The Long and the Short of It

Bill Wall has collected his games into one file - not quite 45,000 matches, an impressive number. Of course, there are many Jerome Gambit (and related) games in there, some of which are new to me, and which I will be sharing in future posts. Of particular interest are some games against computer chess engines - always risky affairs.

For now, the following quick game revisits a line last looked at in "One Thing Leads To Another".

Wall,B - Sanket
Chess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 

6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nf3 

This position is still quite rare in The Database - two games.

7...Nc6 

Or 7...Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 d6 9.d4 Bg4 10.Qf4 Bh5 11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Nd5 13.Qh4+ Nf6 14.exf6+ gxf6 15.Qxh5 Black resigned, Wall,B  -Chrissti, PlayChess.com, 2015. 

8.e5 Ng8 9.d4 h6 10.d5 Nb4 11.a3 Black resigned

No surprise: Losing the Knight on b4 is only part of the problem for the defender; the more that you look at the position, the greater the danger to Black's King grows.

One Thing Leads to Another

Good moves often are followed by good moves; questionable moves too often are followed by further questionable moves; as the following Bill Wall game illustrates.

Wall, Bill - Chrissti
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 

Compared to the BSJG Declined, most recently discussed in "Bleak Future", e7 is an acceptable place for Black's King once the sacrificed piece has been collected. Even though 5...Ke7 is relatively rare compared to 5...Ke8 and 5...Ke6, the move has received attention on this blog. See "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit 2" and "My Turn Again" for an introduction.

6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nf3

Oddly enough, this is the only game in The Database to contain this reasonable move.

7...Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 d6 9.d4 Bg4 10.Qf4 Bh5 

Bill points out that 10...Be6 was a better retreat. Suddenly Black's game becomes difficult. Blast those "Jerome pawns"!

11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Nd5 13.Qh4+ Nf6

The King retreat 13...Ke8 would cost only one piece; the text costs two.

14.exf6+ gxf6 15.Qxh5 Black resigned