BSG: Later on in the Discussion

Last year I presented part of an old discussion about the Blackburne Shilling Gambit and 4.Bxf7+ at ChessGames.com. A year later the discussion continued. Here are relevant parts, with my comments.

Helmut Wieteck - Klaus Dutschke

Lahnstein, 1999

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Qf6 8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.d3 Bh6 10.Na3 Bxc1 11.Rxc1 Qxh8 12.Qc5+ Ke8 13.Qxc7 Nf3+ 14.gxf3 Qxb2 15.Kd2 Qxa3 16.Rhg1 Qxa2 17.Qe5+ Kd8 18.Qh8 Qa5+ 19.c3 Qa2+ 20.Rc2 Qe6 21.Qxg8+ Qxg8 22.Rxg8+ Kc7 23.f4 b6 24.f5 a5 25.f6 Black resigned

TheGreatNN: Is 4.Bxf7! the best way to deal with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit? It looks pretty strong here.

acirce: What happens on 7...hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 instead of 7...Qf6?? Or just 5...Ke7!?

TheGreatNN: I don't think 7...hxg6 is any good because after 8.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 white will be up material, even if black will have a bit better development (e.g. by 10...Qg5 11.Rg1 d5 12.Qxd5 Bg4+ 13.Ke1 Qxd5 14.exd5 etc.) My computer, however, came up with 5...Ke6! It then continued 6.Nd3!? Nf6 7.o-o d6 8.b4 Kf7 9.Bb2 Ne6 and it doesn't appear white has good compensation for his sacrifice. (Arasan 3.5, 9 ply.) But ...Ke6 looks like it's just welcoming disaster, so I don't know what to think.

acirce: Actually, he will be down material! After the line you give I feel that White is pretty much just lost. Better looks 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4 and White has 4 pawns for a bishop but has only developed his queen.

5...Ke6 just has to be unsound but maybe 5...Ke7 is simple and working. At least this is not what you're looking for as White generally speaking.

Cyphelium: We were actually discussing this variation more than a year ago, at this thread:

Muhlock vs B Kostic, 1912

I think we agreed on that 4. Bxf7+ is not convincing. The analysis lead to unclear positions were white often had to defend. One amusing line we finally arrived at was 4... Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nf6 8.Qe5+ Ne6 9.Nxh8 d5!? 10.exd5 Bd6 11.Nf7 Kxf7 12.dxe6+ Bxe6 13.Qe2 Qg8 and black seems to have compensation?! Also, the 4...Ke7!? move was mentioned as playable. The conclusion is, I think, that 4.Bxf7+ is likely to lead to messy and unclear positions...

acirce: Without having looked closely at those concrete lines I think I agree... I do think that 7...hxg6 is better than 7...Nf6 though, if White does sac. In the line given in my previous post it is Black who ends up with the compensation for the material.

Cyphelium: Yes, that 7...hxg6 line is another nail in the coffin for 4.Bxf7+. It might be the best...

Seraphina: Actually Ke6 is rather sound, because white is so underdeveloped. I have actually faced it in friendlies (that says it all). The psychological impact is rough though. You feel denuded, exposed, gaaaa... and the opponent feels overconfident (huga huga). In the other variation you give: 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 feels safe, but did you look at 10...Ke8 another K move but: it allows faster development for black 11.QxN d5! Black has a piece for four pawns and must now attack hard and fast before white can get organized. This is a game for bluffers. A lot of fun...

Granite: Bxf7+ seems to give good compensation for the piece. You get two central pawns and the black king is also trapped in the center. Moreso, you gain some time in development. So that's 2 pawns, a loose centralized king, and a gain of time for a piece - I'd say it's probably strong enough to be playable.

Rick: The "best" response to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 has to be either 4.0-0, 4.Nxd4, 4.d3, 4.Nc3 or 4.c3.

4.Bxf7+!? is shocking & unexpected and can lead to exciting and/or unclear play which will favor the better-prepared combatant. The updated New Year's Database has 2,676 games with this move. White scored 56% (only 2% of the games were draws).

