More Useful Junk

Readers of this blog probably remember Chris Torres. He hosts the Chess Musings blog.

He presented the Jerome gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London  as "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!"

He followed up with "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", giving one of his own games.

He shared another game with the delightfully-titled post "Useful Junk: The Jerome Gambit".

Now he has sent me an FIDE-rated Jerome Gambit of his from the FIDE Online Arena.

Torres, Chris (chessmusings) - abhinam2
FIDE Online Arena, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 

Now Black has the choice of playing 7...d6, the Blackburne Defense, or 7...Qe7, the Whistler Defense. Instead, he opts for a "backatcha" move that at least gains him a pawn for his "doomed" dark-squared Bishop.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qf4

I thought I would share a few other ideas for this position, from games from The Database:

9.Rf1 Re8 (9...c6 10.Kg1 Rf8 11.d4 Kg8 12.Bg5 Kg7 13.Nc3 d6 14.Qf4 Nh5 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Qxf8+ Qxf8 17.Rxf8 checkmate, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9...Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Qf7+ [12. Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7 checkmate, Jordi-I - couchpotatoe, Chess.com, 2011] 12... Kh6 13. d4+ Kh5 14. h3 Black resigned, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9... d6 10. Qf4 Rf8 11. Kg1 Kg7 12. d3 Ng4 13. Qg5 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Qf8+ 15. Qf4 Nxh2+ 16. Kg1 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Ng4 18. Nc3 Be6 19. Rf1 h6 20. d4 g5 21. Bd2 c6 22.a3 b5 23. Ne2 Bc4 24. Re1 Rf8 25. b3 Bf7 26. Ng3 Bg6 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Kf6 29. c4 a6 30. Ke2 h5 31. Be1 h4 32. Nf5 Bxf5 33. exf5 Kxf5 34. Kf3 c5 35. d5 Ne5+ 36. Ke3 bxc4 37. bxc4 Nxc4+ 38. Kd3 Nxa3 39. Bd2 g4 White resigned, Petasluk - nikorast, FICS, 2011) 10.Qc3 Rxe4 11.Kg1 c6 12.d3 Re6 13.Bg5 d5 14.d4 Qd6 15.Nd2 Kg7 16.Bf4 Qd7 17.Be5 b5 18.Nf3 Ba6 19.Ng5 Rxe5 20.dxe5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.e6+ Black resigned,  arunothr - givemeabreak, FICS, 2014;

9.Qd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4+ 11.Kf3 c5 12.Qa4 Qh4 13.g3 Ng5+ White resigned, shugart - mattzig, FICS, 2013;

9.d3 d6 (9...Re8 as in guest232 - BoardChairman, Internet Chess Club, 2002, [1-0, 22]) 10.Qc3 Rf8 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Kg1 h6 13.Be3 Kh7 14.Qd2 g5 15.Nc3 Ng4 16.Rxf8 Qxf8 17.Rf1 Qg7 18.Nd5 Nxe3 19.Nxe3 Bd7 20.d4 Rf8 21.Rxf8 Qxf8 22.c4 c6 23.b3 Qg7 24.Qd3 c5 25.dxc5 dxc5 26.e5+ Kh8 27.Nd5 Qxe5 28.h3 Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Qe5+ 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Bc6 32.Ne7 Be4 33.a3 Kg7 34.b4 Kf7 35.Nd5 Bxd5 36.cxd5 cxb4 37.axb4 Ke7 38.Kf3 Kd6 39.Ke4 b6 40.g4 a5 41.bxa5 bxa5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Kc4 a3 44.Kb3 a2 45.Kxa2 Kxd5 46.Kb2 Ke4 47.Kc2 Kf3 48.Kd2 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh3 50.Kf3 Kh4 51.Kg2 Kxg4 52.Kh2 h5 53.Kg2 Kh4 54.Kh2 g4 55.Kg2 g3 56.Kh1 Kg4 57.Kg2 h4 58.Kf1 Kf3 59.Kg1 h3 60.Kh1 g2+ 61.Kh2 Kf2 62.Kxh3 g1=Q 63.Kh4 Qg3+ 64.Kh5 Kg2 65.Kh6 Kh3 66.Kh7 Kh4 67.Kh8 Kh5 White resigned, Petasluk - timoxx, FICS, 2007

9... d6 

Perhaps not the risky 9...g5 10.Qf3 g4 as in instantcrow - KingEfraim, ChessWorld.net, 2005, (1-0, 25).

