I've noticed a new name amongst players at FICS who are playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings. New warriors are always welcome to the ranks of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.
Dyfvermark - alkimie
standard, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6
5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bb4
A "natural" move that has seen its way into a number of posts this year (see "Thought, Emotion and Error", "Refutation right on the spot" and "Casually" for starters). It does not hold onto Black's full advantage, but it is not losing.
8.dxe5
Instead, 8.f4 is "over-thinking" the position too much, 8...Nxe4 (8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nc4 10.e5 Qe7 11.0-0 Nd5 12.f5 Nce3 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.f6 gxf6?! 15.Bxe3 Nxe3 16.Rxf6 d5 17.Qg5+ Qg7 18.Qxe3 Bd7?! 19.Raf1 Bb5 20.R1f3 Rf8 21.Rg3 Rf7 22.Rxf7 Kxf7 23.Qf4+ Kg8 24.Rxg7+ Kxg7 25.Qf6+ Kg8 26.e6 h6 27.Qf7 checkmate, Rijndael - tempelier, FICS, 2011) 9.dxe5 Qh4+ 10.g3 Nxg3 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.hxg3 Qxg3+ 13.Ke2 Bxc3 14.bxc3 d6 15.Be3 Bg4+ 16.Kd2 Rd8 17.Rxh7 Rxh7 18.Qg8+ Ke7 19.Qxh7 dxe5+ 20.Kc1 Qxe3+ 21.Kb2 Qb6+ 22.Ka3 Qc5+ White resigned, Dyfvermark - rchesszz, FICS, 2011.
8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nxe4
This is not thoughtful enough (see the earlier posts mentioned above) and turns the advantage over to White.
10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Qxe4 Qe7
There were chances to fight for a draw with 11...d5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.0-0 Qe6, looking toward a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.
12.0-0 d6 13.Ba3 c5 14.Rfd1 Black forfeited by disconnection
Those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) know that it is a good idea to take advantages of the tricks and traps of the opening, when they arise. The last thing that they need is a "routine" game that leads to a "routine" loss.
The same goes for those who play the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
pianazo - foduck
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+
More often played than yesterday's game's 6.c3.
6...Ke7
Not quite a year ago, the post "Instant Victory" laid out the reasons for White to rejoice at seeing this move. It seems fitting to mention that the player handling the Black pieces back then is the one handling them in this game, too.
7.Na3
This is pianazo's attempted improvement over the 7.c3 that he used in two losses against Fission earlier this year (0-1, 34 and 0-1, 35).
My recommendation is 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc5 9.Qd5+ Kb4 10.c3+ Ka4 11.Qa5 checkmate.
7...Nf6
Black realizes that he needs to chase away the White Queen, but the way to do that was 7...Qe8.
8.Qf7+
Hunting the King is the right idea.
8...Kd6 9.Nac4+ Kc5
10.a3
White realizes that he has to weave a mating net around Black's King.
This move works, and quickly, but the situation is more complicated that it appears. It is not at all apparent at first glance that the Black King needs to be chased to the Kingside before being checkmated...
White's best is 10.a4, which actually forces mate. (I had the help of Houdini in my analyses.)
Black struggles best against that move with 10...Nxc2+ (after 10...a5 it is possible to see the same kind of trouble afflict Black: 11.c3 d5 12.b4+ axb4 13.cxd4+ Kxd4 14.Bb2+ Kxe4 15.d3+ Kf5 16.g4+ Kg5 17.h4+ Kf4 18.Bc1 checkmate; the blocking 10...Ne6 leads to trouble faster 11.c3 Nxe4 12.d4+ Kd5 13.Ne3+ Kd6 14.Nf5+ Kd5 15.c4 checkmate), but not to win material.
11.Kd1 d5 (or 11...Qe7 and again we see the same pattern: 12.b4+ Kd4 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate; likewise with 11...b5 12.b4+ Kd4 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate) 12.b4+ when fleeing is "best" for Black, 12...Kd4 (or 12...Kxb4 13.Kxc2 Kc5 14.d4+ Kxd4 15.Rd1+ Kxe4 16.f3 Kf5 17.g4 checkmate)
The finish is familiar: 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate.
If pianazo had pulled that attack off in a blitz game, the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde would have crowned him "King For the Day (or Week, or Month, even)"!
There is a lesson here, though, from move 7: Choose the Simple, Avoid the Complex.
