Assessing play against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be a topsy turvy affair. Take the following game. Black was probably most in danger when his position was objectively winning. Likely, he felt more comfortable as his game became less and less in his favor. When he reached a drawn endgame – that's when his troubles really began.
mrjoker - lilred
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2009
White has just regained his sacrificed piece, and the game resembles the dreaded/revered "drawish" Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame that can come about in Jerome Gambit games.
White's passer can be blockaded by Black's King and/or Bishop. Black can create counter-play by working to get his own passer on the Queenside. The Kingside may or may not become critical.
Knowing how to play this kind of endgame (any endgame, really) is essential for Jerome Gambiteers. mrjoker does a great job, at blitz speed.
32.h3 h5 33.gxh5+ Kxh5 34.Kg2 Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kg5 36.Kg3 Kf5 37.Kf3 g5 38.Ke3 Bb7 39.h4 g4
Almost all of White's pawns are on the dark squares of his Bishop; all of Black's pawns are on the light squares of his Bishop.
None of the passers are likely to make progress any time soon.
Black should advance his Queenside majority and aim for another passer. He should advance his g-pawn when possible, if only to distract White.
The game is, and should remain, even. However, "even" endgames favor the more knowledgeable player.
40.Bg3 a5 41.a3 Bd5
He could also have continued with 41...b4 42.axb4 axb4 43.Bd6 c3 44.bxc3 bxc3 (or 44...b3) but each side will still be able to blockade the other's pawns and be unable to advance his own.
42.Bc7 Bc6 43.Bxa5
White has gained a pawn, but it is only symbolic, or, perhaps, psychological. The game is still even.
43...g3 44.Be1 Kg4
This looks like a logical followup to the previous move: advance the g-pawn then use the King to defend it while also attacking the enemy h-pawn. The problem is that Black need something to keep White distracted, lest he make use of his two passed pawns.
Therefore 44...g2 was called for, a move to tie up White's King while Black can use his King to blockade one enemy passer and his Bishop to blockade the other.
45.Bxg3
A shocker.
45...Kxg3
It is now only a choice between losing quickly and losing slowly.
After declining the Bishop with 45...Be8 46.Be1 White's King will eventually maneuver it's way to the Kingside to escort his h-pawn to the Queening square, winning Black's Bishop; or make his way to the Queenside and win Black's b-pawn, making his a-pawn a threat.
Now, without the distraction of a passed pawn, Black cannot hold back both of White's passers.
But, don't leave yet.
46.h5 Bd5 47.h6 Bg8 48.Ke4 Kg4 49.d5 Kg5
50.d6
A surprising slip. Instead, 50.Ke5, closing out the Black King and preventing the blockade of the d-pawn, wins.
It seems hard to believe, but Black now has an escape here with 50...Kf6, making sure that his King gets to the enemy d-pawn. After 51.Kd4 Ke6 52.Kc5 Kd7 53.Kxb5 Kxd6 White has several of paths to take, none of them yielding more that half a point.
He can give up his h-pawn for Black's c-pawn with 54.h7 Bxh7 55.Kxc4, but 55...Kc6 will put Black's King (along with his Bishop) in a favorable position to resist the advance of White's pawns.
He can keep his King ahead of Black's King in the race to a8, and move his a-pawn up as well, but 54.Kb6 Kd7 55.Kb7 Black will check him back with 55...Bd5+.
Finally, he can advance his a-pawn with 54.a4, but Black's King can quickly get in front of it.
50...Kxh6
Now the d-pawn simply advances and promotes.
Black resigned
I have gotten into plenty of trouble by not looking far enough ahead in a chess position. This game has one of the few examples that I can think of where looking too far ahead allowed me to choose a second-best move, when a quick-reaction move would have been stronger.
Go figure.
perrypawnpusher - Duir
blitz, 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.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6
9.Qd3
When I played this move, I knew that 9.Qc4+ was probably a bit better. It turned out (I checked after the game) that there are 3 Bill Wall games with it in The Database, not to mention perrypawnpusher - Avious, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40).
What can I say? The patzer in me was hoping for 9...Nb4? (That's a poor way to play chess.)
9...Re8 10.0-0 Ne5 11.Qe2 d5 12.f4
Hoping to complicate things, and support my e-pawn as it stepped past Black's d-pawn on the way to e5; but 12.exd5 was better.
12...Nxe4
The frisky Knight should have returned with 12...Nc6, in order to answer 13.e5 with 13...d4 with a better game. It think that it is possible that my opponent overlooked the fact that my next move comes with check.
13.fxe5+ Kg8 14.Qf3
A hallucination. I was afraid of the correct 14.Nxe4 because I thought that 14...Rxe5, winnning a pawn and pinning my Knight, would be a good response. I did not see 15.Qf3 Rf5 16.Qb3!? moving the Queen to safety and pinning the Black d-pawn, thus saving my Knight.
