Saturday, February 20, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Rendered Senseless



One reason club players enjoy the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) so much is that it can produce attacking games that allow them to render their opponents senseless. This happens most often with a naive defender who spends a lot of time thinking Who? and What? and How? and Why? 

Soon, they will encounter others who will be less gobsmacked by the Jerome, those who have solid ideas about defending - but didn't many players start out playing and winning with the Scholar's Mate, too?

Enjoy now.

 

Ftmean - branimirjovanovic

10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 


7...Nf6 

Quick thinking: counter a Queen with three pieces.

Slower thinking: there are too many threats for this to work.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 Nxe4 


Keeping the damage to one pawn.

10.Qd5+ Kg6 11.Qxe4+ 

Okay, maybe not.

11...Kh5 


The computer sees White almost a Queen better.

12.O-O Qh4 13.Qf3+ Kh6 14.g3 Qh3 

15.d4 d6 16.f5+ g5 17.fxg6+ Kxg6 18.Qf6+ Kh5 19.Qg5 checkmate


White: Wait until I tell my friends!

Black: I would rather you not tell mine...


Friday, February 19, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Fishing



Ah, yes, fishing. Drop a line in the water, wait a minute or two, haul out a giant trout, take it home, have someone else clean and grill it. Delightful.

Oh, you say, it's not like that? You mean it could be hours and you have to be patient and everything? Wow.

The following game is a bit like fishing for Bill Wall. He is patient, he improves his position, he breaks down his opponent. His position reminds me of the master who pointed out that sometimes it is better to be slightly worse, but with a clear path forward, than to be slightly better, with nowhere to go.


Wall, Bill - Bie

PlayChess.com, 2020


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 d6 

An interesting way to return some material: let White decide.

7.dxc5 Nf6 8.cxd6 Qxd6 9.Qxd6 cxd6 


Bill has been here before. He can target the pawn at d6, while keeping his position safe. With a piece for two pawns, the onus is on Black to do something, lest he lose his advantage.

10.Nc3 Re8

Instead, 10... Be6 was seen in Wall,B -Guest1713462, PlayChess.com, 2020 (1-0. 25) 

11.O-O 

Bill strengthened his e-pawn immediately with 11.f3 in Wall,B - Guest8299674, PlayChess.com, 2016 (0-1, 45). The text move might be a little bit better. 

11...Bd7 12.Rd1 Bc6 13.f3 Rad8 


Black is ready for any attack. It doesn't come. White continues his quiet play.

14.Bg5 h6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 

More weaknesses in Black's camp. That is enough to fuel White's patience.

16.Kf2 Ke6 17.Rd4 a6 18.Rad1 h5 19.Ne2 h4 20.a4 Ng6 21.b3 Rd7 


22.R4d2 Red8 

Four pieces now support the d6-pawn's possible advance. 

23.Nd4+  

A little bit of mischief.

23...Ke5 

This is a risky place for His Majesty.

24.c4 Rc8 

25.Ke3 b6 

Black overlooks the threat. He needed to play something like 25...f5 to give his King some breathing room, but after 26.f4+ Nxf4 27.Nf3+ Ke6 28.Kxf4 Bxe4 29.Ng5+ Ke7 30.Re1 Rdd8 31.Nxe4 fxe4 32.Rxe4+ Kd7 White would clearly be better.

26.f4+ Nxf4 27.Nf3+ Ke6 28.Kxf4 Rg8 

Compounding the difficulties. 

29.Nd4+ Black resigned


The Bishop will be captured on the next move.


Thursday, February 18, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Sometimes the Pawns Make It Look Easy



The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game is decided by an imbalance in material, but that is the result of White's advanced pawns. Sometimes the pawns make it look easy.


Yohannessen - Despicable212

3 2 blitz, Chess.com, 2021


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 


It is fun to kick the Queen like this, but defenders must realize that they are offering to sacrifice their Rook. 

7.Qxe5 Bd6 

Either 7...d6 or 7...Qe7 will keep the game in hand.

8.Qxh8 b6 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 Bb7 


Black is down the exchange and four pawns, but hopes for attacking chances.

11.Nc3 Qe7 12.d3 Bb4 13.O-O d6 14.Bg5 Qf7 


An exchange of Queens might make Black's King a bit safer, but it unleashes the "Jerome pawns".

