It can be eduational to turn over a recently-played game to Rybka or Fritz to see what they have to say about the game.
Sometimes, as in this one, when the silicon monster fusses over move after move after move, it can be grating, like singing with an off-key piano.
Of course, that only seems fair, considering that the strategy and tactics critiqued come from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – as off-key a Giuoco Piano as you are likely to find.
perrypawnpusher - apinheiro
blitz 5 12, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Jerome response.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
I've been here before.
8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 N8e7
Similar to perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz FICS 2009, only here White has added 0-0 and Black has added ...h7-h6.
10.f4 d6 11.Qe3 Rf8
12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Ng4
Black's Knight on g4 has done a lot of travelling and is not finished yet. It will eventually move 8 times, exchanging itself at last for a piece that has moved once.
14.Qg3 h5 15.h3 Nf6 16.e5
Here is where the computer's post mortem became critical.
It does make sense to develop my Queenside first, as in 16.Nc3 Kf7 16.Bg5 Kg8 17.Rae1, with an even game.
analysis diagram
Rybka's primary suggestion was to crash through and blow things up right away: 16.Qxg7 Nxe4 17.f6 Rf7 18.Qh8+ Kd7 19.Qxd8+ Kxd8 20.fxe7+ Rxe7 with the edge to White.
analysis diagram
16...Ne4
apinheiro did not want to cooperate with the formation of my pawn center, but the computer suggested that this Knight jump would be more powerful after exchanging pawns.
17.Qe3
17... d5 18. f6 gxf6 19. exf6
The computer continued its moaning and groaning, but it made a good point: Black's Knight on e7 should now go to f5, not c6.
19... Nc6 20.Qh6 Rf7 21.Bg5 Nxd4
Black's Knights are strong and centralized. White's center pawns have been stopped or eliminated.
It is surprising that Rybka (blunder check, 5 minutes a move) rates White to have an edge in this position.
22. Nc3 Nxg5 23. Qxg5 Ne6
Rybka disliked Black's last move, rating the position now 3 1/2 pawns better for White. It certainly didn't feel that way to me!
24.Qg8+ Rf8 25.f7+
25... Ke7 26. Qg6 Qd7
According to Rybka, this move makes the d-file fatally dangerous, and 26...c6 was better.
27. Rae1
This was a blitz game, but even at longer time controls I probably would not have found 27.Rad1 c6 28.Rf5 when sacrificing the Knight for Black's two center pawns lets the White Rooks in with deadly effect.
27...c6 28. Qf6+ Kd6 29. Qe5+ Ke7 30. Qf6+ Kd6
It's a good thing that computers can't laugh. (Actually, my Fritz8 has a CD that adds "voice".)
I was repeating positions to gain a little thinking time from the increment, totally missing the idea of sacrificing my Knight on d5 at move 29 or move 31, followed in a few moves by sacrificing my Rook on e6, winning easily...
Right.
31. Qe5+ Ke7 32. Qxh5
Grabbing a pawn and avoiding a draw. It is clear from my opponent's next move that he doesn't think that I have more than a half point coming. He was mistaken: 33.Qg5+ Kd6 34.Rf5 would have won a piece plus a Queen for two Rooks. (Of course, I missed that, too.)
32...a6 33.Qg5+ Kd6 34.Qe5+ Ke7 35.Qg7
35...Kd8
Finally, a move that I could comprehend!
36.Rxe6 Qxe6 37.Qxf8+
38...Kc7 38. Qe8 Bd7
39.Qxe6
I was aware that taking the Rook was stronger, but I wanted to quickly transition into a safe and won endgame.
39... Bxe6 40.f8=Q Rxf8 41. Rxf8
41...b5 42.g4 Kd7 43.Kg2 Ke7 44.Ra8 d4 45.Ne2 b4
46.Rxa6
Accidentally giving up the Knight for Black's pawns.
46...Bc4 47.Rxc6
Thoughtlessly offering the Rook, instead, for the pawns.
47...Bxe2
Even after 47...Bd5+ 48.Kg3 Bxc6 49.Nxd4 White is winning.
