More Updating

Following "Checking Back", it is time to use a recent Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit game to look at one of its more exciting variations.

 

pigsfeet - jantonacci
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxd4

Black's King has gone far afield to grab extra material. Why did he do that? Some chess players see the board as an all-you-can-eat buffet, and chow down on everything. Others might compare development, White vs Black, and as the first player has no pieces developed compared to the second player's one (the King) what appears to be the problem?

Safer was heading for home with 7...Ke6 as in richiehill - RVLY, FICS, 2009 (1-0,24).

8.d3

This is the recommended move, although White has also played 8.b3 (8.b4 is a variant) in jonyfin - jantonacci, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 16).

For 8.Nc3, see perrypawnpusher - PunisherABD, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0,14) and billwall - apollyon2010, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0,12).

DragonTail scored quickly with 8.Qc2 Qg5 9.Qc3+ Kxe4 10.0-0 Bd6 11.d3+ Kf5 12.Bxg5 Kxg5 13.Qxg7+ Black resigned, DragonTail - tcharge, FICS, 2009.

8.Qa4+ is an interesting idea which will be covered in a later post. 

8...Bb4+

Retreats such as 8...Ke5 in perrypawnpusher - PunisherABD, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 27) and 8...Nf6 9.Be3+ Ke5 from perrypawnpusher - RVLY, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 26) have been seen.

Best for Black seems to be 8...Kc5 with only a slight disadvantage.

9.Nc3

Playable also is 9.Kf1!? or 9.Ke2!? although the text is natural and even allows Black further gluttony, if he wishes.

9...d5

"Luft!" says the Queen.

Also played has been 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3+ when taking the c-pawn is fatal after 10...Kxc3 11.Qb3+ (The Database does not have any examples, but Edisce - nkm, FICS, 2005 came close with 11.0-0 Qf6 12.Be3 Kb4 13.Rb1+ Ka5 14.Qb3 c5 15.Qa3 checkmate).

perrypawnpusher-AdamRou, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28) saw 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3+ Ke5 11.Qh5+ Ke6. 

10.Be3+

Again, a very reasonable move, although White may try to weave a mating net by putting his Queen on b3 and his Bishop on f4. Black might give up his Bishop to buy White off.

10...Ke5 11.Qh5+

The Queen must commit herself, as the enemy monarch is making his escape.

11...Kf6

Rybka 3 recommends 11...Kd6, when, if Black can survive the scary, pawnful middlegame, he can then take a few swipes at White and enter an endgame, down a pawn and the exchange: 12.Qxd5+ Ke7 13.Qg5+ Nf6 14.Qxg7+ Ke6 15.f4 Rg8 16.f5+ Kd6 17.Qf7 Bxc3+ 18.bxc3 b6 19.Bd4 Kc6 20.Qc4+ Kb7 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Qxg8 Qxc3+ 23.Ke2 Qc2+ 24.Ke3 Qc5+ 25.Kf3 Bxf5 26.Qc4 Qxc4 27.dxc4 Be6.

analysis diagram





In the game, Black gives up his Queen, and then his King.

12.Bg5+ Ke6 13.Bxd8 d4 14.Qd5 checkmate

Still King of the Hill

About a year ago (see "King of the Hill") I took a look into The Database to see which player had the most games in there – Jerome Gambits, Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambits, Semi-Italian Jerome Gambits, etc.

The leader, by far, was DragonTail.

This year, as my total approached 350 games, I see that I am only about 35 games behind Darrenshome. I would need about 200 more games to catch yorgos, though.

kingmaple has not added a lot of games, but I would still need about 270 more games to catch him.

Of course, the past, present, and future King of the Hill, DragonTail, is over 1,000 games ahead of me!

(He would be even further ahead, if the database contained 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Bxf7+ games, too.)

Ouch Chess

The Database has over 1,350 games by DragonTail. It would have even more if it included games where Black played ...Be7 instead of ...Bc5.

DragonTail - REDEF
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Bxf7+

Why even wait for Black to play ...Bc5?

4...Kxf7 5.d4 d6 6.dxe5 Nxe5

Played without much consideration. The Black d-pawn is pinned.

7.Nxe5+ Ke8 8.Qh5+ Black resigned

Ouch!

Incomplete

The following game allows me to point out that my assessment of a line in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit has been incomplete. Quick! Let me add a bit more.

