Mr. Fletcher's Gambits

I recently stopped by the website of the Bedford Chess Club, where I noted an interesting entry concerning "Mr. Fletcher's gambits", referring to  L. Elliot Fletcher's delightful book, Gambits Accepted, A Survey of Opening Sacrifices (1954).

The Bedford CC site has examples of 84 gambits that Fletcher covered, as well as 11 gambits that he had missed.

Interestingly enough, the site does not give the Jerome Gambit game that Fletcher provided, but includes the significant Sorensen - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27).

Fletcher quotes a club game for the Jerome; and none of the surviving games by Jerome himself were won by White. But apparently the Danish player and problemist Soren Sorensen showed an interest in the gambit. 

It is relevant to point out to Readers Sorensen's early article on the Jerome Gambit that was translated into a number of languages and was very influential in popularizing the opening.

I quickly emailed the Club secretary 

Dear Mr. Gill, 

I was delighted to come across your post on "Mr. Fletcher's gambits". A pleasant book I recall fondly, and hope your Club members appreciate as well. 

My own interest in gambits focuses on the Jerome Gambit, which I have researched for 15 years and maintain a blog about (jeromegambit.blogspot.com). I was impressed that you substituted the Sorensen game for Mr. Fletcher's anonymous club game. 

As a small, niggling point, I wanted to mention that I have 7 Jerome Gambit wins by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in my database (which also includes 9 losses, 2 draws and 6 incomplete games). They are out there, they just required some digging. 

By inference I conclude that you did not accept Eric Schiller's erronious contention in his "Unorthodox Chess Openings" (1998) that the famous Blackburne win (London, 1880) was against Jerome himself; just so. 

Best wishes, 

Rick Kennedy

I soon learned that I had contacted the wrong person. Still, it was great to hear back from Bedford 

Good evening. 

I have to own up to being the perpetrator of the games collection on the Bedford club site based on Elliott Fletcher's book. Given that since I discovered the book in my 'teens (half a century ago) I have had a predilection for dodgy gambits, I guess I should share your view of Fletcher's book as "delightful". Revisiting the book I did find his uncritical attitude to a lot of complete trash a bit annoying and at times his analysis is seriously ropey (the irritation only vents itself openly, I think, in the last note to game 21). 

I think I probably found the Sorensen game courtesy of your blog and apologise for the fact that I didn't look hard enough to find the White wins by Jerome. I am asking the webmaster to amend the noted to Sorensen-NN on the website accordingly. 

I didn't know that friend Schiller was claiming that Blackburne's victim was Jerome himself. Had it been, I think Blackburne might have mentioned the fact in his own collection of his best games; and the fact that Tim Harding finds no evidence for it is pretty strong negative evidence as far as I am concerned. I accept that Schiller is a far stronger player than I will ever be, but (like you, I think) I don't rate him as an author. 

Regards,
Neil Hickman

It was easy to finish up with

Dear Mr. Hickman, 

I had a pleasant, good-natured chuckle at your comment that you found Fletcher's "uncritical attitude to a lot of complete trash a bit annoying" and that "at times his analysis is seriously ropey". Well put - and I agree. Nobody is likely to mistake "Gambits Accepted" for, say, Tartakower and Du Mont's "500 Master Games of Chess". Gary Kasparov's comment that "chess is not skittles" holds true for his portion of the chess world... 

Still, I am delighted at an actual, published  look (before the internet!) at amateur games by an amateur player. "Gambits Accepted" reminds me a bit of Rainer Schlenker's "Randspringer" - with weaker analysis, of course. 

I want to apologize for my snarky comment relating to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's wins with his gambit. Finding them is not so easy, unless you're a bit of a fanatic (with too much time on his hands) like myself. 

I agree, if AWJ had crossed the pond to have his head handed to him by Blackburne in London in that famous Jerome Gambit game, Dr. Harding would have uncovered some trace of it. Certainly, over here, I have found no trace that the gambiteer ever even left the US. 

Thank you for your time. 

