"The Worst Chess Opening Ever" – Warning or Menace??

 A number of months ago (see "The Worst Chess Opening Ever") I mentioned to readers that I had submitted an article on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), titled "The Worst Chess Opening Ever", to the United States Chess Federation's magazine Chess Life for Kids, which runs my regular "Arabian Knights" stories.

If the editor doesn't die laughing, I'll let you know if he accepts it for publication.

Let me assure you that Chess Life for Kids Editor Glenn Petersen is very much alive, and he has a great sense of humor.

So – the June 2010 issue of the magazine is out, and within its pages is the first part of my article.

Oh, yes, as it says

In Part 2 we will take a closer look and analyze the Jerome Gambit

Is exposing young chess-playing minds to such folly a good idea? Will it teach them bad habits and steer them away from studying the Catalan Opening? Or will they learn to crush such outrageous violations of chessic common sense?

Only time will tell...

Not again! (And Again)

Since the following Jerome Gambit game* (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is identical to one that I played less than two weeks ago (see "(This time I saw it)"), I'm tempted to just copy the annotations from that game, or simply give a link to perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz FICS, 2010.

Instead, I'll add a few diagrams, make a few references to the "Jerome Gamble" – How much of any of the refutations does my opponent actually know?? – and then let you get on your way.

perrypawnpusher  - javistas
blitz FICS, 2010

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

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

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

9.g3 Nf3+

10.Kd1 Qe7

11.Qd5 checkmate

(*Two weeks after I originally composed this post, I played the identical game perrypawnpusher - fortytwooz, blitz, FICS, 2010. When I thanked my opponent afterwards for the game, he cheerfully responded with a simple "lol". That's my third example of what might be called "The Buyer's Regret Variation.")

Navigating On One's Own

"There I was, minding my own business, playing a Jerome Gambit variant, when my opponent goes all 'creative' and gets himself a lost game... Worse yet, he dragged me along with him into the wilderness!"

perrypawnpusher - kfollstad
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, a version of the "modern" Jerome Gambit by transposition (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6).

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4

7...Nxe4

Okay...

I'm not sure if my opponent borrowed this idea from the "fork trick" that shows up in the Italian Four Knights Game – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 – or if he just decided to throw some material back at me.

Objectively better was 7...Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5.

8.Nxe4

Too Jerome-ish was 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxe5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bd6 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.0-0 c6 13.Qc4 b5 14.Qd3 Qf6 15.c4 bxc4 16.Qxc4 a5 17.Bb2 Ba6 18.Qb3 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Rhe8 20.Qb7 Qe7 21.d5+ Kg8 22.Qb3 c5 23.Qc3 Be5 24.Qa3 Bxb2 25.Qxb2 Qe2+ 26.Kg1 Qe1+ 27.Rxe1 Rxe1 checkmate, yorgos - jkpasanen, FICS, 2009.

8...Qh4

A better move was 8...Bxd4 as in 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd5+ Be6 12.Ng5+ Qxg5 13.Qxe6+ Kxe6 14.fxg5 Kd7 15.0-0 Rhf8 16.Bf4 Nd4 17.c3 Ne2+ 18.Kh1 Nxf4 19.g3 Nd3 20.Kg2 Nxb2 21.Rab1 Nd3 22.Rxb7 Rxf1 23.Kxf1 Rf8+ 24.Ke2 Nc5 25.Rxa7 h5 26.a4 Rf5 27.h4 Kc8 28.Ra5 Kb7 29.Rb5+ Kc6 30.Rb4 Re5+ 31.Kf3 g6 32.Kf4 Rf5+ 33.Ke3 Na6 34.Rc4+ Rc5 35.Re4 Rxc3+ 36.Kd4 Ra3 37.Re6 Rxa4+ 38.Ke3 Nc5 39.Rxg6 Re4+ 40.Kf2 Rg4 41.Rh6 Ne4+ 42.Kf3 Kd5 43.Rxh5 c6 44.Kxg4 Nf2+ 45.Kf3 Black resigned, yorgos - josephjorkens, FICS, 2009.

