Not Having A Good Day

By checking the New Year's Database after this game was played, I learned that my opponent and I had clashed four times before, with two wins for me plus a couple of draws. That doesn't help explain what happened the 5th time.

Maybe he was not having a good day.

perrypawnpusher - frencheng
7 5 blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

An interesting choice. frencheng has played 6...Kf8 twice against me, scoring a draw and a loss. He has drawn with 6...Ng6.

7.Qxe5

I was wondering: will I see the Blackburne Defense (7...d6) or the Whistler Defense (7...Qe7)?

Previously my opponent had tried the unnamed 7...Qf6 against me.

7...Bd6

Hmm... Neither.

Including this game, according to the New Year's Database, 7...Bd6 has scored only 10% for Black in 30 games.

8.Qxh8 Qf6

If Black is going to have any chance at justifying giving up the Rook he has to try to complicate the game with something like 8...Qh4 and after 9.d3 then 9...Nf6, to trap the White Queen.

Of course, that's why the first time I met 8...Qh4 I responded with 9.Qd4, retrieving the Queen. The second time I varied with 9.Nc3 and got away with it when my opponent's game promptly exploded.

9.Qxh7+ Qg7 10.Qxg7+ Kxg7

Black has little for his exchange and three pawns.

11.d4 c5 12.Be3 Nf6 13.e5 cxd4

A tactic that doesn't work. It was just not frencheng's day.

14.exf6+ Kxf6 15.Bxd4+ Be5 16.Bxe5+ Kxe5 17.Nc3 Black resigned

Re-Inventing the Flat Tire

Just like some people discover or invent the Jerome Gambit on their own, apart from the efforts of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome and the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, so do those players continue to play a tricky but suicidal line, even after the "Death of a Variation".

SOLKIE - fianchettoking
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+

Outrageous, even by Jerome Gambit standards. On the surface, White hopes to exchange his Knight for Black's Bishop at c5 – but the game quickly becomes too chaotic for that.

5...Qxg5

White resigned here in lilpuppy - korppi, blitz, FICS, 2010

6.d4

6.Qf3+ Qf6 White resigned, fadelio - andreialex, blitz, FICS, 2010

6...Qxg2 7.Qh5+ g6 White resigned

Turnabout is Fair (Counter)Play

I play the various Jerome Gambits so I can attack.

It is not as much fun when my opponent comes gunning for my King.

As this game shows, my defensive skills could use a bit of a boost.

perrypawnpusher - vlas
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
 

4.Bxf7+

This is my 3rd Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit against vlas.

4...Kxf7

4...Ke7 led to an 84-move win for me in perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2010.

5.Nxe5+ Ke8

Again, 5...Ke7 my opponent's choice in an earlier game perrypawnpusher - vlas, blitz, FICS, 2009.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6

10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4

White has four pawns for his sacrificed piece. The position is dynamically equal.

11...c5 12.Qe3 Bh6 13.Qe2 Bg4 14.f3 Be6

This is an improvement over perrypawnpusher - foreverblackman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21).

15.Nc3

After the game Rybka had a hard time figuring out what to do here, giving this line: 15.g3 Kd7 16.Nc3 Bg7 17.b3 Nh5 18.Rf1 Bh3 19.Rh1 Be6 20.Rf1 Bh3 repeating the position.

15...Qg8 16.d3 Bxc1 17.Rxc1 Qg5

18.Rd1 Rag8 19.Kf1

Rybka shows the right way to defend & counterattack, and eventually has Black repeating the position for a draw: 19.g3 Rh3 20.Qf2 Rf8 21.f4 Ng4 22.Qg2 Qh6 23.e5 dxe5 24.Qxb7+ Ke8 25.Rd2 exf4 26.Rf1 Rf5 27.Ne4 Kd8 28.Qb8+ Bc8 29.Rxf4 Rxg3 30.hxg3 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qg2+ 32.Kd1 Qg1+ 33.Ke2.

I am definitely not a computer, but I should have been able to find 19.g3 instead of the text, which is an error.

Now Black blasts my game apart.

19...Nh5 20.Rd2 Ng3+ 21.hxg3 Rxh1+ 22.Kf2 Qxg3+ 23.Ke3 Re1 White resigned

A Not-So-Instant Victory

There is a line in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit where the Black King wanders far in search of adventure (and material). In the following recent game a capture seems to lead to an "Instant Victory", but things are not as simple as they appear.


kukkfive - Krait
standard game, 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 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4

This looks even more dangerous for the King than 7...Kxd4. Best was the retreat 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 Kf7 when Black maintains an edge.

