, though.

Defenders who decide "if you want me to take the Bishop, then I won't take it" must also live with the consequences of such a position.

5.Bxg8

There is nothing wrong with 5.Bb3 as in perrypawnpusher - Roetman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12); or 5.Bc4 as in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 84), perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14) or  perrypawnpusher - PlatinumKnight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9).

5...Rxg8 6.Nxe5

It is also quite possible to play 6.Nxd4 or 6.d3.

6...d6

Or 6...Ke8 7.d3 d6 as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16).

7.d3 Ke6

8.Nf3

Playing it safe and sitting on my two pawn advantage.

Adventurous readers would no doubt prefer to offer a piece that cannot be taken, with 8.Qg4+ Ke7 (8...Kxe5 9.Bf4+ Kf6 10.Qg5+ Kf7 11.Qxd8; 8...Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kxe5 10.f4#; 8...Nf5 9.Qxf5+ Ke7 10.Qf7#) 9.Qh5 when White's threat to win the Black Queen with Bg5+ is too much to cope with.

My plan was equally unpalatable to my opponent.

Black resigned

Theoretical

The Jerome Gambit and its relations are fun "just do it!" openings, but over time they have developed their own "book" and sometimes a line, as the one discussed below, can become "theoretical".

MCMLXXXIII - TheProducer
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6

This position was reached in the game discussed yesterday (see "Really? Really.") and in 824 other games in the New Year's Database. White scored 60%.

7.Nxg6 Nf6

Not Black's best response (he should take the Knight), but it is enough to complicate the game.

8.Qe5+ Be7

Again, not the best, but, again, plenty messy. Black should try 8...Ne6 9.Nxh8 Bg7 as in perrypawnpusher - xenoglot, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37).

White now has several options, only one of which leads to advantage. A little familiarity with the first moves of this opening can save a lot of calculation time and headaches later.

9.Nxh8

Tempting. However, the best chances came with 9.Nxe7, e.g. 9...Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Ne3+ (or 10...Qxe7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.Kxc2) 11.dxe3 Qxe7 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.f3 when White is up 2 pawns. 

analysis diagram








9...Nxc2+ 10.Kd1

10...Nxa1

This may be easy to work out with a longer time to think about it, but in blitz it is not as simple. See perrypawnpusher - lourotors, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1,37).

Kicking the White Queen with 10...d6 before capturing the Rook was a bit stronger, but in either case Black is better.

11.Nc3

Ignoring the Black Knight in the corner and working on development.

11...Ng4

Half of the moves in this game have been made by the Knights. Look at them!

Sadly, this move ends the game for Black. (Kicking the enemy Queen was a job for the d-pawn.)

12.Qh5+ Kf8 13.Qf7 checkmate

Never Mind...

Except for the occasional Jedi Mind Trick (see "Jedi Mind Tricks", "Jedi Mind Tricks / Rematch" and "Sith still and don't move...") there doesn't seem to be a lot to support Black's choice of 4th and 5th moves.


perrypawnpusher - Roetman
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit, sometimes devastating against those who have never seen it before.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. Although objectively the best that White should get out of the line is a draw, I have scored 90% with it in 25 games (not counting this one).

The updated New Year's Database indicates that my opponent had faced this move 6 times previously.

4...Ke7

Other than the erronious idea "White wants me to take the Bishop, so I won't take the Bishop" it's hard to see the "why?" here.

Roetman had played this move twice (unsuccessfully) in 2004, and then moved on to the standard 4...Kxf7. I've faced 4...Ke7 three times (starting with "Opening Disaster") without a loss.

I suppose from a literary point of view, that's called "foreshadowing."

5.Bb3

Both 5.Bxg8, as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16) and perypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29), and 5.Bc4, as in perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14) are good alternatives.

5...Ke8

Again, I am at a loss to explain this. All I can do is punish it severely, and hope that a lesson is learned.

6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qe5+ Qe7 9.Qxh8

9...Nf6

Hoping to trap White's Queen.

The sharper 9...Qxe4+ displaces White's King to f1, but the extra Rook that the first player has is bound to tell.

10. d3 d6 11. Bg5 Kd7 12. Qxf6 Black resigned

Capturing with the Bishop was even stronger, but I thought that the game would be simpler with the ladies off of the board.

Keep the shilling...

For those Readers who like to apply the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) treatment to the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4), the following game should bring a smile to their faces.

By the way, a number of years ago, a Hindemburg Melao wrote an interesting article analyzing Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885, “Ajedrez a la Ciega”,(not currently available). Could he be the same player as below?

Melao Jr.,H - Danilo
Centro Cultural, 1996
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+

This game pre-dates all of the 4.Bxf7+ Blackburne Shilling Gambit games that I have in my database.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3

The recommended line, as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009 (see "Jerome Gambit: Reeling Sequel") but here Melao plays much better than I did.

6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4 8.Qh5

Black should not have taken that pawn on e4.

8...Kxd4

Sadly, Black's best move is 8...g5, to try and limit the White Queen. Still, after 9.Qg4+ Kd5 10.Nc3+ if Black's King isn't mated, he will eventually lose a Rook to a Queen check at e5.

9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3

12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate

Reeling Sequel

A few days after the previous game (see "Opening Disaster") I matched up against TheProducer again. This time, the shoe was on the other foot, and my opponent mostly ran roughshod over me.


The only thing "positive" that can be said about this sequel is that "Winning Ugly" is better than "Losing Ugly".



perrypawnpusher - TheProducer
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+

So far, a rerun of a previous episode, "The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit."

