Modern Guide to Gambits

Wow!

Nikolai Kalinichenko, a correspondence grandmaster, has written The Club Player's Modern Guide To Gambits: Fighting Chess from the Get-go (Russell Enterprises, 2019).

I was excited, and, since his focus was on "club players", and he was looking at "fighting chess from the get-go" I could not wait to see what he had written on the Jerome Gambit.

Checking out the table of contents, I was pleased to see that his list of gambits included some of the offbeat gambits, such as the Cochrane Gambit, the Latvian Gambit, the Sicilian Wing Gambit, the Icelandic Gambit, the von Hennig-Schara Gambit, the Englund Gambit, and even the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.

Alas, no Jerome Gambit.

Even if it had been a chapter on "How to Defeat the Jerome Gambit", it would have been interesting and welcome. (I guess you will have to settle for the blog posts "An International Master Refutes the Jerome Gambit" and "A GM Faces the Jerome Gambit [Part 1 and 2]").

Oh, well, maybe next time.

A Nice Jerome Gambit

I just noticed that chessfriend Guido de Bouver of Flanders, Belgium, has a post on his Blackmar Diemer Gambit website (1.d4 d5 2.e4!? dxe4 3.Nc3; I have a link to it from this blog) which is titled "A Nice Jerome Gambit".

In the past we have exchanged ideas on the Jerome Gambit, although Guido's first love is the BDG, about which he has written a fine book, Attack With the Blackmar Diemer (see my review here).

About the following game, Guido notes "Friday evening, as a surprise act, I played a nice little Jerome gambit in our local chess club. My opponent, who had prepared himself for a fierce Blackmar Diemer, could not believe his eyes."

De Bouver, Guido - Verstappen
Mechelen, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

10.O-O Rf8 11.d4 b6 

We are already in unexplored territory, according to The Database.

12.f4

"Jerome pawns on the move!" Guido remarks.

12...Bb7 13.Nc3 Qe7 

14.f5 Nh8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.b3 Nf7 19.Bb2

Drawn

Guido's assessment: "A very complicated position - white has two strong pawns for the piece and has the safer king. If black however can exchange a few pieces, black should have the better endgame."

Refuted

As much as I enjoy the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), I have acknowledged from the beginning (see "But - Is this stuff playable??" Part I and Part II) that it is not really a "good" opening in the sense of the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defense.

So, when I ran across the following discussion of "refuted" at Tim Sawyer's "Playing Chess Openings" blog I had to chuckle. Tim was talking about a line in the Blackmar Diemer Gambit - which, when compared to the Jerome, is as solid as the Catalan or the Slav - but he makes good points.

"Refuted" in chess opening terminology has to do with theory or evidence. Basically, a variation is refuted if: when you play it, you lose.
There are three types of "refuted" variations:
1. When computer analysis overwhelmingly favors your opponent's side.
2. When the performance ratings are significantly below expectations.
3. When you lose regularly with this variation against your opponents.


My guess is that most of the members of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde are satisfied that #3 is not their problem - they either win regularly against their opponents, or they play enjoyable games (and that is enough for them).

The Most Disrespected Opening In Chess

I was wandering through the internet the othe day, and realized that I had missed sharing this humorous comment from Tom's BDG Pages

I try not to be, but maybe I am a little jealous. I'm talking about all those Jerome Gambiteers over at Rick Kennedy's blog. All those quick little knockouts. Sure some of them are Black wins, but still...Worse yet, the BDG [Blackmar Diemer Gambit] looks to be on its way to losing its title as the most disrespected opening in chess. But all we can do is fight on.

Post Script

Spend any time at a book store looking at its selection of chess titles and you will probably run into at least one book offering Play X and Win! – with "X" being the particular opening that the author is enthusiastic about. Thumb through the volume and you will be convinced that you have to play X!

Wander down the book shelf, however, and  you may well encounter Play X and Be Destroyed!, the effort of another author (or, perhaps, the same one) to convince you that playing X is the road to ruin!

If your book store has a very comprehensive chess section, even further down the book shelf will be Smashing the Destroyers of X!, and perhaps even the hot-off-the-presses response, Crushing the Smashers of the Destroyers of X!

As Ken Smith wrote in a series of pamphlets on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit

For every White initiative a better defense always seems to present itself for Black, and for every refutation the Black side recommends improvements are found for White.

