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. 

Sunday Book Review: The Alterman Gambit Guide White Gambits

The Alterman Gambit Guide
White Gambits
GM Boris Alterman
Quality Chess (2010)
softcover, 448 pages
 http://chesslessons.wordpress.com/


 I think that beginning chess players should not concern themselves greatly about learning chess openings.

If pressured on the point, I usually suggest something like Tartakower and du Mont's 500 Master Games of Chess, which is available, affordable, and gives the reader a lot of interesting games (organized by opening) with sprightly notes. There is a lot of chess to learn in going over the games; and opening knowledge can be acquired by osmosis.

If someone persists, either out of stubbornness or because of making consistent gains in chess skill and ability, I am likely, these days, to recommend The Alterman Gambit Guide, at least for play with the White pieces.

The author presents 7 double-e-pawn openings, and lines of attack against the Caro Kann, Sicilian and French Defenses. The focus is on gambit play, including the Danish Gambit, the Urusov Gambit, the Cochrane Gambit (vs the Petroff), the Evans Gambit, and even the Morra Gambit (vs the Sicilian).

The Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments, Bibliography & Key to symbols used
Foreword by the Author
The Danish Gambit
The Urusov Gambit
The Philidor
The Cochrane Gambit
The Morphy Attack
The Max Lange Attack
The Evans Gambit
The Panov Attack
The Morra Gambit
The Milner-Barry Gambit
Games Index
Variations Index

GM Alterman makes a good case for learning about dynamic chess play through the use of gambits, and his presentation – the choice of short, thematic games; followed by longer, more analyzed battles; followed by theory of the opening – is very effective.

At almost 450 pages, The Alterman Gambit Guide White Gambits covers each opening deep enough that the player can feel confident that he or she has enough "book" knowledge to set the pace of the game. Furthermore, learning each opening in this way maximizes the understanding of attacking themes and strategies that are the "meat" of most club matches – the middle game.

Even if the reader eventually moves on to the more "grandmasterly" Spanish Game, with all its subtleties and nuances, it will be with a tactical knowledge that will always come in handy.

The author is preparing a Gambit Guide of Black Gambits, soon to be released. I have had it on pre-order for weeks.



 
(Take a look at a sample of The Alterman Gambit Guide White Gambits.)

Distant Cousin, Twice Removed

I don't spend every waking minute on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). For example, the other day I was playing through some games in the very interesting, educational and entertaining The Alterman Gambit Guide by GM. Boris Alterman (whom I've mentioned before).

What especially caught my eye was the chapter on the Cochrane Gambit in the Petroff Defense: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!? – not surprisingly, a line where White sacrifices a piece for two pawns and an attack on Black's displaced King. (Where have we seen that idea before??)

You might think that such an attack would be perfect for a Jerome Gambit player*, and you would be right – at least as far as Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Louis Morin is concerned (he has shown up on this blog numerous times as "mrjoker").

The Alterman Gambit Guide includes an exciting Cochrane Gambit game played by Louis. You can see the game, without most of the notes, at GM Alterman's site. (I've mentioned it before, but now it has made it from the website into the book in expanded form.)

Nice work, mrjoker!

(* At least one who didn't want to try to transpose to the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+, etc.)

Professional driver. Closed course. Do not attempt.

I am thrilled that so many players are trying out the Jerome Gambit and using various Jerome-ish themes in their opening play. That is one way to learn about development, open lines, tempos and an attack on the King. It also can be a lot of fun.

On the other hand, while Bxf7+ can have an unsettling psychological effect upon a defender who is both surprised and unprepared, if the move is not backed up by further, planned action, the sacrifice can prove very dangerous – for the gambiteer.  Thus, the warning in the title of today's  post, which often shows up in small print on television commercials that show cars being driven wildly and with great excitement...

NN - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6

This position can be reached via the Center Game: 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nf6 4.Bc4 Nc6. Cochrane - Staunton, London 1842, continued 5.Qd1 (5.Qe3 is also possible) Bc5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nxe4 8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Bg5 Nxg5 10.Nxg5 Ne5 11.Re1 d6 12.h4 h6 13.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Qxh4+ 15.g3 Qh2+ 16.Ke3 Qxg3+ White resigned.

(For a Cochrane - Staunton - Jerome Gambit intersection, check here.)

