Ugly

The other day I got in a couple of blitz Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) at FICS (Free Internet Chess Server). The first game I shared with readers yesterday (see"Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight"). The second one, well, er, um... I guess I can say that there's "winning ugly" and "losing ugly," and it's better to win ugly...

perrypawnpusher - Lark
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5
It turned out that this game was the third time that I'd played the Jerome Gambit against Lark. Our first game continued: 5...Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.f4 g6 9.d4 Bd7 10.Nc3 Nh6 11.f5 Qh4 12.e5 Nxf5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.g4 Re8 15.gxf5 Bxf5 16.Qf3 Qxd4+ 17.Kh1 Kg7 18.Qf2 Black forfeited on time, perrypawnpusher - Lark, FICS, 2009

6.Qh5+ Ng6


My second game with Lark lasted a bit longer than the first: 6...Kf8 7.Qxe5 Bd6 8.Qc3 Nf6 9.d3 Qe7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Bc5 12.0-0 d6 13.d4 g5 14.dxc5 gxh4 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Nd2 Rg8 17.f4 Bh3 18.Qxh3 Qxd2 19.Rf2 Qd4 20.Qf5 Qxb2 21.Re1 Qb6 22.e5 Rg7 23.exf6 Rf7 24.Re6 Qb1+ 25.Rf1 Qxa2 26.Rfe1 Qb2 27.Qg6 Qd4+ 28.Kh1 Qxf4 29.Re7 Rxe7 30.fxe7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz FICS, 2009

7.Qd5+ Ke8

A game in the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament continued: 7...Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.d3 Qf8 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Be3 Ne5 13.h3 Kd7 14.f4 h6 15.Qg3 Nc6 16.0-0-0 Rd8 17.f5 Bf7 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Qf2 a6 20.b3 b5 21.d4 Nc6 22.g4 Kc8 23.Qf3 b4 24.Na4 a5 25.d5 Ne5 26.Qe2 Nfd7 27.Qa6+ Kb8 28.Ba7+ Ka8 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qxc7 checkmate, stampyshortlegs - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009

8.Qxc5 Another, not-quite-completed game in the same Chessworld JG tournament has gone: 8.d4 N8e7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qh5 c6 11.f4 d5 12.f5 dxe4 13.fxg6 Nxg6 14.c3 Qe7 15.Bg5 Qe6 16.0-0 Kd7 17.Na3 Kc7 18.Bf4+ Kb6 19.Qc5+ Ka6 20.Nc4 b6 21.Qa3+ Kb7 22.Nd6+ Kc7 23.Nf7+ Nxf4 24.Nxh8 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Bb7 26.Rae1 a5 27.Rxe2 Rxh8 28.Qb3 Qxb3 29.axb3 b5 30.Rf7+ Kb6 31.Rxe4 g6 32.Ree7 Bc8 33.Rxh7 stampyshortlegs - Luke Warm, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009
8...N8e7 9.0-0 b6
An alternative: 9...d6 10.Qe3 Rf8 11.d4 c5 12.c3 Bd7 13.f4 Rc8 14.f5 Bxf5 15.exf5 Rxf5 16.Rxf5 Qd7 17.Rf1 cxd4 18.cxd4 Rc2 19.Nc3 Qg4 20.Qf3 Qxd4+ 21.Be3 Qe5 22.Rae1 Nh4 23.Qf7+ Kd7 24.Bf2 Qg5 25.Rxe7+ Kc6 26.Rc7 checkmate, guest6567 - guest4702, Internet Chess Club, 2004.

10.Qe3 Rf8

Or 10...Bb7 11.f4 Rf8 12.d4 d6 13.f5 Nh8 14.g4 Qd7 15.c4 Nf7 16.Nc3 Kd8 17.b3 h6 18.h4 g5 19.h5 Nc6 20.Ba3 Qe8 21.Rad1 Kd7 22.e5 Nfxe5 23.dxe5 Qxe5 24.Qd3 Rae8 25.Rde1 Qd4+ 26.Qxd4 Nxd4 27.Rxe8 Rxe8 28.Bb2 Nf3+ 29.Kf2 Nh2 30.Rg1 Bf3 31.Rg3 Bxg4 32.Rg2 Bxf5 33.Rxh2 c6 34.Kf3 Rf8 35.Kg3 Be6 36.Ne2 c5 37.Bg7 Rf1 38.Bxh6 Ra1 39.Nc3 Rg1+ 40.Kf2 g4 41.Kxg1 g3 42.Rg2 Bg4 43.Rxg3 Bxh5 44.Ne4 Kc6 45.Rg5 b5 46.Rxh5 bxc4 47.bxc4 a5 48.Bf4 a4 49.Rh6 Kb6 50.Rxd6+ Ka5 51.Bd2 checkmate, guest1730 - guest1656, Internet Chess Club, 2001

Louis Morin of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde was the "guest" playing White in the two aforementioned games.

