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
In the following game the computer was meandering its way toward victory, when suddenly it made an odd move, losing half a point. Machines don't blink, do they?
Wall, Bill - Bison engine
Palm Bay, FL, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
The "silicon" (i.e. popular with computers) or "annoying" defense.
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Kf7
For Bill's experience with 9...Ke7 (which Stockfish 7, at 30 ply, sees as equivalent) see Wall,B - Redom,T, Chess.com, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 59), Wall,B - Qi,H, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 14), Wall,B - ubluk, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 35) and Wall, B - Guest3551214, 2013 (0-1, 35.)
10.Qh5+ g6
About 1/2 pawn better than 10...Kf8 (in Stockfish 7's evaluation) as in Wall,B - Guest1839713, PlayChess.com, 2013, (1-0, 25).
11.Qxe5
11...Bd4 12.Rf1+ Nf6 13.Qf4 Rf8
13...Re8 was seen in Wall,B - Guest3789034, PlayChess.com, 2013, (0-1,35)
14.c3 Bb6 15.d4 Qe7 16.Qh4 Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand, leaving White with the insecure King. Although Bison has a piece for two pawns, Stockfish 7 sees it as only about 2/3 of a pawn ahead. Bill Wall is creeping up on the computer!
17.Bh6 Rf7 18.Nd2 Qe6 19.Rf4 Bd7 20.Nf3
Or 20...0-0-0!?.
20...Nh5 21.Rxf7 Qxf7 22.Ne5 Qe6 23.Nxd7 Qxd7 24.O-O-O Qf7
25.e5
Bill tests the computer's willingness to pawn-grab, a traditional silicon weakness: 25...Qxa2?! 26.d5!? Re8 27.Qg4!? which looks unclear. The computer declines.
25...c6 26.g4 Ng7 27.b3 Rf8 28.Kb2 Bd8 29.Qh3 Be7 30.Qg2 g5
Black's pieces are finally cooperating, and his advantage is clear.
31.Rd2 a5 32.a4 Qe6 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.h3 Rf4
White is battening down the hatches.
35. Rd3 Qf7 36.Qc2 h6 37.Rd2 Rf3 38.Rd3 Rxd3 39.Qxd3 Qf2+ 40.Kc1 Ba3+ 41.Kd1 Qg1+ 42.Ke2 Qh2+ 43.Kf1 Be7
It is not clear what, if anything, Black has gained with its checks, but it probably has not lost anything, either.
44.Qe3 Qb2 45.c4 b6 46.Kg1 Qa2 47.Kh1 Qc2 48.Kg1 Bd8
Bill refuses to crack under pressure. Can the computer find anything to make progress?
49.e6 Qd1+ 50.Kf2 Be7 51.Qe5+ Bf6
This is not Black's best defense - in fact, it leads to an equal game - and it is not clear what the computer missed.
52.Qc7+ Kh8 53.Qc8+ Kh7 54.Qd7+ Bg7 55.c5
White riskily tries for more than the draw by repetition, which he could have forced the computer to find after 55.Kg2, especially after the dangerous 55...Qxb3 56.e7.
55...Qxd4+
An accurate evaluation of the winning response 55...bxc5!? 56.dxc5 Qxd7 57.exd7 Bf6 was probably over both the computer's and the human's horizon.
Now the combatants cooperate to split the point.
56.Ke2 Qe4+ 57.Kd2 Qg2+ 58.Ke1 Qg3+ 59.Ke2 Qe5+ 60.Kd1 Qa1+ 61.Ke2 Qb2+ 62.Kf1 Qxb3 63.e7 Qxh3+ 64.Kf2 Qh2+ 65.Kf3 Qf4+ 66.Kg2 Qe4+ 67.Kf1 drawn
Wow!
Chessfriend Vlasta Fejfar sent a recent Jerome Gambit that he played. I am not sure if it is a correspondence game, like the previous three we have examined - see "Correspondence Play (Part 1)", "Correspondence Play (Part 2)" and "Correspondence Play (Part 3)" - but it is a long and difficult affair, showing the persistence and energy that sometimes is required of the gambiteer when his inital attack is warded off. His (expected) half-point is well-earned.
I have added some game references to assist the next Jerome Gambiteer who embarks on the journey.
Fejfar, Vlastimil - Goc, Pavel
2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
Ah, yes, the "annoying defense". Black gives back a piece and snuffs out much of White's attacking play. Well, Vlasta has faced this before!
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7
Interesting. Fejfar,V - Pressl, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1/2-1/2, 15) and Fejfar,V - Kyzlink, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1-0, 22) continued 9...Kd6.
At 25 ply, Stockfish 6 shows the tiniest preference for 9...Ke7 over 9...Kd6, but likes 9...Kf7 best of all.
