Really? Really.

This game was my last pre-break (see "Busted!") Jerome-ish game, and it was a good reminder of what would be in store for me when I returned in, hopefully, better shape.


perrypawnpusher - Raankh
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

This move often seems safer to Black than the more energetic (and more risky) 5...Ke6. If the second player does not know what he is doing, however, things can become difficult.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+

As I wrote in "BSG: Later on in the Discussion"

Seen most often is 5...Ke8, and after 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6, best play for both sides is 7...hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+, when Black can go for the draw-by-repetition with 9...Ke8; or go for an unbalanced (but largely equal) position... with 9...Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4 when White has four pawns for a piece and it is unclear if Black has an open King or open lines for development.

8...Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6

10.Qc5+

I once got away with 10.e5 vs JokeritT (1-0, 28), but only because my opponent followed up with 10...Nxc2+ 11.Kd1 Nxa1. Instead, 10...Kf7, taking advantage of the fact that he is two pieces ahead and can afford to give one back, would have made all things good for Black.

10...d6 11.Qxd4 Bg7

This seems better than either 11...c5, as in perrypawnpusher - foreverblackman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21), or 11...Qd7, as in perrypawnpusher - theferno, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

12.d3 Rg8 13.Bg5 Kf7 14.Nc3 Bd7 

After the game Rybka suggested that Black could have played the move that he had apparently prepared, 14...Nxe4, althoug after 15.Qd5+ Be6 16.Bxd8 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Bxd5 18.dxe4 Bxe4 19.Bxc7 the game looks like it is racing toward one of those notoriously drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endings...


15.f4 Qe8 16.0-0 Nh7 17.Qd5+

Better was the break 17.e5.

17...Be6 18.Qxb7 Nxg5 19.fxg5+ Kg6

Black's King is uncomfortable, and White has 5 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but Black's two Bishops should not be overlooked as they can create pressure on White's Queenside.

After the game Rybka suggested that White begin to consolidate with 20.Ne2. Instead, I was still thinking: grab pawns!

20.Qxc7 Bxc3

Missing his chance for 20...Qb8 and possibly an even game.

21.Qxc3

21...Rf8 22.Qd2

Protecting the advanced g-pawn. Much more dynamic was 22.Rxf8 Qxf8 23.Rf1 with the idea of Rf1-f6. I was thinking about the endgame, not a middle game attack.

22...Qe7 23.Rf3 Rxf3 24.gxf3 Qxg5+ 25.Qxg5+ Kxg5

The practical chances have to lie with White, even if Black has ways to defend.

26.Kf2 Kf4 27.b3 d5 28.Rg1 Rg8

I don't think that exchanging this Rook helps Black's defense.

29.Rxg8 Bxg8

30.c4 d4 31.b4 Be6 32.a4 a6 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 Bd7 35.b6 Bc6 36.h4 Bb7 37.h5

Decoy.

37...Kg5 38.Kg3 Kxh5 39.Kf4 Kg6 40.Ke5 Kg5 41.f4+ Kg4 42.f5 Kg5 43.Kxd4

Five connected passed pawns. You don't see that every day.

43...Kf6 44.c5 Bc6 45.Ke3 Ke5 Bb7 48.d5 Ke7 49.c6 Black resigned

Win, Lose, Draw

Here we have another game that went bad just as it was getting good... Luckily, the Jerome Gambit has an endgame swamp that White can often disappear into. 

perrypawnpusher - jgknight
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

So far, all pretty standard. As usual, Black is better.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4 Ng4

Ah, the harassing horsie! This is better than the bodacious 11...Kd7 of perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 38), though not as thematic as the thoughtful 11...Rf7 followed by 12...Kf8 as in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-49). Of course, 11...Kf7 followed by 12...Kg8 was a fine plan, too.

12.Qg3 Qh4

This seems a little bit better than the 12...h5 of perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47) and a bit less good than 12...Qf6, seen in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0,  37), but all three moves, plus 12...c6 and 12...Ne7, seem very playable.

I know that the Jerome Gambiteer thinks of "attack!" but exchanging Queens is now best.

