Jerome Gambit: Old McDonnell

Kevin Sheldrick ("Cliff Hardy") sends one of his latest Jerome Gambits. He gets into trouble, but he calls upon his creativity and his "Jerome pawns" save him. The comments are mostly Kevin's. I have added a few diagrams and some notes in blue - Rick

Old McDonnell Had a Pawn Storm

A kingside pawn storm features in many Jerome Gambit games, as is clearly evident in the games on this blog. In that vein, I recently played a Jerome Gambit game that reminded me somewhat of a famous position from an old game between two classic masters, Alexander McDonnell and Louis-Charles de La Bourdonnais in London in 1834. These were two of the strongest players in the world at the time and the final position in that game I have heard being referred to as, arguably, the most famous position in chess history.

  

La Bourdonnais, as black, has just played 37...e2, and so McDonnell resigned in a lost position, despite being the player who currently has a queen on the board.

My game: 

dsjkljdkdjkf - beba buba beba542

15 0, instantchess.com, 25/1/17

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5??

6.Nxc6! would have been better. (See gfdgfd - leleos
InstantChess.com, 2016.)

6...Nxe5 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 h5 10.Bg5 Bd4?!

The odd-looking 10...Qd7!, blocking his bishop on c8 but breaking the pin on the knight on f6, was best. (10...Be6 was perrypawnpusher - ulisimbolon, Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2016 [0-1, 22])

11.c3 Be5??

11...Bb6 would still leave black with a clear advantage.

12.f4

Old McDonnell had a bishop!

12...h4 13. Bxh4??

13.Qf3! Bg4 14.Qe3 and white will win the trapped bishop on e5, with a winning position.

13...Nh5!

13...Nh5 was good for a slight advantage for black (saves his bishop on e5) but 13...Nxe4! was slightly better than that again

14.Qf2 Bf6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.0-0 Bd7 17.Nd2 Ke7 18.d4 Raf8 19.f5 Kd8 20.Rae1 Qg5 21.Nf3 Qg4 22.h3 Qg3

23.Qxg3?

23.Re3 would yield an approximately equal position.

23...Nxg3 24.Rf2 Rhg8?

24...Re8, attacking the e-pawn, would lead to a winning advantage for black, whereas after 24...Rhg8?, white has a slight advantage.

25.Kh2 Nh5 26.g4 Nf4 27.Kg3??

E - I - E - I - O! I missed the fork.

27...Nd3 28.e5 Nxe1 29.Nxe1 de 30.de Bc6 31.g5 Kc8 32.Kg4 Rd8 33.h4 Rd1 34.Re2 Rgd8?

 

Black is still better but 34...Bb5! 35.Re3 Rd2, with a powerful rook on the seventh rank, would lead to a really crushing position for black.

35.e6

With a push-push here and a push-push there of my e- and f-pawns, I was hoping to pull off a swindle, though 35. h5! (i.e. everywhere a push-push!), with a four-pawn storm, would give me better chances to fluke a win from my bad position.

35...R8d2 36.Rxd2 Rxd2 37.f6 gf 38.gf Bd5 39.Kf5 Rf2+ 40.Ke5 Bxa2 41.f7 Re2+??

41...Kd8! was actually the only winning move for black here.

42.Kf4

Now white has a winning position!

42...Rf2+ 43.Nf3 Bxe6 44.f8=Q+ Kd7 45.Qg7+ Kd6 46.Qd4+ Bd5 47.Qxf2 c6 48.Qxa7 Bxf3 49.Kxf3 and black resigned.

Take care of your "Jerome pawns" and they will take care of you. Wonderful, Kevin!

Jerome Gambit Ending: It's Drawn, Unless It Isn't (Part 1)

                                                                     

I won my last Jerome Gambit in the current Chess.com Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament, so it is time, again, for me to sit and wait and see who catches or bypasses me.

In the meantime, it is fun to share the game, as it required some strategic re-thinking on my part, as well as a pleasant return to some endgame understanding that I acquired about 35 years ago, from a match game I played against my boss.

perrypawnpusher - keshavdmutkule

Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament,  Chess.com, 2016

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

The Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament is a 10-player, double round robin, which means that I had 9 chances to play the Jerome Gambit - and, as it turned out, I played 8 at the same time to start the tournament! (I had Black against keshavdmutkule first.) I finished with 4 wins, 3 wins on time, and 2 losses.

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

Ah, yes, the Jerome Defense to the Jerome Gambit - both care of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome. The defense was played successfully in two correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger in 1880.

To date my record against it is 23-6-3, which is a score of 81%, which is pretty decent.