8.Qg4+

Is this the killer move? At one point (in one game), I thought so. Certainly a number of moves have been tried successfully, but that's not the complete story.

8.0-0 Qf6 (8...Nf6 was a better test, although White can continue with 9.Qf3+ with hopes for an advantage) 9.Qc2+ Kxd4 10.b4 Kd5 11.Bb2 Qg6 12.Qb3+ Kd6 13.Re1 b6 14.Be5+ Kc6 15.Rc1+ Kb7 16.Rxc7+ Kb8 17.Rc6+ Black resigned, fidotopdog - Krait, FICS, 2009;

8.d3+ Kxd4 (better was 8...Kd5 and after 9.Qb3+ Kc6 10.Qc4+ Kb6 White can do little more than continue checking and arrange a draw) 9.Be3+ Kd5 10.Nc3+ Ke6 11.Qg4+ Kf7 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Nd5+ Ke6 14.Nf4+ Kd6 15.Bc5+ Kc6 16.Rc1 Nf6 17.Be7+ Kb6 18.Qc5+ Ka6 19.Qa3+ Black resigned, Jeopar - Krait, FICS, 2009;

8.Nc3+ Kxd4 9.Qg4+ (9.Qf3 transposing to 8.Qf3 is the right idea, but White gets away with his move) 9...Ke5 (9...Kc5 was the way out) 10.d4+ Kd6 11.Bf4+ Ke7 12.0-0 Kf7 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qd5+ Kg7 15.Ne4 Nf6 16.Nxf6 Kxf6 17.Bg5+ Black resigned, kingpro - Krait, FICS, 2009;


8.Qh5 Kxd4 (8...g5 is the right move for Black, forcing 9.Qf3+ Kxd4 10.Nc3 transposing to 8.Qf3) 9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3 12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate, Melao Jr.,H - Danilo, Centro Cultural, 1996;


8.Qf3+ (the best move for White) Kxd4 9.0-0 (instead, 9.Nc3 c6 10.Qe3+ Kc4 11.a4 and the mating net closing around Black's King will force him to give up his Queen one way or another) 9...Qf6 (after 9...Kc5 Black's King may be able to walk away from the battle, giving White only the opportunity to draw through repetition of Queen checks) 10.Qg4+(necessary was 10.Qe3+, winning) Kc5 11.Nc3 d5 12.Qa4 a6 13.b4+ Kd6 14.Bb2 c6 (moving the Queen to g6 avoids the now possible 15.Ne4+ although Black may still hold on with three pieces for his Queen after 15...dxe4 16.Bxf6 Nxf6) 15.Nd1 (this should lose) Qf4 16.Re1 Qe4 (a mouse slip, perhaps??) 17.Rxe4 Black resigned, GOH - kremba, FICS, 2009.

8...Kd5 9.Nc3+

Now, after 9...Kc6, as implausible as it seems, Black's King is secure. Even after 10.d5+ Kd6 the game is complicated, but even.

9...Kd6

What a difference a square makes!

10.Qf4+

After 10.0-0 I needed cooperation from my opponent to win in perrypawnpusher - MNUNP, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 18).

The strongest move here, tightening the net, is 10.Qe4.

10...Ke7

A slip. Better for Black (the move, the game) was 10...Ke6. Now things turn simply horrible for him.

11.Nd5+ Ke8 12.Nxc7+ Ke7 13.Nxa8 d6 14.0-0 Kd7 15.Qf7+ Kc6 16.d5+ Kc5 17.d4+ Kxd4 18.Be3+ Kc4 19.Rac1+ Kb5 20.Nc7+ Ka5 21.Qf4 Black resigned

Two Positions

In the following game my opponent out-played me, encouraging me to extend a shell of "Jerome pawns" which he then cracked like an egg. I'd like to look at a couple of interesting positions from the game, neither of which I "solved" correctly.

 perrypawnpusher - mconst
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Ne5

This is the first position. Black is clearly being provocative, asking for the d-pawn or the f-pawn to kick the Knight to g4. I've not seen it before.

Instead, I've seen 9...Nf6 in perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 37); perrypawnpusher - joejox, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1/2- 1/2, 27); perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23); perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS,  2009 (1-0, 38); perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 25);  perrypawnpusher - SkypeFro, blitz, FICS 2010 (1-0, 39);   perrypawnpusher - BishopChris, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22);

I've also faced 9...Be6 in perrypawnpusher - jamtaylo, blitz, ChessWorld Welcome JG, 2009 (1-0, 27).