13.Qxh4 Nxh4 14.f5

This is not so much an improvement upon as an alternative to the 14.d3 of perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 47), a game which saw 15.f5, anyhow. The goal is to work toward winning one of Black's two advanced Knights.

14...Ne5

Black sees what is up and evacuates a Knight. Instead, he chould have attacked White's advance pawn with 14...g6, an idea which he comes to, shortly.

15.g3

A complete mis-reading of the position. White needed to try 15.d4, and after 15...Nc6 he had either 16.d5 or 16.c3, each of which would have helped his lagging development and would have strengthened his position, not weakened it.

15...Nhf3+

And I thought that the Knights were annoying before!

16.Kg2 g6 17.c3 gxf5 18.exf5 Rxf5 19.d4

White's position is a mess (lack of development, for starters) and all Black needs to do is find 19...Nd3 to show this. Instead, he chooses the wrong square for his Knight.

19...Ng4

I've tried for a win, I've blundered into a loss, but this move gives me a chance for a draw...

20.Rxf3 Rxf3 21.Kxf3 Nxh2+ 22.Kg2 Ng4 23.Bg5 h6 24.Bf4 Bf5 25.Nd2 Kf7 26.Re1 Re8 27.Rxe8 Kxe8 28.Nc4 b5 29.Ne3 Nxe3+ 30.Bxe3

Around here, or soon after, I offered my opponent a draw, as we've reached a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame which is quite even. jgknight declined, either out of principle or pique, or maybe he figured his "good" Bishop could out-duel my "bad" one.

As a result, we almost doubled the length of the game, but eventually, as my opponent fell behind in time, he decided to concede the half point.

30...Be4+ 31.Kh3 h5 32.Kh4 Bf3 33.Kg5 Kf7 34.a3 a5 35.Bf4 Ke6 36.Kg6 c5 37.dxc5 dxc5 38.Be3 Kd5 39.Kf5 b4 40.cxb4 axb4 41.axb4 cxb4 42.Bh6 Kc4 43.Kf4 Bg4 44.Bg7 Kd3 45.Be5 Kc2 46.Bd4 b3 47.Be5 Kd3 48.Bf6 Ke2 49.Be5 Kf2 50.Bf6 Kg2 51.Bh4 Kh3 52.Bf6 Bd1 53.Bh4 Bg4 54.Bf6 Bd1 55.Bh4 Bg4 56.Bf6 Bd1 57.Bh4 Bg4 58.Bf6 Game drawn by repetition

Walking Through A Junkyard

Giving "Jerome Gambit odds" can feel like a walk through a junkyard. You pass wreck after wreck and your only hope is that you will find something to get you out of there.

perrypawnpusher - Jantra
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6

8.Qf5+

The computer-recommended follow-up is 8.Qh3+ Ke7 9.Qc3 d6 10.d4 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 Nf6 12.Nc3 although this leads to a position that is almost identical to a position from the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit: Black's King is on e7 instead of f7, and it is his move instead of White's.

Amusingly, at this point, until about a depth of 12 moves, Fritz8 recommends the next two moves for Black to be ...Re8 and ...Kf7, which would be identical to the Semi-Italian Four Knight's Jerome Gambit, except that the recommended move for White in the interim is Bf4, not f2-f4.

8...Kd6 9.d4

Moving the pawn directly seems better than preparing for it, as in prettyhip1 - cubs0_0, GameKnot.com, 2007: 9.Rd1 Ne7 10.Qh5 g6 11.Qh3 Bd4 12.Qa3+ Bc5 13.b4 Bd4 14.c3 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Rf8+ 16.Ke3 White resigned.

9...Bxd4

The right idea. Problems came with

9...Qf6 10.dxe5+ Qxe5 11.Rd1+ (11.Bf4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - joejox, blitz, FICS, 2009) 11...Bd4 12.Qf8+ Ke6 13.Qe8+ Kf6 14.Qf8+ Ke6 15.Qe8+ Kf6 Game drawn by mutual agreement, perrypawnpusher - Joyus, blitz, FICS, 2007; and

9...Ne7 10.Qxe5+ Kc6 11.Qxc5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - GabrielH, blitz, FICS, 2010 & perrypawnpusher - StockholmMoskva, blitz, FICS, 2010.