How much easier it is with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)! As early as the July 1874 Dubuque Chess Journal its editor put the opening in proper perspective

and White has a pawn ahead

Note: It should be understood that Mr. Jerome claims in this New Opening "only a pleasant variation of the Giuoco Piano, which may win or lose according to the skill of the players, but which is capable of affording many new positions and opportunities for heavy blows unexpectedly."

A Return to Pre-School

I think if the bodacious Blackmar Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxd4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3) can be referred to as a "high school for tactics" then the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can at least be dubbed a "pre-school for tactics".

Every once-in-a-while I wonder if playing the Jerome is helping or hurting my chess play. Then I play a game like the following, and I stop worrying (for a while, anyhow).

I had the White pieces in a Four Knights game played online at FICS. If my opponent and I were stronger players, and if we were not playing blitz, it might be possible to talk of White having the slightest advantage due to his Bishop versus Black's Knight, or White's control of the e-file. As it was, we were both just trying to figure out what to do next.

22.Qe7 Rc8

It looks like Black wants to relieve his Queen from the task of guarding the pawn at c7. I found a way to keep him busy.

23.h4 Nf7 24.Re6 Nd6 

25.Bxf6

I could hear Bill Wall's voice in my head saying "Don't calculate, just play the sac!" It is clear that White can get three pawns for the piece, and, at worst, probably a draw by repetition. Of course, there could be even more. No reason to waste time deliberating.

25...gxf6

Already the critical error.

After the game Houdini suggested 25...Nf5!?, which led to 26.Rxc6 Nxe7 27.Re6 Ng6 28.Bc3 Nxh4 when White can tighten the pressure with 29.Re7, but his advantage would be better piece placement, not greater material. (This is how the "big boys" play.) White would have increased his edge, but there would be plenty of game left.

26.Qxf6 Rf8 

The game is already a mess, but this move, attacking White's Queen, is also a bit of a self-block, although the better 26...Re8 is not a whole lot better.

I had seen this far when playing 22.Qe7, a remarkable feat in and of itself for me. When I arrived at this position, I had enough time left that I could then see my way to a win – not the best or the fastest, but a win.  

27.Qg6+ Kh8 28.Qxh6+ Kg8 29.Rg6+ 

Sharper readers will see 29.Qg5+ Kh8 (29...Kf7 30.Qg6#) 30.Rh6 checkmate.

29...Kf7 30.Qg7+ Ke8 31.Re6+ Kd8 32.Qxf8+ Ne8 33.Rxc6 Black resigned

I was actually a bit relieved to see, after the game, that Houdini could find a "hole" in my plan – I wasn't quite ready to consider myself a "tactical maniac" yet, even if I do play the Jerome Gambit!

Further Explorations (Part 1)

Not quite a  year ago, Rev. Tim Sawyer began his chess blog, initally focusing on the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4!?), but quickly expanding to many other openings. With the title "Playing Chess Openings" he offered his readers

Read stories based on 40 years of chess play. I was a rated expert, a correspondence master, a blitz player rated over 2200 for over 10 years, and an author of four chess openings books. See how the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (BDG) changed my career! 

Readers are encouraged to visit Tim's blog, and visit it often!

A recent post kindly mentions the Jerome Gambit and this blog. 

Rick Kennedy lists five Jerome Gambit options and writes about them passionately:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Jerome Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+ Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit

Tim adds a sixth option, which he calls "Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit". Before examining that, I want to review the first five lines.

The first, of course, is the Jerome Gambit proper, based on the analysis and play of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, first published in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal.

The name of the second line reflects the fact that adding the Bishop sacrifice to the Italian Four Knights Game has transformed play into one of the "modern" variations (i.e. not containing 5.Nxe5) of the Jerome Gambit, that is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6.

Likewise, the name of the third line reflects the fact that adding the Bishop sacrifice to the Semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6) produces another transposition to the Jerome Gambit, that is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 h6.

The fourth line, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit is the conglomeration of the second and third lines. Q.E.D.

I admit that the fifth line, the so-called Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, is named with tongue-in-cheek. There is no evidence that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome ever played the line, but there is also no evidence that Henry Joseph Blackburne played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!? either, despite it being named after him. Play, though, and the attitude behind it, resembles the Jerome Gambit, so I have welcomed the line aboard.

