The Jerome-Kennedy Gambits!?

Wow.

The other day I received an email from Yury V. Bukayev, in Russia, suggesting the description "Jerome-Kennedy Gambit in different opening systems."

It was similar to the encouragement that Bill Wall made a while back, that we begin to talk about the "Jerome-Kennedy Gambit"  when we look at 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, in the manner of the "Smith-Morra Gambit".

Thanks, guys.

For now, I'd like to stick with using Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's name for the gambit, as I further research his efforts: the earliest being analysis published in the 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, and the latest (that I have found) a correspondence game against readers in the Literary Digest in 1900.

As I noted in my afterward to the posts on the Literary Digest game [1, 2, 3, 4], Mr. Jerome has had a hard time holding on to "his" opening: sources such as Cook's Synopsis of the Chess Openings (1882), The American Supplement (1884), and Freeborough and Rankin's Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, (1889) were happy to keep the name "Jerome Gambit", but identified the chief analyst of the opening as "Mr. S. A. Charles of Cincinnati, Ohio." Sic transit gloria mundi.

Plus,

However...

If my Jerome Gambit article ever appears [insert laugh track] in Kaissiber, or if I do succeed in completing a book on the Jerome Gambit and it's relatives; then, I'd consider adding my name...

graphic by Geoff Chandler

It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday!

Well, actually, it's not my birthday.

It just feels like it is.

I got an email from Welton Vaz ("Ghandybh") that had three attachments. Welton had gone through the FICS database for January, February and March 2011 and had filtered out the Jerome Gambit and Jerome-ish games.

Many, many thanks!

Of course, I will share. After I play the games over, I will add them to The Database, which is available to anyone who asks for it.

It's a shame

It's a shame that Joseph Henry Blackburne did not play the Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, (as opposed to playing against it; see "Mars Attacks!") – he had a nice touch with the Bxf7+ sacrifice. We've seen his 1862 blindfold win against Evelyn. Here's a later game from a blindfold simultaneous exhibition

Blackburne,J - Frankland
Leigh, 1879
blindfold simultaneous exhibition (one of six)

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 Bc5

An unusual response in the Danish Gambit.

It is rare enough that I will include in the notes all of the games that I have discovered with the line (plus the following move by Blackburne, of course).

5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7

Or 5...Kf8 6.Bxg8

a) 6.Bc4 Qf6 7.Qe2 (7.Qc2 Bb4 8.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 d6 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.Rb1 h6 12.Nd4 c5 13.Nb5 Na6 14.0-0 Bd7 15.Re1 b6 16.Re3 Bxb5 17.Bxb5 Nc7 18.Rf3 Ng6 19.Rxf6+ gxf6 20.Bc6 Rd8 21.Qa4 Ne5 22.Qxa7 Ne6 23.Ba4 b5 24.Rxb5 Nd3 25.Bb3 c4 26.Bxc4 Ndc5 27.Bxe6 Nxe6 28.Rb7 Nc5 29.Rf7+ Kg8 30.Rg7+ Black resigned, wurscht - monaliza, littlegolem.net, 2007) 7...Bb4 8.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 d6 11.Ne2 Nc6 12.0-0 Be6 13.Bb5 Nge7 14.Rac1 Kf7 15.Rc3 Rhf8 16.Rf3 Bf5 17.exf5 Kg8 18.Bc4+ Kh8 19.Rc1 Ne5 20.Re3 Nxf5 21.Rh3 Rae8 22.g3 Nf3+ 23.Kh1 Nxd2 24.Bd3 Ne4 25.Kg1 Qxb2 26.g4 Nd4 27.Rxc7 Nxe2+ White resigned, Lebiedowicz,B - Lachowicz,J, Wroclaw, 2005;

b) 6.Bb3 Qh4 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.Nxc3 Bb4 9.e5 Qd4 10.exf6 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qxc3+ 12.Kf1 Qxf6 13.Bb2 Qg6 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Qf3+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Martinez,I, Colorado Springs Fundraiser, G/30, 2011;

c) 6.bxc3 Qf6 7.Qd5 Qxf2+ 8.Kd1 Qf1+ 9.Kc2 Qxg2+ 10.Nd2 Nf6 11.Qxc5+ Kxf7 12.Ba3 Qxh1 13.Qe7+ Kg6 14.Rf1 Nc6 15.Qc5 d6 16.Qf2 Nxe4 White resigned, Perry,J - Rambousek,J, ICCF Email, 1997;

