The Proper Way To Blunder A Piece

I was looking for a short Jerome Gambit game to share with Readers, and stumbled upon an "old colleague" - a line of play that keeps showing up, regardless of expectations.

KAVUA - wojowhiskey
standard, FICS, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+ 

I was surprised to note that this line has been seen in 445 games in The Database. Amazingly, the natural response, 5...Qxg5, was seen in only 318 of those games. 

The first mention of the line on this blog was in "A Closer Look (Part I)" 2008 when I noted that

"The in-your-face 5.Ng5+ was championed by tournament winner Carlos Azcarate (see "Carlos Azcarate Topping Ninja Knights T3") to the tune of one win and four losses."

A year later, when talking about 4 more examples in "Eyeblink Chess: Crash", I wrote

"Relax, readers. This blog, and the support of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde will help you avoid such crashes."

Alas, it was not to be. The following year "Opening Tale" featured bit of a mystery involving a player who wanted to know what to do, after losing to 5.Ng5+ (put forward by one of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde).

"..I'm pretty bad at openings I don't know, and lower rated opponents beat me at these, here's a worst case example:"

Later on in 2010, "Death of A Variation" pointed out that

"DREWBEAR 63's only loss to date in the ongoing Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld came with the White pieces against his primary rival, Daves111, under unclear circumstances." 

[Daves111 finished first in the tournament with 21 points; DREWBEAR 63 tied for second with 17 1/2 points.]

"Theory From the Thematic Tourney (2)" in the same year presented 5 more games with the line, including 2 wins by White

To reinforce my message, I posted "Reinventing the Flat Tire" making it clear that the line was

"Outrageous, even by Jerome Gambit standards. On the surface, White hopes to exchange his Knight for Black's Bishop at c5 – but the game quickly becomes too chaotic for that."

All the games mentioned to date were played online at FICS, but during 2011, in "Relayed Deaction" I was able to post an over-the-board example of the line from the Nana Alexandria Cup, Poti, Georgia, 2009.

I posted my first PSA later, "Public Service Announcement" with 5 games.

In 2012, I pointed out that "A Mention Is Not An Endorsement".

Even as recently as this year, in "Truth Is Stranger Than - Whatever" I opined

"This move seems to throw away a piece. I much prefer that White throw away a piece, instead, with 5.Nxe5. Even the Jerome Gambit has its limits."

6.d4

This is White's "plan"...

6...Bxd4 7.Bxg5 Black resigned.

...And it worked to perfection.

Of course, it would only be fair to point out that Black's alternative, 6...Qxg2, wins crushingly.

Mysterious Ending

In the following key game, between the tournament's second place finisher and the champion, Black's slip allowed White to equalize in a 5.c3 Jerome Gambit - only to see the favor returned at the end. 


CheckmateKingTwo - Daves111
ChessWorld, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.c3 d5 6.d4 

This is a more energetic reply to 5...d5.

6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 dxe4 

Black stays active, not bothered by his King's supposedly exposed position.

9.Ng5+ Kf8 10.Be3 Bf5 11.d5 

A bit better might be 11.0-0.

11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 

Black is doing very well, but for some reason he now decides to return a piece, pretty much leveling the game.

12...Nf6 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.f3 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 exf3 

In this tricky position, if White now castles (pinning the Black f-pawn), he keeps things in balance.

16.Nxf3 Re8 

This is the problem with White's 16th move.

17.Kd2 Ne4+ 18.Kc1 Nxc3 19.Bc5+ Kf7 Black won on time, in a somewhat better position (if he can make something out of his two isolated, passed c-pawns).

Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") is organizing another Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld (Tournament #175671 named: Jerome Gambit 6).

In the past, these ChessWorld thematics have been a great place for Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) supporters and skeptics to try out their ideas. Many interesting games have been generated as practice and theory have taken steps forward.

I plan on presenting some of the top games here, as they are completed.

Here are just a few glimpses back at earlier tournaments:

"Daves111 Tops ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic"


"Final: JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009"


"Carlos Azcarate Wins Tourney"


"Overrated!"


"Rail2Rail Nails It"


"Jerome Gambit Tournaments"

Why not stop by ChessWorld? If you are a member there, why not join in the mayhem of the Thematic?

