Full Circle (Part 1)

While Lt. Sorensen's article (see "Early Opening Tomes: Addendum") was making its rounds, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome was learning more about the line that we have been pursuing (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3), and about the dangers of having one's published analysis available for others to crack – as can be learned from the November 24, 1877 issue of News of the Week, that carried a Jerome Gambit correspondence game.

That game can already be found, thanks to Dr. Tim Harding, in "The Jerome - Norton Games (Part 4)", to which can be added the following notes:


Jerome,A - Norton,D
correspondence, 1877

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

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

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3

9...Qf6 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 d6

Instead of Norton's 11...d6 in this game, Jerome's analysis in the Dubuque Chess Journal gave both 11...Qxf5 and 11...Kd6.

Филидор1792's recent game showed 11...Kxe4 to be playable, but very dangerous for Black.

As the News of the Week commentator pointed out, "This move decides the game. White reels from the shock, is henceforth pressed to the wall, and Black has an easy victory."

12.Nb3+ Kb6 13.Qg5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 Nf6 15.f3 Be6 16.Nd4 Rhe8 17.0-0 c5 18.Nb3 Bxb3 19.cxb3 a5 20.Rfd1 Kc6 21.a4 b6 22.Rd2 Rad8 23.h3 Nf7 24.Bh4 g5 25.Bf2 d5 26.Rad1 dxe4 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Re1 Re8 29.fxe4 Rxe4 30.Rf1 Re6 31.Be3 h6 32.g4 Ne5 33.Bd2 Ne4 34.Bc3 Nxc3 35.bxc3 c4 36.bxc4 Kc5 37.Rb1 Kxc4 38.Rb5 Kxc3 39.Kg2 Nd3 40.h4 gxh4 41.Kh3 Nc5 Black resigned

Some History of the Jerome Gambit (Part 1)

I was a bit surprised how much I had to hunt in the posts of this blog for examples of the line that we have been discussing, at the behest of Филидор1792, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3 – see "An Intriguing Letter" Parts 1, 2 and 3 – especially since the line has a long and interesting history in the story of the Jerome Gambit.

The Database has only 3 games with the line – or 5, if you count the pair recently contributed by Филидор1792. One, Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1887, was presented with light commentary; another, perrypawnpusher - BronxBoyII, blitz, FICS, 2008, appeared without notes as an aside in another game; and the third, alechinez - marcinho, standard, FICS, 2009, has yet to appear.

Even if we back up a move, leaving off White's 9th, The Database has less than a couple dozen game examples, only two (excluding the ones named above) appearing in this blog: Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (without notes) and Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876 (without notes and without White's Queen Rook).

Clearly, I have some work to do!

An Intriguing Letter (Part 3)

Here is the second game mentioned in "An Intriguing Letter (Part 1)" from Филидор1792 . It is a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) where one slip by Black spells disaster.




1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

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

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3

9...Qf6 10.Nb5+

Putting the Knight directly into action.

10...Kc5 11.Nxd4 Kxd4 12.Be3+ Kc4 13.Qh5 Ne7

Giving White the tempo that he needs. It was not readily apparent that Black needed to play 13...Kb5.

14.Qe2+ Kb4 15.a4 Qc6 16.Qd2+ Kc4 17.b3 checkmate

An Intriguing Letter (Part 2)

This is the first of two games, mentioned yesterday in "An Intriguing Letter (Part 1)" from Филидор1792 . It features a typical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) battle between White's two "extra" pawns and Black's "extra" piece.



1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

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

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3

This move is mentioned by Freeborough and Ranken in their Chess Openings Ancient and Modern. This game follows one of their notes through the 13th move.

9...c6 10.c3 Qf6 11.cxd4 Qxf5 12.exf5 Nf7 13.Bf4+ Ke7

White has only one pawn for his sacrificed piece, and so muct be worse. However, the game has a long way to go, and each player must make the best of what he has. Watch the first player work with his quantitative majority of pawns on the Kingside.

14.Nc4 d5 15.Ne3 Ngh6 16.g4 g6 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.f3 Bd7 19.Kf2 Raf8 20.Bg3 g5 21.Rae1 Kd8 22.h4 gxh4 23.Bxh4+ Kc8

These "Jerome pawns" give White hope.

24.Bf6 Rhg8 25.Kg3 Nd6 26.Be5 Nhf7 27.Bxd6 Nxd6 28.Rh6 Nf7 29.Rh7 Rh8 30.Reh1 Kd8 31.f4 Ke7 32.f5 Kf6 33.Kf4 Rxh7 34.Rxh7 Rh8

From a practical standpoint, White continues to make progress.

