Echoes of the Jerome Gambit

Even when I can not play the Jerome Gambit, I can sometimes find echoes of it in the play of the game.

perrypawnpusher - TheAlbatros 
5 12 blitz FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6 

Wow. That certainly is one way of saying "No. Jerome. Gambit." I mentioned the move on this blog about 5 years ago. Recently, I was astonished to find that the online ChessBase database has 330 games with this position.

The oldest example of the line that I could find, at the online ChessCube site, is Frazer - Taubenhaus, Paris, 1888: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6 4.d4 Bd6 5.Bg5 f6 6.Bxh6 gxh6 7.Nxe5 fxe5 8.Qh5+ Kf8 9.Qf7 checkmate. Echoes, here, of Damiano's Defense.

The most recent example I turned up is Heverson Silva Pereira - Erika Figuei Toledo Martins, Juiz de Fora op Juiz de Fora (3), 27.09.2014: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6 4.d3 g5 5.Bxg5 f6 6.Be3 b6 7.Qd2 Rg8 8.Bxh6 Bxh6 9.Qxh6 d6 10.Bxg8 Ne7 11.Qxh7 Nxg8 12.Qxg8+ Ke7 13.Qg7+ Ke8 14.Nc3 Bd7 15.Nd5 Rc8 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.Qxf6 Rd8 18.Ng5 b5 19.Qf7 checkmate. Odd.

4.d4

I was not surprised to see that Bill Wall had faced the line before:

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Nxf7 6.d3 0-0 7.Nc3 Nd4 (7...d6 8.Nd2 Nh6 9.Nb3 Bg4 10.Qd2 Qh4 11.Nxc5 dxc5 12.f3 Be6 13.b3 Qf6 14.Rb1 a5 15.a3 Qg6 16.Rb2 Ra6 17.Qe3 Bh3 18.Rf2 Ne7 19.Kh1 Raf6 20.gxh3 Qh5 21.Qg5 g6 22.Qxh6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Chair, Chess.com 2010) 8.Na4 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Bd4 10.c3 Bb6 11.Qg3 d5 12.b3 dxe4 13.dxe4 Ba5 14.Ba3 Re8 15.Rad1 Qe7 16.Bxe7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Jag, Chess.com 2010; 

4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxh6 gxh6 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nc3 Qf6 8.Nd5 Qd6 9.Nh4 b6 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.Nf5 Qg6 12.Nxc7+ Kd8 13.Nxa8 Bb7 14.Nxb6 Bxb6 15.0-0-0 d5 16.d4 Bxd4 17.exd5 Bxb2+ 18.Kxb2 Nd4 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Qf4 Qb6+ 21.Ka1 Kd7 22.Rb1 Qa6 23.Qg4+ Kd6 24.Qe6+ Kc5 25.Qe7+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Alexaantic, Chess.com, 2010.

4...exd4

My one game with the line continued 4...Nxd4 5.Nxe5 Qf6 6.Qxd4 d6 7.Nf3 Qxd4 8.Nxd4 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Nxe6 Kd7 11.Nxf8+ Rhxf8 12.Nc3 c6 13.Be3 Ng4 14.0-0 h5 15.Bg5 b5 16.Rad1 a5 17.f3 Ne5 18.f4 Nc4 19.f5 Nxb2 20.Rd4 b4 21.Nd1 c5 22.Rd5 Nc4 23.Ne3 Nxe3 24.Bxe3 a4 25.Bxc5 Ra6 26.Rfd1 Kc8 27.Rxd6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 Re8 29.Rd4 h4 30.Bxb4 Rg8 31.Ba3 g6 32.fxg6 Rxg6 33.Rxa4 h3 34.g3 Rc6 35.Ra8+ Kb7 36.Rh8 Ra6 37.Bb4 Rxa2 38.Rxh3 Rxc2 39.e5 Rb2 40.Bd6 Kc6 41.g4 Rb1+ 42.Kg2 Rb2+ 43.Kg3 Rb3+ 44.Kh4 Rb7 45.g5 Rh7+ 46.Kg4 Kd5 47.Rxh7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Xasquete, blitz, FICS, 2009.

Black does not have to take White's d-pawn. For example, 4...Bd6 5.Bg5 f6 6.Bxh6 gxh6 7.Nxe5 fxe5. 8.Qh5+ Kf8 9.Qf7 checkmate, from Wall,B - Kerazag, Internet 1996 (and Frazer - Taubenhaus, Paris, 1888)

5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Nxc6 bxc6

The two "Italian Bishops" give an echo of the Jerome Gambit - if only that Knight were not on h6...

7.Bxh6 gxh6

Interestingly enough, Black has a better defense in 7...Qh4!? with his own threat of checkmate. White can keep an edge with 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Kg6 10.Bf4.

