Jerome Gambit: Old McDonnell

Kevin Sheldrick ("Cliff Hardy") sends one of his latest Jerome Gambits. He gets into trouble, but he calls upon his creativity and his "Jerome pawns" save him. The comments are mostly Kevin's. I have added a few diagrams and some notes in blue - Rick

Old McDonnell Had a Pawn Storm

A kingside pawn storm features in many Jerome Gambit games, as is clearly evident in the games on this blog. In that vein, I recently played a Jerome Gambit game that reminded me somewhat of a famous position from an old game between two classic masters, Alexander McDonnell and Louis-Charles de La Bourdonnais in London in 1834. These were two of the strongest players in the world at the time and the final position in that game I have heard being referred to as, arguably, the most famous position in chess history.

  

La Bourdonnais, as black, has just played 37...e2, and so McDonnell resigned in a lost position, despite being the player who currently has a queen on the board.

My game: 

dsjkljdkdjkf - beba buba beba542

15 0, instantchess.com, 25/1/17

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5??

6.Nxc6! would have been better. (See gfdgfd - leleos
InstantChess.com, 2016.)

6...Nxe5 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 h5 10.Bg5 Bd4?!

The odd-looking 10...Qd7!, blocking his bishop on c8 but breaking the pin on the knight on f6, was best. (10...Be6 was perrypawnpusher - ulisimbolon, Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2016 [0-1, 22])

11.c3 Be5??

11...Bb6 would still leave black with a clear advantage.

12.f4

Old McDonnell had a bishop!

12...h4 13. Bxh4??

13.Qf3! Bg4 14.Qe3 and white will win the trapped bishop on e5, with a winning position.

13...Nh5!

13...Nh5 was good for a slight advantage for black (saves his bishop on e5) but 13...Nxe4! was slightly better than that again

14.Qf2 Bf6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.0-0 Bd7 17.Nd2 Ke7 18.d4 Raf8 19.f5 Kd8 20.Rae1 Qg5 21.Nf3 Qg4 22.h3 Qg3

23.Qxg3?

23.Re3 would yield an approximately equal position.

23...Nxg3 24.Rf2 Rhg8?

24...Re8, attacking the e-pawn, would lead to a winning advantage for black, whereas after 24...Rhg8?, white has a slight advantage.

25.Kh2 Nh5 26.g4 Nf4 27.Kg3??

E - I - E - I - O! I missed the fork.

27...Nd3 28.e5 Nxe1 29.Nxe1 de 30.de Bc6 31.g5 Kc8 32.Kg4 Rd8 33.h4 Rd1 34.Re2 Rgd8?

 

Black is still better but 34...Bb5! 35.Re3 Rd2, with a powerful rook on the seventh rank, would lead to a really crushing position for black.

35.e6

With a push-push here and a push-push there of my e- and f-pawns, I was hoping to pull off a swindle, though 35. h5! (i.e. everywhere a push-push!), with a four-pawn storm, would give me better chances to fluke a win from my bad position.

35...R8d2 36.Rxd2 Rxd2 37.f6 gf 38.gf Bd5 39.Kf5 Rf2+ 40.Ke5 Bxa2 41.f7 Re2+??

41...Kd8! was actually the only winning move for black here.

42.Kf4

Now white has a winning position!

42...Rf2+ 43.Nf3 Bxe6 44.f8=Q+ Kd7 45.Qg7+ Kd6 46.Qd4+ Bd5 47.Qxf2 c6 48.Qxa7 Bxf3 49.Kxf3 and black resigned.

Take care of your "Jerome pawns" and they will take care of you. Wonderful, Kevin!

Jerome Gambit: Resolutely

Sometimes, if you act resolutely, you can look like you know what you are doing - even if you don't. In the following game Black makes decisive moves, like he is in the process of refuting White's silly little gambit. Indeed, the game lasts only 13 moves - but it is the Jerome Gambit that triumps.

Wall, Bill - Tedah
lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

We last saw this adventurous line in the latest "Cliff Hardy" adventure, gfdgfd - leleos, InstantChess.com, 2016 (1-0, 17).

6.Nxc6 dxc6 

6...bxc6? 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5 Ne7  9.Qc3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Qwerty, Chess.com, 2010

Black's response is reasonable, although his best response might be the highly unreasonable 6..Qh4!?

7.Qh5+ g6 

Or 7...Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qd6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.e5 Ng4 11.Qf4+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Gebba, Chess.com, 2010.

8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qc3 Qxe4+ 

Black has returned the gambit piece and is able to get his Queen into the attacking action. If White now flinches at this aggression toward his King, say with the protective 10.Qe3, then Black can develop with 10...Nf6 and have hopes of reaching a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame...

But things are more complicated than that.

10.Kf1 Be6 11.Qxh8 Bd5 12.f3 Bc4+ 13.d3 Black resigned

(I have to admit that I have no idea what Black's last handful of moves was about.)

Jerome Gambit: Battle of Wits

I have received another game from recent Jerome Gambit convert "Cliff Hardy" (see "Jerome Gambit: You Gotta Believe"), playing incognito at InstantChess. Starting with move 2, and escalating with move 5, his opponent engages in a bit of chess psychology which reminds me of the "battle of wits" in the movie "The Princess Bride" - and his efforts are equally unsuccessful.

The notes to the game are by "Cliff". I have added a couple of comments in blue.

gfdgfd - leleos
InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4

3.Nxe5? Bxf2+! 4.Kxf2 would give me a winning advantage theoretically but I lose the valuable psychological advantage! 

3...Nc6 4.Bxf7+! 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8? 6.Qh5+?

I am astonished! This move looked obvious but it is poor!
The text is thematic, but 6.Nxc6 is += (Stockfish), intending 6...d/bxc6 7.Qh5 and 8.Qxc5.

[Welcome to the bizarre world of the Jerome Gambit, "Cliff"! Black does not want the second piece, and it seems logical to go after him right away with 6.Qh5+, except that 6.Nxc6 is a better move, as you note. Wilder, still, is that Black can answer 6.Nxc6 with 6...Qh4!? and White needs to be prepared for this shock. 7.d4!? seems to be the best response, allowing 7...Qxe4+ 8.Be3 Qxg2 - although it might be better for those with a heart condition to opt for 8.Qe2. Anyhow, the game becomes a wonderful mess after 9.Qh5+ Kf8 10.Ne5!? and Stockfish 7 continues with 10...Bb4+ 11.c3 Qxh1+ 12.Kd2 g6 13.Nxg6+ hxg6 14.Qxh8 g5 15.cxb4 d6 16.Qh5 Bf5 17.Qd1 Qxd1+ 18.Kxd1 Ne7 19.Nc3 and White has an edge. Uh, sure, right... No surprise that I haven't found any game examples with 6...Qh4!? - Rick]

6...g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6

Haha! The best move for black, according to Stockfish, is the Jeromesque 7...Bxf2! 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qh4 Rg8! =+. This game is a good example of the principle: the first to get in the Jerome wins!

8.Qxh8 Kf7

9.Qh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 Qe7 11.Nc3 Qf7 12.Qg3 Bd6 13.Qe3 Qf4 14.d4 Nf6 15.Qxf4 Bxf4 16.Bxf4 Nxd4 17.O-O-O Black resigned

[White has handled Black's ploys, has gained material (the exchange and three pawns) and has moved the game into a safe (for himself) Queenless middle game. There is not much for the defender to look forward to. - Rick]