Saturday, April 4, 2009

Double-Perpetual

In a recent "Chess Explorations" by Edward Winter at ChessBase, a game with the opening highlighted in our last post, "A Kind of Jerome Gambit That Wins", progressed 14 moves before a draw was reached, in a rather unusual manner:


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qf3+ Kxe5 9.Qf7 Ngf6 10.Nd2 Qe8 11.Nc4+ Kxe4 12.f3+ Kf5+ 13.Ne3+ Ke5 14.Nc4+ Kf5+ draw


(For those who are counting, this is daily post #300 to this blog.)

Friday, April 3, 2009

A Kind of Jerome Gambit That Wins

From a recent email from Francesco Recchia of Italy:


Hi,

Let me first congratulate on your great blog, which I enjoy very much.

Now into the story: I was playing the last round in a 2h tournament, with the white pieces.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 h6

Weird move. Maybe my opponent was afraid of an f7 attack?

4. d4 Nd7 5. dxe5 dxe5

Here I spent 8 minutes thinking about 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe5+. In the end, I didn't play the line, because I couldn't see an answer after 8. ...Kf6 (I have to defend the knight, and if I move my queen from the d-file my knight becomes attacked twice)

So in the game I played 0-0, and eventually lost the game due to a serious blunder later in the game. But that's another story...

Later I analised the position and the soundness of this "jerome gambit". It amazingly turned out not only to be sound, but to be winning!

After 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe5+ Black has 7... Ke8 8. Qh5+ g6 (8... Ke7 9. Qf7+ Kd6 10. Nc4+ Kc5 11. Qd5+ Kb4 12. Bd2+Ka4 13. b3#) 9. Qxg6+ Ke7 10. Qf7+ Kd6 11. Nc4+ Kc5 12. Qd5+ Kb4 13. a3+ Ka414. Nc3# or

7... Ke6 8. Qd5+ Ke7 (8... Kf6 9. Qf7+ Kxe5 10. Bf4+ Kxe4 11. Nd2+Kd4 12. Qc4#) 9. Qf7+ Kd6 10. Nc4+ Kc5 11. Qd5+ Kb4 12. c3+ Ka4 13. b3# or

7...Ke7 8. Ng6+ Ke8 9. Nxh8 Ngf6 10. Ng6 Bb4+ 11. Nc3 Kf7 +-

Black's best answer is Kf6, the one I could not find an adeguate response in-game. 7. ...Kf6 8. Nc3 !!

Of course. Jerome style gambit requires two piece sacrifice!

8... Kxe5 9. Qd5+ Kf6 10. Qf5+ Ke7 11. Nd5+ Kd6 (11... Ke812. Qg6#) 12. Bf4+ Kc6 13. Qe6+ Had I seen up to here, I would have played the gambit.

But going on, black has to give up the queen to try to save the game. 13. ... Bd6 14. Nb4+ Kb6 15. Bxd6 Ndf6 (15... cxd6 16. Qxd6+ Ka5 17. Nd5 b6 18. c4 Nc5 19. Qxd8 Nf6 20. b4+ Ka6 21. Qxh8 Nxd5 22. exd5 Nd3+ 23. Kd2 Ne5 24. b5+ Kb7 25. Qxg7+ Bd7 26. Qxe5 Rd8 27. Qe7) 16. Bc5+ Kxc5 17. Nd3+Time to regain material. 17. ...Qxd3 (17... Kd4 18. Qe5+ Kc4 19. Qc5#; 17... Kb5 18. a4+ Ka5 19. b4#) 18. Qe5+ Kb6 19. cxd3 +-

Hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers

Francesco Recchia



And from a later email:

I believe the main difference against the classic jerome gambit position is not the h6 pawn, but the open d-file and the pinned knight at d7 – something which should occur pretty often (as a way to avoid queen exchange and castle denial). I forgot to say, after 8. Nc3 !! black can't really refuse the offer. If the knight is not taken the threat is 9. Qd4 and 10. Kxd7++ with dangerous complications.



Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I don't have time for this stuff...

I admit that these days I stop by FICS mostly to take the White pieces and play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

When I take my turn with the Black pieces, I sometimes play a blitz 3 0 game, to speed things up (win, lose, draw – it's not as important) and get me back to the other side of the board...

As I've bemoaned before (see "Where are all these Jeromes coming from??" and "Be careful what you wish for...") this sometimes causes me to face the Jerome Gambit – and with not much thinking time on my hands, either. Because, when it concerns the Jerome Gambit, things turn suddenly serious for me...

ecimsa - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+
Transposing from the Giuoco Piano into a "modern" Jerome Gambit variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3.