14...Rf8
Black immediately returns the favor. Instead, 14...Nxc3 15.Qxc3 d4 would have been at least equal, maybe a bit better for the second player.
15.Qxf8+ Qxf8 16.Rxf8+ Kxf8 17.Nxd5
Suddenly the complications have vanished, and White is a pawn up. Should the Knights and Rooks be exchanged, there would be the risk of a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, but I was alert to that slip up.
17...Bf5 18.Be3 Rd8 19.c4
After the game, Rybka 3 saw further than me: 19.Nxc7 Rc8 can be met with 20.Rf1 Rxc7 21.Rxf5+ Ke7 22.c3 and White is up a second pawn.
19...a6
Missing something in the position.
20.Rf1 g6 21.g4 c6 22.Nc3 Nxc3 23.bxc3 Rd3 24.Bc5+
It's funny, but I came up with this second-best move (24.Bd4 is simplest and strongest) because I had already looked at the possibility of sacrificing the piece several moves down the road...
24...Kf7 25.gxf5 gxf5 26.Rxf5+ Kg6 27.Rf2 Rxc3 28.e6 Rxc4 29.Re2
Of course, Black can have the Bishop, as the pawn is going to promote.
29...Rxc5
Oh, well.
30.e7 Rc1+ 31.Kf2 Rh1 32.e8Q+ Kg5 33.Qe7+ Kg6 34.Re6+ Kf5 35.Qf7+ Kg5 36.Qf6+ Kg4 37.Qf3+ Kg5 38.Qxh1 Kf5 39.Qe4+ Kg5 40.h4+ Kh5 41.Kg3 c5 42.Qe5 checkmate
I just received a friendly email from Louis Morin, aka "mrjoker", a member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde who is familiar to long-time readers of this blog. He attached a pgn file of over 6,000 of his games, many of which are Jerome Gambits (or related openings), and a good number of which are new to me. After playing them over, I will, of course, add the games to The Database and post selected ones here, from time-to-time.
A hearty "thank you" to mrjoker!
I enjoy playing over the games of axykk (see "La la la la la...", "Say, what...?" and "Making It"), a player at FICS apparently new to the Jerome Gambit. He shows a lot of cool patience while playing down material, waiting for an opportunity for success to come his way. (With a little more endgame knowledge, his opponent could have foiled his plans.)
axykk - ElFuriozo
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8
7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+
Confidently going into the Queenless middlegame.
8...Nxe7 9.d3 d6 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 g6
Black really hasn't done anything wrong yet, and still holds the extra piece for White's two (doubled) "Jerome pawns".
As far as White is concerned, the game is barely started.
12.0-0+ Kg7 13.Nd2 Be6 14.Nf3 Rhf8 15.Nd4 Rxf1+ 16.Rxf1 Bd7
17.Rf4 a6 18.c4 Nc6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Kf1 Rb8 21.b3 a5
The game continues. White simply "plays chess" and waits for the "time bomb" (inevitiable blunder) to go off in his opponent's camp.
22.Rf2 Be6 23.Ke2 d5 24.exd5 cxd5 25.cxd5 Bxd5 26.e4 Be6
White's pawns are looking healthier, and one of them is protected and passed.
27.d4 c6 28.Kd3 a4 29.bxa4 Ra8 30.Rc2 Rxa4 31.Rxc6 Ra3+ 32.Ke2 Bg4+ 33.Kf2 Rxa2+ 34.Kg3 h5
The game is beginning to look even, with White's "Jerome pawn" passers balancing out Black's Bishop; but, as the game shows, the first player has practical winning chances.
35.h3 Ra3+ 36.Kf4 Be2 37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.h4 Ra6 39.e5+ Ke6 40.Ke4 Ra4 41.Rg7 Bg4 42.Rxg6+ Kf7 43.Rf6+ Ke7 44.Rh6 Ra2
45.Rh7+ Kf8 46.g3 Rg2 47.d5 Rxg3 48.e6
Now it is time for Black to return the Bishop and secure the draw with 48...Bxe6 49.dxe6 Rg4+ 50.Kf5 Rxh4. White will be unable to deal both with the checks to his King and Black's h-pawn at the same time; he will need to split the point.
48...Rf3 49.d6
All is not lost yet for Black. If he exchanges Rooks now, he can still sacrifice his Bishop and then take advantage of the unique defensive chance given to those who fight against a Rook pawn.
Thus, 49...Bf5+ 50.Kxf3 Bxh7 would accomplish the first step, and after 51.Kf4, then 51...Bg8 52.Ke5 Bxe6 53.Kxe6 Ke8 would accomplish the second.
