Looking Deeper: The Reversed BSG

After yesterday's discovery of a reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit game (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG") I decided to check in with a couple of Bishop Opening experts and see what they had to say about it.

I emailed Dr. Timothy Harding, a Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess and author of over 30 chess books, including the classic Bishop's Opening, the still-referred-to Italian Game (with George Botterill), and Vienna Opening.

His interest in unorthodox openings, as well, is reflected in such titles as Counter Gambits, Irregular Openings for the 1990s, Dynamic White Openings and Dynamic Black Defenses.

By the way, Dr. Harding has written extensively on correspondence chess, having been editor of the Chess Mail magazine and compiler of the MegaCorr CD-ROM database series of correspondence games (for many years a "secret weapon" used by stronger players).

His newest book title is  Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987 (see picture above) and it is really quite a great read. I will be reviewing it for Chessville.com.

Anyhow, to my dismay, but not to my surprise, Dr. Harding was not familiar with the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit, and the one game he sent me shows that White, who initiated the gambit, was not, either.

 Stormtrooper - Tofik
HCL-C1126 PlayChess.de, 2002

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Nd5

4...Nxe4 5.Ne3

A lackluster reply.

A BSGer would fire out 5.Qg4 immediately. As Tim McGrew has written about the regular BSG: Only [the Queen] move gives Black’s idea any punch.

Sadly, the rest of the game is not very exciting, either, until the second player engineers a breakthrough and advances a pair of connected passed pawns...

5...d6 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Ng5 d5 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.0-0 0-0 12.a4 a6 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.d4 e4 15.Ne5 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Ne8 17.c3 f5 18.f4 g6 19.b3 Ng7 20.Ba3 Re8 21.Qd2 b5 22.a5 Bb7 23.Rfd1 c6 24.b4 Ne6 25.g3 Rc8 26.Bb2 Re7 27.Kg2 Rd7 28.Ra3 c5 29.h4 cxb4 30.cxb4 d4 31.Kg1 Rcc7 32.Ng2 d3 33.Rc3 Nd4 34.Ne1 Ne2+ White resigned

That's how it goes: sometimes the beginning of a research project moves along slowly... Tomorrow's post shows how quickly the pace can pick up!

Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG

I'm not quite sure how I first ran into the following game, but it is unusual enough to share with Readers. How many times have you come across a reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit??

Nielsen,C - Olsen,K
1989

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5

Certainly White has a variety of alternatives to this exotic move, but so, too, does Black when he plays 3...Nd4 in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4...Nxe4 5.Qg4

Just as White is cautioned against taking Black's e-pawn in the regular BSG, because of 4...Qg5, so, too, he gets to play his own Queen out in the reversed lines.

5...Bxf2+

Rybka 3, analyzing the game in "blunder check" mode, notes that this is the "last book move", suggesting that at least one of the programmers considered the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit. Interesting.

6.Kf1 Qh4

Black goes all to pieces and protects his Knight with his Queen which is protected by his Bishop which is protected by the Knight...

He would be advised next time the opportunity arises to find 6...0-0 7.Qxe4 Bxg1 8.Kxg1 c6 recovering his lost piece, with roughly an equal game. 

7.Qxh4

This leads to a White advantage, but 7.Qxg7 would lead to an even larger White advantage. 

7...Bxh4 8.Nxc7+ Kd8 9.Nxa8

9...f5 10.Nf3 Bf6 11.d3 Nd6 12.Bd5 Nc6 13.Bd2 Ne7 14.Bb3 b6 15.Bb4 Ne8 16.Bc3 d6 17.Kf2 Bb7 18.Nxb6 axb6

The smoke has settled, and White is the exchange ahead. He can be happy with his opening experiment.

