Move Along... Two Challenges

My opponent laid down two challenges in the following game, one in the opening and one in the endgame. I was very glad to take each of them up. 

perrypawnpusher  - zadox
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

I have classified declining the Bishop in this way, followed by returning the Black King to e8 (with the hopes of luring White into complacently playing Nxe5), as some sort of "Jedi mind trick".

My opponent may simply have been unwilling to go along with my plan, playing a psychological gambit ("if you want me to take the bishop, I won't take the bishop").

In any event, The Database has 11 games with zadox playing this move; showing a single win for Black (a time forfeit when White was a bit better). Perhaps it is time to move along to another line of play?

5.Bxg8

Also possible was 5.Bb3, as in perrypawnpusher - Roetman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and 5.Bc4, as in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 84), perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS 2010 (1-0, 14) and perrypawnpusher - PlatinumKnight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9).

5...Nxf3+

This was a switch from 5...Ke8 in  perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29) and 5...Rxg8 in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16).

6.Qxf3 Rxg8

Here is the first challenge: we are playing neither a "normal" Jerome Gambit nor a "normal" Blackburne Shilling Gambit, can I make something of the extra pawn.

I think so.

7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5+ Kd7 9.Qh3+ Kc6 10.Qxh7 Be6

Okay, it is nothing spectacular, but I am now up two pawns.

11.d3 Be7 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Qh5 b6 14.Bg5 Qf7 15.Qxf7 Bxf7

The outline of the second challenge is forming: do I think that I can take the game into a Bishops-of-opposite-colors ending and find more than half a point?

I think so.

We both raced through the next series of moves.

16.0-0-0 a5 17.b3 b5 18.Kb2 a4 19.Be3 axb3 20.axb3 Ra6 21.Ra1 Rga8 22.Rxa6+ Rxa6 23.Ra1 Rxa1 24.Kxa1

It is well-known that this kind of ending is very drawish, and an extra one, two, or even three pawns may not be enough for White to win.

In this particular ending, however, I was confident that I could convert. Readers are asked to point out a defense for Black that holds.

24...Bh5 25.f4 exf4 26.Bxf4 Bd1 27.Kb2 Be2 28.Kc3 Bd1 29.d4 d5

This is part of a strategy to get all of Black's pawns on the light squares, the same color as that of his Bishop, so that the drawish nature of the endgame can be enhanced; but the result, here, is a White pawn at e5 that is both passed and protected.

Might it have been better to hold the Black d-pawn back and wait for White to play e4-e5, exchanging at e5 and leaving the resulting passer without pawn protection? 

30.e5 Kd7 31.Kd2 Bh5 32.h3 Ke6 33.g4 Bf7 34.h4 g6

Black's King very effectively blockades the e5 pawn.

To win, White needs another passer.

35.Bg5 c6 36.b4 Be8 37.Ke3 Bf7 38.Kf4 Be8 39.Bd8 Bf7 40.Kg5 Be8 41.h5 gxh5 42.gxh5

42...Kd7 43.Bf6

This move wins, as planned, but I was amused later to see that I could have simply played 43.h6 and continued to advance the pawn to the end line. Better for Black would have been 42...Kf7, but White would still succeed.

43...Bf7 44.h6 Bg8 45.Kg6 Ke8 46.h7 Bxh7+ 47.Kxh7

Mission accomplished.

47...Kf7 48.Kh8 Ke6 49.Kg7 Black resigned

Simply Down Two

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!?) is supposed to lead to exciting chess for the second player, but when White responds in Jerome Gambit style (4.Bxf7+!?) there is excitement for both players (as GM Lev Alburt pointed out in his March 2011 Chess Life column, "How to Trick the Trickster").

If Black tries further psychology with 4...Ke7?!, either as a form of "Jedi mind trick" (search "mind trick" on this blog, or start here) or out of contrariness, it is up to White to claim his advantage.

The following game ends quickly, as Black realizes that he is simply down two pawns, and those are odds that he did not want to give.

perrypawnpusher  - issamica
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

I admit, the first time that zadox played this move against me, in a sort of "Jedi mind trick" (how else to explain my strange chess behavior?), it left me quite indisposed. Readers of this blog should not fall for such a thing, though.