Daves111 Tops ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic

Dominating the field like What's-His-Name in the picture on the left, Daves111 left his twelve opponents in the dust as he stormed to the top in the just-completed (or "just about" completed: the remaining game is a mate-in-two) double round robin ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.

Daves111 scored 21 points out of 24 games, taking 10 out of 12 points available with the White pieces and 11 out of 12 points with the Black pieces.

He was followed by CheckmateKingTwo and Jerome Gambit veteran DREWBEAR 63, each with 17.5 points. My guess is that the tie break will go to CheckmateKingTwo, as he beat DREWBEAR 63 in their two games.

In fourth place, with 16 out of 24 points, was blackburne, the tournament organizer and long-time member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.

TWODOGS and Crusader Rabbit achieved plus scores, with 13.5 and 13 points respectively.

shm19cs broke even with 12 points and eddie43 just missed that mark with 11.5 points.

There followed LukeWarm with 10 points, stampyshortlegs with 9 points, calchess10 with 8 points and Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate with 7 points. anbeks finished with 0 points.

The top scorers with the Jerome Gambit were Daves111 (10 points), CheckmateKingTwo (8.5) and DREWBEAR 63 (7.5).

The top scorers against the Jerome Gambit were Daves111 (11 points), DREWBEAR 63 (10 points) and CheckmateKingTwo (9 points).

The greatest upset was calchess10 winning a game against an opponent with a rating 350 points higher.

The Jerome Gambit itself scored 46%, which is consistent with how well it has done in past thematic tournaments.

Closing the Door

Thanks to a difficult loss for CheckmateKingTwo to eddie43, Daves111 was able to close the door on the one remaining rival for first place in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.

A dozen games remain unfinished in the 156-game tournament.

Daves111 leads with 21 points out of 24 games and cannot now be caught.

Second place remains a battle between DREWBEAR 63 with 17.5 points out of 22 games and CheckmateKingTwo with 12 points out of 16 games.

Next are blackburne with 15 points out of 23 games and TWODOGS with 13.5 points out of 21 games.

Theory From the Thematic Tourney (3)

One problem with a refuted opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is that it is refuted... That means that there are lines that Black can play that lead to equality – or more. In some of those lines White can complicate things and hope to take advantage of the confusion. In other lines it is not so easy for White to "find something".

Luke Warm - Daves111
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament,
ChessWorld, 2010

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 dxe5

This defense, a favorite of computer chess programs, gives back a piece to drain the dynamism out of the position.

In the gruelling "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down" matches between human RevvedUp (a pseudonym) and Hiarcs 8, Shredder 8, Yace Paderborn, Crafty 19.19 and Fritz 8, the flesh-and-blood player twice scored draws with Black from this position against opponents rated 1,000 points higher than him. 

The updated New Year's Database shows that White has tried 9.b4, 9.c3, 9.d3, 9.d4, 9.Nc3, 9.Rf1, 9.Qe2, 9.Qf5+, 9.Qg4+ and 9.Qh3+.

In the current game, Luke Warm decides to try a Queenless middlegame, but he finds nothing but trouble.

9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qf3 Qh4+ 11.g3 Qg4 12.Qxg4 Bxg4

13.Nc3 Rf8 14.d3 Bh3 15.Bd2 Bg2 16.Ke2 Bf3+ 17.Ke1 Bxh1 18.Ke2 Rf2+ 19.Ke1 Rxh2

20.Nb5+ Kd7 21.b4 Bf2+ 22.Kd1 Bxg3 23.c3 Bf3+ 24.Kc2 Nf6 25.a4 a6 26.Na3 Bf4 27.Rd1 Bxd1+ 28.Kxd1 Rxd2+ 29.Ke1 Black resigned

Theory From the Thematic Tourney (2)

Looking further at some of the theoretical implications of the ChessWorld Thematic Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Tournament, I was sure that the 5.Ng5+ line of the Jerome Gambit (after 4...Kxf7) had been finally disposed of by the game DREWBEAR 63 - Daves111 (see "Death of a Variaton").  

