In the first of my two Italian Game tournaments at Chess.com I have won one game and am near another win. Both of them are technical endgames.
In my second tournament, I suffered a loss when my "brilliant" Queen sacrifice did not lead to a back rank checkmate, after all... Awkward.
However, I have just completed a win with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), and that is enough for me to consider the tournament a success, already!
perrypawnpusher (1636) - Vaima01 (1773)
Italian Game - Round 1 Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
This is a natural response, prudently returning one of the two sacrificed pieces; yet, I am always glad to see it, as it leads to interesting clashes between the "Jerome pawns" and Black's extra piece, and the chess engines usually show a gradual slip into an even game after about a dozen moves.
7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Qe7
10.Nc3
Or 10.d4, as in mrjoker - lilred, ICC, 2009 (1-0, 50); or 10.0-0 as in mrjoker - blind25, ICC, 2009 (0-1, 66) and perrypawnpusher - Edvardinho, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 57).
10...Nf6 11.0-0 Be6
A bit more active was 11...Rf8, as in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31) and perrypawnpusher - chingching, blitz, FICS, 2011 (½-½, 36).
An alternate development of Black's Bishop was seen after 11...b6 in perrypawnpusher - Navarrra, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 24).
12.f4 Bf7
Black's move is sensible. There have been a variety of alternatives:
The frisky 12...Bc4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - ZhekaR, blitz, FICS 2011 (0-1, 36) and perrypawnpusher - tuffnut, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 62);
The retreat 12...Bd7 appeared in perrypawnpusher - Unimat, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 25);
The bold 12...Kd7 was tried in perrypawnpusher - Solaar, blitz, FICS, 2011 (33); and
The counter-attacking 12...Ng4 erupted in Wall,B - Hirami,Z, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 20).
13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc6 15.Qd3 Kd7 16.e5 Ne8
Black opts for the scientific solution of returning a piece for two pawns, with the goal of leveling out the position and the game.
After the game, however, Rybka suggested the way to do that would have been by 16...Nxe5 17.dxe5 Qxe5. It turns out that there is a glitch or two in giving back the Bishop.
17.e6+ Bxe6 18.fxe6+ Kd8
The second pawn is not easily taken, as after 18...Kxe6 there is 19.Qf5 checkmate; and after 18...Qxe6 White has 19.d5.
White is now better, but it took me a while to figure out how to proceed.
19.d5 Ne5 20.Qf5 h6 21.Bf4 Rf8 22.Qh3 Rf6
This helps, although in the end I decided to settle for the win of another pawn, with a strong position.
23.Ne4 Rf8 24.Bxe5 dxe5 25.Qg3 Nf6 26.Qxe5
26...Nxe4 27.Qxe4 Qc5+ 28.Kh1 Ke7 29.Rf7+
My favorite move of the game. It's success is based on finding a "quieter" move later on.
29...Rxf7
After the alternative, 29...Ke8, I had planned 30.Raf1 and Black does not have long to live.
30.exf7+ Kxf7
I was happy to see that after 30...Kf8 I would have the nice move 31.Re1
31.Qe6+ Kf8 32.Rf1+ Qf2 Black resigned
In "A Bridge To... Somewhere?" I suggested that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome might have taken inspiration for his gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) from the following games. Take a look, and see for yourself...
