Totally Psyched Out

"I don't believe in psychology," Bobby Fischer supposedly said. "I believe in strong moves."

Then, again, Bobby probably never played the Jerome Gambit. If he had, he would have known the power of psychology (causing surprise, confusion, doubt and fear in the opponent) to make up for shortcomings, in an otherwise busted chess opening.

In the following game my opponent totally out-psychs me, though,and then adds some strong moves, too, for a well-deserved (for him) and painful (for me) victory.

perrypawnpusher  - Olito
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6

With 4...a6 the game would transpose to perrypawnpusher - angelosgoulianos, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 40).

The whole Rook-pawns idea should not have been unsettling to me, but the fact that my opponent was playing his moves quickly sort of cued the ominous violin music to start playing in the background... See "If I write all this and someone reads it...".

5.Nc3 a6 6.a3

Temporizing. Last year I had tried a similar time-wasting idea, d2-d3-d4, in perrypawnpusher - tschup, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

Of course, there certainly was nothing wrong with 6.d4 and a small advantage. I was still hoping for a Jerome Gambit-style game.

6...Bc5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.d4 Nf3+

This hit me like a ton of bricks.

Not just the move – I had seen it in my game against AirmanLeonidas – but the ideas behind it.

My game with Olito was taking place later on in the same day that I had posted my ICC game against HenryV . In the notes to HenryV I had pointed out that White could capture the Black Knight on f3 with his Queen, because if Black retaliated with with ...Bxd4, White had a neat maneuver starting with Nc3-b5.

Of course, my opponent had just prevented Nc3-b5 with his a-pawn move.

Apparently, Olito was familiar with my blog post and had planned accordingly. Panic ran screaming down the hallways of my brain – which is reason #253 as to why I will never be a good chess player...

For the record, the text move is better than 9...Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

10.Qxf3

I decided to go along with a modification of my original plan, anyhow.

Next time I will take a look at 10.gxf3, breaking up my Kingside pawns, but giving me a chance to scatter Black's pieces after 10...Ba7 11.e5 Nh7. Both Rybka 3 and Fritz 8 then suggest marching White's d-pawn to d6:  12.d5 Qh4 13.d6 c6 14.Qd3 Qh5 15.f4 when the "Jerome pawns" could still cause some grief.

10...Bxd4 11.Ne2 Be5 12.Qb3+

I was playing quickly, too, but more with a sense of desperation: I didn't like being out-prepared in my own, favorite opening!

Now Black has 12...d5 when 13.f4 Bd6 14.e5 forks two pieces, but there is escape with either 14...Bc5+ or 14...Re8.

12...Kg6

A mistake, or more psychological warfare?

13.f4 Bd6 14.f5+

Going after the King! To punish it! To checkmate it!

Yes, I had kind of lost my head by this point.

Sticking with the obvious, instead, would have given White at lease an even game, and perhaps a small edge: 14.e5 (the fork) Bc5+ (one piece escapes) 15.Be3 Ne4 (the other piece escapes) 16.Bxc5 Nxc5 17.Qc4 (chasing off the defender) d6 18.b4 Na4 19.e6 Qf6 20.f5+ Kh7 21.Qxc7

analysis diagram






But, back to the real world.

14...Kh7

15.Bf4 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Nxe4

White is mostly just a piece down now. Still, I thought it was worth taking a swipe at the enemy King.

17.Qf3 d5 18.g4 Qh4 19.Ng3 Nxg3+ 20.Bxg3 Qg5 21.h4

White has, as my Dad would say, "a whole lot of nothing", but Jerome Gambiteers have gotten out of worse messes than this one.

21...Qf6 22.Qxd5 Bd6 23.Bxd6 Qxh4+

Somewhere out there, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") is saying "I told you so!" I've seen Pete hang on and survive some pretty desperate positions – the Jerome Gambit is complicated for Black, as well as White.