11.f4 d6 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc4 14.Qg3
14...Rf7 15.Nc3 Kf8 16.Bg5

I spent way too much time trying to figure out if 16.f6 worked here. It does – but I didn't play it. The line is complicated, but leads to White's advantage: 16.f6 gxf6 (not 16...Rxf6 17.Bg5 Ng6 18.Nd5 winning) 17.Bh6+ Ke8 18.Nd5 f5 19.Rae1 Kd7 20.Qb3 Nxd5 21.Qxc4 Bb7 22.exd5 a6.

16...h6 17.Bc1
It looks like 17.f6 was playable, too.

17...Bb7 18.f6 Rxf6
I guess I wasn't the only player having trouble with this position. Better was 18...gxf6, although after 19.b3 Na5 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Rae1 my position is beginning to look better.

19.Rxf6+
Sigh. 19.Bxh6 was the move.
19...gxf6 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Qg7
Inviting another piece to the party with 21.Rf1 was stronger.

21...Kd7 22.Qg4+ Ke8 23.Qg7
Repeating the position, and considering a draw, which was silly: 23.Qh5+ Kd7 24.Qb5+ instead would have won a piece.

Now both my opponent and I seem to have been mesmerized by the clock.
23...Nd2 24.Qxf6
Or, well, just take the gift Knight at d2...

24...Bxe4 25.Nxe4

Or, well, 25.Bxd2...

25...Nxe4 26.Qh8+
At this point my nerves got the better of me (clock ticking) and I decided to swap to an endgame where I thought I had at least drawing chances. Wrong. Plus: 26.Qe6 instead was still strong.

26...Kd7 27.Qxd8+ Rxd8 28.Re1 Nf5
29.Rxe4 Nxh6 30.Rh4 Well, my intentions are clear: play the two pawns against the Knight. At my level of play there are "drawing chances" but as they say on television, "don't try this at home, folks!"

30...Nf5 31.Rh7+ Kc6 32.c3 Re8 33.Kf2
This move and next, I would have done better to start my pawns rolling with g2-g4.
33...a5 34.b3 Rf8
35.Ke2 Re8+ 36.Kd2 Ne3 37.Rg7 Nf1+ 38.Kd3 Nxh2

Not so good (for me).

39.g4 Nf3 40.g5 Nh4 41.c4 Nf5 42.d5+ Kb7 43.Rh7 Re7 44.Rxe7 Nxe7
Things are going just as I planned – except that Black still has a won game. Lucky for me, neither one of us seemed to notice.

45.Ke4 Ng6
The win for Black comes after he busts up White's Queenside pawns and then infiltrates with his King: 45...b5 46.cxb5 Kb6 47.Kd4 Kxb5
46.Kf5 Nh4+ 47.Kf6
White has a draw here either playing tag with the Black Knight – 47.Kg4 Ng6 48.Kf5 Nh4+ 49.Kg4, etc. – repeating the position; or by advancing toward the enemy pawns with 47.Ke6, so that the ...b5 break is not good enough to win.

The text is "playing for the loss".
47...Kc8
Of course 47...b5 wins.
48.g6 Nxg6 49.Kxg6 Kd7 50.Kf6
The position is drawn. White's King cannot make progress toward attacking Black's pawn base at c7 (as long as the Black King is dilligent), and if he is foolish enough to try entry through a3, a4 and b5, Black's King will follow him and pick off the White pawns.
50...c6
Dear Readers, let this be a lesson to you: eat your vegetables, get daily exercise – and study your chess endings!
51.Kf7 cxd5 52.cxd5 b5 53.a3 Kc7 54.Ke7 b4 55.a4


55...Kb6 56.Kxd6 Ka6 57.Kc6 Ka7 58.Kc7 Ka6 59.d6 Black resigns 1-0

Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight

It has been said that if one piece sits poorly in a chess game, the entire position becomes poor for that player.

