Hardly a Hopeless Patzer

I am going to leave the final words on the "Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit" (see "...or should they?") to the host of the blog "Hopeless Patzer", whose perspective I find both entertaining and educational. (I have added a few diagrams.)

BlackKnight8 - lindseyann
www.ChessWorld.net , 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7

Everything was book until now. Although, taking the pawn is not the best, doing this with the knight is even worse.

6...Qxe4+ 7.Kf1 Qc4+

This move lets me win the knight and retain my ablilty to castle.

8.Kg1 Qxf7 9.d3 Bc5 10.Be3 Bd6 11.f3 Nf6 12.Kf2 0-0

Ng4+ was slightly better here. It would have allowed me to simplify, but I was trying to get as many pieces as I could pressuring his king.

13.Re1 Bxh2 14.Nc3 Nd5

Once again, Ng4+ was the best move.

15.Rh1 Be5 16.f4 Nxe3

This was not the best move, but it caused a flood of pieces that he could not recover from.

17.Kxe3

And with this move he stepped into a mate that was easy to spot.

17...Qxf4+ 18.Ke2 Bg4+

Well, I missed the mate in 1 this time, but not the next.

19.Ke1 Qf2 checkmate

jay8172  - lindseyann
www.ChessWorld.net, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6

I am really not a fan of the Ruy Lopez. I usually manage to make a mess of things. Let's see how this works out.

5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 Kxf7

Turns out he made a mess of this. I was probably beefing up on my openings when this was played. Now neither of us are able to castle, but at least I'm up a piece.

9.d4 Nf6 10.Rd1 Bg4+

Developing my bishop with a skewer that is easily defended.

11.f3 Re8+ 12.Kf2 Bf5 13.Nc3 c5

I probably should have just taken the material with 13...Bxc2. But, I was trying to get my dark-square bishop into the game. He could have protected the g1-a7 diagonal with 14. Be3, but he didn't.

14.dxc5 Bxc5+ 15.Kg3 Nh5+

This move was no good and gets me into trouble in a minute.

16.Kh4 g6

I miss the completely obvious response 17.g4

17.g4

At this point in the game, I was completely convinced that Be7 would be mate. I did not notice his bishop quietly waiting to come to the defense.

17...Bf2+ 18.Kh3

Now I realize his bishop can come to the defense. I actually wrote in my notes during the game: Bxc2 trying to trick him into playing Rd2, then my mate works. This is what happened, but its never good to rely on your opponent to make a big blunder to win.

18...Bxc2 19.Rd2 Nf4 checkmate

Long Lost Cousin?!

Much like the long lost cousin who you wish had stayed lost, the Knight sacrifice in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez bears a family resemblance to the Jerome Gambit. 

Jerome Gambit

Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit

Still, as suggested in the notes to Pigjuice - perrypawnpusher, blitz, FICS, 2011, 6...Qxe4+ was stronger than the move played and reduces the resemblance. The following ICCF game, where a 2200+ player is schooled by someone rated over 450 points lower, puts things in perspective.

Christiaens,R (2242) - Dumont,G (1777)
Tournoi Accession 009, ICCF, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6

The good old Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation.

Black's coming pawn grab and Knight sacrifice are not considered part of his best defense.

5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7

Recommended by Rybka is 6.Nf3 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.Kxe2 Be6 9.Re1 0-0-0 10.d3 h6 11.Kf1 Nf6 12.h3 Bd6 13.Nbd2 Rhe8 14.b3 Nd5 15.Nc4 where Black has an edge.

6...Qxe4+

If, instead, the weaker 6...Kxf6, the game takes on a resemblance to the Jerome Gambit after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6. Amusingly, in the Spanish Game the White Bishop is exchanged on c6 and the Knight is sacrificed on f7, while in the Jerome Gambit the Bishop is sacrificed on f7 and the Knight exchanged on c6.

7.Kf1 Kxf7 8.Nc3 Qf5 9.h3 Bb4 10.a3 Bxc3 11.dxc3 Nf6

White's compensation for the piece is negligible. His timid play hastens the end.

