But Blackburne Made It Look So Easy!

The most famous Jerome Gambit game is the one by Blackburne, where he sacrificed material as Black to build a counter attack that led to a Queen sacrifice and checkmate.

Never mind that subsequent analysis and play has shown that, "objectively", the best Black should be able to hope for is a draw.

The fact is, the Blackburne Defense leads to sharp and complicated play, and it is important to have a concrete knowledge of the line - if either Black or White wishes to survive. As we have seen, and will see in the game below, "half a defense is worse than no defense at all..." Better to "Commit It To Memory".

fehim - KramMan
blitz, FICS, 2015

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5
d6

Here we go! To capture the excitement of the play ahead, it is fun to return to Geoff Chandler's comparison of the Blackburne Defense with "Mars Attacks!"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O Qxe4

Wait a minute... Sure, Black flashes out his Queen to h4, all big and bad and scary. But - then what? Certainly not to pawn-grab. What did he miss? What did he miss??

Hint: 9...Nf6! Black wants to trap White's Queen and make threats against her (as well as the King), eventually offering his other Rook as well.

10.Qxh7+

This is not going to go well for Black.

10.d3 worked in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 17)

10...Kf8 11.Nc3

Or 11.d3 Qe2 (or 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 [1-0, 20]; or 11...Qe6 in ubluk - bfcace, Chess.com, 2012 [1-0, 18]) 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Kf6 15.Qxc7 Bf5 16.Nc3 Qxc2 17.Nd5+ Kg5 18.Qe7+ Kh6 19.h4 Rh8 20.Qg5+ Kg7 21.Rae1 Rf8 22.h5 Bxd3 23.h6+ Kg8 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.Nh7 Kg8 26.Nxf8 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Bxf2+ 28.Rxf2 Qc1+ 29.Qxc1 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - pedroregistro, FICS, 2015

11...Qf5

Or 11...Qxc2 12.Qh4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010; or 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009.

12.d3 Nf6 13.Qh4

This move is okay, as White is up the exchange plus a couple of pawns, so he can consolidate. He could continue his attack, however, with 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rae1+ Be6 15.Qg7.

13...Kg7 14.Be3 Be6 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Qf6

The next few moves bring some excitement, but the game is pretty much over. Black's slip at move 23 just ends things

18.c3 Rh8 19.f4 c6 20.c4 Qh4 21.Qxe6 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 Qxf4+ 23.Ke2 Qg4+ 24.Qxg4 Black resigned

Commit It To Memory

At the end of last month I posted the famous Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4Bxf7+) game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, which had been published in The Newcastle Courant of Saturday, December 3, 1898, with the admonition that Students would do well to commit it to memory, as strong players have a peculiarity of springing the opening upon the unwary.


"Students" who have not chosen to "commit it to memory" but who have, instead, relied on retaining a general idea of Blackburne's plan, have repeatedly learned, however, that often "half a defense is worse than no defense at all."

The newest example is from the ongoing "Play The Jerome Gambit Quad" at Chess.com.

ubluk (1864) - bfcace (1572)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

Black's "generous" counter-offer of material.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Qxe4

A key move in Blackburne's Defense is 9...Nf6, working on trapping White's Queen. If she escapes, as in this game, Black will regret his counter-sacrifice of a Rook.

10.Qxh7+

Or 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ as in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0,17)

10...Kf8 11.d3

A bit better than 11.Nc3 as in perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 16).

11...Qe6

Previously seen was 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 20).

12.Qxc7 Bb6 13.Qc3 Nf6

Black is down three pawns and the exchange (plus an unsafe King). This should tell as soon as White completes his development.

14.Bh6+ Kf7 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.Rae1 Qf5 17.Ne4 Rh8 18.Nxd6+

A final slip. Black resigned

Halo Effect

When people notice a good trait in a person, they often assume other positives. With the Jerome Gambit  often a negative "halo effect" occurs – if the early moves are bad, many of the other ones must be bad, too.

perrypawnpusher  - dkahnd
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Qe7

Starting the counter-attack in the center.

9.Nc3

Alternatives: 9.d3 d5 (9...Nf6 10.0-0 Qe5 11.Qf3 Bg4 12.Qg3 Qxg3 13.hxg3 Ke7 14.c3 Be2 15.Re1 Bxd3 16.e5 Ng4 17.exd6+ Kxd6 18.Be3 Nxe3 19.fxe3 Ke6 20.Nd2 Rad8 21.Kh2 Rhf8 22.Nf3 Rf6 23.e4 Rh6+ 24.Nh4 g5 25.Rad1 gxh4 26.g4 Bd6+ 27.Kh3 Bb5 28.Rd4 Bg3 29.Red1 Rxd4 30.cxd4 Bd7 31.b3 Rg6 32.e5 h5 White resigned, Petasluk - pawnloss, FICS 2006) 10.0-0 dxe4 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Bf4 Qd4 13.Be5 Qd7 14.Rxe4 Qf5 15.Qxg7+ Ke8 16.Bg3+ Qxe4 17.dxe4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - frencheng, blitz, FICS, 2010.

