The Classics II (a first look)

As mentioned in the last post, I have suggested that those who play, and those who face, the Jerome Gambit, would benefit from becoming familiar with "the classics" of that line.

That got me thinking: What would those classics be?

Here are the additional games from a preliminary sketch.

6. Charlick - Mann, correspondence, Australia, 1881

The Australian player Charlick, who had already played an "Evans-Jerome Gambit" against Holloway in 1877, won a long correspondence game with the Jerome Gambit against John Mann in 1881. Again, an interesting game, and another example of the Gambit's spread around the world.

7. Jerome - S.A. Charles, correspondence, 1881

As I noted in "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (early)"

S. A. Charles, a member of the Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) Chess Club, wrote opening analyses, first for the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, then later for the Pittsburgh Telegraph. It is in the latter paper that in 1881 he presented his examination of the Jerome Gambit. That year he also played an incomplete Jerome Gambit correspondence match with Alonzo Jerome.

None of the games were completed before Jerome withdrew, because of "business engagements". This match has been given scant coverage in the blog. The situation will be rectified later this year.

8. Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885

The best-known Jerome Gambit game (even if Blackburne got the year wrong in his book), a crushing win by Black. Later analysis showed how White could get the advantage. Even later analysis showed how the game could have ended in a tense draw.

9. Sorensen, S.A. -X, Denmark, 1888

This game, the first that I have been able to find with the "pie in the face" defense, also celebrates Lt. Sorensen, who, in the May 1877 issue of Nordisk Skaktidende, wrote a very influential article on the Jerome Gambit, which was translated and republished widely.

10. Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863

The King-hunt in this game makes the Jerome Gambit almost look like a legitimate opening. Almost.

Study the Classics

Serious chess players studying serious chess openings are often encouraged to study the classic games that illustrate thematic play. 

Likewise, less-than-serious chess players studying less-than-serious chess openings - the Jerome Gambit comes immediately to mind - still would benefit from studying the "classic" games from that line of play.

(That brings to mind an interesting challenge: what are the "classic" games in the Jerome Gambit praxis? Certainly this is fodder for discussion and a series of posts later on in the year.)

Ôèëèäîð1792 - Guest 543
www.bereg.ru, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

8.d4 Bxd4 9.Bg5 

This move comes from the classic game Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (1-0, 23), which no doubt thrilled - or, at least, amused -  chess players around the world.

The alternative, 9.Na3, was seen in the earlier Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1877 (0-1, 41); and updated in "An Intriguing Letter" Parts 1, 2 & 3 and "Some History of the Jerome Gambit" Parts 1 & 3.

9...Ne7 

This is a significant improvement over Ruggeri's 9...Nf6. Guest 543 has passed his first test.

10.Bxe7+ Qxe7 11.c3 Nd3+ 12.Kd2 Nxf2

Black is "winning all over the place" - but, didn't he forget something??

13.Qd5 checkmate

Oh, yeah, that's right...

Keep Up - Or Get Trampled

The Jerome Gambit lends itself nicely to blitz chess, especially 5-minute games. Black can keep up - or get trampled.

Philidor1792 - guest128
5+0 www.bereg.ru, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 

This move, less well known than 8.f4, is as old as Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1877 (0-1, 41), as notorious as Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (1-0, 23), and a favorite of Philidor1792, who has, by my count, 9 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses with it.

White asks, "what's another pawn among frenemies?"

8...Bxd4 9.c3

Philidor1792 has also looked at 9.Na3. For coverage, see "An Intriguing Letter" Parts 1, 2 & 3; "Some History of the Jerome Gambit" Parts 1, 2 & 3; "Jerome Gambit: Early Opening Tomes" Parts 1, 2 & Addendum; and "Full Circle" Parts 1 & 2 

9...Bb6 10.f4 

10...Nd3+

Black no doubt feels good about being able to play a forward-going move, but this is not his strongest option.

11.Kd2 Nxf4

Black suddenly realizes that his intended 11...Nxc1 falls to 12.Qe5+ Kc6 13.Qd5 checkmate. Still, it is not time for despair.

12.Qxf4+ Kc6 13.e5 

13...d5 

"Luft!" Black imagines. 

14.Qa4+ Kc5 15.b4+ Kc4 16.b5+ Kc5 17.Qb4 checkmate

Some History of the Jerome Gambit (Part 1)

I was a bit surprised how much I had to hunt in the posts of this blog for examples of the line that we have been discussing, at the behest of Филидор1792, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3 – see "An Intriguing Letter" Parts 1, 2 and 3 – especially since the line has a long and interesting history in the story of the Jerome Gambit.