Now 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+, the Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (borrowing from the "Open" Ruy Lopez idea with ...Nxe4), knocks and bids to enter...


(The graphic at the top is from a t-shirt at the Cafe Press website. I chose it over their "Cheszilla" graphic. Check them out.)

An Early Christmas Present

I was thumbing through the awesome-looking and greatly-titled 1.d4 – Beat the Guerrillas! A Powerful Repertoire Against Annoying Black Sidelines by Valeri Bronznik when my eyes were drawn to his chapter on the Marshall Defense to 1.d4, that is 1...d5 2.c4 Nf6.

I always get a smile when a "real" chess writer (especially a professional, titled player) makes reference to one of my games (it has happened in Blackmar Diemer Gambit and Latvian Gambit books) or some of my analysis.

His favorable reference to my article "Alexander Alekhine and Marshall’s 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nf6!?" in Kaissiber #27 (it appeared in both the German language and Italian language editions; and later on in English, online) was an early Christmas present for me.

Book Review: Blackmar Diemer Gambit, Method of Operating (Part 2)

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
Method of Operating
by Eric Jégo

TheBookEdition (2011)
ISBN: 978-2-9536013-1-2
softcover, 164 pages
figurine algebraic notation
http://ericlediemerophile.blogspot.com/
http://gambit-blackmar-diemer.cabanova.fr/

The English-language version of Eric Jégo's French-language Gambit Blackmar-Diemer Modus Operandi has a number of changes and improvements.

In addition to "Acknowledgements", "Dany Sénéchaud’s [of Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques] Preface" and "Eric Jégo's Preamble" there is a selection of "Reviews of the French edition".

As readers of the first edition requested, games now have the ratings of the players given, as well as the time control (i.e. correspondence, classical, blitz, etc.)

To save some space, each chapter starts with a main line (say, "Bolgoljubow Defense 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 g6") and then the games are given, each "starting" from that point on. The author has "boxed" the first moves of the games (say 6.Bf4) to make them stand out a bit more visually, and allow the readers' eyes to better pick up on the continuity.

It is easier to keep track as to what line the game is following, as additional data (e.g. "6.Bc4 Bc7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qe1 Nc6 9.Qh4 Ng4 Kloss Variation") is given at the bottom of the page.

There is a player index at the back of the book.

The print is somewhat smaller, allowing for the above additions, but producing 164 pages instead of the original 188 pages.

Of course, the book still has 287 annotated Blackmar-Diemer Gambit games, many of which you have probably not seen before (even if you have several BDG books). It still has the 14 "Elementary Principles" of BDG play outlined at the front, and referred to in the notes of each game.

Yesterday on this blog I asked

How far will the members of the Blackmar Diemer Gemeinde go in pursuit of esoteric knowledge? Brush up on their German so they can read Diemer’s original Vom Ersten Zug An Auf Matt! ? Freshen up their French, so they can appreciate Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques ?Actually, if you are a BDG fanatic, that’s not a bad idea. And I have just the place for you to start: Eric Jégo’s new Gambit Blackmar-Diemer.

If they do so, they will have games and analysis unavailable to others who are unwilling to work that hard to improve their game. They will also experience more of the joy that is the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.

In making his second edition an English translation, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Method of Operating author Jégo has gone a step further than Diemer and Sénéchaud, making the steps that an adventurous English-speaking reader needs to take a little less burdensome. Meeting him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as it were (at least for American readers). 

Yet, this boldest move is also the riskiest, for the result is often something akin to the "Frenglish" that automated translation services such as Babelfish can produce. Sometimes the going is easy, as with phrases such as "e6 allows White to arrange the Kingside" and "the sole interest of such a development is to accelerate the protection of the Black King." Sometimes the going is shaky, such as "the White Knight may well not stand the offensive in the Kingside but self removes a useful piece for defense, does not develop the Black play and enhances the White play." (Reading Sénéchaud’s references to J.P. Sartre in his "Preface" are extraordinarily painful.)

As I wrote to the author,

In my Chessville review of your book's French language edition, I told readers that if they really wanted an edge in the BDG, they would have to do some work.

Do I speak German? No. Do I have a German - English dictionary, and have I bought Diemer's classic work? Of course! Playing over his games, even the Ryder Gambits, is pure magic. I learned a bit of German, too.

