I recently ran across an unusual line in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit that led to some interesting play - no doubt "enhanced" by the blitz time limit. White's creativity is to be applauded.
sahistonline - sriwijaya
5 5 blitz, FICS 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nd4
Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5
7.f4+
A rare, but interesting idea. Most recommended is 7.cxd4+ leading to an equal game.
7...Kxe4
Not 7...Kxf4 which gave White an immediate payoff after 8.Rf1+ (8.Qh5!?) Ke5 9.cxd4+ Kxd4?! 10.Qa4+ (10.Rf5!?) Ke5 11.d4+ Ke6 12.Qb3+ (12.d5!?) Kd6?! 13.Qd5+ Ke7 Black resigned, drakorg - borodin, FICS, 2002.
Best, as always in this line of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, was to retreat the King, e.g. 7...Ke6.
8.d3+
White should not seek to immediately recover his sacrificed material, i.e. 8.cxd4 Kxd4 (8...Kxf4 leads to mate 9.Rf1+ Kg5 10.d3+ Kg6 11.Qg4+ Black resigned, jorgemlfranco - FoldZero, FICS, 2012; 8...d5!?) 9.O-O Bc5 10.Kh1 Qh4 11.Qa4+ Kd5 12.Nc3+ Kd6 13.d4 Bb6 14.Bd2 Nf6 15.Qb4+ Ke6 16.Rae1+ Kf7 17.Qc4+ Kg6 18.f5+ Kh5 19.Ne2 d5 20.Qd3 Ne4 21.Nf4+ Kg4 22.Qf3+ Kxf5 23.Ng6+ Kxg6 24.Qf7 checkmate, richiehill - steadylooking, FICS, 2011.
Best is to lock the enemy King in the center with 8.Qh5.
8...Kd5 9.Qh5+
The King is free. White might as well play 9.cxd4 and accept that he is worse.
But, remember, this is a blitz game!
9...Kc6 10.cxd4 Qe7+ 11.Kf2 Nf6 12.Qf3+ Nd5
In the BSJG, as well as in the Jerome Gambit, Black should always be concerned about blocking in his light-squared Bishop, which in turn blocks his Rook. Best, therefore, was 12...d5!?.
13.Nc3 Qd6 14.Be3 b6 15.Rac1 Kb7 16.Nxd5 c6 17.Nc3
Black has castled-by-hand on the Queenside.
White's advantage isn't his extra, doubled pawn, it is his great lead in development.
17...g5 18.Rhf1 Be7
Black would have done better to stick with his original idea 18...gxf4 19.Qxf4 Qxf4+ 20.Bxf4 d5 and White has only an edge.
19.Nb5
More direct was opening the position with 19.d5!?
19...Qd5
How ironic: Black erred earlier by putting his Knight on this square, now he is mistaken putting his Queen there. Then as now, ...d5!? was the move with near equality. The locked up pieces will never become part of the game.
20.Qxd5 cxd5 21.fxg5 Rf8+ 22.Kg1 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Bd8
24.Nd6+ Ka6 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.Rxc8 Black resigned
The following game is a good example of a serious Jerome Gambiteer going about his daily business of building his game toward equality, and then advantage...
HauntedKnight- joshuaabby
15 0, FICS, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, also reached by 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6.