The Database has only 3 games with the line – or 5, if you count the pair recently contributed by Филидор1792. One, Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1887, was presented with light commentary; another, perrypawnpusher - BronxBoyII, blitz, FICS, 2008, appeared without notes as an aside in another game; and the third, alechinez - marcinho, standard, FICS, 2009, has yet to appear.

Even if we back up a move, leaving off White's 9th, The Database has less than a couple dozen game examples, only two (excluding the ones named above) appearing in this blog: Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (without notes) and Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876 (without notes and without White's Queen Rook).

Clearly, I have some work to do!

King in Peril: Comment & Reply

From the comment to "King in Peril", which we repeat, along with answers...

"blackburne" said...
That one was a real battle. Interesting feature that the Black King gets back to his starting square after moving 12 times in the 26 moves! Is this a record? :)

The latest a Black King ever returned "home" in a regular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game according to my database was move 58 in HIARCS 11.1 UCI - Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit 2008:1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.0–0 Nf6 8.dxe5 Ng4 9.Qf3+ Ke8 10.Bf4 Rf8 11.Bg3 Rxf3 12.Bxh4 Rf7 13.Bg3 Bd4 14.Nc3 Kf8 15.Nb5 Bxe5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxc7 Rb8 18.Nb5 b6 19.a4 Bb7 20.Nd6 Rf4 21.f3 Ke7 22.Rfd1 Kf6 23.b4 Kg5 24.a5 b5 25.Nxb7 Rxb7 26.Rd5 Kf6 27.a6 Rb6 28.Ra5 Rc6 29.Raxb5 d6 30.Rb7 Rxa6 31.b5 Ra1+ 32.Kf2 Ke6 33.Rxg7 Ra2 34.Ke3 Rh4 35.Rc7 Rxh2 36.f4 Ra3+ 37.c3 Nf7 38.Rf5 Nh6 39.Rf8 d5 40.e5 Ng4+ 41.Kf3 Nxe5+ 42.fxe5 Kxe5 43.Re8+ Kf5 44.Rd8 Ke5 45.Rc5 Ra2 46.Rdxd5+ Ke6 47.Re5+ Kf6 48.Rf5+ Ke6 49.Rce5+ Kd6 50.c4 Kc7 51.c5 Rhxg2 52.Rf7+ Kd8 53.Rxh7 Rgb2 54.Rg5 Rf2+ 55.Ke4 Rfe2+ 56.Kd5 Ra1 57.Kc6 Rae1 58.Rd5+ Ke8 59.Rdd7 Rf2 60.Kc7 Rf7 61.Rhxf7 a5 62.Rh7 Re7 63.Rhxe7+ Kf8 64.Kd6 a4 65.Rd8#.

The record for the Black King returning to his original square for internet games is 54 moves, in UNPREDICTABLE - fireONmaui, blitz, FICS, 2009: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qe3 N8e7 9.0-0 Rf8 10.c3 Be6 11.d4 Kg8 12.d5 Bf7 13.b3 c6 14.c4 cxd5 15.cxd5 Ne5 16.Bb2 N5g6 17.f4 Qb6 18.Bd4 Qa6 19.Nd2 b6 20.Nc4 Rad8 21.Bb2 Qb5 22.Qd4 Qc5 23.g3 Qxd4+ 24.Bxd4 Nxd5 25.exd5 Bxd5 26.Rae1 Rfe8 27.h4 Ne7 28.g4 Bxc4 29.bxc4 Ng6 30.h5 Rxe1 31.Rxe1 Nxf4 32.Re7 Ne2+ 33.Rxe2 g6 34.h6 Kf7 35.g5 d5 36.cxd5 Rxd5 37.Bf6 a5 38.Re7+ Kg8 39.Rg7+ Kf8 40.Rxh7 Rd1+ 41.Kf2 Rd2+ 42.Ke3 Rxa2 43.Rb7 Rh2 44.h7 a4 45.h8Q+ Rxh8 46.Bxh8 Kg8 47.Bf6 a3 48.Rxb6 a2 49.Ra6 Kf7 50.Rxa2 Ke6 51.Ke4 Kd6 52.Ra5 Ke6 53.Ra6+ Kf7 54.Ke5 Ke8 55.Ke6 Kf8 56.Ra8#