10.Rd1 c5

Black did better with 10...Ke7 11.Rxd4 d6 after which only an endgame swindle saved me in perrypawnpusher - richardachatz, blitz, FICS, 2010 (½-½, 71). Although the text is still good for the second player, richardachatz' King move "abandoning" the Bishop on d4 is also to be considered.

11.c3 Ne7

This is okay, but again 11...Ke7 could be considered.

12.Qh3

I was surprised, but also amused, to be a dozen moves into this offbeat line (rightly or wrongly) and still be in "book". It is sometimes very helpful to review and analyze games for this blog! 

This Queen retreat is comparable with the others that I had played previously:

12.Qh5 Qe8 (12...Kc7 13.cxd4 cxd4 14.Qxe5+ d6 15.Qxd4 Nc6 16.Qxg7+ Bd7 17.Bf4 Rg8 18.Qxh6 Qe7 19.Bxd6+ Qxd6 20.Qxd6+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Lakritzl, blitz, FICS, 2009) 13.cxd4 cxd4 14.Rxd4+ Kc7 15.Qxe5+ Kd8 16.Nc3 Nc6 17.Qxe8+ Rxe8 18.Rd6 b6 19.Bf4 Bb7 20.Rad1 Re7 21.e5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Rxe5 23.Rxd7+ Ke8 24.Rxb7 Rd8 25.Rxd8+ Kxd8 26.Kf1 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - tuffmom, FICS, 2010;

12.Qf4 Qf8 13.cxd4 Qxf4 14.Bxf4 cxd4 15.Rxd4+ Kc5 16.Bxe5 Nc6 17.Rd5+ Kb6 18.Na3 Nxe5 19.Rxe5 d6 20.Re7 Bg4 21.f3 Bh5 22.Rc1 Rhe8 23.Rcc7 Rxe7 24.Rxe7 Rc8 25.Rxg7 Rc1+ 26.Kf2 Ra1 27.Rh7 Rxa2 28.Kg3 a5 29.Rxh6 Bf7 30.Rxd6+ Kc5 31.Rd2 b5 32.Kf2 b4 33.Nb1 Ra1 34.Rc2+ Kd4 35.Rd2+ Kc5 36.Rc2+ Kd4 37.Nd2 Kd3 38.Rc7 Kxd2 39.Rxf7 Kc2 40.e5 b3 41.e6 Kxb2 42.e7 Kc1 43.e8Q Ra2+ 44.Kg3 b2 45.Rc7+ Kb1 46.Qe1 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Xasquete, blitz, FICS, 2010.

12...Kc7

The text is an improvement on 12...Qb6 13.cxd4 cxd4 14.Qa3+ Ke6 15.f4 N5c6 16.f5+ Kf7 17.Nd2 Re8 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Nd6+ Kf8 20.Nxe8 Kxe8 21.Qf3 Ne5 22.Qg3 Kf8 23.Bf4 d6 24.Rac1 Qa5 25.f6 N7g6 26.Bxe5 Qxe5 27.Qxg6 Be6 28.Qxg7+ Ke8 29.Qe7 checkmate, joev6225 - liverpool, GameKnot.com, 2006.

13.cxd4 cxd4

Black is still better, despite his shaky King, because of his extra piece.

Leading only to equality was 13...d6, although things quickly deteriorated: 14.Qc3 Nd7 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.Bf4 b6 17.b4 Kc6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - tuffmom, blitz, FICS, 2010

14.Rxd4 N7c6 15.Qc3 Qf6

16.f4

Thematic, but wrong, as it should lose the exchange. I should have retreated the Rook first.

16...Nf7

My opponent missed 16...Nf3+ 17.Qxf3 Qxd4+ trading his Knight for my Rook. I think he was getting tired of all the attention that I was paying to his King.

17.e5 Qe7 18.b4 d6

Deciding to return the gambitted piece at precisely the point where his King might have begun to feel relief with 18...Kb8.