9.Nxc5

The other capture of the Bishop led to disaster: 9.dxc5 Qxe4+ 10.Kf1 Qc4+ 11.Kg1 Qxc5 12.Qf3+ White resigned, Alby - asalamon, FICS, 2000.

9...Re8 10.dxe5

A move made with no more thought than "Yippie! I get another piece!"

Simply castling was safer and smarter.

10...Rxe5+ 11.Be3

Guarding the Knight, but leaving the Bishop unguarded. Instead, 11.Kf1 Rxc5 gave White an even game – the best that I could hope for at this point.

11...Rxe3+ 12.Kf1 Re5 13.Nd3 Rf5

Black has the edge now, due to better development and a Bishop vs White's Knight. I guess kfollstad's creativity worked for him, after all.

14.Qe2

I was amused to see after the game that Rybka suggested further castling-by-hand for White: 14.h3 d6 15.Kg1 Be6 16.Kh2.

14...d6 15.Re1 Bd7

16.g3 Qd4

Too cooperative: 16...Qh3+ kept the advantage for Black.

17.Qe7+ Kg6 18.Qxd7

18...Raf8 19.Qe6+ Kh5

20.Nf4+ Rxf4 21.gxf4 Rxf4 22.Qh3+ Kg5 23.Rg1+ Rg4 24.Qxg4+ Black resigned

It takes all kinds...

Wandering through the updated New Year's Database of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games, I stumbled across two players with similar names: GriffySr and GriffyJr.

They had played games from 2001 to 2010, and had FICS  ratings as high as 2366 and 2136 respectively.

Heavy hitters!

The Griffys' score with White was a blistering 99%: 33 wins, no losses, one draw (in a winning position). Their score with Black was nearly as good: 90%, from 26 wins and 3 losses.

Most of their games with White were attacks against the Semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6), and they defended brutally against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – some games were of theoretical interest.

I guess I wasn't too surprised when I looked into the players a bit deeper, and read

GriffyJr and GriffySr are identical Crafty binaries with hardwired search depth.

I'd already discovered GFcrafty to be a silicon-based member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, too.

Well, as they say, "It takes all kinds..."

Shoot Out

In the following game I broke my rule of keeping to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)  "book" while letting my opponents do the creative inventing. Still, the game quickly became a shoot-out, and the risky position of Black's King soon proved to be his un-doing.


 perrypawnpusher - thinan
blitz FICS, 2010

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

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

This is one of the better Jerome Gambit refutations. Black, however, has an interesting twist in mind.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6

More popular are 8...Qf6 and the adventurous 8...Qh4+.

A week and a half earlier, against the same opponent,  perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz FICS, 2010 had continued: 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Qe7 11.Qd5 checkmate.

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qe3

11.Qf2 and 11.Qg5+ have also been tried.

11...Nf6

In an earlier game I faced 11...Bd7 12.0-0 Qf8 13.e5 Kd8 14.exd6 Qxd6 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.d3 Re8 17.Qf2 Rf8 18.Be3 b6 19.Rae1 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Qxd5 21.Bd2 Qxa2 22.Bc3 Qd5 23.Bxg7 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Kxe8 25.f5 Ne7 26.f6 Ng6 27.f7+ Kd8 28.f8Q+ Nxf8 29.Qxf8+ Black resigned,  perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz FICS, 2009.

If Black had chosen to defend with 6...Ng6 instead of 6...Ke6, the game might have continued 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 – reaching a position similar to the one in this game, only White wouldn't have already played f2-f4. In effect, thinan has given me an extra move.

12.d4

Trying to sneak in my "extra" move, but 12.f5 or 12.0-0 were correct. It is dangerous to leave the White Queen and King on the same file that Black's Rook can come to.

