Merry Christmas 2021

 

Merry Christmas. May all your gambits be accepted.

Jerome-Evans Gambit

It can be fun to combine the Evans Gambit with the Jerome Gambit, although the result can be even more chaotic.

The following game shows White gaining an overwhelming advantage, only to lose it - and then regain it in time to administer checkmate.

valish24 - silvergrey06

5 5 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 

The Evans Gambit.

4...Nxb4 

Usual is 4...Bxb4.

5.Bxf7+ 

The Evans-Jerome Gambit. We have looked at this before, e.g. "The Evans Jerome Gambit", "Exploring the Evans Jerome Gambit", "The Evans-Jerome Gambit Returns (Parts 1 & 2)", "Another Evans-Jerome Gambit" and "And Another (Evans-Jerome Gambit)"

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6  

The King decides to take a hand in dealing with the enemy Knight. Certainly safer was 6...Kf8. 

7.d4 Bb6 

Black is in deep trouble.

8.Qg4+ Ke7 

You know that you are in trouble when Stockfish 14.1 recommends, instead,  8...Kd6 9.Nf7+ Ke7 10.Nxd8, giving up the Queen.  

9.Bg5+ 

This move is regularly played in the Jerome Gambit, and in a blitz game it might be the first thought that comes to mind. It leaves White with a small advantage. The line 9.Qxg7+ Kd6 10.Nf7+ Kc6 11.Nxd8+ Kb5 12.Na3+ Ka6 13.Qxh8 was crushing.

9...Nf6 10.O-O  

White opts for safety. 

The computer suggests that White push and push: 10.Bxf6+ gxf6 11.Qg7+ Ke6 12.Qf7+ Kd6 13.Nc4+ Kc6 14.d5+ Kb5 15.Nca3+ Ka6 16.d6 Qg8 17.Qh5 Nxc2+ 18.Nxc2 Ba5+ 19.Nd2 Qxg2 20.O-O-O b5 21.a4 c6 22.Rhg1 Bxd2+ 23.Kxd2 Qxf2+ 24.Kd3 Kb7 25.axb5 Rb8 about even

10...Bxd4 11.Bxf6+ 

White plays as in the note above, but his Knight is no longer defended.

11...gxf6 12.Qg7+ Ke6 13.c3 Bxe5 

The game is messy, and the fact that it is played at blitz speed makes it even move challenging. Black wants things to settle down, and get his King to safety.

14.Qg4+ Ke7 15.cxb4 

A slip that drops the exchange.

15...Bxa1 16.Nd2 Be5 17.Nc4 d6 18.Qg7+ Ke6 19.f4 Bd4+ 20.Kh1 

Black is up a minor piece and a Rook. His King is relatively safe. He decides to eject the enemy Queen.

20...Rg8 21.f5 checkmate

A Video Joins The Fray

 

I have looked at the Jerome Gambit-ish Two Knights Defense variation (Jerome-Knight Gambit? Impatient Jerome Gambit?) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ a number of times, most recently in the series "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights" Parts 1, 2 and 3; and "Jerome Gambit: Jerome-Knight Gambit".

I recently encountered a fun YouTube video titled "When I Played TAL!! (4.Bxf7+) | How Will This END??" which presents a game (not the 'real' Tal, of course) where it is Black who is successful.

Check it out. 

Jerome Gambit: A Sudden Mis-Step

In the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Black is on his way to repeating the immortal destruction of the opening attack when he takes a mis-step which undoes all of his hard work. 

Sometimes it can be harder than you think to refute a refuted opening.

Cavete - mjmb

5 8 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

This can lead to Whistler's defense (7...Qe7) or Blackburne's defense (7...d6).

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O 

Black is on the road to the crush of the Jerome Gambit, best shown in Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14).

9...Qxe4 

The two parts of Blackburne's defense are the attack on the White King and the trapping of White's Queen. This pawn grab addresses neither.

Almost a decade ago I touched on this move in "Commit It To Memory". Apparently not everyone has.☺

Things fall apart quickly for the defender.