35.g5+ Ke7 36.g6

Perhaps looking to win the Knight, but actually losing the Rook pawn. It was probably time to exchange Rooks, with an even game.

36...Rxh7 37.gxh7 Kf6 38.Ng4+ Kg7 39.Ne5 Nxe5 40.dxe5 Kxh7

Oh, those Jerome pawns! Are they actually going to save the day??

41.e6 Be8 42.Ke5 Kg7 43.f6+ Kf8 44.b4 Bh5 45.a3 Bf3 46.Kd6

46...Ke8

Finally cracking under the pressure.

47.f7+ Kf8 48.e7+ Kxf7 49.Kd7 Bg4+ 50.Kd8 d4 51.e8Q+ Black resigned

An Intriguing Letter (Part 1)

I recently received an email from chessfriend Филидор1792 ("Philidor 1792") that got me thinking about a whole lot of things in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) universe – kind of like setting off a whole string of fireworks in my brain. This happened not too long ago (after another letter from Филидор1792) with the series of posts "Where Do Ideas Come From?" Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, so I knew that I was headed off on another adventure!

First, the letter

Hi,

There is some stuff, that may be interesting. When I was reading the article on Jerome Gambit in Wikipedia I noticed that the move 9.Na3 [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4] that is mentioned there with reference to Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern (1896) by Freeborough and Ranken is not represented on your blog (probably I missed it). So I decided to check it with a friend of mine. White happened to win both games, though in second one it was lost.

Thanks for your time. I wish you Happy New Year

To start off: Wikipedia articles do not often link to blogs, but the Jerome Gambit article does – to this blog, of course.

Also, while Wikipedia does not have an article on Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern, itself, it does have an article on author Edward Freeborough (that is the link that I added to Филидор1792's letter). I was surprised to see that one of the references the Freeborough article gives is to a review of Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern – by yours truly. It's a small universe.

Where Do Ideas Come From (Part 6)?

In this final tale (for the time being) of the "large centre" in the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, we see Филидор1792 take on a computer program (a version of Crafty) and battle it successfully, right down to the very end...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4

The "big centre."

8...Neg4 9.e5 Bb4 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxh2 12.Kxh2 Nd5

Black has had to give up his wandering Knight, but he remains a piece ahead.

Those who play the Jerome Gambit, however, can see the building blocks of possible future success: an army of pawns to oppose the Knight, Black's uneasy King, and the attacking possibilities for White's Queen and Rooks.

13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qh6 Qg8 15.f5 Ke8 16.f6 Qf7 17.Qg7 Rf8

The "Jerome pawn" chain looks like so much fun, even White's Queen has joined in. But it would be too dangerous for Black to exchange Her Majesty off.

18.c4 Nb6 19.c5 Nc4 20.Rf3 Rg8 21.Bh6 d5

If White were playing a human opponent, I would have written something like It came as something of a surprise that Black could not now play 21...Rxg7 without disadvantage. (I suppose that something "over the horizon" could be a "surprise" to a computer.)

22.exd6 Rxg7 23.Re1+ Kd8 24.fxg7 Bf5 25.Re7 Qxe7 26.g8Q+ Kd7

Филидор1792 is trading tactical blow for tactical blow with Crafty.

His next move, however, allows the computer a chance to draw, while the complicated piece sacrifice (or exchange?) that would come after 27.Qxc4 Qh4+ 28.Kg1 would show his advantage, i.e. 28...Qxh6 29.Qf7+ Kc6 30.Qxc7+ Kd5 31.Qxb7+, but only if he continues to resist capturing the Rook, as 31...Kxd4 32.Qxa8 would allow 32...Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Qh6+ 34.Rh3 Bxh3 and capturing the Black Bishop would allow a perpetual.

The trick for White would be to leave the enemy Rook alone and focus on the enemy King and the remaining "Jerome pawns" with 32.Qb2+. 

27.Qxa8 Qh4+ 28.Kg1 Qxd4+ 29.Rf2 Qxc5

This seems greedy to me. Black should be happy to continue checking and score the draw.

30.dxc7 Kxc7 31.Qh8 Kb6 32.c3 Ka6 33.Bg7 Qe7 34.Bd4 Na5 35.Qg8 Be6 36.Qb8 Nc6 37.Qg3 Bc4 38.Rf6 Qe4 39.a3 b6 40.Rf4 Qe2 41.Qh4 Qd2

The game has continued like an epic sword fight in a Douglas Fairbanks movie.

