Restrain, Blockade, Destroy

The watchwords of Aaron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) "restrain, blockade, destroy" come to mind in playing over the following game, as Black seems to utilize "hypermodern" concepts in has battle against a clearly "neo-romantic" chess opening.

It is one of the stranger Jerome Gambits I have ever seen.

Wall, Bill - Guest4149739
PlayChess.com, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8

More common is 7...Ke8.

8.Qxc5+ d6

There is also 8...Qe7, as in Wall,B - Quack, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22)

9.Qc3

The more-often played 9.Qe3 is as old as Vazquez,A -Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876 (1-0, 34) and as new as Wall,B - Vijay,V, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 22) and Wall,B - LC, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 20)


9...Nf6 10.d3 Qe7

A slight improvement over 10...c6 as in Wall,B - Boris, Sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 32). So far, we have a normal Jerome Gambit-style position.

11.O-O c6 12.f4 Bd7 13.f5 Ne5 14.h3 

Bill later suggested 14.Bf4.

14...c5 15.g4 Bc6 

White has activated his "Jerome pawns" and in response Black has started to restrain them and - with his Knights - blockade them.

An indication of how further "odd" the position can get is in Houdini's recommendation, instead of Black's last move: 15...g5 16.Bxg5 h5 17.h4 hxg4 18.a4 Be8 19.Nd2 Bf7. 

16.g5 Nfd7 17.b4 h6 18.g6 Qh4 

Black has about had it with all of White's pawn moves (Bill has also created this impatience in his opponents with repeated Queen moves) and decides to become aggressive, here threatening 19...Qg3+. 

19.Kh2 b6 20.a4

Instead, 20.Bf4 was a possibility. 

20...Nf6 21.Bf4 

Bill shows how things could go horribly wrong for White: 21.bxc5? Nd5 22.exd5 Ng4+ 23.Kg2 Bxd5+ 24. Kg1 Qg3 checkmate

21...Re8 

22.Nd2 Nh5 23.Bxe5 Rxe5

Threatening 24.. .Qg3+.

24.Rf3 

White's King is still at risk: 24.bxc5? Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Rxe4 26.dxe4 (26.Nxe4 Bxe4+ 27.dxe4 Qxc3) 26...Qxc3. 

24...Ke7 25.Rg1

White completes his development (!) and sets an interesting trap for his opponent.

25...Bxa4

This can lead to a slight advantage for White (better was 25...Kd7), or a whole lot more.

26.Ra1 b5 

Black protects his Bishop and blocks the a-file against the White Rook. Instead, he should have retreated his piece with 26...Bd7 and let the White Rook in, facing a small disadvantage. However, this was far from obvious.

27.d4 

With this move White takes over the game.

27...cxd4 28.Qc7+ Kf6

This leads to checkmate, whereas 28...Ke8 only leads to disaster after 29.Qc6+ 

29.Qxd6+ 

A bit faster was 29.Rg1

29...Kg5 30.Rg1+  Black resigned

It is ironic that Black, ahead in development for most of the game, should have his King expire with a Bishop offside and a Rook lollygagging at home.

Exploring the Evans Jerome Gambit

Once again, the email box brings some interesting news from our regular correspondent in the United Kingdom, David Black. This time he has plucked an idea from the early history of the Jerome Gambit, the invention (as far as I know) of Henry Charlick (of 1.d4 e5 fame), the Evans Jerome Gambit. There is much, much more to be discovered in this line ("Hoist by my own petard..." is one primitive example).

Hiya Rick,

I have a very interesting game for you here that needs a bit of an explanation.

This online program is at http://www.chess.com/play/computer.html and it's a different beast from the ill fated Boris. It's easy to set-up Jerome type positions and has a number of settings from beginner to expert. In your latest blog you mentioned the Evans gambit and that gave me an idea (which may or may not have been tried before... I don't know).

The Evans starts 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4... After 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3, the Bishop must move or be captured. The 2nd most popular retreat is 5...Bc5 in this position, so I wondered what would happen if I applied the Jerome treatment to this line. Worth mentioning that the "expert" setting takes a little while to make it's moves although I tried to play blitz-ish.