10...d6
More good fortune for White.
It turns out that it was okay for White to ignore Black's threat to win the Rook at a1. Had the game continued, instead, 10...Nxc2+, White could have put intense pressure on the Black King after 11.Kd1 Nxa1 12.b4 Ka5 13.a4+ Kxb4 14.Nd6!? c6 15.Qc4+ Ka5 16.Qc5+ Ka6 17.Nd3, when Black would have to give up his Queen with 17...Qa5 18.Nb4+ Qxb4 19.Qxb4.
Black's King would still be alive, and he would have a Rook and two pieces for his Queen; but White would be able to keep the pressure on and regain some of the material, with advantage.
It looks like Black's best move was 10...Kb5 (hence the value of the recommended 10.a4 that would prevent the move). It is not clear what White is to do next. For example, 11.Nd6+!? Bxd6 12.Qc4+ Kb6 13.Qxd4+ Bc5 leaves Black's King alive, and close to finding shelter, as in 14.Qa5 d5 15.b4 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 a6, when White may still have an edge, but it is a small one.
Again, I applaud the creativity and courage of both pianazo and foduck in providing such an amazing game, but I have to repeat, sometimes it is better to Choose the Simple, Avoid the Complex.
11.b4+ Kb5 12.a4+ Kxb4 13.Nd3 checkmate
Very nice!
At the Free Internet Chess Server site, "lightning" chess is defined as a game whose expected length is less than 3 minutes. The "slower" games in this range could prove to be slightly "longer" than the "bullet" time frame used at the Internet Chess Club, as referenced in the book Bullet Chess, but it still is a fast game!
The following Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit game makes me wonder: was it played at "faster than the speed of thought"?
suzana - Yaman
lightning, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8
6.c3 Qg5
White's 6th move is slower (not necessarily weakerer) than the more popular 6.Qh5+; and this allows Black to get in a thematic move, catching his opponent by surprise.
7.cxd4 Qxg2
Should White defend, or should he counter-attack?
8.Qb3
The text threatens mate, and Black immediately sues for peace by repeating the position, gaining a draw.
8... Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 Qxe4+ 10.Kf1 Qh1+ 11.Ke2 Qe4+ 12.Kf1 Qh1+ 13.Ke2 Qe4+ 14.Kf1 Qh1+ 15.Ke2 Qe4+ 16.Kf1 Qh1+ 17.Ke2 Qe4+ 18.Kf1 Draw
Wow! That was some game!
Wait a minute...!?
With 8.Qf3 White could have saved his Rook and had roughly equal chances after 8...Qxf3 9.Nxf3. Still, that outcome might have led to a "long" draw instead of a "short" draw, so the result of the game did not shortchange White.
It is Black who was probably scratching his head in wonder afterward. Instead of going for the repetition with 10...Qh1+ (and 12...Qh1+, 14...Qh1+, 16...Qh1+ and the implied 18...Qh1+) he could have played 10...d5 (or 10...Nf6), squashing the mate threatm leaving him with an extra Rook and arguably a winning game.
My second game with the Jerome Gambit against my opponent was similar, in many ways, to our first game. The slight differences, however, turned out to make all the difference in the world.
perrypawnpusher - kholthaus
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.
6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4
8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Re8 12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 a6
When I checked The Database after the game, I was surprised to find that our game from last year, perrypawnpusher - kholthaus, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 45) was identical up until Black's last move.
In our earlier game, kholthaus had first repositioned his Rook with 13...Rf8, and then, after my 14.h3, he had played 14...a6. The text move is a refinement of Black's play, as my opponent now saw no need to shuffle the Rook.
It is useful to mention the next few moves of the earlier game, as well: 15.Nd5 Be6 16.Bc3 Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne7 When Black was clearly better, with a safe King and the material advantage of a piece for a pawn.
14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Ne7 16.Bc3 Bf5
As in the first game, my opponent has exchanged off my advanced Knight – this time using his Knight, instead of his Bishop.
What, then, to do with the surviving Black Bishop this time around? Why, attack the enemy Queen, of course!
17.Qd4 Black resigned
Surprisingly, mate is unavoidable.
The best-known Jerome Gambit game is Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, when the British master started with a two-Rook sacrifice and ended with a Queen sac to produce a beautiful mate. Alas, "The Black Death" was defending against the Jerome Gambit, or this blog would be much less obscure today.
