Rampaging

Black's 3...h6 in the Semi-Italian Opening suggests a wish for a calm, safe game. In reply, in the following game, White, instead, goes on a rampage, playing the Jerome Gambit with wild abandon. Is it sound? Perhaps not. Did it win? Yes, quickly.


Manishsprasad  - TimJonez
standard game, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

Despite my preference for 4.0-0, I noticed that the New Year's Database has twice as many 4.Nc3 games.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

This position is similar to one from the main line classical Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6. White's extra move, Nc3, seems more helpful to him in the current game than Black's extra move, ...h6.

9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.d4

Forking two pieces and opening lines. White gets away with it this time, but perhaps next time he might try the less flashy 10.Qxe5.

10...Kxb5

In the games of the old Masters we see many an opponent grab the offered material, only to regret it soon after. Here, 10...d6, protecting the attacked pieces and counter-attacking the Queen, was the proper defense. But, where's the fun in that?

11.Qxe5 d6 12.Qd5 Ne7

Visceral chess. Get that Queen out of here!

Is there a defense for Black, however?

Rybka suggests 12...a5 giving the King some breathing room, and after 13.dxc5 it likes 13...Nf6. At that point White has to retreat his Queen with 14.Qd3+ Kc6 (14...Kxc5 allows a draw by repetition after 15.Be3+; other moves lose) and after a flurry of tactics the computer sees Black as slightly better with a Knight for four pawns: 15.a4 b6 16.cxb6 Ba6 17.bxc7Qxc7 18.Qc3+ Kd7 19.Qxc7+ Kxc7 20.f3 Rhe8

13.a4+ Ka6 14.Qc4+ b5 15.Qxb5 checkmate

Running Into A Wall

Here's the latest Jerome Gambit game from Bill Wall, reminding us all that our opponents may often be unwilling or unable to understand what is happening and thus find preparing a defense to be too much of a challenge.

Wall,B - ChrSav
FICS, 2010

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

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

6...Bb4+

I was surprised to see over 100 examples of this move in The Database. Most adventurous is 6...Qh4.

7.c3 Be7 8.dxe5 Nh6

Fritz8 now happily informs me that White can force a draw by repetition with 9.Qh5+ Kg8 (or 9...Kf8) 10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qxh6 followed by a lot of Queen checks.

Not surprisingly, Bill wants more.

9.Qf3+ Ke6

Wow.

White pretty much has the same drawing chances after 9...Kg8 and 9...Ke8, but all other responses – including the text – lose for Black.

10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qf5 checkmate

It is fun to point out that Black's last chance at defense, 10...Qf8, is met with 11.Qd3 and the Bishop is still poison as 11...gxh6 allows the mirror mate 12.Qd5. Of course, after something rational like 11...d6 12.exd6 Bxd6 White retreats his Bishop with 13.Be3 and remains two pawns ahead with a much safer King. 

A World-Wide Phenomenon

The folks at Blogger.com who host this blog have installed a nifty "Stats" feature that provides me with useful data, such as which pages have been seen how often, for the day, week, month, or the whole life of the blog.

The list of the top pageviews by country, for "all time", for instance, is quite interesting. Number 1 is the United States which is not too surprising. It is followed by the United Kingdom and Canada.

After that, Number 4 is France and Number 5 is Russia. Number 6, is Brazil. There follow Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea and Italy.

This list varies somewhat from the data that I get from Google Analytics, my regular stat provider, which gives the following list:

1. United States
2. Brazil
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada 
5. Denmark
6. France
7. Germany
8. Poland
9. Italy
10. Belgium

25. Russia

59. South Korea

Whichever source is "right", it is clear that interest in the Jerome Gambit is a world-wide phenomonon!

The End of the Jerome Gambit?

In today's game I was "Sidetracked" again – my opponent, who has Jerome Gambit experience, might have visited these blog pages as well.

In any event, his use of the "fork trick" to deprive me of the opportunity to play an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit was timely (given yesterday's post and my recent coverage of the tactical motif) if a bit existentially challenging. After all, he was choosing to play a line that leads to a small advantage for White, instead of choosing to play a line that refutes the first player's opening.

