The first game passed along to me by Dr. Goeller (see "A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit??") was not a "pure" Jerome Gambit game, but it included an early Bishop sacrifice and gave a fascinating insight into how an experienced, aggressive Grandmaster, American Larry Christiansen, can give something similar to "Jerome Gambit odds" and still win the game.
LarryC (3058) - therealwizard (1991)
blitz, 3 0, Internet Chess Club, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6
Rybka 3, in "blunder check" mode, helpfully adds that this is the "last book move" in the line of play.
3.Bxf7+
Here, have a Bishop...
My guess is that modern masters are more likely to give "time odds" in play against weaker opponents, but here the Grandmaster donates a piece to the "cause" of an interesting and more-balanced game.
3...Kxf7 4.d3 Be7 5.Nc3 Rf8 6.f4 d6 7.Nf3 Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand and maintains his piece-for-a-pawn (soon two) advantage.
On the other hand, White can take inspiration from the "Theory of Infinite Resistance" as developed by my chessfriend (and co-author of The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses) Riley Sheffield. Often, after making an early error (we can debate if the Bishop sacrifice was an error, but bear with me), if the defender bears down and plays hard, making no further mistakes and provides plenty of resistance to his opponent, a loss is not inevitable. (At least when facing a human.)
By the way, if you get a chance to take a look at Sheffield's Tension in the Chess Position, do so. It is a helpful read for club players.
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bc5 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.Bg5 Nc6 12.Qd2
To castle Queenside and not be troubled by the broken up Kingside.
12...Bxf3 13.gxf3 Qd4
Black's advantage (extra piece, better development, safer King) is clear, but White goes about developing and playing his game. He knows that his time will come.
14.0-0-0 Ne5 15.Rhf1 a5
16.Ne2 Qd7 17.Kb1 Be7 18.f4
This advance looks natural, but is actually an error, although Black misses his chance.
18...Nc4
This idea works, as it often can in blitz, but should not. Instead, Black should grab a pawn with 18...Nxe4.
19.Qc3
Overlooking Black's next move.
19...Ne3 20.Ng3 Nxf1 21.Rxf1 b5
Black has a Rook for two pawns and should feel elated.
Yet, it is still a 3 0 game against a Grandmaster, and he can't just take his chessboard and go home. He has to win and beat the clock. That is a tall order.
22.Nf5 c5 23.Rg1 b4 24.Qc4+ Kh8 25.Nxe7 Qxe7 26.e5 Qf7 27.exf6 Qxc4 28.fxg7+ Kxg7 29.dxc4
White's resourcefulness has him now with two pawns for the exchange. Black is still probably better, but not by much, and not for long.
29...Kf7 30.b3 Rae8 31.Rd1 Re2 32.h4 Rfe8 33.Kb2 Kg6 34.Bd8 Rf2 35.Bxa5 Rxf4 36.Rg1+ Kh5 37.Rg5+ Kxh4 38.Rxc5 Rf2 39.Bxb4 Ree2
Black's two Rooks on the 2nd rank look aggressive, and they blind him to the truth of the position: a likely draw.
40.Ka3 Rxc2
Bold and wrong.
Rybka 3 likes 40...Kg4 41.Rc8 Rxc2 42.Rg8+ Kf5 43.Rf8+ Ke6 44.Re8+ Kf7 45.Rf8+ Ke6 and an eventual draw through repetition.
41.Be1
Pinning and winning the Rook.
41...Rxa2+ 42.Kb4 Rae2 43.Rf5
Cute.
43...Kg3 44.Rxf2 Rxf2 45.c5
The White pawns decide.
45...h5 46.c6 h4 47.c7 h3 48.Bxf2+ Kxf2 49.c8Q h2 50.Qh3 Kg1 51.Qg3+ Black forfeited on time
While Dr. Michael Goeller was filling me in on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: the Reversed BSG") and working with his friend, Fritz, to temper my expectations (see "Reversed BSG: A Closer Look"), he dropped this bomb on me
I have seen [GM Larry] Christiansen venture your favorite Jerome Gambit in ICC blitz or simul games, but I'm not sure he really believes in it.
You can imagine my response! Grandmaster Larry "Storming the Barracades" Christiansen!? The Jerome Gambit??
