Here we continue from our previous post, "Updating the Blackburne Defense (Part 1)", a look at the Blackburne Defense and what is new (or newer).
For earlier efforts, see also "Update: Old Dog Can Still Bite","Junk Openings", "A Closer Look (Part V)", "Update: Blackburne Defense" and "Traps and Zaps".
perrypawnpusher - lfcanales
blitz, FICS, 2014
9...Nf6 10.Qd8 Qxe4
Black's move allows White's Queen to escape and counter-attack. There are a number of alternative moves for Black, two of which bear attention.
Not 10...a6?, as in piratebopper - MiloBot, FICS, 2010, (1-0, 24).
Nor 10...a5? as in perrypawnpusher - MiloBot, blitz, FICS, 2010, (1-0, 24).
Played, if in a stumbling manner, is 10...Bd7?. The core game continued 11.Qxc7 (instead, 11.Qxa8? Nxe4? [Black should finish Blackburne-style: 11...Ng4 12.h3 Bxf2+ 13.Kh1 Qg3 14.Rxf2+ Nxf2+ 15.Kg1 Nxh3+ 16.Kh1 Nf4 17.Qf8+ Kxf8 18.d3 Qxg2#] 12.d4 Bxd4 13.Be3 Bxb2 14.Qxb7 Bxa1 15.Qxc7 Nf6 16.Qxd6 Kg7 17.Qc5 Ne4 18.Bd4+ Bxd4 19.Qxd4+ Kh6 20.f3 Black resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - choron, FICS, 2009) 11...Bb6? (instead, 11...Rc8 12.Qxb7 Ke7 is "gloriously obscure" according to Dr. Andrew Walker, University of Nottingham, personal communication, 2001. Probably 13.Qb3 with the idea of Qg3 is White's answer - not 13.Nc3? Ng4 when Black mates) 12.g3?! (12.Qxd6) 12...Qh3 13.Qxd6? Bc6 14.g4 Qxg4+ White resigned, Harris,S - Quayle,E, Los Angeles, CA, 1944.
Certainly solid, and Rybka's recommendation, is 10...Bb6. White should spring his Queen with 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qd3. The earliest reference that I have seen to this line is from The Art of the Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn (1953), which says White has the advantage. This proved true in Wall,B - Foo,N, Palm Bay, FL, 2010 (1-0, 33).
The most exciting move in the position is Chandler's 10...Bh3!?, when White has to temporarily forego the Rook at a8 and focus on checking Black: 11.Qxc7+ (11.g3? Qxe4 12.Qxc7+ Kf8 White resigned, Siggus -toe, FICS, 2007; 11.Qxa8? Qg4 12.Qe8+ Nxe8 13.g3 Qf3 14.Re1 Qg2#) 11...Kf8! (11...Kg8 lost in Chandler,G - Dimitrov, T/5 minute special game 2004; in Hiarcs 8 - RevvedUp, blitz 2 12, 2006 [1-0, 17]; and AsceticKingK9 - blackburne, ChessWorld JG6, 2011 [1-0, 22] ) and analysis by Geoff Chandler and, later, Dennis Monokroussos (see the two posts on his blog) show that the outcome is a draw, as it is too dangerous for either player to look for more.
11.Qxc7+
This is an improvement over 11.Nc3 Qe7 (11...Qxc2 12.Qxc7+ Nd7 13.Nd5 Qe4 14.Nc3 Qe5 15.d3 Qd4 16.Re1 Qxf2+ White resigned, ionman - GriffyJr, FICS, 2005 (0-1,16); Interested readers should check out "Ionman vs The Bots" ) 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 as in RevvedUp - Shredder 8, blitz 2 12, 2006 (0-1, 25).
11...Kg8
radicalmove played over a dozen games against LuigiBot on FICS in 2012, testing the somewhat weaker 11...Bd7 (see "Poor, Poor Computer" for a couple of examples). The games are in The Database.