10.Nc3

Or 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1 Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5 c6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+ Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned, blackburne - Haroldlee123, ChessWorld, JG6, 2011. 

10...Kg7 11.d4 Rf8

Black is a pawn down, but he has castled-by-hand and his King is relatively safe. However, one of the "vital signs" that observers of all Jerome Gambits must note is the status of Black's light-squared Bishop, and its related Rook, as their under-development always are unhealthy symptoms. (See "A Lesson Learned From The Jerome Gambit" for one related "illness".)

12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.Kg1 Ng4 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Nf2 16.Nd5 Nxh1 17.Nxc7 Rb8 18.Kxh1 Bd7

White has two pawns for the exchange. Black can be happy that the Queens are off the board, but he cannot affort to be complacent. (He can be happy, for the moment, that his light-squared Bishop has moved and that his Rooks are linked, even if one is mysteriously developed.)

19.Nd5 Be6 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.d5 Bc8

See the previous note.

22.Rf1 h6 23.Nh5+ gxh5 24.Bxh6+ Kxh6 25.Rxf8 

Materially, White has 3 extra pawns while Black has the extra piece.

More importantly, positionally, look at Black's Queenside: Code Blue! His weakness allows a "Jerome pawn" infection...

25...Kg7 26. Rd8 b6 27.Kg1 Ra8 28.e5 dxe5 29.d6 Bb7 30.Rxa8
Bxa8 31.d7 Kf7 32.d8=Q Black resigned

Very nicely done!

Sunday Book Review: Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy

Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy
by Stan Vaughan
Three Towers Press (2010)
soft cover, 402 pages
descriptive notation



I could hardly wait to pick up Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy. The American chess champion from Louisiana, cast as an undercover agent during the War Between the States!

First, though, I had to set aside my concerns about the author, Stan Vaughan, of the American Chess Association (as opposed to the better known United States Chess Federation) and claimant to the World Chess Federation World Champion title (as opposed to the better known FIDE). There was more than a bit of trepidation in reviewing the July 1, 2011 WCF Top rating list, since there seemed to be a few players missing:

1. Stan Vaughan 2965 (current WCF "The World Chess Champion" after 2011 ACA Nevada State Open)
2. Bobby Fischer (deceased) 2897 (after WCF "The World Chess Championship" title match of 1992 versus Spassky)
3. Boris Spassky 2805 (after WCF "The World Chess Championship" title match of 1992 versus Fischer)
4. Ron Gross 2575 (after WCF 2011 Starbucks International- official WCF 2012 title match challenger after winning the 2010 WCF Candidates matches Final at Las Vegas Riviera Hotel Casino).

However, I took the leap.

The author writes from the omniscient, third person point-of-view, fully strident in a way that befits the Southern perspective of American Civil War

According to Article I, section 8 of the US Constitution, only US Congress has the power to call forth state militia (and even then it must be as a result of a call for assistance from a state legislature, or when said state's legislature is not in session, its governor). Yet, once the trespassers had been evicted from Fort Sumter, which should have been the end of the matter, Lincoln usurped this authority and issued his own illegal proclamation call on April 15, 1861. Not only was it illegal from the standpoint that he had no authority to issue it, it called for suppression of a so-called insurrection in South Carolina, a state no longer even part of the Union, as South Carolina had seceded the previous year!

Whew! As a Yankee, I was quickly getting schooled on Dishonest Abe Lincoln and his War of Northern Aggression. Of course, I awaited the author's treatment of the "Peculiar Institution", which was not immediately forthcoming...

I tripped over an occasional mismatch in verb tenses and some misspellings that should not have been there, but I was settling into a tale set in a vibrant time in chess and non-chess history.

The presentation of the chess games seemed a bit silly, however, placing "annotations" within the dialogue, e.g.

