The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game is strange enough to send me on a historical review through the posts of this blog.
MrJoker - Melbourne
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6
Black decides neither to capture the White Knight nor safeguard his King.
I first touched on this move in a post four years ago in "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory!":
Of course, if your opponent springs the "Theoretical Novelty" 5...Ke6 on you, you'll be prepared with 6.Qg4+ Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 Nxd8 (or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Nd2 – a mess, but Black's uncertain King gives White the edge) and although the position is roughly even Black may not recover from "losing" his Queen.
About a year later, 5...Ke6 was no longer a "Theoretical Novelty" as I had a game to comment upon in "Surprise!":
DREWBEAR 63's move [from blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2009 (0-1, 10)] comes as quite a shock – certainly it must have been played before, perhaps in the earliest days of the Jerome Gambit; but there are no games in my database with the move, no analysis, and not even a mention of it.
The game sparked some interest in the line, and I brought it back in an end-of-the year quiz for Readers, specifically "Jerome Gambit Quiz #6". After the above diagram, I challenged:
Black is being creative: he doesn't capture the Knight at e5 and he doesn't wait for White's Queen to chase him to e6, he goes there voluntarily.
What do you think of Black's idea? What are some of the benefits of the line? What are some of the difficulties that it creates?
The answers, of course, came at the end of "Jerome Gambit Quiz #7":
The main advantage of Black's idea (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6) is that it might surprise White and produce a less-than-best response.
The only move that leads to White advantage is the sharp 6.Qg4+.
After 6...Kxe5 (practically forced) 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Black will lose his Queen: 8...Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 but he will have compensation after 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Nc3 Bxa1 13.Bxc7. Black has two pieces and a Rook for a Queen and a pawn, but his King's lack of safety means more, and White has the edge.
This new line will give the defender something tricky to use against the Jerome Gambit. White must be prepared.
[to be continued]
At the end of last month I posted the famous Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4Bxf7+) game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, which had been published in The Newcastle Courant of Saturday, December 3, 1898, with the admonition that Students would do well to commit it to memory, as strong players have a peculiarity of springing the opening upon the unwary.
"Students" who have not chosen to "commit it to memory" but who have, instead, relied on retaining a general idea of Blackburne's plan, have repeatedly learned, however, that often "half a defense is worse than no defense at all."
The newest example is from the ongoing "Play The Jerome Gambit Quad" at Chess.com.
ubluk (1864) - bfcace (1572)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
Black's "generous" counter-offer of material.
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Qxe4
A key move in Blackburne's Defense is 9...Nf6, working on trapping White's Queen. If she escapes, as in this game, Black will regret his counter-sacrifice of a Rook.
10.Qxh7+
Or 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ as in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0,17)
10...Kf8 11.d3
A bit better than 11.Nc3 as in perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 16).
11...Qe6
Previously seen was 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 20).
12.Qxc7 Bb6 13.Qc3 Nf6
Black is down three pawns and the exchange (plus an unsafe King). This should tell as soon as White completes his development.
14.Bh6+ Kf7 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.Rae1 Qf5 17.Ne4 Rh8 18.Nxd6+
A final slip. Black resigned
With one game left to complete in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, and that one largely unbalanced, the final standings can be predicted as follows
AsceticKingK9 27/28
mckenna215 23.5/28
braken 19.5/28
Rikiki00 19.5/28
Knight32 18.5/28
shm19cs 16.5/28
blackburne 15/28
Magni 14/28
Haroldlee123 12/28
DREWBEAR 63 11/28
pixifrufru 9/28
Baron wd von
Blanc, heart pirate 8.5/28
Luke Warm 8/28
klonka59 5/28
martind1991 3/28
As with yesterday's post (see "Imperative"), today's game shows Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) advocate blackburne taking the black pieces and asking his opponent to show what he has gotten out of the "modern" variation. It is imperative that he find something.
Black can bide his time with his extra piece, and blackburne does – until it is time to switch over to attack.
DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.0-0 d6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d3 Bg4
8.Bg5 Nd4 9.Nd5 Rf8 10.h3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Kg8 12.b4 Bb6 13.c3 Ne6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxb6 axb6
White has an open file to work with (the g-file) but Black will be able to oppose there.
16.Kh2 Nf4 17.Rg1+ Kf7 18.Rg3 Rg8 19.Rg4 Qd7
This move does more than link Rooks.
20.Rh4 Rg2+ 21.Kh1 h5 22.Rxf4
Expecting 22...exf4 23.Kxg2 leaving him ahead a pawn.