Play usually develops slower than in the main line Jerome.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Bg5 Be6 10.O-O-O
HauntedKnight has over 400 games with the white pieces in The Database. He has tried a couple other, equally strong, ideas instead of the text:
10.f4 Nc6 11.Qe3 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.O-O-O Nb4 14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Qg5 16.Rhf1+ Ke7 17.Qxg5+ hxg5 18.a3 Na2+ 19.Nxa2 Bxa2 20.b3 Rad8 21.Kb2 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Bxb3 23.cxb3 Rf8 24.Rd2 Ke6 25.Re2 Rf5 26.g4 Rxe5 27.Rc2 c6 28.h3 Re3 29.Rc3 Rxc3 30.Kxc3 Ke5 31.Kd3 Kf4 White resigned, HauntedKnight - craquou, FICS, 2014; and
10.O-O Rf8 11.f4 Nc6 12.Qd2 Bc4 13.Rf2 Qd7 14.e5 Ne8 15.b3 Ba6 16.Qd5+ Qe6 17.Qxe6+ Kxe6 18.exd6 Nxd6 19.Re2+ Kd7 20.Rd2 Rae8 21.h4 Kc8 22.h5 Ne4 23.Nxe4 Rxe4 24.c4 Nd4 25.Rd3 Ne2+ 26.Kh2 Nxf4 27.Rf1 Nxd3 28.Rxf8+ Kd7 29.Rd8+ Ke6 30.Rxd3 Kf5 31.Bd8 c6 32.Bc7 b5 33.Rf3+ Rf4 34.Rxf4+ Black resigned, HauntedKnight - Bernano, FICS, 2013.
10...Rf8
Preparing to castle-by-hand. HauntedKnight has also faced:
10...Nc6 11.Qe3 h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Qe7 14.Rhe1 Rad8 15.h3 Rhe8 16.f4 gxf4 17.Qxf4 Rg8 18.Bh4 Ne5 19.Qxh6 Rh8 20.Qf4 Ng6 21.Qf2 Rxh4 22.g4 Ke8 23.e5 dxe5 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Qxa7 c6 26.Qb8+ Kd7 27.Rd1+ Nd5 28.Nxd5 cxd5 29.Qxb7+ Ke8 30.Qb8+ Kf7 31.Rf1+ Kg7 32.a4 Qg5+ 33.Kb1 Nf4 34.a5 Rh8 35.Qc7+ Kg6 36.h4 Qxh4 37.Qxe5 Qf6 38.Qxf4 Qxf4 39.Rxf4 d4 40.Rxd4 Rh1+ 41.Rd1 Rxd1 checkmate, HauntedKnight - spip, FICS, 2011; and
10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Bxe5 dxe5 14.Qxe5 Qf6 15.Qxc7+ Kg6 16.f3 Rac8 17. Qxb7 Rb8 18.Qxa7 Nf4 19.h4 Ne2+ 20.Nxe2 Qxb2+ 21.Kd2 Rhd8+ 22.Ke1 Qb4+ 23.c3 Qb2 24.h5+ Kf6 25.e5+ Kf5 26.g4+ Kxe5 27.Qe3+ Kf6 28.Nd4 Qxa2 29.f4 Bxg4 30.fxg5+ hxg5 31.Rf1+ Kg7 32.Qe7+ Kh6 33.Qf6+ Kh7 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Qh6+ Kg8 36.Qxg5+ Kh7 37.Rf7+ Qxf7 38.Qxg4 Re8+ 39.Kd2 Qf2+ 40.Kc1 Qb2 checkmate, HauntedKnight - davidromero, FICS, 2014;
11.f4 Nc6 12.Qe3
Also: 12.Qd2 Kg8 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxd8 Raxd8 15.Bxf6 Rxd1+ 16.Rxd1 gxf6 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.h3 Rf7 19.b3 Rd7 20.Rf1 Kf7 21.Ne4 f5 22.Nc5 Rd6 23.Nxb7 Ra6 24.Kb2 Kg6 25.Nc5 Rd6 26.Rf2 Rc6 27.Na4 Nd7 28.Nc3 Nb6 29.Ne2 Nd5 30.Nd4 Rd6 31.g3 c5 32.Nb5 Rd7 33.Na3 f4 34.gxf4 Bxh3 35.Nc4 h5 36.Ne5+ Kf5 37.Nxd7 Nxf4 38.Nxc5 Bg4 39.Nd3 Black resigned, HauntedKnight - craquou, FICS, 2012.