Oh well, as they say a difference of opinion is what makes a chess game...(or was that "a horse race"?)

perrypawnpusher - JTIV
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6

It could be my imagination, but I think that I have been seeing this move more often since this blog's series on "The Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 1)" (Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4).

My opponent has won at least one Jerome Gambit: JTIV - NyteFork, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14).

He and I have also previously contested a very exciting game: perrypawnpusher - JTIV, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32).

4.Nc3 Nxe4

The "fork trick".

With White, JTIV had less success after 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.0-0 Re8 7.Ng5+ Kg8 8.Nb5 a6 9.Nc3 d6 10.a3 Ng4 11.Nh3 Nd4 12.Nd5 c6 13.Ne3 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxh3 15.exd4 Bxd4+ 16.Kh1 Be6 17.c3 Ba7 18.Qf3 Rf8 19.Qxf8+ Qxf8 20.Rxf8+ Rxf8 21.h3 Rf1+ 22.Kh2 Bb8 23.g4 d5 24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Kg3 e4+ 26.Kh4 h6 27.g5 hxg5+ 28.Kxg5 Bf4+ 29.Kf5 Bxd2+ 30.Ke5 Bxc1 31.Kd6 Re1 32.b3 Bd2 33.Ra2 Bxc3 34.Rf2 Rb1 35.Ke7 Rxb3 36.Rf8+ Kh7 37.h4 e3 38.Re8 e2 39.Kf8 e1Q 40.Rxe1 Bxe1 41.a4 c5 42.h5 c4 43.Ke7 c3 44.Kd6 Bh1 45.Ke5 c2 46.Kf5 c1Q 47.Ke6 White resigned, JTIV - drkljenko, FICS, 2010.

5.Nxe4 d5

6.Bxd5

I am not quite sure why I played this move, instead of the recommended 6.Bd3. Things turned out okay in this instance, but I will probably not repeat my "experiment".

6...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qc4

This is an interesting idea, aimed at interfering with White's castling (I think) but Black's Queen can go just about anywhere (d6 may be best) and maintain the second player's edge.

8.d3 Qg4 9.0-0 Bd6

10.Ne4 Qg6 11.Be3

After the game Fritz8 suggested 11.Nh4 Qe6 12.f4 with equal play.

11...Bh3 12.Ng3 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3

Black has not gained much from his Bishop maneuvers; neither has he lost much. The following pawn sacrifice seems to gain little and lose more.

14...e4 15.Qxe4+ Qxe4 16.Nxe4 Be5 17.c3 0-0-0 18.d4 Bf6

Black is willing to give up his Bishop for a Knight and the opportunity to attack along the g-file. I am happy to have more targets.

19.Nxf6 gxf6 20.Bf4 Rhg8 21.Rae1 h5 22.Re3 Rg7 23.Rg3

23.Rfe1 was playable as even after 23...h4 White's Bishop allows him to play g2-g3 now or after Black doubles Rooks on the g-file.

23...Rxg3 24.Bxg3 Ne7

White is ahead a pawn, has a Bishop vs a Knight, and has 2 solid pawn islands vs Black's 3 (including 3 isolated pawns). At our level of play, especially in blitz, it would be presumptious so say the win "is only a matter of technique."

25.Re1 Nf5 26.Bf4 a5 27.g3 h4 28.g4 Ng7 29.Bd2 c5 30.Re4 f5 31.gxf5 Nxf5 32.Rf4 Ne7

33.Rxh4 b5 34.Be3 Nf5 35.Rf4 Rd5 36.dxc5 Nxe3 37.fxe3 Rxc5 38.Rxf7 Rg5+ 39.Kh2 Re5 40.Rf3 Rd5 41.Rf2 Kc7 42.h4 Kc6 43.Re2 Kc5

44.e4 Rd1 45.e5 Kc4 46.e6 Kd3 47.e7

After 47...Kxe2 I had already seen the mindless 48.e8Q+ Kd2 49.Qd7+ Kc1 50.Qxd1+ Kxd1 51.h5 etc, although there are smarter ways for White to win, too.