8.Bxf7+

This is an improvement over 8.Qh5 of  Patrick Gregoire - Gauthier Lille, Loire-ch op 2005, which continued  Qf6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Qxc5 Qxb2 11.Nc3 d6 12.Qd4 d5 13.Qxh8+ Ke7 14.Nxd5+ cxd5 15.Qxb2 Bc8 16.Bxd5 Bb7 17.Qxb7 Rd8 18.Qxc7+ Rd7 19.Qe5+ Kd8 20.Rab1 Kc8 21.Rb8 checkmate

8...Kxf7 9.Qh5+ Kg7 10.Qxc5 

Down a pawn, with an exposed King, my opponent resigned a few moves later.

The Montgomery Major Attack and Friends

I received an email the other day concerning Montgomery Major, whose name is attached to a gambit - the "Montgomery Major Attack" - that was touched upon in this blog about 4 1/2 years ago.

The line develops out of the Tennison Gambit, going 1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+. 

Of course, my interest was the way in which the opening showed certain Jerome Gambit (J. H. Blackburne might have said "Kentucky Opening") tendencies - although the piece sacrificed was a Knight, not a Bishop.

Much to my surprise, other than a half dozen bullet (1 minute, 0 increment) games at lichess.org, I have found only one example of the opening.

Watts,J (1835) - Zeidler,S (2235)
West Wales op Swansea, 1999

1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxe5 Nf6 7.Bc4+ Kg7 8.d4 Nc6 9.Qg5 h6 10.Qg3 Nxd4 11.0-0 b5 12.Rd1 bxc4 13.Rxd4 Qxd4 14.Qxc7+ White Resigned

This, in turn, reminded me of the Damiano Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6, which can continue 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+. 

The Damiano came up in a couple of my games while I was attempting to reach a Jerome Gambit - starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f6. These were examined in "A Jerome Gambit Declined" and "Frustration is the Grandmother of Invention".

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

Although he finished in the top half of the standings, with a plus score, long time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") – still, to the best of my knowledge, the top-rated modern player to venture the Jerome Gambit in serious over-the-board games, risking his rating (and the ribbing of his mates) – did not seem, in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, to be at the top of his game.

Perhaps he was playing this one for fun, which would explain his sometimes "casual" approach to an opening which, for all of its off-beat style, still has a certain amount of "theory" to acknowledge.

The title of this post comes from signs placed at some retail establishements, suggesting that people who have taken a casual approach to attire need not enter.

In the following game, however, blackburne got seriously served.

blackburne - shm19cs
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.f4

A theoretical novelty (TN), but there is no need to add insult to injury and name it after the player of the White pieces, especially as there is already a Banks Variation in the Jerome.

6...Nxe5

Black immediately puts his finger on the problem with White's move.

7.fxe5 Qh4+

The game resembles a reversed Damiano Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+), although in this case it is the defending side that had sacrificed a piece.

8.g3 Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxh1+ 10.Qf1+ Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d6

12.exd6 cxd6 13.c3 Bh3+ 14.Ke2 Nf6 15.d4 Re8+ 16.Kd3 Bb6 17.Bg5 Bf5+ 18.Kd2 Ne4+

The final indignity. White resigned.

"...as long as they spell your name right..." redux

A short excerpt from the ever-informative and very readable Chicago Chess Blog reminds me of that famous comment from a contemporary of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, P.T. Barnum, that “there’s no such thing as bad press, as long as they spell your name right.” Wow! Such company! 

Apart from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+?? Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) and the Chicago Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5??), the weakest opening that has a generally accepted name may be Damiano's Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?).

Housekeeping...

Now that the number of posts to this blog has passed 1,000 and its age races toward three years, I know that sometimes past items will be overlooked and not linked to current ones.

For example, in "Barely Legal" where I shared my Philidor Defense game that ended in a variation of Legal's Mate

I should have mentioned that in "Declining the Jerome Gambit - Légally" I presented a Damiano Defense game (by transposition) that also ended up in Légall's Mate

Oh, they're the almost the exact same position, you say? How could I have included one and overlooked the other?

It looks like my blog's "search" function could use a built-in "spell check" function to help me out... 

p.s. Another recent Légal, played since the above was written, from my short visit to ICC: AlonzoJerome - Osmin, ICC 5 5, 2011, # 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.d3 Nd4 7.Nxe5 Bxd1 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Nd5 checkmate

 

Busch-Gass Pass

As much as I like surprising my opponents with unusual openings like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – that's how much I dislike being surprised by my opponents.

The following game is also about having a "Plan B" for when you can't follow "Plan A".

perrypawnpusher  - vladchess
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5

My opponent offers to play the Busch-Gass Gambit  (see "Worth a Second Look... Part 1", "Part 2" and "Part 3"), an opening with a number of Jerome-ish characteristics.

The idea is that if White now plays 3.Nxe5, Black can follow with 3...Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ with mischief ahead.

3.Bc4

I decided to "pass" on the pawn offer.

