Quite Complicated

Making sense of Jerome Gambit middlegames can be a challenge. To write the notes for this blog I make use of my friends Rybka 3, Fritz 10 and Fritz 8. Sometimes I tell them "I saw that!" and sometimes I don't...

perrypawnpusher - parlance
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

I've been here 30 times, and scored 82%. That's not due to the strength of White's position, mind you, but because I am familiar with the tricks and traps of the opening. 

10.0-0 Rf8

Probably better than 10...Qe7 in our earlier game, perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

After the game, Fritz 8 suggested 10...d5!? which follows the idea that if you are ahead in development you should open up the game: 11.exd5+ Kf7 12.Nc3 (Hanging on to the d-pawn with 12.c4 wastes time that needs to be spent by White on development, e.g. 12...Re8 13.Qg3 c6 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.d3 Bf5) 12...Re8 13.Qc5 Ne7 14.d4 Nexd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 and Black survives the discovered check and his misplaced King to maintain his advantage.

If I face 10...d5, in the future, I am likely to try the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit-ish 11.d4 dxe4 12.f3!?

11.f4 Qe7 12.Nc3 c6

Keeping the White Knight off of d5.

A bit better might be 12...Kf7, continuing to castle-by-hand.

12...Ng4 worked out better than it should have in last year's perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31).

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4

You have to wonder if, just once, ...Ned7 was the right idea, with castling-by-hand still on the menu.

15.Qd3 b5

I've seen this kind of maneuver in my game against Saltos and both games against VGxdys. I think Black does best, instead, simply to retreat his Knight with 15...Nb6.

After all the travelling that the piece has done (...Nb8-c6-e5-g6-e5-c4) perhaps my opponent was unwilling to invest one more move – although that soon changes.

16.Bg5

I thought this was a pretty interesting idea at the time.

After the game, Rybka 3 preferred 16.a4.

16...h6

Taking the pawn right away was possible: 16...Nxb2 17.Qg3 Nc4 18.Rae1 Qc7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22.Qg4 with a slight edge to Black, but I would be okay with White's position.

17.Bh4

Simpler was 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.b3 Nb6 19.Rae1 but I was okay with some complications of the text.

17...Nxb2

Taking the pawn shifts the edge to White.

18.Qf3

It would have been stronger to try 18.Qg3, as in 18...Qd7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qd4+

18...Nc4 19.e5 Nd2

Enticed by the chance to fork my Queen and Rook. 

Black needed to bite the bullet, give up some material and move his King to a safer place with 19...Kf7. The resulting position would be quite complicated.

If White captures the Knight on f6, Black can force the exchange of Queens, i.e. 20.exf6 Qe3+ 21.Qxe3 Nxe3, when some simplification leads to 22.Ne4 Nxf5 23.Rxf5 Bxf5 24.Nxd6+ Ke6 25.fxg7 Kxd6 26.gxf8/Q+ Rxf8 where White is a pawn up, but the game is close to a drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

White can capture on c6, instead, and enter a somewhat better Queenless middlegame, i.e. 20.Qxc6 Qb7 21.Qxb7 Bxb7 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Nxb5 a6 24.Nc3 Rae8.

Rybka's preference, though, is to pursue the attack on the Kingside with 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.e6 in order to force Black to liquidate, when an exchange sacrifice by White will give him the edge:  22...Bxe6 23.fxe6 f5 24.Qxh6 Rf6 25.Qg5+ Qg7 26.Qxg7+ Kxg7 27.d5 Ne3 28.dxc6 Nxf1 29.Rxf1 Rxe6 30.Nxb5 Kf6 31.g4 Ke7 32.gxf5 Rg8+ 33.Kh1 Rf8 34.Nd4.

Like I said: "Quite complicated."

20.Qxc6+ Black resigned

White's Queen is very active, and the next few moves are easy to see: 20...Kf7 21.exf6 Qb7 22.Qxd6 (possible because the Black Knight no longer protects the pawn) Nxf1 23.Rxf1 and now 23...Qd7 24.Nxb5 shows that White has plenty for his sacrificed exchange.

Imagine That!

The website of GM Csaba Balogh of Hungary contains a list of links to different chess websites – including this one.

Wonder how that happened??

One Idea

A recipe missing one ingredient can lead to a dish that does not turn out right. So, too, a defense in a chess game, missing one important idea, can become flat and ineffectual. If the idea of trading Queens had popped into my opponent's head in the following game, things might have turned out differently.

perrypawnpusher - cinamon
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

Our earlier contest continued, instead 5...a6 6.a3 Bc5 7.Bxf7+ perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Qe7 10.f4

phil

I like this better than my earlier 10.Bf4 in perrypawnpusher - philippemuurmans, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

10...Nc6

Straight forward, and an improvement over 10...c5 11.Qxe5 as in perrypawnpusher - louarn, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - jaymen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40).

11.Qc4+

Or 11.Qd3 as in perrypawnpusher - kinghh, blitz FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).