47...Re1

A slip. Black resigned

Sidetracked

I'm always looking for a Jerome Gambit when I play 1.e4, especially when my opponent replies 1...e5. Sometimes we get sidetracked, however. In those cases it is good when I know something about the line I've been forced into.

perrypawnpusher - vladchess
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

Our one previous game was quite odd, a declined Busch-Gass Gambit: 2...Bc5 3. Bc4 f6 4.Nxe5 d6 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Nxg6 Kd7 7.Nxh8 Qe7 8.Qf7 Nc6 9.Be6+ Kd8 10.Qxg8+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - vladchess, blitz, FICS, 2010

3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

My opponent hesitated before making his next move. Did he know that I was going to answer 5...Bc5 with 6.Bxf7+, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit? If he did, would that make him more or less likely to play 5...Bc5?

Instead, vladchess opted for the "fork trick". For a general overview of this maneuver, take a look at "Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 3)".

5...Nxe4

Here I fell in with my opponent's plan.

6.Nxe4 d5 7.Bd3 dxe4 8.Bxe4 Bc5

The Bishop has taken a step too far, and this costs a pawn.

9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Nxe5

Later, I grabbed a second pawn, and even later, a third, winning in 29 moves.

But – that hesitation at move 5. What was that all about?

Is there something about adding White's 0-0 and Black's ...h6 that changes the dynamics of the "fork trick"?

It turns out, there is. Instead of playing 6.Nxe4, White could have played the shocker 6.Nxe5!?.

Certainly now Black can continue with 6...Nxe5 and after 7.Re1 Be7 (or simply 7...d6) 8.Rxe4 d6 White will have the standard "plus over equals" edge that can come with the first move.

But what if Black mixes it up with 7...d5!? – and keeps playing crazy attacking moves?

8.Bxd5 Bg4 9.f3 Bc5+

10.d4 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Bxd4+ 12.Kg2

You know that things are getting tense for White when he has to play this "only" move.

12...Nxc3 13.Qxd4 Nxd5 14.Qxe5+ Kf8

Here – having made it safely through the storm – we can probably say that White's Bishop vs Black's Knight and his better opportunities for development are adequate compensation for his missing pawn in this even game...

Yes, Indeed, I am glad that I read and remembered that overview of the "fork trick", above, and decided to go that way, instead!

Even is Only Half-Way There

When you have invested a lot of material in an unsound sacrificial opening, it is a treat to get some of it back quickly. That does not mean that the battle is over, however.

perrypawnpusher - abczyx
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

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

7...Bxd4

Popular, but the best response remains 7...Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5

8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome had this position (by transposition) twice in correspondence games against S.A. Charles and both times played 9.Bg5. I never remember that.

9...Nc6 10.Qd3 Re8 11.0-0 Nb4

Oh, dear, not again... The New Year's Database has six of my games with this Knight strike when Black's King is at g8, and one when it is at f7.

12.Qc4+ d5

The right response, found by pwr and mjmonday in similar positions, although I admit I prefer to face susant's response, even though it is a bit over-the-top: Resigns.

13.Qxb4 Nxe4

The fact is that although White has recovered his sacrificed piece, the position is still roughly equal – and in this case White's Kingside seems a bit unprotected and his Queen, out of place.

14.Qd4 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 d4 16.Qd3 Qd6 17.Qxh7

This pawn-grab is a bit risky, opening a line to White's King.

17...Bd7 18.Bd2 Rh8 19.Qd3 a6

Perhaps Black could have considered doubling Rooks here, but he had something else on his mind.

20.Rae1 Bb5

What exactly is going on here?

a) Black will win the exchange with his "x-ray attack" along the a6-f1 diagonal
b) Black threatens to win the exchange with his "x-ray attack" along the a6-f1 diagonal, but White has tactical resources to escape
c) Black has blundered and will have to give up a piece to stay in the game

21.Qf5+

Well, obviously vladchess chose "a" as his answer, and this move shows that I believed in "b".