10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4

Likely better is 11.d4, which would cause me to re-think my understanding of how to play this position. The attraction of the move is obvious: kicking the Knight on e5 and opening the c1-h6 diagonal for White's dark squared Bishop. It also means that White should then answer 11...Neg4 (not the best response) with 12.Qd3, giving up, at least for the moment, the idea of pinning Black's Knight along the f-file with either the Rook or Queen and then attacking it with e4-e5.

11...Neg4

This is probably not as solid as 11...Nc6 but it is much more annoying.

12.Qf3 Nh6

13.h3 Kf7 14.e5 Ne8 15.g4 Rf8 16.Qd5+ Be6 17.Qxb7 Qh4

Here's the second position of interest. The question is: Is Black bluffing?

He had the choice of the ordinary 17...dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Qe4 Nf7 which is about equal.

Instead, he offers a Rook.

18.Qg2

I played this too quickly, but it is worth looking at 18.Qxa8 d5, locking the Queen out. The alternatives to the pawn move, 18...Qxh3, 18...Nf6 and 18...Nxg4, are all well met by 19.Qg2.

When White then covers his h-pawn with 19.Kg2, Black has 19...Nd6, exposing an attack on the Queen.

As Her Majesty runs back home, Black breaks through: 20.Qxa7 Ne4 21.Qa3, however I have not been able to find anything better for Black than either 21...Bxg4 or 21...Nxg4 each which yield nothing more than a draw through perpetual check after 22.hxg4.

18...Rb8 19.f5 Bc8 20.d4 Bb7 

The game is complicated, and my play from here on out is not good.

21.Qh2

White needed to shield himself from that Bishop with 21.d5 dxe5 22.c4, when Black might have a slight edge.

21...Kg8

Prudent, but there were good attacking chances with 21...Nxg4.

22.Nd2

White needed to get rid of that Knight with 22.Bxh6
22...Nxf5

Even more deadly was 22...Nxg4, but my game was collapsing fast.

23.gxf5 Qxd4+ 24.Rf2 Rxf5 25.Nb3 Qd1+ White resigned

Instant Victory Redux

I'm not sure how many people read this blog on a daily basis, but I certainly do. With the number of posts climbing toward 1,000 there is a lot of information on the Jerome Gambit and its relatives and I need to keep up.

For example, a few days ago I posted on the topic of "Instant Victory" in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. There is a 6th move choice for Black that should give his opponent a very quick win, but in over 150 games in the New Year's Database, that had happened only 2/3 of the time. I wanted to help readers improve that success rate to 100%.

Today I played the following game.

perrypawnpusher - Raankh
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

I have a draw and a loss against Raankh in two Jerome Gambit games.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ Ke7

Uh oh. Its that move. Lucky for me I read this blog.

(Earlier this year Raankh played the stronger 6...g6 against me, and I won in 49 moves after a long and drawn-out battle.)

7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc5 9.Qd5+ Kb4 10.c3+ Black resigned

Daves111 Tops ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic

Dominating the field like What's-His-Name in the picture on the left, Daves111 left his twelve opponents in the dust as he stormed to the top in the just-completed (or "just about" completed: the remaining game is a mate-in-two) double round robin ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.

Daves111 scored 21 points out of 24 games, taking 10 out of 12 points available with the White pieces and 11 out of 12 points with the Black pieces.

He was followed by CheckmateKingTwo and Jerome Gambit veteran DREWBEAR 63, each with 17.5 points. My guess is that the tie break will go to CheckmateKingTwo, as he beat DREWBEAR 63 in their two games.

In fourth place, with 16 out of 24 points, was blackburne, the tournament organizer and long-time member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.

TWODOGS and Crusader Rabbit achieved plus scores, with 13.5 and 13 points respectively.

shm19cs broke even with 12 points and eddie43 just missed that mark with 11.5 points.

There followed LukeWarm with 10 points, stampyshortlegs with 9 points, calchess10 with 8 points and Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate with 7 points. anbeks finished with 0 points.

The top scorers with the Jerome Gambit were Daves111 (10 points), CheckmateKingTwo (8.5) and DREWBEAR 63 (7.5).

The top scorers against the Jerome Gambit were Daves111 (11 points), DREWBEAR 63 (10 points) and CheckmateKingTwo (9 points).

The greatest upset was calchess10 winning a game against an opponent with a rating 350 points higher.

The Jerome Gambit itself scored 46%, which is consistent with how well it has done in past thematic tournaments.