I just got an email (and a Jerome Gambit game) from Bill Wall, in response to my post "Like the Big Boys".
Here is the game, with notes by Bill.
Wall,B - NFNZ
FICS, 2011
I liked the way you described my games as waiting, waiting, waiting, pouncing. This game demonstrates the waiting and the pouncing. You will like the way I got out of a pin of my queen and king. I never made this maneuver before. Then I pounced for mate.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nc6
4.Bc4
Waiting...
4...Bc5
Yes!
5.Bxf7+
5...Kxf7 6.Qe2
Waiting...
6...Rf8?
Yes
7.Qc4+
Small pounce
7...d5 8.Qxc5 d4 9.Nb5
Waiting...
9...Nxe4 10.Nxe5+ Nxe5 11.Qxe5
Waiting
11...Ng3
Did I make a mistake?
12.fxg3
Waiting...
12...Re8
Looks bad.
13.O-O+!
Big pounce
13...Kg8 14.Qxc7
Waiting
14...Qg5
14...Qxc7 15.Nxc7 forks the two rooks
15.Qf7+!
Final fatal pounce.
Black resigns as 15...Kh8 16.Qxe8 is mate
For many chess players, correspondence chess has been a kind of "secret weapon". With more time to consider, analyze, and make each move in a long distance game, new openings (some quite unorthodox, if that is where the interest runs) could be explored and prepared for over-the-board use. One need look no further than Alonzo Wheeler Jerome testing out his Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in correspondence play, for a relevant example.
In addition, correspondence games, themselves, seem to have been excluded by and large from collections of over-the-board play. Many club players, masters and grandmasters prepared for their encounters largely untouched by this gold mine of "slower" chess.
A player who subscribed to the Chess Mail correspondence chess magazine, however, or who obtained the MegaCorr and UltraCorr CD databases, had access to hundreds of thousands (ultimately, over a million) additional games.
Both Chess Mail and Mega/UltraCorr were edited by Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess, Tim Harding, who is the author of today's reviewed book.
Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824 – 1987
Tim Harding
McFarland and Co., 2011
softcover, algebraic notation
439 pages
This book is a massive work, a history, a games collection, an historical record — one likely to make it to many players' "desert island" book list.
In the words of the author
This is the story of a bygone age in intellectual sport, which ended in the latter part of the twentieth century. It tells the history of correspondence chess in Britain and Ireland from the first formal match between Edinburgh and London in 1824 up to the 1980s. This span of time saw a social transformation and an explosion in leisure activities including chess. Correspondence chess is that fascinating branch of the game where moves are exchanged with distant opponents by post or other means of communication. Nowadays it is mostly played on the internet, using email and web servers, but in the 1820s the mails were carried by stagecoach and the cost of sending letters was beyond the purse of a working man. In 1840, British postage charges were drastically reduced and postal chess became a novelty, which developed into a global competitive sport.
This book is aimed at all chess-players with an interest in the history of their game, not just postal chess, including as it does, for example, new revelation about the controversial Victorian master Howard Staunton (1810 – 1874). It should also interest social cultural and sports historians who may only have a passing acquaintance with chess. The story begins with the match which set the pattern for the rules of correspondence chess ever since.
Deeply researched and documented (its core was the author's doctoral thesis) Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987 is also very accessible, both in readability and content. Harding has always known what will catch the eye of the average chess reader, and this title shows off his ability to tell a tale well.
Here is a peek at the Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Annotation Symbols
1. Capital Letters: Edinburgh versus London, 1824–1828
2. Heyday of the Inter-Club Matches
3. Penny Post and Private Matches
4. Moves Over the Wires: Chess Adopts Technology
5. The Earliest Postal Tournaments, 1853 to 1870
6. Changing Times: The 1870s and 1880s
7. “A Battle at Long Range”: The United Kingdom versus the United States, 1877–1881
8. The Growth of Tournaments, 1870 to 1897
9. Scottish Correspondence Chess to 1918
10. Irish and Welsh Correspondence Chess to 1918
11. The English Scene, 1890 to 1918
12. From One War to the Next, 1918 to 1939
13. Correspondence Chess During World War II
14. International Revival, 1946 to 1951
15. Domestic Competitions, 1946 to 1970
16. Crisis and Resolution: Britain and the International
Correspondence Chess Federation, 1951 to 1971
17. The Home Front: The 1970s and 1980s
18. Growth and Success, 1972 to 1982
19. Becoming World Champions
Appendix I. Matches Between Clubs
Appendix II. Lists of Champions
Appendix III. Excerpts from Rules and Other Documents
Appendix IV. British and Irish Holders of I.C.C.F. Titles
Chapter Notes
Select Bibliography
Index of Images
Index of Opponents
Index of Openings by Name
Index of Openings by ECO Code
General Index
Whether you are looking for a slice of history (chess and otherwise), a measure of enjoyable chess games, an insight into openings that you play (or would like to play), or just a way to pleasantly while away a few hours at a time, Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987 is a cornucopia of delight, waiting to be sampled.