I think that remark usually refers to games played above the level of those involving the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but it does appear true that in the following game, my opponent's Queen Knight (and to some extent, his King Knight) caused him a lot of difficulty.

Of course, I was cooperative: as Genrikh Chepukaitis said “You need not play well - just help your opponent to play badly”

perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka

blitz 6 5, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Transposing to a Jerome Gambit, of course. I think the extra 0-0 helps White more than the extra ...h6 helps Black.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6

8.Qd5+

I continue to prefer Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's "nudge" here, instead of the direct capture of the Bishop.

An alternative, from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, is 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qc4+ Be6 10.Qe2 Nf4 TN 11.Qf3 g5 12.d3 Nf6 13.Bxf4 Bg4 14.Qe3 gxf4 15.Qxf4 Qd7 16.Nc3 c6 17.f3 Be6 18.Qe3 Rag8 19.Rf2 Rg6 20.f4 Ng4 21.Qf3 Ke8 22.f5 Rf6 23.fxe6 Qxe6 24.Qh3 Rxf2 25.Qh5+ Kd7 26.h3 Rxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Ne3+ 28.Kf2 Nxc2 29.Rc1 Rf8+ 30.Ke2 Nd4+ 31.Kd1 Rf1+ 32.Kd2 Nf3+ 33.Kc2 Rxc1+ 34.Kxc1 Ng5 35.h4 Qh3 36.Qxh6 Qf1+ 37.Kc2 Qf2+ 38.Kb3 Qb6+ 39.Kc2 Qf2+ 40.Kb3 Qb6+ 41.Kc2 Qf2+ 42.Kb3 Draw, Black Puma - TWODOGS, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009

8...Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6

Earlier this year I faced 9...Qe7 10.Qe3 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 b6 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Ba6 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.Re1 Kf7 17.Qf3 Rhe8 18.Bf4 Qc5+ 19.Be3 Qb5 20.Bd4 Qxb2 21.e5 Nd5 22.e6+ Kg8 23.Qg4 Nxc3 24.Qxg7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Cibola, FICS, 2009

10.Qe3 Ne5

I am sometimes surprised that my opponents think so little of the Jerome Gambit that they act as if anything can be played against it. White is close to having an equal game after this move.

11.d4 Ng4 12.Qg3 N8f6

This unnecessarily complicates things.

13.Nc3

The position is trickier than I thought when I was playing. For example, after 13.f3, Black's Knights prance around: 13...Nh5 14.Qe1 Ngf6 15.g4 Nxg4 16.fxg4 Bxg4 17.Nc3 Kd7 and the game is about even.

13...Be6

Fritz8 prefers 13...Nh5 14.Qd3 Ngf6 15.f4, giving White a small advantage.

14.h3 Bc4

Black needed to complicate things with something like 14...Nh5, for example 15.Qf3 (eye on the Knights!) Rf8 16.Qe2 (the same) Ngf6 17.e5 Kf7 (castling-by-hand!) 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Re1 Qd7 20.Ne4 Kg8 and White is a pawn up, but things are still challenging: if 21.Nxd6 then 21...Bxh3.

15.Re1 Qd7 16.hxg4

Gathering in the wayward Knight.

16...Nxg4 17.f3 Nf6 18.e5 Nh5

19.exd6+

A bit better was 19.Qh4 Qf7 20.exd6+ Kf8 21.Re7 Qg6 22.d5, snaring the Black Bishop; but the text is sufficient.

19...Kf7 20.Qh2 g6 21.Re7+ Black resigned

Not Quite the Jerome Gambit - Addendum

Readers of yesterday's post "Not Quite the Jerome Gambit" may have noticed that the line played by leif41no and Namecheck – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 – did not have to be Jerome-ized at all with 4.Bxf7+. Instead, White had at his disposal 4.d4, which, after 4...exd4 would transpose to The Urusov Gambit – very well covered by Michael Goeller at his website (check links: Kenilworthian).

Not Quite the Jerome Gambit

As mentionied in the earlier posts "Busy!" and "*Poof!*", I almost had a chance to play in another Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament, but wound up, instead, getting in only one Jerome Gambit game – see "Sole Survivor".

Two other players in the tourney gave it a go, with some feelings of uncertainty, except that what they played was not quite the Jerome Gambit.