12...h6 13. Bh4 Ng4 14.Qg3 Nf6
Interestingly enough, even though Black has a piece for a pawn, after this move Stockfish 8 sees the position as even. Instead, it recommends the messy line 14...g5 15.Bxg5 hxg5 16.f5 Nge5 17.fxe6+ Kxe6 18.Rhf1 g4 19.Rf5 Rxf5 20.exf5+ Kd7 21.Ne4 b6 22.h3 gxh3 23.Qxh3 Qh8 24.Rh1 Qxh3 25.Nf6+ Kc8 26.Rxh3 Kb7 when Black has castled-by-hand on the Queenside and is clearly better - but I don't see two club players finding their way through all of that.
15.e5
Thematic, but possibly premature. The computer prefers 15.Qe3 Kg8 with equality.
15...Nh5 16.Qf2 Qd7 17.h3 Rg8
This looks like a mouse-slip, instead of the better 17...Kg8, but I am not sure. Perhaps Black is planning on expanding on the Kingside, but he never gets the chance.
18.g4 Ke8
The King senses danger, and he is right.
19.gxh5 Bxh3 20.e6
A sacrifice to open the e-file, but the simple 20.exd6 was good enough.
20...Bxe6 21.Rhe1 Rf8
White has too much fire power on the files.
22.f5 Rxf5
A final slip.
23.Qxf5
Black forfeited by disconnection, no doubt out of frustration at his last move; but the game was lost, for example 22...Qf7 23.Rxe6+ Qxe6 24.fxe6 Rxf2 25.Bxf2 when White has an extra piece and his advanced passed pawn will cause problems for Black.
With the proliferation of computer engines in the chess world, the notion of a "computer-like" move - not the kind of thing that a person might easily come up with - has become frequent in game discussion or analysis. There are some "computer-like" moves in the following game - but a better word might be "inscrutible".
Wall, Bill - Computer-level 8
Chess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 d6
A reasonable move, aiming to develop and allowing its opponent to choose which piece to recapture. White has scored 50% in the couple dozen games in The Database.
7. dxc5 a6
This is a bit odd, however, and a novelty according to The Database. More frequently seen is the consistent 7...Nf6.
8.cxd6 Nf6 9.O-O Re8
The pawn on d6 will hang for several more moves.
10.f4 Neg4 11.h3 Nxe4 12.hxg4 Bd7
The computer continues to go its own way. It has returned the extra piece. White has an edge.
13.f5 Kg8 14.Bf4 cxd6 15.Nc3
Qb6+ 16.Kh2 Bc6 17.Nd5
Bill is willing to mix it up tactically with the computer.
17...Qxb2 18.Nc7 Rab8
Stockfish 8 suggests, instead, the following well-balanced mess, with White for choice: 18...Nf2 19.Qd2 Nxg4+ 20.Kh1 Nf6 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Rfb1 Qa3 23.Bxd6 Qh3+ 24.Kg1
Qg4 25.Be5 Ne4 26.Qf4 Qxf4 27.Bxf4 Rf8 28.Be3 Rxf5 29.Rb3 Ng3 30.Re1 Rh5
31.Bf4 Rh1+ 32.Kf2 Ne4+ 33.Ke2 Rh5 34.Kd1. I can understand the preference for the text.
19.Nxe8 Rxe8 20.g5
Nc3
The battle rages. Black's loss of the exchange will be considered either a blunder or a sacrifice depending on how the game turns out. In the meantime, White prefers to move the attention to the Kingside.
21. Qg4 Qxc2 22. f6 Qe2
Feeling the heat, Black offers the exchange of Queens.
23.Qh3 Nb5
Stockfish 8 now snarkily points out that White has a checkmate in 28 moves!
The game does not last that long.
24.Rae1 Qxe1 25.Rxe1 Nc7
Very strange. Why not 25...Rxe1?
White now relentlessly closes in on Black's King with computer-like precision.
26.f7+ Kxf7 27.Qf5+ Kg8 28.Bxd6 h5 29.g6 Ne6 30.Rxe6 Rd8 31.Qxh5 Bxg2 32.Qh7 checkmate
June 10 marked the 9th birthday of this blog, with this being post #2,425.