[After 1.P-K4 P-K3 2.P-Q4 P-Q4 3.PxP] Talking with some nearby spectators, Morphy commented, "This is my favorite treatment of the French Defense, whereby I get an open game."
4.Kt-Kb[sic]3 B-Q3 5.B-Q3 Kt-KB3 6.Castles, castles 7.Kt-B3 P-B3 8.B-KKt5 [Black's move is missing; it should be 8...B-KKt5] 9.P-KR3 BxKt 10.QxB QKt-Q2 11.KR-K1 Q-B2 12.P-KKt4
De Maurian, in a low voice to a fellow spectator, so that Jose Maria [Sicre] could not overhear, re marked, [sic] "This is one of his patented P.C. (Paul Charles) moves. Not only is it justified in a position like the present, but it is twice as strong, for it provokes anxiety, confusion and fear!"

Awkward.

Still, things moved along, and Morphy, in the role of diplomat, found himself across the Atlantic, in Spain... and the style of writing in Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy changed from politics and intrigue to more of a travelogue. I rode it out for about a dozen pages (like so much of the book, the places and buildings were interesting, even if I struggled with the prose), and then parked myself on a couple.

The phrase "characterized by a magical use of space, light, water and decoration" (page 62) describing a particular piece of architecture caught my eye, and I Googled it. Hmmm... That phrase shows up in the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Seville & Andalusia (page 194).

Somewhat disappointed, I then chose "where the reigning sultan listened to the petitions of his subjects and held meetings" (page 62) and Googled that, only to find that the phrase is also from DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Seville & Andalusia (page 194).

It turned out that "an undigested cube of rock, and whoever designed it failed to realize that when plumped down beside the delicate Moorish palaces upon which it encroaches, it could only look ridiculous" (page 63), however, appears in Iberia, (page 227) by James A. Michener.

I set the book down. I do not know if I will pick it back up again.

Pity. I was just getting into the story.

I wonder how things turned out in the end.

It's A Small World

I mentioned a little while ago that this blog site has had visitors from over 100 different countries. For the little old Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Today I checked the statistics that my website provides for the top ten most frequent visitors of the week, and, not surprisingly, discovered that the top four locations of readers are: the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Brazil.

However, #9 and #10 surprised and pleased me: Iran and Serbia. Sure, Readers from the two countries have visited before, but in numbers to place them in the "top ten"?

So, Salâm, xošbaxtam. And Zdravo, dobrodošli.

Genus una sumus, as is said at FIDE, the World Chess Federation.

Is there a book in all of this??

In June this blog will mark 2 years of daily posts on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and openings like the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.various Bc5 5.Bxf7+) and the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+).

Friends and readers have asked me if I am planning to write a book on the Jerome Gambit.

My answer is that I would love to, but not right now.

For starters, I like the blog format. It keeps me regularly in touch with the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde and chessplayers around the world. It has a flexibility that fits my time and temperment.

Also, I would like to be certain that if FIDE Master Stefan Bücker decides to publish my Jerome Gambit article in his fantastic magazine, Kaissiber, that it contains my best efforts, bar none.

However, if I ever do write a book on the Jerome Gambit, I know exactly what I will call it: Playing and (Sometimes) Winning with the Worst Chess Opening in the World!






graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws

Ugandan Chess Master

Every once in a while I have taken a break from posting on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) to mention happenings in Uganda, where Kennedy Kid Jon spent last summer (see "And Now For Something Completely Different..." and "A Short Break from the Jerome Gambit").

Jon's Uganda blog is at http://www.jbkuganda.blogspot.com/

Word from the Uganda Chess Federation is that Moses Kawuma, a member of the Ugandan Olympiad Chess Team, recently scored 8-0-2 at the 2008 World Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. According to The Chess Drum, this performance (9/10) was enough for Kawuma to be granted the FIDE Master title.