Namecheck - leif41no
ChessWorld Welcome Tournament, 2009

The players swapped notes as the game started:

leif41no: Welcome Namecheck from Netherlands
namecheck: Hello Leif41no... Enjoy the games.
namecheck: I gather this Jerome Gambit has a very bad reputation... :)
leif41no: hehe, he tricks us

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5


Here we already have an unusual position, coming out of the Petroff Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4!? Bc5?! – or the Bishop's Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3!? Bc5?!

I suppose that if you get this far (and from what I could find, few have) thinking "Jerome Gambit" is not too much further a step.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+


An alternative was: 5.Ng5+ Ke8 6.0-0 h6 7.Nh3 d6 8.d3 Nc6 9.Nc3 Bxh3 10.Nd5 Be6 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Qh5+ Qf7 13.Qh4 g5 14.Bxg5 Qg7 15.Bf6 Qh7 16.Qg3 Nd4 17.Rae1 Rg8 18.Qh4 Nxc2 19.Bg5 Rxg5 20.Qxg5 hxg5 21.Rc1 Nd4 22.a3 Ne2+ 23.Kh1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Bxf2 25.h3 Bxh3 26.Kh2 Bc8 checkmate, Metko,T - Modrzejewski,D, Tamm Wuert, 2000

5...Ke8

Also seen: 5...Kg8 6.d4 Bd6 ( 6...Be7 7.Qf3 d6 8.Qb3+ d5 9.Nc3 c6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.exd5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Be6 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Qxb7 Nd7 16.Qxa8+ Kh7 17.Qf3 Black resigned, nisar33 - bvduizendpoot, Gameknot, 2008; 6...Bb6 7.Bg5 Qe7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Nd5 Qe6 10.Nf4 Qe8 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5 Kg7 13.Ng4 Rf8 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.f3 Nc6 16.0-0 h5 17.Ne3 Rg8 18.Nf5+ Kf8 19.Nh4 Ra5 20.d5 Ne5 21.f4 Ng4 22.Qd4 c5 23.dxc6 Qxc6 24.h3 Qc5 25.Qxc5 Rxc5 26.hxg4 Rxg4 27.Nf5 Bxf5 28.exf5 Rxc2 29.Rf2 Rxf2 30.Kxf2 Rxf4+ 31.Kg3 Rxf5 32.b3 Ke7 33.Rc1 Kd7 34.Kh4 b5 35.Rc2 b6 36.g4 hxg4 37.Kxg4 Rc5 38.Rf2 Rg5+ 39.Kf4 d5 40.Ke3 Re5+ 41.Kd4 Ke6 42.a4 bxa4 43.bxa4 Re4+ 44.Kd3 Rxa4 45.Rb2 Ra3+ 46.Kd4 Ra6 47.Rb3 f5 48.Ra3 Rxa3 Drawn, skywings - ttooch123, Gameknot, 2008; 6...Qe7 7.Bg5 d6 8.dxc5 Qxe5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nc3 dxc5 11.Qd5+ Qxd5 12.Nxd5 Na6 13.Nxf6+ Kf7 14.Nd5 Re8 15.f3 Be6 16.0-0-0 Rad8 17.c4 c6 18.Nf4 Bxc4 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.a3 Nc7 21.h4 Ne6 22.Nh3 h6 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Kxd1 Bf1 25.Ng1 Bxg2 26.Ke1 Bh1 27.Kf2 Nd4 28.Kg3 Kf6 29.Kf4 b6 30.e5+ Ke6 31.Ke4 a5 32.Kf4 Nf5 33.h5 Ng7 34.Kg3 Kxe5 35.Kh2 Bxf3 36.Nxf3+ Ke4 37.Ng5+ Kd3 38.Nf7 Nxh5 39.Nxh6 Kc2 40.Nf5 Kxb2 41.a4 c4 42.Kg1 c3 43.Ne3 c2 44.Nc4+ Kc3 45.Nxb6 c1Q+ White resigned, dwabro22 - teluguman48, Gameknot, 2005) 7.Qf3 Bxe5 8.dxe5 Ne8 9.Qb3+ d5 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Nxd5 Nd7 12.Bf4 c6 13.0-0-0 cxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 15.d6+ Kf8 16.e6 Bxe6 17.Qxe6 Nef6 18.Rhe1 Rc8 19.Qf5 Rc5 20.Qh3 Qc8 21.Rd2 Nb6 22.d7 Nbxd7 23.Bd6+ Kf7 24.Re7+ Kg6 25.Bxc5 Qxc5 26.Qg3+ Qg5 27.Rxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qxg5+ Kf7 29.Qf5 Rd8 30.g4 h6 31.h4 Ke7 32.g5 hxg5 33.hxg5 Ne8 34.g6 Black resigned, jcekota - tomy, net-chess.com, 2005

