What Do You See?

The following position is from the game braken - mckenna215, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011, one of the few drawn games in that large 15-player double-round-robin tournaments.

The situation is relatively balanced, but Black's two Bishops are likely to prove more than White's Rook can handle. The game will be decided by what each player can see in the position.

21. Ne7 Ne6

Black allows the win of two pieces for the Rook. I think he simply missed White's 23rd move.

22.Rxe6 Nxe6 23.Qg6+

A smart idea. After the routine 23.Qxe6 Black has 23...Qe8, and the pin on the White Knight is annoying. There are even lines where the Knight can be trapped and won for a pawn or two, pushing the game closer to the split point.

23...Kh8 24.Qxe6 Kh7 25.Nxd5 Qa3

White has won a pawn, and Black seeks counterplay on the Queenside.

Instead of a battle of N+P vs B, or an exchange of minor pieces into a Q+Ps vs Q+Ps endgame, things should now shift to an attack on Black's King with 26.g4!? 

26.Ne3

Not wanting to lose the a-pawn, but giving Black the counterplay he was seeking.

26...Qc1+ 27.Nf1 Qxc3

The game has changed again. Now Black is looking to take the d-pawn and be up a pawn, with a freed Bishop to dominate the humbled Knight.

White says "no, thank you" and forces the draw by repetition.

28.Qe4+ Kg8 29.Qe8+ Kh7 30.Qe4+ Kg8 31.Qe8+ Kh7 Drawn

Jerome Gambit and "Opening Lanes"

As Michael Goeller pointed out in his comment to the recent post "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service", International Master Gary Lane has again (see here and here) taken a look at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), an opening that he admits he has "a soft spot for", in his "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe.com.

As Gary has mentioned me by name, and asked for some games, I will be sending him a few. Be sure to watch for next month's edition of "Opening Lanes"!

Of course, readers who have interesting Jerome Gambit games are encouraged as well to send them to garylane@chesscafe.com

If you...

The old caution still holds today: if you strike the King, you must kill him. If the King survives your blow, he is likely to come back with all his force and deliver a brutal revenge.

The following position is from blackburne - klonka59, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011. To be fair, Black was doing quite well until recently, but, as you can see, he has allowed White back into the game – and a very messy one, at that.

White has two Rooks to Black's Queen, and three extra pawns to match Black's Knight.

33.Rxd1 Qxd1 34.Rg6+ Kd7 35.Rxh6 Qxc2+

Now White has a Rook and a Bishop and a couple of pawns to face the Queen. Things might still be about even, but White's pawns allow him to keep the pressure on.

36.Kf3 a6 37.f5 Qxa2 38.e5 Qd5+ 39.Kf4 Qxd3

Black's Queen has been doing her best to deal with the White pawns, but two of them are beginning to look scary.

40.Rh7+ Kc6 41.Bd4 Qf1+ 42.Kg5 Qg2+ 43.Kf6 Qg8 44.Rg7 Qd8+ 45.Kg6 a5

Black has his own passed pawn to advance.

46.e6 Qe8+ 47.Kg5 Qd8+ 48.e7 Qe8 49.f6 Kd5 50.Kf5 a4

51.Rh7 Qd7+ 52.Kg6 Qe8+ 53.Kg7 Ke6 54.Rh8 Qf7+ 55.Kh6 Kd7

Black has done what he can to restrain the "Jerome pawns" but it is not enough.

56.Rd8+ Ke6 57.e8Q+ Qxe8 58.Rxe8+ Kf7 59.Re7+ Kf8 60.Kg6 a3 61.Rxc7 a2 62.Rc8 checkmate

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

Although he finished in the top half of the standings, with a plus score, long time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") – still, to the best of my knowledge, the top-rated modern player to venture the Jerome Gambit in serious over-the-board games, risking his rating (and the ribbing of his mates) – did not seem, in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, to be at the top of his game.

Perhaps he was playing this one for fun, which would explain his sometimes "casual" approach to an opening which, for all of its off-beat style, still has a certain amount of "theory" to acknowledge.

The title of this post comes from signs placed at some retail establishements, suggesting that people who have taken a casual approach to attire need not enter.

In the following game, however, blackburne got seriously served.

blackburne - shm19cs
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.f4

A theoretical novelty (TN), but there is no need to add insult to injury and name it after the player of the White pieces, especially as there is already a Banks Variation in the Jerome.

