Good Knight

I have been enjoying the games of the RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament (over 80% of the first round games have been completed). I have shared some of the games here, but only the short ones and the ones with unusual (for the Jerome Gambit!) lines - it is clear that players are putting serious effort into opening play, and I don't want to spill anyone's "secrets" in case they want to use them in later rounds.

Still, it is possible to look at a few fun endings, each making use of a Knight or Knights.

For example, here LittleDonkey uses three pieces to achieve a checkmate.

Jean TylerGabriel - LittleDonkey

He didn't need a Queen, you say? He could have used a pawn to do the same job (cover the g2 square)? Here is another checkmate that uses a hearty, helpful pawn -

RODbr - SeinfeldFan91

As a matter of fact, Black's last move was 29...Ra2-g2#. For fun, he also could have played 29...h2# - thanks, in part, to the stalwart Knight.

Here are a couple more Knights at work:

rigidwithfear - procyk

And a single Knight:

RODbr - ZorroTheFox

And a Knight with a lot of helpers:

BigD00 - kristjan

In this last position, Black and White are roughly equal in material, but White has a move that should win the exchange. Black is not willing to give up the material, and so faces a Queen sacrifice and then suffers death by suffication...

rigidwithfear - golddog2

33.Ne5+ Kg8 34.Qe6+ Kh8 35.Nf7+ Kg8 36.Nh6+ Kh8 37.Qg8+ Rxg8 38.Nf7 checkmate

Good Knight!

Is A Draw Enough For White in the Jerome Gambit?

Given that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a "refuted" opening, should White grab the chance for a draw if he sees one? Or does this go against the whole idea of playing a wild, destabilizing and gambling opening?

Is there a point where the Gambiteer should realize that things have gotten difficult enough that he should save a half point, rather than surrender the whole thing?

The following game is an interesting example of these issues.

deriver69 - golddog2
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com 2016.

1e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nd4

An odd move, reminiscent of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit; but perhaps not too odd: there are 10 previous examples in The Database, and White won 6, lost 4.

6.Nxe5+ Ke7

Better was 6...Kf8 7.c3 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.d4 Bb6 which is about equal according to Stockfish 7.

7.d3

Instead, after 7.c3 Ne6 8.d4 Bb6 Stockfish 7 says White has the advantage.

7...d6 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Ng4 Bxg4 10.Qxg4 Nxc2

Here we have a typical messy Jerome Gambit position. Stockfish suggests that Black should take the time to get his King out of the pin, with 11...Kf8.

11.Nc3 Nxa1 12.Rxa1

White overlooks (or ignores?) the fact that his sacrifice allows him now to draw with 12.Bxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nd5+ Kf7 14.Qf5+ Kg8 15.Qe6+ Kf8 16.Qf5+ etc. But - was he even looking for a draw?

12...c6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Re1 Bd4 15.Ne4

White continues to pressure the Knight at f6.

Black would do well to further consolidate with something like 15...Qd5. Instead, he decides to be a bit more aggressive - and this gives White an opportunity that he does not miss a second time.

15...Qb6 16.Bxf6+ gxf6 17.Qg7+ Ke6 18.Qxf6+ Kd7 19.Qg7+ Ke6 20.Qf6+ Kd7 21.Qg7+ Ke6 22.Qf6+ Kd7 23.Qg7+ Ke6 24.Qf6+ Kd7 25.Qg7+ drawn by repetition

Sang Froid

The ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament continues to produce interesting and educational games.

Be sure to follow the games in the notes, too, for extra excitment!


golddog2 - deriver69
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.Nc3 

Sang froid. White answers Black's wild counter-attack (which leaves two pieces en prise; see "A Pie-in-the-Face Variation") with a rare, but simple developing move. Anything is worth a try in such a precarious position.

For the adventurer with White, despite what a computer player might say about the position, it is reassuring to know that in 222 games in The Database, White scored a scintillating 67%!