5...Kxf7

I have 39 game examples of this position in my database, including the double-time-forfeit Piratepaul - TJay2465 2008 at Chessworld.

6.d3 Rf8 7.0-0 Kg8

There: I've castled-by-hand

8.a4

Ah, the old sneak up on the Bishop trick... Luckily, I've seen that idea in some other modern Jerome Gambits.

8...d5 9.b4 Be7 Black: comfortable, and a piece to the good.

10.Nbd2 dxe4 11.dxe4 Bg4 Active piece play, no blunders, exchanges... Words to live by!

12.Qb3+ Kh8 13.b5 Na5 14.Qc2 Bxf3 15.Nxf3 Bd6 16.Bd2 Nc4
17.Bc1 Qe8 18.Ng5 Qh5 19.Qa2 Nb6 20.a5 Nbd7

White has achieved nothing on the Queenside; the action is going to be across the board.
21.Be3 Ng4 22.Nh3 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 Rf8
Slow but steady progress. But time is fleeting, and things are about to get uglier.
25.Rd1 Qf7

Yes, you saw that right: pitiful, is it not?

26.Qc2 Nf6 27.c4 Ng4 28.c5


Not enough of a threat.

28...Nxe3 29.Qe2 Nxd1 30.Qxd1 Bxc5+ 31.Kh1 Qf1+ 32.Qxf1 Rxf1+
White resigned




Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Jerome Gambit shows up in the oddest places...

I was doing my standard weekly online search for mention of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) when I noticed a reference in a blog at bighollywood.brietbart.com.

It was titled My Weekly Date with a Liberal - Date #2 by Jon David.

Politics aside, the blogger explains how (and why) he came to be on a particular hiking date, and it doesn't take long before he falls into chessic metaphor.
Then I saw it. My first move…. and then the second… and then the whole board. I was Big Hollywood’s Bobby Fischer.
Maybe, maybe not. Especially since a short time later he admitted

I was setting up the Jerome Gambit, an opening move in chess described as extremely dubious, where White sacrifices two pieces in hopes of exposing Black’s king and obtaining a mating attack.

Note: I have no idea what that means.


Is it any surprise that this self-admitted non-member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde failed to score?

Monday, March 30, 2009

A couple of pawns among friends...

In a game between equally-rated players, it would be odd for one to offer the other odds of two pieces, or even of two pawns. However, in the following game White offers "Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) odds" and when his opponent realizes that his defense is the same as offering two-pawn odds, he turns over his King... 



perrypawnpusher - Leontes blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

What's a couple of pieces among friends? It's the Jerome Gambit way. 

6.Qh5+ Kf6 No, no, I insist: what's a couple of pawns among friends? Black had many options, just not this one – giving back both of the pieces (see "Jerome Gambit and The Perfesser (Part I)"

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qd5+ Ke8 

Or 9...Kg6 10.Qf5+ Kh6 11.d4+ g5 12.h4 d6 13.Bxg5+ Kg7 14.Qd5 Qe8 15.dxc5 dxc5 16.Nc3 Bg4 17.f3 c6 18.Qxc5 Bd7 19.0-0-0 Qe6 20.Qd4+ Nf6 21.Bxf6+ Qxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kxf6 23.Rxd7 Black resigns, guest1088 - guest567, ICC 2002

10.Qxc5 Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Black resigns

White will simply be up two pawns in a Queenless middle game. Likely my opponent had better things to do than play that out.


Sunday, March 29, 2009

Kersplat!



Readers may be skeptical about my enthusiasm for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), as this blog features many of my wins (with and against) and few losses.

The fact is that my Jerome and Jerome-ized games database includes 49 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses by perrypawnpusher.


The following battle, my most recent, is one of those losses – my opponent out-played me with ease and grace; and my game, which never really got started, came to a swift and unhappy end.

Hats off to my opponent, Raankh, for the stern lesson.

perrypawnpusher - Raankh
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8


As old as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's third episode of analysis from the Dubuque Chess Journal, July 1874; and good enough to last that long. Black is better.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qc3

Jerome recommended, instead, 8.Qf4+, which I'll try to remember next time.

8...Qf6 9.0-0 Qxc3 10.Nxc3 a6

11.Nd5

Better was 11.Ne2. The Knight eventually gets there...

11...c6 12.Nf4 Nf6 13.d3 g6 14.Bd2 Kf7 15.Ne2 Rf8 16.Bc3 Nh5 17.Kh1 Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand, and White has gotten nothing started to speak of.

18.g3

Thoughtless and easily punished.

18...Bh3 19.d4 Bxf1 20.Rxf1 Bb6



White's two extra pawns do not offset his missing Rook

21.f4 Rae8 22.g4 Nf6 White resigned