48. Kf2 Bb5 49. Rb6 Ba4 50. b3 Bd7 51. Rxb4 Kf6 52. Rxd4
52...Bb5 53.a4 Be8 54.a5 Kg5 55.Kg3 Bc6
56. a6
Readers who have not fallen asleep by now will notice that while my move wins, 56.Rd6 is stronger, as it allows 57.h4 mate.
56... Bh1 57. h4+ Kf6 58. a7 Ke5 59. Rd8 Black resigned
I hope that you didn't mind that I cut off the computer's criticisms for the last 20 moves or so. It was getting rather tiresome, if not downright rude...
Last month Robert Pearson's Chess Blog started an interesting discussion on "Do You Care About Today's Grandmaster Games and Tournaments?"
Mark Weeks, at Chess for All Ages followed up with a thoughtful reply.
Especially attractive to me was Mike Goeller's "comment" at the bottom of Weeks's post. He refers to his own essay on "Chess Amateurism"
This is the new age of the amateur... The amateur game is getting more interesting for amateurs (certainly more worth looking at and commenting on)...
He also has an interesting point-of-view on "amateur openings" like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).
Thoughtful stuff.
I was playing my way through some of Bill Wall's chess games when I suddenly felt like Alice must have felt, after moving through the Looking Glass. What I found on the other side was not quite a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and I wasn't sure quite what to call it.
A Vienna Game? A Russian Three Knights Game headed toward an Italian Four Knights Game?
4...Ng4
And what is that? A Jabberwocky?
5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+
This looks remarkably like a Jerome Gambit, only Black has a Knight at b8, not g8; and White has a Knight already on c3.
7...Ke6
Or, as in the only other example that I have been able to find of this line: 7...g6 8.Qxe5 d6 9.Qf4+ Ke8 10.0-0 Rf8 11.Qh6 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Rxf2 13.Kxf2 Qf6+ 14.Kg1 Nd7 15.Qxh7 Nf8 16.Qxc7 Ne6 17.Qxd6 Qg5 18.d4 Qg4 19.Bd2 Ng5 20.Qe5+ Kf7 21.Bxg5 Qh5 22.Qf6+ Ke8 23.Qe7 checkmate Jeng, - Hatcher, San Jose, 1994.
8.d4 Bxd4
9.Nb5 Nbc6
A reasonable move, but one that loses. Rybka recommends: 9...Bxf2+ (the Bishop is lost, anyhow) 10.Kxf2 d6 (so that Black will have a counter to White's Bishop's attack on his Queen) 11.Bg5 g6 12.Qh3+ Kf7 13.Qb3+ Be6 14.Bxd8 Bxb3 15.axb3 Rxd8 16.Nxc7 Nbd7 17.Nxa8 Rxa8 when Black will have two Knights against a Rook and a pawn; and probably an edge.
analysis diagram
10.Qf5+ Ke7 11.Bg5+ Black resigned
'Twas brillig...
When I play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I stay with the main lines and let my opponent do the innovating. Often he'll play a "Theoretical Lemon" (TL) rather than a "Theoretical Novelty" (TN).
The times when my opponent improves on past theory and play? Well, as they say, tomorrow is another day...
perrypawnpusher - frencheng
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8
As recently noted, this response has the highest success rate (56%) for Black in the games in the New Year's Database.
The move appeared first in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's 1874 analysis of the Jerome Gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. The article contained an interesting caveat:
It should be understood that Mr. Jerome claims in this New Opening "only a pleasant variation of the Giuoco Piano, which may win or lose according to the skill of the players, but which is capable of affording many new positions and opportunities for heavy blows unexpectedly."
7.Qxe5 Qe7
A strong choice. An earlier game with the same opponent continued: 7...d6 8.Qg3 Qe7 9.d3 d5 10.0-0 dxe4 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Bf4 Qd4 13.Be5 Qd7 14.Rxe4 Qf5 15.Qxg7+ Ke8 16.Bg3+ Qxe4 17.dxe4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - frencheng, blitz FICS, 2010.