Do I speak French? Sure -- like a Spanish cow! But -- I am willing to work to improve my BDG game. So I have your book, and Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques as well. Is it work the effor to struggle to understand? Sure it is!

The true English-speaking BDG-phile is not afraid of a German language or French language book. There are treasures to uncover!

In my mind, it is very much worth the effort to pick up Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Method of Operating and work with it, even if you decide that the games are the most important content of all; and they are in simple figurine algebraic notation.

Book Review: Blackmar Diemer Gambit, Method of Operating (Part 1)

Eric Jégo has come out with a second, English-language edition of his Blackmar Diemer Gambit, Method of Operating, Accepted - Declined - Avoided.

Today I want to share my review (from Chessville) of his first, French-language edition. Tomorrow, I will address what improvements he has made in the new edition.

Gambit Blackmar-Diemer Modus Operandi

by Eric Jégo


TheBookEdition (2010)
ISBN: 978-2-9536013-0-5
softcover, 188 pages
figurine algebraic notation
http://ericlediemerophile.blogspot.com/
http://gambit-blackmar-diemer.cabanova.fr/


Serious chess players are always looking for an edge. Bobby Fischer learned Russian to keep up with magazines coming out of the U.S.S.R. Later, grandmasters grabbed each issue of Chess Informant as it came out – as they do today with New In Chess.


The advent of computer chess game databases meant getting the largest and the newest – and keeping it up-to-date with games from internet sources such as "The Week in Chess." Internet sources like "Chess Vibes Openings" and "Chess Publishing" keep subscribers up-to-date on the latest opening wrinkles.

Serious followers of the Blackmar Diemer Gambit are no different. As Ken Smith wrote:

For every White initiative a better defense always seems to present itself for Black, and for every refutation the Black side recommends improvements are found for White.

Where do you find those improvements?

While it’s nice to have FM Eric Schiller’s Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, for example, it’s important to have IM Gary Lane’s The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit as well. Have Tim Sawyer’s Blackmar Diemer Gambit Keybook? His The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Keybook II is much bigger! You say you have Tom Purser’s entire run of “BDG World” magazine on CD? What about Tejler’s and Kampars’ “Blackmar Diemer Gambit / Opening Adventures” magazine?

And so it goes.

How far will the members of the Blackmar Diemer Gemeinde go in pursuit of esoteric knowledge? Brush up on their German so they can read Diemer’s original Vom Ersten Zug An Auf Matt! ? Freshen up their French, so they can appreciate Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques ?

Actually, if you are a BDG fanatic, that’s not a bad idea. And I have just the place for you to start: Eric Jégo’s new Gambit Blackmar-Diemer. Even if you speak French like a Spanish cow, it’s time to get out your Petite Larousse English-French dictionary (or download a free copy to your iPhone) and start discovering.

Or you can simply bypass the language for now and just play over the 287 games that Jégo presents in figurine algebraic notation. More than half of them were played in 1999 or more recently – check your bookshelf, how many BDG titles do you have from the new millennium?

Eric Jégo is a serious member of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Gemeinde, as even a few minutes on his web pages (given at the top of this review) will show you. His enthusiasm is contagious.

Several things set Gambit Blackmar-Diemer apart (aside from being the only whole book in French devoted to the opening). For starters, it is one of the most attractive and well-laid out books that I have seen on the BDG, easily bypassing the efforts of Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, for example, in their Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit series. Props must be given to the author and the people at TheBookEdition (a print-on-demand publisher) for their efforts toward perfection.

Inside a glossy cover with a picture of the Black King lying on its side, signifying surrender, the book arranges its games in 28 chapters, by variation. Each chapter starts with the title, the opening moves, and a short strategic description. A “thermometer”-style bar is then given, showing the percentage of wins by White, draws, and wins by Black in the author’s database.

There is a diagram of the starting position for the variation, and then the games follow, with words for annotations, not merely Informant symbols. (Each game “starts” from the diagram, so that the initial moves are not given; this accommodates transpositions from other openings into the BDG, and likely saves space as well.)

