Strangest Beast

Here is the last game of the Philidor1792 - Slayman match, testing a particular opening. With a time control of 2 0, the outcome rests on any number of things, including the "33rd piece" - the clock.

Again: a 2-minute game is almost too fast for me to breathe, let alone play interesting chess. Nice work, gentlemen.

Philidor1792 - Slayman
2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Nc6

After the first three moves we have come to expect, White tosses in 4.Nf3 and Black adds 4...Nc6, bypassing the Urusov Gambit and moving on to the Two Knights Game, although lichess.org labels the line "Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Reti Defense".

 5.Bxf7+

The Jerome-ish sacrifice.

5...Kxf7 6.e5 Ne4 7.c3 d5 

Again, White seeks to develop after 7...dxc3 8.Nxc3, and again Black does not cooperate - this time moving his other d-pawn.

8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Nbd2 Rf8 10.O-O Bxd2 11.Bxd2 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand and retains his extra piece.

White's protected passed "Jerome pawn" is not yet a factor in the game.

12.h3 Be6 

(In a slower game it would be worth pointing out 12...Rxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd2 )

13.Be3 Qe8 14.Rc1 Qh5  

15.Kh2

White sees there will be trouble on the Kingside, but might have done better to offer the exchange of Queens with 15.Ng5. 

15...Bxh3 16.Ng1 Qxd1

Black does White a favor. The Queen exchange takes the energy out of the attack - but it also makes calculation in the position a bit easier; and the second player still maintains his advantage.

17.Rfxd1 Be6 

Black has the extra piece - but the clock is ticking away.

18.f3 Rad8 19.fxe4 dxe4 20.Ne2 Nb4 21.Rxc7 

When in doubt, and time trouble, grab material.

Stockfish 8 recommends the rambling line 21.Nf4 Bg4 22.Rd2 c6 23.Kg3 Bf5 24.Rf2 Nd3 25.Nxd3 exd3 26.a4 h6 27.Rcf1 Be4 28.b4 Rxf2 29.Rxf2 Bd5 30.Rd2 Bc4 31.Rf2 g5 32.Rf1 Kg7 33.Rf2 Rf8 34.Rxf8 Kxf8 35.Kf2 Ke7 36.Bc1 Ke6 which it sees as favoring Black, but which looks pretty drawish due to Bishops-of-opposite-colors.

21...Nd3 

Not enough time to figure out 21...Nd5 22.Rc3 Bg4 23.Rd2 Bxe2 24.Rxe2 Nxc3 25.bxc3 Kf7 and the extra exchange helps Black.

22.b3 White won on time. 

Faster Than A Speeding Strange Beast

Continuing to present the games from the bullet match at lichess.org between Philidor1792 and Slayman, using the unusual Jerome Gambitish line mentioned a couple of posts ago - see "Jerome Gambit: Strange Beast".

Philidor1792 - Slayman
2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bxf7+ 

Here we go. Philidor1792 was successful with this line in this rocket-fast match, winning three games, drawing one, losing none.

4...Kxf8 5.e5 Ng8

As we have seen, the best defense starts with 5...Qe7 6.Qe2 Ne8. However, in a 2 0 game you barely have time to breathe, let alone analyze deeply. Knowing anything about the line is a great advantage.

6.Nf3 Bc5 7.c3 d3

Black has no intention of helping White's development with 7...dxc3 8.Nxc3.

8.Qxd3 Bb6 9.O-O Ne7 10.Qc4+ Kf8 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bf4 Rg8 

"Objectively" Black is better, with a piece for a pawn, but his position is horribly cramped and undeveloped.

13.Nbd2 g5 14.Bg3 Nbc6 15.Ne4 Nf5 16.Nf6 Nxg3

Yipes! This overlooks a checkmate-in-two.

17.Qxg8+ Ke7 18.Qg7+

Move, move, move! Missing 18.Nd5#. Move, move, move!

18...Ke6 19.hxg3 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kxf6 

In a game with a slower time control, exchanging Queens would not be the best plan. Here White is up the exhange, and he can calculate better (and faster) with fewer pieces on the board.

22.Nc4 d5 23.Nxb6 axb6 24.a3 Be6 25.Rae1 c5 

Black needs to activate his Queenside pawn majority.

26.Re3 d4 27. cxd4 cxd4 28.Re4 Rd8 29. Rd1 d3 30.Rd2 Bf5 

31.Rb4 Rc8 32.Rxb6+ Rc6 33.Rxc6+ bxc6 34.f3 Ke5 35.Kf2 Kd4

36.g4 Bg6 37.g3 Kc4 38.Ke3 Kb3 

39.Rxd3+ 

An option always available to the one ahead the exchange.