COMTIBoy - erickking
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

As I've written before

Seen most often is 5...Ke8, and after 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6, best play for both sides is 7...hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+, when Black can go for the draw-by-repetition with 9...Ke8; or go for an unbalanced (but largely equal) position as acirce suggested above with 9...Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4 when White has four pawns for a piece and it is unclear if Black has an open King or open lines for development.

This doesn't address the question, though, What if White wants more than a draw?

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Ke8 10.Qe5+

Instead of repeating checks White decides to pick up the Knight at d4, going on his own for an "unbalanced (but largely equal) position."

10...Ne6

This move tilts the game in White's favor.

Stronger was10...Qe7, daring White to take the Rook: 11.Qxh8 Qxe4+ White resigned, avoiding checkmate, in jatapia - RVLY, FICS, 2008.

After the more sensible 11.Qxd4, Black has played 11...Rh6, GOH - Jorma, FICS, 2005 (1-0, 43); 11...Rh4, keeswillem - focus13, GameKnot, 2006 (0-1, 29); 11...Nf6, dic - zoranb, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 25); and 11...Bg7, GOH - boggus, FICS, 2005 (1-0, 28) and  perrypawnpusher - adamzzzz, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 39).

11.Qxh8

White has a Rook and four pawns for two pieces, and a safer King.

11...Qg5

This is an obvious improvement over the knee-jerk 11...Qf6  of Dragon Tail - Blitzcraig, FICS, 2008: 12.Qh5+ (12.Qxg8 was okay, too) Kd8 13.d3 Nd4 14.Bg5 Nxc2+ 15.Kd1 d6 16.Bxf6+ Nxf6 17.Qf7 Nxa1 18.Qxf8+ Kd7 19.Qxf6 Kc6 20.Na3 Black resigned, DragonTail - Blitzcraig, FICS, 2008.

12.0-0 Nf6

Stronger was the more direct 12...Nf4, when Black out-played his opponent: 13.g3 d6 14.d4 Ne2+ 15.Kh1 Nxc1 16.Nc3 Bg4 17.Raxc1 Bf3+ 18.Kg1 Kd7 19.Qh4 Qxh4 20.gxh4 Bh6 21.Rce1 Bd2 22.Rb1 Nf6 23.e5 Rg8 checkmate, Raju - risbo, FICS, 2002.

13.d4 Qg6 14.Nc3 d6 15.f4 Nxe4

A slip that costs a piece and the game.

16.f5 Qg7 17.Qh5+ Ke7 18.Nxe4 Qxd4+ 19.Nf2 Nd8 20.Re1+ Kd7 21.Qe8 checkmate

Why must he lose to this idiot?

Not every chess player wakes up and says to himself (or herself) "I think I'll destroy a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) today!" In fact, not many chess players even know what the Jerome Gambit is – so, it can be a puzzlement to not only be playing against it, but to find yourself losing against it...

perrypawnpusher  - Kovrad
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

In our first attempt at a game, my opponent disconnected here, and FICS aborted the game. This was probably all beyond Kovrad's control, as he has this explanatory message posted at FICS "Please note that at times I can have a very bad internet connection. Therefore don't be surprised when I 'disconnect'. I will always try to come back and finish the game (though sometimes it's impossible). If my position is lost I will resign. Sorry for inconvenience."

Fair enough.

So I signed on again and challenged Kovrad again.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

I found a couple of other games with my opponent defending against the Jerome Gambit:

5.d4 Bxd4 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.c3 h6 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxg6+ Black resigned, DragonTail - Kovrad, FICS, 2009; and 
5.0–0 d6 6.c3 Ke8 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Ng5 Bxd4 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qf3 Bf6 12.h4 Ne5 13.Qb3 Qe7 14.Nc3 c6 15.Bf4 h6 16.Bxe5 hxg5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.hxg5 Qxg5 19.e5 Qh4 20.exd6 Qh1 checkmate, sebya - Kovrad, FICS, 2008.

6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 N8e7

Not as popular as 9...Nf6, but very clear: Black wants play on the f-file.