However, for the rest of the game he is out-played by his opponent, eventually dropping the full point. The endgame is interesting, but I will not comment further on individual moves:

19.Rab1 g5 20.h3 Ng6 21.Bd2 h6 22.Be3 Kc7 23.Bf7 Ne7 24.Rhe1 Ng7 25.Bc4 g4 26.hxg4 fxg4 27.Nh2 Bh4+ 28.g3 Rf8+ 29.Kg1Bxg3 30.Rf1 Bxh2+ 31.Kxh2 g3+ 32.Kg1 Rxf1+ 33.Rxf1 Nef5 34.Bd2 h5 35.d4 exd4 36.Bd3 Bc8 37.Bxf5 Nxf5 38.Bf4 h4 39.Rf3 Bb7 40.Rd3 Be4 41.Rd2 h3 42.Bxg3 Nxg3 43.Rf2 d3 44.cxd3 Bxd3 45.Rf3 Ne2+ 46.Kh2 Bc4 47.Rxh3 Bxa2 48.Re3 Nd4 49.Kg2 Kc6 50.Kf2 Kb5 51.Rc3 Bc4 52.Ke1 d5 53.Kd2 Kc5 54.Rg3 b5 55.Rc3 b4 56.Rg3 Nb3+ 57.Kc2 d4 58.Rg5+ Kb6 59.Rg3 Kb5 60.Rg5+ Ka4 61.Rg3 Nc5 62.Rg4 d3+ 63.Kc1 Kb3 64.Rd4 Na4 65.Kb1 Nxb2 66.Ka1 Kc2 67.Rd8 d2 68.Rd6 Nd3 69.Rxd3 Bxd3 70.Ka2 Bc4+ White Resigned

Another Odd Thing

Sacrifice unsoundly, fall behind in development, send the Queen out to hunt pawns...

Doesn't sound like much of a recipe for victory, does it? Oddly, that kind of describes the way that I played the following game. Wins with White in the Jerome Gambit are often odd things.

perrypawnpusher - Solaar
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

The Database has 82 games with this position. White scores 70%. This is my 29th time here, scoring 81%.

10.0-0 Qe7 11.Nc3

The alternative is 11.d3, although transpositions are likely. 

11...Be6

Looking for trouble.

Rybka 3 suggests 11...Kf7, while 11...Rf8 was seen in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31); 11...Ne5 was seen in perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 50); and 11...Kd7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

12.f4 Kd7

Odd, perhaps planning to castle-by-hand on the Queenside; but returning the piece, intentionally or otherwise.

Better was 12...Bc4 as in QuadCoreBR - Alecs, FICS, 2008: 13.d3 Ba6 14.b4 b6 15.b5 Bb7 16.f5 Ne5 17.d4 Neg4 18.Qg3 h5 19.h3 Nh6 20.e5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Bxe4 22.Bg5 Qd7 23.e6 Qxb5 24.Bxh6 gxh6 25.a4 Qe2 26.Rf2 Qc4 27.Qg7 Black resigned.

13.f5 Bxf5

Slightly better was 13...Bc4 14.d3 Ne5 15.dxc4 Nxc4 16.Qd4 Ne5, when Black would be down a pawn, but he would have pressure and play against the backward White pawn on e4.

14.Rxf5

Was Solaar expecting me to play 14.exf5? If so, after 14...Qxe3+ 15.dxe3 Ne5 14.e4 the game would have reached the position mentioned in the note to Black's 13th move, only with Queens off the board and it being Black's move. White would still have an edge.

14...Rae8 15.d3 Kc8

The difficulty for Black here is that even though he is better developed and White's center is under pressure, there is time for White's Queen to go pawn-hunting.

16.Qxa7 Rhf8 17.Bg5

Also possible was 17.Qa8+ Kd7 18.Qxb7 but I decided to save that for later,

17...Qe6 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 Qxf6 20.Rf1 Qe5

21.Qa8+

After the game Rybka 3 pointed out the more ferocious 21.Rf5 Qe6 22.Rb5 Kd7 23.Rxb7 Rc8 24.Nb5. I was content to be a few pawns up and head toward the endgame.