Likewise, ionman took on the computer GriffyJr a couple of times at FICS in 2005, over the somewhat weaker 11...Qe7 (the games are also in The Database). White triumphed in Shredder 8 - RevvedUp, blitz 2 12, 2006 (1-0, 28).
12.Nc3
Maybe a little better was 12.Qd8+ Kf7 13.d3 Qe5 14.Bh6 Qe8 15.Qxe8+ Nxe8.
12...Qxc2
The pawn is poison.
13.Qd8+
After the game Houdini preferred 13.d4!? Bb6 (13...Bxd4 14.Bh6 Bd7 15.Qc4+ d5 16.Qxd4) 14.Qe7 when White steals the Knight in broad daylight.
13...Kg7 14.Qe7+ Kh6 15.Qxf6 Black resigned
If I told you that an online player recently challenged a computer (rated about 350 points higher than himself) to a game of chess, choosing to play an often-refuted opening and facing its best-known defense (highlighted in a brutal miniature by a master known as "the Black Death") – well, you might be inclined to say "Poor, poor human."
Oh, but you noticed: this post is titled "Poor, Poor Computer" (my emphasis).
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Jerome Gambit!
radicalmove - LuigiBot
rated standard game, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
Blackburne's Defense, made famous by the game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885. See "Flaws (Part I) and Flaws (Part II)".
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8
White's 10th move was suggested shortly after the Blackburne game was played, but it did not become widely known. Most players understand the end of Black's counter-attack to be a combination of "Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit!" and "Mars Attacks!"
10...Qxe4
This is a move that computers are fond of. See "Ionman vs the Bots" for some examples.
11.Qxc7+
Instead, 11.Nc3 was seen in the game RevvedUp - Shredder 8, blitz 2 12, 2006 (0-1, 25) from the incredible match, RevvedUp vs Hiarcs 8, Shredder 8, Yace Paderborn, Crafty 19.19 and Fritz 8. See "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (1)" for starters.
11...Bd7 12.d3 Qd5 13.Nc3 Qc6 14.Qxc6 Bxc6
LuigiBot has traded off its harassed Queen, but the situation looks kind of grim in any event. White is ahead the exchange and a couple of pawns; about a piece worth of material. Quite a change from less than a dozen moves ago!
15.Be3 Re8 16.Rae1 Re6 17.Bxc5 dxc5 18.Rxe6 Kxe6
Radicalmove is content to continue to reduce the play to a basic endgame.
19.a3 Kf5 20.h3 h6 21.b4 cxb4 22.axb4 Kf4 23.b5
As if the current game were not bad enough, the two combatants played another game the same day (I do not know which was played first, but it might be the longer one) with the same result: 23.Re1 Bd7 24.h4 Bc6 25.g3+ Kf5 26.d4 Ne4 27.Nxe4 Bxe4 28.c4 b6 29.c5 h5 30.cxb6 axb6 31.Ra1 Bd5 32.Ra6 b5 33.Ra5 Ke4 34.Rxb5 Kxd4 35.Rb8 Kd3 36.b5 Kd4 37.b6 Kc5 38.b7 Kd4 39.Rd8 Ke4 40.b8Q Kd4 41.Qb7 Ke5 42.Qxd5+ Kf6 43.Rd7 Black resigned, radicalmove - LuigiBot, rated standard game, FICS, 2012.
23...Bd7 24.Re1 Bf5 25.h4 Bg4 26.g3+ Kf5 27.d4 Nd7 28.Na4 Bf3 29.Nc5 Nxc5 30.dxc5 Be4
31.c4 Ke5 32.c6 a5 33.cxb7 Kd4 34.b8Q Bf5 35.Qb6+ Kxc4 36.Qxa5 Bd3 37.Qa4+ Black resigned
"One man's treasure is another man's trash."
