The following game (and its notes) tests the assertion that It's not a blunder if it isn't refuted - the theme song of those who play the Jerome Gambit, after all.
fehim - BlkSabb
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
The Blackburne Defense to the Jerome Gambit, based on the famous game, Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885.
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.d3
Fehim, who has been playing the Jerome Gambit on FICS since at least 2005, had only encountered the Blackburne Defense once before, and that game was something he probably wanted to improve upon, as it is a story all itself.
fehim - zsifkovitspeter, blitz, FICS, 2007, continued 10.d4 Bxd4 (the "only" move for Black was 10...Bh3 11.gxh3 Rxh8 12.dxc5 Nxe4 13.cxd6 cxd6 when he would be better) 11.Be3 (Leads to a big Black advantage, while 11.Qd8 Bb6 12.Nd2 Bh3 13.Nf3 Rxd8 14. Nxh4 Bd7 would let White hold on) 11...Bd7 (Continuing the friendly "give aways," when, instead, 11...Ng4 would be crushing.) 12.g3 (Instead, grabbing the Rook with 12.Qxa8 gives White the clear advantage.) 12...Qh3 13.Qxa8 Ng4 14.Rd1 Qxh2+ 15.Kf1 Nxe3+ 16.Ke2 Bb5+ 17.Kf3 Qh5+ 18.Kf4 Qg4 White was checkmated.
After the Blackburne game, the Jerome Gambit was largely seen as busted by the Rook sacrifice - although commentary at the time, suggesting 10.Qd8, actually gave White the advantage.
10...Ng4
Previously I noted
The problem with this move is that White has 32 possible responses: 31 lead to an advantage (most of them mate) for Black. However, one leads to a win for White.
As seen before, 10...Bh3 wins, RevvedUp-Hiarcs 8, blitz 2 12, 2006 (0-1, 12).
10...Ke6 led to a sustained battle in Knightpusher - MiloBot, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 47).
11.Bf4
White tried another defense with 11.h3 - 11...Bf5 (Black would consolidate, instead, with 11...Ne5 12.Nd2 Bxh3 13.Qxe5 dxe5) 12.Qxa8 (Instead, White is saved by the electric 12.Bg5!? Qxf2+ - what else? - 13.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 14.Kf1 Rxh8 15.hxg4 Bd4 16.c3 Bxe4 17.dxe4 Bf6) 12...Bxf2+ 13.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 14.Kh1 Qf1 checkmate, Kriton - Schoenwettermatt, FICS, 2013.
11...Nxf2
Black could have gone for the cheapo, 11...Bxf2+, since 12.Rxf2? (12.Kh1 is sufficient - if White can find, after 12...Bf5 13.Qxa8 Nxh2 the return 14.Qd8!? when he gets sufficient material for his Queen: 14...Qxd8 15.Bxh2 Bd4 16.c3 Be5 17.Nd2 Bxh2 18.Kxh2 Qg5 19.Rad1 Ke7 20.exf5 gxf5) Qxf2+ 13.Kh1 Qf1 is checkmate.
12.Bg3 Black resigned
The play was not over, however, for the earlier game, stampyshortlegs - blackburne, JG Tourney5, ChessWorld, 2010, continued further 12...Qh6 13.Bxf2 Bf5 14.Bxc5 Rxh8 15.Bd4 Re8 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Rxf5+ Ke6 18.Rf6+ Qxf6 19.Bxf6 Kxf6 20.Nc3 c6 21.Ne4+ Ke5 22.Re1 Kd4 23.Kf2 d5 24.Nd6 Rb8 25.Re7 Kc5 26.Nxb7+ Kb6 27.Rxh7 Rxb7 28.Rxb7+ Kxb7 29.h4 when Black resigned.
A while back (see "Artificial Stupidity") I tried my Jerome Gambit chops against FICS' "MiloBot". Recently I wondered: has anyone else matched Jerome-ish wits with the silicon creation? Turns out, some have.
piratebopper - MiloBot
standard game, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
One player had mixed results trying a Delayed Jerome Gambit, transposing to one of the Gambit's "modern" variations on move 5: 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kf8 (5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.d3 Bb6 8.Nc3 Nd4 9.Nd5 a6 10.Qh5+ Nxh5 11.Be3 Nb5 12.c4 Nd4 13.Rac1 Ne2+ White resigned, yogitim - MiloBot, blitz, FICS, 2010) 6.Bc4 Ke7 7.d3 Kf8 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Nbd2 Rb8 10.Nb3 b6 11.d4 h6 12.Be3 Ba3 13.bxa3 Ng4 14.Nxe5 Nf6 15.Qf3 Ne7 16.Ng4 Ra8 17.e5 c6 18.exf6 Ng8 19.fxg7+ Ke7 20.gxh8Q d5 21.Qh7+ Kd6 22.Qf4+ Ke6 23.Qe5 checkmate, yogitim - MiloBot, blitz, FICS, 2010.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+
There are many reasons to get MiloBot out of its "book" knowledge of openings, as one player learned quickly: 5.0-0 Nb8 6.c3 c6 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Qa5 9.dxc5 Qb5 10.Ne5+ Ke7 11.Bg5+ Ke8 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qf3 Qxf1+ 14.Kxf1 Nf6 15.Qxf6 Rg8 16.Qf7 checkmate, Postobon - MiloBot, FICS, 2011.
5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
The Blackburne Defense, part of MiloBot's "book".
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8
Yes!
The Blackburne Defense can be deadly against unprepared attackers; but it also can be overcome if White knows what he/she/it is doing.