White would then discover, to his dismay, that, abandoning his d-pawn to use as a distraction while he goes to free up his h-pawn, is not enough: 54.Kf6 Kd7 55.Kg5 Kxd6 56.Kxh5 Ke7 57.Kg6 Kf8 58.h5 Kg8 and Black's King will get to h8 to stop the pawn.
If, instead, White decides to hold onto his d-pawn with 55.Ke5 (instead of 55.Kg5) and not run to the Kingside, Black can cooly play 55...Kd8, staying in front of the passer. It looks then like White has gained something, as his King can now beat the enemy King to the defensive square h8, but this, still, is not enough to win, as there is another oddity related to the h-pawn. Thus: 56.Kf6 Kd7 57.Kg6 Kxd6 58.Kxh5 Ke7 59.Kg6 Kf8 60.Kh7 ("Ha!") Kf7 ("Ha! Ha!") and White's King, himself, is in the way of his advancing pawn. If it moves out of the way, Black's King moves in to defend. If White only moves his pawn, Black will tempo his King back and forth from f7 to f8, and stalemate will be reached.
49... Rf6
Alas, this will not do.
50.e7+ Ke8 and Black resigned.
I have always been impressed by stories of Grandmasters who, upon being confronted by a new or surprising idea in the opening, think hard and come up with a refutation right on the spot.
In club play, you may find the right idea, and not even realize it until it is too late. If then.
perrypawnpusher - KnightIsHorse
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5
The Italian Four Knights Game, about to become the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4
7...Bb4
This defense can work for Black, but he needs to give some thought as to what his plan will be.
8.dxe5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3
Now, retreating the Knight, or even letting it expire on f6 with 9...Re8 10.exf6 Rxe4+ 11.Be3 Qxf6, keeps an edge for Black.
9...Nxe4 10.Qd5+
Black resigned
It was possible to continue, as in my most recent example, perrypawnpusher - Aerandir, blitz, FICS, 2011, but I suspect that KnightIsHorse was discouraged by the turn of events.
Here are a couple of games that leave me wanting to say "Hey, things can't be that bad!" or "Well, things can't be that good!". Truth to be told, there was probably something going on behind the scenes that accounted for the abrupt termination of each game.
MoosMutz - catcheck
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White resigned
Nesseerd - MithrasHH
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black resigned
The Blackmar Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3) is the Captain Jack Sparrow (from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies) of chess openings.
One observer will cavil that Captain Jack Sparrow is, "without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of," while another will gush "That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen."
So, too, with the Blackmar Diemer Gambit as a chess opening. It inspires side-taking.
Of course, a more objective, balanced, look at the BDG, say Christoph Scheerer's recent The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: A Modern Guide to a Fascinating Chess Opening from Everyman Chess, is bound to give a more nuanced assessment.
The link in the above paragraph is useful: it connects to a review of Scheerer's book by Tim Sawyer, who has written a number of BDG texts himself. Further, the review is hosted at Tom's BDG Pages, by Tom Purser, a BDG player and author himself, and past editor of the long-running "BDG World" magazine.
(It's hard not to add the name of Tim McGrew to this duo, as he has written on any number of unorthodox openings – including the BDG. Scheerer references all three in his book, although he makes the humorous slip of calling all of them "Tim". Sorry, Tom.)
In his review, Sawyer is impressed with Scheerer's extensive investigation of the Blackmar Diemer Gambit, noting
Scheerer lists a 3 page bibliography of major articles, books, cds, dvds, databases, periodicals and websites.
Of import is what follows
Only the excellent works from 2010 by Eric Jego and by Guido de Bouver are missing.
Which brings us to the subject of today's review, one of those "excellent works", Attack With the Blackmar Diemer by Guido de Bouver, sub-titled A Computer Analysis of the Teichmann, Gunderam, O'Kelly and Vienna lines in the Blackmar Diemer gambit.
For those not so familiar with the BDG, that means 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 (or 4...c6, O'Kelly; or 4...Bf5, Vienna) 5.Nxf3 Bg4 (or 5...Bf5, Gunderam) Teichmann.
I have to admit to a moment of unease when I first read that phrase "A Computer Analysis".
I know that no serious modern day opening analyst (or, as in the case of the Jerome Gambit, an un-serious opening analyst) dares to venture into a forest of variations without a silicon sabre at his (or her) side – if only for clearing out unnecessary foliage and laying bare the main pathways.
Yet my experience with Gary M. Danelishen's fantastic and massive The Final Theory of Chess, to give one example, is that computers can lay open the minds of chess openings, at the risk of impoverishing their souls. That Danelishen placed the Blackmar Diemer Gambit at the center of his White piece repertoire is bold and energetic; but, coming away from the work I was far more likely to yell "amortize those non-convertible debentures, if you would" than sing out "Yo! Ho! Ho! and a bottle of rum!"