6...Bxf2+ 7.Kxf2 Qh4+ 8.g3 Qf6+ 9.Qf3 Qxf3+ 10.Nxf3 cxb2 11.Bxb2 Rxg8 12.Nc3 c6 13.Rhf1 b6 14.Ke3 Ba6 15.Rf2 Ke8 16.Rd1 Bc4 17.Rd4 Be6 18.Ng5 h6 19.Nxe6 dxe6 20.Rd6 Ke7 21.Rfd2 Re8 22.h4 Kf8 23.Ne2 e5 24.g4 Kg8 25.Ng3 Kh7 26.Rd8 Re6 27.Rc8 c5 28.Rdd8 Black resigned, Kichinski,R -Connell,J, 1988. 

6.Qd5+ Kf8

Or 6...Ke8 7.Qxc5 Qe7

a)7...Nf6 8.Nxc3 d6 9.Qg5 h6 10.Qxg7 Rg8 11.Qxh6 Qe7 12.Bg5 Rf8 13.Nf3 d5 14.Nxd5 Qxe4+ 15.Ne3 Ng4 16.Qh5+ Rf7 17.Qxg4 Bxg4 18.Rd1 Bxf3 19.Rd8# Konig,M - Kus,M, Most, 1999;

b)7...d6 8.Qxc3 (8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qe2 Be6 10.Nxc3 Nc6 11.Nd5 Nge7 12.Nf6+ Kf7 13.Qf3 Nd4 14.Qd1 c5 15.e5 dxe5 16.Ne4 Bd5 17.Ng5+ Kf6 18.N1f3 h6 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Nf3 Kg7 21.0-0 Rf8 22.Ne5 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Qd5+ 24.Nf3 Rf5 25.a4 Raf8 26.Ra3 g5 27.h3 Kg6 28.Kg3 Nc6 29.Ng1 Qe5+ 30.Kg2 c4 31.Qe2 Qxe2 32.Nxe2 d3 33.Ng3 Rd5 34.Bd2 Nd4 35.Rc3 Rc8 36.Re1 h5 37.Re7 Nb3 38.Bc1 Nxc1 39.Rxc1 Rdc5 # Poulhalec,J - Bigotte,S, Guingamp, 2001) 8...Nf6 9.Bg5 (9.Nf3 Nc6 10.0-0 Bd7 11.e5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Qxe5+ Kf7 14.Bf4 c6 15.Nc3 Re8 16.Qc5 b6 17.Qc4+ Be6 18.Qxc6 Qd7 19.Qxd7+ Bxd7 20.Rad1 Be6 21.Nb5 Rf8 22.Nc7 Rac8 23.Nxe6 Kxe6 24.Rfe1+ Kf7 25.Bd6 Rfe8 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Kf1 Rd8 28.Ke1 Re8+ 29.Kf1 Rd8 30.Rd4 Ne8 31.Be5 Rxd4 32.Bxd4 Nd6 33.Ke2 g6 34.f4 Ke6 35.g3 Nb5 36.Bc3 Nxc3+ 37.bxc3 Kd5 38.Kd3 Ke6 39.Ke4 Ke7 40.Ke5 Kf7 41.g4 a5 42.f5 gxf5 43.gxf5 Ke7 44.f6+ Kf7 45.Kf5 Kf8 46.Kg5 a4 47.c4 a3 48.h4 Kg8 49.h5 Kf8 50.h6 Kg8 51.Kf5 Kf8 52.Ke6 Ke8 53.f7+ Kf8 54.Kf6 b5 55.c5 b4 56.c6 b3 57.c7 bxa2 58.c8R# Walters,K - Lin,B, California, 2003) 9...Nc6 10.Nd2 Be6 11.Ngf3 Kd7 12.0-0 Qe7 13.Rfe1 Rae8 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 h6 16.Bh4 g5 17.Bg3 Nh5 18.Nf3 Kc8 19.Qxa7 Nxg3 20.hxg3 c6 21.b4 h5 22.b5 Black resigned, Feuerstack,A - Reinelt,T, Neumuenster, 2000.