A quick glance at the updated New Year's Database, however, shows that this is not so: there are five games that have appeared after my "concluding" post on the topic, including two wins with White by digitalthunder, against (slightly) higher rated opponents:

digitalthunder - funkonfusion
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Qxg5 6.0-0 d6 7.d4 Nxd4 8.Bxg5 Black resigned




digitalthunder - kakaStain
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Ke7 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.d4 exd4 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qe2 d3 10.Qxe4 Kf7 11.Ng5+ Kf8 12.Qd5 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 dxc2 14.Qf7 checkmate

What can I say??

Never say Never...

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Theory From the Thematic Tourney (1)

The Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld is only about 80% complete, but it is already possible to start drawing some conclusions about what it has to say about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) play and theory.

For starters, as is usually the case, the Bishop sacrifice was accepted (4...Kxf7) in 155 of the 156 games being played. 

The "modern" variations of the Jerome (those not including 5.Nxe5+) remain far more popular than "classical" variations, making up 78% of the games. In fact, the "classical" lines were tried by only four of the thirteen players: blackburne (12 games),  stampyshortlegs (12 games), Luke Warm (9 games) and anbeks (2 games).

The likely tournament winner, Daves111, showed that success depended upon beating the Jerome Gambit (he won 11 games out of 12 with the Black pieces) as well as being successful with it (he won 10 games out of 12 with the White pieces). Daves111 played 5.d3 (seven times), 5.0-0 (twice), 5.Nc3 (twice) and 5.Qe2 (once).

As is consistent with "modern" play of the Jerome Gambit, with the White pieces Daves111 did not force play along thematic lines as much as he developed consistently, played carefully, and waited to take advantage of his opponents' errors – a good strategy in any game situation, especially when you are the top-rated player.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Tortise vs Hare

The finish of the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament is a bit of a "tortise vs hare" race.

Daves111, playing the role of the hare, raced out to the lead with a score of 21 points out of 24 games and has finished play (the only player to do so to date).

Of the remaining field, only CheckmateKingTwo, with 7 points in 9 games (and 15 games remaining to be completed, the most of any competitor), has a chance of overtaking him.

Interestingly, CheckmateKingTwo's only two losses have been to Daves111 – on time.

King Daves111 ?

The Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament taking place at Chess.com looks like it is close to crowning its winner.

Daves111 leads with 21 points, having finished all 24 of his games.

If TWODOGS, at 8 points from 11 games, wins all of his remaining games (13) he could catch Daves111 and tie for first.

Of course, if dark horse CheckmateKingTwo, at 2 points from 4 games, wins his final 20 games, he could leapfrog over both Daves111 and TWODOGs...

Not in the battle for top honors, but fighting for second place, are DREWBEAR (17 points out of 21 games) and stampyshortlegs (9 points out of 16 games).

Blackburne (12 points out of 21 games) and Crusader Rabbit (10 points out of 18 games) are on their heels.

The Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee File

When playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), White must always be aware of danger along the e-file, if his King sits there with a piece in front of him.

eddie43 - Daves11
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.c3

One of the "modern" Jerome Gambit variations.

5...d5 6.Qc2

An interesting idea.

6...dxe4 7.Qxe4 Nf6

8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qe2

Unfortunately 9.Qxe5, recovering the piece, falls to the pin 9...Re8.

9...Nd3+ 10.Kf1

Moving the King to d1 might be technically "better" but Black still has 10...Re8 11.Qf1 (11.Qf3 allows the pin 11...Bg4) Nxf2+ 12.Kc2 Bf5+ 13.Kb3 Bd3 and the Queen (and then the King) will expire in the crossfire.

10...Re8 11.Qd1 Qe7 12.g3 Bh3+ White resigned

To Catch A Front-Runner

Daves111 continues to lead the Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament (with a record of 18 wins out of 21 games, with 3 to complete) at ChessWorld, although recently he suffered a couple of losses (followed by a rebounding win).

How do you catch a front-runner?

You stay alert and look for your chances, even in a difficult position.

This is Crusader Rabbit - Daves111. Black has a Rook more, and can look ahead to a comfortable win.

However, Daves111 – perhaps momentarily looking ahead – played 22...Qd8, and saw 23.Qxg7 checkmate pop up in front of him. Ouch! 

This is Daves111 - TWODOGS. Despite even material, White actually has a difficult position.