7...Bb4

Instead, 7...Nd3+ was the odd idea of the coputer Milobot, in a crazy game that veered all over the place: 8.cxd3 (8.Qxd3) 8...Bf8 (8...Bxd4) 9.Qf3+ (9.Qb3+ or 9.O-O) 9...Qf6 10.Qh5+ Qg6 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.O-O a6 13.f3 Ra7 14.Bf4 b5 15.Bxc7 Nh6 (15...Rxc7 16.Qe5+ Kd8) 16.f4 Qf7 (16...Rxc7) 17.Rae1 (17. Qe5+) 17...Qg6 (17...Rxc7) 18.f5 Qg4 $18 19.Qe5+ Be7 20.Bd6 Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 Kf8 22.Qxe7+ Kg8 23.Qf8 checkmate, LeoJustino - MiloBot, FICS, 2012. Wow.

7...Ng4, like the text in the game, also preserves Black's advantage 8.Qf3+ (8.g3 Qf6 9.Qxg4 Bxd4 10.Nd5 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qh4 Qf3+ 14.Kd2 Qxh1 15.c3 Qg2+ 16.Kd3 Be5 17.Bh6 Qh3 18.Qd8 Qxh6 19.Qxc7+ Ke8 20.Rf1 Qg7 21.Qc4 Be6 22.Nc7+ Kd7 23.Qxe6+ Kxc7 24. Rf7+ Qxf7 25.Qxf7+ Kc6 26.Qc4+ Kd7 27.Qf7+ Ne7 28.Qb3 b6 29.Qb5+ Nc6 30 b4 Rhf8 31.Qd5 Rf3+ 32.Ke2 Raf8 33.b5 Rf2+ 34.Ke1 Bxc3+ 35.Kd1 Rd2+ 36.Ke1 Rxd5+ White resigned, CoachCrupp - mathgk, FICS, 2010) 8...N8f6 9.dxc5 Nxh2 10.Qh3 Qxh3 11.gxh3 Nf3+ 12.Ke2 Nd4+ 13.Kd3 Nc6 14.a3 b6 15.Be3 Ba6+ 16.Kd2 Ne5 17.Rad1 Rhe8 18.Kc1 Nc4 19.cxb6 cxb6 20.Bf4 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Rxd7+ Ke6 White resigned, Darthnik - picator, FICS, 2011. 

8.dxe5 

The wildness continued after 8.O-O with 8...Ng4 9.h3 h5 10.Qf3+ Qf6 11.hxg4 hxg4 12.Qxg4 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qh4 14.Qf5+ Nf6 15.f3 d6 16.Qf4 Qxf4 17.Bxf4 b6 18.e5 Nd5 19.Bd2 Ba6 20.Rf2 dxe5 21.dxe5 Rae8 22.f4 g6 23.Re1 Ke6 24.g4 Rhf8 25.Kg2 Ne7 26.Kg3 Bb7 27.c4 c5 28.Bc3 Ba6 29.Re4 Rd8 30 a4 Rd1 31.Rh2 Rg1+ 32.Kf3 Bb7 33.Ke3 Rxg4 34.Rf2 Black forfeited on time in a winning position,  PLURkidIT - CEZRUN, FICS, 2007.

8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxe4+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Kxe2 Ne7 

A lot of the tension has been taken out of the position, and with only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, White needs to find a way to make use of his open lines and Black's slightly unsafe King.

This time, he is not successful.

12.c4 b6 13.g4 Bb7 14.f3 Rae8 15.Bb2 Ng6 

16.Kf2 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Rxe5 18.Rad1 d6 19.Rd3 Rhe8 20.Rf1 Re2+ 21.Kg3 Rxc2 22.Rd4 Ree2 23.h3 g5 24.f4 Re3+ 25.Rf3 Rxf3 checkmate

Gambling With the Gambler

It is not for nothing that Gary K. Gifford coined the nickname "The Jerome Gamble" for 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. White takes a big risk with "Jerome's Double Opening".