At the beginning of Gambit Blackmar-Diemer, after a striking "Preface" by Dany Sénéchaud (it’s not often that you see Jean Paul Sartre referred to in a chess book; my comparison of IM Ilya Odessky’s writing to Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky hardly counts) and a "Preamble" by the author, readers encounter Jégo’s 14 “Elementary Principles” of play in the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.

For example, “After Black castles, the White King Bishop will to to c4 against …g6, or d3 against …e6” and “White’s Queen Bishop will ideally be placed on g5, to pin or eliminate the Black Knight on f6.” Thereafter, the author can simply refer in a discussion in his annotations to the relevant principle, e.g. “PE8.” (BDG enthusiast Rev. Tim Sawyer lists all 14 Elementary Principles in his review on Tom Purser’s blog – another fine BDG resource.)

At the end of the book there is a short list of BDG references (here is a long, albeit incomplete, list) and a very nice list of internet resources.

I have a few, basic, suggestions for a second edition of Gambit Blackmar-Diemer. I know that it was probably done to conserve space, but identifying a game solely by the players’ names and the year it was played – e.g. “Le Goff F. X. – Guinovart J. 2005” – is too spare; at least the location of the match, if not the name or kind of tournament, would be informative additions. A Players’ Index would be nice, as well.

In the meantime, here is one of the 287 games in the book – the only one that doesn’t start from a diagram, but has all of its moves; and given that White was played by Gary Kasparov, no wonder...

Kasparov – Carneiro
2004

(I discovered that this game was played in a simultaneous exhibition in Sao Paolo, Brazil - RK)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.e4 dxe4 6.Nc3 exf3 7.Nxf3 Bg4

(Via the Trompowsky Attack, Kasparov has made his way to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Teichmann Defense – actually, a move up for White.

A little research shows that if instead 7…e6, we would transpose to Jansa – Sosonko, Amsterdam 1975 – a BDG, Euwe Defense, again a move up. For that matter, 6…e3, instead of 6…exf3, would have transposed to Milov – Gelfand, Biel, 1995 – a BDG declined, Langeheinecke Defense, likewise a move up.

Perhaps the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is just a tempo away from making it big with the Grandmasters? - RK)

8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 c6 10.O-O-O e6 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.d5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 a5 15.Bxb7 Ra7 16.Rxd7 Qf6 17.Rhd1 Be7 18.Rxe7+ Qxe7 19.Qc6+ Kf8 20.Bd6 g6 21.Bxe7+ Kxe7 22.Qc5+ Kf6 23.Qxa7 Rf8 24.Qd4+ e5 25.Qd6+ Kg7 26.Qxe5+ Kg8 27.Qf6 h5 28.Bd5 Kh7 29.Bxf7 1-0

So: if you’ve made the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit your secret weapon, go one more step and make Eric Jégo’s Gambit Blackmar-Diemer your ultra super secret weapon – only your opponents will regret that you did so!

Or is it??

Longtime blog Readers may know that I used to do a lot of writing for the now very, very quiet Chessville site: lots of short fiction, lots of book reviews. It was a great "neighborhood" to hang out in.

Often when a new book came out, especially if it covered an unorthodox chess opening or was a self-published effort, I got a review copy as fast as possible and shared my impressions with Readers.

I have been able to do only a few reviews here at jeromegambit.blogspot.com. (I plan to review Eric Jego's English-language book on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit as soon as it arrives!)

Imagine my excitement today when I was wandering through Amazon.com and discovered Chess Openings: New Theory, by James Alan Riechel. I was ready to send off for a review copy in an instant!

I mean, who would not be thrilled by

Ten -- count them: ten! -- chapters of brand-spanking new opening theory in the game of chess, including -- believe it or not! -- three brand-new openings in chess never seen before in the long history of the game! (That's hundreds of years, folks!) Also, major contributions -- and all brand-spanking new theory, by the way -- are made in the Benko Gambit, Queen's Gambit Accepted, Center-Counter, Danish Gambit, Scotch Opening, French Defense, and Bird Opening. Major, major, major -- three times over! -- contributions are made in the French Defense. Two difficult lines for Black are repaired, and I offer the world the French Gambit! Each chapter has a one-page introduction, and each chapter has at least one section of brand-spanking new opening theory!

Whoa...!