Black's extra pawn may or may not be enough compensation for the lost exchange, and the presence of opposite-colored Bishops makes the position even murkier.

Now White sees a chance to win a pawn and rid the board of the pesky prelates, but he is done in by a Crafty zwischenzug.

42.Bxb6

So that after 42...axb6 43.Rxc4 eases White's task a bit.

Black's response, however, distracts White's Queen, and the tactic fails. 

42...g5 43.Qxg5 Kxb6 White resigned

It has to be discouraging to drop a piece for a pawn after all that hard work, and I do not know how much "time" was a factor in the game at this point, but I wonder how "easy" Crafty would have found it to make progress with two pieces vs a Rook and a pawn.

Certainly Black's Bishop can help hold his h-pawn, and the nearness of his King, Knight and Bishop to White's Queenside pawns make White's defense more difficult.

Still, after, say, 44.Qh4 Bd3 45.Qf2+ Qxf2+ 46.Kxf2, it would have been interesting to see this very enjoyable game continue...

Where Do Ideas Come From (Part 5)?

Some more wisdom from Филидор1792:

I decided to analyse my idea a bit deeper and would like to share with you the results. Of course it is not sound, but idea of a broad centre is very useful. It works like a tempi generator. If Black understands that he has to give back at least one piece (on f6 for example), he easily gets a better game, but if he tries to save them all, White is winning...


Then I realised that since White is not in a hurry to win back material, he doesn't have to play f4 at once (and close his bishop on c1), but better he should develop Bishop on g5 and only then play f4. I checked this idea and it works. It is much more dangerous than the previous one.



1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.Bg5

According to The Database, this is a TN.

8...Re8 9.f4 Nc6 10.e5 Bf8 11.0-0 d6

12.exf6 gxf6 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.d5

A bit sharper was 14.Bxf6, as if 14...Qxf6 White would have 15.Qxe8

14...fxg5 15.dxc6 Be7

Black reinforces his pawn on g5, but it is the f-file that is the issue. Now 16.fxg5 would give White the advantage.

16.Nd5 Be6 17.cxb7 Rb8 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.fxg5 Rxb7

20.Rae1 Qd7 21.g6

This gives White an entrance into the position.

21...h6 22.Rf7 Bxf7 23.gxf7+ Qxf7 24.Rxe8+ Kg7 25.Qg4+ Kh7 26.Qe4+ Qg6 27.Rh8+ Black resigned

Where Do Ideas Come From (Part 4)?

With thanks to our Russian correspondent Филидор1792 (Philidor 1792), another of the tales of the "large centre" marches on!



1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4

The "large centre" reappears.

8...Nc6 9.e5 Re8 10.0-0 Bb4 11.d5 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nxe5 13.fxe5 Rxe5

Black has exchanged some pieces and remains a piece ahead.

White decides to toss a pawn to delay his opponent's Queenside development, while he sets his sights on the enemy King.

14.d6 cxd6 15.Bf4 Re6 16.Bg5 Qb6+ 17.Kh1 Kg8 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Qg4+ Kf8 21.Rf1 d5

22.Qf5 Kg7 23.Qg4+ Kf7 24.Qh5+ Kg7 25.Qg4+ Kf7 26.Qh5+ Ke7 27.Qxh7+ Kd8

28.Qg8+ Kc7 29.Qxd5 Qc6 30.Qd4 b6 31.Rxf6 Qb5 32.Qd6+ Kb7 33.h4

Black has given back three pawns, and here, facing an advancing passer, he lost on time.

Where Do Ideas Come From (Part 3)?

In another Jerome Gambit game from Филидор1792 (Philidor 1792; see "Attitude" and "Where Do Ideas Come From?" Part 1 and Part 2)) we see the further exploration of the "big centre" in a rough-and-tumble game where Black defends routinely and White misses a chance to take advantage. The second player then finishes decisively. 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4

The "big centre" position.

8...Nc6 9.e5 Re8

As in yesterday's game.

10.0-0 Bb4 11.d5 Bxc3 12.dxc6 Bb4 13.exf6 Qxf6

14.cxb7

Possibly underestimating the fork that he would have after the other capture, 14.cxd7, which would win a piece and give White a small edge.

The text leaves White with two pawns for his sacrificed piece, and allows him to fork Black's two Bishops; but there is a way for the defender to slip out and then counterattack.

14...Bxb7 15.Qxd7+ Re7 16.Qb5 Qb6+ 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.c3 Bc5+ 19.Kh1 Re2 White resigned