Defenders must be warned, however, as they were in the American Supplement to Cook's 'Synopsis'  (1885) that it is "not an attack to be trifled with".

Both players in the game below threw fortune to the wind. Each will no doubt learn from their insights and oversights.

rigidwithfear - deriver69
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 

Black's two alternatives for capture, 5...exd4 and 5...Bxd4, are stronger. Leaving the pawn at e5 open for capture gives Whites' ideas - and chances.

6.Nxe5+ 

6...Ke6

Feisty - and foolish. The equivalent to drawing to an inside straight.

Instead, 6...Kf8 is the safest and leaves Black with the advantage.

7.f4

White does not realize his good luck. Instead, he had 7.Qg4+!? which promises good things:  7...Kxe5 (Forced; 7...Kf6 leads relentlessly to checkmate: 8.Qf4+ Nf5 9.Qxf5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nc3 Bxf2+ 12.Ke2 c6 13.Nc4+ Kc5 14.Kd3 Qa5 15.Qxf2+ Kb4 16.a3+ Qxa3 17.bxa3#;  there is little hope in 7...Ke7 8.Qxg7+ Kd6 9.Nf7+ Kc6 10.Nxd8+ or 7... Kd6 8.Nf7+ Ke7 9.Nxd8 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Bd4 11.Kxc2 d6 12.Qg3 Kxd8) 8.Bf4+ Kf6 (8...Kxe4 9.Nc3 checkmate, Darrenshome - WildErmine, blitz, FICS, 2006 [1-0, 9]) 9.Bg5+ Kf7 7.Bxd8 and the Black Queen is gone, anyway.

7...d6

Black is not familiar with this gambit, and so he defends. His best chance was to counterattack with 7...Qh4+ 8.g3 Qh3 and he would be better.

8.Qg4+ Ke7

Avoiding 8...Kf6 9.Qg5+ Ke6 10.f5+ Kxe5 11.Bf4+ Kxe4 12.Nc3 checkmate, similar to Darrenshome - WildErmine, blitz, FICS, 2006, mentioned above.

9. Qg5+

Ouch. He had 9.Qxg7+ Ke6 10.Qf7 checkmate

9...Ke8

The "only" move, but a saving one. Now the odds turn against the Gambler again.

10.Qxg7 dxe5 11.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 12.Ke2 Bg4+ 13.Kf1 Qd1 checkmate

Rapid Destruction

Some games in the ongoing Jerome Gambit tournament at RedHotPawn were over in an eye-blink. I present six (plus one), for completeness sake - but don't look away, as you might miss something.

Stay with me until the end, however, as the last game is a textbook lesson in tactical suddenness!


rkmmax - HikaruShindo
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time


rkmmax -junnujannu
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time

rkmmax - Dalradian
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time

HikaroShindo - rkmmax
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time


junnujannu - rkmmax
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time


Dalradian - rkmmax
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time




deriver69 - rigidwithfear
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.O-O d6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.d3 Bg4

9.Qe1 Nd4 10.Qd2 h6 11.f3 

Missing that this allows a checkmate in three moves.

11...Bh5 

Or 11...Ne2+ 12.Kh1 Ng3+ 13.hxg3 hxg5 checkmate.

12.Nh3 

Missing something.

12...Nxf3+ White resigned

Update: RedHotPawn Jerome Gambit Tournament

The field for the Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn (see "New Jerome Gambit Tournament") is complete, and the games have started - in fact, almost 2/3 of them have been completed already!

Group 1
SeinfeldFan91
ZorroTheFox
RODbr
eagleswing

Group 2
procyk
deriver69
rigidwithfear
golddog2

Group 3
kristjan
LittleDonkey
JeanTylerGabriel
BigD00

Group 4
junnujannu
HikaruShindo
Dalradian
rkmmax

There is an interesting mix of Jerome Gambit veterans and novices, so the play is quite interesting.