It was the star-crossed lover Romeo who opined
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
I chose that reference to reflect the game below, which contains a mis-named line, as well as a choice of moves by me that has the aroma more of a polecat than a fragrant flower...
perrypawnpusher - igormsp
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 Nf3+
I checked, and this line is given the name the "Young variation" in the Nomenclature that Bill Wall put together for this blog, after Jack Young, the amazing opening inventor of "Bozo's Chess Emporium" fame.
I think I may have misled Bill in the information that I gave him about the line. Young actually faced the move at the "hands" of the Chess Challenger 10 computer in 1979. That might make it look like the "Challenger Variation," but I think that the name more likely should be the "Norton Variation", after the early Jerome Gambit game Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 42).
My error.
However, the move, itself, is not an error. In fact, it is a great way to set a complacent Jerome Gambit player back on his heels.
9.Kf1
While playing the game, I remembered that the main line goes 9.gxf3 Qh4+ 10.Kd1 Qf2 and that I had quickly reached a drawn position in my game against Sir Osis of the Liver in our 2008 ChessWorld game (winning, when he over-reached).
I didn't remember much more.
More critical was 10...Ne7, from the game perrypawnpusher - sjeijk, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 19) but I was a little fuzzy on the details there, too.
So, hoping to "surprise" my apparently prepared opponent, I opted for Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's choice of moves against D. P. Norton.
Bad idea: the strategy, and the choice of moves.
9...Kc6
Okay.
There are many reasons that the Jerome Gambit will not be mistaken for, say, the Ruy Lopez, starting with the fact that most of the first 10 moves in the Spanish Game have already been mapped out.
My opponent took enough time in choosing his move for me to believe that I had surprised him. His choice, to leave his Knight en prise and tip-toe his King away from the center, is enough for a draw, similar to the Sir Osis game.
10.Qd5+ Kb6 11.Qb3+ Kc6 12.Qxf3
I could have split the point with 12.Qd5+, etc, but I thought that I would see if I could further confuse my opponent. I was betting on my "Jerome pawns" versus his extra piece, but my poor development seriously hampered my attacking possibilities and actually gave Black the better game.
After the game, Rybka 3 suggested that 12.Nc3 a6 13.d4 was the way for White to fight for a possible, slight, edge. Wow.
12...Qf6
I am sure that the poor Queen has been dying to move since Black played 8...Nf3+ instead of 8...Qh4+. Now, however, it will just be dying.
13.e5+ Black resigned
(See, I wasn't being "modest" when I referred to my recent "lucky wins" in "Three Years Running".)
Here is a recent, light, quick game from MrJoker, at the Internet Chess Club. His opponent must have felt like he had been run over by a truck. Did anyone get the license plate number?
MrJoker - enelec,
blitz 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bb4
In all fairness, it is hard to tell if this move is an ultra-modern refinement of the double King pawn opening, or a mouse-slip. (Semyon Alapin used to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bb4 in the Spanish Game.)
I faced a similar idea (after 3...a6 4.0-0) in my game against dabbling. Actually, MrJoker faced the same move a week earlier; see below.
4.c3 Ba5 5.Bxf7+
Giving the opening the Jerome treatment.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6
Or 7...Ng6 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxa5 Qe7 10.d3 Nf6 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg5 d6 13.f4 Bd7 14.Nd2 Bb5 15.c4 Bc6 16.b3 a5 17.Ba3 Qf7 18.f5 Ne5 19.d4 h6 20.Qh4 Neg4 21.Rae1 Kd7 22.h3 h5 23.hxg4 hxg4 24.Qg3 Rh6 25.Kf2 Nh5 26.Qxg4 Rf8 27.d5 Bb7 28.Ke3 Kc8 29.f6+ Kb8 30.fxg7 Nf6 31.gxf8Q+ Qxf8 32.Qg5 Qh8 33.Rxf6 Rxf6 34.Bb2 Rg6 35.Bxh8 Rxg5 36.Re2 Rg3+ 37.Nf3 c6 38.Kf4 Rg8 39.Bd4 c5 40.Bc3 Bc8 41.e5 Rg4+ 42.Ke3 dxe5 43.Nxe5 Rg3+ 44.Nf3 Bg4 45.Be5+ Kc8 46.Bxg3 Black resigned, MrJoker - WhiteKnight-1, blitz 2 12, ICC, 2011.
8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4 Qf6
Normally, a reliable defensive idea. But not today.
