Repairing a Variation (Part 1)

I know that the idea of "repairing" a variation in an opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bx5 4.Bxf7+) – which has a number of refutations – seems kind of silly, if not impossible. Still, I remain troubled by the game last year in which my pal, abhailey, met a devastating Queen sacrifice by Black (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter II", "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter XVI" and "A Dangerous Place") and, along with the opening, was hammered to pieces in a miniature. That just doesn't seem right...

First, here's a closer look at the game.

abhailey - peonconorejas
net-chess.com 2008

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

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

Defenders unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit might find this move to be scary, but it is part of a number of established defensive schemes.

7.Qf5+

I have always preferred this nudge of the King (to in front of the d-pawn) to the straight-forward 7.f4 (see "Joker's Wild (1)", "Joker's Wild (2)" and "Joker's Wild (conclusion)" for some recent analysis of that line). That's one reason why I'd like to find a defense to peonconorejas' attack.

7...Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ This move is reminiscent of the counter-attack first played against Lt. Sorensen (see "Bashi-Bazouk Attack" for Sorensen's take on the Jerome Gambit; and "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter: X" for the game): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bx4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Qh5.

9.g3 Nf3+

Black is clearly confused – or he has a specific plan.

10.Kd1 Ne7

Instead of moving his attacked Queen, Black counter-attacks. At first it seems that White's only task is to rescue his Queen, with checks. (During this internet correspondence game abhailey emailed me, pleased with his play and happy that he could see the win of the Black Queen.) Black's army of pieces, however, is a serious threat.

11.e5+ Kc6

The right escape square. If 11...Kd5 12.Nc3+ Kc6 13.Qe4+ Kb6 and Black's Queen can be captured.

12.Qe4+ d5

The only move, but it is very good.

13.exd6+ Nd5

Again, the best move. Leading to equality, even though Black will have only two pieces for a Queen and a pawn, was 13...Kxd6 14.gxh4, for example: 14...Bg4 15.f5 Ne5+ 16.Ke1 Bf3 17.Qa4

analysis diagram

14.gxh4 Bg4

15.Qa4+

Again, White seems to have rescued his Queen.

15...b5

Also winning, and perhaps simpler, was 15...Kxd6

16.Qa6+ Nb6

The position is not just complicated for White, but for Black, too. A better move here was 16...Bb6.

17.c4

After 17.h3 Bh5 18.d3 things are very unclear. Black might have a win in the long run, or White might eventually escape.

The text move allows a mate-in-three that Black overlooks.

17...Nd4+

This wins, but an even nicer ending would have been: 17...Ne1+ 18.Kxe1 Rae8+ 19.Kf1 Bh3+.

analysis diagram

18.Ke1 Rhe8+

There are just too many Black pieces in play.

19.Kf2 Nf5+ 20.Kf1

The alternative 20.d4 holds out longer, but why suffer?: 20...Bxd4+ 21.Be3 Rxe3 22.Qxb5+ Kb7 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.d7 Rd3+ 25.Ke2 Nxd7 26.Nd2 Re8+ 27.Kd1 Be3 28.Kc2 Rxd2+ 29.Kb3 Rd3+ 30.Kc2 Rd6+ 31.Kb3 Nc5+ 32.Kb4 Rb6+ 33.Ka3 Bd2 34.b3 Bc3 35.Rae1 Ra6#

20...Bh3 checkmate

500

Today marks the 500th consecutive daily post on this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) blog.

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Rough Weather

Pete Banks ("blackburne"), likely the top contemporary across-the-board Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) player this blog is aware of, will finish the current 15-player ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Chess Tournament tied for 10th place, a bit of a disappointment. Some of his games show a bit of rust – just enough that, barring a few unfortunate slips, he could have actually finished 5 or 6 places higher. The following is an example of things suddenly going haywire.

blackburne - Piratepaul
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

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

A very reasonable defense, considered one of the refutations of the Jerome Gambit.

7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qe3 Nf6

9.0-0 Rf8 10.d4 Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand. White's task is to use his center pawns (d-, e- and f-pawns) to begin an attack on the enemy King. Black will strike back in the center.

