Understanding Less and Less

Ah, yes, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), the duck-billed platypus of chess openings, misunderstood and maligned...



perrypawnpusher  - Mences
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 b6 9.Qe3

Usually the White Queen gets booted away by the d-pawn (as in our previous game), but Black plans to put his light-squared Bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal.

9...N8e7 10.f4 Nc6 11.f5 Nge5 12.d4 Nc4 13.Qd3 N4a5

Usually the Knights pile up on the Kingside. This could be a risky idea if the Bishop goes to b7, too.

14.0-0 Bb7 15.Nc3 Qc8

At this point, I was quite confused as to my opponent's intentions. Move-by-move, I understood less and less.

16.Qg3

This is the right idea (attack the Kingside) but even "righter" was 16.f6.

16...Rg8 17.f6 Rf8 18.Qxg7 Nxd4 19.Qe7 checkmate

Sunday Book Review: Endgame

Endgame
Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness
Frank Brady
Crown Publishers (2011)

Frank Brady (who authored an earlier biography of Fischer, Profile of a Prodigy) knew Bobby Fischer. For Endgame he interviewed many people who knew the Champion – on his way up, from a young boy who suddenly "got good" at chess, aiming to be the top player in the world; through his titanic battles to become primus inter pares (and a whole lot more); to his sad and lonely last days as a pariah of the chess world, a man without a country, a caricature of his former self.

Brady's extensive research (including KGB and FBI files, and even an autobiographical essay that Fischer wrote as a teenager) allows him to paint a very human picture of his subject, one that is accessible to any reader, not just those infected with the chess bug. This is one of Endgame's strengths: Robert J. Fischer's caissiac wizardry may have unnerved his opponents, and tales of his domination on the 64 squares may have frightened non-players ("I can't even tell the horsie from the castle") away from learning about the American gladiator – but, no more.

With his efforts, the author sweeps away a number of outrageous notions that have held sway in the public's mind.

Was Bobby and idiot savant ? Hardly. Although he was intensely involved in chess, his interests also included religion and history (among other things) and he read widely, especially as an adult. He could hold his end of a conversation quite well. (If you need a fancy description, try auto didact. A high school dropout, Fischer, nonetheless, never stopped learning.) 

Was Bobby autistic ? Clearly, he could be a bit unpolished in his social and communication skills, but once you side-step the jokes about chess-playing itself as "restricted and repetitive behavior" (one of the diagnostic criteria of autism) it is difficult to look at all of the relationships that he had (with Boris Spassky, as one high profile example) which included plenty of interpersonal warmth (often, heat) and reciprocity, and come up with that label.

Was Bobby schizophrenic ? That is a word much easier tossed around by lay people than applied by a professional after an evaluation. Brady quotes at least one clinician who knew Bobby who did not think so. There are several untrained acquaintances who assuredly say he was. (Certainly his life included a brand of social and occupational dysfunction, but the matter of a disintegration of thought processes is still quite dicey.)

Was Bobby paranoid ? Aha: here is where the old saying "you're not paranoid if they are out to get you" gets an extra workout. As he moved into international chess play as a teenager, Fischer was not initially as successful as he had expected and predicted. His explanation? The "Russians" were conspiring against him. Taken by many at the time as an attitude of "sour grapes", these claims were subsequently assessed by fair-minded observers – to be true.

Yet, sadly, we see in Endgame, as Bobby moved through his teens and twenties and thirties, his feelings of persecution and his world view of so many people out to get him steadfastly out-paced anything that was actually happening in the world around him. Like a summer storm that starts with intermittent rain drops, follows with an increasingly persistent shower, and finishes with a drenching downpour, Bobby's paranoia eventually drowned him.

It is easy to see Fischer through the lens of a mythical hero, a demi-god steadfastly conquering adversity and eventually attaining his life-long goal of becoming World Champion. What happens next can be filed under " once you reach the pinnacle, it's a long, long way down from the top of Mount Olympus".

What Brady does in Endgame is different, however. He humanizes Bobby, making him pretty much the boy next door. Readers, like the neighbors, can get excited as they watch the kid pile on success after success. Go, Bobby!

And, tragically, like the neighbors who always seem to be interviewed by the press after someone they know has done something horrible, we all look at Fischer's declining years and say, we don't understand, sure he was a bit quirky, but he was always kind of a nice kid, we never would have expected this...      

Frank Brady's Endgame: fine reading for anyone.  

What he said...

I noticed that my opponent has the following comment posted at FICS, wisdom we all should heed.
Fair enough.

I've seen time and again how quick impulsive moves destroy my games. Slow down and use your time.

perrypawnpusher - Kanatoly Asparov,
blitz 4 16, 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 Nc4

An incautious move that the Fidelity "Chess Challenger 7 " once threw at me three years ago. Petasluk had faced it in 2006 (vs Comi) and UNPREDICTABLE has seen it in 2009 (vs ennuitois) and 2010 (vs LucioF).

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ Black resigned

White will recover his second sacrificed piece after 10...Nd6 11.e5, remaining a couple of pawns ahead.

Mysteries of the Jerome Pawns

I wish that I had won the following game because I solved the "mysteries" of the "Jerome pawns" discussed after move 20. Alas, I took advantage of my opponent's mistake and slid into a drawn endgame, feeling lucky... 

perrypawnpusher - chingching
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

According to The Database, which I consulted after the game, up until now, chingching was 9-1 against the Jerome Gambit. However, every one of those games saw 5.d4 instead of 5.Nxe5+, so my move was going to at least give my opponent something new to look at. 