24.Bh2 Qxg4

25.Rg1

After the game, Rybka 3 liked White's position enough to suggest: 25.Rf4 Qh5 26.Rg1 Rg8 27.Rg2 Re8 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Rg2 Re8 30.Rg1 Rg8 31.Rg2 Re8 32.Rg1 Rg8 33.Rg2 Re8 34.Rg1 Rg8 35.Rg2 Re8 36.Rg1 Rg8 37.Rg2 Re8 38.Rg1 Rg8 39.Rg2 Re8 40.Rg1– that's right, White repeats the position and Black goes along with him: a draw.

Of course, my line of play gives up a pawn, and my opponent's generosity (giving back the piece) is all for naught.

25...Qxf5 26.Rad1 c6 27.Qg2 Rg8 28.Rgf1 Qh3 29.Qxh3 Bxh3 30.Rf7 b5 31.Rg1

The idea of active Rooks trying to win a pawn before transitioning into a hopefully-drawable Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame is an attractive one, but it needs to be executed properly. My move overlooks a nice response by Black.

31...Be6 32.Re7 Bd5+ 33.Rg2 Bxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Rad8 35.Be5 Rd2+ White resigned

What a mess...

Hat off to my opponent Olito, who seriously schooled me in this game.

Go, go, GOH!

With about 225 games in The Database, GOH (at FICS) is no slacker when it comes to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and its related openings. He did not quite make the list in yesterday's "Still King of the Hill", so I thought I'd point out his latest theoretical battle.

GOH - VasyaP
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

GOH is a specialist in this line: The Database has over 200 of his games with this move, going back to 2000.

All of the games mentioned in this post can be found in The Database.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf6

Usually the Black King goes to e6 or e8. See "BSG: Later on in the Discussion".

6.c3

This aims to move the game back into familiar territory, as 6...Kxe5 now would transpose into 5...Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5. See "Whose Territory Are We Fighting On?"

6...Ne6

An untried alternative is 6...Nc2+!?

GOH was successful against 6...d6 in GOH - dauerschach, FICS, 2003 (1-0, 20).


The indicated 6...Kxe5 led to a complex position that is roughly even, and which appeared in 32 of GOH's games. He scored 48%.

7.d4

Previously GOH had played 7.Qf3+ successfully in GOH - VictorOK, FICS, 2006 (1-0, 17).

The text move is deceptively simple, protecting White's Knight on e5. It had been played successfully previously in GOH - VictorOK, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 36).

7...d6

And that is that, as they say...

Instead, Black needed to move his King or Queen.

8.Qf3+ Nf4 9.Qxf4+ Bf5 10.Qxf5+ Ke7 11.Qf7 checkmate

Way to GOH!

graphic by the Wizard of Draws

Still King of the Hill

About a year ago (see "King of the Hill") I took a look into The Database to see which player had the most games in there – Jerome Gambits, Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambits, Semi-Italian Jerome Gambits, etc.

The leader, by far, was DragonTail.

This year, as my total approached 350 games, I see that I am only about 35 games behind Darrenshome. I would need about 200 more games to catch yorgos, though.

kingmaple has not added a lot of games, but I would still need about 270 more games to catch him.

Of course, the past, present, and future King of the Hill, DragonTail, is over 1,000 games ahead of me!

(He would be even further ahead, if the database contained 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Bxf7+ games, too.)

Quite Complicated

Making sense of Jerome Gambit middlegames can be a challenge. To write the notes for this blog I make use of my friends Rybka 3, Fritz 10 and Fritz 8. Sometimes I tell them "I saw that!" and sometimes I don't...

perrypawnpusher - parlance
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

I've been here 30 times, and scored 82%. That's not due to the strength of White's position, mind you, but because I am familiar with the tricks and traps of the opening. 

10.0-0 Rf8

Probably better than 10...Qe7 in our earlier game, perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

After the game, Fritz 8 suggested 10...d5!? which follows the idea that if you are ahead in development you should open up the game: 11.exd5+ Kf7 12.Nc3 (Hanging on to the d-pawn with 12.c4 wastes time that needs to be spent by White on development, e.g. 12...Re8 13.Qg3 c6 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.d3 Bf5) 12...Re8 13.Qc5 Ne7 14.d4 Nexd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 and Black survives the discovered check and his misplaced King to maintain his advantage.

If I face 10...d5, in the future, I am likely to try the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit-ish 11.d4 dxe4 12.f3!?