Best wishes,Rick 

The Best Jerome Gambit Game of the Year (Part 2)

We continue from the previous post, considering a game that has lept to the top of the heap for Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games this year.

As indicated, Readers are encouraged to dispute my assessment by sending in other great Jerome Gambit games...

Wall, Bill - Guest871838
PlayChess.com, 2014

8.Qxh8 

Of the offer of the Rook with 7...d6, Blackburne wrote in Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899), "Not to be outdone in generosity." The cost to White of taking the Rook is to have his Queen locked out of the action, at a time when Black's pieces begin to swarm the Kingside.

Blackburne's book also contained the following: "NOTE. I used to call this the Kentucky opening. For a while after its introduction it was greatly favoured by certain players, but they soon grew tired of it."

A resonable explanation of the reference to the "Kentucky opening" has appeared previously in this blog (see "A New Abrahams Jerome Gambit" for a summary). 

As for the "certain players" who "greatly favoured" the Jerome Gambit, it is difficult to identify them by games played, as I have discovered the games of only a dozen or so players (other than Jerome, himself) who played the opening between when it was introduced in 1874 and the publication of Blackburne's book in 1899. Andres Clemente Vazquez, of Mexico, has four games in The Database, while E.B. Lowe, of Great Britain, has three.

Blackburne might well have been referring to authors who included analysis of the Jerome Gambit in their opening books, in which case George H.D. Gossip, of Theory of the Chess Openings (1879) and The Chess Player's Vade Mecum (1891) ; William Cook, of Synopsis of Chess Openings (1882, 1888); E. Freeborough and C. E. Rankin of  Chess Openings Ancient and Modern (1889, 1893, 1896);and Mortimer of The Chess Player's Pocket book And Manual of the Openings (1888 - 1906); are all likely suspects. Certainly, more research is still needed.

8...Qh4

This is Blackburne's counter attack, threatening 9...Qxf2+ 10.Kd1 Bg4 mate.

9.O-O

Munoz and Munoz, in their notes to Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, in the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, suggested "He should have attempted to free his pieces by P to Q4 [d4] before castling." 

The move 9.d4 received a good look in "Updating the Jerome Gambit (Part 1)", including references to L. Elliot Fletcher’s energetic Gambit’s Accepted (1954), an internet article on Amateur - Blackburne (not currently available) by Brazil's Hindemburg Melao, and some musings and analysis from Bruce Pandolfini, in his 1989 Chess Openings: Traps & Zaps !

9...Nf6

The door closes on White's Queen.

10.Qd8

Melao mentioned that Idel Becker, in his Manual de xadrez (1974), attributed the move 10.d4 to Euwe (source not mentioned). Melao was skeptical about the move, giving Black’s counter-attack 10…Bh3 11.gxh3 Rxh8 12.dxc4 Qxh3 13.f3 g5 14.Rf2 g4 15. Bf4 gxf3 16.Bg3 h5 17.Nd2 h4 18.Nf3 Qg4 with advantage for Black. He preferred 10.Qd8 - another suggestion (without further analysis) by Munoz and Munoz in the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, August 1885, who opined "The only hope he had was 10.Q to Q8 [10.Qd8], thus preventing the deadly  move of Kt to Kt5 [...Ng4]."

Bill Wall mentioned that 10.d3 loses to 10...Bh3 11.Qxa8 Qg4 12.g3 Qf3 as was brutally demonstrated in RevvedUp - Hiarcs 8, 2 12 blitz, 2006 (0-1, 12).

10...Bd7

Most consistent for Black is 10...Bb6, covering the c7 pawn and enforcing the embargo on the Queen. White should return a pawn to free Her Majesty with 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qd3 as in Wall,Bill - Foo,Nathan, Palm Bay, FL, 2010 (1-0, 33). 

[to be continued]

A New Opening?

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, chess opening maven and book author Bill Wall sent me a copy of the September 1958 issue of the Precita Valley Chess Herald ("A Monthly Chess News Bulletin Published by the Precita Valley Chess Club Representing The San Francisco Bay Area Chess League") which had an interesting article. 

