Thirteen players played two games (one with White, one with Black) against each opponent, for a total of 156 games.
White scored 46%. There were only 2 draws.
In only one game did Black decline the Bishop sacrifice.
As expected, modern Jerome Gambit (those without 5.Nxe5 after 4...Kxf7) variations predominated over classical (those with 5.Nxe5 after 4...Kxf7) lines, 120 games to 35 games, scoring 48% vs 37%.
The most successful modern line was 5.d4, scoring 69% in 8 games, followed by 5.0-0 (51% in 35 games) and 5.c3 (50% in 37 games). Unusual lines were unpopular: 5.h3 (100% in 1 game), 5.Qe2 (100% in 1 game), 5.a3 (0% in 1 game) and 5.Ng5+ (0% in 1 game).
(By contrast, the New Year's Database shows 5.d4 scoring 39%, with the most successful modern line being 5.c3 at 47%. As they say about statistics: your mileage may vary.)
Against classical lines continuing 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+, Black's most popular lines were 6...Ke6 (11 games, White scored only 18%) and 6...Ng6 (10 games, White scored 50%). Black was most successful with 6...Kf8 (2 games, White scored 0%) and least successful with 6...g6 (3 games, White scored 67%).
When Black played 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 (5 times) White scored only 20%.
Substituting 6.d4 for 6.Qh5+ in 2 games, White scored 50%.
Very interesting Rick. I would be interested to see overall percentages from your database for Black defences to the classical line. APologies if you've already done this somewhere in the blog.
ReplyDeleteI'll organise another tournament sometime.
Pete,
ReplyDeleteI'll go through the New Year's Database in the next few days and come up with those stats.
Since the New Year's Database is predominantly (at least 75%) made up of games drawn from the FICS database (vs historical games and games from Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments) it gives a more representative look (at least representative of the kind of chess players who play online at FICS) at how the Jerome Gambit is being played these days, and at what lines are successful (and not so).
Love your Jerome Gambit tournaments, follow them closely.
Rick