11.f4 Qe7 12.Nc3 c6

Keeping the White Knight off of d5.

A bit better might be 12...Kf7, continuing to castle-by-hand.

12...Ng4 worked out better than it should have in last year's perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31).

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4

You have to wonder if, just once, ...Ned7 was the right idea, with castling-by-hand still on the menu.

15.Qd3 b5

I've seen this kind of maneuver in my game against Saltos and both games against VGxdys. I think Black does best, instead, simply to retreat his Knight with 15...Nb6.

After all the travelling that the piece has done (...Nb8-c6-e5-g6-e5-c4) perhaps my opponent was unwilling to invest one more move – although that soon changes.

16.Bg5

I thought this was a pretty interesting idea at the time.

After the game, Rybka 3 preferred 16.a4.

16...h6

Taking the pawn right away was possible: 16...Nxb2 17.Qg3 Nc4 18.Rae1 Qc7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22.Qg4 with a slight edge to Black, but I would be okay with White's position.

17.Bh4

Simpler was 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.b3 Nb6 19.Rae1 but I was okay with some complications of the text.

17...Nxb2

Taking the pawn shifts the edge to White.

18.Qf3

It would have been stronger to try 18.Qg3, as in 18...Qd7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qd4+

18...Nc4 19.e5 Nd2

Enticed by the chance to fork my Queen and Rook. 

Black needed to bite the bullet, give up some material and move his King to a safer place with 19...Kf7. The resulting position would be quite complicated.

If White captures the Knight on f6, Black can force the exchange of Queens, i.e. 20.exf6 Qe3+ 21.Qxe3 Nxe3, when some simplification leads to 22.Ne4 Nxf5 23.Rxf5 Bxf5 24.Nxd6+ Ke6 25.fxg7 Kxd6 26.gxf8/Q+ Rxf8 where White is a pawn up, but the game is close to a drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

White can capture on c6, instead, and enter a somewhat better Queenless middlegame, i.e. 20.Qxc6 Qb7 21.Qxb7 Bxb7 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Nxb5 a6 24.Nc3 Rae8.

Rybka's preference, though, is to pursue the attack on the Kingside with 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.e6 in order to force Black to liquidate, when an exchange sacrifice by White will give him the edge:  22...Bxe6 23.fxe6 f5 24.Qxh6 Rf6 25.Qg5+ Qg7 26.Qxg7+ Kxg7 27.d5 Ne3 28.dxc6 Nxf1 29.Rxf1 Rxe6 30.Nxb5 Kf6 31.g4 Ke7 32.gxf5 Rg8+ 33.Kh1 Rf8 34.Nd4.

Like I said: "Quite complicated."

20.Qxc6+ Black resigned

White's Queen is very active, and the next few moves are easy to see: 20...Kf7 21.exf6 Qb7 22.Qxd6 (possible because the Black Knight no longer protects the pawn) Nxf1 23.Rxf1 and now 23...Qd7 24.Nxb5 shows that White has plenty for his sacrificed exchange.

Imagine That!

The website of GM Csaba Balogh of Hungary contains a list of links to different chess websites – including this one.

Wonder how that happened??

One Idea

A recipe missing one ingredient can lead to a dish that does not turn out right. So, too, a defense in a chess game, missing one important idea, can become flat and ineffectual. If the idea of trading Queens had popped into my opponent's head in the following game, things might have turned out differently.

perrypawnpusher - cinamon
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

Our earlier contest continued, instead 5...a6 6.a3 Bc5 7.Bxf7+ perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Qe7 10.f4

phil

I like this better than my earlier 10.Bf4 in perrypawnpusher - philippemuurmans, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

10...Nc6

Straight forward, and an improvement over 10...c5 11.Qxe5 as in perrypawnpusher - louarn, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - jaymen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40).

11.Qc4+

Or 11.Qd3 as in perrypawnpusher - kinghh, blitz FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).

11...Ke8

Black should always be on the lookout to play ...d7-d5, which is beneficial in terms of development (a counter to a gambit) and which only minimally further exposes his King.

