Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (8)

The two players move quickly through the first 10 moves of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne variation, as established in earlier games, leaving White with a significant edge that Black is unable to overcome.

Shredder 8 - RevvedUp

blitz 2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6

10.Qd8 Qxe4 11.Qxc7+

A new wrinkle that does not change White's advantage.

11...Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.d3 Be6 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Rf8

White is up the exchange and two pawns again (see "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (7)"). White's advantage seems pretty clear in the Blackburne line. RevvedUp hangs in for another dozen moves, likely to see how well Shredder 8 plays the endgame.

16.e4 Ng4 17.Rxf8 Kxf8 18.Nc3 a6 19.Rf1+ Ke7 20.h3 Ne5 21.Kf2 h5 22.h4 Ng4+ 23.Ke2 Ne5 24.b4 Bg4+ 25.Ke3 Be6 26.b5 a5 27.Nd5+ Bxd5 28.exd5 Black resigns

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (7)

RevvedUp is ready for this round of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne variation, and -- putting together all that he has learned so far -- he completely dominates newcomer Shredder 8, up until a very unfortunate final error.

RevvedUp - Shredder 8

blitz 2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8 Qxe4

After 10...Bb6 White must crack the center with 11.e5.

11.Nc3 Qe7 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.d3 Be6 14.Be3 Bb4

RevvedUp is up the exchange and a pawn: he has handled Blackburne's counter-sacrifice very well.

15.a3 Ba5 16.b4 Bb6 17.Bg5 Bd4 18.Bd2 Be5 19.Rae1 Rf8 20.f4 Bd4+ 21.Kh1 Kd7 22.h3 h5 23.Nb5 Bb6 24.c4 h4

Shredder 8 is resisting, but it is clear that the Jerome Gambit has been a success.

Now White falls to an unfortunate oversight.

25.d4 Bxc4 White resigns

Queened! and Rooked!

Geoff Chandler, of Chandler Cornered (see "Mars Attacks!"), has produced Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) analysis (see "Flaws (Part II)") and games (see "Stuff happens...") – not to mention regular, hysterical and education posts at his own site.

I clearly should have included him in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (see "Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)").
Recently Geoff wrote of a challenge he made at the RedHotPawn site for someone to compose a game where all 16 pawns promote to Queens. "Swiss Gambit" of the site sent him a creation by Ed Collins.



Just play it over...

1.e4 f5 2.e5 Nf6 3.exf6 e5 4.g4 e4 5.Ne2 e3 6.Ng3 e2 7.h4 f4 8.h5 fxg3 9.h6 g5 10.Rh4 gxh4 11.g5 g2 12.g6 Bg7 13.hxg7 g1Q 14.f4 h3 15.f5 h2 16.b4 a5 17.b5 a4 18.b6 a3 19.Bb2 Ra7 20.bxa7 axb2 21.a4 b5 22.a5 b4 23.a6 b3 24.c4 h1Q 25.c5 h5 26.c6 Bb7 27.cxb7 c5 28.d4 c4 29.d5 Nc6 30.dxc6 c3 31.c7 c2 32.c8Q c1Q 33.b8Q Qcc7 34.a8Q d5 35.a7 d4 36.Nc3 dxc3 37.Qa6 c2 38.Qa8b7 c1Q 39.a8Q Qhd5 40.gxh8Q+ Kd7 41.g7 bxa1Q 42.g8Q b2 43.f7 b1Q 44.f8Q h4 45.f6 h3 46.f7 h2 47.Qfa3 h1Q 48.f8Q exf1Q+

He then put out a challenge for a composed game with 20 Rooks in it – and soon received this from "Dood in the Mood"...

1.d4 d5 2.e4 e5 3.f4 a5 4.f5 h5 5.Bf4 exf4 6.c4 b5 7.c5 b4 8.Bc4 dxc4 9.Nc3 bxc3 10.d5 g5 11.e5 g4 12.Nf3 gxf3 13.d6 c2 14.c6 c1R 15.f6 Rb1 16.e6 Bb7 17.cxb7 Na6 18.b8R Bg7 19.fxg7 f5 20.e7 Kf7 21.exd8R c3 22.Rdc8 c2 23.d7 c5 24.d8R c1R 25.a3 Nb4 26.axb4 c4 27.b5 c3 28.b6 c2 29.Kd2 f2 30.b7 f1R 31.b4 f3 32.g4 f2 33.g5 Nh6 34.h3 Ng4 35.hxg4 Rg1 36.g8R f1R 37.g6+ Ke6 38.Rc5 f4 39.Rbc8 f3 40.b8R f2 41.R8c7 Re1 42.b5 f1R 43.b6 a4 44.Ra2 a3 45.Rb2 a2 46.b7 a1R 47.Rbc8 h4 48.b8R h3 49.Rgf8 Rh7 50.Rh2 Rh8 51.Rhf2 h2 52.g7 h1R 53.g8R R8h7 54.g5 R7h6 55.g6 Rh7 56.g7 R7h6 57.Rh8 Rh7 58.g8R cxd1R

Amazing!