19.b5 dxe5 20.fxe5

20...Nfxe5

An unfortunate slip. After the game Rybka gave 20...Rd8 21.bxc6 Rxd4 22.Qxd4 Qd8 23.Qc3 bxc6 24.Nd2 Be6 25.Bb2 Qd5 26.Nb3 Rb8 27.Rc1 Rb6 and White is only a bit better (King safety)

analysis diagram





21.bxc6 Nxc6 22.Bf4+ Kb6 23.Qb3+ Ka6 24.Ra4+ Na5 25.Qc4+ b5 26.Qc6 checkmate

How odd that three Rooks, a Bishop and a Knight look on, uninvolved...

Getting Away With Something

The following game is yet another example of why I have taken a vacation from the Jerome Gambit (see "Busted") for a while, to analyze, study, and steady my nerves. It reminds me of the saying that "getting away with something is not the same thing as having permission to do it."

perrypawnpusher  - anomis
blitz, FICS, 2010

This position arose from a Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit where my opponent had defended well, and only his approaching time trouble had allowed me to snatch back the gambitted piece.

A draw would be a reasonable outcome here, and I thought that was my opponent's intention when he began a series of checks.

30...Qe1+ 31.Kg2 Qe6 32.a3 Qd5+ 33.Kg1 Qd4+ 34.Qf2 Qd1+ 35.Kg2 Qd5+ 36.Qf3 Qc5 37.Qf2 Qd5+ 38.Qf3 Qd2+ 39.Qf2 Qa5 40.Qd2

An unbelieveable unforced error. Time was not that short.

I was aiming my mouse toward the Resign button when anomis continued the checks.

40...Qd5+ 41.Qxd5+ cxd5

A miracle! White is no longer losing: he is winning.

42.Kf3 Kf7 43.Ke3 Ke6 44.Kd4 g6 45.b4 a6 46.a4 Kd6 47.b5 axb5 48.axb5 h5 49.g5 h4 50.b6 Kc6 51.b7 Kxb7 52.Kxd5 Kc7 53.Ke6 Kc6 54.Kf6 Kd5 55.Kxg6 Ke4 56.Kf7 Kf4 57.g6 Kg3 58.g7 Kxh3 59.g8Q Black resigned

I think that my opponent should have played on for a few moves, at least to see if I had one more blunder in me. It would have been a sweet swindle for him to have continued: 59...Kh2 60.Kf6 Kh1 61. Kf5 h3 62.Kf4 h2 63.Kf3

analysis diagram







Here it would be "mate in 1" for White if it were his turn to move, but as it is Black's turn, it is stalemate.

A New Link

At the request of Yury V. Bukayev,  I've added a new link, one that will take readers to "Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day", a site that has much more than just chess problems. As it says on the site

Welcome on Bruno's Chess Problem of The Day. As its name indicates it, you will find here, every day, a new chess problem. You will find also a big chess problems archive, chess articles (including ones with theoretical opening discoveries), chess news, banks of ChessMasters games in PGN (sorted by opening and by player's name) and of course The chess directory.

I have referred to some of the opening analysis in an earlier post here (see "Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 3)") and I think that readers will be interested in a number of the Chess Articles along with the rest of the content of the site.

The Perfect Defense to the Jerome Gambit

The other day I ran across a game showcasing the "perfect" defense to the Jerome Gambit, at least from Black's point of view:



papaleo - psychotic
blitz, FICS, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

White resigned.

This appears to be a significant improvement upon Brescak - Hefti, EU-ch U10 Girls, 1998, which progressed only as far as 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

and had a different outcome: Draw agreed.

Capturing the Bishop, it appears, is an essential part of the "psychotic defense."

Trust, But Verify

"Intuition" has its place in chess, as long as it doesn't totally replace analysis. How many times have we read that a chess master looked briefly at a position on the board and then commented "The Knight obviously must go here"?

For club players, there is a saying to apply to their own intuition: Trust, but verify.

perrypawnpusher  - hudders
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5

The Italian Four Knights Game.

5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4

7...Re8

A reasonable alternative to 7...Bd6; both keep Black's advantage.