The record for human correspondence games is 41 moves, Charlick - Mann correspondence Australia, 1881:1.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 11.0-0 Ng4 12.Qe2 Qh4 13.h3 Nf6 14.f4 Nh5 15.Qf2 Qxf2+ 16.Rxf2 Rf8 17.f5 Ne7 18.c4 c6 19.g4 Nf6 20.Nc3 d5 21.e5 Nd7 22.cxd5 Nxd5 23.Ne4 N7b6 24.b3 a5 25.e6 h6 26.Bb2 Ke7 27.Re1 Ra7 28.Nc5 Na8 29.Nd3 b5 30.Ne5 Kd6 31.Rc1 Ra6 32.Rc5 Bb7 33.Rfc2 Rc8 34.Bc1 a4 35.b4 a3 36.Bd2 Nab6 37.Be1 Na4 38.Bg3 Ke7 39.Nd7 Nxc5 40.dxc5 Rg8 41.Bd6+ Ke8 42.Rd2 Ra4 43.Rxd5 cxd5 44.f6 gxf6 45.Nxf6+ Kd8 46.e7+ Kc8 47.Nxg8 Bc6 48.Nf6 Rxb4 49.e8Q+ Bxe8 50.Nxe8 Rb1+ 51.Kf2 Rb2+ 52.Kf3 Rxa2 53.Nc7 b4 54.Nxd5 b3 55.c6 Rc2 56.Bxa3 Ra2 57.Bd6 Rc2 58.Be5 b2 59.Nb6+ Kd8 60.c7+ Rxc7 61.Bxb2 Rc5 62.Bd4 Rb5 63.Nc4 Ke7 64.h4 Ke6 65.Ke4 Rb1 66.Ne3 Kf7 67.h5 Kg8 68.Nf5 Kh7 69.Be3 Re1 70.Nxh6 Rxe3+ 71.Kxe3 Kxh6 72.Kf4 Black resigned

The record for over-the-board play was 42 moves, in Vazquez - Carrington, Mexico, 2nd match (9), 1876: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.c3 Qd3 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Be6 10.d4 Bc4+ 11.Kd1 Be7 12.Bf4 Nf6 13.Nd2 Bd3 14.Re1 Rc8 15.Re3 Ba6 16.h3 h6 17.e5 Nd5 18.Rf3 Nxf4 19.Rxf4+ Ke8 20.Kc2 Rf8 21.Rxf8+ Kxf8 22.f4 Bh4 23.Ne4 Bc4 24.b3 Bd5 25.Kd3 b5 26.g4 Ke7 27.c4 bxc4+ 28.bxc4 Bg8 29.Rb1 Bh7 30.f5 g6 31.f6+ Ke6 32.Nc5+ Kf7 33.Rf1 g5+ 34.Kc3 Bg3 35.e6+ Kf8 36.Nd7+ Ke8 37.f7+ Ke7 38.f8Q+ Rxf8 39.Nxf8 Bg8 40.d5 Bd6 41.Ng6+ Kd8 42.Rf7 Ke8 43.Rg7 Black resigned