Following up on yesterday's post "Ionman vs the Bots" I messaged ionman, asking about the games. Given their theoretical nature, I thought that I might have discovered a new member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde who had a whole powerhouse of new ideas to pushe the understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) forward.
Not so.
"I was just messing around in those games" he responded.
The early Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games by ionman at FICS seem to have all been played against computer bots, providing not only a bit of a historical perspective but also some interesting analytical off-shoots. They are well worth playing through.
I have messaged ionman at FICS, and hope to learn more about his explorations.
ionman - GriffyJr
blitz, FICS, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
Heading for the Blackburne Defense.
As we have seen in "Sailing off the Edge of the World", ionman also faced 6...Ke6: 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ The choice of the mscp bot.
Instead, 8...Bd4 was the choice of the Fleurybot and FleurybotJr bots 9.c3 (After the stronger 9.fxe5+ Black has to find 9...Kc6 which is the only move that keeps his edge 10.c3 d5 11.Qf4 Bb6 12.exd5+ Qxd5) 9...Nd3+ 10.Ke2 Ne7 (10...Nh6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxd4 Nxc1+ 13.Rxc1 Qf8 14.Qe5+ Kd8 15.f5 Ng4 16.Qg3 h5 17.c4 d6 18.d4 Bd7 19.Nc3 Bc6 20.d5 Bd7 21.Rf1 Rh6 22.h3 Ne5 23.Rf2 Nxc4 24.Raf1 Nxb2 25.e5 Nc4 26.Ne4 Nxe5 27.f6 Bb5+ 28.Ke3 Bxf1 29.Rxf1 gxf6 30.Qh4 Kc8 31.Rxf6 Qe7 32.Qg5 Rh7 33.Qg8+ Kd7 34.Qg6 Nxg6 35.Rxd6+ cxd6 36.Kd4 Qe5+ 37.Kc4 Qxe4+ 38.Kb5 Qxd5+ 39.Kb4 Qxa2 40.g4 Qb1+ 41.Kc4 Ne5+ 42.Kd4 Qd3 checkmate, ionman - FleurybotJr, blitz, FICS, 2005) 11.e5+ Nxe5 12.fxe5+ Bxe5 13.Qd3+ Kc6 14.Qe4+ Kd6 15.d4 Bxh2 16.c4 c6 17.c5+ Kc7 18.Rxh2 d6 19.cxd6+ Qxd6 20.Bf4 Nf5 21.Bxd6+ Nxd6 22.Qe5 Re8 23.Qxe8 Bg4+ 24.Kd3 Bf5+ 25.Kd2 Rxe8 26.Nc3 Nc4+ 27.Kd1 Nxb2+ 28.Kc1 Nd3+ 29.Kd2 Kb6 30.Rhh1 h6 31.Rhb1+ Kc7 32.a4 Re7 33.a5 Kd6 34.a6 b6 35.Ne2 Re8 36.Nc1 Nf4 37.Rb3 Re4 38.Re3 Rxd4+ 39.Ke1 Nxg2+ 40.Kf2 Nxe3 41.Kxe3 Re4+ 42.Kf3 g5 43.Ne2 g4+ 44.Kf2 Be6 45.Rd1+ Bd5 46.Nc3 Rf4+ 47.Ke1 g3 48.Ne2 g2 49.Ng1 Rf1+ 50.Kd2 Bc4 51.Kc1+ Ke5 52.Nf3+ Rxf3 53.Rg1 Rf1+ 54.Rxf1 gxf1Q+ 55.Kd2 Qd3+ 56.Kc1 Bd5 57.Kb2 Qd2+ 58.Ka3 Qc3+ 59.Ka4 Qb3 checkmate, ionman - Fleurybot, blitz, FICS 2005;