11...Ke8

Black should always be on the lookout to play ...d7-d5, which is beneficial in terms of development (a counter to a gambit) and which only minimally further exposes his King.

Here, an even better move than 11...d5 would have been 11...Qe6, blocking the check and offering the exchange of Queens, dampening White's initiative.

12.e5 Ng4

This will cost a piece. If that is Black's intention, he could have tried, instead, 12...Qe6 13.Qxe6+ dxe6 14.exf6 gxf6 and headed toward the swamp that is the Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

That Queen move was an essential ingredient that my opponent left out.

13.h3 Ngxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Qe4 d6

This position is more complicated than it looks, or at least a lot more complicated than I realized when I was playing. It looks like Black is a pawn up (with complications, of course, starting with his insecure King) but after the game Rybka 3 rated White as being the equivalent of a Rook ahead.

16.Bf4

This move, threatening to create and eventually win an isolated pawn on e5, is okay; but what Rybka was thinking of was: 16.Nd5 Qd7 17.Bf4 Qf5 18.Nxc7+ Kd8 19.Qxf5 Bxf5 20.Nxa8.

I had glanced at 16.Nd5, but saw that Black could move his Queen and protect the c7 pawn, all in one move. The position is not just about forking the Black King and Rook, however, as the following line shows: 16...Qd7 17.Bf4 Kd8, getting the King, too, off of the deadly e-file, but then 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Rad1 shows that the d-file has become equally hazardous.

16...c6

 Rightly keeping the White Knight out of d5, denying me an important ingredient for my attack.

17.Rae1

Adequate, but again missing much of the potential in the position.

I had briefly looked at 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Qg6+ Kd8  but hadn't found a killer move to end the game and so eventually chose the text move. The irony is that I overlooked how strong 19.Rae1, after the above sequence, would have been.

17...Rf8 18.Bxe5 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 dxe5

Had my opponent continued with 19...Qxe5, instead, and given me exactly what I wanted, i.e. 20.Qxe5 dxe5 21.Re1 Be6 22.Rxe5 Kf7, I would have recovered the pawn, but the resulting position would have been slightly in Black's favor (B vs N).

As it was, my Queen remained on the board and I was "forced" to find a good move for it. 

20.Qg6+ Kd8 21.Rf7 Qc5+ 22.Kh2 Bd7 23.Qxg7 Kc7 24.Rxd7+ Kb6 25.Na4+ Black resigned

Not So Fast There...

Knowing your opening can be a great tool in quick games: you fire out your moves, rat-a-tat-tat while your opponent tries to think... 

Move too quickly yourself, though, or overlook thinking when it is time to do so, and disaster strikes!

Sometimes, that is...

kkjfin  - AdrianJP
standard game, FICS, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.Qh5+

Wow! This is way too fast! White confuses variations – or something.

Now...

7...Nxh5

White resigned, as he lost his Queen. 

But – a trip to The Database shows that a total of 5 games reached the position of the second diagram – and White actually has a winning record!

Let's see...

7...g6 8.Qh6 d5 (8...Bf8 9.Qh3 d5 10.Qf3 Bg4 11.Qg3 Nd4 12.Qxe5+ Black resigned, Vetehinen - KlassAct, FICS, 2007) 9.Nxh7 Nxh7 10.Qxg6+ Kf8 11.d3 Nf6 12.Bh6+ Ke7 13.Qg7+ Ke6 14.Bg5 Rf8 15.0-0-0 Nd4 16.exd5+ Kf5 17.g4+ Kxg4 18.Bxf6+ Kf4 19.Bxd8 Rxd8 20.Qf6+ Kg4 21.Rhg1+ Kh3 22.Qh6 checkmate, langlaiss - DeltaRomeo, FICS, 2003;


7...Ke7 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Nb5 checkmate, vigsep - jetix, FICS, 2009

8.d3 Nd4 9.0-0 Nxc2 10.Rb1 d6 11.Nd5 c6 12.Ne3 Nxe3 13.Bxe3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Qxg5 15.Rf2 Qxe3 16.Rbf1 Rf8 17.d4 Rxf2 18.Rxf2 Nf4 19.Kf1 Qc1 checkmate, tinkie - SiliconC, blitz, FICS, 2006.

Remember the old saying: Act in haste, repent at leisure

Trying My Hand at ICC (Part 3)

My last game at ICC ended, not with a bang, but with a whimper... by my opponent. We played a line where "Nothing Happened", which shows up in The Database 60 times, and in which Black scores 31% .

AlonzoJerome - adroit
blitz 5 5, ICC, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ 

6...g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+

Giving back the piece to break the attack, but going into a pawn-down Queenless middle game.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Nc3 d6

Black's best "chance" now is that I'll let him escape into a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, like I allowed BEEB.

11.d3 Bd7 12.Bg5 Ng4+ 13.Ke2 h6 14.Rhf1+ Kg7 15.Bf4 g5 16.Bg3 h5 17.h3 h4 18.Be1 Ne5 19.d4 Ng6

Nothing "exciting" has happened since the last diagram: I have grabbed some space in the center and my opponent has advanced on the Kingside. I can afford to play "deliberately" as long as I don't overlook the details. A pawn is a pawn, after all.

