Lewis Gambit

I have been enjoying watching the series of "Dirty Chess Tricks" videos on YouTube, by Gunjan Jani, especially "Dirty Chess Tricks 13" on the Lewis Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4.

This is an opening line that I have touched upon in this blog, starting with "SOS", writing about Secrets of Opening Surprises, Volume 10, which contained an article by Jeroen Bosch on the Lewis Gambit.  

The earliest examples I have of the gambit are from an 1841 Staunton - Cochrane match, which makes it a possible inspration for Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in creating his Jerome Gambit, after the Lewis line 3...exd4 4.Bxf7+. The similarity to the Abrahams Jerome Gambit - 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ - is apparent. See "Proto-Jerome Gambits? (Part 4)".

There is also a similarity to a line in the Von der Lasa Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, as seen in J.H. Blackburne - E.J. Evelyn, blindfold, London, 1862 (1-0, 32). And let's not overlook the "Macbeth Attack".

Jani rightly points out the possibilities of the Lewis Gambit transposing to the Max Lange Gambit, the Max Lange Attack, and the Italian Gambit.

(GM Boris Alterman has a video on the Lewis Gambit as well. Dangerous Weapons: 1.e4 e5 by GM John Emms, GM Glenn Flear, and IM Andrew Greet has good coverage of where the Lewis Gambit can go if Black does not allow a Bxf7+.)

Proto-Jerome Gambits? (Part 4)

Of course, as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome was putting together his ideas on the Jerome Gambit, he might well have been influenced by the games of Joseph Henry Blackburne, whose aggression often showed up in sharp attacks like the one after 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ as we have seen before; or, a move later, here.

(A correspondence game played after Jerome passed on is still worth passing along again.)

Coming out of the move order that we have been looking at, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4 exd4 the Lewis Gambit, reaches the same position after 4.Bxf7+, and, as the earliest example was Staunton - Cochrane, match, 1841, the line was likely available to Jerome as well. 

It is also available to Readers who would like to check out Secrets of Opening Surprises, Volume 10, edited by Jeroen Bosch, where the Lewis Gambit is examined. 

S.O.S.

It was fun to see that one of the articles in S.O.S. #10 – Secrets of Opening Surprises, Volume 10 – by Jeroen Bosch, was on the Lewis Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4. It is an old line (the earliest examples I have are from an 1841 Staunton - Cochrane match) and, of course, a piece of it is reminiscent of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

While the critical response for Black has to be 3...Bxd4 (Bosch recommends 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.0-0 with compensation) after 3...exd4, the recommendation – by the author (and Rybka 3, for that matter) is 4.Bxf7+.

We've seen this before, in the blindfold game Blackburne -Evelyn, London 1862 (1-0, 32), starting out 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5.

After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4 exd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxc5 Nc6 Bosch sees

...an interesting position. The material is equal, White's queen has been developed rather early and black's king is not entirely safe. Play could continue 7.Nf3 (7.Ne2). Well, at least this is a fun position to play.

Bosch's ultimate assessment is

Black certainly has chances to equalize after 3..exd4, but there are more than enough practical chances for white, and this is clearly not the refuataion of 3.d4