Returning to the mscp bot: 9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1 (10.Ke2 Nd4+ 11.Kd1 Nxf5 12.gxh4 Nxh4 13.e5+ Kc6 14.c3 d5 15.d4 Bg4+ 16.Kc2 Bf5+ 17.Kb3 Bf8 18.Be3 Re8 19.Nd2 Ng2 20.Bf2 Nxf4 21.Bg3 Nd3 22.a3 a5 23.Ka2 g6 24.b3 Bh6 25.Nf3 Rf8 26.Nh4 a4 27.b4 Bh3 28.Rhd1 Nf2 29.Bxf2 Rxf2+ 30.Kb1 Rf4 31.b5+ Kxb5 32.Kc2 Rxh4 33.Rab1+ Kc6 34.Kd3 Bf5+ 35.Ke2 Bg4+ 36.Kf2 Bxd1 37.Rxd1 Rxh2+ 38.Kg3 Ra2 39.Re1 Rxa3 40.Kg4 Rxc3 41.e6 Nf6+ 42.Kh4 g5 checkmate, ionman - mscp, blitz, FICS, 2005) 10...Ne7 11.e5+ (11.Qe5+ Nxe5 12.fxe5+ Kxe5 13.gxh4 Kxe4 14.d4 Kxd4 15.Nd2 Rf8 16.Nb3+ Kd5 17.c4+ Kxc4 18.Bg5 Bd6 19.Rc1+ Kd5 20.Re1 Nf5 21.Rc3 Bb4 22.Rd3+ Kc4 23.Re4+ Kxd3 24.Rxb4 Ne3+ 25.Bxe3 Rf1 checkmate, ionman - mscp, blitz, FICS, 2005) 11...Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Kxd6 14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4 Ng1+ 16.Ke1 Bf3 17.d4 Bxh1 18.dxc5+ Ke6 19.Nc3 Rhd8 20.Be3 Nh3 21.Kf1 Nf5 22.Re1 Bc6 23.Qc4+ Kf6 24.Ne4+ Bxe4 25.Qxe4 Re8 26.Bd4+ Nxd4 27.Qxd4+ Kg6 28.Qd3+ Kf6 29.Qxh3 Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 Re8+ 31.Kf2 Re4 32.Kf3 Rc4 33.c3 Rxc5 34.Qg4 Rb5 35.b4 Rf5 36.Qg1 c5 37.bxc5 a5 38.Qd4+ Kf7 39.Qd7+ Kf6 40.Qxb7 g6 41.c6 Rc5 42.c7 Rxc3+ 43.Ke2 Kf5 44.c8Q+ Rxc8 45.Qxc8+ Kxf4 46.Qe6 a4 47.a3 h5 48.h3 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh4 50.Qf6+ g5 51.Kf3 Kxh3 52.Qxg5 h4 53.Qg2 checkmate, ionman - mscp, blitz, FICS, 2005.
(Relax, all of the games can be found in The Database. Just ask for it.)
7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8
A day after the text game, ionman tried 10.e5 less successfully: 10...dxe5 (instead 10...Ng4 is strong) 11.Qd8 (better is the thematic 11.d4) 11...Bd6 12.Nc3 (12.g3 Qc4 13.Nc3 Qxf1+ 14.Kxf1 Bh3+ 15.Kg1 Rxd8 16.d3 Rd7 17.Ne2 Bg4 18.Kf1 Bf3 19.Ke1 Ng4 20.h3 Nh2 21.Ng1 Bg2 22.h4 Ng4 23.Be3 Ke6 24.Ke2 a5 25.Nf3 Nxe3 26.fxe3 Bc5 27.e4 h6 28.c3 Bxf3+ 29.Kxf3 Rxd3+ 30.Ke2 Rxg3 White resigned, ionman - GriffyJr, blitz, FICS, 2005) 12...e4 13.g3 Qh3 14.f3 Qxf1+ 15.Kxf1 Bh3+ 16.Kf2 Rxd8 17.b3 Bc5+ 18.Ke2 exf3+ 19.Kxf3 Rf8 20.Bb2 Bf5 21.d3 Ng4 22.h3 Ne5+ 23.Kg2 Nc6 24.g4 Be6 25.Rf1+ Ke8 26.Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Ne4 Bd4 28.Ba3+ Kg7 29.c3 Be5 30.d4 Bf4 31.Bb2 Kf7 32.c4 Nb4 33.d5 Bc8 34.Kf3 g5 35.h4 gxh4 36.Kxf4 Nd3+ 37.Kg5 Nxb2 38.Kxh4 Ke7 39.Kg5 Nd3 40.Kh6 Bxg4 41.Kxh7 Bf5+ 42.Kg7 Bxe4 White resigned, ionman - GriffyJr, blitz, FICS, 2005.