11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg3 Nf6 14.f5

14...Ne7 15.Bh6 Nh5

Protecting the g7 pawn and attacking the White Queen, although the more "boring" 15...Rf7 might have been a better move.

16.Qg4

This is one of the moves that I referred to as "rusty." The Queen moves to a square which is on the same diagonal as Black's Bishop. One step further would have gotten White the attack he wanted: 16.Qg5. Now 16...Qe8 allows White a smashing attack, for example: 17.f6 Ng6 18.fxg7 Nxg7 19.h4 Rxf1+ 20.Rxf1 Qe7 21.Rf6 Nf8 22.d5 Bd7 23.e5 +-;






analysis diagram






Leading to a bit of an edge for White would have been 16. Qg5 Rf7 17.Qxh5 gxh6 18.Qxh6 +/=.

Best for Black would have been to give back his piece to achieve a drawish endgame: 16...Nxf5 17.exf5 Qxg5 18.Bxg5 Bxf5.

analysis diagram






Returning the piece is a theme in Jerome Gambits that does not get attended to enough; doing it correctly, even moreso.

16...Qe8 17.Rf3 Rf6

Stronger was the thematic 17...d5

18.Rh3

White needed to mix it up with 18.Bg5 when one possible line is 18...d5 19.Qh4 dxe4 20.Bxf6 exf3 21.Bxe7 fxg2 (Hungry, hungry pawn!) and then 22.f6 gives White the edge because of his initiative.







analysis diagram





18...Rxh6 19.f6

Ouch. Rusty.

19...Bxg4 20.fxg7 Bxh3 21.gxh3 Nxg7 22.Rf1 Rxh3 White resigns

This game hardly shows blackburne at his best.

To the winners go the awards

As mentioned in yesterday's post it is possible to identify the three top finishers in the soon-to-be-completed (one game unfinished) ChessWorld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament:

1st Place: Piratepaul
2nd Place: stampyshortlegs
3rd Place: Sir Osis of the Liver

Congratulations, all!

The tournament, sponsored by blackburne, has light-hearted prizes (sponsored by jeromegambit.blogspot.com) for the first three finishers. For Piratepaul, in case he wants to expand his attacking openings, there is An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player by Raymond Keene and David Levy. For stampyshortlegs, who showed skill in playing the offbeat Jerome Gambit, there is Baroque Chess Openings by Richard Wincor – containing a whole new set off unorthodox openings. For Sir Osis of the Liver, there is The Basis of Combination in Chess by Julius Du Mont, so that he can continue his tactical ways.

All three are asked to contact me (richardfkennedy@hotmail.com) to provide mailing addresses.

And the winner is...

With two games left to be played in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Chess Tournament, it appears that Piratepaul will take top honors, with 22 points out of 28 games (a winning percentage of 79%).

Second place stampyshortlegs has one game not yet completed, but with 20.5 points out of 27 games, even a win in that final encounter would give him only 21.5 points, .5 points behind Piratepaul.

Third place belongs to Sir Osis of the Liver, with 19 out of 28 points.

Stampyshortlegs leads the number of points from the Jerome Gambit with 9.5, followed by Piratepaul and Sir Osis of the Liver with 9.0

One More Time

Right now, the second largest group of readers of this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) blog is from Brazil. I was therefore not surprised to find at the centraldoxadrez website the famous Blackburne game against the Jerome Gambit.

It's worth showing again (with notes translated from the Portugese) because it's such a fun game. Plus, it's a good reminder to those who play Black how to carry out the Blackburne Defense (see "Having said A...")


Jerome - Blackburne
London, 1890

The name of the player of the White pieces is an error: Alonzo Wheeler Jerome never visited London, nor did he ever get to play his favorite opening against him. I think the mistake began in one of Eric Schiller's books – I contacted him with a correction.


Also, the year "1890" is an odd slip. Blackburne refers to the game taking place "about 1880" in his Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899), although a contemporary source – the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle – gave the date as 1885.