I love a great used bookstore

I like a good bookstore.

I love a great used bookstore.

I have always enjoyed reading (and been a little jealous) of the chess treasures that Geoff Chandler turns up, in his travels through Edinburgh, searching for used books (see Chandler Cornered at Chess Edinburgh).

So it was with interest and a sense of excitment that I recently received an email:

From: Scott at Browsers' Bookstore
(scott@browsersbookstore.com)
Sent: Sat 12/13/08 7:40 PM
To: richardfkennedy@hotmail.com

Hi,

Google led me to your "Joys of Discovery" blogs re: Jerome Gambit & Ernest H. Quayle. Don't have much further information for you, but I do have a book (and the reason I googled in the first place) that was once owned by Ernest H. Quayle, or at least signed by him in July 1944. "One-Hundred-and-One of My Best Games of Chess" by F. D. Yates & W. Winter. May or may not be of any use, but possible slight interest to you.

Best wishes,

Scott Givens
Browsers' Bookstore

Ah, yes, "Joys of Discovery (Part I)", Part II and Part III – the Jerome Gambit game between Sgt. W. A. Harris and Ernest H. Quayle, Los Angeles, California, 1944. The same year that he signed the Yates & Winter book – you don't think there could be a connection...?

Browsers' Bookstore is in Corvalis, Oregon ("Volume II" of the store is in Albany, Oregon), and looks like a great place to spend a few hours and a few bucks. (Where low prices meet high quality – Works for me.) They've got a very useful "Links" page, as well.

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (6)

RevvedUp and Hiarcs 8 continue their investigation of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Blackburne variation. It's great to have an analysis partner 1,000 rating points higher than you; but it's frustrating when it gets to all of the improvements first...


Hiarcs 8 - RevvedUp
blitz 2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6


Following up on "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (3)", (4) and (5).

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6



The move.

10.Qd8


The counter-move.

10...Bh3

RevvedUp is still looking for the smash, but the position calls for something calmer and more stabilizing, like 10...Bb6.

11.Qxc7+ Kg8

Up to this point the game is following Chandler - Dimitrov, 5 minute special game, Edinburgh, 2004.

12.Qxb7 Re8 13.d4 d5 14.gxh3 Qxh3 15.Qb3 Qg4+ 16.Qg3 Qxe4 17.dxc5 Black resigns

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (5)

Chess detective RevvedUp and his new partner, Hiarcs 8 continue the investigation into the Blackburne variation of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).


RevvedUp - Hiarcs 8
2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6



7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8

As in "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (4)". This becomes the main avenue of exploration.
8...Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6

This is the right move, hemming in the Queen.

10.d3


As the Munoz brothers noted in the August 15, 1885 issue of the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, White needed to try 10.Qd8.

10...Bh3

The same idea that RevvedUp had in the previous game (see "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (4)) – except that it works here. White's only "hope" here now is 11.Qxf6+ Kxf6 12.gxh3, when he will have a Rook, a Knight and a Pawn for his Queen – but Black will have all the play.

11.Qxa8 Qg4 12.g3 Qf3 White resigns

Rx: Jerome Gambit

In light of the recent anti-doping scandal in chess – the Interna-tional Federa-tion of Chess (FIDE) wanting to drug test GM Vassily Ivanchuk (ranked #3 in the world) and the Grandmaster refusing – it wouldn't be surprising to find readers stopping by MedLibrary.org (or elsewhere) to look up what kind of medications might impact upon a chess player's over-the-board performance.

A surprise awaits: chess content. For example, there is a post on the Italian Game, including, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6. 3.Bc4, the following:

It strike me as risky for a site focused on medication to mention the Jerome Gambit without either mentioning clinical trials involving the opening, or at least offering a warning to those who might indulge. Therefore this blog offers one:

WARNING: The Jerome Gambit is quite disreputable and has quite a few refutations. Its use should be restricted to "fun" games or as a manner of offering "odds" to weaker opponents. The author is not responsible for any disasters that might come from using the Jerome Gambit (although he remains interested in learning about and staring at the wreckage).