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Black has two popular defenses, 5...Ke8 and 5...Ke6, and two lesser-played defenses, 5...Ke7 and 5...Kf6.

Seen most often is 5...Ke8, and after 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6, best play for both sides is 7...hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+, when Black can go for the draw-by-repetition with 9...Ke8; or go for an unbalanced (but largely equal) position as acirce suggested above with 9...Nf6 10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4 when White has four pawns for a piece and it is unclear if Black has an open King or open lines for development.

Seraphina's suggestion of 10...Ke8 (followed by 11...d5) instead of 10...d6 is a thoughtful one and a likely improvement, but the battle of piece vs 4 pawns remains contentious.

The problem with Cyphelium's suggested line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nf6 8.Qe5+ Ne6 9.Nxh8 d5!? 10.exd5 Bd6 is that White can play 11.Qe2!? instead of 11.Nf7, with advantage – although the line that he gives, 11.Nf7 Kxf7 12.dxe6+ Bxe6 13.Qe2 Qg8 may be better for White, anyhow, as he is the exchange and three pawns ahead.

Risky, but not necessarily "unsound", 5...Ke6 provokes feelings wonderfully described by Seraphina. In 667 games in the Database, White scores 50% (again, draws make up only 2% of the games). Best seems to be 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Ke6 and Black's King runs for cover as White develops his pieces, with roughly an equal game.

After 5...Ke7 (330 games in the Database, White scores 47%, draws are 4%) I think White does best again with 6.c3, and after 6...d6 7.cxd4 dxe5 8.dxe5 Qd3!? the game is unclear, but likely balanced.

Finally, I think 5...Kf6 (78 games in the Database, White scores 60%, draws are 1%) should be met by 6.Nf3, again with an even game.

Pulled up Short

This Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4) game was galloping along toward lightly-explored territory when a sudden Knight move caused it to pull up short and end quickly...

perrypawnpusher  - Abatwa
blitz 12 4, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Nc6

I had looked at this move in depth (see "Clearly Unclear") based on the games of Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member GOH at FICS.

7.d4 Nce7

8.Qg4+ Black resigned

Black is going to lose his Queen after either 8...Kd6 9.Nf7+ or 8...Nf5 9.Qxf5+ Kd6 10.Nf7+.

This was good enough for me, although after the game Rybka pointed out that 8.d5+, instead, led to checkmate.

Who has fallen for whose trap?

Travelling the web, I stopped in at ChessForums.com after noticing something in their "Discussion & Strategy" subsection, "Beginner's Corner".

A poster asked for suggestions of "any smart tricks or traps" and later indicated

This is for example what I would call a trap

1.e4 e5
2.bc4 nc6
3.nf3 nd4
4.bxf7 kxf7
5.nxe5 ke8
6.Qh5 and so on...

All right! The poster gives the first three moves of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit – a well-known trap (but not too well known, or people wouldn't still fall for it).

Better yet, he gives the Jerome Gambit treatment (4.Bxf7+) in response!

So: who has fallen for whose trap??

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Despite the fact that I specialize in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), sometimes it feels that I actually play real chess. Almost.

perrypawnpusher - drandika
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4

8...Bd6 9.dxe5 Bxe5 10.f4

I recently analyzed this move (see "THIS is why I play the Jerome Gambit") enough to know that the best move for White is actually 10.Ne2, and that after the text move Black can have a good game if he makes the right choices. But the position is tricky, and I thought it was worth a try in blitz.

(Opening preparation – how about that?)

10...Bxc3

Good, and better than 10...Bxf4 11.Rxf4 Re8 12.Qd5+ Re6 13.e5 c6 14.Qd4 Kg8 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Rg4+ Kh7 17.Qd3+ Kh8 18.Bxh6 Re7 19.Qg6 d6 20.Bg7+ Kg8 21.Bxf6+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - KnightRoyal, blitz, FICS, 2010.