Here are Master Moses Kawuma's games:

Kawuma,M (2204) - Chimthere,A (1966) [D37] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (1), 13.11.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 Bd7 11.Ne5 Be8 12.Nb5 Nc6 13.Nd3 Be7 14.Nc7 Rc8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Bxe6+ Bf7 17.Bxc8 Rxc8 18.a3 Nd5 19.0-0 Nxf4 20.Nxf4 Bf6 21.Rd2 Ne5 22.Nd5 h5 23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Rfd1 Kg7 25.f3 Kg6 26.Kf2 Bb3 27.Re1 a5 28.f4 Nc4 29.Rd3 a4 30.Re2 b5 31.e4 Rc6 32.Rd5 Nd6 33.Rd4 Nc4 34.g3 Kh6 35.h3 Kg6 36.g4 hxg4 37.hxg4 Rc8 38.Rd5 Rh8 39.Kg2 Nb6 40.Rd6 Nc4 41.Rd7 Rh4 42.Kg3 Rh1 43.e5 fxe5 44.fxe5 Bd1 45.Rf2 Nxe5 46.Rd6+ Kg7 47.Kf4 Nf7 48.Rb6 Rg1 49.Rxb5 Rxg4+ 50.Ke3 Bb3 51.Rb7 Kg6 52.Rb4 Rg3+ 53.Kd4 Rg5 54.Rb6+ Kg7 55.Kc3 Nd8 56.Re2 Kf7 57.Rd6 Ne6 58.Rd7+ Kf6 59.Rf2+ 1/2-1/2

Grassi,E (2063) - Kawuma,M (2204) [B33] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (2), 14.11.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qh5 Rg8 13.g3 Rg4 14.f3 Rg6 15.Qxh7 Rh6 16.Qg8 Rg6 17.Qh8 Bxd5 18.exd5 Qg5 19.f4 exf4 20.0-0-0 fxg3+ 21.Kb1 Ne5 22.hxg3 Rg8 23.Qh3 Qxg3 24.Bxf5 Qxh3 25.Bxh3 b4 0-1

Skehan,C - Kawuma,M (2204) [A45] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (4), 16.11.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 c5 3.c3 d6 4.Nd2 e5 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bc4 Bd6 7.e4 0-0 8.Ngf3 a6 9.a4 Nc6 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Qc2 Na5 12.Be2 Qc7 13.b4 cxb4 14.c4 b5 15.Qa2 bxc4 16.Nxc4 b3 17.Qd2 Nxc4 18.Bxc4 Nxe4 19.Qd3 Nc5 20.Qc3 Rab8 21.Bb2 Ne4 22.Qd3 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Ng5 24.Rac1 Nh3+ 25.Kh1 Bc5 26.Qc3 Bd4 27.Qd2 Qb7 28.Kg2 Nf4+ 29.Kg3 Qb6 30.Bxd4 Qg6+ 31.Kh4 Qh5+ 0-1

Kawuma,M (2204) - Antoniou,A (2177) [E18] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (5), 17.11.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 Ne4 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.Ne1 Bxg2 10.Nxg2 d5 11.Qa4 dxc4 12.Qxc4 Nd7 13.Qc6 Nf6 14.Be3 Qd6 15.Rac1 Rac8 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Bg5 Nd5 18.Bxe7 Qxc6 19.Rxc6 Nxe7 20.Rcc1 Kf8 21.e4 Ke8 22.Ne3 c5 23.dxc5 Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Kd7 25.b4 bxc5 26.bxc5 Kc6 27.Nb2 Rd8 28.Rc2 Rd4 29.f3 Kb5 30.Kf2 Nc6 31.Ke3 e5 32.a3 f6 33.Nd3 Na5 34.Nb2 Rd8 35.f4 exf4+ 36.gxf4 Rc8 37.e5 fxe5 38.fxe5 Rc6 39.Nd3 Nb3 40.a4+ Kxa4 41.Ra2+ Kb5 42.Rxa7 Nxc5 43.Rxg7 Nxd3 44.Kxd3 Rh6 45.Rg2 Kc6 46.Ke4 Kd7 47.Ra2 Rh4+ 48.Kf5 Rh5+ 49.Kf6 Rh6+ 50.Kf7 Rh3 51.Rd2+ 1-0