10.0-0 Rf8

Provocative was 10...Be6, as in 11.f4 d5 12.f5 d4 13.Qg3 Bc4 14.d3 Bxd3 15.cxd3 Nf8 16.Qxg7 Rg8 17.Qe5 c5 18.f6 Nfg6 19.f7+ Kf8 20.Bh6+ Rg7 21.Qxg7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - perama, blitz, FICS, 2010.

11.f4 c6

Or 11...Nc6 as in perrypawnpusher - taman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1–0, 35).

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3

 14...Nf6 15.Qxg7

Despite appearances, everything is under control for Black. He can play the prepared 15...d5, and after 16.exd5 Qxd5 he is prepared for 17.Bg5 which he can meet with 17...Nxf5 18.Rxf5 Bxf5 19.Bxf6 Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Kxf7 21.Be5 Bxc2 when Black has an edge.

Instead, he played a reflexive move – and then resigned in apparent disappointment.

15...Rg8 16.Qxf6 Black resigned

Black is down three pawns, and the open lined to his King and the white "Jerome pawns" will cause more grief.

I am sure Kovrad was much too much a gentleman to exclaim, as Nimzowitsch once did, "Why must I lose to this idiot??"

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws

Big Bad Wolf

The other day I ran into a big, bad wolf – a higher-rated player who tried to surprise me with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. Instead, I surprised him with the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.


perrypawnpusher - ZekeTheWolf
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+

Tempting, because it delivers a check, forks White's King and Rook, and generally messes the position up.

Still, 7..hxg6 is better, and after the game Rybka suggested the line: 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.Qc5+ Kf7 11.Qxd4 d5 12.d3 c5 13.Qc3 dxe4 14.dxe4 Qd4 15.Qxd4 cxd4 16.f3 Be6 17.c3

analysis diagram








when Black is slightly better, although someone comfortable with the Jerome Gambit would probably be comfortable with the White pieces. 

8.Kd1 Qf6

Played too quickly. Better was 8...Nf6 as in perrypawnpusher - xenoglot, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - lourotors, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 37); but not the suicidal 8...Nxa1 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qe5, checkmate, perrypawnpusher - mbranimir, blitz, FICS, 2009.

9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Kxc2

I was surprised when I checked the updated New Year's Database after the game and saw that my opponent had played this line before: 10.Nc3 c6 11.e5 Qxh8 12.Kxc2 Qg7 13.d3 h6 14.Qh4+ Ke8 15.Qh5+ Ke7 16.Bf4 Qxg2 17.Bg3 d6 18.exd6+ Kd8 19.Rae1 Bd7 20.Qf7 Bxd6 21.Qxg8+ Kc7 22.Qxa8 Bxg3 23.hxg3 Qxf2+ 24.Re2 Qxg3 25.Qxa7 Qf3 26.Qa5+ Kc8 27.Qa8+ Kc7 28.Rxh6 Qxe2+ 29.Nxe2 Black resigned, DragonTail - ZekeTheWolf, FICS 2007

Still, the stronger reply that both DragonTail and I overlooked was 10.Qxh7+  as in 10...Qg7 11.Qh4+ Nf6 12.Kxc2 d6 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Re1 Kd7 15.d4 Be7 16.d5 Rxh8 17.dxe6+ Kc8 18.Qf4 Kb8 19.e5 dxe5 20.Rxe5 Bd6 21.Nb5 Bxe5 22.Qxe5 Qg6+ 23.Kb3 Rc8 24.Bf4 Ka8 25.Nxc7+ Rxc7 26.Qxc7 Qe8 27.Rc1 Qxe6+ 28.Kc2 Qc6+ 29.Kd3 Qxc7 30.Bxc7 a5 31.Bxa5 Ka7 32.b4 Nd5 33.Kd4 Nxb4 34.Bxb4, Black forfeited on time, stemplarv - hitijnar, blitz, FICS, 2008.

10...Qxh8

White is ahead the exchange and two pawns, a winning advantage if he can develop and press his attack, while keeping his own King safe.

11.Qg5+ Ke8 12.Nc3 c6 13.f4 Be7 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.Qf3 Nf6 16.d3 d6

17.Be3 Bg4 18.Qf2 Bd7 19.h3 Kc7 20.g4 a6

Black's last move weakens the b6 square. Perhaps he was preparing to move his Rook without losing his a-pawn. After the game Rybka recommended 20...Be6, instead.

21.g5 Nh5 22.Bb6+

Taking a short break from the Kingside advance to force Black's King to block his Rook.