11.bxc3 Rf8

It is likely that my opponent was getting ready to castle-by-hand. Correct was either 11...Qe7 or 11...Qf8.

12.e5 Ne4

Not thought through. This happens a lot in the Jerome Gambit, where defenders seem to have a hard time devoting enough energy to countering a refuted opening.

After the game Rybka suggested 12...d6 13.exf6 Qxf6 when Black still had the edge.

13.Qd5+ Ke8 14.Qxe4 c6

It's funny, as soon as I saw this move, I thought about Paul Morphy - Louis Paulsen, New York, 4th match game, 1857: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e6 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 Ne7 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Bd6 (1-0, 36) – it's hard to forget that White Bishop as a "bone in the throat."

analysis diagram






I know that Paulsen was playing the Sicilian and my opponent was defending against the Jerome Gambit, but it was a pleasant surprise to see a strategic idea bubble up from my chess unconscious.

(Learning from the past Masters – how about that?)

15.Ba3 Rf7

Black has to do something about the Bishop, something like 15...Qb6+ and 16...c5, blocking its influence on the King side.

In response, White will either put pressure on the center with Rad1 or on the King side with Qh7. The advanced "Jerome pawns" will force a break through.

16.f5

This move is good, but 16.Bd6 would have been crushing: White would have a humorous mating attack with Qh7 followed by Qh8+, and Black would have to give up his Queen to stay alive.

16...Qa5

Going after the Bishop – something that I actually had anticpated.

(Sacrificing, not losing a piece – how about that?)

 Black's best was still to counter the Bishop with 16...Qb6+ 17.Rf2 c5; although 18.f6 changes the front of the attack: 18...gxf6 19.Rxf6 Rxf6 20.exf6+ Qe6 21.Qh4, threatening Re1 (the eeeeeeee file!), Qxh6, and Bxc5. 

17.e6 dxe6 18.Bb4

Momentarily losing faith in my analysis of tactics...

I had seen 18.fxe6 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Qxa3, but didn't see clearly after 20.Qg6+ – which was the winning line.

18...Qb6+ 19.Kh1 c5 20.fxe6

Still on the attack (the Bishop is still taboo) although White will have to be creative to bring on the heat.

20...Rxf1+

After the game Rybka suggested: 20...Qxe6 21.Qh7 Kd7 22.Rxf7+ Qxf7 23.Qd3+ Kc7 24.Bxc5 Qe6 25.Qg3+ Kc6 26.Rd1 Kxc5 27.Qc7+ Kb5 28.a4+ Ka6 29.Rd6+ b6 30.Rxe6 Bxe6 which gives White a Queen vs Rook and Bishop...

analysis diagram







This was, of course, well beyond my analysis.

21.Rxf1 cxb4

Grabbing the Bishop, which was okay with me – I correctly evaluated that I still was winning.

Black's best was 21...Qxe6, when again White gives Rook and Bishop for Black's Queen, e.g. 22.Qf3 cxb4 23.Qf8+ Kd7 24.Qxg7+ Kd6 25.Rf6.

22.Qg6+ Ke7 23.Rf7+

My original plan was 23.Qf7+  which was again, crushing, but at the last minute I decided (without analysis!) to "add another piece to the attack".

(It is sad to have come this far, only to give in to foggy thinking.)

It shouldn't have been too hard to see 23.Qf7+ Kd6 24.Rd1+ Ke5 25.e7 and White has too many threats to counter (even if I couldn't immediately analyze them out).

23...Kd6 24.e7+ Be6 25.Rxg7

The last poor choice, again due to an unwillingness – temporary inability? – to force my foggy brain to look further.

White's Rook and Queen exchanged roles from my original analysis, which means that they would have to do the same here: the Queen checks, the Rook escorts, 25.Qd3+ Kc6 and then 26.Rf8. After Black's mate-threat counter – 26...bxc3 27.h3 Qb1+ 28.Kh2 Qb4 – White wins a Rook with and remains the exchange up.

Whew!