Of course, one eyebrow went up when I checked out the author's USCF rating (class B, like me) and read his Amazon bio

The author lives in Pasadena, California, and is employed as a math instructor at Mathnasium in South Pasadena, California. He hopes to complete a PhD in computer science at Caltech, with a dissertation in linear-time partial sorting algorithms, and algorithms for searching partially sorted data. On the weekends, he gets to visit his cat, Mr. T-Rex, a purebred Cornish Rex, at his family’s house in Glendale, California. In his spare time, the author works on research, and writes chess books!

The other eyebrow climbed a bit when I learned that the book has all of 30 pages. You do not need a PhD in computer science to figure out that that is, on the average, 3 pages per chapter, with one of those pages being, as advertised, an introduction.

Still, it's tempting, isn't it?

Or is it??

Instead of the Sunday Book Review

Four days ago (see "GM Larry Evans and the Jerome Gambit"), Guido de Bouver, author of a rowdy, rollicking and bodacious book on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit, had a Comment to make on the post, which, of course, I took time to answer.

Guido De Bouver said...

Great work Rick ! Really great. I replayed the Evans game and it feels good to see also grandmasters are only human after all. But by curiousity, what do you play after 6...g6 7.Qxe5+ Qe7. I guess 8.Qf4+ but then black has both 8...Qf6 and 8...Kg7 ?

guido


Rick Kennedy said...

Hi Guido,

Here, as with an earlier comment (readers should check out "Slaughter" from 6/22/2011), you have touched on a very difficult defense for White to handle, Whistler's Defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7! played by Lt. G.N. Whistler, Secretary of the Lexington, Kentucky Chess Club, against Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, in a set of correspondence games in 1876.

The Database contains 37 games with this defense, including one of the Jerome - Whistler games (0-1, 15) and a Jerome - D.P. Norton game (1/2-1/2, 20) from the same year. (I have a win from each side of the board.)

White scored 51% in The Database games, which seems a bit optimistic to me.

White's best response is 8.Qf4+, as you suggest.

8.Qxh8?? is, of course suicidal for the first player, although The Database has White scoring 55% in 29 games!

It looks like it is time for me to post an update on the status of the Whistler Defense.

Thanks for your comments.

Rick

So, I guess it is time to have another "Update", this time on the Whistler Defense, which runs

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5+ 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7

As it turns out, only a few hours after I posted my response to Guido's Comment, I played a Jerome Gambit game at FICS – and somebody played the Whistler against me!

My opponent played his moves quickly, especially his 6th and 7th. Not for the first time did I suspect that I had found a defender who had been reading this blog...

So, I have jumped this most recent game to the top of the list (I usually present my games in the order that they were played) and will use it as the backbone of the Update.

Let me start by saying that, unless you are someone like Bill Wall, who can "bend steel in his bare hands" or who has the power to "cloud men's minds," don't play 8.Qxh8.

The game UNPREDICTABLE - sharepointme, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 26) is a lesson hard-learned (although I do not know if UNPREDICTABLE has learned it, as he has played 8.Qxh8 seven times, with a 4-3 record, at that).

Black can play 8...Qxe4+ and very bad things (Tyrin Price and Brian Wall have done a comprehensive analysis of the brutality, right down to the very last coffin nail, but I can't find a url to reference) can happen to White's King...

To Be Continued...

Quite Complicated

Making sense of Jerome Gambit middlegames can be a challenge. To write the notes for this blog I make use of my friends Rybka 3, Fritz 10 and Fritz 8. Sometimes I tell them "I saw that!" and sometimes I don't...

perrypawnpusher - parlance
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

I've been here 30 times, and scored 82%. That's not due to the strength of White's position, mind you, but because I am familiar with the tricks and traps of the opening. 

10.0-0 Rf8

Probably better than 10...Qe7 in our earlier game, perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

After the game, Fritz 8 suggested 10...d5!? which follows the idea that if you are ahead in development you should open up the game: 11.exd5+ Kf7 12.Nc3 (Hanging on to the d-pawn with 12.c4 wastes time that needs to be spent by White on development, e.g. 12...Re8 13.Qg3 c6 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.d3 Bf5) 12...Re8 13.Qc5 Ne7 14.d4 Nexd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 and Black survives the discovered check and his misplaced King to maintain his advantage.

If I face 10...d5, in the future, I am likely to try the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit-ish 11.d4 dxe4 12.f3!?

