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
Chess players who know about the Jerome Gambit are most familiar with the game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885. Many believe that the Blackburne Defense, when played properly, leads to an advantage for the second player.
Players a bit more familiar with the Jerome Gambit and past published analysis might well believe that White has the advantage.
Readers familiar with this blog would know that modern analysis has termed the Blackburne Defense as difficult, but actually a draw.
I thought of all of this as I played my most recent game, and decided that the Blackburne Defense needed another update.
Of course, you can start first with earlier efforts: "Update: Old Dog Can Still Bite", "A Closer Look (Part V)", "Update: Blackburne Defense" and "Junk Openings".
perrypawnpusher - lfcanales
blitz, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
Here is the famous Blackburne defense, from Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885. The Brooklyn Chess Chronicle (edited by J.B. and E.M. Munoz) Vol. III, August 15, 1885, p. 169, noted the game was
"played some months ago in London between Mr. Blackburne and an Amateur..."
8.Qxh8 Qh4
Here Amateur played 9.0-0. The editors of the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle suggested
He should have attempted to free his pieces by P to Q4 before castling.
Although my opponent lfcanales played 9.0-0 as well, I would like first to look at the under-investigated 9.d4. After all, if 9.0-0 leads to a draw, as Chandler and Dimitrov have argued, then 9.d4 might be the better chance for White to fight for an advantage.
Here is some of what I have found.
After 9.d4, thematic and best for Black is 9...Nf6, although other moves have been played.
For example, Black has the alternative 9...Qxe4+ 10.Be3 Qxg2 -best - there have been several games with lesser 10th moves:
1)10...Bb6?! 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14.0-0-0 Bf5 15.Bg5 Nc6 16.Nd5 Be6 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.d5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Nb4 20.Rd4 Nxa2+ 21.Kb1 Ra5 22.Bd2 Black resigned, MrJoker - carrotop, Internet Chess Club, 2011;
2)10...Bxd4 11.Qxh7+ (better 11.Qxd4) Kf8 12.0-0 b6 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Qxg8+ Kd7 15.Qf7+ Kc6 16.Qf3 Qxf3 17.gxf3 Bh3 18.Rd1 Re8 19.c3 Bc5 20.b4 Bxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Re7 22.Nd2 a5 23.a3 Rf7 24.Ne4 Bg4 25.Ng5 Rf6 26.Rd4 Kd7 27.Rxg4 d5 28.Rd1 c5 29.Rxd5+ Kc6 30.Rd8 axb4 31.axb4 cxb4 32.Rc4+ Kb5 33.Rxb4+ Kc5 34.Ne4+ Kc6 35.Nxf6 Kc7 36.Rd7+ Kc6 37.Be3 b5 38.Rd5 g5 39.Rbxb5 Black resigned, mediax - yorkypuddn, ChessWorld.net 2008;
3)10...Bh3 (shouldn't work here) 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Qxh3 Bxd4 13.Qf3+? (13.Nd2) 13...Qxf3 14.gxf3 Bxb2 15.Rg1 Kf7 16.Nc3 Bxc3+ 17.Ke2 Bxa1 18.Rxa1 Ne7 19.Rb1 b6 20.f4 Rh8 21.Rh1 Nd5 22.Bd2 c5 23.h4 Kf6 24.Kf3 b5 25.Kg4 Ne7 26.h5 gxh5+ 27.Rxh5 Rxh5 28.Kxh5 Kf5 29.Kh4 Nd5 30.Kg3 c4 White resigned, chrisdeb - stephPaillade, Echecs.com 2004;
4)10...Qxc2 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qc3 Qxc3+ 13.Nxc3 Bf5 14.Bxc5 Re8+ 15.Be3 Re5 16.0-0 Bd3 17.Rfd1 Bc2 18.Rd7+ Re7 19.Rxe7+ Nxe7 Black resigned, Marfia,J - Stelter,J, offhand game, 1964;
5)10...Nf6 11.Nd2 Qxg2 12.0-0-0 and White wins, comment by Bad Temper, Chessgames.com, 2005;
Continuing -11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Rf1 Bh3 (12...Bb6 13.Nd2 Bf5 14.c3 Bd3 15.0-0-0 winning for White - personal communication, Paul Keiser, 2004) 13.Bh6+ Nxh6 14.Qxh6+ Kf7 15.Qf4+ Kg7 16.Kd2 Qxf1 17.dxc5 Rd8 18.Qd4+ Kh7 19.b3 Qb5 20.Qh4+ Kg7 21.Qxd8 Qxc5 22.Qe7+ Kh6 23.Qh4+ Kg7 24.Qxh3 Qxf2+ 25.Kc3 Qc5+ 26.Kb2 Qe5+ 27.Qc3 Black resigned, darumsdad - KolaTwoOFour, FICS, 2013.
Black can also respond to 9.d4 with 9...Bb4+ 10.c3 Qxe4+ (not 11.Kf1? from perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz, FICS, 2007) 11.Be3 Qxg2 12.Qxh7+ Kf8 13.Rf1 when White will hold on and keep his advantage.
10.Nd2 Bxd4 11.0-0
Given by Hindemburg Melao, in an internet article at www.superajedrez.com, (which identified Blackburne's opponent as "Millner") as good for White.
Instead, 10.dxc5 was given in Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, by Bruce Pandolfini (1989) - see""Traps and Zaps" - 10...Qxe4+ 11.Be3 Qxg2 12.Rf1 where he wrote
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 from the a8-Rook.
Actually, 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? White turns the tables with 14.Bd4! (13...Qxh2 would keep Black's Queen in play) when Black's extra Rook would mean little in the face of White's strong counterattack.
Also, 10.e5 does not appear as strong as 10.Nd2 - and seems more dangerous for White - after 10...dxe5 11.Nd2 (11.dxc5? Qe4+; 11.dxe5?? Qxf2+ 12.Kd1 Bg4 mate) Bxd4 12.0-0 Be6!? 13.Qxa8 Bd5 14.Qc8 Ng4 15.Qxc7+ Ke6 16.Nf3 Bxf3 17.Bf4 Bxf2+ 18.Kh1 exf4 19.Qxf4 g5 20.Qb8 Be2 21.c4 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Nf6 23.Qc8+ Ke5 24.Qxb7 Ne4 White has an edge, analysis by Houdini.
[to be continued]