9...Nf6 10.d3 Ng4

Here comes the counter-attack on f2 again (see "Frying Pan Minus Perspective Equals Fire").

Two different courses of play: 10...b6 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.c3 b5 13.cxb4 bxa4 14.Bd2 Qe5 15.Qxe5 dxe5 16.Rc1 Ne8 17.Bc3 Be6 18.a3 Rd8 19.Ke2 Nd6 20.Bxe5 Nb5 21.Bxc7 Nxc7 22.Rxc7 Bd7 23.Rxa7 Ke7 24.Rc1 Rc8 25.Rac7 Rxc7 26.Rxc7 Rc8 27.Rxc8 Bxc8 28.Ke3 h6 29.Kd4 Kd6 30.f4 g6 31.Kc3 Ba6 32.d4 Bf1 33.g3 Bg2 34.e5+ Kd5 35.b5 Ke6 36.Kb4 Kd7 37.Kxa4 Bh3 38.Ka5 Kc7 39.b6+ Kb7 40.d5 Bg2 41.d6 Bh3 42.Kb5 Bd7+ 43.Kc5 Be6 44.a4 h5 45.b4 Black resigned, levigun - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004; and

10...h6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qe5 13.Qxe5 dxe5 14.Rf1 Ke7 15.Nd5+ Nxd5 16.exd5 Bd7 17.Rf2 Rhf8 18.Rxf8 Rxf8 19.Ke2 Bg4+ 20.Ke1 g5 21.c4 Kd6 22.b4 b6 23.a3 a6 24.Ra2 Bf5 25.Rf2 Ke7 26.e4 Bg4 27.Rxf8 Kxf8 28.Kd2 Ke7 29.d4 exd4 30.Kd3 Kd6 31.Kxd4 c5+ 32.dxc6 Kxc6 33.c5 bxc5+ 34.bxc5 h5 35.g3 h4 36.gxh4 gxh4 37.Ke5 Kxc5 38.Kf4 Bd7 39.h3 Bxh3 40.Kg5 Bg2 41.Kxh4 Bxe4 42.Kg4 a5 43.Kf4 Bc2 44.Ke3 Kc4 45.Kd2 Kb3 46.a4 Kb2 47.Ke1 Bxa4 48.Kd2 Bc2 White resigned, rhoadarmer - partha, Gameknot.com, 2006.

11.0-0 Ke8 12.Nd5 Qf7

Black continues his preparations even though the game has leveled out. 

13.h3

More to the point, as with perrypawnpusher - marianomocoroa, blitz, FICS 1020, was 13.Be3.

13...Nxf2

This is an error that 14.Be3 would have pointed out – just because White's early moves were bad doesn't make all of his other moves, or his position now, bad.

13...Rxf2 Rf8

Consistent, but 13...Bxf2+ 14.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Rf8+ 16.Kg3 Rf7 18.Be3 would have given Black a position with the exchange for a pawn. Now White recovers.

15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 Qd7

17.Rxf8+ Kxf8 18.Rf1+ Kg8 19.Qf3

Even stronger was 19.Qg5, when Black will have to give up his Queen (e.g. 19...h6 20.Qg6 Qe6 21.Nf6+ Qxf6 22.Rxf6) to avoid checkmate.

19...Qd8 20.Qf7+ Black resigned

Blackburned! #2

My heart pounds when I start a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game.

It's always a gamble – the Jerome Gamble, Gary Gifford calls it – how much of the many refutations does my opponent know?

Can he get to me before I can get to him??

perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry
blitz 10 0, FICS, 1020

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

Our story begins...

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

This can lead to the dreaded Whistler Defense, or the much misunderstood Blackburne Defense. Quo vadis?

7.Qxe5 d6

Blackburne! Sac that Rook! Trap that Queen! Mate that King!

8.Qxh8

Falling for the Blackburne bait.

8...Qh4

Yes!

9.O-O

Telegraphing where the King will be, when Black wants to attack.

I've always been a bit uneasy about the "refutation of the refutation" 9.d4.

9...Qxe4

Uh oh... This doesn't look right.

Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 continued 9...Nf6, trapping the White Queen, before a series of sacrifices finished White off 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate.

Of course, I would have veered off with 10.Qd8.

10.Qxh7+

Letting my Queen escape immediately.