Defenders who decide "if you want me to take the Bishop, then I won't take it" must also live with the consequences of such a position.

5.Bxg8

There is nothing wrong with 5.Bb3 as in perrypawnpusher - Roetman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12); or 5.Bc4 as in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 84), perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14) or  perrypawnpusher - PlatinumKnight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9).

5...Rxg8 6.Nxe5

It is also quite possible to play 6.Nxd4 or 6.d3.

6...d6

Or 6...Ke8 7.d3 d6 as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 16).

7.d3 Ke6

8.Nf3

Playing it safe and sitting on my two pawn advantage.

Adventurous readers would no doubt prefer to offer a piece that cannot be taken, with 8.Qg4+ Ke7 (8...Kxe5 9.Bf4+ Kf6 10.Qg5+ Kf7 11.Qxd8; 8...Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kxe5 10.f4#; 8...Nf5 9.Qxf5+ Ke7 10.Qf7#) 9.Qh5 when White's threat to win the Black Queen with Bg5+ is too much to cope with.

My plan was equally unpalatable to my opponent.

Black resigned

Turnabout is Fair (Counter)Play

I play the various Jerome Gambits so I can attack.

It is not as much fun when my opponent comes gunning for my King.

As this game shows, my defensive skills could use a bit of a boost.

perrypawnpusher - vlas
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
 

4.Bxf7+

This is my 3rd Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit against vlas.

4...Kxf7

4...Ke7 led to an 84-move win for me in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010.

5.Nxe5+ Ke8

Again, 5...Ke7 my opponent's choice in an earlier game perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2009.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6

10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4

White has four pawns for his sacrificed piece. The position is dynamically equal.

11...c5 12.Qe3 Bh6 13.Qe2 Bg4 14.f3 Be6

This is an improvement over perrypawnpusher - foreverblackman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21).

15.Nc3

After the game Rybka had a hard time figuring out what to do here, giving this line: 15.g3 Kd7 16.Nc3 Bg7 17.b3 Nh5 18.Rf1 Bh3 19.Rh1 Be6 20.Rf1 Bh3 repeating the position.

15...Qg8 16.d3 Bxc1 17.Rxc1 Qg5

18.Rd1 Rag8 19.Kf1

Rybka shows the right way to defend & counterattack, and eventually has Black repeating the position for a draw: 19.g3 Rh3 20.Qf2 Rf8 21.f4 Ng4 22.Qg2 Qh6 23.e5 dxe5 24.Qxb7+ Ke8 25.Rd2 exf4 26.Rf1 Rf5 27.Ne4 Kd8 28.Qb8+ Bc8 29.Rxf4 Rxg3 30.hxg3 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qg2+ 32.Kd1 Qg1+ 33.Ke2.

I am definitely not a computer, but I should have been able to find 19.g3 instead of the text, which is an error.

Now Black blasts my game apart.

19...Nh5 20.Rd2 Ng3+ 21.hxg3 Rxh1+ 22.Kf2 Qxg3+ 23.Ke3 Re1 White resigned

Idées Fixes et Manqués

The following game shows that I have not yet conquered the underlying ambivalence that I have for playing gambits, as mentioned in "More Than Seen At First Glance (Part 1)" and worried about elsewhere (see "Nothing Happened"): once I have "escaped" to an even position, my brain gets stuck on "play safe!" and "simplify!" I overlook many other options in play...

perrypawnpusher  - vlas
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ Ke7

I have met this move before (see "Jedi Mind Tricks", "Jedi Mind Tricks / Rematch", "Sith Still and Don't Move", "Never Mind" and "Platinum Mind Tricks". ), and whatever advantages it has are slight and purely psychological.

So it is embarassing to see how effective it is in this game.