22...Kc8 23.f5

This pawn sacrifice was not necessary – I could have prepared for this advance with 23.Rhg1 – but the open g-file is useful. 

23...Bxg5 24.Rag1 Bf6 25.Qf3 Ng7

26.Rg2 Bd8

To get rid of the annoying Bishop at b6. Rybka's suggestion shows how difficult Black's position is, as White's Rooks infiltrate along the g-file: 26...Qf8 27.Rhg1 Ne8 28.Rg8 Qe7 29.Qe3 a5 30.Bd4 Kc7 31.Bxf6 Qxf6 32.R1g7.

analysis diagram








 27.Bxd8 Kxd8 28.Rhg1 Kc7

This slip frees up the Rook, but drops the Knight.

29.Rxg7 Rf8 30.Qh5 Kb6 Black resigned

Opening Tale

 It's time to take a short break from Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) history to share a discusion that I recently came across at an online forum. 

The original poster expressed his concern, received suggestions, and then made his responses.

Importance of openings at low level?

I read somewhere that at the low level, you should avoid studying openings, since that time would be better spent studying other things like tactics or combinations (etc.) or playing more games, however I do enjoy studying openings and that's why I do it.

At FICS, I'm rated between 1200 and 1300, sometimes I have winning strikes and sometimes I have losing ones, and today I decided to look over at my games, to discover that I'm really good at the openings I know, and that I can beat higher rated opponents in those openings, just because I know them better.

But the opposite is true, that I'm pretty bad at openings I don't know, and lower rated opponents beat me at these, here's a worst case example:

[Date "2007.09.08"]
[White "My opponent"]
[Black "Me"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1102"]
[BlackElo "1216"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Ke8 6.d3 Bc5 7.O-O h6 8.Nf3 d6 9.h3 Be6 10.Nh4 Qe7 11.Ng6 Qf7 12.Nxh8 Kd7 1-0

It has to be my worst game ever, seeing as I had a won position at move 4, and I just suicided. It made me wonder if all the opening preparation worked, since maybe I'd behave like this on all openings (Since all openings would be unknown if I didn't study them), what do you think?

If you study many master games, you will get a feeling for the general opening principles like developement, center, tempo... and the typical moves, independant from memorized variations. Applying these in practise will get better and easier, the more practise you have...

Important is, to not just recall opening patterns and move too quickly, but concrete calculation if you don't have a theory move available...
 
But, on the game I posted I couldn't think anymore, my concentration went off the drain, I just couldn't keep playing against a weaker opponent with such an advantage, I was still shocked by the unsound sacrifice, and lost focus, I wonder if that was his plan from the beginning?

After Qe7 I guess you noticed your mistake and paniced. There's no reson for that! Just wait 15 minutes and do nothing, walk around, calm down and only start to think if you think that you can think clear without a bad feeling of "oh my god, i just made a blunder". Maybe you would have found the idea of Qd7 followed by g5 and Qg7 to get the knight, then it would be about equal!

Yes, I paniced, but my point is that I paniced when he went 4.Bxf7+! I think it was too much for me, maybe I need to practice those kind of openings?

...Well, I don't have enough time to do so, since my games are at 8 mins +3 secs time control, though I may try to do nothing for 3 minutes when my opponent starts throwing unsound sacrifices at me and I panic.

Thanks, I'll try to find games with unbalanced situations like the one on the first game I posted, I wonder how often does it happen on master games?

Meanwhile, I'll just stop looking at the board and do something else (for a while) when my opponent decides to go bonkers.

After a totally unsound move like 4.Bxf7+, you dont panic. You laugh, because you know your opponent's silly move is refutable, and if you can keep cool and take care for any combinative risks, you will win this game...

Look at Morphy's games and at the world championship games, there will you find more about what to do in sharp positions.

Thanks to everyone for your replies, I've been following your suggestions and I think I can handle things better now, what is discouraging is that today I was accused of using a bot to play, all this effort is worth nothing when your opponent just thinks you're cheating (when you're obviously not doing so).

So: our Original Poster shared his woes, received support and advice, and improved his game enough that at least one opponent mistook him for a computer!

Still...

The opening of the game in question was similar enough to the Jerome Gambit and its kin that I just had to check the FICS database and see if I could find it!