10.dxe5+ Qxe5 11.Bf4 Black resigned
I believe that it was GM Andy Soltis, long ago, who wrote that it can be difficult to decide, when there is a choice of either Rook to move to a square, which one to choose. He even humoursly suggested that, regardless of which one the player chooses, the annotator would be able to to kibitz "Wrong Rook".
That assessment is at the heart of this game (even though, here, it is a matter of choosing which of two Rooks should be moved, each to a different square), but it probably should be written "WRONG ROOK!" and placed against the background of a ticking clock...
perrypawnpusher - pitrisko
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 Qf6
In a game that we played 3 days earlier (see "Like the Big Boys"), my opponent had tried the very reasonable 9...Nf6.
10.Nc3
I've played a couple of games with 10.0-0; see perrypawnpusher - TJPOT, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 48) and perrypawnpusher - LeiCar, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 25).
Louis Morin ("mrjoker") has played a couple with 10.d4; see guest2199 - guest401, ICC, 2004 (1-0, 87) and mrjoker - Igor77, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 70).
10...c6 11.0-0 N8e7 12.f4 Rf8
This is Black's idea: with the King Knight on e7, he can double the heavy pieces on the f-file. He will have four pieces trained on the f5 square.
13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 b5
I've seen similar Knight vs Queen face-offs, for example perrypawnpusher - saltos, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 28).
16.b3 Nb6 17.Bb2
I liked this move, both kicking the enemy Knight and preparing to put my Bishop on the long diagonal.
Yet, Rybka 3, after the game, preferred the same move that I've been wrestling with, in different settings, recently (see "What does the Jerome Gambit deserve?" and "Like the Big Boys"): 17.e5
The main idea is the clearance sacrifice, 17...dxe5 18.Ne4. The secondary idea is that if Black advances his Queen, instead, with 17...Qh4, White will advance his pawn with 18.f6. There is also the ugly 17...Bxf5 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.cxd3 Rxf6 20.Rxf6 gxf6 Ne4 where White will have an edge in the endgame.
I guess when I better understand e4-e5, I'll have a better handle on the Jerome Gambit.
17...Kf7
It's never to late to castle-by-hand.
18.Ne2 Nd7 19.Rae1 a5 20.Nf4 Kg8
Things seem to be going as planned: I have plenty of development as compensation for my sacrifice, I am about to drop a knight into an outpost at e6, and my opponent is running short of time.
21.Ne6 Rf7 22.e5
Give yourself credit if you saw the Bishop-and-Knight-tour: 22.Bc1 h6 23.Nc7 Ra7 24.Ne8 Qh4 25.Nxd6 winning a pawn.
22...dxe5
pitrisko's time was running out, so he overlooked the better 22...Qh4, which left White with only a small edge.
23.dxe5 Qh4 24.Rf4
All together now: WRONG ROOK!
Of course, after 24.Re4, Black's Queen is in danger of being trapped, and his best move, 24...Qh5, allows 25.Nf4 followed by 26.e6.
What a sad way to mess up a relatively well-played game by White!
24...Qxe1+ 25.Rf1 Qh4 26.Nc7 Nxf5 27.Nxa8 Nc5 28.Qc3
Here, much to my relief, Black forfeited on time.
Another example of the equalizing injustice of chess.
According to past World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz, when a player has an advantage, he must attack, or the advantage will fizzle away.
To put this another way, for less-skilled players like myself: When you have the advantage, finish off your opponent quickly, before you blow the game yourself.
Like in the following debacle...
perrypawnpusher - DrHilarius
blitz, 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.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Re8
9.0-0
An alternative was 9.Bg5 followed by 10.0-0-0, as in Wall,B - PLMW, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 24).
9...Nc6 10.Qc4+ Kf8 11.Bg5 Ne5
This move struck me as a bit odd, and certainly provocative, but Rybka 3 did not censure it. My best response was probably 12.Qd4.
12.Qe2 Nf7 13.f4 h6 14.Bh4 g5
Breaking the pin, but loosening the Kingside too much.
15.fxg5 Nh7
He sees that to continue as planned (15...hxg5 16.Bxg5 Nxg5) would be dangerous (after 17.Qh5 Nf7 18.Qg6 Re6 19.Nd5), but his alternate choice should prove disastrous.
16.g6
This move is "okay", but deadly would have been 16.Qh5.
16...Qxh4 17.Rxf7+ Kg8 18.Rxh7
Since White is a couple of pawns up, with an aggressive position, it seems unkind to nag, again, that there was a far stronger move, 18.Qc4.
The problem is that for every "knockout punch" that I miss, my opponent stays on his feet a bit longer, and there is always the chance that he can get lucky.
18...d5 19.Qf3 Rf8 20.Rf7
Stop me if you've heard this one before... The snappy 20.Rh8+ led to mate.
20...Bg4 21.Qf4 Qg5 22.Qxg5
Competent, but 22.Nxd5 mates.