7.Qxe5 Qe7 

Solid. Black's Queen sometimes goes to f6 in different variations, but here it finds itself a different home. I have scored 6-2-2  (70%) against this.

7...d6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - ulisimbolon, Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament, Chess.com, 2016, (0-1, 22). (keshavdmutkule would have had to look up that game on the Chess.com website, as it wasn't posted on this blog until recently.) 

8.Qf4+ Ke8

I faced 8...Nf6 in the earlier perrypawnpusher - ERICOLSON, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33); perrypawnpusher - frencheng, 10 5 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 31); and perrypawnpusher - jonathankochems, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 39).

The text move strikes me as a bit unusual, and it highlights one of Black's challenges in the Jerome - even if he is still better - and that is: where does his King go?

Of equal interest to me was if my opponent had found this blog, and, more specifically, my notes to my game with auswebby.   

9.O-O

I am not sure if the text is an improvement over 9.Nc3, seen in perrypawnpusher - Chesssafety, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 25) and perrypawnpusher - auswebby, Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2015 (0-1, 37), but the games could have transposed, anyway.

9...d6

More sedate and more solid than 9...Bd6 as seen in perrypawnpusher - dzetto00, Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2016, (1/2-1/2, 25). (Too bad. I was willing to face that line again.)

10.c3 Nf6 11.d4 Bb6 12.Re1 Kf7

Black plans to castle-by-hand on the Kingside.

13.Nd2

I am used to attacking the Black King along the e-file or f-file, or advancing the "Jerome pawns" to cause chaos in the enemy's ranks.

In this game, however, I realized that there was not likely to be any kind of bashi-bazouk attack; instead, I was going to have to adopt the patient style that I have seen in some of Bill Wall's games, where he establishes a solid pawn center and waits for his opponent to bash himself against it. After all, Black has the advantage, so, by rights, he should be the one attacking, right?

13...Re8 14.Nc4 Kg8 15.Nxb6 axb6 16.f3

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Very Serious Business

In the current Giuoco Piano thematic tournament at Chess.com I am in first place (although this may change) and my only chance to finish on the top of the field is to win my last Jerome Gambit game - which is in the endgame stage. So far, I have 3 wins, 3 wins on time, and 2 losses with the Jerome.

I was surprised to find that I had not presented on this blog the following game with the Jerome Gambit, from the same tournament. In part this may be due to the fact that my opponent forfeited a significant number of his games - but not before he had won a full point from me. If only I had lost slower!  

perrypawnpusher - ulisimbolon
Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament
Chess.com, 2016

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

The is the defense played, successfully, by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in two correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger in 1880.

Previously, I had faced 6...Kf8 31 times, winning 22 games, losing 6 games, and drawing 3; scoring 76%.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 h5 

Very aggressive! Black does not worry about the position of his King, he attacks. While the move looks like a novelty, there are actually 3 earlier games in The Database.

10.Bg5 

Or 10.O-O Kg8 11.Bg5 Qf8 12.c3 Ng4 13.d4 Bb6 14.h4 c5 15.Be3 Bd7 16.Nd2 Re8 17.Rae1 Bb5 18.c4 cxd4 19.Bf4 Bc6 20.Bxd6 Qf7 21.e5 Rh6 22.Ne4 Bxe4 23.Rxe4 Rg6 24.c5 Bd8 25.Qf4 Qxa2 26.Rxd4 Qxb2 27.Rb4 Qe2 28.Rxb7 Qa2 29.f3 Nh6 30.Rf2 Qa1+ 31.Kh2 Qa6 32.Qc4+ Qxc4 White resigned,  MrJoker - PhlebasP, Internet Chess Club, 2011;