39...Bxd3 40.Kxd3 Kxb2 41.Kd4

Nice. White could have decided to run his a-pawn, but after 41.a4 Kb3 42.a5 c5 43.a6 c4+ 44.Ke4 c3 45.a7 c2 46.a8/Q c1/Q both of the Queens are back on the board, and calculation becomes a bit more time-intensive. Only the clock can beat White now, so he keeps it simpler.

41...Kxa3 42.Kc5 Kb3 43.f4 Kc3 44.f5

Now there will be only one Queen on the board, and White only needs one...

44...Kd3 45.f6 Ke4 46.f7 Kf3 47.f8=Q+ Kxg3 48.Qxh6 Kxg4 49.Kxc6 

Alas for Black, if his remaining pawn were either the f-pawn or h-pawn - and more advanced - he would still have drawing chances. Was not to be...

49...Kg3 50.Qxg5+ Kh2 51.Qg4 Kh1 52.Kd5 Kh2 53.Ke4 Kh1 54.Kf3 White won on time

Each player spent around 2 seconds per move.

Jerome Gambit: Taming the Strange Beast?

Following up on the previous post (see "Jerome Gambit: Strange Beast"), Philidor1792 sent me four games he recently played with the line (as White) in a match against Slayman, at lichess.org, at the quick speed of 2 minutes with no increment per game. Philidor1792 scored 3 1/2 - 1/2.

It is fun to first look at the two shortest - and funniest - games.

Philidor1792 - Slayman
2 0 bullet, lichess.org

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4

This is identified at lichess.org as "Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit".

3...exd4 4.Bxf7+

This is not a Jerome Gambit, but it has a Jerome feel about it, and certainly is equally outrageous.

Of course, White also had 4.Nf3, offering the Urusov Gambit; and Black could have further declined with 4...Nc6, the Two Knights Defense.


4...Kxf7 5.e5 Ne8 

The proper defense, maintaining Black's advantage, as shown in saprvade - Philidor1792, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org 2016 is 5...Qe7 6.Qe2 Ne8 etc.

6.Qf3+ Kg6 

I was amused to see that Stockfish 8 assessed the silly alternative, 6...Nf6, as completely equal (0.00), recommending the equally silly 7.Qd1, even with an analysis depth of 25 ply. 

Of course, Stockfish is confused by the possibility of repeating the position, resulting in a draw - just play the two moves and the computer leaps to point out, of course, that Black is better by 2 2/3 pawns.

After the text move, however, Stockfish 8 assesses the top 6 replies by White to lead to complete equality (0.00) again.

7.Nh3 h6 8.Nf4+ Kf7

Remember: this is a 2-minute game, and any retreat probably looks the same as any other retreat. But: not so.

The proper line was shown in another one of the games in the match: 8...Kh7 9.Qe4+ Kg8 10.Qd5+ Kh7 11.Qe4+ Ke8 12.Qd5+ Kh7 13.Qe4 drawn (by repetition).

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Ng6 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Strange Beast

I just received a game from Philidor1792, and although it is not a "regular" Jerome Gambit, it is related, or "inspired by" - and it blew my mind. It features a pretty scary gambit, completely "objectively" unsound, but very uncomfortable to play against.

You have been warned.

saprvade - Philidor1792
3 2 blitz, lichess.org 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 

So far we have a variation of the Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defense. The position could also arise from the Center Game, von der Lasa Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nf6.

Now White can play 4.Nf3 and hope to transpose into the Urusov Gambit, although Black has 4...Nc6, moving the game into a Two Knights Defense or Scotch Gambit.

4. Bxf7+

Say what??

I could find no game examples in The Database, or in the ChessBase Big Database 2016. A Google search online was of no help.

Philidor1792 pointed me toward the database at lichess.org, where I discovered that there were 41 games (including 1 0 bullet games and 3 0 blitz games) where White scored 51%.

4...Kxf7 5.e5 Qe7 6.Qe2 Ne8 

Philidor1792 is a long-time Jerome-Gambit-and-related player. He knows what he is doing with Black, but the position already looks quite uncomfortable. Remember, too, this is a 3 2 blitz game.