12...c5

Attacking the center, but losing a pawn. Stronger was 12...Re8, e.g. 13.0-0 Kf8 14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Kg8 when Black will be able to work around White's "Jerome pawns".

13.dxc5 dxc5 14.Qxc5+ Kf7

15.Nc3 Bg4

This move looks like it just puts the Bishop in harm's way, but it has hidden resources that Black subesquently overlooks. 

After the game Rybka recommended instead 15...Qe7, but with three pawns for his sacrificed piece White should be close to even after the exchange of Queens.

16.f5

Moving quickly to trap a piece, although White has to be careful about the safety of his King. 

16...Nh4

Here is where Black could have shown his creativity: 16...Rc8 apparently returning the piece 17.fxg6+ hxg6 18.Qf2 Rxc3!

analysis diagram







White cannot capture the Rook, as that would allow checkmate. His best would be 19.0-0, which Black would meet by rescuing his Rook with 19...Rc4.

analysis diagram







Here it looks like White can recover his piece with advantage with 20.e5, but again Black is ready: 20...Qc7 pins the e-pawn (mate at h2 is threatened) and after 21.Qg3 (21.Bf4 Ne4 and 22...Kg8) Bf5 22.exf6 Qxg3 23.hxg3 gxf6 the game is about even – and Black's pieces are more active.

analysis diagram







17.0-0 Rc8

With White's King castled, this move loses its bite.

18.Qxa7 Rc7 19.Bg5

Going after the unsettled pieces on the Kingside.

19...b5 20.Qe3 b4 21.Nd5

Even stronger was 21.Nb5

21...Rxc2

Counter-attacking at g2, but Black's game begins to collapse. He should have defied the pin on his Knight and played: 21...Nxd5 when 22.exd5 Qxd5 23.Bxh4 Re8 24.Qb3 Qxb3 25.cxb3 leads to an ending where White has more pawns – but they are ugly pawns, and if the Rooks come off the board then the drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors may lead to a draw.

22.Bxh4 Be2 23.Rf2 Rxb2 24.Rxe2 Rxe2 25.Qxe2 h6

White is a piece and two pawns ahead, and, more importantly, his attack is still strong.

26.Rd1 g5 27.fxg6+ Kxg6 28.Bxf6 Qa8 29.Qg4+ Kf7 30.Qg7+ Ke6 31.Nf4 checkmate

Enjoyment

I play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and its variants because the games usually give me a lot of enjoyment. That's about it.



perrypawnpusher - StockholmMoskva
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+

This is similar to play in the regular Jerome Gambit, although the computer-recommended follow-up is 8.Qh3+ Ke7 9.Qc3 d6 10.d4 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 Nf6 12.Nc3,

analysis diagram







8...Kd6 9.d4 Ne7

This seems to be an instinctive reaction: Black is two pieces ahead, and all he needs to do is chase that nasty Queen away...

An earlier game of mine continued, instead: 9...Bxd4 10.Rd1 c5 11.c3 Ne7 12.Qh5 Kc7 13.cxd4 cxd4 14.Qxe5+ d6 15.Qxd4 Nc6 16.Qxg7+ Bd7 17.Bf4 Rg8 18.Qxh6 Qe7 19.Bxd6+ Qxd6 20.Qxd6+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Lakritzl, blitz FICS, 2009.

10.Qxe5+ Kc6 11.Qxc5 checkmate

Less than a week later, I again ignored the computer recommendation for White for move 8, and played the same game against GabrielH.

It may take a while (and perhaps a loss) before I give up 8.Qf5+.

Ed Yetman's Gambit Challenge Quads!

I found this notice at Ed Yetman's website, www.YetmanBrothers.com.

To be helpful, he even posted some Jerome Gambit analysis at http://www.yetmanbrothers.com/Jerome%20Analysis.htm

If you are anywhere near Tuscon, Arizona, why not contact Ed at desertparadise@hotmail.com ?