Jerome Gambit: Searching for A Few Answers (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

We are following a Jerome Gambit game by angelcamina, who has allowed himself the "luxury" of a full 5 minutes to play his game, instead of his usual 1 minute bullet (no increment in either case).

Some of the tactics that follow are both beautiful and mind-boggling.

angelcamina - nanangtisna

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

Black's Rook is attacked, and there are two moves that allow his Queen to protect it.

In the meantime, White's Queen is menacing the enemy King, but the defense has adequate resources.

10...Qf6 

Often f6 is the square for Black's Queen, and in some lines (in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit) even White finds the need to protect his Rook by putting his Queen on f3 - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Qg5 7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qf3 - but not here. In the game, after 10...Nf6 11.Qxg5+ Ke6, Black's King would be shaky, but he would be better.


11.Qxc7+ Bd6

One of the funniest things about computer chess programs, including Komodo 10, is that they seem to have a reasonable, innate distrust of the Jerome Gambit, and, therefore, consider a draw to be an acceptable, even desirable, outcome. So, instead of the text, the recommendation is 11...Qd6 12.Qg7+ Qf6 13.Qc7+ Qd6, etc. with a draw by repetition.

Again, nanangtisna makes a reasonable move - but it is met by an unreasonable response.

12.d4+ 

When you sharpen your tactics in bullet play, this kind of a shot comes naturally.

12...Kxe4 

The best reply. It is fascinating to look at 12...Kxd4, which is met by the unassuming 13.Qa5. The more you look at White's move, the scarier it gets. Sure, White remains under-developed and a piece down, but he is threatening checkmate, and the enemy King is under fire, such as 13...Kxe4 14.Nc3+ Kf5 (sad, but all others are worse) 15.0-0+ Kg6 (15...Bf4 16.Nxd5) 16.Rxf6+ Nxf6 when White's Queen and pawn outweigh Black's Rook and Bishop.

13.Nc3+

But the clock still ticks! With 13.Qc3, White would have forced  13...Kf5, giving him 14.O-O+ again, when 14...Kg6 would lose the Queen, as in the above note, and 14...Bf4 would be met by the wonderful 15.Qg3 Qxd4+ 16.Be3.

13...Kxd4  

Incredibly, Stockfish 11 recommends, instead, 13...Kf5 14.O-O+ Kg4!? and exchanging Queens with 15.Rxf6 Bxc7 seems to lead to an edge for Black. Bumping Black's King first, with 15.h3+, and then exchanging Queens is supposed to lead to an even position - but I do not know how to reconcile these two evaluations.

I can't imagine working out these lines while avoiding a time forfeit.

14.Qa5 

A solid move. If angelcamina had started out with, say, 10 minutes on his clock, he might have found the creative 14.Be3+ which continues the tactics fest: 14...Ke5 (14...Kxe3 15.Nxd5+ Kd4 16.0-0-0+ Ke5 17.Qc3+ and Black will lose his Queen) 15.Qa5 (again threatening mate as in the note, above, to Black's 12th move) Kf5 16.O-O+ and again the Black Queen is a goner.

14...Bg4  

The clock ticks for Black, too.

Instead, 14...Qe7+ 15.Ne2+ Ke5 seems to give Black (a piece up) hope, but the skewer with 16.Qc3+ would then win a Rook. White would also have the safer 16.Bd2 Bg4 17.0-0-0 - of course, offering a piece that cannot be taken, i.e. 17...Bxe2 18.Bc3+ Kf4 19.Qxd5 - when, after 17...Kf5 18.Qxd5+ Kg6 19.Rhf1 White still offers that piece on e2, and with 19...Bxe2 20.Qf5+ Kh5 21.Qh3+, etc., the game would settle into a draw by repetition of position.

As once Geoff Chandler wryly suggested, maybe the Jerome Gambit is a draw, after all.

15.Qxd5 checkmate

Once again, fortune has favored the bold.

Now, please give me a few minutes to catch my breath...

Jerome Gambit + blitz chess = exciting play

It has been fun following the games of many Jerome Gambit players, including, recently, DANNYALBERTO at the online site FICS. In the following game, he forgets the best line that he had once discovered - but manages to pull off a win in under a dozen moves, anyhow, proving, once again, that "Jerome Gambit + blitz chess = exciting play".