My opponent now played a move, then asked to take it back (which I agreed to) and tried something completely different.

5.Bxf7+

Wow!

5...Kxf7 6.Qc4+

This move illustrates White's problem – how to continue the attack?

6...d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Qxd5+ Nxd5

What is the object of playing a gambit opening?...To acquire a reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing a game
Siegbert Tarrasch

9.Nf3 Bc5 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Ne1 Rhe8
 

Here I could have taken advantage of the blocked White Rook by playing 11...Be2, winning the exchange; but I was focusing on getting all my pieces active.

12.Be3 Nxe3 13.fxe3+ Kg8

Castled (by hand) and everything...

14.Rf4 Bxe3+ 15.Rf2 Rf8 White resigned

Italian Game Anti-Fried Liver Defense (Part 1)

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Welton Vaz sends us a Chess.com link to an enjoyable discussion on the play of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 – known on this site as the "Semi-Italian Opening" (after Euwe) – as a way of avoiding the Fried Liver Attack 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7

Although one of the Chess.com posters complained about 3...h6 "I hate when players play this as it is an insult to the Italian" there was no suggestion on the website, either in the discussion or the related 21 games given, that White could return the "insult" of 3...h6 by transposing to the Jerome Gambit with, say, 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+.

Of course Welton sent one of his games where he provided that "insult" – which we will see in "Italian Game Anti-Fried Liver Defense (Part 2)".

By the way, Grandmaster Boris Alterman has a 6-part series on the Fried Liver Attack on his website, along with instruction on a whole list of gambits, including the Danish, Evans, Max Lange and Morra.

I note that Alterman has two books forthcoming, one on gambits with White and one on gambits with Black. Of the first, he writes

The Alterman Gambit Guide: White Gambits is both an opening book and an instructive manual. Sharpen your tactics and learn to play dynamic attacking chess while studying the most entertaining gambits. Lines covered include:Evans Gambit, Panov Attack, Morra Gambit, Philidor, Danish Gambit, Urusov Gambit, Morphy Attack, Cochrane Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Fried Liver Attack and Milner-Barry Gambit

For those who like their liver fried, there is also a book by NM Dan Heisman on The Computer Analyzes the Fried Liver / Lolli.

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

Talk

Wikipedia not only has a listing for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Bxf7+), among many chess openings, (see "Hey, Wiki, it's me, Ricky..."), it also has coverage of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4)

Recently on Wikipedia I stumbled across Talk: Blackburne Shilling Gambit which had the following:

...Another suggestion not mentioned in the article is that after 1.P-K4,P-K4 2.N-KB3,N-QB3 3.B-B4,N-Q5?...I should have thought the most enterprising way of punishing black's loss of tempo is with 4.BxP check!! (eg. ....KXB 5.NxPcheck etc. with ample compensation for the piece and a probably winning attack. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.85.28.67 (talk) 12:52, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Disagree. After 5...Ke7 white has no way to continue the attack or even getting more piece in to contine. Moving the Queen out 6. Qg4 d6 7. Qg5+ Nf6 =+ or 6. Qh5 can be met with Nf6 =+. Black is better and white's 4. Bxf7 is an unsound sacrifice. SunCreator (talk) 15:04, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

If one likes this sort of sacrifice for White (compare the Cochrane Gambit against Petroff's Defense: 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7?!), it seems to me that one ought to play against the Blackburne Shilling Gambit 4.Nxe5!? Qg5 5.Bxf7+! Ke7 6.0-0, which gives White a similar but much improved form of piece sacrifice. In that line, White gets to chase around not only Black's king, but also his knight (c3) and queen (d4) with gain of tempo. Krakatoa (talk) 22:06, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

I like the thoughts contained in the first paragraph, especially "ample compensation for the piece," although "and a probably winning attack" may be over-stating it a bit.

The second paragraph seems to miss White's best play against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 – White should probably play 6.c3 Nc6 7.d4 with an okay game.

Paragraph three suggests 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.0-0 – which, after the natural 6...Qxe5 7.Bxg8 Rxg8 8.c3 Nc6 9.d4 is similar to the line just mentioned. (Geoff Chandler finished off a troubled Stockbridge "NN" in 1983 with 9...Qa5 10.d5 Ne5 11.Qh5 Nf7 12.d6+)