A New Opening?

During the U.S. Open at Rochester, Minnesota, there was a small tourney taking place on the side. In it was one man named John Ishkan, who, during one round as White, played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ After White's fifth move his opponent went up to George Koltanowski and asked, "What opening is this?". Kolty said that he did not know but that he would feed the moves to the IBM machine and find out. A little later the player of the Black pieces asked George, "Did the machine have the answer?" "Yes," was the reply, "It's the ASHCAN OPENING!" -- To complete the story, by the way, Ishkan won the game!

A few comments:

The July 1958 cover story of Chess Review was on "A Chess Playing Program for the I.B.M. 704" by Alex Bernstein. This is likely the "IBM machine" that George Koltanowski was joking about consulting with.

I was surprised that Kolty was unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit, but there was little written about it in the 1950s (I can think only of L. Elliott Fletcher's 1954 Gambit's Accepted that had a game and analysis), certainly nothing in the recently released (1957) Modern Chess Openings, 9th Edition.

My files show a Koltanowski game from a 1953 blindfold simultaneous display in Brussels, which, while a Philidor Defense, has abit of a Jerome touch to it:

Koltanowski,G - NN
blind simul Brussels, 1953

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qd5 Ne7 9.Qf7+ Kxe5 10.Bf4+ Kd4 11.Na3 b5 12.Qe6 Kc5 13.Be3+ Kb4 14.Qb3+ Ka5 15.Qxb5 checkmate

It is interesting to note that the same opening line appeared in a game between Alexandra Kosteniuk and Almira Skripchenko (both rated 2400+ at the time) over 50 years later, only this time it was drawn.

Kosteniuk,A - Skripchenko,A
PWPW S.A Chess Cup, Warsaw, POL (7), 20.06.2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qd4 c5 9.Nxd7+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ Kxd7 11.Qb5+ Ke7 12.Nc3 Kf7 13.Be3 Nf6 14.e5 Ng4 15.0-0 Qh4 16.h3 Nxe3 17.fxe3+ Kg8 18.Qb3+ Kh7 19.Nd5 Qg5 20.Rf7 Bxh3 21.Qd3+ Kg8 22.Nf4 Kxf7 23.Nxh3 Qxe5 24.Rf1+ Kg8 25.Qc4+ Kh7 26.Qd3+ Kg8 27.Qc4+ Kh7 28.Qd3+ Kg8 29.Qc4+ drawn


(By the way, you might want to check out Bill's new chess magazine White Knight.)

Traps and Zaps

It's always fun to see where the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) turns up. Most recently, it was in IM Gary Lane's latest book (see "The extraordinary and forgotten Jerome Gambit"), but 20 years ago it was in Bruce Pandolfini's Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

A defense made famous by Joseph Henry Blackburne (see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!" and "Flaws (Part II)") and most recently explored on this blog in "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down" (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (10).

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4

An improvement suggested by Munoz and Munoz in the August 1885 Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, repeated by Fletcher in Gambits Accepted (1954) and Druke in the November 1987 Gambit Revue, to give some early citations. (Actually, the move is rarely mentioned, but see "A Closer Look (Part V)".)

9...Nf6

Druke gave this move as an alternative to Fletcher's 9...Qxe4+ 10.Be3, saying that it came from analysis by Fritz 5. Of course, the two lines can transpose; in either case, as Hindemburg Melao, Jr., wrote in an intenet article (2003) on Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885 (not currently available), White's proper response is Nd2.

10.dxc5

Pandolfini appears to be the first to explore this move, and he uses it in a bit of a morality tale (after a few more moves) about grabbing material in his Chess Openings Traps and Zaps.

10...Qxe4+ 11.Be3 Qxg2 12.Rf1

Scenario: Don't be misled by White's extra Rook. It's a meaningless ornament. White is in serious trouble. His King is exposed and his cornered Queen is in danger of being trapped. The cruncher is 12...Bh3 which wins White's Queen by discovery form the a8-Rook. If White tries to save the Queen by capturing the Rook, 13.Qxa8 then 13...Qxf1+ 14.Kd2 Ne4 is mate.