Instead, AlgozBR - khuizen, blitz FICS, 2009 continued: 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ Qg7 12.Qh4 Be6 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Ne4 Bb6 15.Be3 Qxb2 16.Qh7+ Qg7 17.Ng5+ Black resigned

10...Kf8 11.Nc3

A bit better was 11.d3, as in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004: Qf5 12.Qxc7 Nf6 13.d4 Be6 14.dxc5 Bc4 15.Bh6+ Ke8 16.Re1+ Ne4 17.Nc3 Qxf2+ 18.Kh1 Qf7 19.Rxe4+ Be6 20.Qxd6 Black resigned.

11...Qxc2 12.Qh4  Black resigned

White's Queen is not trapped, Black's King is at risk, and White is ahead the exchange and a couple of pawns. 

It was not completely necessary to resign here. DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 continued a few more moves, for example – after 12.d3 instead of 12.Qh4 – without changing the outcome: 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate

blackburne as Blackburne with black

Mention the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and most people will either give you a blank look, or remember "that game that Blackburne played in London in the 1880s".


In the ongoing Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at ChessWorld, player blackburn brought out J.H. Blackburne's defense, a line of some contention. One hundred and twenty four years ago, Blackburne, as Black, crushed the Jerome Gambit with fine sacrificial play. Improvements show that White can do better, and at least draw, if not win -- but the play remains complicated.


DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6


J.H. Blackburne's defense, returning a piece and preparing to offer a Rook as well.

7.Qxe5 d6
The start of fireworks.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0


From here the Black Death played 9...Nf6 10.c3 (10.Qd8 was an improvement suggested in the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle 8/1885) 10...Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate, Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885







analysis diagram







9...Qxe4



This is blackburne's updating of Blackburne. The move has been seen before, but it omits blocking in the enemy Queen, which brings about dire consequences.
10.Nc3

An alternative was 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.d3 Qf5 12.Qxc7 Nf6 13.d4 Be6 14.dxc5 Bc4 15.Bh6+ Ke8 16.Re1+ Ne4 17.Nc3 Qxf2+ 18.Kh1 Qf7 19.Rxe4+ Be6 20.Qxd6 Black resigned, obviously - dmyze, GameKnot, 2004

10...Qxc2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+

With his Queen unlocked, DREWBEAR 63 can press a mating attack.


13...Ke8

There was no hope in 13...Nxh6, as follows 14.Qxh6+ Kg8 15.Rae1 d5 16.Re8+ Kf7 17.Rfe1 Qd4 18.Nxd5 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Qg1+ 20.Rxg1 Kxe8 21.Qxg6+ Kd7 22.Re1 Be3 23.Rxe3 c6 24.Re7+ Kd8 25.Qe8 checkmate

14.Rfe1+ Kd8


Drawing out the pain was 14...Be3 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Rxe3 Kc6 17.Rxd3 Be6 18.Qxe6 a5 19.Qc4+ Kd7 20.Nd5 c6 21.Qg4+ Kd8 22.Bg5+ Ke8 23.Qe6+ Kf8 24.Bh6 checkmate

15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate

Don't encourage them!

guest127 - guest494

Internet Chess Club, 2002

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qg5 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.0–0 Nf6 11.Qh8+ Kf7 12.d4 Qg4 13.dxc5 Be6 1–0

Rodriguez,P - Lauciello,R

chess.at-krays.com, 2003

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4 Kc6 10.Qxe5 d6 11.d5+ Kb6 12.Qg3 Bxf2+ 13.Qxf2+ c5 14.dxc6+ Kxc6 15.Bg5 1–0

guest226 - guest5633

Internet Chess Club, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Kxf6 10.Rf1 Ne7 11.d4 Nc6 12.Kg1+ Kg7 13.Bg5 Rf8 14.Bh6+ 1–0

HPotter - breaker

www.ChessWorld.net, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.d3 d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qe6 9.Ng5+ 1–0

flatchio - kai_sim

www.GameKnot.com, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+ Kc6 11.d4 1–0

kai_sim - flatchio

www.GameKnot.com, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 Nf6 9.d3 d5 10.Nc3 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 1–0

dmyze - levigun

www.GameKnot.com, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Nc3 Nd3+ 9.cxd3 Bb6 10.Nd5 Qg6 1–0

steelydan - flatchio

www.GameKnot.com, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 Nf6 9.d3 d5 10.Bh6 Nh5 11.Qxh7+ 1–0

Sir Osis of the Liver - drewbear

JG3 thematic www.chessworld.net, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qe2 Nd4 8.Qc4+ d5 9.exd5 Qd6 10.Nce4 Qxd5 11.Nxf6+ 1–0