10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5
Also seen: 11.Rf1+ Nf6 12.Qxe5 Bb4 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qf3 Re8 15.c3 Bf8 16.d4 Kg7 17.Bg5 Be7 18.e5 Ng4 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.h3 Nh6 21.Qf6+ Kg8 22.Qf4 Nf7 23.Nd2 c5 24.Ne4 cxd4 25.cxd4 Bf5 26.Nc3 Qb6 27.0-0-0 Rc8 28.g4 Bd7 29.Rd2 Qe6 30.Kb1 b5 31.Ne4 Kg7 32.Re2 Bc6 33.Nc5 drawn, Philidor1792 - NN, friendly match without time control, 2012.
11...Bd4
A number of games where Philidor1792 faced 11...Qh4+ can be found in the "Philidor1792 vs The Annoying Defense (Part 2)" post.
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.Rf1+
An alternate is 12.Qh5+: 12...g6 13.Qf3+ Nf6 14.d3 Bg4 15.Qf4 Qd6 16.Qxd6 cxd6 17.Nd2 (17.c3 Bc5 18.Rf1 h6 19.d4 Bb6 20.h3 Be6 21.e5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Bf5 23.g4 Rae8 24.Kd1 Rxe5 25.gxf5 Rxf5 26.Rxf5 gxf5 27.Kc2 Kg6 28.Nd2 Re8 29.Nf3 Re4 30.Bd2 a6 31.Rf1 Bc5 32.b4 Ba7 33.Kd3 b5 34.a4 bxa4 35.c4 Nh5 36.Ra1 Nf4+ 37.Bxf4 Rxf4 38.Nd2 Bf2 39.Rxa4 Be1 40.Rxa6+ Kg5 41.c5 Bxd2 42.b5 Bb4 43.c6 Rh4 44.c7 Rxh3+ 45.Kd4 Bc3+ 46.Kd5 Rd3+ 47.Ke6 Re3+ 48.Kf7 Bf6 49.Rxf6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Harshini,A, chess-db, 2015) 17...Rac8 18.c3 Bb6 19.Rf1 Rhe8 20.h3 Bd7 21.Nc4 Rxc4 22.dxc4 Rxe4+ 23.Kd1 Rxc4 24.Bg5 Bd8 25.g4 h5 26.Bxf6 Bxf6 27.g5 Bf5 28.gxf6 Bxh3 29.Rf2 Bf5 30.Rd2 Rc6 31.Ke2 Kxf6 32.Ke3 Ke7 33.Re1 Rc5 34.Kf4+ Be6 35.Rde2 Rf5+ 36.Kg3 Rf6 37.Kh4 Kf7 38.Re4 a5 39.b3 Ke7 40.c4 b6 41.Kg5 Kf7 42.R1e2 Rf5+ 43.Kh6 Rf6 44.R2e3 Ke7 45.a3 Kf7 46.a4 Ke7 47.Rd4 Kd7 48.Kg7 Ke7 49.Rh4 g5 50.Rxh5 Rf7+ 51.Kg6 g4 52.Rh4 Rf6+ 53.Kg5 Rf7 54.Rh6 Rf5+ 55.Kxg4 Rf6+ 56.Kg5 Rf5+ 57.Kh4 Rf4+ 58.Kg3 Rf6 59.Rxf6 Kxf6 60.Kf4 Bd7 61.Ke4 Bc6+ 62.Kd4 Kf7 63.Rh3 Kg6 64.Rh8 Kf7 65.Rb8 b5 66.axb5 Bf3 67.b6 Ke6 68.b7 Kd7 69.Rd8+ Kxd8 70.b8Q+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Alibak, chess-db, 2015.
12...Nf6 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.Qe2
Aha! A human being improves upon 14.Qg5 of Fritz 5.32 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003 (0-1, 32). Still, White has to be careful, with his King in the middle of the board, and with Black having much better piece development.
14...Be6 15.c3 Be5 16.g3 c5 17.d3 Qd6
18.Bf4 Bg4 19.Qe3 Bh3 20.Rf3 Bg4 21.Rf1
White is willing to repeat the position and agree on a draw.
21...Re8 22.Nd2 Bxf4 23.gxf4 b5
More worry for White. He holds on to the fact that Black's second Rook is still blocked out of play.
24.e5 Nd5 25.Qg3 Qg6 26.Ne4 c4 27.Kd2 Bf5 28.Nd6 Rd8
29.dxc4
Bold. I would have chosen the more solid 29.d4, but then Black would probably play 29...b4!?
29...bxc4 30.Rae1 Qxg3 31.hxg3 Ne7 32.Ke3 Bd3 33.Rg1 Nf5+ 34.Nxf5 Bxf5
The piece exchanges have reduced the danger to White's King (who is well-placed to support the "Jerome pawns") but Black still believes he can make something out of his piece vs 2 pawns advantage.
35.Rd1 Kf7 36.Rd4 h5 37.Rgd1 Rc8 38.Rh1 g6 39.Rh2 Ke7
The game has taken on an oddly closed nature. That does not last long, however.
40.a4 Rc6 41.Rd5 Be6 42.Rb5 Rc7 43.Rd2 h4 44.gxh4 Rxh4 45.Rd4 Rh3+ 46.Kf2 Rd3 47.a5 Rxd4 48.cxd4 Bd7 49.Rb8 Ke6 50.Ke3 Kd5
Black continues to push his small endgame advantage.