12.b4 Be6 13.Bb2 Bc4+ 14.Kg1 Rad8 15.Qc1 Rhe8 16.Kh2 Re2 17.Re1 Qxf2 18.Rf1 Qxg2 checkmate

I probably will continue to investigate the "Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit" for historical purposes (and I have added the couple hundred games that I have uncovered to The Database), but after tomorrow's post –  letting a self-styled "hopeless patzer" have the final words – I will not inflict it further upon readers.

Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit??

Still puzzled and a bit impressed by the opening that Pigjuice sprung on me yesterday (see "...or should they?") I did a Google search, and much to my surprise ran across the following as part of a discussion of the Exchange Ruy Lopez at ChessGames.com

Nov-13-04 drukenknight: Spanish Exchange (N sack on f7). You know w/ my new "back to the basics" approach to chess, I decided to start looking into the exchange spanish, but it seems pretty freakin stupid. I always want to grab that pawn on e5 but it never seems to work out, but wait a minute! WHy can't white simply sack the N on f7 and gain 2 pawns and go on the attack? What could be more basic than that.....?

"No, stupid moron, you cant do that, no one does that, look here stupid...

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Bxc6 dxc6
5.Nxe5 Qd4
6.Nxf7 Kxf7
7.Qf3+ Qf6
8.Qb3+ Qe6
9.Qf3+ Nf6
10.d3 Bd6
11.Bf4 Bxf4
12.Qxf4 Qe7
13.00


Errh well maybe it's bad, but hey what about this...?


1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Bxc6 dxc6
5.Nxe5 Qd4
6.Nxf7 Kxf7
7.d3 Nf6
8.c3 Qe5
9.O-O Bd6
10.f4 Qb5
11.e5


chesslab computer takes black and starts rating it at -2.5 (me so stupid) and then comes almost back to equality, that's odd...


Then I tried another version with an insane K march courtesy of the metal monster, don’t ask me I'm even more confused then ever after....


1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Bxc6 dxc6
5.Nxe5 Qd4
6.Nxf7 Kxf7
7.Qf3+ Qf6
8.Qg3 Bd6
9.Qb3+ Kg6
10.h4 Kh5


Maybe evaluation of this depends on how good your computer assistant is.

So maybe the Knight sacrifice in the Ruy Lopez Exchange line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 6.Nxf7

wasn't something that Pigjuice had made up on the spur of the moment, I wondered.

I checked the FICS games database and found three more games by Pigjuice with that line. Interesting... "Malice aforethought" as they say.

In fact, in the last three months of play at FICS the sac had been played over 200 times. That was "something" but I wasn't exactly sure what kind of "something" – for example, White scored under 20% in those games...

More investigation is needed.



graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws

...or should they?

I once wrote that "perhaps not every opening should be Jerome-ized..." I've been re-thinking that: recently an opponent in a 3 0 blitz game found a piece sacrifice that turned that respectable opening into something remarkably Jerome-ish, a trick that gave me quite a headache.

Pigjuice - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2011

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

The Ruy Lopez, I know. Just wait a few moves.

4...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5

A slip. I think that it was unintentional.

5...Qd4 6.Nxf7

Making things interesting.

6...Kxf7

The resemblance to a Jerome Gambit variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Nxc6 dxc6) is remarkable.

Ruy Lopez

 


Jerome Gambit

 

In the Ruy Lopez White's Bishop was exchanged on c6 and his Knight was sacrificed on f7. In the Jerome Gambit, the Knight was exchanged on c6 and the Bishop was sacrificed on f7. You can not see the difference.

I do not think that having his Queen developed instead of his Bishop is an improvement for Black over the Jerome line. Having the King on f7 instead of f8 is probably helpful in terms of castling-by-hand.

The facts were clear, though: I was now defending a Jerome Gambit (I'll think about calling it a "Ruy Lopez Jerome Gambit" later) – and my clock was ticking.