DANNYALBERTO - boggus
3 0 blitz, FICS, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

The Database has 69 with DANNYALBERTO playing White in the position; he scores 64%.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Qg5 

Black plays the thematic move in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit! Best, however, even with the increased risk to his King, was to take the Knight, 6...Kxe5.

7.cxd4 

A bit too casual was 7.O-O, which was followed by an uneven game: 7...Qxe5 8.cxd4 Qxd4 9.d3 Bb4 10.Qb3+ Ke7 11.Be3 Qd6 12.d4 Ba5 13.e5 Qb6 14.Bg5+ Ke8 15.Qc4 h6 16.Bh4 Ne7 17.a3 Qc6 18.Qd3 Qd5 19.b4 Bb6 20.Rd1 d6 21.Nc3 Qf7 22.exd6 cxd6 White lost on time, DANNYALBERTO - Steftcho, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2016.

7...Qxg2 

Black's Queen threatens mayhem on the Kingside!

The game is soon to be over - but not as Black plans.

8.Rf1 

Forgetting this from last year: 8.Qb3+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Qd5 checkmate, DANNYALBERTO - boggus, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2019. 

He had also played the very reasonable 8.Qf3, which brought victory after 8...Qxf3 9.Nxf3 Nf6 10.Nc3 c6 11.d3 d5 12.Ng5+ Ke7 13.b3 h6 14.Nf3 Bg4 15.Ne5 Bh5 16.Rg1 g5 17.Ba3+ Ke8 18.Bxf8 Rxf8 19.exd5 cxd5 20.Kd2 Ke7 21.Rae1 Kd6 22.Nb5+ Ke7 23.Ng6+ Kf7 24.Nxf8 Rxf8 25.Nd6+ Kg6 26.Nxb7 Rb8 27.Nc5 a5 28.Re6 Kf5 29.Rxf6+ Kxf6 30.Nd7+ Kf5 31.Nxb8 Kf4 32.Rg3 Bg6 33.Nc6 h5 34.Ne7 Bh7 35.Nxd5+ Kf5 36.Ne7+ Kf4 37.Nc6 h4 38.Rg1 g4 39.Nxa5 Bf5 40.Nc4 Kf3 41.Ne3 Bd7 42.Nxg4 Bxg4 43.a4 Bc8 44.Rg7 Kxf2 45.d5 h3 46.d6 Be6 47.b4 Bd5 48.a5 Bg2 49.d7 Kg1 50.d8=Q Kxh2 51.Qd6+ Kh1 52.Qg3 h2 53.Qxg2, checkmate, DANNYALBERTO - fluters, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2019. 

He also experimented with (got away with) the dangerous 8.Qh5: 8...Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 Qxe4+ 10.Kd1 Nf6 (10...Qxd4 11.Nf3 Qf6 12.Nc3 d5 13.Qxd5+ Ke7 14.d3 c6 15.Qb3 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxf2+ 17.Bd2 Nf6 18.Re1+ Kd6 19.Qf7 Qf5 20.Ne2 Be6 21.Bf4+ Kc5 22.Qxb7 Bd6 23.Be3+ Kd5 24.Qb3+ Ke5 25.Bd4 checkmate, DANNYALBERTO - boggus, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2016) 11.Qf7+ Kd6 12.Nc4+ Kc6 13.Ne5+ Kb6 14.Qb3+ Ka6 15.Qa4+ Kb6 16.Nc4 checkmate, DANNYALBERTO - fluters, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2019. 

8...Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxe2+ 10.Kxe2 

Material is even, and White has an advantage in development, but his pawn structure is a mess. Komodo 10 gives Black about a pawn advantage, provided he addresses his need for development.

Instead, Black sees the opportunity to go pawn hunting with his now relatively safe King - but he has overlooked something.

10...Kd5 11.Nf7 Black resigned

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit Mystery

I have added to The Database some more Jerome Gambit (and Jerome-ish) games played online at FICS from the first quarter of 2020. Making my way through some of them, I came upon a small mystery.

Here is the game. By the way, drumme is well-versed in the Jerome Gambit, having 589 games in The Database, scoring 55%.

drumme - talyprossoneri
4 0 blitz, FICS, 2020

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 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nx6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.d3 Black resigned

Black's resignation is puzzling. He has two extra pieces for four pawns - perhaps a practical challenge in a 4-minute game (for the record, in the 45 games in The Database with this position, Black won only 16, and drew 2) - an advantage that Komodo 10 assesses at about a pawn and a half.

