Thanks... I think

I was wandering about the Internet the other day, checking to see what new things, if any, had popped up concerning the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

Much to my surprise I discovered that this site was considered to be one of the "Top Computer Chess Blog", an award Presented by: Online Computer Science Degree, (whoever they are).


In recognition of this achievement, the OCSD folks offered a "badge" that could placed here.

The "badge", of course, links back to their site that touts their various online computer courses. Almost like, I don't know, advertising?

As much as I enjoyed being grouped with such sites as The Chess Drum and Alexandra Kosteniuk's and Jennifer Shahade's sites (although I have to wonder about the "Tuirgin, my soul in a lobster pot...") I decided to pass on that...

Philidor Defense with a Jerome Touch

As an aside in the post "A New Opening?" which discussed an article from the September 1958 Precita Valley Chess Herald wherin George Koltanowski named John Ishkan's Jerome Gambit the "Trashcan Opening", I presented a Koltanowski game that was a Philidor Defense with a Jerome touch. For extra measure, I added a 2004 Kosteniuk - Skripchenko game with the same line.

It would have been appropriate then to have mentioned a related game and analysis by Francesco Recchia of Italy that had been posted to this blog a year and a half earlier in "A Kind of Jerome Gambit That Wins".

Here is the earliest example that I have found of the opening variation.

Hahlbohm,H - Moorman,L
Chicago, 1917

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qd5

Instead, Kosteniuk chose 8.Qd4. Recchia energetically recommended 8.Nc3.

Now 8...Qe8 is Black's only move.

 8...Ne7 9.Qf7+ Kxe5 10.Bf4+ Kd4 11.Qe6 Nc5 12.Be3 checkmate

After posting this, I hoped to try the line in a FICS blitz game. I was not able to reach the exact position, but I put the lessons that I had learned to good use in perrypawnpusher - NN, blitz, FICS, 2010: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 Nc6 (4...Nd7 would reach Hahlbohm - Moorman, above. Best was 4...exd4) 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...Bg4 is an interesting gambit; otherwise, 5...Qe7 seems necessary) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Black resigned

A New Opening?

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, chess opening maven and book author Bill Wall sent me a copy of the September 1958 issue of the Precita Valley Chess Herald ("A Monthly Chess News Bulletin Published by the Precita Valley Chess Club Representing The San Francisco Bay Area Chess League") which had an interesting article. 

A New Opening?

During the U.S. Open at Rochester, Minnesota, there was a small tourney taking place on the side. In it was one man named John Ishkan, who, during one round as White, played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ After White's fifth move his opponent went up to George Koltanowski and asked, "What opening is this?". Kolty said that he did not know but that he would feed the moves to the IBM machine and find out. A little later the player of the Black pieces asked George, "Did the machine have the answer?" "Yes," was the reply, "It's the ASHCAN OPENING!" -- To complete the story, by the way, Ishkan won the game!

A few comments:

The July 1958 cover story of Chess Review was on "A Chess Playing Program for the I.B.M. 704" by Alex Bernstein. This is likely the "IBM machine" that George Koltanowski was joking about consulting with.

I was surprised that Kolty was unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit, but there was little written about it in the 1950s (I can think only of L. Elliott Fletcher's 1954 Gambit's Accepted that had a game and analysis), certainly nothing in the recently released (1957) Modern Chess Openings, 9th Edition.

My files show a Koltanowski game from a 1953 blindfold simultaneous display in Brussels, which, while a Philidor Defense, has abit of a Jerome touch to it:

Koltanowski,G - NN
blind simul Brussels, 1953

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qd5 Ne7 9.Qf7+ Kxe5 10.Bf4+ Kd4 11.Na3 b5 12.Qe6 Kc5 13.Be3+ Kb4 14.Qb3+ Ka5 15.Qxb5 checkmate

It is interesting to note that the same opening line appeared in a game between Alexandra Kosteniuk and Almira Skripchenko (both rated 2400+ at the time) over 50 years later, only this time it was drawn.

Kosteniuk,A - Skripchenko,A
PWPW S.A Chess Cup, Warsaw, POL (7), 20.06.2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qd4 c5 9.Nxd7+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ Kxd7 11.Qb5+ Ke7 12.Nc3 Kf7 13.Be3 Nf6 14.e5 Ng4 15.0-0 Qh4 16.h3 Nxe3 17.fxe3+ Kg8 18.Qb3+ Kh7 19.Nd5 Qg5 20.Rf7 Bxh3 21.Qd3+ Kg8 22.Nf4 Kxf7 23.Nxh3 Qxe5 24.Rf1+ Kg8 25.Qc4+ Kh7 26.Qd3+ Kg8 27.Qc4+ Kh7 28.Qd3+ Kg8 29.Qc4+ drawn


(By the way, you might want to check out Bill's new chess magazine White Knight.)

Unorthodox Chess Openings Magazines

If you enjoy playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you probably have an interest in playing other "unorthodox" chess openings, as well.

While you may not have the Myers Openings Bulletins at hand (M.O.B. 1979-1988, New M.O.B. 1992-1996)

I've mentioned on this blog three other magazines devoted to unusual opening lines that are still being published.

Kaissiber, a German language magazine published by FIDE Master Stefan Bücker, is always a treasure trove of solid chess creativity and chess history. The current Issue #37 has a large article on the Sicilian Wing Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.b4!?), for example, and on a reversed Budapest Gambit coming out of the Tal Gambit in the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3!? dxe4 4.Ng5) amongst other explorations.

The grand-daddy of current unorthodox openings magazines is Rainer Schlenker's Randspringer. The current publication is a triple issue, full of "Kaffeehaus-Schach". Schlenker's imagination knows few bounds, but he frequently plays the openings he presents, and his games are amusing and educational.

A relative "youngster" in the group is the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter. Issue #26 recently appeared. Yes, that is a picture of Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk on the cover. Editor Gary K. Gifford has an interview with Ms. Kosteniuk on the inside pages. There is also a ton of games by Philip du Chattel, who loves to play Nh6 in Hippopotamus style formations. Also catching my eye was more thought, analysis and games on the Tayler Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Be2!?).

Why not check them all out?