I shouldn't have worried. Writes de Bouver
The great majority of chess books assume you know how to keep your pieces safe. Thus, almost all popular chess books are filled with grandiose and subtle strategies to obtain a small positional advantage. As you glance through this book, you will realize that this opening and this book is different. It's about tactics and how a computer deals with them. It doesn't cover subtle positional play, something the average chess player doesn't understand, anyway – it's about the core business of chess – how to get an attack against the enemy king!
I like that.
I've complained elsewhere on this blog that while my best friend, Rybka 3, can spot a tactical shot from over the hill and far away, too often it makes suggestions in a supposedly quiescent position that look like "tweak, adjust, nudge, modify, align..." and I despair of it ever understanding an unbalanced (in all senses of the word) chess opening.
In Attack With the Blackmar Diemer, the human is driving the computer, not the other way around. Score one for de Bouver.
Here are the contents of Attack With the Blackmar Diemer:
Content
1. Introduction 5
1.1. The Blackmar Diemer gambit 5
1.2. About this series and book 11
1.3. Isn't this refuted ? 13
1.4. The Teichmann defense 20
1.5. The Teichmann Exchange defense 22
1.6. The Gunderam defense 25
1.7. The O'Kelly defense 27
1.8. The Vienna defense 31
1.9. Blackmar Diemer versus Smith Morra 32
1.10. Does the Blackmar Diemer win by force ? 34
2. Teichmann defense 36
2.1. The main line 37
2.2. Variations from main line on move 9 51
2.3. Bennett's temptation 58
2.4. Variations from main line on move 8 61
3. Teichmann Exchange defense 67
3.1. 7th move variations 68
3.2. A delayed Ryder gambit 70
3.3. The normal development 72
3.4. Limiting the scope of the g pawn 83
4. Gunderam defense 85
4.1. 6th move variations 86
4.2. Caro Kann reply 88
4.3. Teichmann transpositions 97
4.4. 7th move variations 112
5. O'Kelly defense 117
5.1. Alternate main line 118
5.2. Main line 131
5.3. Critical O'Kelly position 141
5.4. 7th moves variations 144
5.5. The power of the Blackmar Diemer 146
6. Vienna variation 149
6.1. Capturing with the knight 150
6.2. Unzicker variation 151
6.3. Capturing with the bishop 154
7. Summary
After an Introduction (including a Preface and a page of References [score another one for the author] which did not make it to the Content table) the author continues with some information about Armand Edward Blackmar, the American player who developed the Blackmar Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3), and Emil Josef Diemer, who enlivened the gambit with the interpolation of 3.Nc3 before offering the f-pawn.
Mention is also made of Dr. Ryder, whose gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3!?) first enthralled Diemer, and Ignatz von Popiel, who advocated development of the dark-squared White Bishop instead of the offer of the f-pawn (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5).
As the Contents indicate, early chapters discuss each defense and give an outline of the play that develops. Later chapters give deeper analysis and evaluations that are less wordy. This format works nicely.
The author does not cover every move and line for White, only those which provide him with the best chances for success. It's still quite a lot to keep the first player busy.
de Bouver is most sure about White's chances against the Teichmann defenses, and suggests that a well-prepared defender using the O'Kelly defense is likely to give White the most difficulty (with the Vienna and Gunderam defenses fitting in between the two). It is clear that he is dedicated to the BDG, but he does not allow his fervor to over-ride a sense of balance.
Attack With the Blackmar Diemer tackles the "playability" of the opening on several levels: first, by identifying the traditional "refutations" and giving lines of play against them; second, by alerting the reader to the fact that the opening needs a certain amount of upkeep and updating, lest White lose his edge and tumble off a thin and winding path; and last, by returning to the real world of over-the-board chess play of those who are likely to be using the book
Of course, if black takes the f-pawn, defends like Karpov and plays the endgame like Capablanca, then the proposed move... will not help the attacker, but then again, if you are really facing that kind of opponents, why are you reading this book? From the analyzed lines below, it shows that the attacker obtains dynamic compensation in every line for the offered pawn – which should satisfy every gambiteer...
So to answer the eternal question "Isn't that refuted?", every gambiteer should be happy to answer "Of course", and roll out a new baffling variation with a big smile on his face.
It is this kind of energy and bravado that caused IM Gary Lane, in one of his "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.com, to note
The good news is that [Guido de Bouver] apparently plans to publish a book on the BDG... My advice if you have a love of the opening is to seek it out and buy it at the first opportunity.
That is a strong endorsement, coming from someone who has written a book on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit himself!
As someone who has played the BDG for decades (and still play it, if someone wants to avoid my Jerome Gambit by playing 1...d5 to my 1.e4 – I counter with 2.d4!?) I happily recommend Attack With the Blackmar Diemer as well. It's a decision as easy as offering the f-pawn.