Black,D - Computer - Hard 

Chess.com, 24.05.2012

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Qh4 9.0-0 Ne7 10.Qb3+ d5 11.dxe5 Qxe4 12.Nd2 Qxe5 13.Nf3 Qd6 14.Bb2 Qb6 15.Qc2 Bf5 16.Ne5+ Ke6 17.Qe2 Be4 18.c4 Bd4 19.cxd5+ Kxe5 20.Bxd4+ Qxd4 21.Rad1 Qb4 22.f3 Nxd5 23.fxe4 Qxe4 24.Qh5+ Kd6 25.Rfe1 g6 26.Qg5 Qxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Rhe8 28.Rd1 c6 29.Qf6+ Re6 30.Qf7 Re7 31.Qf6+ Kd7 32.Qb2 b6 33.Qb3 Rf8 34.a4 Rf4 35.g3 Rfe4 36.a5 R7e5 37.axb6 axb6 38.Qa3 Re7 39.Kg2 b5 40.Qb3 Kd6 41.Qa3+ b4 42.Qa6

Now unfortunately I had to quit the game here as something came up. The computer certainly seems to have a big advantage but maybe not enough to escape a perpetual? Looks like there is a lot of mileage in this variation although I  don't know if it falls under the scope of your blog.

Stepping up the Heat

Sad to say, it is not a good time to be the online computer program Boris at sparkchess.com, at least as far as the Jerome Gambit goes. No sooner had Bill Wall handed the silicon monster its head, as it were, he decided to see if he could improve on Dave Black's recent thrashing of the program – and, remember, Dave disassembled it and delivered mate in 18 moves.


Wall,B - Boris
sparkchess.com 2012


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5

In the computer world, as well as in the human chess world, it is dangerous to become too predictable. Readers saw this defense in "Boris Isn't So Hot," and you can be sure that Bill Wall saw it, too.


8.fxe5 Kxe5 9.Rf1


Deviating from 9.c3 of Black,D - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012, (1-0, 18).


9...Be7

An improvement over 9...d5 from GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26). Still, White is better, thanks to Black's exposed King.


10.d4+ Kxd4 


In order to avoid checkmate, Boris needed to play 10...Kd6, which was where he placed his King against Dave Black, when checked in that game by 10.d4+.


11.Be3+ Kxe3 12.Qf3+ Kd4 13.Qc3+ Kxe4 14.Qd3+ Ke5 15.Rf5+ Ke6 16.Qd5 checkmate

Other Online Computer Foes?

The email continues this week, with an interesting game, and an over-arching question, from Bill Wall. Can readers help identify other online computer foes?


Rick,

After reading your latest blog on Boris at sparkchess, I decided to play a Jerome Gambit against it as well.
Here is my effort.  Do you happen to know other links that one may be able to play a Jerome against a computer online?
I can't get any of the engines at FICS to play a Jerome.

Bill


Wall, Bill - Boris
sparkchess.com, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.O-O Ke8 6.Nxe5 Nf6

According to The Database, this is a Theoretical Novelty. It is likely that after 5.0-0 Boris was out of it's "book" and was thinking on its own. The play continues to have a quirky feel for both sides.

7.Nd3

This is an interesting move, as if Bill knows how Boris will respond. That reminds me of the query, if a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a noise? only in this case it would go, if Boris is a computer, and doesn't really "think", is it possible for Bill to read its mind?

7...d6 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.Nc3 Kf7 10.d3 Kg8 

Typical Jerome Gambit play: White has his central "Jerome pawns" ready to roll, while Black has "castled-by-hand".

11.Bg5

Again, this is an interesting move, as if Bill knew that he could get Boris to over expand on the kingside. Of course, pressure on f6, including the use of the White Rook on the f-file, is thematic in the Jerome Gambit, too.

11...h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Be6 14.f4 gxf4 15.Bxf4 

15...Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Rc8 17.Qd2 h5 18.Ne2 Qxb2 

Not a good time for the computer to turn greedy.

19.Rab1 Qa3

It was time to surrender some material with 19...Nxe4. Now Boris is in deep trouble.

20.Be5 Nxe4 21.dxe4 Nxe5 22.Qg5+ Kh7 23.Rf6 Qc1+ 24.Rxc1 Bg4 25.Rh6 checkmate

By the way, if you Google "play chess against the computer online" you will find plenty of online sites with computer programs to try the Jerome Gambit against... 