25...Qe3

Black sees his chance to force a draw and takes it!

26.h3 Qe1+ 27.Kh2 Qe5+ 28.Kh1 Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Qe5+ 30.Kh1 Qe1+ 31.Kh2 Qe5+ drawn by repetition

A great save by my opponent!

No Breach in the Wall

The move ...Qd8-h4+ can be played in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with great effect.

Sometimes.

Wall,B - Edaison
FICS, 2010

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

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

7.f4 Nf7

8.Qxc5

The capture has also come with preliminaries: 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Qxc5+ Ke8 10.0-0 d6 11.Qe3 Qe7 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.d4 Bb5 14.Nxb5 Kd7 15.Qh3+ Kd8 16.Nc3 Black resigned, mrjoker-Dabo, ICC 2008; and

8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qd4 Nf6 12.Nc3 Re8 13.d3 Kf8 14.0-0 c5 15.Qf2 b6 16.Bd2 Bb7 17.Rae1 d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.e6 Re7 20.exf7 Rxf7 21.Re6 Nf6 22.Rfe1 d4 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.dxe4 Bc8 25.Re5 Qd6 26.Rd5 Qh6 27.Qg3 Bb7 28.f5 Bxd5 29.Bxh6 gxh6 30.exd5 Rf6 31.Re6 Rxf5 32.Rxh6 Rf7 33.Qd6+ Kg8 34.Qe6 Raf8 35.Rf6 Kg7 36.Rxf7+ Rxf7 37.d6 Kf8 38.d7 Re7 39.Qf6+ Rf7 40.Qxf7+ Kxf7 41.d8Q Ke6 Black resigned, Superpippo - Sulu, FICS, 2002.

8...Qh4+

Or 8...d6 9.Qc3 Nf6 10.0-0 Kd7 11.e5 Nd5 12.e6+ Ke7 13.Qxg7 Bxe6 14.f5 Qg8 15.Qxg8 Raxg8 16.fxe6 Kxe6 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.dxc3 Rg6 19.Be3 b6 20.Rae1 Ne5 21.Bd4 Rhg8 22.Re2 c5 23.Bxe5 dxe5 24.Rfe1 Rg5 25.h4 Rf5 26.Re4 h5 27.c4 Rgf8 28.c3 Rf4 29.Rxe5+ Kd6 30.Rd5+ Kc6 31.Re6+ Kb7 32.Rxh5 Rxc4 33.Rh7+ Ka6 34.Ree7 Ra8 35.g3 Black resigned, tomvandermeer - keeswillern, GameKnot, 2006.

9.g3 Qe7

The Queen check did not prove very helpful, but the retreat will prove disastrous. The Queen needed to return to d8.

10.Qd5+

Curiously, in an earlier game White missed the checkmate-in-two, and later lost: 10.f5+ Kf6 11.Qd4+ Ne5 12.d3 c5 13.Qc3 Kf7 14.Bf4 Nf3+ 15.Kf2 Nd4 16.Nd2 Nf6 17.e5 Ng4+ 18.Kg2 Rd8 19.e6+ dxe6 20.fxe6+ Nxe6 21.Rhe1 Nxf4+ 22.gxf4 Qh4 23.Nf3 Qf2+ 24.Kh1 Qxf3+ 25.Kg1 Qf2+ 26.Kh1 Qf3+ 27.Kg1 Qf2+ 28.Kh1 Qxh2 checkmate, Nesseerd - MYCAT, FICS, 2007.

10...Kf6 11.Qf5 checkmate

The Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee File Again

Again disaster arrives down the e-file. Even if you are playing against a refuted opening like the Jerome Gambit, it is not a good idea to keep your King and Queen too long on an open file.

perrypawnpusher - OverwiseMan
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

An earlier game with my opponent continued: 6...Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qe8 9.fxe5+ Kc6 10.c3 Ne7 11.Qg5 g6 12.d4 h6 13.Qg3 Bb6 14.d5+ Kb5 15.Na3+ Ka6 16.Qd3+ Ka5 17.Qb5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - OverwiseMan, blitz, FICS, 2010.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 N8e7

More often seen is 9...Nf6. The text move can be a prelude to play along the f-file.