21...Kd7 22.Qxb7 Nf4 23.Qb5+ Qxb5 24.Nxb5 Rf8 25.Nc3 c6 26.g3 Ne6 27.Rxf8 Nxf8

28.Kf2 Ne6 29.Ke3 c5 30.Ne2 g5 31.c3 Kc6 32.d4 c4

A slip that ends the game quickly, rather than slowly.

33.d5+ Black resigned

A Tale of Threes

My first three Jerome Gambit games against MRBarupal, I lost.

My second three (counting the one below), I won.

This most recent game overlaps a couple of earlier games, making a third interesting "three". 

perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

My first three games (0-3) against this opponent continued 5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6. The next three (3-0) continued 5...Kf8.

There are plenty more Jerome Gambit refutations for us to explore.

6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6

8.d3 Bg4 9.Qe1 Qd7

Varying from 9...Qe8 which appeared in  perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011 (10. Be3 Bd6 11.f4 Nh5 12.e5 Be7 13.f5 Black resigned) and the following day in Knightpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011 (10.Be3 Black resigned).

Fritz8 doesn't see much difference between 9...Qd7 and 9...Qe8, although it slightly prefers a third move, 9...Kf7.

10.Be3 Be7 11.f4 Re8

12.Nd2 h5

Developing his final piece, with aggressive intentions? Or preparing a pawn formation against an expected avalanche of "Jerome pawns"? 

13.Nf3

After the game Rybka 3 was critical of this move, preferring Nd2-c4-e5 as the proper way for the Knight to advance to the center. After the text, Black can simply exchange the piece off – which he promptly does.

13...Bxf3 14.Rxf3 g6

This is a complicated position. After the game Rybka 3 preferred sending the Knight to g4 to exchange off the Bishop at e3, keeping Black's edge.

15.f5

Playing to open lines against the enemy King, but this could turn risky, as White is behind in development. Rybka 3's suggestions show much more patience, with a focus on putting the Queen and Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal before breaking through.

15...Rg8 16.e5 Ng4 17.fxg6+

Rybka 3 looked at the position of the two Black Rooks and suggested 17.f6 instead, with a complicated mess to follow: 17...Bd6 18.d4 Kf7 19.Bf4 g5 20.Bg3 h4 21.Qe4 Rh8 22.h3 hxg3 23.hxg4 Kf8 (Fritz 8 prefers 23...Bf8) 24.Re3 Rxe5 This is Rybka's idea 25.dxe5 Bc5 26.e6 Qh7 27.Kf1 Qxe4 28.Rxe4 Rh1+ 29.Ke2 Rxa1

analysis diagram









Black has a slight advantage.

17...Kg7

18.Bf4 Qe6 19.h3

Fortunately for me, my opponent now overlooks a Bishop check from c5, which would have strengthened his game. It was more prudent for me to play 19.c3 Ref8 20.d4 first, and after 20...Nh6 21.Qe2 Kxg6 the game would be about even, according to Rybka 3.

19...Nh6 20.Qe4 Nf5 21.Raf1

The game remains complex: is Black defending or attacking on the Kingside? Or both?

In the meantime, White has completed his development, but the pawn on g6 is lost, and his attack is going nowhere. After a few exchanged pieces, Black's edge will become clear.

21...h4

Putting a cramp in White's Kingside and makes an outpost for his Knight at g3, but Rybka 3 preferred 21...Nh4 22.Rg3 Ref8 23.d4 Nxg6 24.Qf3 h4 25.Rg4 Kh8 26.Qe2 Rf5 27.Qe4 Nxf4 28.Rfxf4 Rxf4 29.Rxf4 Rg7 when Black is clearly better.

Black's move opens up a tactical opportunity for White that hides behind the smokescreen of an apparent blunder.

22.Bd2 Ng3

Forking White's Rook and Queen. (He should have abandoned the Knight with 22...Kh8, but then White would have the better game.)

23.Rf7+ Kh8 24.Rh7 checkmate

Notice that my fingers never leave my hand...