11.f4 Qe7 12.Nc3 c6

Keeping the White Knight off of d5.

A bit better might be 12...Kf7, continuing to castle-by-hand.

12...Ng4 worked out better than it should have in last year's perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31).

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4

You have to wonder if, just once, ...Ned7 was the right idea, with castling-by-hand still on the menu.

15.Qd3 b5

I've seen this kind of maneuver in my game against Saltos and both games against VGxdys. I think Black does best, instead, simply to retreat his Knight with 15...Nb6.

After all the travelling that the piece has done (...Nb8-c6-e5-g6-e5-c4) perhaps my opponent was unwilling to invest one more move – although that soon changes.

16.Bg5

I thought this was a pretty interesting idea at the time.

After the game, Rybka 3 preferred 16.a4.

16...h6

Taking the pawn right away was possible: 16...Nxb2 17.Qg3 Nc4 18.Rae1 Qc7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22.Qg4 with a slight edge to Black, but I would be okay with White's position.

17.Bh4

Simpler was 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.b3 Nb6 19.Rae1 but I was okay with some complications of the text.

17...Nxb2

Taking the pawn shifts the edge to White.

18.Qf3

It would have been stronger to try 18.Qg3, as in 18...Qd7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qd4+

18...Nc4 19.e5 Nd2

Enticed by the chance to fork my Queen and Rook. 

Black needed to bite the bullet, give up some material and move his King to a safer place with 19...Kf7. The resulting position would be quite complicated.

If White captures the Knight on f6, Black can force the exchange of Queens, i.e. 20.exf6 Qe3+ 21.Qxe3 Nxe3, when some simplification leads to 22.Ne4 Nxf5 23.Rxf5 Bxf5 24.Nxd6+ Ke6 25.fxg7 Kxd6 26.gxf8/Q+ Rxf8 where White is a pawn up, but the game is close to a drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

White can capture on c6, instead, and enter a somewhat better Queenless middlegame, i.e. 20.Qxc6 Qb7 21.Qxb7 Bxb7 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Nxb5 a6 24.Nc3 Rae8.

Rybka's preference, though, is to pursue the attack on the Kingside with 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.e6 in order to force Black to liquidate, when an exchange sacrifice by White will give him the edge:  22...Bxe6 23.fxe6 f5 24.Qxh6 Rf6 25.Qg5+ Qg7 26.Qxg7+ Kxg7 27.d5 Ne3 28.dxc6 Nxf1 29.Rxf1 Rxe6 30.Nxb5 Kf6 31.g4 Ke7 32.gxf5 Rg8+ 33.Kh1 Rf8 34.Nd4.

Like I said: "Quite complicated."

20.Qxc6+ Black resigned

White's Queen is very active, and the next few moves are easy to see: 20...Kf7 21.exf6 Qb7 22.Qxd6 (possible because the Black Knight no longer protects the pawn) Nxf1 23.Rxf1 and now 23...Qd7 24.Nxb5 shows that White has plenty for his sacrificed exchange.

Blackmar Diemer Gambit

I received a very pleasant email from Guido de Bouver of Grimbergen, Belgium, the other day,

Hello Richard,
I have been following your posts on your blog regularly.
I am not an 1.e4 player but enjoy the attacking positions in the gambit.
I have created a new blog http://blackmardiemergambit.blogspot.com/ on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.
Please have a look - you might want to add some words on your blog and add a link, so I get some additional publicity!
Thanks for your help and keep up the good work !
Guido

Readers will see that I have added a link to Guido's web page.

After all, not everybody plays the Jerome Gambit all the time, but they still like to attack. (And if you open with 1.e4, looking for the Jerome Gambit, and your opponent plays 1...d5, you can counter his Center Counter with 2.d4 and go for the BDG!)

You should also know that Guido has written a very exciting book on the Blackmar Diemer Gambit (I have a copy, and when Chessville.com comes back online you will be able to see my review): Attack with the Blackmar Diemer, A Computer Analysis of the Teichmann, Gunderam, O'Kelly lines in the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.

International Master Gary Lane, in his "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe.com has written about the book "My advice if you have a love of the opening is to seek it out and buy it at the first opportunity."

According to Tom Purser, at Tom's BDG Pages, Guido is working on a second BDG volume, including the Euwe and Bogoljubow Defenses.