Warning: a1 & h8

Chessfriend Welton Vaz has again generously provided a collection of recent (July 2011) Jerome Gambit (and related) games from the FICS database. One game, in particular, holds a warning for those who would meet the Blackburne Shilling Gambit with 4.Bxf7+!?


albgameiro - Alekingg
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+

Points of relevance:

1) The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is a fun way to try to bamboozle White with trappy play.

2) The Jerome Gambit treatment of the BSG, 4.Bxf7+, leads to an objectively even game, although White has great practical chances if Black is taken unawares.

3) Black's defense with 5...Ke8 as played in the game, is good, especially if he is happy with a draw; providing that he answers 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 with 7...hxg6. See "Incomplete" for a recent examination.

4) The text move for Black risks little, as long as the second player is aware of all of the consequences, and especially if he avoids the punishment for greed by returning to the ...hxg6 line on his next move (if White plays 8.Kd1).

5) The tactical play is more complex than If-you-take-my-Rook-then-I-will-take-your-Rook, requiring some planning (preferrably before the game).

8.Kf1

The wrong direction. 

Correct was 8.Kd1 as in perrypawnpusher - lourotors, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 37);  perrypawnpusher - robertpthom, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32); and perrypawnpusher - ZekeTheWolf, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).

The difference is that after 8.Kd1, 8...Nxa1 leads to mate (see "The Somnambulists"). White gets a bit of an edge after 8.Kd1 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Be7 10.Nxe7 Qxe7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.Kxc2.

After 8.Kd1 hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.d4 White has threats that Black did not meet in three games in The Database, but 10...Bh6!? seems to hold after 11.Kxc2 or 11.Bg5+, with White's extra pawns balanced by Black's extra piece.

However, in the game, White's King moved away from the marauding Knight.

8...hxg6

Rybka 3 suggests that after 8...Nf6 9.Qe5+ Be7 10.Nxh8 d6 11.Qc3 Nxa1 12.b3 Be6 13.Qxa1 Kd7 14.Qd4 Qxh8 White does not have enough compensation for his missing piece.

The text is a test of White's greed.

9.Qxh8

The players could have arrived at this position through the move order 7...hxg6 8.Qxh8? Nxc2+ 9.Kf1?! When Black, likewise, would be better.

Taking the Black g-pawn with 9.Qxg6+ would have reduced, but not eliminated, Black's advantage, especially if the second player utilized a timely ...Bh6.

9...Nxa1

This is a complicated position, played at blitz speed, so it is not fair to go too hard on either player; but White's a1 Rook wasn't going anywhere, so 9...Kf7 first would have spared Black's King Knight. 

10.Qxg8 Qf6

11.e5

The idea here seems to be 11...Qxe5 12.Qxg6+ and a balanced game.

11...Qa6+

Seeking to free his Knight with ...Qxh2, perhaps, but achieving a whole lot more than that.

12.d3

Maybe White, wishing the Knight at a1 dead and gone for so long, thought it had by now departed.

12...Qxd3+ 13.Ke1 Nc2 checkmate