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

The recommended line for Black. My opponent had obviously gone over our first game, and improved his early opening play.

6.c3

6...Qg5

The idea behind my 6th move can be seen in : 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxd4 8.0-0 Qf6 9.f4 b5 10.Qc2 c6 11.b3 Black resigns, vierifan - neeeng, GameKnot.com, 2006

My opponent, though, preferred a move that is thematic in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qg4+

When I played this move, I felt pretty good about it, having come up (over-the-board) with a way to stop Black's counter-attack and leave White with a slight advantage – an extra, doubled pawn.

Imagine my embarassment when Fritz 8 later showed me the checkmate that I could have found had I played more aggressively: 8.Qb3+ d5 9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kg5 11.h4+ Kh6 12.d3+ Qg5 13.hxg5 checkmate.

8...Qxg4 9.Nxg4 d5 10.d3 dxe4 11.dxe4 Nf6 12.Nc3

Wow! No way!

If that looks like I just left a piece hanging, that's right: even in the Jerome Gambit you get something for your sacrificed material. (The "something" is usually "inadequate compensation", but let's not quibble here.)

Well, at least as a Jerome Gambiteer I was used to playing a piece down...

12...Nxg4 13.Bf4 Bb4 14.f3
Still feeling a case of "nerves" after my 12th move, or I might have grabbed the pawn at c7 - this move or next.

14...Nf6 15.0-0-0 c6
16.d5+ cxd5 17.exd5+ Kf5 18.Bg3 Kg6 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.Rxe8 Nxe8 21.d6 Bd7

The passer wasn't much, but it was all that I had to play with.

22.Rd4 a5 23.a3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Rc8 25.Kd2 b5
On top of it all, I was behind on the clock – although this turned out eventually to have its advantages.

26.Kd3 Nf6 27.Kd2 Re8 28.c4 b4 29.axb4 axb4 30.c5 b3
Anyone who has ever lost to the Jerome Gambit or lost to perrypawnpusher can commence laughing. My game is about to go from "pitiful" to "dead lost."

31.Kc3 Rb8 32.Kb2 Kf7 33.Rc4 Nd5

More accurate was 33...Bc6, but it's no loss in the larger scheme of things: White now had a chance to even the game and hope for a draw, but his time was dwindling.

34.c6 Ne3 35.Rf4+ Ke6 36.Re4+ Kd5 37.cxd7


Wrong capture! 37.Rxe3 Kxc6 38.Re7 g5 39.Rxh7 Rf8 40.Kxb3 Rxf3+ 41.Kc4 looks like a balanced game.

Now Black is back to his crushing position.

37...Nd1+ 38.Ka3

Not completely hopeless was 38.Kb1 Nc3+ 39.Kb2 Nxe4 40.fxe4+ Ke6 41.d8Q Rxd8 42.Kxb3.
38...b2 39.d8Q Rxd8 40.Rb4 Ra8+
Okay, it's time to start counting how many checkmates my opponent missed.

To be fair, he probably was sure that all he needed to do was keep the pressure on me with decent moves, and that I would either blunder or run out of time. Still, he had a minute or two to spare, and it would have been a decent investment to work out the mate.

41.Ra4 Rxa4+

Of course, this wins, but so does 41...b1Q 42.Rxa8 Qb2+ 43.Ka4 Nc3+ 44.Ka5 Qb5 checkmate.

42.Kxa4 b1Q 43.d7 Qa1+

Likewise there was 43...Nc3+ 44.Ka3 Kc4 45.d8Q Qa2.

I'll stop nit-picking. My opponent was merely choosing the manner of my demise, as was his complete right.

As for why I didn't resign – well, the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde is a hopeful lot, is it not?

44.Kb5 Nc3+ 45.Kb6 Qb1+ 46.Kc7 Nb5+ 47.Kd8 Nd6 48.Ke7
I began to feel about my e-pawn the way Gollum (in "The Lord of the Rings") felt about the Ring: My precious!

All silliness, of course: I was still totally busted.

48...Nf5+ 49.Ke8 Qb8+ 50.d8Q+

Yes, Dear Readers, that is how much my dwindling time was controlling the "thinking" in the game: my opponent placed his Queen en prise, and just like in my game against Cibola (see "Ooops!"), I overlooked the capture!

50...Nd6+ 51.Ke7 Qxd8+ 52.Kxd8 Nf5

White could now draw (!) with 53.Bb8, but I could only think about getting my King to his pawns.
53.Ke8 Nxg3 54.hxg3 g5 55.Kf7 h5 56.Kg6

Ooops!

As shown similarly in a previous post "To belabor a point..." the drawing idea was 56.f4 gxf4 57.gxf4 h4 58.f5 h3 59.Kg7 h2 60.f6 h1Q 61.f7 and White will have no more luck against the f-pawn than my unnamed opponent had against the a-pawn.

56...Ke5

Double ooops! With 56...h4 57.gxh4 gxh4 first, and then ..Ke5 (to get in front of the White passer) the win would be secure.

Here we see the ultimate "reward" for "playing on the opponent's time."

57.Kxg5 Kd4 58.g4 Ke3 59.gxh5 Kxf3 60.h6 Kg3 61.h7 Kf2 62.h8Q

Now all I have to do is Beat the Clock with the less than 30 seconds that I have left.
62...Ke1 63.Qb2 Kf1 64.Kf4 Ke1 65.Ke3 Kf1 66.Qf2 checkmate

That was a seriously ugly win. Afterward, I messaged my opponent "good game" but I should have sent "I'm sorry."

My apologies to the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, as well, for representing you so poorly.

I'll hassle TheProducer no more.