Maybe the outside world intruded to call him away. 

If the reason was chessic, I can make a guess. Suppose talyprossoneri was intending on playing the pawn capture and fork 9...Nxc2+, followed by 10.Kd1 Nxa1 - when he suddenly realized that his opponent would then have 11.Bg5+, as in paddjaa - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2011, which would lead to checkmate after 11...Nf6 12.Qxf6+ Ke8 13.Qg6+. Ouch.

analysis diagram





However, Black did not have to go after the poisoned Rook, as he had at least two other reasonable moves to consider.

The first was 9...Ne6, although, after 10.Bg5+ Nxg5 11.Qxg5+ Black still has to solve the problem of the f6 square and the d8-h4 diagonal. A 1-minute game, jollygeoff - brouchek 1 0 lightning, FICS, 2016, finished things off from that position with 11...Kf7? 12.Qxd8 and Black resigned a few moves later. The proper response was 11...Nf6, as after 12.e5 Kf7 13.exf6 Qxf6

analysis diagram




Black's two Bishops (one, the extra piece) are probably better than White's three extra pawns.

The second choice for Black is the somewhat stronger (according to Komodo 10) 9...Nf6, as long as the defender meets 10.e5 with 10...Ke6!? (Instead, 10...Ne8? was seen in KingAsh - NightEagle, 1 0 lightning, FICS, 2015 [1-0, 40, time forfeit], when the game should have continued with 11.Bg5+, again leading to checkmate). Best, then, for White would be 11.exf6 Qxf6, as opposed to 11.0-0, from GOH - gruzanin, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 42, time forfeit).

Analysis position







In club play, of course, in both cases, White might have some practical chances with his three passed, connected passed pawns against the enemy Bishop. Especially, as we have seen in some of the example games, time appeared to be on the attacker's side.

A GM Faces the BSJG: Not Quite (Part 4)

[continued from previous post]

Regarding the early Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit game that we have been looking at ("A GM Faces the BSJG: Not Quite, Parts 1, 2 and 3"), Nater, Carl - Rogers, Ian, Begonia op 09th, Ballarat, 1975 (0-1, 46 ), I was able to contact GM Rogers, who, in turn, was able to contact Mr. Nater.

Not surprisingly, GM Rogers said that he was shocked to see his 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3, Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 met by 4.Bxf7+!?. At first, he expected simply be able to refute the move, as he not had it played against him previously - and actually had not even seen it mentioned before. He settled himself down and outplayed his opponent, for the full point.

"I gave up 3...Nd4 soon after that game for multiple reasons, not least that it was a bad move!" was GM Rogers' assessment.

Mr. Nater, rather than claiming to be one of the world's foremost experts on playing the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit over-the-board, modestly reported that "my openings at my prime [around ’75 probably] may have dived as deep as 4/5 moves before descending into chaos ... nowadays worse still." Not surprisingly, he did not have access to game score sheets from 45 years ago, so he could not say if he had repeated (or was repeating) his moment of chess opening inspiration.

"But there doesn't seem to be too much wrong with 4.Bxf7, more wrong with 3...Nd4" was his assessment.

My thanks to GM Rogers and Mr. Nater, for their comments - and for producing a very interesting game!

A GM Faces the BSJG: Not Quite (Part 3)

[continued from previous post]

We continue to examine how a future GM handles the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

Nater, Carl - Rogers, Ian
Begonia op 09th, Ballarat, 1975

Black has two pieces for a Rook and three pawns.

9.Na3 d5 10.c3 Qe7 11.O-O 

Bringing the King to safety, although 11.d3 was a bit better.

11...Ne2+ 12.Kh1 Nh5 

White's Queen is stalemated. Nater launches a rescue mission.

13.d4 Be6 14.exd5 

Instead, Komodo 10 prefers some tactics: 14.Re1 Nxc1 15.exd5 Nf4 16.Raxc1 Qg5 17.Rxe6+ Nxe6 18.Re1 Qxd5, siding with White's three pawns versus Black's extra piece.

