Commit It To Memory

At the end of last month I posted the famous Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4Bxf7+) game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, which had been published in The Newcastle Courant of Saturday, December 3, 1898, with the admonition that Students would do well to commit it to memory, as strong players have a peculiarity of springing the opening upon the unwary.


"Students" who have not chosen to "commit it to memory" but who have, instead, relied on retaining a general idea of Blackburne's plan, have repeatedly learned, however, that often "half a defense is worse than no defense at all."

The newest example is from the ongoing "Play The Jerome Gambit Quad" at Chess.com.

ubluk (1864) - bfcace (1572)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

Black's "generous" counter-offer of material.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Qxe4

A key move in Blackburne's Defense is 9...Nf6, working on trapping White's Queen. If she escapes, as in this game, Black will regret his counter-sacrifice of a Rook.

10.Qxh7+

Or 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ as in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0,17)

10...Kf8 11.d3

A bit better than 11.Nc3 as in perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 16).

11...Qe6

Previously seen was 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 20).

12.Qxc7 Bb6 13.Qc3 Nf6

Black is down three pawns and the exchange (plus an unsafe King). This should tell as soon as White completes his development.

14.Bh6+ Kf7 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.Rae1 Qf5 17.Ne4 Rh8 18.Nxd6+

A final slip. Black resigned

Lazy, lazy, lazy

I ran across the following game the other day, one that I played last year, that I had not presented on this blog.

No, it is not because I lost the game that it had slipped my mind. It is because how I won the game.

perrypawnpusher - maxmi
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3

In an earlier game my opponent faced 8.Qf4+ Nf6 9.d3 Kg8 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd7 12.Nd2 b5 13.d4 Qf8 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.f3 d5 16.e5 Nh5 17.Qb3 c6 18.Qa3 Ra8 19.Rhf1 Nf4 20.Rf2 Be8 21.h3 Bg6 22.Qa6 h5 23.Qxc6 Rc8 24.Qxd5+ Kh7 25.Qxb5 Qf5 26.Ne4 Qd7 27.Qxd7 Black resigned, piratebopper - maxmi, FICS, 2010.

8...Nf6 9.d3 Nh5

Played in a trio of internet games by belgje a number of years ago -- destinyx - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 80); obviously - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (0-1, 19); and raes - belgje, GameKnot.com, 2004 (0-1,49) – and more recently against a Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, Petasluk - brittaundvolker, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 32).

10.Qf3+ Ke8

Reflex.

11.Qxh5+ g6 12.Qg5

Two pawns up, my brain dropped into L for Lazy: Why think when you can just push pieces? This is a habit that has hurt me in the past, so it is actually painful to see it be successful in this game.

12...Qxg5 13.Bxg5 Rf8 14.0-0 h6

This does not help, giving a free pawn. From now on I play almost on auto-pilot.

15.Bxh6 Rf7 16.Nc3 c6 17.Be3 a5 18.Bxc5 dxc5

19.f4 b5 20.Rae1 b4 21.Nd1 Bd7 22.Ne3 Ke7 23.Nc4 a4 24.Ne5 Rh7 25.Nxd7 Kxd7

Anyone still awake out there?

26.f5 gxf5 27.Rxf5 Rah8 28.h3 Kd6 29.Ref1 c4 30.d4 Re7 31.Rf6+ Kd7 32.Rf7 Rh4 33.Rxe7+ Kxe7 34.Re1 Kd6

35.c3 c5 36.dxc5+ Kxc5 37.e5 Kd5 38.cxb4 Re4

Unwittingly or wittingly bringing the game to a close.

39.Rxe4 Kxe4 40.e6 Ke5 41.e7 Ke6 42.e8Q+ Black resigned

Blackburned! #2

My heart pounds when I start a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game.

It's always a gamble – the Jerome Gamble, Gary Gifford calls it – how much of the many refutations does my opponent know?

