We Know What We're Doing (Sort Of)

I chuckled when I was putting together the earlier blog post, "Opening Discussion, Not Quite Closed". The idea that there were several very good moves to be played in an opening position, and I chose none of them -- and won the game, anyhow -- seemed very appropriate in a Jerome Gambit blog.

Anyone who has browsed through the 51,000+ games in The Database has come away with an appreciation of the fact that Jerome Gambiteers frequently play second (or third, or fourth, or fifth...) best moves successfully. Some of that is due to their creativity, or their familiarity with the strategies of the opening. Some of that is due to the time control (blitz) or level of play (club chess).

Finally, some of White's success is due to the strangeness of the Jerome Gambit itself, which forces defenders to continually figure things out - or perish. I am reminded of the following anecdote from the "Blackmar Diemer Gambit World", #43, January, 1991, told by IM Gerard Welling, and reprinted in "Tom's BDG Pages"

At the Hastings Chess Congress in 1937 Emil Josef Diemer created a stir in a game with an English gentleman. Diemer had a bad position, but after a move by his opponent he replied quickly, then jumped up, and to the chagrin of his opponent exclaimed: "Precisely the blunder that I have been expecting!" 

White in the following encounter has 15 games in The Database. Perhaps that is not enough, yet, to allow too much straying from the "straight and narrow". He has interesting chances to win or draw, but eventually succumbs in a madcap ending to the ticking clock.

bemillsy - Dpouchy
blitz, FICS, 2012

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Nxc6 dxc6

6...bxc6, as in fehim - Pawnshop, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 48) could have been punished by 7.Qg4+!?

7.Qg4+

Possibly the best move. I mention that, because of the following games, where White varied:

7.d4 Be7 8.Qg4+ Kf7 9.Qh5+ Kf8 10.O-O Nf6 11.Qe2 Be6 12.e5 Nd5 13.c4 Nb4 14.a3 Na6 15.Nc3 Qxd4 16.Rd1 Qxc4 17.Qf3+ Kg8 18.Be3 Bg4 19.Qg3 Bxd1 20.Bh6 Qg4 21.Rxd1 Qxg3 22.hxg3 gxh6 23.Rd7 Kf7 24.f4 Rad8 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Kh2 Rd2 27.b4 Rd3 28.Nb1 Rb3 29.Nd2 Rxa3 White resigned, blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, ChessWorld JG6, 2011. White has 155 games in The Database.

7.d3 Qf6 8. O-O Ne7 9. c3 Rd8 10.d4 Bb6 11. Nd2 Kf7 12. Qb3+ Kf8 13. Nf3 c5 14. e5 Qc6 15. Bg5 Re8 16. Bxe7+ Rxe7 17. d5 Qd7 18. c4 Qg4 19. h3 Qg6 20. e6 c6 21. Rad1 cxd5 22. cxd5 Bc7 23.Rfe1 b6 24. d6 Bxd6 25. Rxd6 Bb7 26. Rd7 Bc8 27. Rd8+ Re8 28. e7  checkmate, UNPREDICTABLE - jrauch, FICS, 2010. White has 450 games in The Database.

7.O-O Nf6 8.d3 Qd4 9.c3 Qd7 10.d4 Be7 11.e5 Ne8 12.f4 Rf8 13.Qh5 Kd5 14.c4+ Kxc4 15.Na3+ Kd5 16.Qxh7 Qg4 17.Be3 Bf5 18.Qh3 Qe2 19.Qg3 Be4 20.Rfe1 Qxb2 21.Bf2 Nf6 22.Qb3+ Qxb3 23.axb3 Ng4 24.Nc4 Rxf4 25.Rf1 Bb4 26.Rad1 Raf8 27.Be3 Rxf1+ 28.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Nxh2+ 30.Kg1 Ng4 31.g3 Nxe3 32.Nxe3+ Kxd4 33.Kf2 Be1+ 34.Ke2 Bxg3 35.e6 Kc3 36.e7 Bg6 37.Nf5 Be5 38.Nh4 Bd3+ 39.Ke3 g6 40.e8=Q Bd4+ 41.Kf4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010. White has 548 games in The Database. 