As politely and calmly as possible (under the circumstances), I asked to see some of the games...
I began searching for LarryC games but ran into the dreaded "Game Database temporarily unavailable." But I turned up a couple before that kept happening...
I think he mostly does this as an interesting way to spot a weaker opponent a piece in online simuls.
Remembering now, he probably does it mostly via the C24 Bishop's Opening, which is how I stumbled upon the LarryC Jerome Gambit phenomenon -- while searching for Urusov Games, of course.
I will try to dig up some more this weekend, but anyone you know on ICC can find them with the search string "Search LarryC C24 White" etc.
I suggested that he look for Jerome Gambit games under C50 as well. I heard back from Dr. Goeller.
I spent some more time looking for LarryC games on ICC with the Bxf7 sac but couldn't find any more. I am not sure why, because I am certain I saw a bunch of them a couple years back while doing a search. It's possible that unrated games (such as simul games) are only temporarily available on the server and then vanish, even if played by LarryC.
In any case, there are very few C50 games at all, and none that really meet your criteria. And I only found the one C24 game I sent. It seems almost certain I saw them while searching through recent C24 games, which I do from time to time. It seems unlikely I was looking at C50 games. Started trying C21 and got Game Database currently unavailable. But the few I was able to go through did not look promising.
So sorry to get your hopes up and then disappoint... But at least you have one game. I'll keep an eye out for more.
In all, Dr. Goeller sent me two games, which we will look at in future posts.
Still in the hunt for more information on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: The Reversed BSG"), I tracked down another expert to help me out.
Dr. Michael Goeller's site "The Bishop's Opening" is a great resource at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/index.html
Here are several of his comments
I like analyzing old and obscure lines as much as you do, but I try to confine myself to strategically sound openings that are based on some principle (even if that principle is just speedy development). Almost always, the lines I look at have been played by GMs or other strong players, who obviously agreed there was something to it...
I was just reading GM Nigel Davies's blog this morning, which seems quite appropriate: http://chessimprover.com/2011/03/19/openings-for-post-beginners/
I took a quick look with Fritz -- see results below. I do not think it's something I'd try myself as White. And I think I'm prepared now to face it as Black.... :-)
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5
4...Nxe4!?
Remember: as Tim McGrew shows [see McGrew's two "Gambit Cartel" columns from ChessCafe.com on the Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 1 & 2], this move is better than its reputation in the regular Blackburne Shilling Gambit, so long as you are willing to sac a piece for Cochrane Gambit type play. [Readers interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!? should check out Dr. Goeller's work on the Cochrane at his Kenilworthian site] Here it may even be better because of Bc4 for White, which sets up some nice shots with c6 and d5 coming.
Black has a number of perfectly good alternatives, of course:
a) 4...b5!? 5.Bb3 (5.Bxb5?? c6 6.Nxf6+ Qxf6+-) 5...Nxd5 6.exd5 Qg5!? 7.Qf3 Qg6 unclear;
b) 4...0-0 5.b4 (5.d4?! exd4 6.Bg5 Be7 =/+) 5...Bb6 6.d3 Nxd5 7.exd5 e4!? with the idea of Qf6;
c) 4...c6 5.Nxf6+ Qxf6 6.Nf3 d6=
5.d4!
Probably best.
5.Qg4 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 0-0! ["This is certainly a lot more fun than most of the lines" - Tim McGrew, on the related line in the regular BSG ]7.Qxe4 Bxg1 8.Rxg1 c6 9.Bd3 (9.Ne3 d5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Bxd5 Nd7 -/+) 9...f5 10.Qxe5 d6 11.Qd4 cxd5 12.Qxd5+ Kh8 =/+ and I think you have to prefer Black slightly here, though I admit it is about equal and probably playable for White.
5...Bxd4 6.Qg4 c6!
6...0-0?! 7.Bh6±.
7.Qxg7
7.Qxe4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 cxd5 9.Bxd5 Qb6 unclear
7...cxd5 8.Qxh8+ Ke7 9.Qxd8+
9.Qxh7!? Qa5+ -/+
9...Kxd8 10.Bxd5 Nxf2 11.Nf3 Nxh1=
Interesting enough, all by itself – but things were about to get even more interesting... (to be continued)
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!
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
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
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