7.Qf3+ Qf6

An endgame – without White's attacking Queen – appealed to me, but 7... Nf6 was probably better. My opponent was not interested.

8.Qb3+ Qe6 9.Qf3+ Nf6

10.Nc3 Bb4 11.d3 Rf8 12.Bd2 Kg8

13.O-O Qg4 14.Qe3 Bd7 15.a3 Bd6 16. Ne2 Rae8

I was holding my own, although after the game Fritz10 suggested 16...Nd5 17.Qg5 (if 17.exd5 Rae8) 17...Qxe2 18.Rae1 Qg4 19.exd5 Qxg5 20.Bxg5 cxd5 as a way to a comfortable Queenless middlegame.

The next move I had a similar idea, but it did not work out as well.

17.Ng3 Nd5 18.Qa7 Bc8

Overlooking a couple of things.

19.exd5

That was one of them: dropping a piece. Now I was down a pawn with less than a minute to play, no increment.

The other thing? The pawn that I protected was not worth it, as 18...Nb6 would have shown: 19.Qxb7 Rb8 20.Qxa6 Ra8 21.Qb7 Rfb7 and the Queen is lost.

19...cxd5 20.f3 Qg6 21.Qf2 Bxg3 22.Qxg3 Qxg3 23.hxg3 c6

I callously planned on reaching a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame that I could shuffle pieces in quickly – important, as I not only had little time left, I had less than my opponent.

24.Rae1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Kf7 26.f4 Re8 27.Rxe8 Kxe8

If time were not an issue, we probably would have split the point here, and I would have congratulated my opponent – rated 200 points below me – on his opening play creativity.

I was ready to very quickly do "nothing". My opponent's downfall was that he was trying to quickly do "something."

28.Bc3 g6 29.Bg7 h5 30.Bh6 Kf7 31.Bg5 Ke6 32.Kf2 Kf5 33.Ke3 Be6 34.c3 a5 35.d4 a4 36.Kd3 b5

Don't go away quite yet. There are some interesting positions to come.

37.Kc2 Kg4 38.b3

I was pleased to see my opponent "thinking" instead of "shuffling". Thinking takes more time.

38...axb3+ 39.Kxb3 Kxg3 40.a4 bxa4+ 41.Kxa4 Kxg2 42.Kb4 Kg3

In Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgames the blockade of enemy pawns by both Bishop and King is essential. I realized that White's King excursion gave me a chance to un-blockade my Kingside pawns and I squeezed a few thoughts out of my brain...

43.Kc5 Bd7

More straight-forward, winning White's Bishop, was 43...h4, although it needed some precision: 44.Bxh4+ Kxh4 45.Kxc6 Kg4 46.Kd6 Kf5! Instead, if Black abandons his Bishop to go directly to Queening a pawn he gets his wish, but after 46...Kxf4 47.Kxe6 g5 48.c4 dxc4 49.d5 c3 50.d6 c2 51.d7 c1=Q 52.d8=Q the Q + K + P vs Q + K endgame takes a whole lot of moves – and time – to win.

44.Kd6 Be8

I was ahead of my opponent in time (what was left of it) here, but thinking was still a precious commodity. It seemed like time to abandon my Bishop and win Pigjuice's.

45.Ke7 h4 46.Kxe8

Giving up the Bishop first with 46.Bxh4+ leads to the kind of endgame that I was familiar with and had won on several occasions: 46...Kxh4 47.Kxe8 Kg3 48.Kd7 Kxf4 49.Kxc6 g5 50.Kxd5 g4 51.Kc6 g3 52.d5 g2 53.d6 g1=Q 54.d7 Qg5 – Black's Queen holds the advanced pawn and when Black's King joins the fight, the pawns will be won and then the enemy King checkmated.

Still, that would take moves, thinking, and time – more by Black than White, it seems – so it was probably White's more practical chance. Now, Black's pawn can promote.

