Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit: Strange Positions

Jerome Gambit and Jerome-related openings have a tendancy to produce strange positions. For someone who regularly plays those attacks, however, the strangeness is somehow familiar, so, once again, the defender is trying to figure things out move-by-move.

drumme - teterilla

4 0 blitz, FICS, 2021

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 

This is a surprisingly complicated position. White has the option of playing the slow 6.c3 Ne6 7.d4 with a full pawn center, or sending his Queen on attack immediately with 6.Qh5+, risking Black's possible counter-attack ...Nxc2, etc.

drumme, who has almost 650 games in The Database, wants direct action.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 

Here we have another decision point. Stockfish 13 prefers that White now capture the Rook with 8.Qxh8, but that exposes him to losing his Rook as well, after 8...Nxc2+ with a messy position.

8.Qxg6+ 

The capture with check gives White more say in what will happen next. Remember, this is a 4-minute game, and such decisions are important.

8...Ke7 9.O-O 

Playing a dangerous game. White could pick up the wayward Knight with 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4 although the computer is skeptical that White's 4 extra pawns would match up well with Black's extra piece. In club blitz play, maybe they would. 

9...Ne2+ 

This is better than an earlier drumme game which saw 9...Nxc2. The Knight was scooped up similar to the above note 10.Qg5+ Nf6 11.Qc5+ d6 12.Qxc2, although the game ended with a win for Black in drumme - talyprossoneri, FICS, 2013 (0-1, 50).

Stockfish has a suggestion for White: 9...Nxc2 10.d4 opening the diagonal for White's Bishop 10...Bh6 contesting the Bishop immediately 11.Bg5+ anyway 11...Bxg5 12.Qxg5+ Ke8 13.Qe5+ Kf8 14.Qxh8 Nxa1 when White has the Rook lift Rc1-Rc3-Rg3 which is enough to equalize the game.

10.Kh1 Nxc1 

Black's Knight appears to have wandered off. Still, Black has 3 extra pieces, and they outweigh White's 4 extra pawns. The question is: will that matter?

11.Nc3 Nf6 

What could be more natural than developing a piece to protect the King from 12.Nd5 checkmate ?  

12.Nd5+ 

Strangely, "objectively" better was 12.e5 Rh6 13.exf6+ Kd6 when White would have a variety of ways of checking with his Queen to force a draw by repetition.

Clearly drumme was not looking for a draw. 

12...Nxd5 

Consistent, but not correct. The computer prefers 12...Ke6 13.Nf4+ Kd6 14.e5+ Kc6 15.Raxc1 (finally) d5 16.c4 b6 17.exf6 Kb7 18.Nxd5 Rh6 19.Qe4 c6 20.Ne7 Qd6 21.f4 Qxf6 22.Nxc8 Rxc8 when it favors the extra piece over the extra pawns. Again, club level blitz play might produce a different outcome.

13.exd5 

A strange position. Black remains 3 pieces up - and that Knight, what about it?

The point is, however, that there is only one move that will save Black. A truly Jerome-ish situation.

13...Rh6 

This is not the move. Black had to find 13...Bh6, when White's best is probably to pursue a draw by repetition: 14.d6+ Kf8 15.Re1 cxd6 16.Raxc1 Bg7 17.Qxd6+ Kf7 18.Qd5+ Kg6 19.Qd3+ Kf7 etc.

14.Re1+ Ne2 15.Rxe2 checkmate

This is why we play gambits.