A Not-So-Instant Victory

There is a line in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit where the Black King wanders far in search of adventure (and material). In the following recent game a capture seems to lead to an "Instant Victory", but things are not as simple as they appear.


kukkfive - Krait
standard game, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4

This looks even more dangerous for the King than 7...Kxd4. Best was the retreat 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 Kf7 when Black maintains an edge.

8.Qg4+

Is this the killer move? At one point (in one game), I thought so. Certainly a number of moves have been tried successfully, but that's not the complete story.

8.0-0 Qf6 (8...Nf6 was a better test, although White can continue with 9.Qf3+ with hopes for an advantage) 9.Qc2+ Kxd4 10.b4 Kd5 11.Bb2 Qg6 12.Qb3+ Kd6 13.Re1 b6 14.Be5+ Kc6 15.Rc1+ Kb7 16.Rxc7+ Kb8 17.Rc6+ Black resigned, fidotopdog - Krait, FICS, 2009;

8.d3+ Kxd4 (better was 8...Kd5 and after 9.Qb3+ Kc6 10.Qc4+ Kb6 White can do little more than continue checking and arrange a draw) 9.Be3+ Kd5 10.Nc3+ Ke6 11.Qg4+ Kf7 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Nd5+ Ke6 14.Nf4+ Kd6 15.Bc5+ Kc6 16.Rc1 Nf6 17.Be7+ Kb6 18.Qc5+ Ka6 19.Qa3+ Black resigned, Jeopar - Krait, FICS, 2009;

8.Nc3+ Kxd4 9.Qg4+ (9.Qf3 transposing to 8.Qf3 is the right idea, but White gets away with his move) 9...Ke5 (9...Kc5 was the way out) 10.d4+ Kd6 11.Bf4+ Ke7 12.0-0 Kf7 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qd5+ Kg7 15.Ne4 Nf6 16.Nxf6 Kxf6 17.Bg5+ Black resigned, kingpro - Krait, FICS, 2009;


8.Qh5 Kxd4 (8...g5 is the right move for Black, forcing 9.Qf3+ Kxd4 10.Nc3 transposing to 8.Qf3) 9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3 12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate, Melao Jr.,H - Danilo, Centro Cultural, 1996;


8.Qf3+ (the best move for White) Kxd4 9.0-0 (instead, 9.Nc3 c6 10.Qe3+ Kc4 11.a4 and the mating net closing around Black's King will force him to give up his Queen one way or another) 9...Qf6 (after 9...Kc5 Black's King may be able to walk away from the battle, giving White only the opportunity to draw through repetition of Queen checks) 10.Qg4+(necessary was 10.Qe3+, winning) Kc5 11.Nc3 d5 12.Qa4 a6 13.b4+ Kd6 14.Bb2 c6 (moving the Queen to g6 avoids the now possible 15.Ne4+ although Black may still hold on with three pieces for his Queen after 15...dxe4 16.Bxf6 Nxf6) 15.Nd1 (this should lose) Qf4 16.Re1 Qe4 (a mouse slip, perhaps??) 17.Rxe4 Black resigned, GOH - kremba, FICS, 2009.

8...Kd5 9.Nc3+

Now, after 9...Kc6, as implausible as it seems, Black's King is secure. Even after 10.d5+ Kd6 the game is complicated, but even.

9...Kd6

What a difference a square makes!

10.Qf4+

After 10.0-0 I needed cooperation from my opponent to win in perrypawnpusher - MNUNP, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 18).

The strongest move here, tightening the net, is 10.Qe4.

10...Ke7

A slip. Better for Black (the move, the game) was 10...Ke6. Now things turn simply horrible for him.

11.Nd5+ Ke8 12.Nxc7+ Ke7 13.Nxa8 d6 14.0-0 Kd7 15.Qf7+ Kc6 16.d5+ Kc5 17.d4+ Kxd4 18.Be3+ Kc4 19.Rac1+ Kb5 20.Nc7+ Ka5 21.Qf4 Black resigned

Complications, Anyone?

You might not be a fan of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, and you might not be a fan of the Jerome Gambit, but you would have to be a pretty jaded chess player not to appreciate the complications stirred up in the following game.

richiehill - fidotopdog
standard game, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

6.c3 d6

Recently looked at on this blog: see perrypawnpusher - ozypawnstar, blitz, FICS, 2010.

7.Qg4+

Reviving and older line and introducing further complications.

7...Ke7

Capturing the Knight with 7...Kxe5 is only asking for trouble, although if Black has his wits about him he can still draw. 

White can split the point after that with 8.f4+ Kxe4 (8...Kf6 costs Black his queen after 9.Qh4+ Kf7 10.Qxd8 but he can limp on with a worse position after 10...Nc2+ 11.Kf2 Nxa1) 9.f5+ Kd5 (or 9...Ke5 10.cxd4+ and White is better; or 9...Kd3 10.Qxd4+ Kc2 11.Na3#) 10.Qxd4+ Kc6 11.Qc4+ Kd7 12.Qe6+ Kc6 13.Qc4+ draw by repetition, as White has nothing better.

White has tried for more after 7...Kxe5 with 8.cxd4+ and gotten lucky after both 8...Kf6 9.Qh4+ Kf7 (9...g5 was necessary to keep the game even) 10.Qxd8 Be7 11.Qxc7 Nf6 Black resigned, Jeopar - InduMMS, FICS, 2009;

and 8...Kxd4 9.Qe2 (9.Qf3 is unclear) 9...Nf6 10.d3 (better 10.Nc3 Ke5 11.f4+) 10...Ke5 11.f4+ Ke6 12.d4 Kf7 when Black was better, but White won in 26 moves in SynapticGap - osmann, FICS, 2006.