La Bourdonnais,L - Haxo
Gilvoisin, 1837
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qc4+ Be6 11.Qe2 Ne5 12.f4 Bc4 13.Qf2 Nc6 14.c3 dxc3 15.Nxc3 Re8 16.b3 Ba6 17.Bb2 Nb4 18.0-0-0 Nd3+ 19.Rxd3 Bxd3 20.Qf3 Ba6 21.f5 Qg5+ 22.Kb1 Kg8 23.h4 Qd8 24.fxg6 hxg6 25.h5 Qg5 26.hxg6 Qxg6 27.Nd5 Qxe4+ 28.Qxe4 Rxe4 29.Nf6+ Kf7 30.Nxe4 Bd3+ 31.Kc1 Bxe4 32.Rg1 Rg8 33.g3 ½-½
Shumov,I - Jaenisch,C
St Petersburg, 1850
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 Re8 11.0-0 Rxe4 12.Qd5+ Re6 13.Bg5 Qe8 14.f4 Kg7 15.f5 Re5 16.f6+ Kh8 17.f7 Kg7 18.fxe8N+ Rxe8 19.Qf7+ Kh8 20.Bf6#
NN - Harrwitz,D
Paris, 1852
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qd5+ Be6 11.Qb5 Ne5 12.f4 Bc4 13.Qb4 Qh4+ 0-1
Meek,A - Morphy,P
Alabama, 1855
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 Re8 11.Qb3+ d5 12.f3 Na5 13.Qd3 dxe4 14.fxe4 Qh4+ 15.g3 Rxe4+ 16.Kf2 Qe7 17.Nd2 Re3 18.Qb5 c6 19.Qf1 Bh3 20.Qd1 Rf8 21.Nf3 Ke8 0-1
Kennicott,H - Morphy,P
New York, 1857
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 Re8 11.0-0 Rxe4 12.Qd5+ Re6 13.Bg5 Qe8 14.f4 Kg7 15.f5 gxf5 16.Qxf5 Rg6 17.Bf6+ Kg8 18.Qf4 Bh3 19.Bg5 Qe3+ 20.Qxe3 dxe3 21.gxh3 Rxg5+ 22.Kh1 e2 23.Re1 Nd4 24.Na3 Re8 0-1
Steinkuhler,A - Blackburne,J
Manchester, 1861
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qd5+ Kg7 10.Qxc5 d5 11.exd5 Re8+ 12.Kd1 Qf6 13.f3 Qe5 14.Qc4 d3 15.Qxd3 Bf5 16.Qc4 b5 17.Qf1 Nd4 18.Na3 b4 19.g4 Bxg4 20.fxg4 Qxd5 21.Bd2 bxa3 22.Bc3 Kg8 23.Bxd4 axb2 24.Rb1 Qxd4+ 0-1
Ranken,C - Staunton,H
London consult, 1866
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qd5+ Kg7 10.Qxc5 Re8 11.0-0 Rxe4 12.b4 b6 13.Qc4 Bb7 14.f4 d5 15.Qb3 Qd6 16.b5 Na5 17.Qd3 Nc4 18.Na3 Ne3 19.Rf3 Rae8 20.c3 Nc4 21.Nxc4 dxc4 22.Qxc4 d3 23.Qxd3 Re1+ 24.Kf2 Bxf3 0-1
As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." And so, with the start of the second of two Italian Opening thematic tournaments at Chess.com, I have had several immediate opportunities to play the Jerome Gambit. (One of my opponents, with White, chose the Evans Gambit, instead; go figure.) Two other opponents, possibly attracted by the laughter, have played 3...Bc5 (winning two pieces) and faced the immediate 4.Bxf7+ .
Yesterday's game, Byrne [Bryne] - Farwell, San Francisco, 1859, serves as a curious bridge between two pieces of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) history. On the one hand, as we have seen, the opening moves transpose to what later will become known as the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit. On the other hand, it introduces to this blog a player, Willard B. Farwell, who has a couple of other games in the historical California chess database — one of which approaches the question of what games might have influenced Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in the creation of his gambit (see "A Distant Relative?").
Farwell,W - Jones,E
San Francisco, 1859
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4
This is the Scotch Gambit, but, hold on.
4...Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6
And now, a relatively familiar set of moves...*
6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5
The game is about even, although White went on to lose in a miniature (9...d5 10.e5 Re8 11.f4 Nxe5 12.fxe5 Rxe5+ 13.Kd2 Qg5+ 14.Kd3 Re3+ 0-1).