Boris Isn't So Hot...

From the email bag, a note and a game from Dave Black, who has graced these pages before...

Hi Rick,

I came across a site with a online chess program so I thought I would give it a bash with the Jerome.

http://www.sparkchess.com/

The program has 3 levels available to play for free named Cody, Claire and Boris. Boris's blurb states "Get ready for a challenge. Boris will do his best to beat you, play if you're an advanced player." 

I will let you judge just how advanced Boris is.  ;)

Dave Black - Boris
sparkchess.com, 2012
(notes by Rick)


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5

To go from a won game to a worse (if not lost) one so quickly, deserves recognition,  but this defense has been played before.


8.fxe5 Kxe5


Chess software these days is not supposed to be so materialistic, but, in Boris' defense, its position was already critical.


Black's simplest continuation was 8...Nf6, and, after 9.exf6 Qxf6 he can play on, a pawn down.


Otherwise, he had the thematic 8...d5, although after 9.d4 his position requires much thought: 9...Be7 (there is no time for 9...Bxd4, and the pawn at g5 needs defending) 10.0-0 (with mate threats) Kd7 11.Qf7 and Black is so tied up, if he does not want to immediately return a piece with ...Nh6 then he has to try something tortured like 11...Kc6, when 12.Nc3 b6 13.exd5+ Kb7 14.Qg7 is just one possible unfortunate outcome.


9. c3


Previously GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009, continued 9.Rf1 d5 10.d4+ Bxd4 11.Bxg5 Kd6 12.Bxd8 Be6 13.Qh4 Bxb2 14.Qg3+ Kd7 15.Qxc7+ Ke8 16.Qxb7 Rxd8 17.Qxb2 d4 18.Qb5+ Bd7 19.Qe5+ Be6 20.Qxh8 d3 21.Qg7 Ne7 22.Rf8+ Kd7 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.cxd3 h5 25.Nc3 Ke8 26.Rb1 Black resigned


Analagously, 9.d4+ was also playable.


9...Be7 10.d4+ 


Going for the jugular with 10.Qf7 was stronger, but, like I indicated above, the position is complicated. What is relevant is that Dave has a "feel" for it, while Boris does not.


10...Kd6 

11.O-O Kc6 12.Na3 Kb6


Black should have tried "castling" with 12...b6 and 13...Kb7.


13.Qf7 

13...Bxa3


Opening the b-file for White's Rook can hardly be a good idea.


14.bxa3 h6 15.Rb1+ Ka5 16.Qd5+ c5 17.Qxc5+ Ka6 18.Qb5 checkmate

I can't believe I missed this...

I just bumped into Chess Chat, which bills itself as "Australia's Premier Chess Forum." The following series of exchanges is both entertaining and educational.


Ausknight
March 7, 2009
"How to defend against this Ruy Lopez Variation?"

At the moment I'm opening with the Ruy Lopez and whilst I personally use the classic line of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc5, I've come across other white players online opening with the following instead : 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc5

It's a slight variation which puts immediate pressure the following turn with either sacrificing the Bishop with Bxf7+ (forcing the king to take and removing a castle from the equation - Is this actually worth the trade in material?) or threatening the potentially potent follow up with Nh5 (which leads to a nasty Nxf8).

Question is, how do you defend against this variation?

Cheers


Jono
March 7, 2009

I'm not sure what you're asking. 3. Bc4 can be answered well by 3... Bc5 or Nf6.


Zwischenzug
March 7, 2009

Actually, this opening is the Italian game. Anyway, sacking the bishop for a pawn so early in the game is a bad idea for white. Sure black can't castle but he can survive. 3...Nf6 or 3...Bc5 would be normal for black here.


The Snail King
March 7, 2009

As Jono (edit: and Zwischenzug) said, there are a couple of good moves.

I invariably play 3...Bc5 in that position, because when playing 3...Nf6 Black needs to know the theory after White's 4.Ng5 (Fried Liver Attack, IIRC) and for beginners that's not an easy line to play. With 3...Bc5 the diagonal from Black's Qd8 to the g5 square is not blocked, preventing the immediate 4.Ng5 by White.