I am thankful for the visitors and supporters - especially those who have generously shared Jerome Gambit games and analysis.
There is much more to explore and share.
In the mean time, let me bring a story to a close: The last round of the Chess.com Giuoco Piano thematic tournament has come to an end, and with it, the tournament.
I finished the round with three wins and a draw, enough to give me top honors, with 17 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw (followed by IlToscano and AWARDCHESS). I played the Jerome Gambit in all of my games with white and scored 9-2 .
Here we have another human - computer battle, where the silicon beast can not make sense out of the Jerome Gambit, even as human observers might not be able to make sense out of some of the computer's moves.
Wall, Bill - Computer-level 6
Chess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.O-O
This move really got me thinking. Bill has played it before, but it is arguably not the "objectively best" move, so I have to wonder what he had in mind. He could have been avoiding "book" lines. He could have been forcing the computer to "think" on its own - and we will see that it doesn't do a masterly job of that.
6...Qf6
Instead, 6...Nxe5 was seen in billwall - DeDrijver, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 20) while 6...d6 was seen in Wall,B - Anonymous, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B - Guest399227, PlayChess.com, 2016 (1-0, 17)
7.Nxc6 Qxc6
Preserving the pawn structure, which did not happen (not that it mattered much) in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016: 7...dxc6 8. Nc3 Bd6 9. d4 h6 10. e5 Bxe5 11. dxe5 Qxe5 12. Re1 Qg5 13. Bxg5 Black resigned.
8.d4 Bb6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Bg5
The Bishop often goes here to attack a Knight at f6. But why wait?
10...Qe8 11.f4 Qg6
Here we see an interesting reversal of roles: usually in the Jerome Gambit it is White's Queen that moves repeatedly.
12.h4
Bill suggests he could have advanced the other Rook pawn as well.
12...Qe8 13.f5 Ba5
14.f6 gxf6
Stockfish 8 suggests 14...Bxc3 first, leading to an even game.
15.Qf3 Qf7 16.Nd5 h5
This does not look like the strongest defense. It is hard to see what it accomplishes.
17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Nxf6 Be6 19.Qg3 Ke7
Escaping the deadly f-file, although material will be lost.
20.Nd5+ Bxd5 21.Rxf7+ Bxf7 22.Qg5+ Kd7 23.Qxa5 b6
White has a Queen and a pawn for a Rook and a Bishop.
24.Qb5+ c6 25.Qf5+ Be6 26.Qf6 Rh7
Shouldn't a Rook have gone to f8 instead?
27.d5 cxd5 28.exd5 Bg4 29.Re1 Rg8 30.Re3 Rc8 31.a4 Rc7 32.a5 bxa5 33.Re6 Rc5
Black's pieces cannot coordinate. Note, if 33...Bxe6 then 34.Qxe6+ Kd8 35.Qg8+ and a Rook will fall.
34.Rxd6+ Kc7 35.Rc6+ Rxc6 36.Qxc6+ Kd8 37.d6 a4
A human might resign here.
38.Qa8+ Bc8 39.c4 Rb7 40.c5 Rg7 41.Qf3 Rg6 42.Qf7 Re6 43.c6 Ba6 44.Qd7 checkmate
Programmers who create chess-playing engines usually try to make them as strong as possible. They then develop ways to scale back the strength, creating levels of play that can give a human opponent a chance to have a decent game. How, then, to make a smart computer program weaker? This question comes up a few times in the following game, as Bill wall takes on a program at a playable level.
Wall, Bill - GarboChess JS 6.0
2017
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4
This move is likely "book" for the program.
7.O-O
There are 150 games with this position in The Database.
7...Bb4
The computer saves an endangered piece, but the move is hardly consistent with the counterattacking ideas of the line. It is not surprising that this is the only game in The Database with the move.
8.dxe5 Qxe4 9.a3 Bc5
Keeping the Bishop on an active square, but the program "overlooks" a tactic. The safer move was 9...Be7 with Black still better.