c) 7...cxb2 8.Bxb2 Nf6 9.e5 d6 10.Qe3 Ng4 11.Qe4 dxe5 12.Nf3 Nc6 13.0-0 Qf6 14.h3 Bf5 15.Qa4 Nh6 16.Nxe5 Kf8 17.Nc4 Qf7 18.Nbd2 Rd8 19.Nf3 Bd3 20.Nce5 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Qf5 22.Rfe1 Nf7 23.Ba3+ Kg8 24.Qb3 Bc2 25.Qc4 Bd3 26.Nxd3 Qxd3 27.Qxd3 h6 28.Qc4 Rh7 29.Re7 g5 30.Rae1 Rf8 31.Rxc7 Rd8 32.Ree7 Rd1+ 33.Kh2 b5 34.Rxf7 bxc4 35.Rf8# Goeke,B - Arroyo Felices,J, Dos Hermanas, 2004;

8.Qh5+ (8.Qxc3 Qxe4+ 9.Ne2 Ne7 10.Bg5 Nbc6 11.0-0 h6 12.Ng3 Qd4 13.Bxe7 Qxc3 14.Nxc3 Kxe7 15.Nd5+ Kd8 16.Rad1 d6 17.Rfe1 Bd7 18.Rd2 Ne5 19.f4 Ng6 20.f5 Ne5 21.f6 gxf6 22.Nxf6 Rf8 23.Nxd7 Nxd7 24.Nh5 Rf5 25.Ng7 Re5 26.Rf1 a5 27.Nf5 h5 28.Rdf2 Ra6 29.Nh6 Ke7 30.Rf7+ Ke6 31.Ng8 Ra8 32.Re7+ Kd5 33.Rxd7 Rxg8 34.Rxc7 b5 35.Rc2 Rg4 36.Rd2+ Rd4 37.Rxd4+ Kxd4 38.Rd1+ Kc5 39.Rc1+ Kb6 40.Kf1 b4 41.b3 Kb5 42.Rc8 d5 43.Rb8+ Kc6 44.Rc8+ Kd6 45.Ra8 d4 46.Rd8+ Kc5 47.Rc8+ Kd5 48.Rd8+ Ke4 49.Ke2 Rg5 50.g3 h4 51.Re8+ Kd5 52.Ra8 Kc6 53.Kd3 hxg3 54.hxg3 Rxg3+ 55.Kxd4 Kb6 56.Re8 Rg4+ 57.Kd3 Rg5 drawn, Goebl,W - Jantschuk,V, Rieneck 1998; 8.Qxe7+ Nxe7 9.Nxc3 Nbc6 10.Bf4 d6 11.Nf3 Bg4 12.Nd2 Rf8 13.Bg3 Ng6 14.f3 Bd7 15.0-0 Nd4 16.Bf2 Nb5 17.Nd5 c6 18.a4 cxd5 19.axb5 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Ke7 21.Rfe1 Bxb5 22.Nc3+ Kd7 23.Nxb5 a6 24.Nc3 Rad8 25.Rad1 Kc8 26.Bd4 Rf7 27.Bb6 Rdf8 28.Rxd6 Rd7 29.Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Rd1+ Kc6 31.Bd4 Rf7 32.Re1 Rd7 33.Re6+ Rd6 34.Rxd6+ Kxd6 35.Bxg7 Nf4 36.g3 Nd3 37.Ne4+ Ke7 38.Bd4 a5 39.Kf1 b5 40.Ke2 Nc1+ 41.Kd2 Na2 42.Kc2 Nb4+ 43.Kb3 Nc6 44.Bf2 Kf7 45.Nd6+ Kg6 46.Nxb5 Kf5 47.Nd4+ Nxd4+ 48.Bxd4 Ke6 49.Bb6 a4+ 50.Kxa4 Kd5 51.f4 Ke4 52.b4 h5 53.b5 Kf5 54.Ba7 Kg4 55.b6 Kf5 56.b7 Kg4 57.b8Q h4 58.Qc8+ Kf3 59.Qc6+ Kg4 60.Qe6+ Kf3 61.gxh4 Black resigned, Machet,R - Gowor,R, Australia, 1999) 8...g6 9.Qe2 c2 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Bg5 Qe6 12.Qxc2 c6 13.Nf3 Nh5 14.0-0 Qg4 15.Nd5 Na6 16.Ne3 Qe6 17.Nc4 b5 18.Nce5 h6 19.Be3 g5 20.h3 Nb4 21.Qc3 a5 22.Nxc6 dxc6 23.Qxh8+ Kd7 24.Rfd1+ Kc7 25.Qd8+ Kb7 26.Qb6# Bereziuk,S - Petuchovsky,E, Rimavska Sobota,1992.