15.Qxf7+ Kxf7 16.f4 Re8 17.g4 Ke6 18.h4 


It is easy to imagine how the game will end.

18...Kd7 19.h5 Kc8 20.h6 d5 21.h7 Ne7 22.Bxe7 Bxe7 23.g5 Rh8 24.g6 dxe4 25.Nxe4 Kd7 26.g7 Black resigned




Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Exploration and Discovery



The other day Yury Bukayev sent me a game played by World Champion Anatoly Karpov in a simultaneous display which sent me off on a great quest of exploration and discovery:

Karpov - Delgado, Simul, Terrassa, Spain, 1976: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke7 8.d4 Nf6 9.O-O Qe8 10.Nc3 Bb7 11.Re1 Kd8 12.d5 Qh5 


I will stop the game here, for now, except to point out that Karpov lost in 58 moves, the result of an atypical endgame error - perhaps due to tiring in the later stages of the exhibition.

Backing up, I would like to look at the opening moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5


As Andrew Geet writes in Play the Ruy Lopez (2006)

You are looking at the Norwegian Variation,  which acquired its name having been used extensively by a number of masters hailing from the Scandinavian country.

Jonathan Tisdall explains further, in his article in the New In Chess Yearbook, #37, 1995

Since the earliest explorers of this unusual line were Furman and Taimanov, the variation has appeared under various names, but has eventually grown attached to Norway after the persistent an imaginative efforts of the leading Norwegian players of the 1960's-70's, IMs Johannessen, Arne Zwaig and Terje Wibe, as well as other members of the national team such as Ragnar Hoen and Ole Christian Moen. The current generation of Simen Agdestein and Einar Gausel have carried on this tradition...

I would like to back up even further, however, over 100 years.

In the February 1901 issue of the Deutsche Schachzeitung, Carl Schlechter wrote of the line in "A New Defense to the Spanish Game [Ruy Lopez]". He looked primarily at 6.Nxe5, assessing equal chances, and 6.d4!, where Black looks very good.

This was noted in The British Chess Magazine in its May 1901 issue, in a brief article by C.E. Rankin, and in an adjoining article where W. Timbrell Pierce proposed 6.Bxf7+

Mr. Rankin's interesting article on a New Defence to the Ruy Lopez reminds me of some games played about ten years back at Harrogate, and again in 1896-7 with Mr. Sutcliffe, who used to play that defence. I remember I thought at the time and still think White may venture to sacrifice his KB for two Pawns and a strong attack...

Pierce's work was quickly noticed in Deutsche Schachzeitung, and this was followed by another article by Schlechter on 6.Bxf7+. Not surprisingly, the attack was found to be incorrect, and two lines of analysis were given, one leading to a win for Black and one leading to Black's advantage.

So, we have an obscure attack - 6.Bxf7+ - against an infrequently played defense, whose origins, according to Pierce, go back to the 1880s or 1890s. I have not been able to track down any game examples, yet. 

Interestingly enough, the line has picked up the name the Nightingale Variation, possibly due to a correspondence game covered in the BCCA Magazine

Nightingale, Cyril Alfred - Ellinger, Maurice, correspondence, 1950: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke7 8.d4 d6 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Nc3 dxe5 11.Nd5+ Kf7 12.dxe5 h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.exf6 gxh4 15.Qh5+ Ke6 16.O-O-O Bd6 17.Qg4+ Kf7 18.Qg7+ Ke6 19.f4 Bb7 20.f5+ Ke5 21.f7+ Kxe4 22.Rd4+ Kxf5 23.Qg4+Black resigned

As Tisdall also notes, the line is also

Known as the Swedish Variation due to some serious testing in Scandanavia, but I believe that the Latvian Vitolinsh was in fact the move's most devoted adherent.

It is characterized on the blog "Sverre's Chess Corner" as the "Acid Test" of the Norwegian Variation

The positional ramifications of Johannessen's 7...Nxb3 and Zwaig's 7...f6 - or for that matter the Stein/Wibe variation with 7...exd4 - obviously are only relevant if Black can survive this more direct attacking attempt. 