Interpretation: White began with a very aggressive, sacrificial line of play which, because of Black's cavalier pawn move (6...g6), led to the gain of material. The price White had to pay was the removal of his Queen from the center of the board. Without his Queen being available for defense, White has to play carefully, and every move becomes critical. Instead of his h1-Rook, he should be more concerned with the potential trap of his Queen. The correct response to 11...Qxg2 is 12.Nc3 which later prevents Black's Knight from moving to e4 and giving mate. After 12...Qxh1+ 13.Kd2 Qxa1?(13...Qxh2 keeps Black's Queen in play), White turns the tables with 14.Bd4!. Black's extra Rook then means little in the face of White's strong counterattack.

Melao's analysis 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 (!!?) 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4 Nf6! ( 9...Qxe4+ 10.Be3 Nf6 11.Nd2 Qxg2 [11...Qxc2 12.0-0+-] 12.0-0-0+-) 10.Nd2!
a)10.dxc5 Qxe4+ 11.Be3 (11.Kd1 Bg4+ -+; 11.Kf1 Bh3 12.Qxa8 Bxg2+ 13.Kg1 Bh3 -+) 11...Qxg2 12.Rf1 Bh3 -+;
b)10.Be3 Bxd4! 11.Bxd4 Qxe4+ 12.Kd2 (12.Be3 Qxg2 -+) 12...Qxd4+ 13.Kc1 Qc5 14.b4 (14.Na3 b5 15.Re1 Bb7 -+) 14...Qc4 15.c3 (15.Na3 Qf4+ 16.Kb1 Qxb4+ -+) 15...b5 -+;
c)10.e5 dxe5! 11.0-0! Bd6! (11...Bxd4 12.Nd2 e4! 13.Qd8 Be5 14.g3 [14.f4 Bf5! 15.Qxa8 Bd4+ 16.Kh1 Ng4 17.h3 Qg3 18.hxg4 Qh4#] 14...Qh3 [14...Qg4 15.Nc4] 15.Nxe4! Qxf1+ [15...Nxe4 16.Qd5+] 16.Kxf1 Bh3+ 17.Ke1 Rxd8 18.Ng5+ Kg7 19.Nxh3 unclear) 12.f4 (12.Nd2 e4 13.g3 [13.f4 b6 -+] 13...Qh3 14.f3 e3 15.Ne4 Nxe4! 16.fxe4+ Qxf1+! 17.Kxf1 Bh3+ 18.Ke2 Rxh8 -+) 12...e4! 13.g3 Qh5 14.f5 gxf5 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Rxf4 [16.gxf4 e3 -+] 16...Qd1+ 17.Kg2 [17.Rf1 Qxd4+ 18.Kg2 f4 -+] 17...e3! 18.Qd8 Bd7! [18...e2! 19.Qxc7+ Kg6 20.Nc3! e1N+ 21.Kh1 Qxa1 22.Rf1! Be6 23.g4! fxg4 (23...Nxg4 24.d5) 24.h4! (24.Qe5 Nf3)] 19.Qxc7 (19.Qxa8 Bc6+ 20.Kh3 Qh5+ 21.Rh4 Bg2+! 22.Kxg2 Qe2+ 23.Kg1 [23.Kh3 Qf1#] 23...Qf2+ 24.Kh1 Qf1#) 19...Rc8 20.Qxb7 Rxc2+ 21.Kh3 Qh5+ 22.Rh4 Qe2 23.Qh1 f4+ 24.g4 Bxg4+ 25.Rxg4 Qxg4#;
10...Bxd4 11.0-0! (11.g3 Qh5 12.Qd8 Bxf2+! 13.Kxf2 Qc5+;11.Rf1 b5 [11...Bh3! 12.Qxa8 Bxg2 13.Qxb7! Bxf1 14.Qb3+! d5 15.Qg3] 12.Qd8 Bb6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qd3 Qxh2 [14...e4 15.Qg3 +/=] 15.Qf3 Rb8 16.Ne4 Qh4 17.Nxf6 Qxf6 18.Qxf6+ Kxf6 unclear)

The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)

I start the "modern" era of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde somewhat arbitrarily, taking note of the contribution of L. Elliott Fletcher, whose quite enjoyable Gambits Accepted, a survey of opening sacrifices (1954) contains an interesting Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game. Alas, the players are listed as anonymous, and the location and date are not given.