6.d4

Or: 6.Qf3 Qe7 7.Qf4 Rf8 Black claimed a win on time, leif41no - Namecheck, ChessWorld Welcome Tournament, 2009;

or 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc4 Nxe4 8.d4 Bb6 9.Qf3 d5 10.Ne5 Be6 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Nxg6 Nf6 13.Qh4 Nbd7 14.Re1 Kf7 15.Ne5+ Ke7 16.Bg5 Qf8 17.Ng4 h5 18.Bxf6+ Nxf6 19.c3 hxg4 20.Qg3 Ne4 21.Rxe4 dxe4 22.Nd2 Bd5 23.Qxg4 Qh6 White resigned, viejoasquerosos - Devinator3000, redhotpawn, 2004;

or 6.d3 d6 7.Nc4 Nc6 8.0-0 Ng4 9.Be3 Nxe3 10.Nxe3 Be6 11.Re1 Qf6 12.Qf3 Rf8 13.Qxf6 Rxf6 14.c3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Ne5 16.d4 Nd3 17.Rf1 Nxb2 18.Rxf6 gxf6 19.e5 fxe5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nd2 Rd8 22.Rb1 Rxd2 23.Kf1 Rd1+ 24.Rxd1 Nxd1 25.Ke1 Nxc3 26.a4 Nxa4 27.Kd2 c5 28.h4 h5 White resigned, gpirath - fredcwn, net-chess.com 2004.

6...Bb6 7.Bg5 d6


Also seen: 7...Rf8 8.0-0 d6 9.Nc4 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Qe2 Qd7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxe5+ Qe7 15.Bxf6 Qxe5 16.Bxe5 Black resigned, Schreiner,H - Arnold,J, Wattens, 2000.

8.Nc4 h6 9.Bh4

The Bishop retreat may not be the most accurate. Fritz 8 looked at 9.Nxb6 axb6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Nd5 Qf7 13.0-0 Be6 with the game eventually reaching equality.

9...Be6

Instead, 9...g5 10.Bg3 Nxe4 gave Black the better game.

10.d5 Bxf2+



An oversight or a miscalculation.

11.Bxf2 Bg4 12.Qd4 Kf7 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Nbd7 15.0-0 Be2 16.Rf2 Bxc4 17.Qxc4 Kg6+

White has the better game.

18.Nc3 Ng4 19.Rf5



White sets a very interesting trap.


19...Ne3 20.Qd4 Nxf5

Black might as well take this Rook, as going after the other one with 20...Nxc2 21.Qd3 Nxa1 does not lead to advantage for him after 22.e5 Kg7 23.e6 Rf8 ( 23...Nf6 24.Bf2 and White is winning) 24.exd7 Qxd7 25.Rf1 Rxf1+ 26.Qxf1 Nc2 27.Qd3 Na1 28.Bf2 Qf7 29.Qd1 Qg6 30.Qxa1 Qd3 31.Qe1 Rf8 with an edge to White.
21.exf5+ Kxf5


Black errs. He needed to leave the pawn alone: 21...Kh7 22.Re1 Rf8 23.Nb5 Rf7 (not 23...Rxf5 24.Qd3 Qf6 25.Nd4 and White is winning) and White has an edge.

22.Qg7



White now has a forced checkmate.

Harried

The (in)famous historical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885 featured a harried White Queen that captured one Rook on a diagonal and another by sliding across a rank – only to watch her King be checkmated across the board.


The following game, from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, features two of the top players and highlights a harried Black Queen shuttling forward and back, until her own demise.

stampyshortlegs - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7


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

White reaches an interesting position, historically. Here "Amateur" played 8.Qxh8 and after 8...Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 he was crushed by Blackburne: 10...Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate.
At that time, 10.Qd8 was suggested by J.B. and E.M. Munoz, giving White the better game; although, almost 120 years later, Chandler and Dimitrov showed that Black could hold the draw.