7.Qxc5+ Qe7

Or 7...d6 8.Qxc3 Qe7 9.Ne2 Nf6 10.Bg5 Kf7 11.Qb3+ Qe6 12.Qc2 c5 13.Nbc3 h6 14.Bh4 Re8 15.f3 Nbd7 16.Nb5 Rb8 17.Nc7 Qe5 18.Nxe8 Kxe8 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qc3 Qg5 21.g3 Nf6 22.Qd2 Qe5 23.0-0-0 Ke7 24.Nf4 Kf7 25.Qxd6 Qxd6 26.Rxd6 Ke7 27.Rd2 b6 28.Nd5+ Nxd5 29.Rxd5 Be6 30.Rd3 Bxa2 31.Ra3 Be6 32.Rxa7+ Kf6 33.Rd1 g5 34.Ra6 Ke5 35.Ra7 Kf6 36.Rd6 Ke5 37.Rc6 Bh3 38.Rxh6 Bg2 39.Re7+ Kd4 40.Rg6 Bxf3 41.Rxg5 Ra8 42.Kd2 Ra2 43.Kc2 Bxe4+ 44.Kb3 Ra1 45.Rg4 Black resigned, Scepanik,K - Klein,M, Bonn 1996

8.Qxc3 Qxe4+ 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Be3 Nf6 11.Nd2 Qe7 12.0-0 Kf7 13.Ng3 Re8 14.Rae1 d6

15.Bg5 Qf8 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Nh5 Re5 18.Nxf6 Bf5 19.f4 Re6 20.Rxe6 Kxe6 21.Re1+ Kf7 22.Nf3 Qg7 23.Ng5+ Kf8 24.Nfxh7+ Kg8 25.Nf6+ Kf8 26.g4 Bxg4 27.Nxg4 Qxc3 28.bxc3 Re8 29.Nh7+ Kf7 30.Nh6+ Black resigned

Not Worth the Time

The Jerome Gambit is not a "cool" opening.

Once upon a time, the King's Gambit was cool. The Evans Gambit was cool (and maybe is cool again). Even the Benko Gambit had a time when it was very, very cool.

For some, apparently the Jerome Gambit isn't worth their time.

perrypawnpusher  - obmanovichhh
blitz 14 0, FICS, 2011

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

The Italian Four Knights Game, transposing from the Petroff Defense.

5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+

Last year, duraysteeus played 6.Ng5+ against my opponent, not very successfully (0-1, 49)

6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4

This is the most popular response in The Database, occuring in 34% of the games.

Previously, my opponent had tried 7...Bb4, which certainly has its positive attributes.

The strongest response, 7...Bd6, appears only 6% of the time. (Perhaps that is one reason that people play the Jerome Gambit.)

8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Be6

This move prevents a possible Qd3-c4+ in response to a careless ...Nc6-b4 – a tactic that has won more points for me than it should have.

It is likely that 10...d5 is stronger than the text, however, something that has me thinking about changing my opening move order, perhaps back to 10.0-0 as I played against jomme.

11.0-0 Re8

This is a bit stronger than 11...Rf8, where White had the annoying 12.f5 Bd7 13.Qc4+, as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18) although Black was still  a bit better.