14...Bxd5 15.Qe5 Qxe5 16.dxe5 Bxa3 17.bxa3 Kf7 

18.Be3 Rh8 19.Rfe1 Bc4 20.Rab1 b6 21.Rb4 Bd3

22.c4 c5 23.Rb2 Nhf4 24.Bxf4 

This helps Black untangle his jumbled up pieces. The computer recommends, instead, 24.Rd2 Rd8, when it is tempting to suggest wholesale exchanges: 25.Rxd3 Rxd3 26.g3 Nd4 27.Bxf4 Rxa3 28.Be3 Rxa2 29.Bxd4 cxd4 30.Rd1 Rxf2 31.Rxd4 Rc2 32.Rd7+ Ke6 33.Rxa7 Rxc4 34.Rg7 and the game should be drawn.

24...Nxf4 25.g3 Ne6 26.Rc1 

He might have done better to protect his passed pawn with 26.f4. The game is beginning to slip away.

26...Nd4 27.Rc3 Be4+ 28.Kg1 Nf3+ 29.Rxf3+ 

A decision that will be understandable to many Jerome Gambit players: White goes with the extra pawns against the extra piece.

In club play, the pawns probably have a practical advantage; but a strong player can use the extra piece to show that he has many targets to attack, that the game is his. 

29...Bxf3 30.Rb3 Be2 31.Rc3 Rd8 

The pieces start to dominate, for example, 32.f4 Rd4 and one pawn will quickly fall.

32.e6+

A trick that Rogers does not fall for: 32...Kxe6 33.Re3+, winning the Bishop.

 32...Ke7 33.Rc2 Bf3 

All of a sudden, threatening checkmate.

34.Rc1 Rd1+ 35.Rxd1 Bxd1 

Again, at first glance, I (a middling club player) would be inclined to take White, here - but Komodo 10 tells the real story, rating Black as more than a Rook ahead.

Rogers' hungry Bishop now cleans up the hapless pawns.

36.f4 Be2 37.Kf2 Bxc4 38.Ke3 Bxe6 39.Kf3 b5 40.g4 c4 41.f5 gxf5 42.gxf5 Bxf5 43.Ke3 Bb1 44.Kd4 Bxa2 45.Kc3 a5 46.a4 b4+ White resigned

Hats off to Carl Nater, for his early play of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. I hope to hear from him about the game, and his use of 4.Bxf7+.

Hats off, too, to Ian Rogers, future Grandmaster, for the chess lesson: he was surprised in his own trappy opening, but settled himself down and steadily outplayed his opponent.

[to be continued]

A GM Faces the BSJG: Not Quite (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

In the previous post, I mused

Last year, on this blog, I had a lot of fun looking at the idea of a Grandmaster playing or facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), online or over-the-board... "A GM Faces the Jerome Gambit (Part 1 and Part 2) and "Jerome Gambit: More GMs? (Part 1 and Part 2)"... 

The other day I started wondering: Did any GMs play or face the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+)? That search would be a different kind of task, as the game would have to feature either a rare example of a GM playing the BSG, or, even less likely, a GM playing the BSJG. But my curiosity was piqued... 

A search of The Database did not turn up any games with a player (of either color) rated 2500...

So, I next turned to my ChessBase "Big Database" (almost 6,5000,000 games), and did a search for the starting position of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, below.

I was shocked to find 12 games where at least one of the players was rated 2500!

Closer examination, however, showed that all of the examples came from the Bird Variation of Ruy Lopez: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Bc4.

Still searching, however, I checked the online ChessBase Live Database, looking for 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ games, and I came upon one with Ian Rogers playing Black.

Ian Rogers! I knew that name: Australian GM! Amazing!

Well, not quite. The game was played in 1975, a few months before Rogers turned 15, five years before he became an International Master, and ten years before he became a Grandmaster.

Let's look at the game, anyhow, as it is quite educational. 

Nater, Carl - Rogers, Ian
Begonia op 09th, Ballarat, 1975

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

Rogers, the teenager, is feeling frisky. I don't know much about his opponent, Carl Nater (age 35 at the time of the game), but a check on the FIDE website indicates that he had a rating of 1378, so, perhaps Black wished for a quick, trappy win.

Carl Nater, 80, at the 2018 Begonia tournament. He later played at the Victorian Country Championships in 2019. Recent word from GM Rogers is that Nater is still playing chess.

4.Bxf7+ 

This is the earliest game that I have with the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, predating - by 20 years - Melao Jr, H. - Danilo, Centro Cultural, 1996: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4 8.Qh5 Kxd4 9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3 12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.O-O#

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

The Database has 2,585 games with position, with White scoring 58%.