Knightpusher, whose name we've seen here before in relation to the Jerome Gambit, this year tried, instead, 10.d3 Ke6 (10...Bh3! was obviously not in MiloBot's book) 11.g3 Qh5 12.Qg7 c6 13.Qh6 Bb6 14.Qxh5 Nxh5 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.Be3 Ne8 17.Bxb6 axb6 18.a3 Kf7 19.f4 Kg8 20.f5 Ng7 21.f6 Be6 22.fxg7 Kxg7 23.Rf2 g5 24.Raf1 Ra5 25.Rf6 Re5 26.d4 b5 27.dxe5 Bh3 28.Rf7+ Kh8 29.Rf8+ Kg7 30.R1f7+ Kh6 31.Rf6+ Kh5 32.Rxd6 b6 33.Rxc6 Bg4 34.Rxb6 Bc8 35.Rff6 Kg4 36.Kf2 Bd7 37.h3+ Kxh3 38.Rh6+ Kg4 39.Rxh7 Bc6 40.e6 Ba8 41.e7 Bxe4 42.Rg7 Bg6 43.Rgxg6 b4 44.Rxb4+ Kh5 45.Rg8 Kh6 46.e8Q Kh7 47.Qg6 checkmate, Knightpusher - MiloBot, FICS 2011.
10...a6
MiloBot's "book" seems to be 9 moves deep. Left on its own, it is much weaker, and now finds this lemon, just as it found 10...a5 against me in perrypawnpusher - MiloBot, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 24).
11.Qxc7+ Nd7 12.d4 Qxe4 13.dxc5
White's extra Rook wins.
Now, MiloBot falls apart.
13...Qxg2+ 14.Kxg2 dxc5 15.f4 Kg8 16.f5 Nf8 17.fxg6 Bh3+ 18.Kxh3 b6 19.g7 Nd7 20.Qxd7 h6 21.Rf8+ Rxf8 22.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 23.Bxh6+ Kg8 24.Qg7 checkmate
My first three Jerome Gambit games against MRBarupal, I lost.
My second three (counting the one below), I won.
This most recent game overlaps a couple of earlier games, making a third interesting "three".
perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8
My first three games (0-3) against this opponent continued 5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6. The next three (3-0) continued 5...Kf8.
There are plenty more Jerome Gambit refutations for us to explore.
6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6
8.d3 Bg4 9.Qe1 Qd7
Varying from 9...Qe8 which appeared in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011 (10. Be3 Bd6 11.f4 Nh5 12.e5 Be7 13.f5 Black resigned) and the following day in Knightpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011 (10.Be3 Black resigned).
Fritz8 doesn't see much difference between 9...Qd7 and 9...Qe8, although it slightly prefers a third move, 9...Kf7.
10.Be3 Be7 11.f4 Re8
12.Nd2 h5
Developing his final piece, with aggressive intentions? Or preparing a pawn formation against an expected avalanche of "Jerome pawns"?
13.Nf3
After the game Rybka 3 was critical of this move, preferring Nd2-c4-e5 as the proper way for the Knight to advance to the center. After the text, Black can simply exchange the piece off – which he promptly does.
13...Bxf3 14.Rxf3 g6
This is a complicated position. After the game Rybka 3 preferred sending the Knight to g4 to exchange off the Bishop at e3, keeping Black's edge.
15.f5
Playing to open lines against the enemy King, but this could turn risky, as White is behind in development. Rybka 3's suggestions show much more patience, with a focus on putting the Queen and Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal before breaking through.
15...Rg8 16.e5 Ng4 17.fxg6+
Rybka 3 looked at the position of the two Black Rooks and suggested 17.f6 instead, with a complicated mess to follow: 17...Bd6 18.d4 Kf7 19.Bf4 g5 20.Bg3 h4 21.Qe4 Rh8 22.h3 hxg3 23.hxg4 Kf8 (Fritz 8 prefers 23...Bf8) 24.Re3 Rxe5 This is Rybka's idea 25.dxe5 Bc5 26.e6 Qh7 27.Kf1 Qxe4 28.Rxe4 Rh1+ 29.Ke2 Rxa1
analysis diagram
Black has a slight advantage.
17...Kg7
18.Bf4 Qe6 19.h3
Fortunately for me, my opponent now overlooks a Bishop check from c5, which would have strengthened his game. It was more prudent for me to play 19.c3 Ref8 20.d4 first, and after 20...Nh6 21.Qe2 Kxg6 the game would be about even, according to Rybka 3.
19...Nh6 20.Qe4 Nf5 21.Raf1
The game remains complex: is Black defending or attacking on the Kingside? Or both?
In the meantime, White has completed his development, but the pawn on g6 is lost, and his attack is going nowhere. After a few exchanged pieces, Black's edge will become clear.
21...h4
Putting a cramp in White's Kingside and makes an outpost for his Knight at g3, but Rybka 3 preferred 21...Nh4 22.Rg3 Ref8 23.d4 Nxg6 24.Qf3 h4 25.Rg4 Kh8 26.Qe2 Rf5 27.Qe4 Nxf4 28.Rfxf4 Rxf4 29.Rxf4 Rg7 when Black is clearly better.
Black's move opens up a tactical opportunity for White that hides behind the smokescreen of an apparent blunder.
22.Bd2 Ng3
Forking White's Rook and Queen. (He should have abandoned the Knight with 22...Kh8, but then White would have the better game.)
23.Rf7+ Kh8 24.Rh7 checkmate
The following game was played at FICS the day after my game against MRBarupal (see"Battle Again"). This time Black faces no mere pawn-pusher, but an actual, stronger, knight-pusher...
Knightpusher - MRBarupal
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8
The Sorensen Variation.
6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.d3 Bg4 9.Qe1 Qe8 10.Be3
The moves of this game are exactly the same as those in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011. Perhaps for that reason, or perhaps for another, here Black resigned.
"Objectively," the game is still a bit better for the second player.