46...h3

47.f5

The same idea, without giving up the f-pawn, would arise after 47.Bd8 h2 48.Bc7 h1=Q 49.f5+ Kg4 50.fxg6 although, like in the note to White's 46th move, Black's Queen and King can control White's passer:  50...Qh6 51.Kf7 Kf5 52.g7 Qe6+ 53.Kf8 Qc8+ 54.Kf7 Qxc7+ 55.Kf8 Qd8+ 56.Kf7 Qf6+ 57.Kg8 Kg6.

The cooperation between Black's Queen and King is worth knowing about for this kind of ending.

47... gxf5 48.Bf6 h2 49.Be5+ f4 White forfeited on time

Whew!

Hats off and a deep bow of respect to my opponent.

...Bf8-d6

Some moves for Black and or for White in an opening are "thematic" – the kind of moves that are played frequently, because they accomplish the tactical or strategic aims of that line.

Some are not.

eltemible - DJJDev
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5

That unnamed "line of play that everyone should know about".

4.Bxf7+

For the record, 4.Nxe5 is best.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.d4 Bd6

I don't have anything against the move ...Bf8-d6 in the abstract; I am sure that sometimes it is an ambitious move (I am thinking of the Four Knights Game), but as in the Jerome Gambit game HauntedKnight - sarahdaniel, blitz, FICS, 2011 that we looked at a short time ago, and as in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit game HJBuck - fastglass, blitz, FICS, 2011, it is also a poor fit in this related line: Black does better with 6...d6. See "The Psychology of Error in Chess".

7.Qg4+

Simply the beginning of The End.

7...Ke7 8.Bg5+

Okay, it seems that The End has been postponed. It was expected to arrive with 8.Qxg7+ Ke6 9.Qf7 checkmate, but it still is not far away.

8... Nf6

The sad alternative was for Black's King to step aside and let his Queen be taken without even the recompense of recapture, as 8...Ke8 9.Bxd8 Kxd8 loses a Rook to 10.Qxg7. Painful.

9.Bxf6+ gxf6

As above, "best" was 9...Ke8 10.Bxd8 and again 10...Kxd8 would lose a Rook to 11.Nf7+.

It is no wonder that Black chose a faster exit.

10.Qg7+ Ke8 11.Qf7 checkmate

It is not as if DJJDev had not been warned. A year and a half ago he had played 6...Bd6, and his opponent, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member UNPREDICTABLE, had also found 7.Qg4+, although after 7...Kf6 The End was again postponed – if for more moves, then also with more pain – 8.Qh4+ (or 8.Bg5#) 8...Ke6 9.Qxd8 Be7 10.Qxc7 Nc6 11.d5+ Kf6 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Nxd7+ Ke6 14.Qxc6+ Kf7 15.Ne5+ Kf8 16.Qxa8 Nf6 17.Qxc8+ Ne8 Black resigned.

Without Thinking

Dear Readers,

Look at the following diagram.

What move would you play for White?

If it takes more than 10 seconds to decide, read further...

perrypawnpusher - javipangea
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

As noted elsewhere, Black's best here is the "fork trick" 4...Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5. This equalizes for Black, but, as with many of the Jerome Gambit refutations, the game does not "play itself" from there, as one of my recent opponents discovered: 6.Bd3 (best) dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bg4 (interesting) 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.0-0 e4 10.Re1 Bc5 (huh?) 11.Rxe4+ Black resigned (a bit early, but perhaps disappointed in the game), perrypawnpusher - NN, blitz, FICS, 2011.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6

10.Qd3

Twice before I played, instead, 11.Qc4+, but was not happy with the results: perrypawnpusher - mjmonday, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 26) and perrypawnpusher - DeDaapse, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 19).

I chose the objectively weaker text because I was feeling lucky... (As they warn in those television commercials: Closed course. Professional Driver. Do not attempt.)

10...Nb4

Played without much thought, attacking the Queen – and returning a piece.

11.Qc4+ Nfd5

Unnecessarily generous. After 11...d5 12.Qxb4 dxe4 White would be only a pawn up.

12.exd5 Nxc2

And so we have the position given in the introductory diagram. Material is even, but Black's Knight is threatening White's Rook. More to the point, though, White's Queen is threatening Black's King.