It is easy to see why fidotopdog retreated his King in this game!

8.Qg5+ Nf6

This looks natural, but Black would have done better exchanging Queens, i.e. 8...Ke8 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8. He probably avoided this line because of 10.Nf7+ Ke8 11.Nxh8, but his position would have been better after the reciprocal 11...Nc2+ 12.Kd1 Nxa1. That kind of thing is easier to see after the game.

9.cxd4 dxe5

10.Qxe5+

Choosing to win the Bishop rather than the Knight, but this takes some cooperation. Better was the straight-forward 10.dxe5, when 10...Qd3!? 11.exf6+ gxf6 12.Qf4 would give White the edge. 

10...Be6

Falling in with White's plan. Instead, 10...Kf7 leads to a position where Black has a piece for three pawns. richiehill might have been happy with that, but "objectively" Black would have been better. 

11.d5 Ng4

A panic-induced attack on the enemy Queen.

As often happens in the Jerome Gambit family of games, there comes a time for Black to return his extra piece for some pawns. After 11...Nxd5 12.exd5 Qxd5 White can try the scary-looking 13.Qxc7+ to go two pawns up, but 13...Kf6, preparing ...Bd6 (the power of the two Bishops), shows Black's better development to good advantage. After 14.Qf4+ Qf5 15.d4 Bb4+ 16.Nc3 Rac8 White's best might well be to return a pawn with 17.0-0 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Rxc3 when the impact of the first player's extra pawn may not be very much.

12.Qxe6 checkmate

Why, I oughta...

When I started writing this blog (not quite a year and a half ago), I decided to post every one of my Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf4+) and Jerome-related games, win or lose, good or bad. Three good examples of my bad play are perrypawnpusher - thehunterjames, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 25), perrypawnpusher -james042665, Chess.com, 2008 (0-1, 18), and perrypawnpusher - drewbear, JG3 thematic, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 10).

The following game is not a loss, but in light of my experience with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit – especially the recent "Gorilla Chess", but also, for example "Keep the shilling..." – I sure looked pretty comical.

perrypawnpusher - MNUNP

blitz FICS, 2009

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Nd4

4.Bxf7+

Of course.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4

Here I felt a little foolish. I knew that capturing the e-pawn was bad for Black (7...Kxd4 was roughly even), but I couldn't remember why, or how to prove it. Black should have thought of King safety: 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 Kf7 9.0-0 c6 10.d3 g6 11.Be3 Kg7 and if anyone has an advantage, it is the second player.

8.Qg4+

Okay, I not only didn't remember the right path, I didn't figure it out over-the-board, either.

The correct move was 8.Qh5, boxing-in the King, which Black should answer with 8...g5. Then a King-hunt starting with 9.Qf3+ either succeeds or allows White's Queen to get to e5 with check, followed by the capture of the h8 Rook.

An alternative to 8.Qh5 g5 was quickly dealt with: 8...Kxd4 9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3 12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate, Melao Jr.,H - Danilo, Centro Cultural 1996;

Or 8.0-0 Qf6 9.Qc2+ Kxd4 10.b4 Kd5 11.Bb2 Qg6 12.Qb3+ Kd6 13.Re1 b6 14.Be5+ Kc6 15.Rc1+ Kb7 16.Rxc7+ Kb8 17.Rc6+ Black resigned was fidotopdog - Krait, FICS 2009

8...Kd5 9.Nc3+ Kd6

This is very dangerous. The King should, instead, go to c6 when the game is still in balance.

10.0-0

I admit that I played this move with a sense of resignation: I wasn't sure what to do next, and figured that castling couldn't go too far wrong: I would have three pieces developed to his none (or one, if you count his King). 

Next time I'll know to play 10.Qe4. White can build a good attack on the dark squares after 10...a6 11.d3 g5 12.Qe5+ Kc6 13.d5+ Kb6 14.Be3+ c5 15.dxc6+ Kxc6 16.Qd5+ Kc7 17.Qa5+ and Black loses his Queen.

analysis diagram

Another way to play the position was 10.b3 Qe7+ 11.Ne2 Kc6 12.d5+ Kb6 13.d3 c5 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Be3+ Kb7 16.Rc1 Qb4+ 17.Qxb4+ Bxb4+ 18.Nc3 Nf6 19.Ke2 Bxc3 20.Rxc3 Nd5 21.Rc4 Nxe3 22.fxe3 d5 23.Rb4+ Kc7 Black resigned, ibenrooked - ironhorse1056, GameKnot, 2005.

10...Nf6 11.Qf4+

Again, I told myself "the win has to be there" – but I couldn't find it. I'm not sure that it was there, any more.

11...Ke6 12.Re1+ Kf7 13.Nd5

13...d6 14.d3

Now Black can play 14...c6 and 15...d5 and be assured that he has weathered the attack. Instead, he gets careless (and not a moment too soon, as far as I was concerned).

14...Be7 15.Rxe7+

15...Kg8

If Black wanted to fight on, he needed to surrender his Queen for a Knight and Rook with 15...Qxe7.

16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17.Qg3+ Kf8 18.Qg7 checkmate

Perhaps it is true that "fortune favors the bold"!