10...Qxe4 11.Qxc7+
The next day 11.Nc3 was played, which is a good move, but not as good as the text 11...Qxc2 (better is 11...Qc6) 12.Qxc7+ (12.d4 is better) 12...Nd7 13.Nd5 (13.d4 is better) 13...Qe4 14.Nc3 (14.Ne3) 14...Qe5 (14...Qc2) 15.d3 Qd4 16.Re1 A losing blunder 16...Qxf2+ White resigned, ionman - GriffyJr, blitz, FICS, 2005.
11...Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7
White is up the exchange and two pawns. Black's only compensation is better development.
13.c3 Be6 14.d4 Bb6 15.Bg5
Or 15.Nd2 Re8 16.Nf3 h5 17.Ng5 Bc4 18.Re1+ Kd8 19.Rxe8+ Kxe8 20.f3 Nd5 21.Ne4 Kd7 22.Kf2 Bd3 23.Bd2 Bc4 24.Re1 Bxa2 25.Bg5 a5 26.Nf6+ Kc6 27.Nxd5 Bxd5 28.Re8 Kb5 29.Bd8 Bc6 30.Rh8 Bxd8 31.Rxd8 Kc4 32.Rxd6 Be8 33.Rb6 Bc6 34.Ke3 g5 35.Kd2 Kd5 36.Kd3 Ke6 37.c4 Kd6 38.d5 Kc5 39.Rb3 a4 40.Ra3 Bd7 41.b4+ Kxb4 42.Rc3 a3 43.Kd4 Bf5 44.c5 Possibly a time error 44...a2 45.Rc1 Bb1 46.Rc4+ Kb5 White resigned, ionman - GriffyJr, blitz, FICS, 2005.
15...Re8 16.Nd2 d5 17.Nf3 h5
White now continues to reduce the game to a simpler and simpler won endgame.
18.Rae1 a5 19.Bh4 a4 20.Ng5 Kd7 21.Nxe6 Rxe6 22.Rxe6 Kxe6 23.Bxf6 Kxf6 24.Re1 Bc7 25.Kf1 a3 26.b3 Ba5 27.Rc1 Kf5 28.c4 Bc7 29.Re1 b5 30.Rc1 Bf4 31.Rc2 dxc4 32.bxc4 bxc4 33.Rxc4 Bd6 34.Ke2 Bxh2 35.g3 h4 36.Rc3 hxg3 37.fxg3 Bg1 38.Rxa3 Bxd4 39.Kf3 Ke5 40.Ra6 g5 41.a4 Bc5 42.a5 Bb4 43.Ra8 Kf6 44.a6 Bc5 45.a7 Bb4 46.Rh8 Bc5 47.a8Q Ke5 48.Re8+ Kf6 49.Qc6+ Kg7 50.Qxc5 g4+ Black resigned
In looking at ionman's Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related games in the online FICS games database, I found an effort that had escaped The Database, a situation that I was glad to quickly correct.
ionman - RavingEagle
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening. If Black subsequently brings his Bishop out to c5, White can consider going Jerome-ish with Bxf7+.
4.d4 Na5
At some point this offside Knight move is going to become known as the "kick me maneuver".