In the past my opponent had captured the Bishop, with mixed results: 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 (5...Ke7 6.Qh5 g6 7.Nxg6+ hxg6 8.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qe8 11.b3 Kd8 12.Bb2 Be7 13.Qxe8+ Kxe8 14.Bxa1 d6 15.d4 Bd7 16.Nd2 Rd8 17.h4 Kf7 18.h5 gxh5 19.Rxh5 Bg4+ 20.f3 Bxh5 21.Ke2 c5 22.g3 cxd4 23.Bxd4 Bf6 24.Bxa7 Re8 25.Kd3 Bg6 26.f4 d5 White resigned, perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2009) 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 (7...Nxc2+ 8.Kf1 Nxa1 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qe5 checkmate, simplyknight - vlas, FICS, 2009) 8.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qf6 11.Qc4 Bd6 12.f3 a6 13.Nc3 b5 14.Qd3 c5 15.Nd5 Qg5 16.g3 c4 17.Qb1 Nb3 18.axb3 cxb3 19.d4 Qh5 20.Nf6+ Black resigned, brazucanl - vlas, FICS, 2010.

5.Bc4

White is a pawn up, and Black's King is awkwardly placed and possibly at risk.

5...d6

6.d3 Bg4

This is "business as usual" and is therefore risky. Necessary was 6...Nxf3+.

7.Bg5+

A silly move, as it it highly unlikely that my opponent will blunder with his response by moving his King and allowing me to capture his Queen. He'll just block the check with his Knight.

Wait a minute! What if White plays 7.Bxg8, eliminating the interfering Knight, first, and then checks the King?

Ooops.

7...Nf6 8.Nbd2 h6 9.Bxf6+ gxf6 10.c3 Nxf3+ 11.Nxf3 a6

12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nh4 Bh7 15.f4 b5 16.Bb3 exf4 17.Qf3 Kd7 18.Qxf4 Kc8 19.Rf1 Bg7

Another example of "Nothing Happened" disguised as strategic play. (White has tamed the "two Bishops" though.)

20.Nf5 Qf8

This costs another pawn. Black had to swap the Knight off with 20...Bxf5.

21.Nxg7 Qxg7 22.Qxf6 Qg6

An incomprehensible move which may have been a mouse-slip for an intended 22...Qxf6.

23.Qxg6

??????

Swap those Queens, keep the game safe... 

The game would have been immensely safer if I had just taken the Rook on h8.

I tell you, it makes me think of "Jedi Mind Tricks" all over again...

23...Bxg6 24.Rf6 Be8 25.Kd2 Kb7 26.Raf1 Bc6 27.Rf7 a5 28.Re7 a4 29.Bc2 a3 30.b3 d5 31.Rff7 Rac8

Despite my uneven play, I have a battery on the 7th that should lead to a win.

32.e5 Be8 33.Rf6 Rd8 34.d4 h5 35.Bf5

Adequate, but too safety-minded. Releasing another "Jerome pawn" with 35.g5 Rg8 36.h4 seems more to the point. 

35...hxg4 36.Bxg4 Bh5 37.Bxh5 Rxh5 38.Rf3 Rdh8 39.Ref7

Lamely acquiescing to the loss of a pawn, which brings the game closer to a draw. Certainly stronger was 39.Rff7 Rc8 40.Rh7, keeping the h-pawn.

39...Rxh3 40.Ke3 Rh2 41.Rf2 Rh1 42.e6 Re8 43.e7 Ra1 44.Kd3 Rb1 45.Re2 Rb2

In some endgame positions this kind of a maneuver is deadly. Here, it should just lead to the exchange of Rooks and the loss of a pawn. 

46.Rf8 Rxe7

Likely an over-appreciation of his coming advanced passed a-pawn. Best was 46...Rxe2.

47.Rxe7 Rxa2 48.Rff7 Rb2

Down a Rook, a resourceful Black appears to have manufactured counterplay and perhaps a draw.

Actually, White now has a mate in 7 moves, but I could not find it. With the clock ticking, again and again I could not find the checkmate and I eventually had to fall in with vlas' plans.

49.Rxc7+ Kb6 50.Ra7

The game would end with 50.Rce7 Ka5 (50...a2 51.Re6+ Ka5 52.Ra7#; 50...Rd2+ 51.Kxd2 b4 52.Rf6 etc as in the main line) 51.Rf6 b4 52.Ra7+ Kb5 53.c4+ dxc4 54.bxc4 checkmate. 

