Monday, April 23, 2018

Jerome Gambit History: Real?

I recently emailed a contact at McFarland and Co., publishers of some very fine chess books


I have a question: Is there a way for me to contact the authors of the forthcoming  Neumann, Hirschfeld and Suhle19th Century Berlin Chess Biographies with 711 Games ?  
I understand that it might not be possible directly, and I don't need any of their actual emails. Would it be possible for someone at McFarland to forward an email? 
It is certainly not a matter of great import. I have been investigating the outrageous Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) for almost two decades, and have puzzled over the following game, the source of which, alas, my notes to not reveal: 
[Event "London ENG"][Site "London ENG"][Date "1880.??.??"][Round "99"][White "Amateur"][Black "Neumann, Guestav R.L"][Result "0-1"][ECO "C50"][PlyCount "28"][EventDate "1880.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qxe5 d6 8. Qxh8 Qh4 9. O-O Nf6 10. b3 Ng4 11. h3 Bxf2+ 12. Kh1 Bf5 13. Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14. gxh3 Bxe4# 0-1 
I suspect the game is specious, for a number of reasons: 
- Except for the move 10.b3, the game, including the Queen sacrifice, is identical to Amateur - Blackburne, London, frequently given as also played in 1880 (the actual date is 1884), and the most infamous of Jerome Gambit games. (Blackburne's opponent had played 10.c3.) 
- Neumann was alive in 1880 (he died the next year) but, according to Wikipedia (not always the best source, I know) "severe mental illness stopped him playing after 1872" 
- Commercial chess database producers have had a habit of salting their collections with occasional bogus games, in order to identify any mass copying of their intellectual property; and this game has an ersatz feel about it 
Still, it would be nice to have a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" from an authority. 
Thank you, very much.

I will let Readers know what responses I receive.



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