12.b3 Nb4 13.Qe2 c5 14.Bb2 Bg4 15.Qc4+ Be6

Was my opponent thinking of repeating the position, for a draw? I would have been okay with that, as I was getting nothing out of this game. 

16.Qe2 Qb6

No, this does not look like a peaceful move.

17.Na4 Qc6 18.a3

My Knight move weakened the pawn at e4, so 18.Bxf6, taking some pressure off of the center, was appropriate, now and/or later. As it is, my opponent overlooked chances for counterplay.

18...Bg4

Instead, 18...Nxc2 19.Qxc2 Qxe4 was a creative way to return Black's extra piece, as his backward d-pawn would have a bright future to advance as a protected passer.

19.Qc4+ Kf8 20.axb4

After the game Rybka 3 showed me what was really going on in the game: 20.Bxf6 Rxe4 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qc3+ Kf7 23.axb4 Rae8 24.b5 Qd5 25.Qd3 Qxd3, about even.

20...cxb4 21.Qxc6 bxc6

22.Bxf6

Finally thinking to get rid of the Knight, although later Rybka 3 corrected me:  22.e5 Nd7 23.exd6 Re2 24.f5 Rd2 25.Rae1 Rxd6 26.h3 Bh5 27.Re6 Rd5 28.Rxc6 Re8 29.Rf2 a5 30.Rc7 Bf7 with an advantage for White.

22...gxf6 23.Rae1 Rac8 24.Nb2 c5 25.Nc4 Be6

My Knight has returned to play, and Black's Bishop has returned to its favorite square, e6. Unfortunately, the latter was an error (25...Rcd8 would have kept the game balanced).

26.Nxd6 Bg4

On revient toujours à ses premiers amours.

27.Nxc8 Rxc8 28.e5 f5 29.Ra1

White is up the exchange and a protected passed pawn and will now add another pawn and a strongly placed Rook to his list of small advantages.

29...Rc7 30.Ra6 Kf7 31.Rfa1 Be2 32.Rxa7 Rxa7 33.Rxa7+ Kg6 34.Rc7

At this point my opponent still had over half of his time left on the clock. Still, he let all 7 plus minutes run out, and lost on time, rather than resign. I guess finishing the game, again, was not worth his time.

Sudden Despair

The following game is over in an eyeblink.

For much of the game Black is doing well, and when he slips, it is only to "fall" to an even game.

Then he loses heart...

perrypawnpusher  - Urumpel
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

Given by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in his published analysis in the July 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal; and played successfully by him in two correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger in 1880.

7.Qxe5 Bb6

Strangely enough, The Database, with 23,645 Jerome Gambit and related games, does not have this reasonable move.

8.d3 Qf6 9.Qg3 d6 10.Nc3 Nh6

Planning to target White's f2 square. 

11.0-0 Ng4 12.Be3

Encouraging Black to follow through with his plan, i.e. 12.h3 Bxf2+ 13.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 14.Qxf2+ Nxf2 15.Kxf2, while "objectively" a little bit better than the text, would have left White with a pawn for the exchange, when Black would have an edge.

My move makes Urumpel nervous about his King and Queen being on the same file as my Rook.

12...Kg8 13.Bxb6 axb6 14.f4

14...Ra5 15.h3 Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Ne3

This invasion looks dangerous, but only leads to an even game. Black should have considered developing his other Rook with the Fishing Pole-style 16...h5!?

17.Rfc1 h5

Not nearly as powerful a move now.

18.Ne2 Nxg2

Yielding too quickly to despair. 

Black sees his Knight going, and uses it as a desperado, forgetting that his Queen is en prise. He could have used the same idea to find 18...Nf5, when 19.exf5 Qxb2 20.Qe3 Kf7 21.Ng3 Re8 22.Qf3 Bxf5 23.Qxh5+ g6 24.Qf3 Be6 would have left White only slightly better, according to Rybka 3.