Miller,B (1741) - Kawuma,M (2204) [B21] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (6), 19.11.2008
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd2 0-0 8.Nge2 d6 9.0-0 Be6 10.Kh1 Qd7 11.f4 Bc5 12.Qg3 exf4 13.Nxf4 Kh8 14.Ncd5 Bd4 15.Bc3 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.c4 Qg4 19.Qf2 Rfe8 20.Rae1 b6 21.Re3 Nxd3 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.cxd3 Re5 24.h3 Qg5 25.Ne2 Qe3 26.Qxe3 Rxe3 27.Nc1 Kg8 28.Kg1 b5 29.Kf2 Re7 30.Re1 Rc7 31.g4 bxc4 32.g5 Nd7 33.Re8+ Nf8 34.Rd8 cxd3 35.Nxd3 Rd7 36.Rxd7 Nxd7 37.Kf3 f6 38.gxf6 Nxf6 39.Nb4 a5 40.Nc6 a4 41.Nb4 Kf7 42.a3 g5 43.Ke3 h5 44.Kf3 Kg6 0-1

Kawuma,M (2204) - Kumar,M (2019) [D37] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (7), 20.11.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.h3 b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Rc1 Rc8 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.Qa4 a6 15.Ne5 b5 16.Qb3 Ne4 17.Rcd1 Qa5 18.Bb1 Rfd8 19.Qd3 Qb4 20.f3 Nf6 21.Rf2 g6 22.g4 Nd7 23.Rfd2 Bf6 24.Nxd7 Rxd7 25.g5 Bg7 26.Qf1 Rdd8 27.h4 Re8 28.a3 Qe7 29.Be5 b4 30.axb4 Qxb4 31.f4 a5 32.h5 Qb3 33.Bd3 Bc6 34.Qe2 Ba4 35.Kf2 Qb4 36.Rh1 Qe7 37.Qg4 Bb3 38.Qh4 Bxe5 39.fxe5 Bc4 40.hxg6 fxg6 41.Bxg6 Rf8+ 42.Kg3 Rc7 43.Rdh2 hxg6 44.Qh8+ Kf7 45.Rh7+ Ke8 46.Rxe7+ Rxe7 47.Qh3 Kd7 48.Qg2 Rf5 49.Rh4 Rxg5+ 50.Rg4 Rxg4+ 51.Kxg4 Kc6 52.Qc2 Kb6 53.b3 1-0

Kawuma,M (2204) - Christopher,A (1679) [D12] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (8), 21.11.2008
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 4.c4 c6 5.Be2 e6 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Nh4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Bb2 Rc8 12.Bf3 b6 13.Qd2 c5 14.cxd5 cxd4 15.exd4 Bb4 16.dxe6 Ne5 17.Qe3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 fxe6 19.Ne4 Qd5 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Qxd5 exd5 22.Rfc1 Kf7 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Rc1 Rxc1+ 25.Bxc1 Bc3 26.Be3 b5 27.Kf1 f5 28.Ke2 f4 29.Bxf4 Bxd4 30.Be3 Be5 31.Bxa7 Bxh2 32.g3 Ke6 33.Kf3 Ke5 34.Kg2 Bxg3 35.Kxg3 Ke4 36.a4 b4 37.Bc5 Kd3 38.Bxb4 Kc2 39.a5 Kxb3 40.Be1 1-0

Ho Hou Meng,H (1926) - Kawuma,M (2204) [A10] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (9), 22.11.2008 1.c4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c5 7.d5 d6 8.e4 Nbd7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Bd3 a6 11.a4 Re8 12.0-0 Ng4 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Nxg5 Nge5 16.Be2 exd5 17.exd5 Nf6 18.Rae1 Rad8 19.b3 Bc8 20.Nge4 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Bf5 22.Ng3 Bc2 23.Bd1 Bxd1 24.Rxd1 Ng6 25.Rfe1 Kf8 26.Kf1 Re5 27.Ne4 h6 28.f3 Ke7 29.g3 Kd7 30.f4 Ree8 31.Kf2 Ne7 32.Nd2 Nf5 33.Nf3 Rb8 34.Ra1 Rxe1 35.Rxe1 b5 36.axb5 axb5 37.g4 bxc4 38.gxf5 cxb3 39.f6 gxf6 40.Rb1 c4 41.Nd4 Ra8 42.Nxb3 Ra2+ 43.Kg1 cxb3 44.Rxb3 Rd2 45.Rb7+ Ke8 46.Rb8+ Ke7 47.Rh8 Rxd5 48.Rxh6 Rf5 49.Rh4 d5 50.Kf2 d4 51.Ke2 Ke6 52.Kd3 Kd5 53.Rg4 Rh5 54.h4 Rf5 55.Rg7 Rxf4 56.Rxf7 Rf3+ 57.Kd2 Ke6 58.Rh7 d3 59.h5 Kf5 60.Rh8 Rh3 61.h6 Kg6 62.Rg8+ Kf7 63.Rg7+ Ke6 64.h7 Kf5 65.Re7 Kg6 66.h8Q Rxh8 67.Kxd3 Kf5 68.Ke3 Ra8 69.Kf3 Ra3+ 70.Kf2 Kf4 71.Rb7 Ra2+ 72.Kf1 f5 73.Rb4+ Kg3 74.Rb3+ Kg4 75.Rb4+ f4 76.Rb3 Rc2 77.Ra3 Rd2 78.Rb3 Kf5 79.Rb5+ Ke4 80.Rb4+ Ke3 81.Rb3+ Rd3 82.Rxd3+ Kxd3 83.Kf2 Ke4 84.Ke2 f3+ 85.Kf2 Kf4 86.Kf1 Ke3 87.Ke1 f2+ 88.Kf1 Kf3 1/2-1/2