5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8
It is a measure of Black's difficulties to realize that his "strongest" move here is 6...Ke7, allowing the Knight fork at g6.
7.Qh5+ Ke7 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Qd5+
This is strong and winning.
Checking out The Database, only sanforu - goaheadandtakemy, blitz, FICS, 2008 has 9.Na3 that leads to mate in 3; and only plasmafaz - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2012 has 9.Nc3 that leads to mate in 4.
No matter, White has the fork mentioned in the note to move 6.
9...Ke7 10.Ng6+ Ke8 11.Nxh8 Nf6 12.Qf7 checkmate
In yesterday's post I mentioned a couple of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games played online by ionman at FICS in 2005 and suggested that I check out more of his games.
That led me to The Database, which has FICS games going back to 1999. I found ionman's games, but I also found a number of players doing more than single-game-experimenting with the Jerome, some of whom were familiar (e.g. GOH, JKELSEY ), but some of whom were new to me (when a database has 26,500+ games, it is possible to overlook someone).
I plan to see which players are still active at FICS, and contact them for more information about their Jerome Gambit adventures.
I would guess that everyone who plays the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has a particular defense that they would rather not face. That is funny, in a way, because the Jerome is a "refuted" opening, and therefore every defense should be uncomfortable...
Still, it was fun to see Philidor1792 in the following game take on the one defense that I worry about the most, played by a computer this time, at that, and wrestle it to the ground for a split point.
A computer can not make sense of the Jerome Gambit? Now, that's a surprise!
Philidor1792 - Computer (Crafty)
2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+
The storm clouds gather.
9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Ne7
11.e5+
A couple of alternatives from The Database:
11.Qxc5+ Kxc5 12.gxh4 d5 13.e5 Bg4 14.d4+ Nxd4+ 15.Kd2 Nf3+ 16.Ke3 d4+ 17.Kf2 Nxh4 18.Nd2 Raf8 19.Kg3 h5 20.Kxh4 Nf5+ 21.Kg5 Rh6 22.h3 Be2 23.Ne4+ Kd5 24.Nf2 Re8 25.Re1 Ree6 26.c4+ Bxc4 White forfeited on time, fehim - vshamis, FICS, 2008;
11.Qe5+ Nxe5 12.fxe5+ Kxe5 13.gxh4 Kxe4 14.d4 Kxd4 15.Nd2 Rf8 16.Nb3+ Kd5 17.c4+ Kxc4 18.Bg5 Bd6 19.Rc1+ Kd5 20.Re1 Nf5 21.Rc3 Bb4 22.Rd3+ Kc4 23.Re4+ Kxd3 24.Rxb4 Ne3+ 25.Bxe3 Rf1 checkmate, ionman - mscp, FICS, 2005.
11...Kc6
Instead, 11...Kd5 12.Qd3+ 1-0 was the imaginary "R.F."-"Nibs" telephone chess game of 1899.
12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+
Or 13.Qxf3 Bg4 14.gxh4 Bxf3+ 15.Ke1 Bxh1 16.c3 Bg1 17.d4 Bxh2 18.Kf2 Rhf8 19.Na3 Be4 20.b4 Ng6 21.c4 Nxf4 22.cxd5+ Nxd5+ 23.Ke2 Nxb4 24.Ke3 Bd5 25.Bd2 Nxa2 26.Nc2 Rf4 27.Kd3 Rxh4 28.Rxa2 Rh3+ 29.Ke2 Bxa2 30.Nb4+ Kb6 31.Nxa2 Bg1 32.Nc3 Bxd4 33.Nd5+ Kc6 34.Ne7+ Kd7 35.Nf5 Bxe5 White resigned, Siggus - mscp, FICS, 2007.