8.dxc5

The correct capture, although the alternative has been seen: 8.dxe5 Nxe4 (8...Rxe5 9.Bf4 Re7 10.e5 d6 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5+ Be6 13.Qf3 Kg8 14.0-0-0 Bxa2 15.b3 Rf7 16.e6 Rf6 17.Rhe1 Qe7 18.Qd5 c6 19.Qc4 b5 20.Qe4 d5 21.Qe5 Re8 22.Qb2 Rxe6 23.Be3 Bxe3+ 24.fxe3 Rxe3 25.Rf1 Qg5 26.Qxa2 Rxb3+ 27.Rd2 Rbe3 28.h4 Black forfeited on time, yorgos - Castled, FICS, 2009) 9.Qd5+ Kf8 10.Nxe4 d6 11.Nxc5 Rxe5+ 12.Qxe5 dxe5 13.Be3 Kg8 14.0-0 b6 15.Rad1 Qe8 16.Ne4 Bf5 17.f3 Qc6 18.Nc3 Bxc2 19.Rc1 Bd3 20.Rfd1 Be2 21.Nxe2 Qa4 22.Nc3 Qb4 23.b3 Qa3 24.Rc2 Qb4 25.Nd5 Qf8 26.Rxc7 Rc8 27.Ne7+ Kh8 28.Rxc8 Qxc8 29.Nxc8 e4 30.Rd8 checkmate, ljar - pyronaut, FICS, 2005.

8...Nc6

Three playable alternatives:

8...Nc4 9.0-0 Nxe4 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Nxe4 Ne5 12.Bg5 c6 13.Qd6+ Re7 14.Bxe7+ Qxe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.Nd6 b5 17.Rfe1 Ke6 18.f4 Kd5 19.Rxe5+ Kd4 20.Rd1 checkmate, theep - peteplumber, FICS,2000;

8...Qe7 9.0-0 Qxc5 10.Be3 Qe7 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5+ Kf8 13.f4 Ng6 14.f5 c6 15.Qb3 Ne5 16.f6 gxf6 17.Bh6+ Qg7 18.Bxg7+ Kxg7 19.Qg3+ Black resigned, ARUJ - cippolippo,FICS, 2009;

8...Kg8 9.Bf4 d6 10.Nb5 a6 11.Nd4 dxc5 12.Nb3 Qxd1+ 13.Rxd1 Nxe4 14.0-0 Ng6 15.Bxc7 Bf5 16.Rd5 Be6 17.Rd3 c4 18.Re3 cxb3 19.axb3 Rac8 20.Ba5 Rxc2 21.b4 Nd2 22.Rd1 Rxb2 23.b5 axb5 24.Bxd2 Kf7 25.Rf3+ Kg8 26.Rc3 Bg4 27.f3 Bd7 28.Rc7 Ne5 29.Rxb7 Nc4 30.Rxd7 Nxd2 31.R7xd2 Rxd2 32.Rxd2 Re1+ 33.Kf2 Rc1 34.g4 b4 35.Rb2 Rc4 36.Ke2 h6 37.Kd2 g5 38.Kd3 Rf4 39.Ke3 Rf8 40.Rxb4 Kg7 41.Rb5 Re8+ 42.Kd4 Re2 43.Rb3 Rxh2 44.Ke4 Re2+ 45.Re3 Rb2 46.f4 gxf4 47.Kxf4 Rb4+ 48.Kg3 h5 49.g5 Rg4+ 50.Kh3 Kg6 51.Re5 Black resigned, yorgos - foti, FICS, 2009.

9.0-0 Kg8 10.Bg5 Re5

This double attack (pawn at c5, Bishop at g5) is superficially attractive, but it is an example of sending a Rook to do a pawn's job. Better was 10...d6

11.f4 Rxg5

A panic reaction.

Black had to continue as planned with the lesser capture, 11...Rxc5, and realize that after 12.e5 it was time to give the piece back with 12...Nxe5 13.fxe5 Rxe5, preparing to defend the pawn-down game.

White can stir things up, however, after 11...Rxc5 12.e5 Nxe5 by playing 13.Ne4!? instead of capturing at e5. After 13...Neg4 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Nxc5 White has won the exchange.

analysis diagram





The text move, instead, gives up the exchange but leaves the Knight at f6 still in danger.

12.fxg5 Ne8

The only safe place for the Knight, but it leaves Black's King at risk.

13.Qd5+

Black resigned, as mate follows