Welcome to the Club!

Going through the latest selection of Jerome Gambit and Jerome-ish games from the FICS database, I noticed that themavz had played quite a few attacking games with the Bxf7+ theme. Later, when he challenged me, I wasn't in the mood to defend a gambit, but he insisted..

thmavz  - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6

Really, I'd like to play a boring Philidor Defense.

3.Bc4 Be7

See, I don't want your Knight coming to g5.

4.Bxf7+

Oh, well.

4...Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Qd2

This looks like a mouse-slip for 6.Qxd4, which puts an additional burden on the attacker.

6...Nd7

Sure, I could have protected the pawn on d4 with 6...c5, but I wanted piece development, not more material.

7.Qxd4 Ngf6 8.e5

Never let it be said that themavz hesitates to attack. This is a 3-minute game and he brings it asap.

8...dxe5 9.Nxe5+ Nxe5 10.Qxe5 Re8

My first step toward castling-by-hand to relieve my aggrieved King. Tactical maniacs will note that 10...Bb4+ followed by 11...Re8 would have been much stronger. 

11.0-0 Bd6 12.Qc3 Kg8 13.Qb3+ Be6 14.Qxb7

Recall what is said about those who take the Queen's Knight's pawn...

14...Bd5 15.Qa6 Ng4 16.g3

Necessary was 16.h3, although White can still break through with 16...Nxf2.

16...Nxh2

Missing 16...Qh4, mating; but the text wins.

17.Kxh2

After 17.Nc3 Nf3+ White's King remains in grave danger.

17...Qh4+ 18.Kg1 Qh3

Or 18...Qh1#.

19.f3 Qxg3+ 20.Kh1 Qh2 checkmate

I admit that may not have been the friendliest "Welcome" to the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, but I look forward to many more interesting games from thmavz!

Happy New Year & The Database

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe 2011.

As I mentioned in "Looking Toward the New Year" I am offering interested Readers a free PGN database of  over 22,600 Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games; as well as games following the so-far-unnamed order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+.

I should mention that a good number of the games in The Database are either Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) or Semi-Italian Four Knight Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nc3 / 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxf7+)

If you are interested, email me at richardfkennedy@hotmail.com.

Rampaging

Black's 3...h6 in the Semi-Italian Opening suggests a wish for a calm, safe game. In reply, in the following game, White, instead, goes on a rampage, playing the Jerome Gambit with wild abandon. Is it sound? Perhaps not. Did it win? Yes, quickly.


Manishsprasad  - TimJonez
standard game, FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

Despite my preference for 4.0-0, I noticed that the New Year's Database has twice as many 4.Nc3 games.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

This position is similar to one from the main line classical Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6. White's extra move, Nc3, seems more helpful to him in the current game than Black's extra move, ...h6.

9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.d4

Forking two pieces and opening lines. White gets away with it this time, but perhaps next time he might try the less flashy 10.Qxe5.

10...Kxb5

In the games of the old Masters we see many an opponent grab the offered material, only to regret it soon after. Here, 10...d6, protecting the attacked pieces and counter-attacking the Queen, was the proper defense. But, where's the fun in that?

11.Qxe5 d6 12.Qd5 Ne7

Visceral chess. Get that Queen out of here!

Is there a defense for Black, however?

Rybka suggests 12...a5 giving the King some breathing room, and after 13.dxc5 it likes 13...Nf6. At that point White has to retreat his Queen with 14.Qd3+ Kc6 (14...Kxc5 allows a draw by repetition after 15.Be3+; other moves lose) and after a flurry of tactics the computer sees Black as slightly better with a Knight for four pawns: 15.a4 b6 16.cxb6 Ba6 17.bxc7Qxc7 18.Qc3+ Kd7 19.Qxc7+ Kxc7 20.f3 Rhe8

13.a4+ Ka6 14.Qc4+ b5 15.Qxb5 checkmate

Running Into A Wall

Here's the latest Jerome Gambit game from Bill Wall, reminding us all that our opponents may often be unwilling or unable to understand what is happening and thus find preparing a defense to be too much of a challenge.

Wall,B - ChrSav
FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

6...Bb4+

I was surprised to see over 100 examples of this move in The Database. Most adventurous is 6...Qh4.