22...hxg5 23.Rxf8+ Rxf8 24.exd5 Bf5 25.Re1 Bxc2 26.Re7 Bd3
All that fire power, wasted. Still, White has a winning endgame with a strongly placed Rook and a couple of extra pawns.
27.Rxc7 Rf1 checkmate
Ooops...
I am sure that my opponent saw my oversight as hilarious!
(Note to self: tactics, tactics, tactics!)
I like playing over the Jerome Gambit games of Bill Wall, mrjoker and axykk. They look like patient predators, sitting, waiting, waiting, waiting... and then pouncing on their prey.
The following game of mine is a little like that. Except for the "pouncing" part.
perrypawnpusher - pitrisko
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 have had this position in over 30 games, scoring over 80%. I don't have it quite mastered, but I can get to it quickly (and that counts in blitz).
10.0-0 Ng4 11.Qg3
Surprisingly bad is 11.Qe2 which unravels quickly: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ 'Nuff said.
11...Qh4
Forcing the exchange of Queens. For 11...h6 see perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 14) and for 11...h5 see perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18)
12.Qxh4 Nxh4
I don't play the Jerome Gambit with a Queenless middlegame in mind, but it can't be helped. I decided a while back that in this position it didn't pay to spend any time (on the clock) worrying, I needed to make the swap and then move on.
13.f4 Nf6 14.Nc3 Ng6 15.f5 Ne5
This gives away more tempos to the "Jerome pawns", and White is now close to having full compensation for his sacrificed piece.
16.d4 Nc6 17.e5
It was easier to decide on this move here than it was in my game against mtibuk.
17...dxe5 18.dxe5
18...Ng4
Black does not want to give the piece back with 18...Nxe5 19.Re1, etc., when White would have an edge; but perhaps he should have.
19.e6
This move is okay, but after the game Rybka 3 preferred 19.Nb5 Kf8 20.e6 b6 21.Nxc7 Rb8 22.Bf4 with the idea 22...Bb7 23.Bd6+ Ne7 when White will be able to win the exchange with 24.Nd6, adding to his three-pawns-for-a-piece material balance and Black's blocked King Rook.
This is certainly a position I need to return to and study some more.
19...Rf8
Instead, Black had a chance to prepare a better defense by playing 19...Ne7, so that if 20.Nb5, then 20...Nd5.
20.h3
Missing 20.Nb(or d)5 entirely. It could also be played on my next move, with advantage.
20...Nf6
21.Bf4
I was happy with my game so far. I had kept everything in balance,
keeping a roughly even game, just like the "big boys", and all I needed was a slip by my opponent to take advantage of.
21...Nb4 22.Bxc7 Nxc2 23.Rac1
Sensible.
Rybka 3's suggestion shows chess being played at a higher level than either my opponent or I were capable of in this game: 23.Rad1 (attacking the back rank) Bxe6 (forced, but useful) 24.fxe6 Ne3 (has White blundered??) 25.e7 Rg8 26.Rd8+ Kxe7 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 (White's "Jerome pawns" have disappeared, but that is all that he has to regret) 28.Re1 Kd7 29.Rxe3 Kxc7 30.Re7+ Kc6 31.Rxg7. White has won a pawn, but the endgame looks tricky.
Strong chess players can get blood from a stone.
23...Ne3 24.Rf3 Ned5 25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Bd6 Ne7
Finally Black slips, and it is time to pounce!
27.Rfc3
No, this not it. It is a paw swipe, not a pounce.
With the pressure from 27.Rc7 Black is forced to liquidate with 27...Nxf5 28.Bxf8 Bxe6 29.Bxg7 Rd8 30.g4 Nxg7 31.Rxg7 Rd7 32.Rxd7 Kxd7 and White is up the exchange and a pawn.
That is not a lot, but it is enough to win the endgame.
Black now wisely gives back his extra piece for the two "Jerome pawns" and the game slides into a draw...
I pursued things for a while, waiting for another chance to "pounce" but it was not to be.
27...Rxf5 28.Bxe7 Kxe7 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Rxc8 Kxe6 31.Rc7 Rf7 32.Rxf7 Kxf7 33.Kf2 Ke6 34.Ke3 Kd5 35.Kd3 h5 36.h4 Ke5 37.Ke3 Kf5 38.Kf3 g5 39.hxg5 Kxg5 40.Kg3 Kf5 41.Kh4 Kg6 42.g4 hxg4 43.Kxg4 Kf6 44.Kf4 Ke6 45.Ke4 Kd6 46.Kd4 Kc6 47.Kc4 b6 48.a4 a6 49.b3 b5+ bxa4 51.bxa4 Kb6 52.a5+ Kc6 53.Kc4 Kd6 54.Kd4 Game drawn by mutual agreement
