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.
As a last look at the possible influences on Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, in his creation of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, we take a look at the line 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nf6 (instead of 3...Bc5) which transposes, after 4.Nf3, to the Urusov Gambit, which is deeply covered at Michael Goeller's wonderful site.
While the 1857 analysis of the gambit by Prince Sergei Urusov may not have been available to AWJ, games like Kolisch - Paulsen, London, 1861, might have been.
It is hard to get very Jerome-ish here, after 4...Bc5, but Goeller does mention the modern game Hopf - Schintgen, Bratislava 1993, which continued 5.e5 Ng4 6.Bxf7+ (1-0, 34).
(Of course, if, instead, Black plays 4...Nc6, then after 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 Ng4 ["playable but rarely seen" according to coverage at Chessville.com] then 7.Bxf7+ would come in a Max Lange Variation of the Two Knights Defense, which is a whole 'nother thing...)
The Alterman Gambit Guide
White Gambits
GM Boris Alterman
Quality Chess (2010)
softcover, 448 pages
http://chesslessons.wordpress.com/
I think that beginning chess players should not concern themselves greatly about learning chess openings.
If pressured on the point, I usually suggest something like Tartakower and du Mont's 500 Master Games of Chess, which is available, affordable, and gives the reader a lot of interesting games (organized by opening) with sprightly notes. There is a lot of chess to learn in going over the games; and opening knowledge can be acquired by osmosis.
If someone persists, either out of stubbornness or because of making consistent gains in chess skill and ability, I am likely, these days, to recommend The Alterman Gambit Guide, at least for play with the White pieces.
The author presents 7 double-e-pawn openings, and lines of attack against the Caro Kann, Sicilian and French Defenses. The focus is on gambit play, including the Danish Gambit, the Urusov Gambit, the Cochrane Gambit (vs the Petroff), the Evans Gambit, and even the Morra Gambit (vs the Sicilian).
The Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments, Bibliography & Key to symbols used
Foreword by the Author
The Danish Gambit
The Urusov Gambit
The Philidor
The Cochrane Gambit
The Morphy Attack
The Max Lange Attack
The Evans Gambit
The Panov Attack
The Morra Gambit
The Milner-Barry Gambit
Games Index
Variations Index
GM Alterman makes a good case for learning about dynamic chess play through the use of gambits, and his presentation – the choice of short, thematic games; followed by longer, more analyzed battles; followed by theory of the opening – is very effective.
At almost 450 pages, The Alterman Gambit Guide White Gambits covers each opening deep enough that the player can feel confident that he or she has enough "book" knowledge to set the pace of the game. Furthermore, learning each opening in this way maximizes the understanding of attacking themes and strategies that are the "meat" of most club matches – the middle game.
Even if the reader eventually moves on to the more "grandmasterly" Spanish Game, with all its subtleties and nuances, it will be with a tactical knowledge that will always come in handy.
The author is preparing a Gambit Guide of Black Gambits, soon to be released. I have had it on pre-order for weeks.
(Take a look at a sample of The Alterman Gambit Guide White Gambits.)
While Dr. Michael Goeller was filling me in on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: the Reversed BSG") and working with his friend, Fritz, to temper my expectations (see "Reversed BSG: A Closer Look"), he dropped this bomb on me
I have seen [GM Larry] Christiansen venture your favorite Jerome Gambit in ICC blitz or simul games, but I'm not sure he really believes in it.
You can imagine my response! Grandmaster Larry "Storming the Barracades" Christiansen!? The Jerome Gambit??
As politely and calmly as possible (under the circumstances), I asked to see some of the games...
I began searching for LarryC games but ran into the dreaded "Game Database temporarily unavailable." But I turned up a couple before that kept happening...
I think he mostly does this as an interesting way to spot a weaker opponent a piece in online simuls.
Remembering now, he probably does it mostly via the C24 Bishop's Opening, which is how I stumbled upon the LarryC Jerome Gambit phenomenon -- while searching for Urusov Games, of course.
I will try to dig up some more this weekend, but anyone you know on ICC can find them with the search string "Search LarryC C24 White" etc.
I suggested that he look for Jerome Gambit games under C50 as well. I heard back from Dr. Goeller.
I spent some more time looking for LarryC games on ICC with the Bxf7 sac but couldn't find any more. I am not sure why, because I am certain I saw a bunch of them a couple years back while doing a search. It's possible that unrated games (such as simul games) are only temporarily available on the server and then vanish, even if played by LarryC.
In any case, there are very few C50 games at all, and none that really meet your criteria. And I only found the one C24 game I sent. It seems almost certain I saw them while searching through recent C24 games, which I do from time to time. It seems unlikely I was looking at C50 games. Started trying C21 and got Game Database currently unavailable. But the few I was able to go through did not look promising.
So sorry to get your hopes up and then disappoint... But at least you have one game. I'll keep an eye out for more.
In all, Dr. Goeller sent me two games, which we will look at in future posts.
Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Welton Vaz sends us a Chess.com link to an enjoyable discussion on the play of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 – known on this site as the "Semi-Italian Opening" (after Euwe) – as a way of avoiding the Fried Liver Attack 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7
Although one of the Chess.com posters complained about 3...h6 "I hate when players play this as it is an insult to the Italian" there was no suggestion on the website, either in the discussion or the related 21 games given, that White could return the "insult" of 3...h6 by transposing to the Jerome Gambit with, say, 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+.
Of course Welton sent one of his games where he provided that "insult" – which we will see in "Italian Game Anti-Fried Liver Defense (Part 2)".
By the way, Grandmaster Boris Alterman has a 6-part series on the Fried Liver Attack on his website, along with instruction on a whole list of gambits, including the Danish, Evans, Max Lange and Morra.
I note that Alterman has two books forthcoming, one on gambits with White and one on gambits with Black. Of the first, he writes
The Alterman Gambit Guide: White Gambits is both an opening book and an instructive manual. Sharpen your tactics and learn to play dynamic attacking chess while studying the most entertaining gambits. Lines covered include:Evans Gambit, Panov Attack, Morra Gambit, Philidor, Danish Gambit, Urusov Gambit, Morphy Attack, Cochrane Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Fried Liver Attack and Milner-Barry Gambit
For those who like their liver fried, there is also a book by NM Dan Heisman on The Computer Analyzes the Fried Liver / Lolli.
Readers of yesterday's post "Not Quite the Jerome Gambit" may have noticed that the line played by leif41no and Namecheck – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 – did not have to be Jerome-ized at all with 4.Bxf7+. Instead, White had at his disposal 4.d4, which, after 4...exd4 would transpose to The Urusov Gambit – very well covered by Michael Goeller at his website (check links: Kenilworthian).