All of this brings us - almost - to the play of this line by a world champion in a simultaneous exhibition of 19 boards. I say "almost" because it took place a half-dozen years before the player of the White pieces became world champion.

Jose Raul Capablanca - Percy H Moise, New Orleans Chess & Checkers Club, New Orleans, simul, 1915: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Na5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke7 8.d4 d6 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Nc3 Bb7 11.Nd5+ Bxd5 12.exd5 Ke8 13.O-O dxe5 14.dxe5 Qxd5 15.exf6 Qxd1 16.Raxd1 gxf6 17.Bxf6 Rg8 18.Rfe1+ Kf7 19.Bc3 b4 20.Rd7+ Kg6 21.Re6+ Kf5 22.Rf6+ Kg5 23.Rd5+ Kh4 24.Rf4+ Rg4 25.Bf6 checkmate

The New York Tribune, of  April 18, 1915 covered the game, and pointed out

Here is where a master's knowledge and experience counts. Capablanca, when handing the score to the Tribune, said that he never before played or saw such a variation, but he figured pretty promptly that two pawns with the position in hand and the promising attack would be ample compensation for his bishop, especially so against and inferior opponent.
Rashid Nezhmetdinov would go on to play the sacrifice against Seman Furman in 1954 (1/2-1/2, 34), the same year Boris Spassky played it against Mark Taimanov (1/2-1/2, 49).

Eventually, Anatoly Karpov would give up his bishop against Delgado in 1976.

I am still searching for answers, starting with the question "Didn't Karpov's 12th move simply drop a piece?" and following with "Why didn't Delgado play 12...Qxe5 ?" My suspicion is that Delgado didn't believe that his opponent would make such a mistake, and so declined the sacrifice, only to take advantage of another error, about 30 moves later... 


Tuesday, February 16, 2021

The Bednikova Opening



Chess friend and blog contributor Yury Bukayev has a new article "The Only Opening Named after a Woman: the New" on the Bednikova Opening at  'Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day'. You might want to check it out -  there is a lot to think about in it.


Monday, February 15, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Occasionally Buried



Sometimes I get so caught up in the Jerome Gambit and this blog that I forget that the large majority of chess players is unfamiliar with Alonzo Wheeler Jerome and 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.

It is tempting to exaggerate my efforts (over 3,200 blog posts) and yield to temptation, as a couple of chess friends have suggested, and re-name the opening the "Jerome-Kennedy Gambit" - but that would be over-stepping some boundaries. Jerome deserves his Gambit.

As it is, there is plenty of confusion as to what the Jerome Gambit actually is. (I am not going to pick on Joseph Henry Blackburne today.)

I have found other openings labeled the "Jerome Gambit" - for example, the Salvio Gambit, which is a variation of the King's Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1

Of course, there is also the Muzio Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 (5.Bxf7+ is the Wild Muzio or Lolli Gambit) gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qf6 7. e5 Qxe5 when 8.Bxf7+ is considered the Double Muzio Gambit.

All of which can lead to confusion (as can the passage of time). Recently I read a couple of newpaper chess columns that did their best to bury or cloud the Jerome Gambit.

From the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, April 25, 1950, in a story about a "New York Doctor's Chess Library Contains Rare Old Books", T. M. Cherington, the paper's Chess Editor, wrote

Next to the Alaine C. White collection willed to the Cleveland Public Library, the largest chess library in America is Dr. A. Buschke's at 80 East Eleventh St., New York City.

His library contains thousands of chess books in most languages and he is constantly buying new works...

Dr. Buschke has Kieseritzky's Cinquante parties jouees du Cercle des Echecs et au Cafe de la Regence, published in Paris in 1846. Kiesertizky developed the Jerome Gambit sacrifice of Bishop and Knight for Rook and Pawn which goes by many names like Cunningham Gambit and Rice Gambit...

This might come across as somewhat confusing, as the openings mentioned, except the Jerome, are all variations of the King's Gambit

The Kiesertizky Gambit goes 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5.

The Cunningham Gambit refers to 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7

The Rice Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.0-0

 A few years later, in the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph of September 18, 1954, T. M. Cherington was at it again in his "The World of Chess" column

The Jerome Gambit and its many variants, such as the Muzio, the double Muzio, the mad Muzio, the Cunningham, the Kieseritzky and the Rice, so often proved unsound are showing themselves again in serious tournaments.This darling of 100 years ago has as its essence the sacrifice by the white side of Bishop and Knight for Black's Castled Rook and protected pawn. We can find no other reason for the resurgence of the Jerome than the search for novelty.