13...Nd5
The key. Otherwise: 13...Kxd6 14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4 Ng1+ 16.Ke1 Bf3 17.d4 Bxh1 18.dxc5+ Ke6 19.Nc3 Rhd8 20.Be3 Nh3 21.Kf1 Nf5 22.Re1 Bc6 23.Qc4+ Kf6 24.Ne4+ Bxe4 25.Qxe4 Re8 26.Bd4+ Nxd4 27.Qxd4+ Kg6 28.Qd3+ Kf6 29.Qxh3 Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 Re8+ 31.Kf2 Re4 32.Kf3 Rc4 33.c3 Rxc5 34.Qg4 Rb5 35.b4 Rf5 36.Qg1 c5 37.bxc5 a5 38.Qd4+ Kf7 39.Qd7+ Kf6 40.Qxb7 g6 41.c6 Rc5 42.c7 Rxc3+ 43.Ke2 Kf5 44.c8Q+ Rxc8 45.Qxc8+ Kxf4 46.Qe6 a4 47.a3 h5 48.h3 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh4 50.Qf6+ g5 51.Kf3 Kxh3 52.Qxg5 h4 53.Qg2 checkmate, ionman - mscp, FICS, 2005.
Hmmmm.... That's the second game where ionman faced this defense 7 years ago. I need to catch up with him...
14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4+ b5 16.Qa6+ Nb6 17.h3
Varying from 17.c4 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Rhe8+ 19.Kf2 Nf5+ 20.Kf1 Bh3 checkmate, abhailey - peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008, the first "real" game where I saw this particular defense. I was convinced four years ago that the Queen sacrifice was discovered with the help of a computer (The Database, with earlier games, was not available until January 1, 2010.)
17...Bh5 18.c3 Nd4+ 19.Ke1 Nc2+ 20.Kf1 Rhe8 21.d4 Bxd6 22.d5+ Kd7 23.Qxb5+ Kd8 24.Rg1 g6
In this chaotic position, Black is better.
25.Qc6 Nxa1 26.Na3 Re7 27.f5 Rd7 28.Nc4 Rb8 29.Bg5+ Kc8 30.Nxb6+ Rxb6 31.Qa8+ Rb8 32.Qxa7 Rf7 33.Qa6+ Rb7 34.Kg2 Rxf5
35.Rxa1 Bf3+ 36.Kf1 Bxd5+ 37.Ke2 Be6 38.b3 Re5+ 39.Kd2 Bxh3 40.Re1 Rxe1 41.Kxe1 Kb8
42.Qc6 Rb6 43.Qe8+ Kb7 44.Qf7 Bf5 45.Qxh7 Ra6 46.a4 Bg3+ 47.Kd2 Re6 48.Be3 Be1+ 49.Kxe1 Rxe3+ 50.Kf2 Rxc3 51.Qf7 Rc2+ 52.Kg3 Rc3+ 53.Kf4 Rh3 54.Kg5 Rg3+ 55.Kf6 Be4 56.Qc4 Rg4
57.h5 gxh5 58.Qb5+ Ka7 59.Qxh5 Rg6+ 60.Ke5 Bc2 61.Kd4 Rd6+ 62.Kc3 Rc6+ 63.Kb2 Bd3 64.Qd5 Rd6 65.Qc5+ Kb8 66.b4 Kc8
67.b5 Kd7 68.a5 Be4 69.a6 Rd1 70.a7 Rb1+ 71.Ka2 Rd1 72.Qf8 Bd5+ 73.Kb2 Rd2+ 74.Kc3 Ra2 75.Qc5 Bb7 76.b6 cxb6 77.Qxb6 Bd5
78.Kd4 Bc6 79.Ke5 Re2+ 80.Kf6 Re6+ 81.Kg5 Re5+ 82.Kf4 Re4+ 83.Kf5 Re8 84.Qb8 Rc8 85.Ke5 Re8+ 86.Kd4 Ba8 87.Kc5 Rc8+ 88.Kb6 Rc6+ 89.Kb5 Rc8 Draw