Can he get to me before I can get to him??

perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry
blitz 10 0, FICS, 1020

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

Our story begins...

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

This can lead to the dreaded Whistler Defense, or the much misunderstood Blackburne Defense. Quo vadis?

7.Qxe5 d6

Blackburne! Sac that Rook! Trap that Queen! Mate that King!

8.Qxh8

Falling for the Blackburne bait.

8...Qh4

Yes!

9.O-O

Telegraphing where the King will be, when Black wants to attack.

I've always been a bit uneasy about the "refutation of the refutation" 9.d4.

9...Qxe4

Uh oh... This doesn't look right.

Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 continued 9...Nf6, trapping the White Queen, before a series of sacrifices finished White off 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate.

Of course, I would have veered off with 10.Qd8.

10.Qxh7+

Letting my Queen escape immediately.

Instead, AlgozBR - khuizen, blitz FICS, 2009 continued: 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ Qg7 12.Qh4 Be6 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Ne4 Bb6 15.Be3 Qxb2 16.Qh7+ Qg7 17.Ng5+ Black resigned

10...Kf8 11.Nc3

A bit better was 11.d3, as in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004: Qf5 12.Qxc7 Nf6 13.d4 Be6 14.dxc5 Bc4 15.Bh6+ Ke8 16.Re1+ Ne4 17.Nc3 Qxf2+ 18.Kh1 Qf7 19.Rxe4+ Be6 20.Qxd6 Black resigned.

11...Qxc2 12.Qh4  Black resigned

White's Queen is not trapped, Black's King is at risk, and White is ahead the exchange and a couple of pawns. 

It was not completely necessary to resign here. DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 continued a few more moves, for example – after 12.d3 instead of 12.Qh4 – without changing the outcome: 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate

blackburne as Blackburne with black

Mention the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and most people will either give you a blank look, or remember "that game that Blackburne played in London in the 1880s".


In the ongoing Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at ChessWorld, player blackburn brought out J.H. Blackburne's defense, a line of some contention. One hundred and twenty four years ago, Blackburne, as Black, crushed the Jerome Gambit with fine sacrificial play. Improvements show that White can do better, and at least draw, if not win -- but the play remains complicated.


DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6


J.H. Blackburne's defense, returning a piece and preparing to offer a Rook as well.

7.Qxe5 d6
The start of fireworks.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0


From here the Black Death played 9...Nf6 10.c3 (10.Qd8 was an improvement suggested in the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle 8/1885) 10...Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate, Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885







analysis diagram







9...Qxe4



This is blackburne's updating of Blackburne. The move has been seen before, but it omits blocking in the enemy Queen, which brings about dire consequences.
10.Nc3

An alternative was 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.d3 Qf5 12.Qxc7 Nf6 13.d4 Be6 14.dxc5 Bc4 15.Bh6+ Ke8 16.Re1+ Ne4 17.Nc3 Qxf2+ 18.Kh1 Qf7 19.Rxe4+ Be6 20.Qxd6 Black resigned, obviously - dmyze, GameKnot, 2004

10...Qxc2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+

With his Queen unlocked, DREWBEAR 63 can press a mating attack.


13...Ke8

There was no hope in 13...Nxh6, as follows 14.Qxh6+ Kg8 15.Rae1 d5 16.Re8+ Kf7 17.Rfe1 Qd4 18.Nxd5 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Qg1+ 20.Rxg1 Kxe8 21.Qxg6+ Kd7 22.Re1 Be3 23.Rxe3 c6 24.Re7+ Kd8 25.Qe8 checkmate

14.Rfe1+ Kd8


Drawing out the pain was 14...Be3 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Rxe3 Kc6 17.Rxd3 Be6 18.Qxe6 a5 19.Qc4+ Kd7 20.Nd5 c6 21.Qg4+ Kd8 22.Bg5+ Ke8 23.Qe6+ Kf8 24.Bh6 checkmate

15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate

How Many...?