10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.d3 Qe2 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Ke7 14.Nc3 Black resigned

White's Queen has escaped, and he is ahead the exchange and 2 pawns. Black's Queen and King are in grave danger.

The Miniature Chess Games By Yury V. Bukayev

 

I enjoyed Yury Bukayev's blog post Anatoly Karpov & Jerome Gambit (Part 1) and I thought I would present the games, with the final positions.

Bukayev, Yury - Karpov, Anatoly (boy)

2021 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Ke7 5.Nh4 Kd6 6.Nf5 checkmate

Karpov, Anatoly (boy) - Bukayev, Yury

2021 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 5.Nxe5 Qh4 6.Nf3 Qxf2 checkmate

Bukayev, Yury - Karpov, Anatoly (boy)

2021 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 5.Nxe5 Qh4 6.Nd3 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxg2 8.Qe8 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: As Advertised (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

13.Rhg1

I overlooked immediate chances against my opponent's King, as Stockfish 14.1 pointed out after the game was over: 13.Bh6! Ke6 14.Rhe1+ Kd7 15.dxc5 Qxf2 16.cxd6 Kc6 17.Re7 Kb5 18.Qd8 c5 19.Re3 Qxe3 20.Bxe3 and White is winning.

13...Qh3 14.Qd8

This is how I planned my Queen's escape.

14...Ne8 15.Qg5 

The wandering Queen is free.

15...Bb4 

Backing away from capture, if only for a moment. White can, of course, respond with 16.c3, and if 16...Ba5 then 17.b4 - but there is something better.

16.Qd5+ Qe6 17.Qxa8 Qxa2 18.Qxc8 

Why not?

18...Bxd2+ 

One last chance: now either 19.Bxd2 or 19.Rxd2 would be met by 19...Qa1 checkmate!

19.Kxd2 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: As Advertised (Part 1)

My most recent Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game in the ongoing Giuoco Piano tournament at Chess.com featured a line of play that I had looked at, but had only tried once before. It led to a complicated game - but, also a win.

If you want to know more about the variation, be sure to check out the links in the notes.

perrypawnpusher - DocBrowne

3d/move, Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

Black is not just blocking the check and kicking the White Queen. This move leads to complications that include sacrificing the Rook at h8 - see "What About the Rook?"

7.Qxe5 d6 

Most chess players, if they know anything at all about the Jerome Gambit, know about Joseph Henry Blackburne's destruction of the opening, in Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (1-0, 14).

Jerome Gambit theory has progressed a lot since then. Check out  the comprehensive "Updating the Blackburne Defense (Part 1)"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4 

As I wrote earlier

I would like first to look at the under-investigated 9.d4. After all, if 9.0-0 leads to a draw, as Chandler and Dimitrov have argued, then 9.d4 might be the better chance for White to fight for an advantage.

Also, return to "Jerome Gambit Discovery" for more ideas on 9.d4. 

9...Qxe4+ 

Instead, 9...Bb4+ 10.c3 Qxe4+ was seen in  perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33).

10.Be3 Nf6 

The main plan for Black in the Blackburne defense is to attack White's King while trapping (and possibly winning) White's Queen. This move helps lock in the Queen.

Instead, 10...Qxg2 has been seen in 3 games in The Database, with White winning all 3 - although the position is complicated.

 

The earliest example I have of 9.d4 in The Database is Marfia,J - Stelter,J, Offhand Game, 1964 (1-0, 19) which continued 10...Qxc2 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qc3 when Black had failed in both of his objectives.

11.Nd2 Qxg2 12.0-0-0 b6

White is ahead the exchange.

After the game, I was shocked to see that Stockfish 14.1 assessed the first player as being almost a Queen better.

It is clear that Black's dark square Bishop is likely lost, and White's Queen has a way to escape imprisonment and avoid the threatened ...Bb7. A major factor in the imbalance has to be the difference in King safety, but I certainly wasn't sensitive to that while I was playing.

[to be continued]