It's getting interesting...

With over half (112 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, White has so far scored a gloomy 33%, lagging behind other Jerome Gambit Tournaments.

DREWBEAR 63 remains the leader, with 16 points out of 26 games completed. He is still followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (12 points out of 17 games completed) and blackburne (10.5 points out of 20 games completed).

eddie43 (9.5 points out of 19 games) and Black Puma (9.5 points out of 20 games) have been surging lately, putting them ahead of Piratepaul (9 points out of 12 games completed) – but not by much.

Players to watch in the long run are those with the best winning percentages: stampyshortlegs (6 points out of 7 games), Piratepaul and TWO DOGS (5 points out of 7 games).

Not to be counted out are players like Haroldlee123 (5.5 points out of 10 games) and metalwarrior1969 (6 points out of 10 games) – and even Crusader Rabbit (1 point out of 5 games) – because they have so many more games to complete, and possibly win.

All's not well that ends not well

The following game, from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament, pits Black Puma, who has recently had a number of hammering wins, against calchess10, who has been having a difficult tournament, but who played well enough to reach the following postion after 41 moves.


True, Black is two pawns down, but knowledge of the two kinds of endgames (see "All's well that ends well") that are in play here should help him hold the draw.

42.Kg3 hxg4 43.hxg4 g5 44.f4 gxf4+ 45.Kxf4 Kg6

Here we have a pretty straight-forward Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame. Black should be able to establish light-square blockades of the two pawns, and hold the game to a draw.

46.g5 Bc2 47.Be7 Ba4 The blockades are established, although Black would do well now to exchange the King's and Bishop's roles, putting the Bishop to work on the Kingside and the monarch to work on the Queenside. Otherwise he runs the risk of White using his King to escort the a-pawn up the file, eventually winning the Black Bishop; and then bringing his King over to help the other pawn advance to the Queening square.

48.Ke4 Bb3 49.Kd4 Kf7 As expected.

50.Kc3 Kxe7

Oh, no... 50...Ba2 51.Bf6 Ke8 etc. and the Black King will get to the Queenside while his Bishop holds off the g-pawn from afar. This transition in the game to a pure pawn endgame gives White the win.

51.Kxb3 Kf7 52.Kb4 Kg6 53.a4 Kxg5 54.a5 Black resigns

A pity.

By the way, above I mentioned that knowledge of "two kinds of endgames" would come to Black's aid. Had he recalled the frustrations of the K vs K + RP + wrong-colored-Bishop (see "All's well that ends well"), he could have, before our second diagram, played 45.,.Bxg4, instead of 45...Kg3. The Black King would have plenty of time to then hurry to a8 to blocade the last pawn, a task from which he could not be chased away.

My congratulations to Black Puma on toughing out a fine win, and my applause to calchess10 on getting oh-so-close...

Home Cooking

The competitor GladtoMateYou cooked up something special in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) for his opponents in the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.

In each of his 14 games with the White pieces, GladtoMateYou played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qe2.

The move is rare, and the earliest examples that I have in my database come from Plejade in 2003. It is a reflection of a Bishop's Opening line that goes back to Ruy Lopez: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2.

In the diagram, White has the threat of Qe2-c4+ followed by Qxc5. Defenders who trot out their moves a bit too routinely with the Black pieces (thinking The Jerome Gambit isn't dangerous, etc.) are at risk...

In this tournament, 9 out of 14 times GladtoMateYou was able to grab the Bishop. So far, he has won two games and lost two games, but we will keep our eye on this creative player.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

Rare

Draws in Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) thematic tournaments are quite scarce, showing up about 3% to 4% of the time, on average, according to my database.

So it is only fair to mention the recently completed game eddie 43 - Black Puma, from the ongoing Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at Chessworld, which reached the following position after White's 45rd move.

Black has played solidly, and has even increased his piece advantage to a Rook advantage; but here he sees the chance to create a passed pawn and intensify pressure on the enemy King, so he grabs an expensive pawn...

45...Bxd3 46.Qf5+ Kh8 47.Qf8+ Kh7 48.Qf5+ Kh8 49.Qf8+ Kh7 50.Qf5+ Kh8 51.Qf8+ Kh7 52.Qf5+ Kh8 53.Qf8+ Kh7 drawn

U.O.N. #24

The May – Aug 2009 edition of the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter, Issue #24, edited by Gary Gifford, is now available. The UON is a must read for those who play unorthodox openings, including the Jerome Gambit, as I have mentioned before.