Hardly "the darling of 100 years ago", the Jerome Gambit made its debut in the pages of the Dubuque Chess Journal in 1874.

The reference to the sacrifice of "Bishop and Knight for Black's Castled Rook and protected pawn" is an especially egregious error, as the whole idea of the Jerome Gambit is to prevent Black from castling in the first place, with 4.Bxf7+ 

 

Sunday, February 14, 2021

A Nice Jerome-Type Game

The following game was sent by a Reader who wishes to remain anonymous. I am tempted to create a pseudonym, like I did with "Cliff Hardy", but for now I will pass - I would love to call him the "Nameless Detective", but Bill Pronzini has already written a great series with that character.

Anyhow, instead of risking an aggressive attack after 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 with 3...Nxe4 4.Qh5!? or 4.Nc3!?, Black essays a sort of reversed Ruy Lopez against White's Vienna Game (which becomes a Three Knights) - only to be, of course, Jeromed...

The comments are by Mr. A, the diagrams are by me.

 

Anonymous - Anonymous


1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4


4.Nf3 Bxc3 5.Bxf7+ 


5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Ke8 

A very safe move, although Stockfish 11 finds even a better one: 7...Kg8 (and 7...Kf8which is only slightly better then 7...Ke8 [on depth 32], but this is a "less human" move). 

In case of a "more adventurous" 6...Kg6, I found that I don't have to rush with taking the bishop: 7.h4 is very strong and Black is forced to play h5 (almost) immediately, because trying to save the bishop loses the game: 7...Bd4 8.h5+ Nxh5 9.Qxh5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kxg5 11.Qf5# or 7...Bd4 8.h5+ Kxg5 9.d3+ Be3 10.Bxe3#, and 7.h4 Bb4/Ba5 is a mate in 15 moves (of course during the game I didn't see that it's even close to mate, but 8.Qf3 is very strong for obvious reasons). 

I said "almost", because there is a nice in-between move 7...Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 (Black gives the bishop for the pawn, instead of giving it for free with dxc3).

7.dxc3 h6 8.Nf3 Rg8 


Black could have defended the pawn with 8...d6 (Stockfish's second favourite move, first one is 8...Nc6), but my opponent had a different idea: give up e5 pawn for capturing on e4. 

9.Nxe5 d6 10.Ng6 Nxe4 11.O-O c6 


12.Re1 Bf5 13.Qh5 Qf6 14.Nh4+ g6 15.Qxh6 Rh8


Here I could go 16.Qg5 or 16.Qg4, but 16.Nxf5 leads to a nice sac: a queen for a bishop, knight and a rook. Also, for Black's remaining rook and knight being out of the game for a long time. Definitely a worthy sacrifice. And it turned out that Stockfish agrees with me, 16.Nxf5 is the best possible move in this position.

16.Nxf5 Rxh6 17.Rxe4+ Kd7 18.Nxh6 b5 


According to Stockfish, this is a very weak move, but my reply also wasn't one of the strongest moves.

However, it was more relevant that I had a simple plan: just to activate all pieces, while for my opponent doing the same was probably even not possible.

19.a4 bxa4 20.Raxa4 Qh8 21.Bg5 Kc7 22.Bf4 


Stockfish sees 5 moves better then my 22.Bf4, but even this one is evaluated about +7, White is clearly winning!

22...Qf8 23.Re6 Nd7 

My opponent finally managed to move the knight, 8 moves after the sac. But it is too late (moreover the knight is poorly placed). And the rook is still out of the game.

24.Rd4 Qc8 


Because of the threat of Bxd6+ winning the queen. 

25.Rdxd6 Kb6 26.Rxg6 Qb7 27.Rg7 Rd8 


A total despair: the rook enters the game only to get attacked...

28.Bg5 Qa6 

The last Black's hope is 29...Qa1+ with a terrible mate in 3, but one

simple move vaporizes the threat.

29.h4 Black resigned 


Stockfish at depth 42 evaluates this position as +60.15.