19.Nxd4 Nxf4 20.Qxf4 g5 21.Qf6 h4 22.Rf1 g4 23.Qf7 checkmate

Oh, well, sac anyway

As a contrast to yesterday's column full of Sturm und Drang, I thought I would share a recent game by Bill Wall. You can almost hear him humming a little tune as he plays his moves. You say that the Jerome Gambit goes well with a nice merlot?

Wall,B - Kamy
Chess.com, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4

Still waiting for ...Bc5, then Bxf7, writes Bill. 

6...Bd6

Oh, well, sac anyway.

7.Bxf7+ Kxf7

What does White have for his piece? Objectively, very little, just a collection of interesting possibilities: Black's unsafe King, the a2-g8 diagonal, the e8-h5 diagonal, a possible weakness at f6, the possibility of opening the f-file against Black's King... Nothing to get upset about.

8.Qe2 Re8  9.Qc4+ Kf8 10.Nh4

"Doctor" Wall diagnoses a certain leukopenia (weakness of the light squares, used by Hans Kmoch in his Pawn Power in Chess) in his opponent's position.

10...Ne7 11.d3

Black's move covers d5, f5 and g6, treating the leukopenia, but this in turn exacerbates possible problems along the f-file, including a potentially weak Knight on f6, which now lack's the Queen's support.

11...b6 12.f4 a5 13.fxe5 Bxe5

Voila! An open file targetting the Knight on f6.

Is Black still better? Feed the position to any computer and it will say "yes". Still, White continues to work on his attack-the-King ideas, because they just might turn into something useful...

14.d4 d5 15.exd5 Bd6 16.Bxh6

Grabbing a pawn.

Is Black still better? Feed the position to any computer and it will say "yes". Still, White continues to work on his attack-the-King ideas, because they just might turn into something useful...

[Oh, I guess I wrote that already.]

16...gxh6

Black still had the better choices of 16...Ba6 17.Nb5 Nexd5 18.Bg5 or 16...Kg8 17.Bg5 Ba6 18.Nb5 Nfxe5, in each case with a roughly even game.

17.Rxf6+ Kg7 18.Raf1 Ba6

This is the counterplay that Black has been counting on. It fails, which seems a bit unfair. How can Black be better for so long, and suddenly be worse?

The most straight-forward answer to that question is "the power of a bad move," but perhaps the following line would make defenders feel better: 18...Nf5 (giving back the piece) 19.Nxf5+ Bxf5 20.R6xf5 Qh4 (White's King has safety issues, too) 21.h3 Qg3 22.Qd3 Qh2+ (calling the tune for a few moves) 23.Kf2 Rf8 24.Ke1 Qxg2 25.Rxf8 Rxf8 26.Rxf8 Bxf8 (White could afford to give up a pawn to get the Rooks off of the board) 27.Qf5 Qg1+ 28.Ke2 Qxd4 29.Qg4+ Qxg4 30.hxg4 and Black is "only" down one pawn, with a Bishop vs White's Knight. However, he will still lose.

19.Nb5 Be5

This hastens the end, but Black's King was too unsafe to survive, in any event.

20.dxe5 Qxd5 21.Qg4+ Kh7 22.Rf7+ Kh8 23.Qg7 checkmate

Totally Psyched Out

"I don't believe in psychology," Bobby Fischer supposedly said. "I believe in strong moves."

Then, again, Bobby probably never played the Jerome Gambit. If he had, he would have known the power of psychology (causing surprise, confusion, doubt and fear in the opponent) to make up for shortcomings, in an otherwise busted chess opening.

In the following game my opponent totally out-psychs me, though,and then adds some strong moves, too, for a well-deserved (for him) and painful (for me) victory.

perrypawnpusher  - Olito
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6

With 4...a6 the game would transpose to perrypawnpusher - angelosgoulianos, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 40).

The whole Rook-pawns idea should not have been unsettling to me, but the fact that my opponent was playing his moves quickly sort of cued the ominous violin music to start playing in the background... See "If I write all this and someone reads it...".

5.Nc3 a6 6.a3

Temporizing. Last year I had tried a similar time-wasting idea, d2-d3-d4, in perrypawnpusher - tschup, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

Of course, there certainly was nothing wrong with 6.d4 and a small advantage. I was still hoping for a Jerome Gambit-style game.