7...Kf7

Possibly the weakest of his choices. Better defense was found after 7...Kf6 8.Qh4+ g5 9.Qg3.

8.Qf3+

Instead, 8.Qh5+ wins back a piece by forking the King and Bishop. 

8... Nf6 9. c3 Re8 10. d4 Bb6

Cooperative. The alternative, 10... Rxe4+, looks stronger.

White battles on, eventually dropping the exchange, which puts him a Rook down - but he does not lose hope.

11.Bg5 Kg8 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.O-O c5 14.Qg3+ Kh8 15.d5 Rxe4 16.Nd2 Rg4 17.Qf3 c4 18.Ne4 f5 19.Ng3 f4 20.Ne2 Qg8 21.Nxf4 Rg5 22.Rfd1 Bg4 23.Qe4 Bxd1 24.Rxd1 Re8 25.Qxc4 c6 26.g3 Bc7 27.Ne6 cxd5 28.Qxc7 Rxe6 29.Qxb7 a5 30.Kg2 h5 31.Rxd5 h4 32.Rd7 Rh6 33.Qe4 

A glance shows Black attacking fiercely - with his extra Rook.

33...hxg3

Where is E. J. Diemer when you need him? Is this precisely the blunder that bemillsy had been expecting?? Now White has a draw.

34.Qd4+! Rg7 35.hxg3 Rhg6

And again??

Black needed to mildly accept a draw by repetition with 35...Kh7 36.Qe4+ Kh8 37.Qd4 Kh7 30.Qe4+ etc. Now White is better.

36.c4

Homer - I mean, bemillsy - nods. He is right, his advancing pawn will be important, but after he plays 36.Rd8 to win Black's Queen for a Rook. Q + 5Ps will then out-play 2Rs + P.

36...Kh7

Black takes his opportunity to avoid the above killing fork, but should have done so with a Queen move like 36...Qe6 or 36...Qa8+, when he would be better again.

Now White again has a plucky draw by repetition: 37.Qh4+ Rh6 38.Qe4+ Kh8 39.Qd4 etc.

37.Rxg7+

Making things difficult again, if Black correctly recaptures with the Queen. White would have plenty of checks to deliver to the enemy King, but eventually the extra Rook would prevail over the extra pawns.

37...Rxg7 38.Qh4+ Kg6 39.f4

White does not accept the 39.Qe4+ line, drawing, and looks for a mate that is not there. (This does have the feel of a blitz game as time runs down.)

39...Kf7 40.Qh5+ Kf8 41.Qf5+ Rf7 42.Qc8+ Kg7 43.Qxg8+ Kxg8

White puts his trust in what must still be considered his "Jerome pawns".

44.Kf3 Rd7 45.Ke3 Kf7 46.g4 Kf6 47.b3 Ke6 48.a3 Re7 49.b4 a4 50.b5 Kd6+ 51.Kd4 

The pawns look scary, especially with a ticking clock, but "objectively" the Rook still has time to pick them off, one-by-one.

51...Kc7

Suddenly, Black's chances have crashed according to Stockfish 6, and the best he can hope for is now 52.g5 Rd7+ 53.Ke4 Re7+ 54.Kd4 Rd7+ and a draw by repetition. Instead of re-positioning his King, it looks like he needed to get his Rook into a pawn-flanking position.

52.c5

On the other hand, advancing the pawns on the wing where there is an in-place stopper will not bring victory. I do not think there is anything left for White now.