 Rincewind
March 7, 2009

I haven't been an e4 or e5 player for several years but the line you give is not considered the Ruy Lopez. It is called both the Giuoco Piano (quiet game) and Italian Opening. There are many lines but generally the Bishop sac is not working just yet and Black normally plays 3...Bc5.

If 4.Bxf7 Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6! seems hair raising but black is better thanks to the material (although his king is exposed and so he has to be careful).

The usual lines after 3...Bc5 are either 4.b4 called the Evan's Gambit (which can be accepted) or the mainline 4.c3 Nf6 where White will usually play 5.d3 or d4. But things are pretty solid now since the knight on f6 defends the queen checking squares the Bxf7+ move is unlikely to cause any problems for a while.


Ausknight
March 7, 2009

Omg there's a line called the Fried Liver Attack?

That alone makes chess worth playing IMHO! HAHAHAHAHAAHA! LOVE IT!

Okay, so if my opponent pulls the pin and goes for Bxf7+ I just take back with the king? What then? It kind of leaves me a little exposed which as a beginner worries me a bit. Can I swing across the Rook from h8 to f8 and swing the king back in behind? With no pawn protecting on f7, I just feel like no matter what I do I'm dangerously exposed.

I guess I need more theory research on this line, or just learn a better response from the classic Ruy Lopez from white.

I have to admit I'm in the VERY early stages of learning opening lines, so a lot of what I see at the moment I mostly respond with tactical positioning with no theory behind me. I always worry about this because there's a lot of traps for the beginner in many opening lines and it's lead to more than one loss for me.

At present I generally only open with the Ruy Lopez as white and to be quite honest, respond with rubbish when playing as black. Looks like I need to stick my head into a few books and start a decent education on openings!


The Snail King
March 7, 2009

If you have a high-bandwidth internet connection, a lot of these openings are covered on YouTube (at least in a brief overview, including some of the usual traps to watch out for).

Beyond that, I can recommend the book series called "Starting Out ..." (e.g. Starting Out: Ruy Lopez) which can be purchased from all good chess retailers and/or Amazon Books. I have about a dozen of them and they give me at least a rudimentary understanding of the themes and usual plans for the major variations of each opening/defence.

There's also a good website (www.chessgames.com) that has an openings explorer. I am a member there, which allows me to delve into openings/games and see how "normal" most of the moves are in any position.

If you get really serious, ChessBase or Chess Assistant (I have the latter) gives you more than 3M games which are indexed by opening lines.


Ausknight
March 7, 2009

That's fantastic, thanks for the info!

I've just become a member of the ICC as well, is this sort of stuff covered there at all?


Jono
March 7, 2009

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5?! [5... Na5 gives Black a strong initiative for a P] 6. Nxf7 [the "Fried Liver"] [6. d4 first is probably even stronger] 6... Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 and a difficult game for Black

Okay, so if my opponent pulls the pin and goes for Bxf7+ I just take back with the king? What then? It kind of leaves me a little exposed which as a beginner worries me a bit. Can I swing across the Rook from h8 to f8 and swing the king back in behind?

Yes, that's called artificial castling or castling by hand.

With no pawn protecting on f7, I just feel like no matter what I do I'm dangerously exposed.

But exposed to what? White's just blown an attacking piece permanently for just minor temporary discomfort.

NB: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Ng5?! 0-0 6. Nxf7? Rxf7 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 is exceedingly bad play for White, because B+N will prove much stronger in the middlegame than the R+P which have little to do as yet.

I guess I need more theory research on this line, or just learn a better response from the classic Ruy Lopez from white.

Yes, the Ruy is a good opening for White to last a lifetime, unlike the Italian, and should guarantee an advantage against rubbishy Black lines.


Ausknight
May 7, 2009

Thank you so much for your help there Jono!

That Fried Liver Attack is something I've seen before actually (I just didn't know it had a name), although it was more of an accident than anything when I come across it

I personally don't like sacrificing material for positional advantage unless it leads to an overwhelmingly strong position (that's obvious as well).

As a beginner, the trade off for position is something that goes against our basic playing ethos. Before we have experience and knowledge of opening lines in our repertoire, we usually play hope chess and simple tactical play, of which one of the main priorities is maintaining a material advantage at all times.