Kawuma,M (2204) - Rambalohery,J [A46] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (10), 23.11.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nbd7 9.Bd3 e5 10.Bg5 exd4 11.exd4 Re8+ 12.Be3 Nh5 13.0-0 c5 14.dxc5 dxc5 15.Be4 Ne5 16.Qe2 Nc6 17.Bxc5 Qh4 18.Qg4 Qxg4 19.hxg4 Bxc3 20.Bxc6 Rec8 21.Bxb7 Rxc5 22.Bxa8 Bxb2 23.Rab1 Bd4 24.gxh5 Rxh5 25.Bd5 Bb6 26.Rb3 Kg7 27.Re1 Bc7 28.Re7 Bh2+ 29.Kf1 Kf6 30.Rxf7+ Ke5 31.Rh3 1-0

Muendle,K (1928) - Kawuma,M (2204) [D55] 38th Olympiad Dresden GER (11), 25.11.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 0-0 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.b4 c5 11.bxc5 bxc5 12.Qc2 g6 13.0-0 c4 14.Be2 Re8 15.Rfb1 Bc6 16.Rb2 Nd7 17.Rab1 Qe7 18.a4 Rec8 19.Nd2 Bg7 20.Bf3 Nf6 21.g3 h5 22.h3 Qd7 23.Bg2 Qd6 24.Nb5 Qd8 25.Nc3 Bf8 26.Nf3 Rab8 27.Ne5 Rxb2 28.Rxb2 Ba8 29.Qb1 Kg7 30.Rb5 a5 31.Rb2 Bb4 32.Nb5 Bb7 33.Na7 Rc7 34.Nb5 Re7 35.Qd1 Ne8 36.Qc2 Nd6 37.Nxd6 Qxd6 38.h4 Bc8 39.Qd1 Bf5 40.g4 hxg4 41.e4 c3 42.Re2 dxe4 43.Bxe4 Rxe5 44.Bxf5 Rxf5 45.Re4 g3 46.f3 Qc6 0-1

Rx: Jerome Gambit

In light of the recent anti-doping scandal in chess – the Interna-tional Federa-tion of Chess (FIDE) wanting to drug test GM Vassily Ivanchuk (ranked #3 in the world) and the Grandmaster refusing – it wouldn't be surprising to find readers stopping by MedLibrary.org (or elsewhere) to look up what kind of medications might impact upon a chess player's over-the-board performance.

A surprise awaits: chess content. For example, there is a post on the Italian Game, including, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6. 3.Bc4, the following:

It strike me as risky for a site focused on medication to mention the Jerome Gambit without either mentioning clinical trials involving the opening, or at least offering a warning to those who might indulge. Therefore this blog offers one:

WARNING: The Jerome Gambit is quite disreputable and has quite a few refutations. Its use should be restricted to "fun" games or as a manner of offering "odds" to weaker opponents. The author is not responsible for any disasters that might come from using the Jerome Gambit (although he remains interested in learning about and staring at the wreckage).