52...Rd7+ 53.Ke5 Rd3 

54.g5 Rxa3 55.f5 Re3+ 56.Kd5 a3 57.f6 a2 58.f7 Rf3 White forfeited on time

Still Strange, Still Intriguing (Part 4)

Returning to the game MrJoker - Melbourne, blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2012, which has so far gone 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

6.Qg4+ 

In an earlier game against the same opponent, MrJoker, instead, played va banque with 6.Nf7!?, and Black was immediately stupified 6...Kxf7 (best was 6...Qh4) and the second player lost in due course: 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qd5+ Qe6 10.Nc3 Nb4 11.Qxe6+ Kxe6 12.Kd1 a6 13.d4 b5 14.a3 Nxc2 15.Kxc2 Bb7 16.Bf4 d6 17.Rae1 Kf7 18.f3 Ne7 19.g4 Nc6 20.Be3 Na5 21.b3 Rhe8 22.Bd2 Nc6 23.Kd3 Rab8 24.h4 Na5 25.Kc2 Nc6 26.Ne2 a5 27.h5 Ne7 28.Bxa5 Black resigned, MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club, 2011;

6.Nxc6 was seen in the fiasco perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 41); while

6.Qh5 received more good luck than it deserved in perrypawnpusher - crayongod, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 10); and 

6.f4 reached an unfortunate end in blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (0-1,10). 

6...Kxe5 7.Qf5+

Winning a piece and settling into a typical two-pawns-for-a-piece Jerome Gambit middle game. As we have seen in the past few days, the theoretical line is 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 winning Black's Queen for three pieces. It is not immediately apparent that White is better in this line, and there are no game examples, yet.

7...Kd6 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Nf6 

11.0-0 Re8 12.d3 Kf8 13.f4 Kg8 

Melbourne has faced the Jerome Gambit before in the hands of MrJoker, and he knows the value of castling-by-hand.

14.h3 b6 15.Nc3 Ba6 

16.g4 

It was probably better to get the Queen off of the e-file with 16.Qf2. 

16...Nb4 17.Qe2 Nd7 18.a3 Nc6 19.Be3 Qh4 20.Qg2 Nc5 

21.Bf2 Qf6 22.Nd5 Qd8 23.b4 Nd7 24.c4 Bb7 

25.Rae1 Ne7 26.Ne3 Ng6 27.Bg3 c5 28.Nf5 Nf6 29.b5 a6 30.Qf2 axb5 31.e5 dxe5 32.fxe5 Nd7 33.e6 Nf6 34.Nd6 Re7 

A complicated mess has arisen.

35.Nf7 Rxa3 36.Nxd8 Black disconnected and forfeited

Black was no doubt unhappy at dropping his Queen. More troubling is that 35...Qxd3 would have given him a winning game.

Still Strange, Still Intriguing (Part 3)

My first game experience with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Ke6, 

was a bit embarassing, as I annotated perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 41) in "Stinkin' up the Chessboard".

Part of the problem was that I had forgotten all of the analysis that I had shared with Readers!

Progress on the line was summarized in early 2010 in "Looking Backwards".

My second experience with 5...Ke6 came not much later, in perrypawnpusher - crayongod, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 10), although again I forgot my preparation and played 6.Qh5. This was chronicled in "Yes! Er, no..."

White's best chance comes from the sharp 6.Qg4+!?, when 6...Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 (other captures are worse, including 7...Kxd4 which leads to mate) 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxg8 and White has an edge, as his Queen and Black's unstable King are good compensation for Black's pieces after either 10...Nxd8 or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Na3 Nf6 14.0-0.

That should be plenty of introduction, so we shall return to MrJoker - Melbourne, ICC, 2012, in tomorrow's post.

Watching Paint Dry

White's play is not very exciting (after the opening salvos in the Jerome Gambit, of course) and this eventually emboldens Black to unsoundly counter-attack – after which White can continue his boring, but steady, play and gather in his win.

perrypawnpusher - johnde
blitz, FICS, 2012


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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.0-0 Qe7 11.Nc3

The alternative, 11.d3, was played successfully by mrjoker in a handful of games in 2009.

11...Kf7

Planning to put the Rook on e8. Again, 11...Rf8 has been played a number of times, as well, including perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31);  perrypawnpusher - chingching, blitz, FICS, 2011 (½-½, 36); perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22); perrypawnpusher - Unimat, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 25); perrypawnpusher - Solaar, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 33); and perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 50). 