So when the other noobies I play on ICC start throwing 'free' material at me in such a fashion, I start to wonder if the trade off in material for position early on like that is really worth it and these guys are ahead of me in thinking, or if they're simply trying too hard for a quick kill and fall on their swords? Sometimes, I can't see a tactical blunder like this for a well disguised trap, which is why I'm usually cautious about it.

It would seem that despite my initial confusion, my suspicions are correct - these early game spite checks more or less are just a ?? move.

On opening lines for black though, I've been checking out some of the easier defensive lines from the Sicilian (Najdorf variation) which seem a little safer, although they might be a little advanced for where I am now as it's a lot more moves. Still, it feels more comfortable a response to an e4 opening from white than e5. (As an aside, I really like the tutorials by Jrobichess, nicely presented for a beginner I've found)

The biggest problem I find with learning my opening lines at the moment is that because I play against a lot of new players at my level, they have virtually no concept of opening theory at all and play any old rubbish to get the action going as soon as possible, so more often than not I have to abandon playing classical opening lines a few moves in simply to defend something I'm not expecting that's throwing early pressure on.


The Snail King
March 8, 2009

Pre-empting Jono's reply perhaps, but the reason that there are tried-and-true opening lines is that the other lines don't work very well. So when someone goes "out of book lines" take a little time to try to work out why. There is a reasonable chance that its either a blunder or an inferior line, so if you can find the right follow-up move you will get an advantage. But I agree that its tough trying to figure that out when you haven't built up your own mental opening library of experience to draw on.


The Snail King
March 8, 2009

I thought I would give a little example of what I mean. In a game I am playing online at the moment: 1.e4 c5 2.Qh5 Nf6 3.Qxc5 Nxe4

I'm Black. I normally don't play the Sicilian, and I had never faced 2.Qh5 before. I don't know the theory, but I suspect its not played very often and the reason for that is that it is inferior (premature development of the queen exposes it to attack, "normal" 2nd moves by White are 2.Nf3, 2.Nc3, 2.c3, 2.Bb5 and so on). So I chose 2...Nf6 which develops a piece with tempo (Queen must move). After 3.Qxc5 Nxe4 the queen must move again. Most places it goes, I will follow up with 4...d5 and I have achieved a number of goals:

-- one of the main ideas of the Sicilian is that Black exchanges his c-pawn for a centre pawn, giving him a central pawn majority ... and I will have achieved something similar, exchanging my c-pawn for the (I think, very important!) e4-pawn.
-- White has been running around with his queen and has still not developed a minor piece
-- my d5-pawn gives me occupation/control of the centre and the opportunity for a later e5 pawn thrust to open lines

Now of course the stronger players here will no doubt expose my shallow thinking and give me 3 reasons why White is better(!), and if so I will take my medicine like a man, but I hope that little explanation gives you an idea of how to approach tackling an unexpected move in the opening.


Boris
March 8, 2009

Best way to avoid Bxf7 sacs is 1...e6.


Rincewind
March 8, 2009

Now of course the stronger players here will no doubt expose my shallow thinking and give me 3 reasons why White is better(!), and if so I will take my medicine like a man, but I hope that little explanation gives you an idea of how to approach tackling an unexpected move in the opening

I'm not that much of a stronger player than you and I don't think White is any better than Black in that line but by the same token I don't think Black has any huge advantage either (after 4.Qe3 say). However, rather than letting white take the c-pawn with the queen you could have defended it with some useful move like e6 or d6 and then get a tempo on his queen later with Nf6. For example after 1.e4 c5 2.Qh5 d6 3.Bc4 e6, and White's queen just looks plain silly. There is no way for White to get an attack on f7 and you are threatening to play Nf6 winning a tempo whenever you please.


Jono
March 8, 2009

Best way to avoid Bxf7 sacs is 1...e6

Why would you want to avoid an early Christmas gift? E.g. from an early age, I loved people trying the Double Muzio against me.


Jono
March 8, 2009

I think the lines suggested by Snail King and Rincewind are both sensible and good for Black. In SK's line, I might play 4. Qe3 Nf6 to advance the e-pawn with preparation. 4... d5 is not bad though, and should be compared with the exchange Caro Kann: 1.e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4

1.e4 c5 2. Qh5 Nf6 3. Qxc5 Nxe4 4. Qe3 d5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bd3 Nf6 [6... Nd6 is probably even better, with ideas of ... Bf5 as well as supporting the minority attack better] 7. c3

In the game of GO, this sort of analysis, reversing move orders and making comparisons with known positions, is called Tewari. Comparing the above, we see that White's game is different from the genuine opening by having the Q misplaced on e3 instead of the B well developed on f4.


