Restrain, Blockade, Destroy

The watchwords of Aaron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) "restrain, blockade, destroy" come to mind in playing over the following game, as Black seems to utilize "hypermodern" concepts in has battle against a clearly "neo-romantic" chess opening.

It is one of the stranger Jerome Gambits I have ever seen.

Wall, Bill - Guest4149739
PlayChess.com, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8

More common is 7...Ke8.

8.Qxc5+ d6

There is also 8...Qe7, as in Wall,B - Quack, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22)

9.Qc3

The more-often played 9.Qe3 is as old as Vazquez,A -Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match, 1876 (1-0, 34) and as new as Wall,B - Vijay,V, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 22) and Wall,B - LC, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 20)


9...Nf6 10.d3 Qe7

A slight improvement over 10...c6 as in Wall,B - Boris, Sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 32). So far, we have a normal Jerome Gambit-style position.

11.O-O c6 12.f4 Bd7 13.f5 Ne5 14.h3 

Bill later suggested 14.Bf4.

14...c5 15.g4 Bc6 

White has activated his "Jerome pawns" and in response Black has started to restrain them and - with his Knights - blockade them.

An indication of how further "odd" the position can get is in Houdini's recommendation, instead of Black's last move: 15...g5 16.Bxg5 h5 17.h4 hxg4 18.a4 Be8 19.Nd2 Bf7. 

16.g5 Nfd7 17.b4 h6 18.g6 Qh4 

Black has about had it with all of White's pawn moves (Bill has also created this impatience in his opponents with repeated Queen moves) and decides to become aggressive, here threatening 19...Qg3+. 

19.Kh2 b6 20.a4

Instead, 20.Bf4 was a possibility. 

20...Nf6 21.Bf4 

Bill shows how things could go horribly wrong for White: 21.bxc5? Nd5 22.exd5 Ng4+ 23.Kg2 Bxd5+ 24. Kg1 Qg3 checkmate

21...Re8 

22.Nd2 Nh5 23.Bxe5 Rxe5

Threatening 24.. .Qg3+.

24.Rf3 

White's King is still at risk: 24.bxc5? Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Rxe4 26.dxe4 (26.Nxe4 Bxe4+ 27.dxe4 Qxc3) 26...Qxc3. 

24...Ke7 25.Rg1

White completes his development (!) and sets an interesting trap for his opponent.

25...Bxa4

This can lead to a slight advantage for White (better was 25...Kd7), or a whole lot more.

26.Ra1 b5 

Black protects his Bishop and blocks the a-file against the White Rook. Instead, he should have retreated his piece with 26...Bd7 and let the White Rook in, facing a small disadvantage. However, this was far from obvious.

27.d4 

With this move White takes over the game.

27...cxd4 28.Qc7+ Kf6

This leads to checkmate, whereas 28...Ke8 only leads to disaster after 29.Qc6+ 

29.Qxd6+ 

A bit faster was 29.Rg1

29...Kg5 30.Rg1+  Black resigned

It is ironic that Black, ahead in development for most of the game, should have his King expire with a Bishop offside and a Rook lollygagging at home.

Stepping up the Heat

Sad to say, it is not a good time to be the online computer program Boris at sparkchess.com, at least as far as the Jerome Gambit goes. No sooner had Bill Wall handed the silicon monster its head, as it were, he decided to see if he could improve on Dave Black's recent thrashing of the program – and, remember, Dave disassembled it and delivered mate in 18 moves.


Wall,B - Boris
sparkchess.com 2012


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5

In the computer world, as well as in the human chess world, it is dangerous to become too predictable. Readers saw this defense in "Boris Isn't So Hot," and you can be sure that Bill Wall saw it, too.


8.fxe5 Kxe5 9.Rf1


Deviating from 9.c3 of Black,D - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012, (1-0, 18).


9...Be7

An improvement over 9...d5 from GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26). Still, White is better, thanks to Black's exposed King.


10.d4+ Kxd4 


In order to avoid checkmate, Boris needed to play 10...Kd6, which was where he placed his King against Dave Black, when checked in that game by 10.d4+.


11.Be3+ Kxe3 12.Qf3+ Kd4 13.Qc3+ Kxe4 14.Qd3+ Ke5 15.Rf5+ Ke6 16.Qd5 checkmate

Other Online Computer Foes?

The email continues this week, with an interesting game, and an over-arching question, from Bill Wall. Can readers help identify other online computer foes?