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

As incredible as it seems, this madness has a name. It is the Jerome Gambit, played here by its author! Analysis of this line has appeared on the Internet. What idleness is capable of generating!

4… Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

Blackburne did not want to be on the defense after 6… Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6, but even so the sequence 8.f4 Qf6! provides a great advantage to Black.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8
White loses numerous tempos moving the Queen to capture the Rook. Meanwhile, Black mobilizes his pieces and looks to uses his enormous advantage in development.

8… Qh4

Threatening … Qxf2+ and defending the h7-pawn. In this way, the Queen has joined the attack without loss of time.

9,0-0 Nf6 10.c3?
The idea was to play 11.d4 cutting to the action of the Black Bishop along the c5-f2 diagonal. However, the correct move would have been 10.Qd8 that pins the Black Kinght at f6 and hinders the Black attack.

10… Ng4!

The Knight is brought into the attack. Black threatens … Qxh2 checkmate.

11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1
Or 12.Rxf2+ Qxf2+ 13.Kh1 Qf1 checkmate

12… Bf5!

Another Rook is sacrificed so that the Bishop quickly enters the game.

13.Qxa8
13.exf5 Rxh8 gains the Queen and the game.

13… Qxh3+! 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate

Sources

Yesterday's post (see "A Question of Theory and Practice") referred to Hindemburg Melao, Jr.'s 2003 internet article at Superajadrez.com, with significant analysis of the famous Amateur - Blackburne Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game. I would like to point out that at about the same time as Melao, Catalan Master Richard Guerrero Sanmarti wrote an article for Ajedrez en Madrid on the Blackburne game, with equally relevant analysis, some of which I'd like to share. [Be warned, my Spanish translation skills are poor.] Stranger - Blackburne London, 1880[sic] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+?

Absolutely impressive! ... but totally incorrect! 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6! ...[I]t seems evident that 6...Ke6 was somewhat dangerous... it was also possible for Black to choose simple 6th move answers: 6...Kf8! 7.Qxe5 d6; or 6...Ng6! 7.Qxe5 d6? ...To sacrifice a Rook, it was far better to do it with 7...Qe7! 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kd1 (9.Kf1 Qh4! 10.g3 (10.d4? Bxd4 threatening captures on f2 and to the White Queen on h8) 10...Qh3+ 11.Ke1 (11.Kg1 b5! -+ followed by Bb7! and the Bishop captures on g2) 11...Qe6+ 12.Kf1 (12.Kd1 Qg4+ 13.Ke1 Qe4+ 14.Kf1 with a decisive advantage for Black (14.Kd1 Qf3+! 15.Ke1 Bxf2+ 16.Kf1 Bxg3+ 17.Kg1 Qf2#) ) 12...Nf6! -+ and the unprotected White King can not be saved from Black's imminent attack) 9...Qxg2 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.Re1 d5! -+ and Black has a decisive attack when adding the Bishop on c8 and the Rook on a8. 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0! Nf6 10.c3? ... 10.Qd8! +/- was essential and White not only defends but obtains a clear advantage. The keys of the play are the attack on c7, and the pin of the Black Knight on f6 that cannot now be added to the attack; the "natural" 10.d3? also was losing after 10...Bh3! 11.Qxa8 ( or 11.Qxf6+ Kxf6! 12.gxh3 Qxh3 with a winning position) 11...Qg4 12.g3 Qf3 10...Ng4! -+ The brilliant romantic Englishman will execute the extraordinary combination that he prepared with 6...g6! 11.h3 ...after 11.Rd1 Qxf2+ 12.Kh1 Qg1+! 13.Rxg1 Nf2# 11...Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 And now comes the skillful play that makes Blackburne's sensational finish possible. Clearly if 12.Rxf2+ Qxf2+ 13.Kh1 Qf1# 12...Bf5! A fantastic move! 13.Qxa8 To eat or be eaten. 13.exf5 Rxh8 -+ with checkmate in a few moves. 13...Qxh3+! 14.gxh3 Bxe4 A really spectacular checkmate!