8.Qf4+
A similar idea (with a different response) was seen in blackburne - JFRAY, ChessWorld, 2004: 8.Qf5+ Ke8 9.0-0 d6 10.Qf3 Be6 11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 h6 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Nf6 15.d4 Rf8 16.e5 Nd5 17.exd6 Rxf3 18.dxe7 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Kxe7 20.Nxd5+ Bxd5 21.b3 Rf8 22.c4 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Be4 24.Kf2 Bb1 25.a3 Ba2 26.c5 Bxb3 27.e4 Ke6 28.Kf3 b6 29.Kf4 bxc5 30.dxc5 g5+ 31.Ke3 Ke5 32.Kd3 a5 33.g3 h5 34.h3 h4 35.g4 a4 36.Kc3 Bd1 37.Kb4 Kxe4 38.Ka5 Kd5 39.Kb4 Bxg4 40.Kxa4 Bxh3 41.Kb4 Bf1 42.a4 h3 43.a5 h2 White resigned
A fundamental alternative at this point is for White to exchange Queens, something that Louis Morin ("mrjoker") has explored in a number of games.
An early experiment did not go well: 8.d4 Qxe5 9.dxe5 Ne7 10.Nd2 Ng6 11.Nf3 b6 12.0-0 Bb7 13.Re1 Re8 14.b3 Nxe5 15.Nd2 Ng4 16.Re2 Ke7 17.h3 Nxf2 18.Rxf2 Rhf8 19.Nf3 Bxe4 20.Bb2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Rxf3 22.Re1+ Kd8 23.Ref1 Rxf2 24.Rxf2 Re2, White resigned, guest393 - guest664, ICC, 2001.
Morin is quite comfortable playing Queenless middlegames and endings with two pawns for a piece, as further games showed: 8.Qxe7+ Nxe7 (8...Bxe7 9.d4 d6 10.0-0 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 Ke8 13.h3 Be6 14.b3 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.f5 Bd5 18.c4 Bf7 19.e6 Bg8 20.Be3 h6 21.Rf4 Bh7 22.g4 Bf6 23.Rd1 Ke7 24.d5 cxd5 25.Bc5+ Ke8 26.cxd5 b6 27.Ba3 Rd8 28.d6 Be5 29.Rxe4 Bxd6 Black resigned, mrjoker - tomnoah, ICC, 2008) 9.c3 (9.0-0 d6 10.c3 Bb6 11.d4 h6 12.f4 g6 13.Be3 Kg7 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Nf3 Bb5 17.Rf2 d5 18.Ne5 dxe4 19.c4 Ba6 20.b3 Nf5 21.Nd7 Bxd4 22.Bxd4+ Nxd4 23.Ne5 c5 24.Rxe4 b6 25.Re3 Rhf8 26.Rg3 Re6 27.h4 Rxf4 28.Rxf4 Ne2+ 29.Kh2 Nxf4 30.Nf3 Bb7 31.Nd2 Re2 32.Nf1 Rxg2+ 33.Rxg2 Nxg2 34.Ng3 Nxh4 White resigned, mrjoker - blunt7569, ICC, 2008) 9...Kf7 (9...d5 10.d4 Bb6 11.e5 Be6 12.0-0 Ke8 13.Na3 c5 14.Nb5 Kd7 15.Be3 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Nc6 17.f4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bf5 19.h3 Bxd4+ 20.cxd4 Rac8 21.Rac1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rc8 23.Rxc8 Kxc8 24.g4 Bb1 25.a3 g6 26.Kf2 Kd7 27.Kg3 Kc6 28.h4 Kd7 29.h5 Ke6 30.Kh4 gxh5 31.Kxh5 Bg6+ 32.Kh6 Be4 33.f5+ Kf7 34.Kxh7 Bf3 35.g5 Black resigned, mrjoker - Epimacus, ICC, 2009; 9...b5 10.d4 Bb6 11.0-0 d6 12.Be3 g6 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Kd8 16.f4 Kc8 17.Bg5 Re8 18.h3 Kb7 19.g4 Ng8 20.Kg2 Rf8 21.f5 h6 22.Bf4 g5 23.Bg3 Rae8 24.e5 Bc6+ 25.Kh2 dxe5 26.dxe5 Rd8 27.Nb3 a5 28.Rd1 a4 29.Nd4 Bxd4 30.cxd4 Bd5 31.a3 c6 32.Rfe1 Ne7 33.Rd2 Rde8 34.e6 Nxf5 35.gxf5 Rxf5 36.e7 Kc8 37.Bd6 Kd7 38.Bc5 h5 39.Ree2 g4 40.Rf2 Rf3 41.Rxf3 gxf3 42.Rd1 Rg8 43.Rg1 f2 44.Rxg8 f1Q 45.e8Q+ Kc7 46.Qc8 checkmate, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2008) 10.d4 Bb6 11.Be3 Rf8 12.Nd2 d6 13.0-0 Kg8 14.f4 c6 15.Rae1 Bd7 16.h3 Rf7 17.Kh2 Raf8 18.g4 c5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.f5 Ng6 22.fxg6 Rxf1 23.gxh7+ Black resigned, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009.