6.Qh5+ g6

If 6...Ke7, White would have a checkmate in 5, starting with 7.Qf7+.

7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxh8 Nf6 

Nater opted to capture the Rook, instead of the g-pawn (with check), relying on the gain of material. 

Rogers skipped the wild 8...Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qg5 which might have given him an edge, opting, instead, for reasonable development.

Komodo 10 now sees the position as about even, with Black's piece balancing out White's 3 extra pawns. Black has a lead in development, but his King will be unable to castle.

[to be continued]

A GM Faces the BSJG: Not Quite (Part 1)

Last year, on this blog, I had a lot of fun looking at the idea of a Grandmaster playing or facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), online or over-the-board. You might enjoy bouncing back to "A GM Faces the Jerome Gambit (Part 1 and Part 2) and "Jerome Gambit: More GMs? (Part 1 and Part 2)".

In summary, checking The Database, I found some online games with a GM-level player (2500 or above, according to the site's rating scales), but they featured either computers, human players with a lower FIDE rating, or human players whose FIDE rating I could not confirm.

I was left with 2 online games that matched my criteria: ChessCoachUA - PArnaudov, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2017 (1-0, 39) and Cliff Hardy - Yasser Quesada Perez, lichess, 1 0, 2019 (0-1, 54).

The other day I started wondering: Did any GMs play or face the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+)? That search would be a different kind of task, as the game would have to feature either a rare example of a GM playing the BSG, or, even less likely, a GM playing the BSJG. But my curiosity was piqued...

A search of The Database did not turn up any games with a player (of either color) rated 2500. In fact, there was only one game with a player rated above 2300 - but it was an interesting enough game. White is rated 2386 on the site. 

ivan767 - SanChess2005
7 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7 

The surprises continue: Black plays the BSG, White "Jerome-izes" it, Black declines the gambit. (SanChess2005 has played this move at least once before, in a frantic 0 minutes, 1 second increment bullet game - see "Faster Than A Speeding Neuron".)

The Database has 755 games with 4...Ke7, with White scoring 70%.

For some thoughts on the BSJG declined, see "Idées Fixes et Manqués".

5.Bc4

White is happy with the pawn he has won, and with the fact that Black will not be able to castle; so he withdraws his Bishop.

5...Ke8

Black unblocks the d8-h4 diagonal, putting the main tactical theme of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit back into play. I have called this a kind of "Jedi mind trick".

6.Nxe5

White relaxes too soon. He could have remained safely a piece up by playing 6.Nxd4 Qh4 (if 6...exd4, 7.Qh5+) 7.Nf3 Qxe4+ 8.Be2. 

6...Qg5 

Compare this position with one in the main line of the BSG:

analysis diagram






7.O-O Qxe5 8.c3 

8...Nb5

Retreating the Knight to c6 would maintain Black's piece-for-two-pawns material advantage, although White would be somewhat better after 9.d4, because of his better pawn center and Black's less safe King.

9.d4 Qe7 10.Bxb5 c6 11.Bc4 b5 12.Bb3 Nf6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Nd2 Qg5 

White is better, but he has some work to do.

15.Ne4 Qg6 16.Re1 Bb7 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18.exd6+ Kd8 19.Bxd5 cxd5 20.Bf4 Rf8 21.Be5 Qf5

22.a4

White wants to open a line for his Rook, and he is not afraid to offer his f2 pawn.

23...Qxf2+ 23.Kh1 Qxb2 24.Rb1 Qxc3 

All of this moving of the Queen is risky - in fact, White now has a checkmate in 11 moves, although it is hard to find in this complicated position, especially in blitz.

25.Rxb5 

Even stronger was 25.Bxg7, because Black's Rook cannot move.

25...Ba6 26.Rc5 

This saves his Rook but lets much of the energy escape from the position. White should go after the enemy Queen, but by playing 26.Rf1 Re8 27.Rf3, not the text. Once the Black Queen is moved away from covering the e1 square, White's Queen can go there - and then on to h5, with checkmate threats.

26...Qd3 27.Qxd3 Bxd3 28.Bxg7 Rf7 

White is a pawn up.

29.Bh6 Bc4 

Instead, after 29...Rf1+ 30.Rxf1 Bxf1 White will have to work for the point. 

30.Bg5+ Black resigned

It is checkmate in 3 more moves.

[to be continued]