7.c3 Be7 8.dxe5 Nh6

Fritz8 now happily informs me that White can force a draw by repetition with 9.Qh5+ Kg8 (or 9...Kf8) 10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qxh6 followed by a lot of Queen checks.

Not surprisingly, Bill wants more.

9.Qf3+ Ke6

Wow.

White pretty much has the same drawing chances after 9...Kg8 and 9...Ke8, but all other responses – including the text – lose for Black.

10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qf5 checkmate

It is fun to point out that Black's last chance at defense, 10...Qf8, is met with 11.Qd3 and the Bishop is still poison as 11...gxh6 allows the mirror mate 12.Qd5. Of course, after something rational like 11...d6 12.exd6 Bxd6 White retreats his Bishop with 13.Be3 and remains two pawns ahead with a much safer King. 

A World-Wide Phenomenon

The folks at Blogger.com who host this blog have installed a nifty "Stats" feature that provides me with useful data, such as which pages have been seen how often, for the day, week, month, or the whole life of the blog.

The list of the top pageviews by country, for "all time", for instance, is quite interesting. Number 1 is the United States which is not too surprising. It is followed by the United Kingdom and Canada.

After that, Number 4 is France and Number 5 is Russia. Number 6, is Brazil. There follow Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea and Italy.

This list varies somewhat from the data that I get from Google Analytics, my regular stat provider, which gives the following list:

1. United States
2. Brazil
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada 
5. Denmark
6. France
7. Germany
8. Poland
9. Italy
10. Belgium

25. Russia

59. South Korea

Whichever source is "right", it is clear that interest in the Jerome Gambit is a world-wide phenomonon!

The End of the Jerome Gambit?

In today's game I was "Sidetracked" again – my opponent, who has Jerome Gambit experience, might have visited these blog pages as well.

In any event, his use of the "fork trick" to deprive me of the opportunity to play an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit was timely (given yesterday's post and my recent coverage of the tactical motif) if a bit existentially challenging. After all, he was choosing to play a line that leads to a small advantage for White, instead of choosing to play a line that refutes the first player's opening.

Oh well, as they say a difference of opinion is what makes a chess game...(or was that "a horse race"?)

perrypawnpusher - JTIV
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6

It could be my imagination, but I think that I have been seeing this move more often since this blog's series on "The Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 1)" (Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4).

My opponent has won at least one Jerome Gambit: JTIV - NyteFork, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 14).

He and I have also previously contested a very exciting game: perrypawnpusher - JTIV, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32).

4.Nc3 Nxe4

The "fork trick".

With White, JTIV had less success after 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.0-0 Re8 7.Ng5+ Kg8 8.Nb5 a6 9.Nc3 d6 10.a3 Ng4 11.Nh3 Nd4 12.Nd5 c6 13.Ne3 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxh3 15.exd4 Bxd4+ 16.Kh1 Be6 17.c3 Ba7 18.Qf3 Rf8 19.Qxf8+ Qxf8 20.Rxf8+ Rxf8 21.h3 Rf1+ 22.Kh2 Bb8 23.g4 d5 24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Kg3 e4+ 26.Kh4 h6 27.g5 hxg5+ 28.Kxg5 Bf4+ 29.Kf5 Bxd2+ 30.Ke5 Bxc1 31.Kd6 Re1 32.b3 Bd2 33.Ra2 Bxc3 34.Rf2 Rb1 35.Ke7 Rxb3 36.Rf8+ Kh7 37.h4 e3 38.Re8 e2 39.Kf8 e1Q 40.Rxe1 Bxe1 41.a4 c5 42.h5 c4 43.Ke7 c3 44.Kd6 Bh1 45.Ke5 c2 46.Kf5 c1Q 47.Ke6 White resigned, JTIV - drkljenko, FICS, 2010.

5.Nxe4 d5

6.Bxd5

I am not quite sure why I played this move, instead of the recommended 6.Bd3. Things turned out okay in this instance, but I will probably not repeat my "experiment".

6...Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qc4

This is an interesting idea, aimed at interfering with White's castling (I think) but Black's Queen can go just about anywhere (d6 may be best) and maintain the second player's edge.

