More Useful Junk

Readers of this blog probably remember Chris Torres. He hosts the Chess Musings blog.

He presented the Jerome gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London  as "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!"

He followed up with "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", giving one of his own games.

He shared another game with the delightfully-titled post "Useful Junk: The Jerome Gambit".

Now he has sent me an FIDE-rated Jerome Gambit of his from the FIDE Online Arena.

Torres, Chris (chessmusings) - abhinam2
FIDE Online Arena, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

Now Black has the choice of playing 7...d6, the Blackburne Defense, or 7...Qe7, the Whistler Defense. Instead, he opts for a "backatcha" move that at least gains him a pawn for his "doomed" dark-squared Bishop.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qf4

I thought I would share a few other ideas for this position, from games from The Database:

9.Rf1 Re8 (9...c6 10.Kg1 Rf8 11.d4 Kg8 12.Bg5 Kg7 13.Nc3 d6 14.Qf4 Nh5 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Qxf8+ Qxf8 17.Rxf8 checkmate, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9...Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Qf7+ [12. Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7 checkmate, Jordi-I - couchpotatoe, Chess.com, 2011] 12... Kh6 13. d4+ Kh5 14. h3 Black resigned, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9... d6 10. Qf4 Rf8 11. Kg1 Kg7 12. d3 Ng4 13. Qg5 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Qf8+ 15. Qf4 Nxh2+ 16. Kg1 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Ng4 18. Nc3 Be6 19. Rf1 h6 20. d4 g5 21. Bd2 c6 22.a3 b5 23. Ne2 Bc4 24. Re1 Rf8 25. b3 Bf7 26. Ng3 Bg6 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Kf6 29. c4 a6 30. Ke2 h5 31. Be1 h4 32. Nf5 Bxf5 33. exf5 Kxf5 34. Kf3 c5 35. d5 Ne5+ 36. Ke3 bxc4 37. bxc4 Nxc4+ 38. Kd3 Nxa3 39. Bd2 g4 White resigned, Petasluk - nikorast, FICS, 2011) 10.Qc3 Rxe4 11.Kg1 c6 12.d3 Re6 13.Bg5 d5 14.d4 Qd6 15.Nd2 Kg7 16.Bf4 Qd7 17.Be5 b5 18.Nf3 Ba6 19.Ng5 Rxe5 20.dxe5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.e6+ Black resigned,  arunothr - givemeabreak, FICS, 2014;

9.Qd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4+ 11.Kf3 c5 12.Qa4 Qh4 13.g3 Ng5+ White resigned, shugart - mattzig, FICS, 2013;

9.d3 d6 (9...Re8 as in guest232 - BoardChairman, Internet Chess Club, 2002, [1-0, 22]) 10.Qc3 Rf8 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Kg1 h6 13.Be3 Kh7 14.Qd2 g5 15.Nc3 Ng4 16.Rxf8 Qxf8 17.Rf1 Qg7 18.Nd5 Nxe3 19.Nxe3 Bd7 20.d4 Rf8 21.Rxf8 Qxf8 22.c4 c6 23.b3 Qg7 24.Qd3 c5 25.dxc5 dxc5 26.e5+ Kh8 27.Nd5 Qxe5 28.h3 Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Qe5+ 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Bc6 32.Ne7 Be4 33.a3 Kg7 34.b4 Kf7 35.Nd5 Bxd5 36.cxd5 cxb4 37.axb4 Ke7 38.Kf3 Kd6 39.Ke4 b6 40.g4 a5 41.bxa5 bxa5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Kc4 a3 44.Kb3 a2 45.Kxa2 Kxd5 46.Kb2 Ke4 47.Kc2 Kf3 48.Kd2 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh3 50.Kf3 Kh4 51.Kg2 Kxg4 52.Kh2 h5 53.Kg2 Kh4 54.Kh2 g4 55.Kg2 g3 56.Kh1 Kg4 57.Kg2 h4 58.Kf1 Kf3 59.Kg1 h3 60.Kh1 g2+ 61.Kh2 Kf2 62.Kxh3 g1=Q 63.Kh4 Qg3+ 64.Kh5 Kg2 65.Kh6 Kh3 66.Kh7 Kh4 67.Kh8 Kh5 White resigned, Petasluk - timoxx, FICS, 2007

9... d6 

Perhaps not the risky 9...g5 10.Qf3 g4 as in instantcrow - KingEfraim, ChessWorld.net, 2005, (1-0, 25).

10.Nc3

Or 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1 Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5 c6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+ Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned, blackburne - Haroldlee123, ChessWorld, JG6, 2011. 

10...Kg7 11.d4 Rf8

Black is a pawn down, but he has castled-by-hand and his King is relatively safe. However, one of the "vital signs" that observers of all Jerome Gambits must note is the status of Black's light-squared Bishop, and its related Rook, as their under-development always are unhealthy symptoms. (See "A Lesson Learned From The Jerome Gambit" for one related "illness".)