50...a2 51.Rfb7+ Kc6 52.b4 a1Q 53.Rc7+ Kb6 54.Rcb7+ Kc6 55.Rc7+ Kb6 56.Rcb7+ Kc6

I was horrified that I had not been able to win, a Rook up; at this point I was seriously considering forcing the draw out of fear that I had actually acheived a worse position.

Part of this was time pressure, but part of this was the bad mind set induced by 4...Ke7. Strange chess psychology. Amazing! 

57.Rxa1 Kxb7

For all practical purposes, the game is drawn here.

Having embarassed myself from here to Sheboygan, however, I decided to give the game one more try.

58.Re1 Rf2 59.Re7+ Kc6 60.Re6+ Kd7

Here is the last opportunity that my opponent gave me, one I wasn't going to overlook. (I am reviewing GM Nigel Davies' 10 Great Ways to Get Better at Chess, and, not surprisingly, #2 is "Study the endgame".)

61.Rb6 Rf3+ 62.Kc2 Rf2+ 63.Kb3 Rf1 64.Rxb5 Kc6 65.Rc5+ Kd6 66.b5

The plan.

66...Rb1+ 67.Ka4 Ra1+ 68.Kb4 Rb1+ 69.Ka5 Ra1+ 70.Kb6 Rc1 71.Kb7 Re1 72.b6 Re7+ 73.Rc7

73...Re3 74.Kb8 Re8+ 75.Rc8 Re7 76.b7 Re1 77.Rd8+ Kc6 78.Kc8 Re7 79.b8Q Re8

A cute move: if now 80.Rxe8 it is stalemate.

On the other hand, 80.Qb7 is mate.

80.Qc7+ Kb5 81.Rxe8 Ka6 82.Kd7 Kb5 83.Rb8+ Ka6 84.Qb6 checkmate

Finally. Another game made much more difficult by my inability to see checkmate. I guess I know what I need to study more of.

My Turn Again

Publishing my wins with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) on this blog only seems fair if I also include my losses. That means not just the ones where I get out-played, but the ones where I am doing just fine – and then blunder.

I've shared this lament before ("My Turn to Blunder") and surely will do so again. At least I can be sure that my opponents mostly understand.

After all, as we say in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, "Black wins by force; White wins by farce."

Here, the disaster comes against the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
perrypawnpusher - vlas
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd44.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ 5...Ke7

Mentioned by Tim McGrew in 2004 in his "Gambit Cartel" article on the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, and by Dennis Monokroussos on his "Chess Mind" website in 2005. I have a dozen games in my database, and White has scored 8-4.

6.Qh5

Not the right follow-up. White should play 6.c3 d6 7.cxd4 dxe5 with about an even game.

6...g6

What Black misses is the defensive 6...Qe8, driving White's Queen back to d1. After that, White would have the Jerome-style two pawns compensation for his piece, but Black's counterplay after 7...Kd8 would be annoying.

7.Nxg6+ hxg6 8.Qxh8 Nxc2+

Black had better chances for equality by playing to trap the White Queen and then playing against it: 8...Nf6 9.Kd1 Kf7 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd4 Nb6 13.d3 Bg7 14.Qe3 d5 15.exd5 Bg4+ 16.f3 Qxe3 17.Bxe3 Nxd5 18.fxg4 Nxe3+ 19.Kd2 Nxg4. White has a Rook and two pawns against two pieces.

9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qe8 11.b3 Kd8 12.Bb2 Be7

13.Qxe8+ Kxe8 14.Bxa1 d6 Things have settled down, and White is ahead two pawns. It's not a very complicated position.

15.d4 Bd7 16.Nd2 Rd8 17.h4 Kf7 18.h5

Looking for – or overlooking – trouble. Simpler was 18.d5

18...gxh5 19.Rxh5 Bg4+


Ouch.

Just drops a Rook.

The rest of the game was unnecessary.
20.f3 Bxh5 21.Ke2 c5 22.g3 cxd4 23.Bxd4 Bf6 24.Bxa7 Re8 25.Kd3 Bg6 26.f4 d5 White resigned