12.f4 Re8

13.f5 Ne5 14.d3

Opting not to kick the Knight with 14.d4

14...Neg4 15.Qg3 Kg8 16.h3 Ne5 17.Bg5 Qf7

18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Nd5 Qf7 20.f6 Qg6

More accurate was 20...Rd8, although after 21.fxg7 Qxg7 22.Qxg7+ Kxg7 23.Nxc7 White would have 3 pawns for his sacrificed piece.

21.Ne7+

Grabbing the exchange, but that would be accomplished better with 21.Qxg6 hxg6 22.Nxc7.

21...Rxe7 22.fxe7 Bd7

23.Qf4

Wasting a move.

23...Qe8 24.Qh4 Ng6 25.Qg5 Nxe7

Black's two pieces still outweigh White's Rook and pawn, but not by much.

26.Rf2 h6 27.Qe3 Qg6 28.Raf1 Bxh3

A simple oversight.

29.Qxh3 Nc6

The exchange proves to be enough.

30.Qf5 Qe8 31.Qf7+ Qxf7 32.Rxf7 Nd4 33.Rxc7 b6 34.Rff7 Ne6

35.Rxa7 Rxa7 36.Rxa7 Nd4 37.c3 Ne2+ 38.Kf2 Nf4 39.d4 Nd3+ 40.Ke3 Nxb2 41.Rb7 Nc4+ 42.Kd3 Nb2+ 43.Kc2 Na4 44.Rd7 b5 45.Rxd6 Kf7

46.e5 Ke7 47.Kb3 h5 48.Kb4 Nb2 49.Kxb5 Nd3 50.a4 g5 51.a5 g4 52.a6 Nf2 53.a7 Nd1 54.a8Q Nxc3+ 55.Kc4 Black resigned

Ooops, I did it again...

In preparing yesterday's post (see "New, Old, New, Old..."), I discovered that I had neglected to share one of my earlier games against gmann. Here it is now, "better late than never", with a quirky opening line and a tale that might be titled "Pawns Acting Badly".



perrypawnpusher - gmann
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Kf6

This is a strange move, one that I have not seen before, and if the idea was to confuse me from the start, it worked well enough.

This time.

7.Nxc6

Treating the position as if Black had played ...Ke6 against a regular Jerome Gambit, as in my game against johnde.

There is more in the position for White, if he is willing to attack wildly and sacrifice when necessary, e.g.: 7.Qh5 g5 8.Qf7+ Kxe5 9.b4 Bd4 10.c3 Nf6 11.cxd4+ Nxd4 12.f4+ gxf4 13.Na3 Rf8 14.Qg7 dxe4 15.Nb5 Kd5 16.Bxd4 a6 17.Rxf4 axb5 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 when White has recovered his material and still has a strong attack. This line deserves more attention in future posts.

7...dxc6 8.d3 g5

9.Nc3 Kg7 10.Be3 Bb4 11.f4 g4 12.d4

Stronger was 12.f5

12...Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qe8

White should now play 14.Qd3 and be very happy with his "Jerome pawns".

14.e5 Bf5 15.c4 Qe6 16.d5 cxd5 17.cxd5 Qg6 18.c4 Ne7 19.e6 Kh7 20.Qe1 Rhe8 21.Rd1 Bd3

Up to this point Black has done a good job of countering White's center pawns with his pieces. Now, instead of the text, returning the extra piece would allow complete destruction: 21...b5 22.Bc5 bxc4 23.Qb4 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 Qxe6

22.f5 Bxf5 23.Qh4 h5 

This is too loosening.

24.Qg5

Missing the strong 24.Bg5. Suddenly, by exchanging Queens, I unbalance the position in Black's favor.

24...Qxg5 25.Bxg5 Kg6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7

Black is simply better, again, and White needs to keep busy and look for handouts...

27.Rf4 Kg5 28.Rdf1 Bd3 29.Rf7 Rae8 30.Rxe7 Bxf1

Here we go. Shortness of time may have been a factor.