A win is worth 3 points. A draw is worth 1 point. The leader(s) of each group will advance to a final group, the winner of which will win the tournament.

Results and games will appear here.

Jerome Gambit. "Swindle". But I Repeat Myself.

The following game is my first completed Jerome Gambit from the ongoing Chess.com "Giuoco Piano Tournament" (3 days/move). I got rattled by early comments by my opponent, veered off into a variation I was unfamiliar with, and was only able to survive because of a "swindle" - which sounds like the standard tale when White wins in this opening, anyhow.

perrypawnpusher - shalloworange
"Giuoco Piano Tournament", Chess.com, 2016

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+

At this point I received a message from my opponent

Hello Rick, I think you just taught me a lesson about how to handle games with weaker opponents (just give them 'material odds' by choosing play accordingly). So thank you for the lesson, let's have fun. (Unless I am completely misreading things, in which case at least you will be having fun about this comment  :-)  )

My response was pretty straight-forward, but I suspected that someone who understood my giving "Jerome Gambit odds" might be prepared for a fight. 

I don't think I know enough chess to teach anyone a lesson. I just finished a tournament with lots of serious chess and I would like to have some fun in this one.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+Kd6 8.Nc3

I usually play f2-f4 here, but, like I said above, I was a bit spooked, so I decided to play something even further off of the beaten path.

8...c6 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Bf4

Here I have to admit, as I have in the past, that I do not always share everything that I have discovered about the Jerome Gambit.

Some of it is out of respect: go back to earlier blog posts to some of the games played by the top Jerome Gambiteers, and you will see that frequently they are thinly annotated by me. Who am I to publicly judge MrJoker, Philidor 1792, Bill Wall - and a host of other brighter (than me) lights?

Including Geoff Chandler ("greenpawn34"), who once played 10.Be3 here greenpawn34 - Homedepotov, redhotpawn.com, 2008 (1/2-1/2, 22)

10...Qf6 11.O-O-O Qxf5 12.Rxd4+ Kc5

I again exchanged messages with my opponent.

Er, um... I did not expect you to go after the rook. This will take some thought (auto complete [on my phone] suggested "meds"?!).

His response

Quite openly: I was entertaining also Ke6, and that is probably what I would have played against an equal opponent because I thought that Ke6 would probably be a relatively safe way to keep some material advantage. But hey, you said you wanted to have fun and I am all for having fun, too :-)

I was surprised by my opponent's move because it seemed dangerous for Black to advance his King like that.

13.Be3

Wow! A Queen sac!?

No, no, no, no, no.

Merely a swindle.

Once I found the move, I worked through every move by Black's Queen in response, and eventually was convinced that they would all lead to checkmate.

13...Qe6 14.Rd5+ Kc4 15.Rc5+ Black resigned

It is checkmate the next move.

I am just the kind of guy who looks like he would protect a Rook, overlooking the fact that he should complete the exchange of Queens instead.

Just the kind of guy who would play the Jerome Gambit.

But, let's be fair. If Black had played 13...Kb6 instead of moving Her Majesty, I would have had nothing better to play than 14.exf5, recapturing the Queen, after all.

We would then have been back to debating if the two extra White "Jerome pawns" balanced out the extra Black piece.

But, I appreciate shalloworange's willingness to contribute to a fun game. Well, at least it was fun for me.

Tournaments Update

The third round of the Chess.com Italian Game Tournament is approaching its conclusion, with one game remaining to be completed. mikerj, with 7.5 points, is playing LVercotti, with 7 points, battling for the top spot in round three, the final round.

Curiously, their positions are reversed in the overall standings, with LVercotti having 26 points and mikerj having 25.5. That might mean that while a draw would be sufficient for mikerj to win round three, but he would need a win to finish up on the top of the tournament.

I am facing a similar, if diluted, situation: I am clearly going to finish third in round three, ahead of Diogenes_of_Sinope, but he is going to leap over me by .5 points in the final standings. I guess 4th place out of 27 contestants isn't too bad.