I did.

Of course, the "villain" with White was none other than our Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, DragonTail.

Keep up the good work!

King of the Hill

I noticed today that I (perrypawnpusher) have almost 170 Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related games in the updated New Year's Database.

That's not quite as many as Petasluk (175). We're both getting closer to UNPREDICTABLE (213). 

Still, I have a good way to go before catching drumme (248) and stretto (270). For the time being, Darrenshome (376) and yorgos (534) are out of reach.

I have no idea how kingmaple can have 619 games in the Database and not have been mentioned on this blog (until now).

Of course, we all trail DragonTail, the "king of the hill" with 1,213 games included.

Faster Than The Speed of Thought

Those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) have become comfortable, out of necessity, with a certain level of chaos all over the chess board.

The same is true for those who play Jerome-like (or Jerome-ized) openings – and doubly so for those who play them at blitz or lightning speed.

I was working through some fast games by DragonTail at FICS (Free Internet Chess Server), making some quick assessments and decided that the particular variation that I was looking at was too wild for me. Add the fact that the players were not at their tip-top best (no offense intended), and the whole series seems to have taken place faster than the speed of thought... 

DragonTail - chingching 

blitz, FICS, 2009 

 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4

Now, after 4...exd4 we will have a variation of the Scotch Gambit; and after 4...Bxd4 we will have George Laven's Miami Variation, as presented in Acers and Laven's The Italian Gambit (2004). 

4...Bxd4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kg6 -+

Yes, after this move Black has a significant advantage, as he would after 6...Ke8, 6...Kf8 or 6...Ke7.

On the other hand, after the careless 6...Kf6, White would have the advantage: 7.Qf3+ Ke7 (7...Kg6 8.Qf5+ Kh5 9.Ne6+ g5 10.Bxg5 Bxf2+ 11.Kxf2 dxe6 12.g4#) 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Na3 Nf6 10.c3 Qg8 11.cxd4 Nxd4 12.Be3 h6 13.Nc4+ Kc6 14.Nxe5+ Kb5 15.Bxd4 hxg5 16.Qg6 Qh7± 

7.Qg4 Nf6?

A stronger move is 7...Nh6 -+ , but it has to be followed up properly: 8.Qg3 Bxf2+? 9.Kxf2 ± Rf8+ +- 10.Nf7+? -+ Kxf7 DragonTail - Patrick, FICS 2008 (0-1, 21); Not so good is 7...d5 8.Qg3 (but 8.Ne6+ +-) 8...Bxf2+ (8...Qf6) 9.Kxf2 Qf6+ ± 10.Kg1 = Kh5? +- 11.Nd2? -+ Qxg5 DragonTail - freesok, FICS 2007 (0-1, 23); 7...Qf6 -+ is the computer's choice;

Not 7...d6? giving White the advantage, but wait: 8.Qg3? (8.Ne6+ Kf7 9.Nxd8+ Nxd8 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qf3+ +-) 8...Kf6? 9.Nf3? (9.Qf3+ Kg6 10.Qf7+ Kh6 11.Ne6+ g5 12.h4 Bc3+ 13.Kf1 Bxe6 14.hxg5#) 9...Kf7 10.Ng5+ Ke7 11.Nf3 Be6? 12.Nxd4? (12.Qxg7+ Ke8 13.Qxh8 +-) 12...Nxd4 DragonTail - chingching, FICS 2009 (0-1,43) 

8.Qg3?

There was the opportunity for 8.Qf5+ Kh5 9.Nf3+ g5 10.Qxg5 checkmate 

8...Nh5 9.Qg4 d5? Instead, 9...Nf6 equalizes. 

10.Ne6+ Kf6 11.Bg5+ Black resigned

Fantastic!

In the last few days I have picked up hundreds of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and Jerome-ish or Jerome-ized games (e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nd4 Bxf7+) – perhaps as many as a thousand – from games played at the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS).

I am still organizing and reviewing the games, but it is quite possible that they will have an impact on current Jerome Gambit theory, and may even cause me to review and revise some of the information that I posted in the first year of this blog.

How exciting!

I will share what I learn, as I am able.

In the meantime, welcome to the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, DragonTail, majorminor, JKELSEY, GmCooper, weenar, ItsAllBullCheck and KnightBiker (among others), all playing at FICS.