6...Bc5 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.d4 Nf3+

This hit me like a ton of bricks.

Not just the move – I had seen it in my game against AirmanLeonidas – but the ideas behind it.

My game with Olito was taking place later on in the same day that I had posted my ICC game against HenryV . In the notes to HenryV I had pointed out that White could capture the Black Knight on f3 with his Queen, because if Black retaliated with with ...Bxd4, White had a neat maneuver starting with Nc3-b5.

Of course, my opponent had just prevented Nc3-b5 with his a-pawn move.

Apparently, Olito was familiar with my blog post and had planned accordingly. Panic ran screaming down the hallways of my brain – which is reason #253 as to why I will never be a good chess player...

For the record, the text move is better than 9...Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - cinamon, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28).

10.Qxf3

I decided to go along with a modification of my original plan, anyhow.

Next time I will take a look at 10.gxf3, breaking up my Kingside pawns, but giving me a chance to scatter Black's pieces after 10...Ba7 11.e5 Nh7. Both Rybka 3 and Fritz 8 then suggest marching White's d-pawn to d6:  12.d5 Qh4 13.d6 c6 14.Qd3 Qh5 15.f4 when the "Jerome pawns" could still cause some grief.

10...Bxd4 11.Ne2 Be5 12.Qb3+

I was playing quickly, too, but more with a sense of desperation: I didn't like being out-prepared in my own, favorite opening!

Now Black has 12...d5 when 13.f4 Bd6 14.e5 forks two pieces, but there is escape with either 14...Bc5+ or 14...Re8.

12...Kg6

A mistake, or more psychological warfare?

13.f4 Bd6 14.f5+

Going after the King! To punish it! To checkmate it!

Yes, I had kind of lost my head by this point.

Sticking with the obvious, instead, would have given White at lease an even game, and perhaps a small edge: 14.e5 (the fork) Bc5+ (one piece escapes) 15.Be3 Ne4 (the other piece escapes) 16.Bxc5 Nxc5 17.Qc4 (chasing off the defender) d6 18.b4 Na4 19.e6 Qf6 20.f5+ Kh7 21.Qxc7

analysis diagram






But, back to the real world.

14...Kh7

15.Bf4 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Nxe4

White is mostly just a piece down now. Still, I thought it was worth taking a swipe at the enemy King.

17.Qf3 d5 18.g4 Qh4 19.Ng3 Nxg3+ 20.Bxg3 Qg5 21.h4

White has, as my Dad would say, "a whole lot of nothing", but Jerome Gambiteers have gotten out of worse messes than this one.

21...Qf6 22.Qxd5 Bd6 23.Bxd6 Qxh4+

Somewhere out there, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") is saying "I told you so!" I've seen Pete hang on and survive some pretty desperate positions – the Jerome Gambit is complicated for Black, as well as White.

24.Bh2 Qxg4

25.Rg1

After the game, Rybka 3 liked White's position enough to suggest: 25.Rf4 Qh5 26.Rg1 Rg8 27.Rg2 Re8 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Rg2 Re8 30.Rg1 Rg8 31.Rg2 Re8 32.Rg1 Rg8 33.Rg2 Re8 34.Rg1 Rg8 35.Rg2 Re8 36.Rg1 Rg8 37.Rg2 Re8 38.Rg1 Rg8 39.Rg2 Re8 40.Rg1– that's right, White repeats the position and Black goes along with him: a draw.

Of course, my line of play gives up a pawn, and my opponent's generosity (giving back the piece) is all for naught.

25...Qxf5 26.Rad1 c6 27.Qg2 Rg8 28.Rgf1 Qh3 29.Qxh3 Bxh3 30.Rf7 b5 31.Rg1

The idea of active Rooks trying to win a pawn before transitioning into a hopefully-drawable Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame is an attractive one, but it needs to be executed properly. My move overlooks a nice response by Black.

31...Be6 32.Re7 Bd5+ 33.Rg2 Bxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Rad8 35.Be5 Rd2+ White resigned

What a mess...

Hat off to my opponent Olito, who seriously schooled me in this game.