Only after the game did Rybka show its preference for "c". With 21.Qb3+ Black's King is shown to be in a world of danger. His best response is 21...Kf6, but after 22.Bb4 White has too many lines of attack. If 22...Qd7, then 23.Re7 Qxe7 24.Bxe7+ Kxe7. If 22...c5 then 23.Bxc5 Qd7 24.Re7 Qxe7 25.Bxe7+ Kxe7. Black can try 22...Ba4, but White can swap Queens and then grab the piece with 23.Bxd6 Bxb3 24.Be5+ Kf7 25.axb3.

21...Kg8 22.Rf3 d3

The idea behind this is unclear. Black did best with 22...Rf8, as after 23.Qe5 Qxe5 24.Rxe5 White's advantage is small.

23.cxd3 Bd7 24.Qe5 Qb6+

Exchanging Queens was more prudent. 

25.Kh1 Re8

Black still wants to battle it out.

26.Qc3

I overlooked the fact that White not only can win a Rook and a Bishop for his Queen, he can also add an additional Rook: 26.Qxe8+ Bxe8 27.Rxe8+ Kf7 (or 27...Kh7 28.Rh3+) 28.Rxh8

26...Qh6

Finally doubling up on the file that I so graciously opened earlier.

27.Rxe8+ Bxe8 28.Rh3

Forcing another exchange of Rooks.

28...Qb6

An ill-considered retreat, as White immediately shows.

29.Qc4+ Bf7 30.Rxh8+ Kxh8 31.Qxf7 Qxb2

Black is still ready to make a battle of it: his Queenside pawns vs my extra Bishop. It will come down to whose King is more at risk.

32.Qe8+

At around this point my opponent offered me a draw. I found this encouraging, as most of the time when someone offers me a draw it is because they want to distract me from a win...

32...Kh7 33.Qe1 Qxa2 34.f5 b5 35.g4

Giving my King some luft and planning to limit Black's King.

Here Black had a chance to reduce his pawns vs Bishop scenario to simpler terms with 35...Qd5+ 36.Qe4 Qxe4 37.dxe4 b4. However, White's Bishop can hold back the enemy pawns from c1, until it needs to leap forward at the right moment to h6 to allow it's own  pawn to Queen.

35...c5 36.g5 b4

In the end, the pawns on the Kingside rule.

37.g6+ Kh8 38.Qh4+ Kg8 39.Qd8 checkmate

Merry Christmas

Santa says, "Remember that when it comes to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) it is better to give than to receive!"

Wait 'Till Next Year!

There was a time when the New York Mets baseball team was so good at losing that fans would appear on Opening Day with signs promising although this year may bring more disaster, Wait 'Til Next Year!

The following game is given with that spirit in mind, as White deserved – and no doubt next time will play – better.

macgregorchess - ahphong
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6

An unusual reply (there are only 25 examples before this one in the New Year's Database, with White scoring 76%) looked at in the coverage of the game The Perfesser vs Talking LCD Chess.

7.f4

Certainly thematic, but White should, instead, regain both sacrificed pieces with 7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ d6, leaving him two pawns to the good.

Interestingly enough, other games have seen 7.Qh4+, 7.0-0, 7.Nc3 and 7.d3.

The recommended 7.Qf5+ does not bring "Instant Victory" but it certainly brings "Instant Advantage" and should be remembered in the New Year.

7...Nf7 8.Qxc5 Qe7

Wow! Another thematic move, this time by Black. Usually ...Qe7 is part of a stirring counter-attack for the second player, but in this instance it has a flaw.

9.e5+

Readers, with their clocks not ticking, may have noticed 9.Qf5#.

9...Kg6 10.Qxc7

Grabbing an extra pawn, but it was probably time to grab the draw with both hands: 10.f5+ Kxf5 (if 10...Kh5 then 11.g4+ Kxg4 13.Qc4+ with the same idea) 11.0-0+ Kg6 12.Qd4 and White repeats the position by checking the enemy King.

10...Qh4+

Here comes trouble.

11.g3 Qg4 12.Nc3 Qf3 13.Rf1 Qc6

White has repelled the invader, and with an exchange of Queens would now stand about even, his "Jerome pawns" accounting for the sacrificed piece. Instead, he overlooks one last thing.

14.Qd8 Nxd8 White resigned