10.e6+ dxe6 11.Qh5+ g6
Kicking the enemy Queen with the pawn is all-too-human an idea; better was probably 11...Qg6. Black has frittered away its advantage with the last three moves.
12.Qxc5 c6 13.Nc3 Qxc2
Pawn-grabbing is a known failing of early and weaker chess programs. Lack of development and King safety are more important issues.
14.Re1 Nf6 15.Bg5 Nd5 16.Qd4 Bd7
17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Qf6+ Kg8 19.Bh6 Qxb2
Putting off checkmate for a very short time.
20.Qxb2 Kf7 21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.Bg5 Rf8 23.Qe7 checkmate
One thing that seems to give defenders a sense of ease is the number of times White's Queen moves in the Jerome Gambit. It is important that such a feeling be translated into further strong moves, not inattention or overconfidence. View the following game.
Wall, Bill - PerGranBom
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Nc6
An interesting alternative to the more usual 7...d6 (although the game transposes).
8.Qd1
Bill has moved the Queen to different squares in other games:
8.Qd2 d6 9.Nc3 Be6 10.O-O g6 11.f4 Nge7 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 Nb8 14.f5 gxf5 15.Qe2 Qd7 16.Bh6 Ke8 17.Rae1 Rg8 18.Rxf5 Kd8 19.Rf7 Re8 20.Bg5 c6 21.Qh5 cxd5 22.Rfxe7 Rxe7 23.Rxe7 Qb5 24.Qf7 Nd7 25.Rxd7+ Kc8 26.Rd8 checkmate, Wall,B - 1063314, lichess.org, 2017;
8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Qc4 d6 11.O-O Ne5 12.Qb3 c6 13.f4 Nf7 14.Be3 Qe7 15.Rae1 Be6 16.Qb4 a5 17.Qd4 Ng4 18.Bc1 c5 19.Qd3 h5 20.h3 Ngh6 21.f5 Bd7 22.Nd5 Qd8 23.f6 g6 24.Ne7 Ne5 25.Qxd6 Nhf7 26.Qxc5 b6 27.Qd5 Be8 28.Bf4 Qxd5 29.exd5 Bb5 30.Rf2 Nd7 31.Nxg6+ Kg8 32.Nxh8 Kxh8 33.Re7 Kg8 34.Be3 Rc8 35.b3 Nde5 36.Bxb6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest7503555, PlayChess.com, 2017;
8.Qd3 Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.O-O h6 11.f4 Re8 12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 a6 14.Nd5 Be6 15.Bc3 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nb8 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Qg6+ Kf8 19.Qxh6+ Kg8 20.Qg6+ Kf8 21.Re5 dxe5 22.fxe5 Nd7 23.exf6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Number555777, lichess.org, 2017; and
8.Qc4+ Ke8 (8...Kf8 9.O-O Qf6 10.Nc3 Qd4 11.Qe2 Nge7 12.Nb5 Qb6 13.Be3 Qa5 14.c4 a6 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Qf3+ Kg8 17.Qb3 axb5 18.c5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest526975, PlayChess.com, 2016) 9.O-O d6 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Re1 Ne5 12.Qd4 c5 13.Qd2 Nf6 14.f4 Nc4 15.Qe2 Be6 16.e5 Bg4 17.Qxc4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Kas55, lichess.org, 2016
8...Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10. O-O Re8 11.Bf4
Black is doing well, but he is tempted by the "free" e-pawn. The discovered attack on White's Queen that evolves turns out to be harmless.
11...Nxe4 12.Qd5+
On revient toujours a son premier amour.
12...Be6 13.Qxe4 g6 14.Rae1 Bxa2 15.Qxe8+ Qxe8 16.Rxe8 Rxe8 17.Nxa2
This was not what Black had envisioned. Now he is the one with a pawn for a piece.
17...Nd4 18.Be3 Nxc2 19.Rc1 Nxe3 20.Rxc7+ Re7 21.Rxe7+ Kxe7 22.fxe3 d5 23.Nc3 Kd6 24.Nb5+ Black resigned