What to move?

13.d6+


Of course.

Not only does White open a line to the enemy King, more importantly he blocks Black's d-pawn, which in turn block's Black's Bishop, which in turn block's Black's Rook...

13...Kf8 14.Rb1

Boooooooo!

The move, saving the Rook, is of course just fine.

However, White's 13th move begs to be followed by the thematic 14.Nd5. Unless Black moves his Knight, he will lose it, yet 14...Nxa1 allows White to mate: 15.Qf4+ Qf6 (15... Ke8 16. Re1+ Qe7 17. Rxe7+ Kd8 18. dxc7#; 15...Kg8 16.Ne7+ Qxe7 17.dxe7 d5 18.e8=Q+ Kh7 19.Qef7 h5 20.Qh6#) 16.Nxf6 gxf6 17.Qxf6+ Kg8 18.Qg6+ Kf8 19.Re1 Nc2 20.Re8 checkmate.

Readers with sharp tactical skills probably found 13.d6+ and 14.Nd5 in under 10 seconds.

14...cxd6 15.Ne4 d5 16.Qxd5 Nb4

That pesky Knight is escaping!

17.Qf5+

After the game Rybka suggested the "simple" 17.Qc5+ Kg8  18.Qxb4, collecting the Knight. Was it really that easy?

What about 17...Qe7, blocking the check and protecting the Knight?

Well, it turns out that White can answer with 18.Nd6 (you probably saw that coming) and then answer 18...Na6 with 19.Qd4.

analysis diagram









I was fascinated to see that Rybka rates this position about four and a half pawns better for White. Think about it: material is even and White has one more piece developed than Black (if you count the Rook at f1, but not the Rook at b1). None of Black's pieces are hanging.

What will happen? White will put his Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal with either Bc1-d2-c3 or b2-b3 & Bc1-b2 and then he will move a Rook to e1. Eventually something will shake loose...

In an 8-game "shootout" match from this position between Rybka 3 Dynamic and Rybka 3 Human, White won all of the games. Likewise, in a "shootout" between Rybka 3 and Houdini 1.5a.  

17...Qf6

A slip. Sometimes it seems that defending against the Jerome Gambit isn't worth my opponents' full attentions.

Of course, after the much better 17...Kg8 White again has 18.Nd6. Understanding that position, as with the earlier one, will open a few more doors in the mystery that is chess.

18.Nxf6 gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Black resigned.

Psychology Rather Than Chessology

Not long after assembling "BSG Talk: Hmmmm..." I ran into the following game which touches on the same theme.


xcaliberpeng - wowgirl
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

More "Jedi Mind Tricks"? Is the Declined becoming more accepted? Or is this in the spirit of the "Anti-Bill Wall Gambit", that If-you-want-me-to-take-the-Bishop-then-I-won't-take-the-Bishop? In any case, the explanation for the move can more likely be found in psychology rather than chessology.

5.Nxd4 exd4 6.Qh5

Exchanging Knights on the 5th move was a good way to deal with Black's declining the Bishop, but now it is time for White to deal with the Bishop himself. Either 6.Bb3, 6.Bc4 or 6.Bxg8 preserve White's advantage (extra pawn, safer King, easier development).

The text does not.

6...Nf6

The fly in the ointment.

White can now try 7.Qc5+ Kxf7 8.Qxd4 and have two pawns for his sacrificed piece, but his attacking chances have been dulled by Black's Knight on f6.

Instead, White seems to whip up a "mind trick" of his own. In blitz chess, that is relatively easy to do.

7.Qg5 Kxf7 8.e5

Black's King has escaped the pin on his Knight, but the Queen has not. But – wait a minute – Black has a pin of his own that he can use.

8...Nd5

Ouch!

After 8...Qe7 first, then 9.0-0 Nd5 the Knight would have escaped. Now the Queen falls.

9.Qxd8 Nf4 10.0-0 Ne2+ 11.Kh1 Rg8 12.Qxc7 b6 13.Qc4+ Black resigned