As for the number of times the Black King moved in a Jerome Gambit, the most seems to be 57 times, in the 147-move computer game HIARCS 11.1 UCI - Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit, 2008: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.0-0 Nf6 8.dxc5 Qxe4 9.Nc3 Qb4 10.Be3 d6 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.Qxd6 cxd6 13.Nb5 Nc4 14.Bf4 Bd7 15.Nxd6+ Nxd6 16.Bxd6 Rhe8 17.Rfe1 Bb5 18.Rac1 Rad8 19.Bb4 Be2 20.Bc5 a6 21.Be3 Bg4 22.c4 Be6 23.h3 Rd3 24.Kh2 Ne4 25.Bf4 Nc5 26.Be3 Nd7 27.b3 Ne5 28.Re2 Bf5 29.Rce1 Nc6 30.Bc5 Rxe2 31.Rxe2 Kf6 32.Ba3 Nd4 33.Bb2 h5 34.g4 hxg4 35.hxg4 Bh7 36.Re3 Rd1 37.Kg3 Bb1 38.f4 Kf7 39.Bxd4 Rxd4 40.Re2 Be4 41.Kf2 Bc6 42.Kg3 Rd3+ 43.Kh4 Bf3 44.Rh2 Kf6 45.Rh3 b6 46.Rh2 g6 47.Rc2 Rd1 48.c5 bxc5 49.Rxc5 Rg1 50.g5+ Ke6 51.Ra5 Rh1+ 52.Kg3 Bb7 53.b4 Rb1 54.a3 Re1 55.Kg4 Kd6 56.Rc5 Rg1+ 57.Kh3 Bd5 58.Ra5 Bc4 59.Re5 Be6+ 60.Kh2 Rg4 61.Re4 Bd5 62.Rd4 Rg2+ 63.Kh3 Rg1 64.Rd3 Rc1 65.Kg4 Rc2 66.Kg3 Rg2+ 67.Kh4 Ke6 68.Kh3 Rg1 69.Re3+ Kd7 70.Rd3 Kd6 71.Re3 Rg2 72.Re5 Rc2 73.Re3 Kc6 74.Kg4 Kb5 75.Re5 Kc4 76.Kh4 Rc3 77.f5 Kd4 78.Re8 gxf5 79.a4 Bc6 80.Rf8 Ke5 81.g6 Rc4+ 82.Kh5 Bf3+ 83.Kh6 Rh4+ 84.Kg7 Rxb4 85.Re8+ Kf4 86.Kf8 Rxa4 87.Rd8 Ra5 88.g7 Bd5 89.Rxd5 Rxd5 90.Ke7 Re5+ 91.Kf7 a5 92.g8Q Rd5 93.Ke6 Rb5 94.Qg1 Ke4 95.Qe1+ Kd4 96.Qa1+ Kc5 97.Ke5 Kc4+ 98.Kf4 Rd5 99.Qa4+ Kd3 100.Qb3+ Kd4 101.Qb6+ Kc4 102.Qc6+ Kd4 103.Kf3 Rc5 104.Qa6 Kc3 105.Qd6 Kc4 106.Qd7 Kb4 107.Qd4+ Kb5 108.Qb2+ Kc4 109.Qa3 Rd5 110.Qa2+ Kd4 111.Qd2+ Kc4 112.Qc2+ Kb4 113.Qb1+ Kc5 114.Qa1 Kc4 115.Qa4+ Kc3 116.Qc6+ Kd4 117.Ke2 Rc5 118.Qa4+ Kd5 119.Kd3 Kd6 120.Qa3 Kc6 121.Qb3 Rd5+ 122.Kc3 Re5 123.Qa4+ Kd6 124.Qd4+ Ke6 125.Qb6+ Ke7 126.Qc7+ Ke6 127.Qc6+ Kf7 128.Qd7+ Kf6 129.Qd8+ Ke6 130.Qb6+ Ke7 131.Kd4 Re4+ 132.Kd5 a4 133.Qg6 a3 134.Qg7+ Ke8 135.Kd6 Rd4+ 136.Qxd4 Kf7 137.Ke5 Kg7 138.Qa7+ Kg6 139.Qxa3 f4 140.Qd6+ Kg5 141.Qf6+ Kg4 142.Qxf4+ Kh3 143.Ke4 Kg2 144.Qh4 Kf1 145.Kf3 Kg1 146.Qf2+ Kh1 147.Qg2#

The most the Black King moved in a Jerome Gambit correspondence game seems to be the much more reasonable 15 times in Charlick - Mann, correspondence Australia, 1881: see above.

The most the Black King moved in a Jerome Gambit over-the-board game is 12 times, in Vazquez, - Carrington, Mexico, 2nd match (5), 1876:1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Re8 10.d3 Ng4 11.Qf3+ Kg7 12.0-0 Rf8 13.Qg3 Qf6 14.h3 Ne5 15.Nc3 c6 16.Bg5 Qe6 17.Qh4 Nf7 18.f4 h6 19.f5 hxg5 20.fxe6 gxh4 21.Rxf7+ Rxf7 22.exf7 Kxf7 23.Rf1+ Kg7 24.e5 d5 25.Ne2 b5 26.Nd4 Bd7 27.Rf6 Rc8 28.Rd6 Be8 29.Kf2 Kf7 30.Kf3 c5 31.Ne2 d4 32.Kg4 Rc6 33.Kxh4 Rxd6 34.exd6 Kf6 35.Ng3 Bc6 36.Ne4+ Bxe4 37.dxe4 a5 38.e5+ Ke6 39.Kg3 Black resigned

The highest ratio of the number of Black King moves to the number of moves in Jerome Gambit game is .50, in Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863:1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Bg5 Nf6 10.c3 Bc5 11.b4 Bb6 12.0-0 Re8 13.Rd1+ Kc6 14.b5+ Kxb5 15.Na3+ Ka5 16.Nc4+ Kb5 17.Nxe5 d6 18.Rab1+ Ka6 19.Qf3 c6 20.Qd3+ Ka5 21.Nc4+ Ka6 22.Nxb6+ Ka5 23.c4 Black resigned

blackburne - Crusader Rabbit, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009, with 12 of its 26 moves being by Black's King, comes close with a ratio of Black King moves to the number of moves in the game of .46 .