Maybe Black will relent and play 3...Nc6, allowing me to play the Jerome Gambit after all?

3...f6

This is an awkward transposition to a variation of the Damiano Defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6, suggesting that my opponent was not prepared for me to decline his gambit.

Better were 2...Nc6, 2..d6 or 2...Qe7.

4.Nxe5

As in play against the regular Damiano setup.

4...d6

Another surprise.

Black probably would have done best by staying within Damiano lines as well: 4...Qe7.

analysis diagram






Because Black's Bishop will be hanging on c5 – as opposed to being safe at f8, as in the original Damiano Defense – White can now play out his Queen with 5.Qh5+, as after 5...g6 6.Nxg6 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Black's Damiano-ish 7...Qxg6 could be met with 8.Qxc5.

analysis diagram






Black can desperado that Bishop with 7...Bxf2+ (instead of 7...Qxg6), but after 8.Kxf2 Qxg6 9.Qc5 White will have several advantages that will only grow over the next few moves: King safety, development, the usefulness of the two Bishops.

analysis diagram







5.Qh5+ g6

6.Nxg6 Kd7

The alternative, 6...hxg6 7.Qxh8+ followed by capturing the Knight on g8 is not attractive, either.

7.Nxh8 Qe7 8.Qf7

Stifling any thought of counter-play.

8...Nc6 9.Be6+ Kd8 10.Qxg8+ Black resigned

After 10...Qe8 I planned to quiet things down with exchanges after 11.Nf7+ Ke7 12.Qxe8+ Kxe8 13.Bxc8 Rxc8 14.Nh6, remaining up a Knight, a Rook and two pawns.

The Salvio Gambit??

I was visiting Chess.com the other day, and noticed in the Forum section that one poster had mentioned the Salvio Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.

Another poster had chimed in:

The "Salvio Gambit" is more commonly known as the Jerome Gambit, is most likely better than the Chicago [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 Nxe5] and the Halloween or Leipzig Gambit (In the 4 Knights) [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nxe5 Nxe5]. White only ends up losing 1 pawn, and Black's king is very uncomfortable, and Black can get blown off the board if he fails to proceed in an accurate manner.

Of course, I was flabbergasted.

Didn't Salvio live two centuries before Alonzo Wheeler Jerome? This was like finding paintings of the Jerome Gambit on a cave wall!

I sent an inquiry to both posters, and soon received a response from one of them who had seen the 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ line with the name "Salvio Gambit" in an old book by Golombek. He didn't mention the title.

Unfortunately – for my research – according to Harry Golombek's obituary in The New York Times, he wrote 38 books.

The poster also noted "In this case, the Jerome Gambit, is completely unsound, and only can work against weak players" – which I found reassuring.

I slipped off to the library where I also discovered Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess (1977) which had this entry

Salvio, Alessandro (1570 – 1640) The dates of Salvio's birth and death are approximate. It is known that he was in his middle twenties when he defeated Paolo Boi who was by then already an old man. He and the Calabrian, Greco, were the chief theorists and writers on chess in Italy in the early seventeenth century. In this they differed markedly from their predecessors, Leonardo and Boi, who were practicing players but committed nothing to paper.

Salvio wrote three work: a treatise on the game, Trattato dell'inventione et arte liberale del gioco degli scacchi, published in Naples in 1604 and dedicated to his patron, Fulvio di Costanzo, Marquis of Corleto; a curious trajedy in verse on chess La Scaccaide, 1612; and in 1634 a life of Leonardo, Il Puttino, altramente detto il cavaliere errante, to which he attached his Trattoto.

Salvio made Naples the Italian centre for chess and he also created a "chess academy" that used to meet regulalrly in the house of another chess enthusiast, Judge Rovito.

As a player he was noted for his resource and brilliancy. As a writer he was largely responsible for the popularity of some variations of the King's Gambit, one of which was to be known later as the Muzio and another that bore his name, the Salvio Gambit (1.P-K4, P-K4; 2.P-KB4, PxP; 3.N-KB3, P-KN4; 4.B-B4, P-N5; 5.N-K5). these lines he owed to his predecessors but it was his analyses and his writing that popularized them.

Feeling lucky, I went to Google Books and did a search on "Salvio", only to discover a massive title:

The Works of Damiano, Ruy-Lopez and Salvio, on the Game of Chess;Translated and Arranged: with Remarks, Observations and Copious Notes on the Games. Containing, also, Several Original Games and Situations, by the Editor, To Which Are Added The Elements of the Art of Playing without seeing the Board. By J. H. Sarratt, 1813

Fantastic!

I quickly found the section I was looking for:

AN OPENING, Denominated by SALVIO, and by all Italian Players, Giuoco Piano; that Name being given to all Openings in which no Pawn is sacrificed for the sake of an attacking position, and in which the K. Kt. and the K. B. are played immediately after the K. Pawn.

Now we were getting somewhere!