I checked the position after White's 7th move in the ChessLab online database, and discovered a line of games with a whole host of familiar names, on both sides of the board, including:
Labourdonnais - Haxo, Gilvoisin, 1837 (1/2-1/2, 33)
Shumov - Jaenisch, St. Petersburg, 1850 (1-0, 20)
NN - Harrwitz, Paris, 1852 (0-1, 13)
Meek - Morphy, Alabama, 1855 (0-1, 21)
Montgomery - Allison, New York, 1857 (0-1, 59)
Kennicott - Morphy, New York, 1857 (0-1, 24)
Steinkuhler - Blackburne, Manchester, 1861 (0-1, 24)
Ranken - Staunton, London, 1866 (0-1, 24)
Could this be the trail of another "godfather" of the Jerome Gambit? I will be digging deeper...
*-Opening analysis of the time warned against 5...Ne5, because of 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5, going back at least as far as Sarratt - NN, 1818.. Familiar?
Although the following game did not take place during the California Chess Congress of 1858, mentioned yesterday, its participants were from that event's organizing committee. Balancing this out, the opening transposes into what we now know as a Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, 15 years before Alonzo Wheeler Jerome first published his opening analysis.
Byrne [or Bryne], Thomas - Farwell, Willard B.
San Francisco, California, 1859
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5
A careless choice that allows White to go Jerome.
6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Kf8
Instead, diddan23- Sirfixulot, Chess.com, 2012, which we looked at a couple of days ago, continued 7...g6.
8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qc3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Nf6
White is up a pawn, with greater center control and a safer King.
11.O-O c5 12.Qd3 Be6 13.c4 Kf7 14.f4 Qc7
Linking his Rooks. Black might have done better with 14...Re8 15.Nc3 Kg8, castling-by-hand first.
15.Nc3 a6 16.e5
Pushing the other "Jerome pawn" with 16.f5 was more dynamic.
16...dxe5 17.fxe5 Qxe5 18.Be3 Rhd8 19.Qe2 Kg8
The game is relatively balanced now.
20.h3 Ne4 21.Bxh6 Qd4+ 22.Be3 Nxc3 23.bxc3 Qe4 24.Rf4 Qe5 25.Raf1 b5 26.Qf3 Bxc4 27.Re4 Qxc3 28.Rc1 Qa5
Black has been gathering material, but here his Queen should have stayed in the midst of the action with 28...Qd3, because his King has safety issues.
29.Qh5
Here White misses a chance to start weaving a mating net with the alternative 29.Rh4.
Black should now counter with 29...Rd5 and then the position, while tense, would be balanced. Instead, he decides: one more pawn...
29...Qxa2 30.Rh4 Qa3
Allowing mate in 9, starting with 31.Qh7+, although White plays otherwise.
31.Qh8+ Kf7 32.Rf4+
Good, although 32.Qh5+ still mates.
32... Ke6 33.Re4+ Kf7 34.Qh5+ Kg8
Suddenly, it appears that White has used his chances up. Where is the checkmate? In the meantime, Black's three connected passed pawns have their own sense of danger, and White's King is not completely safe himself.
Where is the checkmate? After giving the position a lot of attention, Houdini and I can find no more than a draw (by repetition of position) for White!
35.Qg4 Black resigned
It is likely that with 35...Qd3 (centralizing the Queen!) followed by 36...Qd7, Black could have assured his defense.
Here we have some of the strangeness that would become the Jerome Gambit.
Shortly after posting yesterday's game
— see "A Jerome Look At The Semi-Italian Opening (Part 4)" — I discovered an interesting historical encounter in a database of historical California chess games.