7.Nf3 d6 

Black's move is logical, but is a slip. Best seems the immediate safeguarding of the King with 7...Kg8 e.g. 8.Nxd4 and Stockfish 8 suggests the tortured continuation 8...c5 9.O-O Nc7 (if 9...cxd4 then 10.Qc4+ d5 11.Qxc8 Qd7 12.Qxd7 Nxd7) 10.Nf5 Qe6 11.Ne3 Nc6 12.f4 b6 13.c4 Nd4 and "of course" Black is "winning". Nice work if you can get it, as they used to say.

analysis diagram








8.Ng5+ Kg8

Of course this seems reasonable, but, as Philidor1792 points out, if 8...Kg6 then 9.e6 Bxe6 10.Nxe6 Kf7 11.Nxd4 Nc6 (or 11...Qxe2+ 12.Nxe2 Nc6) 12.Nxc6 Qxe2+ 13.Kxe2 bxc6 with an equal game.

Of course. Easy as pie, in the blink of an eye.

analysis diagram





9.Qc4+ Be6 10.Nxe6 Qf7 11.Qb3 Nd7 12.Nxd4 dxe5 13.Nf3 Bc5 14.Nc3 Qxb3 15.axb3 Nef6 

Black has pretty much weathered the storm, although White has an edge due to a slightly better pawn structure and a safer King.

16.O-O Kf7 17.Re1 Rhe8 18.Be3 Bd6 19.Bxa7 b6 20.Nb5 Rec8 

White's Queenside adventures do not seem to be amounting to much.

21.Red1 Kg8 22.Nc3 e4 23.Nd4 Nc5 24.Ncb5 Nb7 25.Nc6 Bf8 26.b4 Nd6 27.Nxd6 Bxd6 

White is still a bit better, but not by very much. What in the world are his minor pieces doing?

28.c4 Nd7 29.Rxd6 cxd6 30.Ne7+ Kf7 31.Nxc8 Rxc8 32.b3 Ra8

 33.Kf1 Ke7 34.Ke2 Kd8 35.c5 bxc5 36.bxc5 dxc5 37.Ra3 Kc7 

This looks like a time slip. If the Jerome-ish opening doesn't get you, the clock will...

38.Bxc5 Rxa3 39.Bxa3 

Facing a Bishop vs a Knight, and an outside passed pawn, Black can only hope his opponent's flag falls, but it does not do so - although almost 40 more moves are played.

39...Kc6 40.Ke3 Kd5 41.Bb2 g6 42.b4 Nf8 43.b5 Ne6 44.Ba3 Nd8 45.Be7 Nb7 46.Kf4 Ke6 47.Bf8 Kd5 48.Kg5 Ke6 49.Kh6 Kf7 50.Bb4 Kg8 51.Kg5 Kf7 52.Kf4 h5 53.Kxe4 Ke6 54.Kf4 Kf6 55.b6 g5+ 56.Ke4 Ke6 57.f4 gxf4 58.Kxf4 Kf6 59.Bc3+ Kg6 60.Ke5 Nc5 61.Kd5 Nd7 62.b7 Kf5 63.Kd6 Nb8 64.Be5 Na6 65.Kd5 Nb4+ 66.Kc5 Nd3+ 67.Kd6 Nxe5 68.b8=Q Nc4+ 69.Kc5 Ne5 70.Qh8 Ng6 71.Qxh5+ Kf6 72.Kd6 Nf8 73.h4 Ng6 74.Qg5+ Kf7 75.h5 Nf8 76.Qe7+ Kg8 77.h6 White resigned

ГАМБИТ ЖЕРОМА

I just reviewed a nice Russian language Jerome Gambit article with a balanced, not mocking, assessment of the opening (and a kind link to this blog, as well). It has several games that can be played over on the site, including ones by historical figures Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, Andres Clemente Vazquez, Henry Charlick and S.A. Sorensen; as well as modern regular visitors to this blog, Bill Wall and Philidor 1792.

Of interest, the site mentions analysis by A. Zherom, a reference I am not familiar with. (For Jerome Gambit analysis from Opening Traps by GM Ferzbery [Boris Vainstein] see this earlier blog post.)

Jerome Gambit Explosion

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last month, July 2016, saw an explosion of visits to this site - over 2 1/2 as many Readers as those who stop by on an average month.

Some of this was due to a large increase in Readers from Russia. Добро пожаловат!

While the second largest group of visitors in July was from the USA, I was astonished to see that the third largest group was from - the Republic of Mauritius! Bienvenue and welcome!

There are over 2,250 posts on this blog, and many more are planned. A brief suggested introduction:

It all starts with "Welcome!", a look at the earliest published analysis "In The Beginning...", and the most notorious Jerome Gambit game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!",

About Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, the "inventor" of the Jerome Gambit, see "The Man, The Myth, The Legend..."

For early players and analyists see "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (early)". For a more recent list, see "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)". (The latter certainly bears updating.)

What are the most important Jerome Gambit games? The list is changing, but take a peek at "The Classics I (a first look)" and "The Classics II (a first look)" for a start.