8.d3 Qg4 9.0-0 Bd6

10.Ne4 Qg6 11.Be3

After the game Fritz8 suggested 11.Nh4 Qe6 12.f4 with equal play.

11...Bh3 12.Ng3 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3

Black has not gained much from his Bishop maneuvers; neither has he lost much. The following pawn sacrifice seems to gain little and lose more.

14...e4 15.Qxe4+ Qxe4 16.Nxe4 Be5 17.c3 0-0-0 18.d4 Bf6

Black is willing to give up his Bishop for a Knight and the opportunity to attack along the g-file. I am happy to have more targets.

19.Nxf6 gxf6 20.Bf4 Rhg8 21.Rae1 h5 22.Re3 Rg7 23.Rg3

23.Rfe1 was playable as even after 23...h4 White's Bishop allows him to play g2-g3 now or after Black doubles Rooks on the g-file.

23...Rxg3 24.Bxg3 Ne7

White is ahead a pawn, has a Bishop vs a Knight, and has 2 solid pawn islands vs Black's 3 (including 3 isolated pawns). At our level of play, especially in blitz, it would be presumptious so say the win "is only a matter of technique."

25.Re1 Nf5 26.Bf4 a5 27.g3 h4 28.g4 Ng7 29.Bd2 c5 30.Re4 f5 31.gxf5 Nxf5 32.Rf4 Ne7

33.Rxh4 b5 34.Be3 Nf5 35.Rf4 Rd5 36.dxc5 Nxe3 37.fxe3 Rxc5 38.Rxf7 Rg5+ 39.Kh2 Re5 40.Rf3 Rd5 41.Rf2 Kc7 42.h4 Kc6 43.Re2 Kc5

44.e4 Rd1 45.e5 Kc4 46.e6 Kd3 47.e7

After 47...Kxe2 I had already seen the mindless 48.e8Q+ Kd2 49.Qd7+ Kc1 50.Qxd1+ Kxd1 51.h5 etc, although there are smarter ways for White to win, too.


47...Re1

A slip. Black resigned

Sidetracked

I'm always looking for a Jerome Gambit when I play 1.e4, especially when my opponent replies 1...e5. Sometimes we get sidetracked, however. In those cases it is good when I know something about the line I've been forced into.

perrypawnpusher - vladchess
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

Our one previous game was quite odd, a declined Busch-Gass Gambit: 2...Bc5 3. Bc4 f6 4.Nxe5 d6 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Nxg6 Kd7 7.Nxh8 Qe7 8.Qf7 Nc6 9.Be6+ Kd8 10.Qxg8+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - vladchess, blitz, FICS, 2010

3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

My opponent hesitated before making his next move. Did he know that I was going to answer 5...Bc5 with 6.Bxf7+, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit? If he did, would that make him more or less likely to play 5...Bc5?

Instead, vladchess opted for the "fork trick". For a general overview of this maneuver, take a look at "Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 3)".

5...Nxe4

Here I fell in with my opponent's plan.

6.Nxe4 d5 7.Bd3 dxe4 8.Bxe4 Bc5

The Bishop has taken a step too far, and this costs a pawn.

9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Nxe5

Later, I grabbed a second pawn, and even later, a third, winning in 29 moves.

But – that hesitation at move 5. What was that all about?

Is there something about adding White's 0-0 and Black's ...h6 that changes the dynamics of the "fork trick"?

It turns out, there is. Instead of playing 6.Nxe4, White could have played the shocker 6.Nxe5!?.

Certainly now Black can continue with 6...Nxe5 and after 7.Re1 Be7 (or simply 7...d6) 8.Rxe4 d6 White will have the standard "plus over equals" edge that can come with the first move.

But what if Black mixes it up with 7...d5!? – and keeps playing crazy attacking moves?

8.Bxd5 Bg4 9.f3 Bc5+

10.d4 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Bxd4+ 12.Kg2

You know that things are getting tense for White when he has to play this "only" move.

12...Nxc3 13.Qxd4 Nxd5 14.Qxe5+ Kf8

Here – having made it safely through the storm – we can probably say that White's Bishop vs Black's Knight and his better opportunities for development are adequate compensation for his missing pawn in this even game...

Yes, Indeed, I am glad that I read and remembered that overview of the "fork trick", above, and decided to go that way, instead!