8...Nf6 9.d3
In a relevant, correspondence game, Jerome himself faced his own gambit and survived: 9.Nc3 c6 10.d3 d6 11.h3 h6 12.0-0 g5 13.Qg3 Qe5 14.Ne2 Qxg3 15.Nxg3 Ke7 16.c3 Be6 17.a4 a5 18.Be3 Ba7 19.d4 Rag8 20.f4 gxf4 21.Bxf4 d5 22.Be5 Rf8 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Rae1 Rhg8 25.Nf5+ Kd7 26.Nxh6 Rg6 27.Nf5 Ne4 28.Ne3 Rxf1+ 29.Rxf1 Bb6 30.g4 Bd8 31.Kg2 Kc6 32.b3 Bg5 33.Nd1 Nd2 34.Rh1 Bh4 35.b4 axb4 36.cxb4 Nc4 37.Nc3 Nxe5 38.dxe5 d4 39.Ne4 Bd5 40.Kf3 Rg8 White resigned, Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence 1880.
9...d6 10.0-0 Kf7 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.Nd5
12...Qd8
A significant improvement over 12...Qe5 of perrypawnpusher - jonathankochems, blitz FICS, 2010, which continued 13.Nxc7 Qxf4 14.Bxf4 Rb8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.Rae1 Bb4 18.Re2 Rbc8 19.a3 Bc5 20.b4 Bd4 21.Bxd6 Rfe8 22.Rfe1 Bc3 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Rxe8 Kxe8 25.Bc5 a6 26.Kf1 Bb2 27.a4 Bd7 28.a5 Ba4 29.c4 Bc2 30.Ke2 Bc3 31.Ke3 Kd7 32.Ke4 Be1 33.f4 Bc3 34.Bd4 Bxb4 35.Bb6 Kd6 36.f5 Bc3 37.g4 Bf6 38.Ke3 Ke5 39.Bc7 checkmate
13.Bd2
Stronger was 13.Be3, although Black would still have the advantage.
13...Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand, has the two Bishops, and plans to swap off White's advanced Knight, leaving doubled pawns.
White needs to stir up some trouble before the game simply settles down to being bad for him.
14.Qg3 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qf6 16.Bc3
16...Bd4 17.Rae1 Bxc3 18.bxc3 b6
19.c4 Bb7
Black's Bishop will "bite on granite" here, but the move connects his Rooks.
20.Re6 Qc3 21.Re7 Rac8
The first good news that I've had in a while: my opponent is uneasy with my Rook on the seventh. How uneasy?
22.Rfe1 Qf6
That's uneasy enough for me.
It clearly was time to go for the draw by offering to repeat the position, before my opponent thought otherwise.
23.R1e6 Qd4 24.Re4 Qf6 25.R4e6 Qd4 26.Re4 Qf6 27.R4e6 Qd4 28.Re4 Qf6 29.R4e6 Qd4 30.Re4 Qf6 31.R4e6 Qd4 Game drawn by repetition
I was happy to split the point here – tomorrow, after all, is another day.