Mephistopheles
March 23, 2009

I'll happily venture it against anyone around my strength (i.e. not terribly strong) and, if I could be bothered learning the theory, I'd probably give it a crack against just about anyone.

Why would you want to avoid an early Christmas gift? E.g. from an early age, I loved people trying the Double Muzio against me.

As I understand it, White is generally regarded as OK-ish in the line. Mind you, my books o' King's Gambit theory might be out of date at around 8 years old.

Hardly relevant any more, as I play the King's Bishop's Gambit these days anyway. No chance of Philidor or Hanstein dullness.


 Useless Patzer
March 23, 2009

Thanks for this thread- very informative. The openings are my weakness and I need all the help I can get in learning theory, which is not so easy now I'm in my late 30's.


Igor Goldenberg
March 26, 2009

IMHO, learning the opening nowadays is much easier then it used to be with all the info available (I agree that separating seeds from weeds is still a difficult part, though).


The Snail King
March 26, 2009

Incidentally, here's how my 1.e4 c5 2.Qh5 game turned out ... I'm black ... in the end I decided against the d5 follow-up and played a bit more conservatively ... and my opponent gradually gifted me several pieces: 1.e4 c5 2.Qh5 Nf6 3.Qxc5 Nxe4 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Bb5 a6 6.Ba4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.O-O O-O 9.Bb3 Nc6 10.a3 d5 11.d3 Re8 12.Qd2 Bg4 13.Ng5 h6 14.h3 Bh5 15.Nc3 Qd7 16.Na4 Rad8 17.Nc5 Qc8 18.c3 hxg5 19.Qxg5 Nh7 20.Qd2 g5 21.d4 Bg6 22.Nd3 Na5 23.Bd1 Nc4 24.Qe2 e5 25.Qg4 Qxg4 26.Bxg4 Bxd3 27.Re1 e4 28.Bf5 Bf6 29.b3 Nd6 30.Bg4 Nf8 31.Bd2 Ne6 32.a4 Rd7 33.b4 Nc4 34.Bc1 Bd8 35.a5 Kg7 36.g3 Kg6 37.f3 f5 38.fxe4 fxg4 39.exd5 Rxd5 40.hxg4 Nc7 41.Rxe8 Nxe8 42.Ra2 Nf6 0-1


Useless Patzer
March 26, 2009

The young American GM Hikaru Nakamura is a bit of a fan of 2 Q-h5, but it can sometimes rebound on him....


Boris
March 26, 2009

I believe Smerdon may also have played it, or that might have been 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5, or then again I could be completely wrong.


Igor Goldenberg
March 30, 2009

In 1994 Rogers played Qh5 against Djuric (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6 3.Qh5)


Gunner Duggan
March 30, 2009

IN 1972, aged 6, I might have played 2.Qh5 against my father. Then again, I might not.


Igor Goldenberg
April 2, 2009

Where you also a GM at that time?


Gunnar Dugan
April 2, 2009

Yes, a Gunner Mini!


Nicholas D-C
April 23, 2009

Go to www.chessgames.com, use the opening explorer, and look up some games on the lines you have trouble with. This is a useful tool for learning an opening better.


Sheroff
May 2, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ is called the Jerome Gambit, and is unsound. A remember a nice brevity which from memory continued ...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 (Black can attack too!) 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+! 14.gxh3 Bxe4#. I think that's right - I'm just dragging that one out of my brain without a board while I'm sitting here.

If you're new to 3.Bc4, then ...Bc5 is probably a safer answer than ...Nf6, which can lead to a lot of tricky lines for the Guioco Piano newbie...

Good luck! 


Juno
May 2, 2009

Pretty good memory then! Yes, Blackburne won this one


Sheroff
May 4, 2009

Thanks Jono -

Yes, keeping useless games from yesteryear and obscure traps in my head is what I do best...

If only I knew how to play rook and pawn endgames as well...