6...Nxe5

Black immediately puts his finger on the problem with White's move.

7.fxe5 Qh4+

The game resembles a reversed Damiano Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+), although in this case it is the defending side that had sacrificed a piece.

8.g3 Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxh1+ 10.Qf1+ Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d6

12.exd6 cxd6 13.c3 Bh3+ 14.Ke2 Nf6 15.d4 Re8+ 16.Kd3 Bb6 17.Bg5 Bf5+ 18.Kd2 Ne4+

The final indignity. White resigned.

Retrospective

I was looking through a number of the games in the nearly-finished ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament when I was surprised by the following position from mckenna215 - blackburne

Never mind White's extra Queen – what was his King doing at h8?

I rolled back the game a number of moves, and looked at the position again, with Black to move.

It is clear, now, what happened in the game: Black's Queen chased the White King to safety at h8. But, is that all we can say? Let's roll the game forward...

25...Qa1+ 26.Kf2 Qb2+ 27.Kg3

White's King, feeling claustrophobic, heads for the wide open spaces. He could well have stayed closer to home with 27.Kf1 Qc1+ 28.Ke2 Qb2+ 29.Kd3 Qb1+ 30.Kd2 Qb2+ 31.Qc2 when his Queen's arrival would save the day.

27...Qxc3+ 28.Kf4

Now here Black played 28...Qxd4+, and the game eventually ended on a slip or a spite check with 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Kg7 Qg5+ 32.Kh8 Qf6+ 33.exf6 Black resigned.

Had he found 28...Qd2+, the second player would have been able to make use of his light-squared Bishop and his "dark-squared" Queen to keep the enemy monarch from going further afield. One possible line might be 29.Kf3 Qd1+ 30.Ke3 Qe1+ 31.Kd3 Ba6+ when 32.Kc2 would allow Black to continue checking with 32...Qe2+, and 32.Nc4 would allow Black to win the Knight, e.g. 32...Qb1+, when his piece for White's extra pawn might well hold the draw.

To be fair to White, had he played 28.Kh4 instead, his King would have escaped: 28...Qxd4+ 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Nf5. 

"I don't get it"

Part of the fun of preparing games for this blog is looking into them and uncovering the logic (or illogic) behind a plan or a series of moves by one player or the other. This can bring to light all kinds of "errors of thinking". It can also leave me scratching my head in wonder, murmuring "I don't get it." 

The following game features blackburne, the top over-the-board (not just online) Jerome Gambit player, and Haroldlee123, who scored two serious upsets in the Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament. 

blackburne - Haroldlee123
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

7.Qxe5 Bxf2+

I found 68 games in The Database with this move. White scored 67%.

8.Kxf2 Nf6

Most often Black has played 8...Qf6+, when "At the cost of exchanging a won game for one in which he is a pawn down, Black has reached a Queenless middlegame that is not what every Jerome Gambiteer wishes for." (See "Short and Unbecoming")

9.Qf4 d6 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1

Both sides have castled-by-hand.Black's next move was played too quickly and gets him in immediate danger.

12...Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5

The games in this tournament were played with a time limit of 5 days per move, but there was nothing to prevent opponents from playing faster if they ran into each other online. That's what seems to be going on here. White is repeating the position for what reason? I don't get it. (Perhaps: psychology.) Certainly 16.Bg5 would have kept the heat on.

16...c6

Black is avoiding repeating the position (by 16...Kf7) for what reason? I don't get it. He is down two pawns and should be thrilled with a draw. Instead, the text tosses a piece.

17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+

The endgame, a piece and a pawn up, will be pleasant. White could have played sharper with 20.Re1+ Kg7 21.Qh4, but why bother? Remember, each player had 28 games to contend with.

After Black's response there are a number of checkmating lines available, and White chooses one.

20...Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned

Favorite Checkmate



Haroldlee123 - klonka

 Here we have my favorite checkmate from the lingering Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.

White has just played 69.e7 checkmate.

He might just as well have played 69.Bh6#.

Promoting three pawns to Queens and sacrificing one would have been a bit too much: 69.d7 Ke7 70.f8/Q+ Kxe6 71.d8/Q Ke5 72.Qf5#