Rick,

After reading your latest blog on Boris at sparkchess, I decided to play a Jerome Gambit against it as well.
Here is my effort.  Do you happen to know other links that one may be able to play a Jerome against a computer online?
I can't get any of the engines at FICS to play a Jerome.

Bill


Wall, Bill - Boris
sparkchess.com, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.O-O Ke8 6.Nxe5 Nf6

According to The Database, this is a Theoretical Novelty. It is likely that after 5.0-0 Boris was out of it's "book" and was thinking on its own. The play continues to have a quirky feel for both sides.

7.Nd3

This is an interesting move, as if Bill knows how Boris will respond. That reminds me of the query, if a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a noise? only in this case it would go, if Boris is a computer, and doesn't really "think", is it possible for Bill to read its mind?

7...d6 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.Nc3 Kf7 10.d3 Kg8 

Typical Jerome Gambit play: White has his central "Jerome pawns" ready to roll, while Black has "castled-by-hand".

11.Bg5

Again, this is an interesting move, as if Bill knew that he could get Boris to over expand on the kingside. Of course, pressure on f6, including the use of the White Rook on the f-file, is thematic in the Jerome Gambit, too.

11...h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Be6 14.f4 gxf4 15.Bxf4 

15...Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Rc8 17.Qd2 h5 18.Ne2 Qxb2 

Not a good time for the computer to turn greedy.

19.Rab1 Qa3

It was time to surrender some material with 19...Nxe4. Now Boris is in deep trouble.

20.Be5 Nxe4 21.dxe4 Nxe5 22.Qg5+ Kh7 23.Rf6 Qc1+ 24.Rxc1 Bg4 25.Rh6 checkmate

By the way, if you Google "play chess against the computer online" you will find plenty of online sites with computer programs to try the Jerome Gambit against... 

Boris Isn't So Hot...

From the email bag, a note and a game from Dave Black, who has graced these pages before...

Hi Rick,

I came across a site with a online chess program so I thought I would give it a bash with the Jerome.

http://www.sparkchess.com/

The program has 3 levels available to play for free named Cody, Claire and Boris. Boris's blurb states "Get ready for a challenge. Boris will do his best to beat you, play if you're an advanced player." 

I will let you judge just how advanced Boris is.  ;)

Dave Black - Boris
sparkchess.com, 2012
(notes by Rick)


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5

To go from a won game to a worse (if not lost) one so quickly, deserves recognition,  but this defense has been played before.


8.fxe5 Kxe5


Chess software these days is not supposed to be so materialistic, but, in Boris' defense, its position was already critical.


Black's simplest continuation was 8...Nf6, and, after 9.exf6 Qxf6 he can play on, a pawn down.


Otherwise, he had the thematic 8...d5, although after 9.d4 his position requires much thought: 9...Be7 (there is no time for 9...Bxd4, and the pawn at g5 needs defending) 10.0-0 (with mate threats) Kd7 11.Qf7 and Black is so tied up, if he does not want to immediately return a piece with ...Nh6 then he has to try something tortured like 11...Kc6, when 12.Nc3 b6 13.exd5+ Kb7 14.Qg7 is just one possible unfortunate outcome.


9. c3


Previously GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009, continued 9.Rf1 d5 10.d4+ Bxd4 11.Bxg5 Kd6 12.Bxd8 Be6 13.Qh4 Bxb2 14.Qg3+ Kd7 15.Qxc7+ Ke8 16.Qxb7 Rxd8 17.Qxb2 d4 18.Qb5+ Bd7 19.Qe5+ Be6 20.Qxh8 d3 21.Qg7 Ne7 22.Rf8+ Kd7 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.cxd3 h5 25.Nc3 Ke8 26.Rb1 Black resigned


Analagously, 9.d4+ was also playable.


9...Be7 10.d4+ 


Going for the jugular with 10.Qf7 was stronger, but, like I indicated above, the position is complicated. What is relevant is that Dave has a "feel" for it, while Boris does not.


10...Kd6 

11.O-O Kc6 12.Na3 Kb6


Black should have tried "castling" with 12...b6 and 13...Kb7.


13.Qf7 

13...Bxa3


Opening the b-file for White's Rook can hardly be a good idea.


14.bxa3 h6 15.Rb1+ Ka5 16.Qd5+ c5 17.Qxc5+ Ka6 18.Qb5 checkmate