First, some atmosphere from an interesting article by John Hilbert on "California Chess 1858-1859"
Interest in chess spread rapidly across the United States following Paul Morphy's sensational victory at New York 1857, followed by his triumphant European tour. New chessplayers and new clubs sprang up across the land, and the clubs already in existence gained greatly by the Morphy boom. California was no different. In its May 1858 issue The Chess Monthly, edited by Morphy and Daniel W. Fiske, reported that the chess bug had indeed hit the West Coast, and that a California Chess Congress inspired by Morphy and New York 1857 was being planned. Curiously enough, while The Chess Monthly detailed the course of the event, it did not provide any games from the tournaments. That detail was left to the pages of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, which published five games from the top tournament. Coverage of the Congress on the East Coast was of course delayed by the lengthy distances such news had to travel. Three San Francisco chess clubs joined together to host the Congress: the Mechanic's Institute, the German Chess Club of San Francisco, and the Pioneer Chess Club. A committee of management was formed to take charge of the event, its members being Selim Franklin (President of the Congress), W. Schleiden, D.S. Roberts, Wm. R. Wheaton, Geo. Pen Johnston, Willard B. Farwell, Thomas Bryne, B.F. Voorhies, Edward Jones, Charles Mayne, M. Eilas, and H.R. Bacon. Entrance was fixed at five dollars, and players were to be divided into classes according to ability...
...The Morphy chess boom, though, didn't last. Chess in the United States lost many of its gains in the years following Morphy's earliest and grandest successes. By March 13, 1861, a correspondent in California could write The Chess Monthly as follows:"During the latter part of 1858 and the beginning of 1859, while Mr. Morphy was pursing his unparalleled successes, the chess fever reached its height in San Francisco. Several chess clubs were formed, a grand Tournament was held, and all classes of the community were seized with a rage for playing chess. Since then the interest in our game has somewhat declined, and there is now no regular club in the city..."
Some more on the the 1858 tournament
The California Chess Congress of 1858 was one of the earliest tournaments in U.S. chess history. It was held at the Hunt's Building in San Francisco from March 22nd through May 1st. The chess congress was hosted by the Pioneer Chess Club, the German Chess Club and the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, all located in San Francisco. The worldwide chess fever created by the 1857 world championship victories in New York by young Paul Morphy had reached the Pacific Coast. The 1858 Congress in San Francisco was covered in the May 1858 issue of The Chess Monthly and game details were provided in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper which published five games from the tournament. The event drew lots of spectators and match play continued past midnight. The President of the Congress was Selim Franklin, who came to San Francisco from London in 1849, and played chess in London and New York. The members of the organizing committee included W. Schleiden, Daniel S. Roberts, William R. Wheaton, Geo. Pen Johnston, Willard B. Farwell, Thomas Bryne, B.F. Voorhies, Judge Edward Jones, Charles Mayne, M. Eilas, and H.R. Bacon. The California Chess Congress began on Monday evening, March 22.
Although the chess database has the game (which we will look at tomorrow) listed as "Byrne" - Farwell, the above listing suggests that it was between Thomas Bryne and Willard B. Farwell.
The following game, from the ongoing Chess.com "Italian Opening" tournament, adds to the series of posts that started with "A Jerome Look At The Semi-Italian Opening (Part 1)".
diddan23 (1830) - Sirfixulot (1294)
"Italian Game", Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5
Possibly thinking of a transposition to the Scotch, but, as I've written elsewhere about White, Even the conservative player should be thinking "Jerrrrrrroooooommmmmme!"
6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5
The Database shows White scoring 78% from this position (130 games).
8...Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.Nxc6+ bxc6
11.Nc3 Ba6 12.Be3 d6 13.0-0-0 Nf6 14.f3 Rab8
Giving up a pawn for an attack, but not enough comes of it.
15.Bxa7 Rb7 16.Be3 Rhb8 17.b3 g5 18.h4 g4 19.Bxh6 gxf3 20.gxf3 Nh5
Now Black's game goes all a-kilter.
21.Rhg1 Kf6 22.Rg4 Rb6 23.Rdg1 d5 24.exd5 cxd5 25.Nxd5+ Kf5 26.Nxb6 Rxb6 27.Rg5+ Kf4 28.Rxh5+ Kxf3 29.Rf5+ Ke4 30.Rf4+ Ke3
The game continues, but not for much longer.