The upcoming (players started signing up a couple of months ago) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn that I mentioned a month and a half ago now has 14 of its needed 16 participants. I'd love to help them complete the field, but each time I check on it I receive the reasonable message "Sorry, you are not eligible to enter this tournament. This tournament is only available to subscribers." Oh, well. I will keep you updated.

The new 5-player Chess.com "Italian Game: Guioco Piano" tournament has just started, and I expect to play 4 Jerome Gambits - in fact, I just sacced the Bishop in game 1 (I have black in the other games, but will eventually have my chance at 4.Bxf7ch!?). You will see them as they are completed. 

New Jerome Gambit Tournament

I will be following the progress of the upcoming (to start this month) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn.

The list of players signed up so far includes SeinfeldFan91, who won last year's Jerome Gambit tournament. Playing as well will be rigidwithfear, who played in one RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014 as well as last year's; and ZorroTheFox, deriver69, and BigD00, who played in another RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014.

The tournament is open to subscribers, not just RedHotPawn members, so I will not be joining in the fun.

RHP JG Tourney Round 3: Unexpected End

The ongoing Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at RedHotPawn.com came to a sudden end in the third round, when the two-game match between SeinfeldFan91 and Swiss Toni, the two top-rated players, was decided by two early resignations.

SeinfeldFan91 - Swiss Toni
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Black resigned

Swiss Toni - SeinfeldFan91
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Kxf7 White resigned

RHP JG Tourney Round 2 Games (1)

In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, there have been some more completed games, from the second round.

SeinfeldFan91 defeated Red House two games to none, to advance to the next round.

SeinfeldFan91 - Red House

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5 Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 (returning the two sacrificed pieces) 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 (TN according to The Database) Re8 11.d3 Kg8 12.O-O a6 13.Qb3 Kh8 14.Nc3 Rab8 15.f5 h6 16.Be3 Ng4 17.Ba7 Ra8 18.Bd4 Qh4 (a short-lived counter-attack) 19.h3 Ne5 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.f6 gxf6 22.Rxf6 Re6 23.Raf1 Rxf6 24.Rxf6 Kh7 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Rf7 Kh8 27.Nf6 Black resigned

Red House - SeinfeldFan91

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.O-O (A "modern" Jerome Gambit variation; in this game White's attack never quite gets going.) Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d3 Rf8 8.h3 Kg8 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Nce2 Qe8 11.c3 Qg6 12.Ng3 Kh8 13.b4 Bb6 14.a4 a6 15.b5 Na5 16.Rb1 axb5 17.axb5 Nd7 18.Bd2 Qxg3 19.d4 Qg6 20.Qe2 Bc4 White Resigned


Swiss Toni defeated Marko Krale two games to none, to advance to the next round.

Marko Krale - Swiss Toni

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.O-O (Another "modern" Jerome) Nf6 6.c3 Nxe4 7.Qe2 d5 8.d3 Nf6 9.Bg5 Bd6 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Bh4 Re8 12.Re1 g5 13.Bg3 Kg8 14.Nb3 Kh7 15.h3 Nh5 16.Bh2 g4 17.hxg4 Bxg4 18.Qe3 Ng7 19.Bg3 Nf5 White Resigned

Swiss Toni - Marko Krale

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.Qh5 Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.d4 Qe7 11.O-O Bd7 (Charlick - Mann, corres, 1881, [1-0, 72] continued 11...Ng4) 12.Nc3 Bc6 13.Bd2 Kf7 14.f4 Nxe4 15.f5 Nf8 16.d5 Bd7 17.Nxe4 h6 18.f6 gxf6 19.Bc3 f5 20.Bxh8 Black resigned


Although Swiss Toni - jecidi and jecidi - Marko Krale from the second round have yet to be completed, round three's match between SeinfeldFan91 and Swiss Toni has begun.