20.Bd2 g4 21.hxg4 Bxg4+ 22.Kd3 Rhf8 23.Nd5

More exact was 23.Nb5, with the same threat to the pawn at c7, but prohibiting ...c7-c6.

23...c6 24.Ne3

A little more could have been squeezed out of the position with 24.Nf4.

24...Bd7

Time was getting short for my opponent, but I am sure that neither of us saw the line recommended by Rybka 3, which keeps a tiny edge for White: 24...Nf4+ 25.Kc3 Ne2+ 26.Kb4 a5+ 27.Kb3 Bd7 28.Rxf8 Rxf8 29.Bxa5 Re8 30.Re1 Nxd4+ 31.Kc4 c5 32.Bc3 Kg6 33.Bxd4 Rxe4 34.c3 cxd4 35.cxd4 Bc6 36.b3 b5+.

analysis diagram







25.Nf5+

More "business as usual," attacking the pawn at e6 and "suggesting" that Black exchange his Bishop for my Knight. Any kind of a win would be a long way off, as it would be after the stronger 25.Bb4.

Black resigned.

Perhaps he believed that I could continue to grind him down.

Trying My Hand at ICC (Part 2)

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.

And in my second game at ICC, I was playing his ghost, it appeared. My luck, Charles Dickens' character had died before Alonzo Wheeler Jerome had invented his gambit.

AlonzoJerome  - MarleysGhost
blitz 2 12, ICC,2011

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

The Semi-Italian Game.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Kf8

 8.Qxe5 Bd6

Without ...h6 for Black and 0-0 for White, I have faced this move against LeiCar and dogofthesouth.

I have also seen 8...Qe7 9.Qf4+ Nf6 10.e5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - AirmanLeonidas, blitz, FICS, 2010.

9.Qc3

Maybe a little stronger than 9.Qd4 as in perrypawnpusher - LethHansen, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26).

9...Qf6 10.d4 Bf4

Looking to exchange pieces and (eventually) take us to the endgame. That was okay with me, to start.

11.Nd2 Bxd2 12.Bxd2 Qc6 13.Qf3+

Keeping the Queen on the board to keep the chances of attack.

13...Qf6 14.Qe3 d6

White's development, and Black's unsafe King (on the same file as his Queen) give adequate compensation for the sacrifice.

15.f4 Bd7 16.e5 dxe5

A reflex reaction, but it ends the game.

17.fxe5 Black resigned.

Black will have only a Knight and Rook to face White's Queen (and two "Jerome pawns").

Trying My Hand at ICC (Part 1)

After my week of searching at ICC for Jerome Gambit games (starting with "A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit??"), I was successful in discovering only one additional example (see "The Search Continues... With Some Success"), and that one was played by neither Grandmaster Larry Christiansen nor any other Grandmaster.

Finally, I did run across 3 games played by someone whose ICC handle was "AlonzoJerome".

Guess who?

Of course, I played them myself.

Well, that's at least a few games for the next Jerome Gambit explorer to discover.

AlonzoJerome  - HenryV
blitz, ICC, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Nf3+

I was still pretty nervous at this point, because if I've played any games at ICC, it was quite some time ago, and I was still getting used to the software and sensing the strengths of players...

At this point, though, I gave thanks to AirmanLeonidas, who played this line against me last year. I did not find the best response the first time, but I did the second, and I was ready to remember it this third time.

9.Qxf3 Bb6

Black passes on the d-pawn.

After 9...Bxd4 10.Nb5 White eventually collects the Knight on f6 and has an even game: 10...Be5 (10...Bb6 11.e5) 11.Qb3+ d5 12.f4 Bd6 13.Nxd6+ Qxd6 14.e5 Qb6+ 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.exf6

10.e5 Rf8 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.Qxf6+ Kxf6

I was happy with my pawn advantage in the Queenless middle game, but Black's two Bishops almost offset this.

13.Be3 d6 14.Ne4+ Kg6 15.c3 d5 16.Ng3 Kh7

17.Rae1 a5 18.Bd2 c6 19.Re7 Bg4 20.Rfe1 Bc5

A thoughtless move that I managed to overlook for a move. I guess I wasn't the only nervous player in this game.

21.Rxb7 Rab8

Amaurosis scacchistica. Chess blindness.

22.Rxb8 Rxb8 23.dxc5 Rxb2 24.Be3 Rxa2

Black has hopes that his passer will make up for the missing piece.

25.f3 Be6 26.Ne2 a4 27.Bd4 a3 28.Nf4 Bc8

Black should probably have safe-guarded his Kingside with 28...Bf7, i.e. if 29.Re7 Kg8, but then White would chase away the a-pawn's defender with Nf4-d3-b4 and then capture it with Re1-a1.

29.Re7 Ra1+ 30.Kf2 Ra2+ 31.Kg3 Rc2 32.Rxg7+ Kh8 33.Ng6 checkmate