Here's a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ) game that has puzzled me mightily. It is, among other things, an exploration into the question "How many pawns provide White compensation for his sacrificed piece?"

guest585 - guest983

ICC 2 12, 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 Qe7

Counter-attacking the center – and White would prefer not to exchange Queens.

8.Qc4+ d5

What's a pawn between friends? White will now have three for his Knight, but Black is planning to develop his pieces quickly and then squash his opponent like a bug!

Calmer was 8...Qe6 9.Qc3 (9.Qxe6 Kxe6 10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4 Ne7 12.f5+ Ke5 13.d3 d5 14.Bf4+ Kd4 15.c3+ Kc5 16.e5 Bxf5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bxc7 Rac8 19.Ba5 Bxd3 20.Rxf6 Nc6 21.Na3 d4 22.cxd4+ Nxd4 23.Rd1 Be4 24.Bb4+ Kd5 25.Rd6+ Black resigned, obviously - levigun, www.GameKnot.com, 2004) Qxe4+ 10.Qe3 Qxg2 11.Rf1 Qxh2 12.d3 Nf6 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Ne4 d5 15.Ng5+ Kf8 0-1 Nestor250168 - drewbear, www.chessworld.net, 2007

9.Qxd5+ Be6 10.Qxb7 Re8

Materialists are probably getting nervous here, and the computer – a classic material-grabber – agrees, suggesting instead 10...Nf6 11.d3 Rhb8 with superior development and approximate equality.

11.d3 h6 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.Be3

I don't care how many pawns White has for his piece, he looks like he is in terrible danger. Yet, Rybka 3 insists that White can have another serving with 13.Qxa7 and get away with it.

13...Rhf8

Consistent; but sliding the other Rook over to confront the Queen was better.

14.0-0

Rybka still prefers the pawn-grab at a7.

14...c5 15.Qxe7+ Nxe7 16.Bxc5 Kg8 17.Bxa7 Ng6 18.f4 Black resigns

Amazing.

Pass the aspirin, please!

NN - Brunhold
Kempten, 1988
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Qf6 9.0–0 Be6 10.c3 h5 11.d4 h4 12.Qd3 Bb6 13.Be3 h3 14.g3 Qf3 0–1

psittacosis - Gandalf
HCL B652 www.playchess.de, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Kf8 7.Qf3+ Nf6 8.0–0 d5 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Nd2 Qxg5 11.Nc4 Qd5 12.Qxd5 Nxd5 0–1

cnselway - boycey
net-chess.com, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 d5 6.c3 dxe4 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Bg5 Nxd3+ 9.Kf1 Qd5 10.Bf4 Qc5 11.h3 Qxf2# 0–1

gjr - gstevenson
net-chess.com, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5 Na6 6.Qf4+ Qf6 7.Qg4 Qxf2+ 8.Kd1 Qf1# Checkmate 0–1

The Toffeeman - quag
www.ChessWorld.net , 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0–0 d6 6.d3 Nf6 7.Ng5+ Ke7 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Qd2 Nd4 10.f3 Nxf3+ 0–1

kskcolle - mandoze
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kg8 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.0–0 g6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Bg7 10.d3 Nc5 11.Bg5 Qe6 0–1

grobnic - obviously
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Nf6 10.Nc3 Qxc2 11.h4 b6 12.Qd8 Ba6+ 0–1

steelydan - raes
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+ Be6 9.Qxb7 Nf6 10.d3 Re8 11.f4 Bd5 12.Qb4 Bxe4 13.dxe4 Rxe4+ 0–1

Nestor250168 - Ratscales
www.chessworld.net, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6 8.Qxc5 Re8 9.Qd4 Rxe4+ 0–1

ale_xim - pascaline007
www.GameKnot.com, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf5+ Nf6 9.d3 d5 10.Qf3 dxe4 11.dxe4 Bg4 12.Qd3 Rd8 13.Qc4 0–1

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"