Here, an even better move than 11...d5 would have been 11...Qe6, blocking the check and offering the exchange of Queens, dampening White's initiative.

12.e5 Ng4

This will cost a piece. If that is Black's intention, he could have tried, instead, 12...Qe6 13.Qxe6+ dxe6 14.exf6 gxf6 and headed toward the swamp that is the Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

That Queen move was an essential ingredient that my opponent left out.

13.h3 Ngxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Qe4 d6

This position is more complicated than it looks, or at least a lot more complicated than I realized when I was playing. It looks like Black is a pawn up (with complications, of course, starting with his insecure King) but after the game Rybka 3 rated White as being the equivalent of a Rook ahead.

16.Bf4

This move, threatening to create and eventually win an isolated pawn on e5, is okay; but what Rybka was thinking of was: 16.Nd5 Qd7 17.Bf4 Qf5 18.Nxc7+ Kd8 19.Qxf5 Bxf5 20.Nxa8.

I had glanced at 16.Nd5, but saw that Black could move his Queen and protect the c7 pawn, all in one move. The position is not just about forking the Black King and Rook, however, as the following line shows: 16...Qd7 17.Bf4 Kd8, getting the King, too, off of the deadly e-file, but then 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Rad1 shows that the d-file has become equally hazardous.

16...c6

 Rightly keeping the White Knight out of d5, denying me an important ingredient for my attack.

17.Rae1

Adequate, but again missing much of the potential in the position.

I had briefly looked at 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Qg6+ Kd8  but hadn't found a killer move to end the game and so eventually chose the text move. The irony is that I overlooked how strong 19.Rae1, after the above sequence, would have been.

17...Rf8 18.Bxe5 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 dxe5

Had my opponent continued with 19...Qxe5, instead, and given me exactly what I wanted, i.e. 20.Qxe5 dxe5 21.Re1 Be6 22.Rxe5 Kf7, I would have recovered the pawn, but the resulting position would have been slightly in Black's favor (B vs N).

As it was, my Queen remained on the board and I was "forced" to find a good move for it. 

20.Qg6+ Kd8 21.Rf7 Qc5+ 22.Kh2 Bd7 23.Qxg7 Kc7 24.Rxd7+ Kb6 25.Na4+ Black resigned

Not So Fast There...

Knowing your opening can be a great tool in quick games: you fire out your moves, rat-a-tat-tat while your opponent tries to think... 

Move too quickly yourself, though, or overlook thinking when it is time to do so, and disaster strikes!

Sometimes, that is...

kkjfin  - AdrianJP
standard game, FICS, 2011

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

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.Qh5+

Wow! This is way too fast! White confuses variations – or something.

Now...

7...Nxh5

White resigned, as he lost his Queen. 

But – a trip to The Database shows that a total of 5 games reached the position of the second diagram – and White actually has a winning record!

Let's see...

7...g6 8.Qh6 d5 (8...Bf8 9.Qh3 d5 10.Qf3 Bg4 11.Qg3 Nd4 12.Qxe5+ Black resigned, Vetehinen - KlassAct, FICS, 2007) 9.Nxh7 Nxh7 10.Qxg6+ Kf8 11.d3 Nf6 12.Bh6+ Ke7 13.Qg7+ Ke6 14.Bg5 Rf8 15.0-0-0 Nd4 16.exd5+ Kf5 17.g4+ Kxg4 18.Bxf6+ Kf4 19.Bxd8 Rxd8 20.Qf6+ Kg4 21.Rhg1+ Kh3 22.Qh6 checkmate, langlaiss - DeltaRomeo, FICS, 2003;


7...Ke7 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Nb5 checkmate, vigsep - jetix, FICS, 2009

8.d3 Nd4 9.0-0 Nxc2 10.Rb1 d6 11.Nd5 c6 12.Ne3 Nxe3 13.Bxe3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Qxg5 15.Rf2 Qxe3 16.Rbf1 Rf8 17.d4 Rxf2 18.Rxf2 Nf4 19.Kf1 Qc1 checkmate, tinkie - SiliconC, blitz, FICS, 2006.

Remember the old saying: Act in haste, repent at leisure