After that, you can search for a favorite move or line, or track down a favorite player (try: Blackburne, Philidor1792 and Wall for starters; or check out my modest games - perrypawnputher) - or just wander around.

Be sure to know that if you have Jerome Gambit games that you have played, I would love to see them and share them with other readers.

-Rick

A Fierce Jerome Gambit Battle

I received another Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game from chessfriend Vlastamil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic. It appears to be a correspondence game, and is a very difficult battle, ultimately being won by his opponent. It should be of interest to Readers.

Fejfar, Vlasta - Chvojka
correspondence (?) Czech Republic, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6

The annoying "Annoying Defense", favorite of computer engines (hence the name, as well, "Silicon Defense"), which drains a lot of the play out of the opening and leaves White grasping at ways to continue his attack.

8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7

For the alternative 9...Kd6 see Fejfar,V - Pressl, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1/2-1/2, 15) and Fejfar,V - Kyzlink, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1-0, 22).

10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5

11...Qh4+

Instead, 11...Bd4 was seen in Fejfar,V - Goc,P, 2015, (1/2-1/2, 70).

For 11...Qd6 see Wall,B - Qi,H, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 14); for 11...b6 see Wall,B - Redom,T, Chess.com, 2010, (1/2-1/2, 59). 

12.g3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7

See "Philidor1792 vs The Annoying Defense" Parts 1 and 2.

White has two central pawns for his sacrificed piece, and would probably hold the game in club play or online blitz play. The fact that he can make no progress against his opponent in this game strongly suggests that it was a correspondence match.

14.h3 Be6 15.d3 Rhf8 16.Ke2 Nc6 17.c3 Kg8 18.Be3 Bd6 19.g4 Ne5

20.b3 Ng6 21.Nd2 Nf4+ 22.Bxf4 Bxf4 23.Nc4 a6 24.d4 Rae8 25.e5 b5 26.Ne3 c5

27.Rhf1 b4 28.Nf5 g5 29.Nd6 Re7 30.cxb4 cxd4 31.Kd3 Rb8 32.Ne4 Bf7 White resigned

New Resource!

I recently received an exciting email from Philidor1792

Hello, Rick!I don't know whether you know this or not, but today lichess.org opened a new service of opening explorer with thousands of Jerome gambit games! Great news for any chess fun!Philidor1792

I went to the lichess.org site and started exploring. One of the first games that caught my eye was a 10-minute one, which I will present. Note: the game is annotated by the lichess.org computer, for extra interest! (My additional comments are in red - Rick.)

ninadrsane - anakmedan2555
10 0, lichess.org, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? 

C51 Italian Game: Jerome Gambit (0.28 ? -1.59) Mistake. Best move was c3. (4. c3 Nf6 5. d4)

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6?! 

(-1.60 ? -0.81) Inaccuracy. Best move was Kf8. (6...Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Kf7 10.d3 Be6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Rf8 13.O-O Kg8 14.Rf3 Kh8 15.Raf1 Qd7 16.h3)

Interesting. The computer prefers the solid King retreat of the Jerome Defense to the Jerome Gambit, instead of the more risky (more danger, more possible gain) King advance. 

7.f4 Qf6 8.Rf1 d6

An odd novelty, and not a good one, although the reasoning behind it is clear. More frequently seen is 8...g6.

9.fxe5 Qg6 10.Qe2 Ne7?

(-1.05 ? 0.35) Mistake. Best move was Kd7. (10...Kd7 11.Nc3
Ne7 12.exd6 cxd6 13.d4 Bb4 14.Bf4 Kd8 15.h3 Bd7 16.O-O-O Rc8 17.Rd3 Bxc3 18.Rg3 Qf7 19.bxc3 Rf8 20.Kb1) Messy.

11.d4 Bb4+?

(0.25 ? 1.92) Mistake. Best move was Bb6. (11...Bb6 12.d5+ Kd7 13.e6+ Kd8 14.Nc3 a5 15.e5 Bd4 16.exd6 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 cxd6 18.c4 b5 19.Be3 Rb8 20.Ba7) Very messy.

12.c3 Ba5 13.Rf3 dxe5 14.Rg3 Qf7 15.Qc4+ Kf6?!

(16.59 ? Mate in 7) Checkmate is now unavoidable. Best move was Kd6.  (15...Kd6 16.Qxf7 Bg4 17.Bg5 Rae8 18.Bxe7+ Kd7 19.Bb4+ Kc8 20.Bxa5 Bd7 21.Rxg7) 

16.dxe5+ Black resigned

A game that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome surely would have smiled at!