12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.Kg1 Ng4 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Nf2 16.Nd5 Nxh1 17.Nxc7 Rb8 18.Kxh1 Bd7

White has two pawns for the exchange. Black can be happy that the Queens are off the board, but he cannot affort to be complacent. (He can be happy, for the moment, that his light-squared Bishop has moved and that his Rooks are linked, even if one is mysteriously developed.)

19.Nd5 Be6 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.d5 Bc8

See the previous note.

22.Rf1 h6 23.Nh5+ gxh5 24.Bxh6+ Kxh6 25.Rxf8 

Materially, White has 3 extra pawns while Black has the extra piece.

More importantly, positionally, look at Black's Queenside: Code Blue! His weakness allows a "Jerome pawn" infection...

25...Kg7 26. Rd8 b6 27.Kg1 Ra8 28.e5 dxe5 29.d6 Bb7 30.Rxa8
Bxa8 31.d7 Kf7 32.d8=Q Black resigned

Very nicely done!

Choose the Simple, Avoid the Complex

Those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) know that it is a good idea to take advantages of the tricks and traps of the opening, when they arise. The last thing that they need is a "routine" game that leads to a "routine" loss.

The same goes for those who play the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

pianazo - foduck
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

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

More often played than yesterday's game's 6.c3.

6...Ke7

Not quite a year ago, the post "Instant Victory" laid out the reasons for White to rejoice at seeing this move. It seems fitting to mention that the player handling the Black pieces back then is the one handling them in this game, too.

7.Na3

This is pianazo's attempted improvement over the 7.c3 that he used in two losses against Fission earlier this year (0-1, 34 and 0-1, 35).

My recommendation is 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc5 9.Qd5+ Kb4 10.c3+ Ka4 11.Qa5 checkmate.

7...Nf6

Black realizes that he needs to chase away the White Queen, but the way to do that was 7...Qe8.

8.Qf7+

Hunting the King is the right idea.

8...Kd6 9.Nac4+ Kc5

10.a3

White realizes that he has to weave a mating net around Black's King.

This move works, and quickly, but the situation is more complicated that it appears. It is not at all apparent at first glance that the Black King needs to be chased to the Kingside before being checkmated...

White's best is 10.a4, which actually forces mate. (I had the help of Houdini in my analyses.) 

Black struggles best against that move with 10...Nxc2+ (after 10...a5 it is possible to see the same kind of trouble afflict Black: 11.c3 d5 12.b4+ axb4 13.cxd4+ Kxd4 14.Bb2+ Kxe4 15.d3+ Kf5 16.g4+ Kg5 17.h4+ Kf4 18.Bc1 checkmate; the blocking 10...Ne6 leads to trouble faster 11.c3 Nxe4 12.d4+ Kd5 13.Ne3+ Kd6 14.Nf5+ Kd5 15.c4 checkmate), but not to win material.

11.Kd1 d5  (or 11...Qe7 and again we see the same pattern: 12.b4+ Kd4 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate; likewise with 11...b5 12.b4+ Kd4 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate) 12.b4+ when fleeing is "best" for Black, 12...Kd4 (or 12...Kxb4 13.Kxc2 Kc5 14.d4+ Kxd4 15.Rd1+ Kxe4 16.f3 Kf5 17.g4 checkmate)

The finish is familiar: 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.d3+ Kf5 15.g4+ Kg5 16.h4+ Kf4 17.Bc1+ Ne3+ 18.Bxe3 checkmate.

If pianazo had pulled that attack off in a blitz game, the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde would have crowned him "King For the Day (or Week, or Month, even)"!

There is a lesson here, though, from move 7: Choose the Simple, Avoid the Complex.

10...d6

More good fortune for White.

It turns out that it was okay for White to ignore Black's threat to win the Rook at a1. Had the game continued, instead, 10...Nxc2+, White could have put intense pressure on the Black King after 11.Kd1 Nxa1 12.b4 Ka5 13.a4+ Kxb4 14.Nd6!? c6 15.Qc4+ Ka5 16.Qc5+ Ka6 17.Nd3, when Black would have to give up his Queen with 17...Qa5 18.Nb4+ Qxb4 19.Qxb4. 

Black's King would still be alive, and he would have a Rook and two pieces for his Queen; but White would be able to keep the pressure on and regain some of the material, with advantage.

It looks like Black's best move was 10...Kb5 (hence the value of the recommended 10.a4 that would prevent the move). It is not clear what White is to do next. For example, 11.Nd6+!? Bxd6 12.Qc4+ Kb6 13.Qxd4+ Bc5 leaves Black's King alive, and close to finding shelter, as in 14.Qa5 d5 15.b4 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 a6, when White may still have an edge, but it is a small one.

Again, I applaud the creativity and courage of both pianazo and foduck in providing such an amazing game, but I have to repeat, sometimes it is better to Choose the Simple, Avoid the Complex.

11.b4+ Kb5 12.a4+ Kxb4 13.Nd3 checkmate

Very nice!

Good Luck

From the Good-Luck-Is-Better-Than-A-License-To-Steal Department comes the following end position from a Blackmar Shilling Jerome Gambit game

heckifiknow - pianazo, blitz, FICS, 2011

With White to move, it is stalemante.