I just finished playing a Jerome Gambit game where my opponent responded to my every move quickly and decisively. He was zooming down one of the refutation lines that had given me worries in the past, and he was just about at the point where he would make me disappear – when something unexpected happened.

perrypawnpusher - NN
blitz, FICS, 2011

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+

Wow! I half-expected 8...Nf3+ as I saw in "Vortex". That's merely one of many ways to smash the Jerome.

The text move is something that I most recently wrestled with last year in "Nice Kitty..." – how close will my opponent come to playing out the full refutation in this line?

9.g3 Nf3+

Closer...

10.Kf1

I've also played 10.Kd1 and entered what I call "the buyer's regret variation".

10...Qh3+

My first thought was: Hey, I've never seen this move before...

Then, Black resigned and I suddenly realized why.

(He was such a good sport about the oversight, I saw no reason to use his handle, but opted for "NN".)

Accelerated Instant Victory

I am not particularly a fan of the Accelerated Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, but for those who play it, the following game should be a reminder that a false move like 5...Ke8 for Black can lead to another kind of Instant Victory.

Ghandy - Kwanza
blitz, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Bxf7+

White does not wait for a Black Bishop to appear at c5, he sacrifices anyhow. Although the opening does not appear to have a name, it looks like an Accelerated Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

Perhaps thinking, on reflex, that the King will be safer here. However, we will now see an ending similar to that presented in "Instant Victory" and "Instant Victory Redux".

6.Qh5+ Ke7

Black can throw in 6...g6 as in GFcrafty - Suigeneris, blitz, FICS, 2001, but after 7.Qxg6+ the result will be the same.

7.Qf7+

Also successful was 7.Ng6+ Kd6 8.Qd5 checkmate as in Dasistes - GeorgeVonGeorge, blitz, FICS, 2008.

However, 7.0-0 was not successful, as in EvashUcrushU - mrcain, FICS, 2009, which continued 7...Nxe5 (7...Qe8 was a bit better) 8.Qh4+ (White should have taken the draw by repetition with 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 8.Qd5+ etc.) g5 9.Qg3 d6 White resigned.

7...Kd6 8.Nc4+

Not quite as accurate was 8.Qd5+ but it was sufficient for the full point after 8...Ke7 9.Ng6+ Ke8 10.Nxh8 Nce7 (falling on his sword) 11.Qf7 checkmate in Esistes - SURPRISE, blitz, FICS, 2010.

8...Kc5 9.Qd5+ Kb4 10.c3+ Ka4 11.b3 checkmate

Today's game is the same as GFcrafty - tomamelheim, blitz, FICS, 2001. 

Casually

The Italian Four Knights Game is a pretty tame beast, and when White livens it up (actually, "deadens" it up might be more accurate in terms of his chances) with a couple of piece sacrifices, it can be hard for Black to develop a sense of urgency or to even take things other than casually.

perrypawnpusher - Aerandir
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Italian Four Knights Game.

5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bb4

An interesting defense that seems, on the surface, to have a number of things going for it, although it reduces Black's game from "won" to "equal". The line was well-explored in "Coffee Break".

8.dxe5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nxe4

All according to short-sighted plan: bust up White's pawns and then gobble one. Black would keep the game even with 9...Re8 10.exf6 Rxe4+ 11.Be3 Qxf6.

10.Qd5+ Ke8 11.Qxe4 Qe7 12.0-0 d6

Black is not distressed: White's extra pawn is doubled, and there are enough open lines to trade off the heavy pieces and slide into the infamous Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame where a draw can be found.

13.Bf4 dxe5 14.Rfe1 Bd7

This move, however, is a bit too casual.

15.Qxb7 Black resigned.

It's not just the b-pawn, or the e-pawn and c-pawn that will follow it in capture: Black's King will be too exposed after 15...Kf7 16.Rxe5 Qf6 17.Qxc7 for the second player to hope any more for a draw.