Vera Menchik (1906 - 1944), the world's first women's chess champion, also competed in chess tournaments against men.
In 1929, Albert Becker jokingly suggesting that any player that she defeated in tournament play should be granted membership in "The Vera Menchik Club".
Of course, Becker became the first member of the "club", which came to include such noted players as C.H.O.D. Alexander, Edgar Colle, Max Euwe, Harry Golombek, Mir Sultan Khan, Jacques Mieses, Philip Stuart Milner-Barry, Karel Opočenský, Samuel Reshevsky, Friedrich Sämisch, Lajos Steiner, George Thomas, William Winter, and Frederick Yates.
I mention this bit of chess history because of a current discussion of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) taking place at Chess.com, where members have weighed in with various levels of skepticism:
There is very little chance of succeding with that gambit
I suggest you find something better
White has nothing
the gambit is completely unsound
not a variation to take anyone's game forward
simply throws away two minor pieces
unless your opponent is a child and you are playing a bullet game on Halloween, it doesn't look like a wise opening choice
an unsound gambit
You may surprise some in bullet, that's all
Those were the polite comments, mind you.
Anyhow, I thought it was time for me to inaugurate "The George J. Dougherty Club".
In the March 1877 American Chess Journal, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome reminisced that he had first played his gambit (successfully, too) against G.J. Dougherty of Mineola, New York, "a strong amateur".
That makes it interesting to recall that while it was in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal that Jerome's "New Chess Opening" was first announced, the very next month's Journal carried this notice
Chess Challenge
George J. Dougherty, of Mineola, Queen's County, New York, hereby respectfully invites John G. Belden, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., to play him two games of chess by Postal Card, at his convenience, Mr. Belden taking the attack in one game and Mr. Dougherty in the other; the object being to test the soundness of Jerome's Double Opening, published in the April No. (50) of this Chess Journal. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Mr. Dougherty, it seems, was willing to see what he could do to add other players to the growing list of those who had lost to the Jerome Gambit.
Fraga decided, after all, to exchange his dark-squared Bishop. The loss of tempo did not help.
Wall, a Jerome Gambiteer, now finds himself with the extra piece against what might, in other circumstanses, be called the "Jerome Pawns". (With that in mind, 10...e4 might have been stronger than the move played.)
11.Nxc7 d5 12.Qc3 f4 13.Nxa8 f3
This move looks dangerous for White's already uneasy King, but Black's lack of development makes following up on this move difficult.
14.gxf3 Rxf3+ 15.Ke2 Qf6
This "attacking" move is more than just an oversight that drops the Bishop on c8: it allows White to wrap things up neatly.
After 6...Bc5 White could have transposed into Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit lines, not that that would have been bad for Black, either.
7.Nd5 Nxe4
It is not time for pawn-grabbing. Protecting the e-pawn with 7...d6 was a solid idea.
8.Re1 Nf6 9.Nxb4 Nxb4 10.Nxe5+
White still has only one pawn for his sacrificed piece. This fact helps him bear down, while it seems to relax his opponent.
10...Kf8? 11.Ng6+ Kg8 12.Nxh8 Kxh8
White now has a Rook and a pawn to Black's two Knights. White probably has an edge in the endgame (with his pawn) while Black should have the edge in the middlegame (two attacking pieces).
13.d3 d6 14.Qd2 Nbd5 15.b3 c5 16.Bb2 Bf5
17.c4Nb4 18.Qf4 Nc2 19.Qxf5 Nxa1 20.Bxa1 Qa5
Perhaps Black thought that he was winning the exchange, when, in fact, he was giving up two Knights for a Rook. The active Black Queen is now not enough to overcome White's extra pawn, as the Black King is in danger.
21.Re2 Rf8
Reinforcing the attacked Knight, but, surprisingly, exchanging Rooks and giving up a piece was "best": 21...Re8 22.Rxe8+ Nxe8 23.Qf8+ Ke7 24.Qxf8 Qxa2 25.Bc3 Qxb3 26.Qe4+ Kh8, when White has the extra piece for a pawn, and is better.
The second game passed along to me by Dr. Goeller (see "A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit??" and "Here, have a Bishop...") was closer to a "pure" Jerome Gambit game. Again, we see how an experienced, aggressive Grandmaster, American Larry Christiansen, can give something similar to "Jerome Gambit odds" and win the game with ease.
This capture is not seen very often, and is not correct. Even Fritz8 sees the next move as best.
5.Bxf7+
Adding a little Jerome to the quiet Hungarian Defense. In this case it is the Knight on d4 that is hanging.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Kf8 7.Qxd4
7...Bf6 8.Qb4+d6
As sometimes happens, the weaker player misses an "opportunity" against the Grandmaster. Instead of the text, the "anti-positional" 8...c5 bids to win a piece, i.e. 9.Qc3 (if 9.Qxc5, then 9...d6) d6 10.f4 although things are actually quite complex: 10...Nh6 11.0-0 Ke8 (getting off of the hot f-file) 12.Nd2 Qe7 13.Ndc4 Nf7 14.Nxf7 Bxc3 15.Nfxd6+ Kf8 16.bxc3 b5 17.Nxc8 Rxc8 18.Ne5 and Rybka 3 sees the position as about equal, even though White has only two pieces and two pawns for his Queen...
analysis diagram
Does the Grandmaster worry? He does not. He knows that every player makes mistakes with a certain frequency, like a metaphorical "bomb" that goes off again and again (infrequently for GMs, regularly for club players). He just has to light the fuse, playing solidly, holding tight, and waiting for the next "boom!"
White did not mind returning a pawn to exchange Queens, as there is every likelihood that he can play the pawn-up endgame with half his brain tied behind his back.
Black can hope: can he reach the Bishop-of-opposite-colors endgame? In the meantime, there is the issue of the pinned Knight.
24...Rh725.Nd4Kf7 26.Rac1 Ba6 27.Bxe7 Rxe7 28.Rxe7+ Black resigned
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.
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.
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 Qd717.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.
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.
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 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:
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)