The first player moved 28.Rd7, putting pressure on g7 and the Black King – and then resigned, as 28...Rf1 is checkmate. 

(For the record, this is the 800th straight daily post without interruption. Who'd a' thunk it?)

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Tournament Numbers

In the current Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld, Daves111 continues to lead the pack with 17 wins out of 18 games, with 6 more games to finish.

In second place is DREWBEAR 63 with 14 wins in 16 games, followed by blackburne with 12 wins in 19 games.

Off the pace, but only because they have completed fewer games, are stampyshortlegs at 7 wins in 10 games and Crusader Rabbit with 6 wins in 10 games.

TWODOGS, at 4 wins in 4 games, and CheckmateKingTwo, with 2 wins in 2 games, continue as dark horses.

So far in this tournament the Jerome Gambit has scored 40% in 89 completed games.

This can be compared with data drawn from the updated New Year's Database, where 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ has scored 44% in 5,628 games. For the record, in the same database the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+, has scored 56% in 2,472 games; and the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 and 5.Bxf7+ has scored 57% in 3,106 games. 

Death of a Variation

DREWBEAR 63's only loss to date in the ongoing Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld came with the White pieces against his primary rival, Daves111, under unclear circumstances.

DREWBEAR 63 - Daves111
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+

Outrageous, even by Jerome Gambit standards. On the surface, White hopes to exchange his Knight for Black's Bishop at c5 – but the game quickly becomes too chaotic for that.

I was astonished to find 254 games with this move in the updated New Year's Database. White scored 21%, which seems fortunate for the first player, to me.

The earliest examples that I have of the line are a quartet of losses by TlFoZl in play at FICS in 1999, but I am sure the idea has been tried previously. (It is fun to report that when Carlos Azcarate won the 2008 Ninja Knights T3 Jerome Gambit Tournament at ChessWorld, with 19 wins and 5 losses, he did so with the "help" of the 5.Ng5 variation, scoring 1 win and 4 losses.)

What was DREWBEAR 63 thinking? Did he expect to bamboozle his opponent at the outset?

Perhaps he simply mis-played the move. In three other games in the current tournament DREWBEAR 63 played the "Wright attack" (named after the game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, USA, 1874, scoring 37% in the New Year's Database) with 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ and scored 3 wins.

5...Qxg5 6.d4

The "point" of the variation. Sadly, White's best, instead, was 6.0-0, with one pawn as compensation for two pieces sacrificed.

6...Qxg2 7.Rf1 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nxd4+ 10.Kd1 d6 11.f3 Bh3

White resigned.

This game bears no resemblance to the rest of DREWBEAR 63's play in the tournament!

A Blistering Pace

As the current Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld nears the half-way point (in terms of games completed) the race for first place continues to be red hot.

Top-rated player Daves111 has scored 17 wins in 18 games, with only 6 more for him to complete. 

He is followed by long-time Jerome Gambit tournament player DREWBEAR 63 who has 11 wins in 12 games.

Not surprisingly, Daves111's only loss is to DREWBEAR 63, and DREWBEAR 63's only loss is to DAVES111.

In third place is blackburne with 10 wins in 16 games.

It is interesting to note that not all of the players have been completing their games so quickly (in fact, the thoughtful CheckmateKingTwo has completed none yet). TWODOGS has 2 wins in 2 games, with 22 left to complete.

Certainly Crusader Rabbit, with 5 wins in 7 games, and stampyshortlegs, with 4 wins in 7 games, can keep in contention by winning and winning some more.

Of the 71 finished games, White has won 28, and Black 43 (with 0 draws), giving the Jerome Gambit a 39% score, somewhat lower than usual for a thematic tournament. But – there is plenty of play left!

They're Off!!

The Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld has started – with a bang. The thirteen-player, double round robin, has seen top-rated Daves111 quickly complete more than half of his games, with 12 wins in 13 games!

Behind him is long-time Gemeinde member blackburne, with 6 points out of 9 games.

Of the 156 games being played, all but one have followed 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ with 4...Kxf7.

Players are again showing their preference for modern Jerome Gambit lines, as in only 22% of the games has White followed up his Bishop sacrifice with the classical Knight sacrifice, 5.Nxe5+.

Further coverage and games will follow, as available.