51.a6 c3 52.bxc3 Rxc3+ 53.Kf2 Bc8 54.Ra8 Rc7 55.Ke3 Rc3+ 56.Kf2 Kxd4 57.Rxa7 Ke4 58.Rg7 Kf5
Black does not want to trade off his last pawn (i.e. 58...Bxa6 59.Rxg6) but I think he misjudges the resulting reduced endgame.
59.a7 Ra3 60.Rf7+ Kg4 61.Rf8 Bb7 62.e6 Rxa7 63.e7 Bc6 64.e8Q Bxe8 65.Rxe8 Kxf4
66.Rf8+ Kg4 67.Rc8 g5 68.Rc3 Kh4 69.Kg1 Ra2 70.Rb3 g4
At this point the game was turned over to a referee for ajudication.
I am pretty sure that anyone familiar with Philidor's position will see that the game is drawn. Failing that, consulting the online Nalimov tablebases will also show that the point should be split.
Excelsior!
I am sure that everyone who plays the Jerome Gambit has a particular defense that is the biggest pain to play against. For chessfriend Philidor1792, my guess is the 7...d6 defense (so far unnamed, but a great candidate is "The Annoying Defense") is the one.
Philidor1792 has sent another batch of games, and since a good percentage of them are against "The Annoying Defense" I thought I would aggregate them, and a few others, and show them all.
Philidor1792 - NN
friendly match, 5-minutes blitz, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
Black casually gives back a piece and his uncastled King (annoyingly) remains relatively safe.
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5
Here Black has several alternatives:
11...Qd6 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Qg5+ Kd7 14.Qxg7+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Qi,H, Chess.com, 2011;
11...b6 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qf3+ Nf6 14.d3 Bg4 15.Qf4 Bd6 16.Qf2 Be5 17.h3 Qd6 18.0-0 Bd4 19.Be3 Bxb2 20.hxg4 Bxa1 21.g5 Ke7 22.Bf4 Qe6 23.gxf6+ Bxf6 24.e5 Bg7 25.Nc3 Raf8 26.Qd4 Qc6 27.Bg5+ Ke6 28.Bf6 Bxf6 29.exf6 Kf7 30.Ne4 h6 31.Rf3 Rd8 32.Qe3 Rde8 33.c3 Qe6 34.Qf4 Qe5 35.Qh4 c5 36.Qh3 Qd5 37.Qg3 Rd8 38.Qf4 Rh7 39.Qc7+ Qd7 40.Qg3 g5 41.Qf2 Kg8 42.Rh3 Qe6 43.Qe2 Qf7 44.a4 Qg6 45.Qa2+ Kh8 46.a5 g4 47.Re3 Rhd7 48.axb6 axb6 49.Qb1 Rb7 50.Re1 Qh5 51.Rf1 Qf7 52.Qc1 Kh7 53.Rf4 Qg6 54.Qf1 Ra7 55.Qe2 g3 56.Rf1 Kh8 57.c4 Kg8 58.Qe3 Kh7 59.Qf3 Rf7 Draw, Wall,B - Redom,T, Chess.com, 2010;
11...Bd4 12.Rf1+ Nf6 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.Qg5 h6 15.Qf4 Qe7 16.d3 Bg4 17.Nd2 Rf8 18.h3 Bh5 19.c3 g5 20.Qg3 Be5 21.Qe3 Bf4 22.Rxf4 gxf4 23.Qxa7 Qg7 24.Qf2 Nd7 25.d4 Kh7 26.e5 Rhg8 27.Kf1 Qg6 28.Kg1 f3 29.g3 Qxg3+ 30.Qxg3 Rxg3+ 31.Kf2 Rg2+ 32.Kf1 Bg6 White resigned, Fritz 5.32 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003.
11...Qh4+ 12.g3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+
The Queen exchange has been Philidor1792's choice, but, years ago, a computer had a different idea: 13.Rf1+ Kg6 14.Qxe7 Nxe7 15.c3 Bh3 16.Rf4 Bd6 17.Rh4 Bd7 18.d4 Rae8 19.e5 Nd5 20.a3 Be7 21.Re4 Bf5 22.Re2 Bd3 23.Rg2 Rhf8 24.Bf4 c5 25.Nd2 Kh5 26.Rc1 Nxf4 27.gxf4 Rxf4 28.Kd1 Rg4 29.Rxg4 Kxg4 30.b4 Rf8 31.bxc5 Rf2 32.h3+ Kxh3 33.Rb1 Bxb1 34.Nxb1 Rf1+ 35.Kc2 Rxb1 36.Kxb1 h5 37.d5 Bxc5 38.d6 Kg4 39.Kc2 h4 40.Kd3 h3 41.Kc4 b6 42.d7 Be7 White resigned, Colossus - Rybka v1.0 Beta.w32, USA, 2006
[to be continued]