In the following game, my opponent played what seemed to me to be a weak move. It turns out, it lost a Rook. Then, much to my delight, it lost another Rook. I was not looking ahead, but when I did, suddenly, my opponent was threatening checkmate...
perrypawnpusher - badhorsey
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8
The same defense as in yesterday's game against a different opponent.
6.Nxc6 bxc6
Capturing with the d-pawn is recommended as a preventative against 7.d4.
7.d4 Be7 8.f4
With no ready targets available, this looks like another case of "too many pawns, too soon." This time, I luck out.
8...Bh4+
Aiming for "tricky", but 8...d5 was probably better. In either case, Black still has an edge.
9.g3 Qe8
Offering to return the piece in exchange for busting up my position, 10.gxh4 Qxe4+ 11.Kf2 Qf5 (or 11...Qe7 threatening ...Qxh4).
badhorsey may not know the intricacies of the Jerome Gambit, but he surely came to play!
10.Nc3 Be7 11.0-0 Bb4 12.Qf3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6
Having made half of his moves with his dark-squared Bishop, Black finds that it is now gone; so he uses his light-squared Bishop.
The psychology is pretty good, and Houdini and Fritz both still give Black the edge.
14.Ba3+ d6 15.Rfe1 Nh6
The Knight needed to go to e7 to protect the pawn at c6.
16.e5 Qg6
This really is not a good move, objectively (Houdini went wild after the game) but I have to think that my opponent saw what was coming and told himself "What the heck, why not give it a try!"
17.Qxc6 Qxc2
Baiting the hook.
18.Qxa8+
Taking the bait.
18...Kf7 19.Qxh8
Going for more.
19...Ng4
Here we go! Rooks? We don't need no stinkin' Rooks... Black threatens mate.
"Double Rook sacrifice?" or "Double Rook blunder?" At the time, I was not at all sure. In fact, I had the terrible feeling that I had fallen into a devious trap and was about to be seriously embarassed!
20.e6+
Yes, this has to be the move.
20...Kf6
The task for White was more complex after 20...Kg6.
Again, the key move 21.f5+ is easy to find, but the followup to cover the f-file is essential: 21...Qxf5 22.Qe8+ Kh6 23.Qf7. Black can then return to his earlier configuration with 23...Qc2, but that gives White time to get in 24.Bc1+ which allows him to force exchanges, i.e. 25...g5 26.Bxg5+ Kxg5 27.h4+ Kh6 28.Qf4+ Kg7 29.Qxg4+ Qg6 30.Qxg6+ Kxg6 and now the extra two Rooks do matter.
All of this is relatively easy, after the game is over.
21.Qf8+
White has to keep checking the enemy King, and some ideas were coming to mind, here, but I missed the simpler 21.Qd8+ Kg6 22.Qg5 checkmate.
21...Kg6 22.f5+
The key, again. Exchanging Queens at f5 would douse Black's attack.
22...Kh6 23.Bc1+
Joining the attack just in time.
Now 23...Qxc1 would put off the mate of Black's King for a few more moves, but I think badhorsey still was hoping for the tempo he needed to say "checkmate!" first.
23...Kh5 24.Qf7+ g6 25.Qxh7+ Nh6 26.Qxg6 checkmate
Whew!
Quite a game, badhorsey!
When I was a kid I was fascinated by "knights in shining armor". My first model was neither a car nor an airplane; it was a knight (the "Red Knight of Vienna"). Only much later did I realize that while all that armor provided a lot of protection, it severely limited what the knight could do. He even needed to be hoisted by his page (and others) onto his horse!
perrypawnpusher - pitrisko
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8
A solid reply. For an introduction, take a look at "Critical Line: 5...Kf8" parts 1, 2, and 3.
Our two earlier encounters this year had continued, instead, 5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 perrypawnpusher - pitrisko, blitz, FICS, 2011 (½-½, 54) and perrypawnpusher - pitrisko, blitz, FICS 2011 (1-0, 28).
6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Qh4
There are no examples of this move in The Database. It seems like an improvement over 7...Qf6, which I have faced a handful of times.
8.0-0 Bd6 9.f4 Bg4 10.Qd2 Ne7
Although White's pieces are uncomfortable and undeveloped, Houdini gives Black only an edge here, so it must be inpressed by the "Jerome pawns."