31.Rxe8 Bxc4

32.e7 Kf6 33.Rc8 Kxe7 34.Rxc7+ Kd6 35.Rxc4


The "Jerome pawns" are gone, but it no longer matters.

35...Kxd5 36.Rc7 b5 37.Rxa7 b4 38.Rb7 Kc4 39.Kf2 Black resigned

Brawl

With the time control being a speedy 5 5, the following "Delayed Jerome Gambit" game was more of a brawl than anything like serious chess. I'm glad that I got the last clout in.

perrypawnpusher - Tlslevens
blitz 5 5, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 a6

Okay, this is not a "proper" Jerome Gambit, but there is always the possibility of a "Delayed Jerome Gambit," should my opponent choose.

4.0-0 Bc5

Other delayed Jerome Gambits arrived after 4...Bb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.Bxf7+ (perrypawnpusher - dabbling, blitz, FICS, 2009); and
4...h6 5.Nc3 Nf6 (5...Bc5 6.Bxf7+ perrypawnpusher - angelosgoulianos, blitz, FICS, 2007) 6.d3 Bc5 7.Bxf7+, perrypawnpusher - tschup, blitz, FICS, 2010.


5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6

I've looked at this move in the regular Jerome Gambit, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6, in "A Strange, But Intriguing, Path (Part 1)", "(Part 2)" and "(Part 3)".

It's funny that in two subsequent games (perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010 and perrypawnpusher - crayongod, blitz, FICS, 2010) I forgot my recommended continuation, 6.Qg4+!?.

It should come as no surprise that I forgot it in the current game in the Delayed Jerome Gambit, too...

7.Qh5

White gets the advantage with 7.Qg4+ Kxe5 8.d4+, whereas the text allows Black to keep his advantage – and transpose back into more "normal" Jerome Gambit lines. 

7...Nxe5 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4

The position is similar to one from the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, where Black has played 3...h6 instead of the 3...a6 in this game. Because the Black Bishop is still alive at c5, White has to make the less effective d-pawn move, instead of being able to play f2-f4.

9...Bxd4 10.Rd1 c5 11.c3 Nh6

Who invited him to the fight? Black chooses an "aggressive" move, when he should have stayed with the more purposeful 11...Kc7.

12.Qh3

White would have an edge after the complex 12.Bxh6 Rf8 13.Bg5 g6 14.cxd4 gxf5 15.dxe5+ Kxe5 16.Bxd8 Rxd8 instead. 

12...Kc6 13.cxd4 cxd4 14.Rxd4 d6

White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece, but Black's vulnerable King makes the game close to even.

15.Qc3+ Kd7 16.Bf4 Nhg4

This Knight can provide its support more effectively from f7.

17.h3 Nxf2

A wild sacrifice – but this kind of thing can be successful in fast games, where attacking is everything.

After the game Fritz8 recommended 17...Qf6 18.Bg3 Nh6 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Nd2 Qe7 when White is better.

18.Kxf2

Sloppy. Best was 18.Bxe5, as the Knight on f2 has nowhere safe to go. After 18...Qh4 19.Bg3 Nxh3+ 20.gxh3 White is up a piece and clearly better. 

18...Qh4+

Swinging wildly. The proper way to counter-attack was 18...Qf6 leading to a balanced game.

19.g3

Better 19.Bg3.

19...Qxh3 20.Bxe5 Rf8+ 21.Ke2

As smart as poking myself in the eye. Instead, 21.Bf4 kept White's advantage, while now Black has a forced checkmate.

21...Qg2+

Now Black is landing the punches, but he missed 21...Qf1+ 22.Ke3 Rf3+ 23.Kd2 Rf2+ 24.Ke3 Qe2 checkmate. We were moving quickly.

22.Kd3 Rf3+ 23.Kc4 Rxc3+ 24.Nxc3

White has only a Knight and a Rook for his Queen, and his King is in more danger than Black's. 

24...Qxb2 25.Rxd6+ Ke7

A blitz slip.

26.Nd5+ Kf7 27.Bxb2

Whew! Now I'm winning again.

27...Be6 28.Rf1+ Black resigned