Reversed BSG: A Closer Look

Still in the hunt for more information on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: The Reversed BSG"), I tracked down another expert to help me out.

Dr. Michael Goeller's site "The Bishop's Opening" is a great resource at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/index.html 

Here are several of his comments

I like analyzing old and obscure lines as much as you do, but I try to confine myself to strategically sound openings that are based on some principle (even if that principle is just speedy development). Almost always, the lines I look at have been played by GMs or other strong players, who obviously agreed there was something to it...

I was just reading GM Nigel Davies's blog this morning, which seems quite appropriate: http://chessimprover.com/2011/03/19/openings-for-post-beginners/

I took a quick look with Fritz -- see results below. I do not think it's something I'd try myself as White. And I think I'm prepared now to face it as Black.... :-)

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5

4...Nxe4!?

Remember: as Tim McGrew shows [see McGrew's two "Gambit Cartel" columns from ChessCafe.com on the Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 1 & 2], this move is better than its reputation in the regular Blackburne Shilling Gambit, so long as you are willing to sac a piece for Cochrane Gambit type play. [Readers interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!? should check out Dr. Goeller's work on the Cochrane at his Kenilworthian site] Here it may even be better because of Bc4 for White, which sets up some nice shots with c6 and d5 coming.

Black has a number of perfectly good alternatives, of course:

a) 4...b5!? 5.Bb3 (5.Bxb5?? c6 6.Nxf6+ Qxf6+-) 5...Nxd5 6.exd5 Qg5!? 7.Qf3 Qg6 unclear;

b) 4...0-0 5.b4 (5.d4?! exd4 6.Bg5 Be7 =/+) 5...Bb6 6.d3 Nxd5 7.exd5 e4!? with the idea of Qf6;

c) 4...c6 5.Nxf6+ Qxf6 6.Nf3 d6=


5.d4!

Probably best.

5.Qg4 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 0-0! ["This is certainly a lot more fun than most of the lines" - Tim McGrew, on the related line in the regular BSG ]7.Qxe4 Bxg1 8.Rxg1 c6 9.Bd3 (9.Ne3 d5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Bxd5 Nd7 -/+) 9...f5 10.Qxe5 d6 11.Qd4 cxd5 12.Qxd5+ Kh8 =/+ and I think you have to prefer Black slightly here, though I admit it is about equal and probably playable for White.

5...Bxd4 6.Qg4 c6!

6...0-0?! 7.Bh6±.

7.Qxg7

7.Qxe4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 cxd5 9.Bxd5 Qb6 unclear

7...cxd5 8.Qxh8+ Ke7 9.Qxd8+

9.Qxh7!? Qa5+ -/+

9...Kxd8 10.Bxd5 Nxf2 11.Nf3 Nxh1=

Interesting enough, all by itself – but things were about to get even  more interesting... (to be continued)

Hamppe - Meitner Revealed

Michael Goeller, of the Kenilworthian Chess Club (see "Related Sites" on this blog) has a comprehensive article on the exciting Hamppe - Meitner Motif (see Godfather of the Jerome Gambit? (Part I), (Part II) and (Endnote) for its relationship to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome") on his website.

I highly recommend you check out "The Hamppe - Meitner Motif", and the Kenilworthian site itself as a treasure trove of articles covering a whole host of topics.

Wonderful work, Mike, as ever!

A Few Words With... Tim McGrew

Readers interested in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and other exciting opening sacrifices are likely familiar – or should become familiar – with Tim McGrew, past author of "The Gambit Cartel" columns for ChessCafe.

Tim has always been supportive of my work with the duck-billed platypus of chess openings, although he maintains an objective attitude:

The Jerome is, of course, completely unsound; it is a kind of miracle, and a tribute to Jerome’s tenacity, that it was analyzed seriously at all.

I was planning to do a short interview with Tim, when I discovered that Michael Goeller, host of The Kenilworthian blog, had already done so, and in great style.

Check it out. Michael said it was fine to make the link.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee first, though. You'll not only find the interview, you'll find links to all of Tim's "Gambit Cartel" columns plus a downloadable zipped file of them. And, as they say in the commercials: But wait! There's more!

I'll wait for you to come back...

Here's some of Tim McGrew's wisdom on adventurism in the opening

When you select an opening, you are not selecting the position that arises at move 20 after best play by both sides. You are selecting the whole opening with all of its traps and twists, its side lines and main lines.

And you are selecting it to play against flesh-and-blood opponents who will very frequently deviate from best play – probably early.

Which raises a very important question, supposing they do deviate from best play, what will happen then?

The answer depends on what I will call the “Caltrop Coefficient,” or CC for short. For readers not familiar with military history, I should explain that caltrops are mid-sized pieces of metal shaped rather like gigantic jacks with sharpened points. Canny soldiers camping just on the other side of a river from their enemies would sow the riverbed liberally with caltrops so that an enemy cavalry charge across the river would be demolished as the horses stepped on the caltrops and went down.

Mutatis mutandis, every wild-eyed gambiteer uses this strategy in chess as well. The more caltrops the better, particularly at blitz or bullet time controls! Let’s agree to say that an opening with a high proportion of moderately well-hidden traps has a high CC.

Of course, if our opponent has studied up on the opening, life will be very hard.

--The Gambit Cartel "Dimensional Analysis" 6/20/2004

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"