10.0-0

Or 10.f4 Rf8 11.0-0 Nc6 12.f5 Nge5 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3 h5 15.Be3 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 Qf6 17.c3 g6 18.Nd2 g5 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qxe5 21.Qxe5+ Nxe5 22.Rae1 Kf7 23.Rxe5 Kf6 24.Re2 Bd7 25.Ne4+ Kg7 26.f6+ Kg6 27.Rfe1 h4 28.c4 g4 29.Rf2 Rae8 30.Rfe2 Bc6 31.Nd2 Rd8 32.Ne4 h3 33.gxh3 gxh3 34.Kf2 Rde8 35.Kg3 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - taman, blitz, FICS, 2010.

10...d5

A good idea.

Earlier I saw 10...Be6 11.f4 d5 12.f5 d4 13.Qg3 Bc4 14.d3 Bxd3 15.cxd3 Nf8 16.Qxg7 Rg8 17.Qe5 c5 18.f6 Nfg6 19.f7+ Kf8 20.Bh6+ Rg7 21.Qxg7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - perama, blitz, FICS; and 

10...Rf8 11.f4 c6 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3 Nf6 15.Qxg7 Rg8 16.Qxf6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Kovrad, blitz, FICS, 2010.

11.exd5

After the game Rybka preferred 11.d3 followed by f2-f4.

11...Qxd5 12.Nc3 Qe5

The first confrontation on the e-file. I wasn't happy with the idea of exchanging Queens, but I couldn't think of anything better.

13.d4 Qe6

Puzzling: I thought he would have been happy with 13...Qxe3. Maybe he was thinking, If White wants to exchange Queens, then I don't want to.

14.Qg3 c6

15.Bg5 Nf5 16.Qd3 h6

Mistakenly assuming that White will move his Bishop. But, instead, there is the eeeeeeee-file!

17.Rae1 Ne5

Bad things are happening on the e-file, and this doesn't help. "Best" was 17...Kf7. 

18.Rxe5 hxg5 19.Rxe6+

Sufficient, but 19.Qxf5 was stronger.

19...Bxe6 20.Re1 Rd8

And White finishes up.

21.Rxe6+ Kf7 22.Qxf5+ Kg8 23.Qxg5 Rxd4 24.Re8+ Kf7 25.Rxh8 Ke6 26.Re8+ Kd6 27.Qe7 checkmate

The Other KB2

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) hits f7, the weakest one in Black's fortress as it is only protected by the King. White has a "King Bishop Two" square though, and my oppponent decided to give it attention.

perrypawnpusher - salla
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

A defense mentioned by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in a three-part analysis of his gambit in 1874. Jerome later used the line successfully in two correspondence games against Jaeger (who played the Jerome Gambit).

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6

9.d3 Ng4

Attacking my King's Bishop Two square. Continuing to castle-by-hand with 9...Kf7 seems more prudent.

10.0-0 Ke8

As if to say This won't take long, no need to castle...

Also seen: 10...Qf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.Be3 Nxe3 13.fxe3 Bf5 14.Rxf5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - marianomocoroa, blitz, 2010

11.h3 Nf6 12.Bg5

Capturing a pawn with 12.Qxg7 didn't seem worth it after 12...Rg8. After the game Rybka suggested 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 Qe7 which didn't appeal, either. 

12...h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nc3 Rf8

More pressure on f2. I admit that here I kind of wished that I had played 12.Be3. 

15.Nd5 Qd8

My opponent might have been having second thoughts about his strategy; otherwise he could have played 15...Qf7.

Now is the time to grab a pawn (and threaten another).

16.Qxg7 Be6

Planning on chasing away or exchanging off the annoying Knight, but overlooking something in the position. Essential was 16...Rf7.

17.Nxc7+ Qxc7 18.Qxc7 Black resigned