11.e5
After the game Houdini recommended 11.Qc3 Ke8 12.d4 Kd7 13.Qb3 Be6 14.c4 b5 15.Nd2 Rhf8 16.e5 Rxf4 17.Rxf4 Qxf4 18.Nf3 Qe4 19.exd6 Bxc4 20.Qa3 cxd6 21.Bd2 a6 22.Re1 Qg6 23.Bg5 Nf5 as slightly better for Black. That's rather complicated. I would suggest the straightforward 11.Qe3 followed by 12.Nd2 and 13.Nf3, instead.
11...Bc5+ 12.d4 Bb6
While I was happy the way my d-pawn blocked out Black's Bishop, my 12th move did not strengthen my center, it actually made it more fragile, as 12...Rd8 13.c3 Nf5 and a subsequent Knight sacrifice on d4 would have shown.
13.g3
My suit of pawn "armor" is almost fully in place, but, as will be seen, I can do little with it. As soon as Black can find a "can opener" I will suffer.
13...Qh3 14.Qf2 Nf5 15.c3 Kf7 16.Nd2 Rhf8 17.Ne4 Kg8 18.Be3 h6
Visually, White may not look too bad off (unless you think "blockade"), but Houdini clearly sees Black as better. The question is: What will White do? It is clear that Black will take advantage of the a7-g1 diagonal, if at all possible.
19.Rae1 Rad8 20.Qd2 Ne7 21.Nf2 Qh5 22.Nxg4 Qxg4 23.Qf2 Nd5
White's squirming in his armor has kept him alive, so far.
24.Qg2 c5 25.h3 Qg6 26.Qf2
A poor move, and the armor is breached.
26...Nxe3 27.Rxe3 cxd4 28.cxd4 Bxd4 29.Qf3 Bxe3+ 30.Qxe3 Rd3 White resigned
Hats off to pirisko, who came back with a new defense, a Theoretical Novelty, a bit of patience and the ability to outplay me right down the line!
No Passion for Chess Fashion
Fierce Openings for Your New Repertoire
Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik
Mongoose Press (2011)
softcover, 234 pages
figurine algebraic notation
GM Raetsky and IM Chetverik present a dozen lines of play outside of the mainstream of chess "fashion":
1. THE KING’S GAMBIT 2...ef 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1 f5
2. PETROV’S DEFENSE 3.d4 Nxe4 4.de Bc5
3. THE RUY LOPEZ The Alapin Defense 3...Bb4
4. THE SCANDINAVIAN DEFENSE 2…Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4
5. ALEKHINE’S DEFENSE The Cambridge Gambit 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 g5
6. THE FRENCH DEFENSE The variation 3.e5 c5 4.Qg4
7. THE St. GEORGE DEFENSE 1.e4 a6
8. THE SICILIAN DEFENSE The Cobra system 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5 Bc5
9. THE ALBIN COUNTERGAMBIT 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5
10. THE CHIGORIN DEFENSE The variation 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Bg4 4.Bg2 Qd7
11. THE ENGLISH OPENING The variation 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Ba5
No Passion for Chess Fashion is inevitably going to be compared to the Secrets of Opening Surprises series. My guess is that if you enjoy the latter, you will also take great pleasure in the former.
One particular strength of No Passion is that one or the other of the authors actually plays the lines being suggested and analyzed. Readers get to look at relevant games played by the GM or IM, as well as see their assessments, based on pre-game preparation and post-game reflection.
The authors, too, have written a number of well-received books together, including ones on the Petroff Defense, the Sicilian Defense, the Catalan, and the ...e5 English, where they no doubt examined some of the above lines. They have also written books on World Champions Alekhine and Tal, showing a great interest in tactical play (again, reflected in the above lines).
Of note, the chapters on the St. George Defense and the Albin Counter Gambit are particularly long. Everyone (since Morozovich) seems to be "discovering" the Chigorin Defense to the Queen's Gambit, and Raetsky and Chetverik's line versus the Catalan is quite topical; as is their anti-English line; as is their Alekhine Defense line (isn't everybody playing g2-g4 or ...g7-g5 everywhere these days?).
If you like "off-beat" approaches, Alapin's droll response to the Ruy Lopez can still raise eyebrows. The Petroff line given will drop a few draws, as will the Scandinavian line.
There is significant risk involved in some of the recommendations, and anyone actually planning to add any of them to their own repertoire is going to want to build on what the authors provide – but for flat-out, smash-bang, exciting chess, it is hard to beat No Passion for Chess Fashion.
I can't wait to see if they come out with a book of suggestions for White!