22...Qxh3 checkmate
The standings of the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
AsceticKingK9 25/26
mckenna215 23.5/28
braken 19.5/28
Knight32 18.5/28
Rikiki00 17.5/26
shm19cs 15.5/27
blackburne 15/28
Magni 12/26
Haroldlee123 11/27
DREWBEAR 63 11/28
pixifrufru 8/27
Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate 7.5/26
Luke Warm 6/26
klonka59 4/24
martind1991 1/15
The Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament that is finishing up at ChessWorld is showing the emergence of new faces –AsceticKingK9 and mckenna215, for example, taking first and second place – to stand alogside Jerome Gambit Gemeinde veterans like blackburne and DREWBEAR63.
It will be worth studying the games of the top two finishers to see what they have added to Jerome Gambit theory (for both Black and White). I hope to have all of the Thematic Tournament games added to The Database by New Year's Day, 2012.
In the meantime, take a look at a rather unusual "Modern Delayed-Classical Jerome Gambit" between New and Old Guard.
AsceticKingK9 - DREWBEAR 63
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.0-0 h5
This is, among many things, a reminder to White that the second player can respond to the Gambit in many ways and still retain a theoretical advantage. DREWBEAR63 has played this move at least twice before.
6.Nxe5+
The most direct response. Also seen have been:
6.c3 d5 7.d3 Bg4 8.Nbd2 h4 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Ng5+ Ke7 11.Qxg4 Nf6 12.Qh3 Raf8 13.c4 Qd4 14.Nb3 Qd6 15.Bd2 Nh5 16.Rae1 Ng3 17.hxg3 hxg3 18.Nh7 gxf2+ 19.Kh1 fxe1Q 20.Rxe1 Qg6 21.Bg5+ Ke8 22.Qc8+ Kf7 23.Rf1+ Kg8 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Qxf8+ Kxh7 26.Qf2 Qh5+ 27.Bh4 Kg8 28.g3 g5 29.Qf5 gxh4 30.Qe6+ Qf7 31.Qg4+ Kf8 32.gxh4 Qf1+ 33.Qg1 Rxh4 checkmate, Crusader Rabbit - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009; and
6.d4 exd4 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.Bf4 Bd6 9.e5 Nxe5 10.Qxd4 Qf6 11.Nc3 c5 12.Qe4 Rb8 13.Nd5 Qg6 14.Qxg6 Nxg6 15.Bxd6+ N6e7 16.Bxb8 Nxd5 17.Bd6+ Ke8 18.Rae1+ Nde7 19.Re5 Rh6 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21.Rfe1 Re6 22.Nxe6 dxe6 23.Rxh5 Kf7 24.Rxc5 b6 25.Rc7 a6 26.Rd1 Kf6 27.Rd8 Kf7 28.Rdxc8 Kf6 29.Rf8+ Black resigned, TWODOGS - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney5 ChessWorld 2010.
6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6
Giving back a piece directly with 7...Bxd4 was simpler and more likely to help Black keep his advantage. Instead, White is allowed to continue winning tempi.
8.dxe5 Bxe5
9.Qd5+ Kf6 10.f4 Kg6 11.fxe5 Qe7
White has open lines against the enemy King, and Black's Queen cannot provide enough protection.
12.Nc3 c6 13.Qd3 Nh6 14.Qg3+
White's position has grown strong enough that he could also offer a piece with 14.Nd5, because of 14...cxd5 15.exd5+ Nf5 16.Qxf5 checkmate.
14...Kh7
Castling-by-hand does not help at this point.
15.Bxh6 Kxh6 16.Rf5 Qe8 17.Qg5+ Kh7 18.Raf1 d5 19.Rf7 Black resigned
As in many Jerome Gambit victories for White, Black's Queenside tells the story, even as his Kingside awaits the checkmate.
The ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament is underway, all 15 competitors and all 210 games!
We are already seeing results (8 completed games so far, 6 wins by White) from AsceticKingK9, mckenna215, Rikiki00, braken, blackburne, DREWBEAR 63, Knight32, Magni, pixifrufru, shm19cs, klonka59, Baron wd von Blanc heart pirate, martind1991, Luke Warm and Haroldlee123.
Many games are in their early stages, others are racing along.
There are a number of examples of the Jerome Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/Ke7) – a relatively rare beast making up only about 9/10th-of-a-percent of the games in The Database – those certainly will expand our understanding of that line.
At least 29% of the games are "classical" Jerome Gambits, with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7+ followed by 5.Nxe5+, which is the highest percentage that I have seen in a recent Jerome Gambit thematic tournament. Some "well established" theory is likely to be stood on its head by the time those games are done!
With about 7 out of 10 games following "modern" (non-5.Nxe5+ lines) there will be plenty of practice to round out the theory of this more tempered approach as well.
Next Sunday I will give further information on the progress of the tournament. When all games have developed far enough for me not to influence their play, I will begin presenting some with annotations.
(By the way, I predict that the tournament winner will score 24 out of 28 points.)