UON Issues #1 - #14 can be found in the "files" section of the Yahoo Group "Unorthodox Chess Openings". Issues #15 - #24 can be found in the "files" section of the Yahoo Group "Chess Unorthodox UON".

Contents of Issue #24
Intro and Chess Cartoon
Sometimes even strong players play 1. a4 – Davide Rozzoni
The White Hippo – Ben Spink
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Revisited – Gifford
Myers vs. Lamarche
Mike Surtees/Revolutionary Opening Theory (R.O.T.) – Davide Rozzoni
Basman’s Chess Inheritance – Davide Rozzoni
Tayler Opening [C44] – Peter Bieker & G. Gifford

A reminder: Gary Gifford is a co-author of the recent Winning with the Krazy Kat and Old Hippo (see "Hip' Kat").

Defending against the Jerome Gambit...

Defending against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with Black, players, including Gemeinde members, are happy with the extra piece or two, and wish for the kind of steady game that follows... Almost.

metalwarrior1969 - Crusader Rabbit

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.a3

One of the more subtle "modern" Jerome Gambit variations, ones that don't include the classical 5.Nxe5.

5...d6 6.h3 Ke8 7.d3 Be6 8.Nc3 Qd7

One of the ideas behind the "modern" variations is to proceed carefully, not forcing but allowing Black to make the next (hopefully fatal) mistake.

Here Black has been just as careful, developing sensibly and keeping his King out of danger.

9.0-0 Nf6 10.Bg5 Ne7

Black leads in development, his pieces protect his King, and he has an extra piece, to boot, which he uses to "over-protect" the square d5.

11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5

White is flailing against the mists, and all is silent after 12...Nxd5 13.exd5 Bxd5. Black can even look for more (an attack on the King) after 13...Bxh3!? instead.


Instead, the second player relaxes his attention, building his attack in a way that allows a counter.

12...Rg8 13.Kh1 Ng6 14.Nxf6+ Black resigned

Playing the Jerome Gambit...

Playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with White, Gemeinde members wish for the kind of exciting, attacking game that follows...



blackburne - gwyn1
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

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

7.f4 Nf6 The kind of move that is appealing at first glance, as it promotes Black's development, ignores White's threat and plans to return material to slow down the attack. When followed up properly, it leaves White with only a small edge.

Whether this is the best strategy for combatting the Jerome Gambit is another question; but it is important to point out that blackburne has seen this move before.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3

In the past blackburne played 10.Qg5 Re8 11.d3 Kg8 12.0-0 Ng4 13.f5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 h6 15.Bd2 h5 16.Nc3 b6 17.Nd5 c6 18.Nc7 Ba6 19.Nxa6 Kf7 20.Nc7 h4 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Rf4 Nf6 23.Rxh4 c5 24.Rf1 Rc8 25.Rf3 c4 26.Bc3 Ne8 27.Rg3 a5 28.Rh7 Kg8 29.Rh4 a4 30.Rhg4 Rc7 31.h4 Ra7 32.Bd4 a3 33.b3 cxb3 34.cxb3 Rc7 35.f6 g6 36.Rxg6+ Kf7 37.Rg7+ Ke6 38.Rxc7 Nxc7 39.Rg7 Ne8 40.Re7 checkmate, blackburne - plummy, Chessworld, 2007

Now, against gwyn1, Black has the thematic 10...Nxe4, as the Knight is safe from capture: 11.Qxe4 Re8.

10...Ng4 11.Qg3 Re8 12.Nc3 c6 13.d4 h5

Several times ...h7-h5 has appeared in games in this tournament, sometimes when the Black Rook was still on h8.

14.0-0 b5 15.f5 b4 Undermining White's center before the pawns begin to roll.

16.Ne2 Bxf5

This looks like an oversight, as if Black were expecting 17.exf5 Rxe2. Now his game goes up in flames.

17.Rxf5+ Kg6 18.Nf4+ Kh7 19.Rxh5+ Kg8 20.Qxg4 Rxe4

It is probably time to begin to look for forced checkmates, although different players will prefer different ideas.

21.Qg6 Qf6 22.Qh7+

Of course, 22.Qxe4 was also okay, and led to a mate in ten.

22...Kf7 23.Rf5 Ke7 24.Rxf6 Kxf6 25.Qxe4 Kf7 26.Qg6+ Kg8 27.Ne6 Re8 28.Qxg7 checkmate