Invented by an American named Jerome in the latter part of the nineteenth century much of the analysis given below was originated by another American, S. A. Charles, and subsequently revised by Freeborough and Ranken. The opening is frankly unsound but Black's task is by no means easy and he can quite likely go wrong...

Micah Fisher-Kirshner (see"A Few Words With... Micah Fisher-Kirshner") certainly deserves membership, for defending the honor of the Jerome Gambit against an early chess program, Knight Stalker (aka Fritz1) in a 1993 match.Certainly Master Jack Young ("Bozo" of "Bozo's Chess Emporium") should have his enthusiasm for the Jerome Gambit in his "Meet Jerome" article in Randspringer #6, 1990-1991 rewarded with membership.

Although FIDE Master Eric Schiller might shrug off the honor, he deserves a place in the Gemeinde for writing about the Jerome Gambit during a time when few even thought or knew about it, let alone analyzed it or shared their assessments. Unorthodox Chess Openings (1998, 2002), Gambit Chess Openings (2002), and Survive and Beat Annoying Chess Openings (2003) have new analysis, although the author's attitude was less tongue-in-cheek than thumb-in-eye

This is another cyberspace gambit. Virtually no attention was paid to this reckless move [4.Bxf7+] until its supporters started talking about it on the Internet. It can't be found in recent tournament games, and there is a good reason: It stinks. White whips up a brief attack, easily parried, and then spends a long time trying to justify the sacrifice. A popular gambit in cyberspace, but in the real world, it only succeeds in games where Black is a very weak player.

It is important to include Tim McGrew (see "A Few Words With... Tim McGrew") author of "The Gambit Cartel" series of articles at ChessCafe, and explorer of some of the vicissitudes of the Jerome Gambit.

The Gemeinde likewise has membership for Life Master Brian Wall, who has a 100% record with the Jerome Gambit (at least after one game) and who has presented devestating analysis of the Whistler Defense (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter VIII") – one of the best refutations of the Jerome Gambit to date.

It's not every day (month, year, decade, century...) that an International Master mentions or makes a suggestion concerning the play of the Jerome Gambit, and because he has, IM Gary Lane (see "International Master Gary Lane") has a place in the Gemeinde; although this is not likely to be mentioned on the FIDE website.

There also are a number of players who deserve mention for their brave commitment to playing the Jerome Gambit, starting with Pete Banks ("blackburne"), whose game GM Lane analyzed in one of his "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.

Of note also are Louis Morin, whose name should have been mentioned here much earlier for his Jerome Gambit swash-buckling, and A.B. Hailey, who has produced his share of theoretical games.

Gary Gifford, current editor and publisher of the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter (and co-author of the brand new and exciting Winning with the Krazy Kat and Old Hippo) – see "But - Is this stuff playable??" – has been supportive of Jerome Gambit discoveries.

Finally, there are the many players who have ventured Jerome's Double Opening. It is not possible to mention all, but certainly those who have played in the five thematic Jerome Gambit tournaments mentioned on this blog should be welcomed into the Gemeinde: bobbob78, brain50, braken, breaker, calchess10, Capt.Mandrake, Carlos Azcarate, casker, dandoo, delboy138, drewbear, eddie43, Gary_Seven, gobo, hogmaster, HPotter, jelgava, jemasc, Kevin the fruitbat, koloman, mediax, mika76, panga74, Piratepaul, queen st, Rail2Rail, Sir Osis of the Liver, splott, Temmo, TJay2465, tonik, TWODOGS, vlad-tepes, willitfw and yorkypuddn.