Throughout this tournament stampyshortlegs has shown a good understanding of the Jerome Gambit. Will he "fall into" and become a victim of Blackburne's "trap" – will he grab the Rook and ask his Queen to fight her way out, "risking" a draw in the process – or has he come up with an improvement, himself?

8.Qd5+

There's a pawn to be taken.

8...Be6

Fritz8 preferred 8...Kg7 9.d4 Nf6 10.Qc4 Bb6 11.Nc3 Re8 12.f3 d5 13.Qd3 dxe4 14.fxe4 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Bxd4 16.Bd2 Bg4 17.h3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 19.Kf1 Rf8+ White Resigned, RevvedUp - Fritz 8, blitz 2 12, 2006.

9.Qxb7
White has three pawns for his piece, but with Black's King not under attack, and with White's pieces not developed, the position has to be judged better for the second player. As in most Jerome Gambit games, however, the player who is more comfortable and creative with the advantages at hand will be successful.9...Rc8 10.Nc3 Qf6 11.f3 Bb6 12.Nd5 Qh4+
Sir Osis sees his opponent's King as vulnerable, and assigns his Queen to harass it.

13.g3 Qh3 14.Nf4 Qh6
An inglorious retreat.

15.Nxe6 Ne7 16.d3 Qh3 Dodging the attack of the Bishop, but the return to this square is even more dangerous than the first visit.

17.Ng5+ Kg7 18.Nxh3

Black fights gamely for another 20 moves, but the point is already decided.

18...Rb8 19.Qa6 Nc6 20.Qc4 Ne5 21.Qe6 Rbe8 22.Qb3 Nxf3+ 23.Kd1 Rhf8 24.Bf4 Nd4 25.Qc3 h6 26.Be3 c5 27.b4 Rf3 28.Bxd4+ cxd4 29.Qc6 Ref8 30.Qxd6 Rf1+ 31.Ke2 R1f6 32.Qe5 Kh7 33.Rhf1 R6f7 34.Rxf7+ Rxf7 35.Rf1 Rc7 36.Kd2 Rg7 37.Qe6 h5 38.Rf7 Kg8 39.Ng5 Black resigned

Tournament Update

With almost three-fourths (156 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored 36%.

Piratepaul (17 points out of 20 games) and DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 27 games) lead, followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (16 points out of 25 games completed).

The next pack is headed by blackburne (13.5 points out of 26 games), followed closely by eddie43 (12.5 points out of 25 games), GladtoMateU (12 points out of 22 games) and Black Puma (12 points out of 26 games).

Those players with with the best winning percentage (85%) are stampyshortlegs (a formidable 11 points out of 13 games) and Piratepaul.

More Tactics

For those who believe that chess is "99% tactics", and this is especially true for those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), very often one lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three more examples (a bit more challenging) from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

DREWBEAR 63 - GladtoMateYou

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Despite being the extra piece up that the Jerome Gambit defender often receives, Black finds that his King has wandered into a mating net. If he keeps his wits about him, though, he can still split the point.

Black had to try 30...Nxc4 31.Kxc4 Bd5+ 32.Rxd5 cxd5+ 33.Kxd5 Rxg7 when White, down the exchange, does best to force a draw by repetition: 34.Ra3+ Kxb5 35.Nd4+ Kb4 36.Nc2+ Kb5 37.Nd4+ draw

analysis diagram

Instead, Black walked right "into it"

30...Ka4 31.Ra3 checkmate

Black Puma - Haroldlee123

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this complicated position, Black holds the Jerome advantage of a piece for two pawns, but his development is a bit haphazard, and he needs to be careful. Troubling tactics lie right beneath the surface, and he should play 35...Nxg5 with a chance to settle things down a bit. Instead, he plays a very reasonable move, and receives a shock.

35...Rh8 36.g6 Kxg6 37.Nh4+ Kf6 38.Nf5 Qf7 39.Rh6+ Qg6 40.Rxg6+ Kf7 41.Rg7+ Black resigned



DREWBEAR 63 - TWODOGS

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this position, seeing that he was losing his Queen for a Rook, White resigned.

Instead, he could have tried 33.Nb5 Qxb2+ 34.Rxb2 Rxb7 35.Kxc4 a6 36.a4 axb5+ 37.axb5 with at least equal chances.












analysis diagram