or 10.h3 Be6 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 Ke8 13.Bd2 Kd7 14.Rae1 Raf8 15.a3 h4 16.Qg6 Kc8 17.Kh2 Qf7 18.Qxf7 Rxf7 19.f4 g6 20.b4 Bb6 21.Na4 Nh5 22.Nxb6+ axb6 23.Rf3 Rhf8 24.Ref1 Kd7 25.c4 c6 26.Bc1 Ke7 27.R1f2 b5 28.cxb5 cxb5 29.d4 Rc8 30.Bb2 Bc4 31.d5 Nf6 32.Re3 Kd7 33.g3 hxg3+ 34.Kxg3 Nh5+ 35.Kg4 Rcf8 36.Ref3 Nf6+ 37.Bxf6 Rxf6 38.Kg5 Ke7 39.f5 Rg8 40.fxg6 Rgxg6+ 41.Kh4 Rh6+ 42.Kg3 Rxf3+ 43.Rxf3 Be2 44.Rf4 Rg6+ 45.Kf2 Bd3 46.Rh4 Kd7 47.Rh7+ Kc8 48.Rh8+ Kc7 49.Rh7+ Kb6 50.Re7 Rh6 51.Kg3 Rg6+ 52.Kf4 Rg1 53.Rd7 Rf1+ 54.Ke3 Bb1 55.Rxd6+ Kc7 56.Re6 Rh1 57.Kd4 Rxh3 58.Kc5 Bd3 59.d6+ Kc8 60.Re8+ Kd7 61.Re7+ Kc8 62.e5 Bf5 63.Kxb5 Rxa3 64.e6 Bxe6 65.Rxe6 Kd7 66.Re7+ Kxd6 67.Rxb7 Rb3 68.Ka6 Ra3+ 69.Kb6 Rb3 70.b5 Ra3 71.Rb8 Ra1 72.Rd8+ Ke7 73.Rd4 Black resigned, MrJoker - PhlebasP, Internet Chess Club, 2012.

10...Be6

Or 10...h4 11.Qf4 Qe7 12.Nc3 Bd4 13.Nd5 Qf7 14.c3 Be5 15.Qd2 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.d4 Bf6 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.O-O Re8 20.Rfe1 Kf7 21.Re3 Rxe3 22.fxe3 Qg5 23.Rf1 Kg6 24.Qf2 Re8 25.Qxf5+ Qxf5 26.Rxf5 Kxf5 27.Kf2 g5 28.h3 Ke4 29.Ke2 Rf8 30.c4 c6 31.dxc6 bxc6 32.b4 a6 33.a4 Rb8 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 axb5 36.cxb5 Rxb5 37.Kf2 Rb3 38.g3 hxg3+ 39.Kxg3 Rxe3+ 40.Kg4 Kxd4 41.Kxg5 Rxh3 42.Kf5 Re3 43.Kf4 Re8 44.Kf5 Kc4 45.Kf4 d5 White resigned, Petasluk - fluigi, FICS, 2009.

11.Nc3 b5 12.O-O 

Deciding that the Kingside would be safer for my monarch than the Queenside.

12...Qd7 13.Kh1 Bd4 14.f4 Ng4 15.Ne2

After the game Stockfish 7 recommended a line that shows how complicated the game is, but which would lead to only an edge for Black: 15.h3 b4 16.Nd1 Qf7 17.a3 bxa3 18.Rxa3 Bd7 19.Qe1 Re8 20.c4 Nf6 21.Bh4 Kg8 22.Bf2 Bb6 23.b4 c5 24.bxc5 dxc5 25.Bh4 Bc6 26.Nc3 Qd7 27.Qe3 a5 28.e5 a4 This kind of play is above my head.

15...Bxb2 16.Rab1 Bf6 17.d4

After the game Stockfish 7 was critical of this move, but its suggested play - giving up a pawn (eventually the exchange), allowing a passed pawn on the Queenside, opening up the h-file for Black's Rook against my King - looks like a fever dream (although it claims Black is only 3/4 of a pawn ahead at the end): 17.h3 Bxa2 18.Rbe1 Bb2 19.hxg4 hxg4+ 20.Kg1 a5 21.f5 a4 22.Qxg4 a3 23.Qf3 Re8 24.Be3 b4 25.Nf4 Kg8 26.g4 Bc3 27.Re2 Bf7 28.g5 a2 29.g6 a1=Q 30.Rxa1 Bxa1 31.gxf7+ Qxf7 32.Ng6 Rh7. Whew!

17...Bxa2 18.Rbe1 Bc4 19.e5 Bxg5 20.fxg5+ Kg8 21.Qf3 

I wish I could say that I had seen Stockfish 7's recommendation, and merely rejected it, but I had no idea: 21.h3 a5 22.Kg1 dxe5 23.hxg4 hxg4 24.dxe5 a4 25.Rf4 a3 26.Nd4 a2 27 Ra1 Qe8 28.e6 Bxe6 29.Nxe6 Qxe6 30.Qb3 Qxb3 31.cxb3 g3 32.Rf3 Kh7 33.Rxg3 Rhe8 34.Kf2 Kg6 35.Rc3 Re7 36.Rc6+ Kxg5. The computer sees Black as up 2 3/4 pawns. 

21...Re8 22.g6 dxe5 White resigned

I had been looking at 23.Qf7+ here, "winning" a Rook, when I suddenly realized that the f7 square was protected by Black's light-squared Bishop. Discouraged, and down a piece and a  pawn, I gave the game up.