I was interested to see that chingching had also played 16 games (scoring 75%) defending an Italian Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4, which transposed to the Jerome with 4...exd4 5.Bxf7+ (an idea as old as Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, 1874). Among the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, DragonTail is the top practitioner of this line, and we have previously seen DragonTail - chingching, blitz, FICS, 2009.

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qe3 d6

10.0-0 Nf6 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.f4 Kf7

Continuing to castle-by-hand. Instead, 12...Ng4, as in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 31) is not as strong.

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Neg4

As often happens, it is tempting to harass the White Queen. I suppose this is because White's opening seems so artificial that certain allowances can be made in how Black responds. Still, 14...Nc6 was for choice, as White can now develop some initiative.

15.Qe2 Kg8 16.h3 Nh6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.e5 dxe5 19.dxe5

19...Qc5+ 20.Kh1 Nd5

This is a critical position for the game, as Rybka 3, in the post mortem, saw Black's last move as a blunder (recommending 20...Ne8 instead).

The point is that the "Jerome pawns", now connected and passed, work very well with White's heavy pieces after  21.Nxd5 Qxd5 22.Rad1

analysis diagram






See?

I admit that I still did not, and it took some work to see why Rybka saw White as more than a piece better.

For starters, White is threatening e5-e6 and f5-f6 which combine with Qg4+ in a mating attack. That suggests that Black's best retreat for his Queen will be 22...Qf7, even though that still allows White to play 23.e6.

If Black uses his Queen to blockade the forward pawn with 23...Qe7, then 24.Qe5 will force 24...Bxe6 25.fxe6.

If Black uses his Queen to blockade the trailing pawn with 23...Qf6, then White has a tricky combination: 24.e7 Re8 25.Rd8!? when 25...Rxd8 is met with 26.Qc4+ and Black has to either give up his Bishop with 26...Be6 or face the other advancing Jerome pawn with 26...Kf7 27.exd8/Q Qxd8 28.f6+ Kf8 29.Qc5+ Qd8 30.Qe3 Be6 31.Qxh6+ Ke8 32.Qxh7 Qf8 33.Re1 Qxf6 34.Qg8+ Qxa8 when White is up the exchange and two pawns.

Wow. That is so far over my head...

21.Qh5 Nxc3 22.bxc3 Qxe5 23.Rae1 Qf6

White's position is only a shadow of what it was 3 moves ago. His Kingside "attack" is also doomed to failure.

24.Re3 Bxf5 25.Ref3 Qe6

An odd slip by opponent, dropping a piece, when 25...Qg6, instead, would have sealed his advantage.

26.Rxf5 Rxf5 27.Qxf5 Qxf5 28.Rxf5 Rd8

We have reached a drawish looking endgame.

29.Rb5 Rd2 30.Rxb7 Rxc2 31.Rxa7 Rxc3 32.a4 Rc1+ 33.Kh2 Ra1 34.Rxc7 Rxa4 35.Rd7 Ra2 36.Re7 Game drawn by mutual agreement

Did he jump, or was he pushed?

My guess is that the first chessplayer to follow 1.e4 with Bc4 (either right away, as in the Bishop's Opening, or later, as in the Italian Game or the King's Gambit) already had the move Bxf7+ in mind. That seminal moment would have been long before the birth of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – and who knows which of those early attacks might have inspired Alonzo Wheeler Jerome to create his "Double Gambit"?

In the following game, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member blackburne is playing the venerable King's Gambit Accepted, until the game takes a Bxf7+ swerve. Was blackburne's hand forced by the ghost of Lolli, Salvio, or Muzio, or of A.W. Jerome himself?

blackburne - notverydeepblue
ChessWorld, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 a6

I have found only 3 or 4 game examples of this move, all from amateur play. Black is either experimenting wildly, or he is essaying the weak psychological gambit: do you know your opening as White well enough to play it without any help from me??

Either way, knowing blackburne, this signals a short game.

4.Bc4 b5 5.Bxf7+

Of course, there was nothing preventing White from playing 5.Bb3 followed by 6.d4, instead – except, perhaps, his sense of adventure.

5...Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke6 7.d4

Does any reader care to wager that the next time blackburne reaches this position, he will offer a further piece with 7.O-O ?

7...c6 8.Qg4+ Kd6 9.Nf7+ Black resigned

Slaughter

This is another one of those interesting losses alluded to in "Three Years Running". Black's defense has an eerie "hypermodern" feel to it, but it should not have slaughtered me like it did. This is a good game to learn from.

perrypawnpusher - LuigiJerk
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 Nf7

Sometimes this Knight move both takes the steed out of danger and provides for the defense of the Black King. In this game, that is exactly what it does, but it should not have.

Yet, the position is not simple. Not even ten moves in, and the Jerome Gambit still has its secrets!

White should now take the Knight with 9.Qxf7, threatening to next to take the Bishop after Qd5+.

Black has a tricky counter-attack with 9...Nf6, covering the d5 square. This seems to give away another piece after 10.e5+ Kc6, but pay attention to White's uncastled King: it is unsafe to now grab material and open both the e- and g-files. White's best is 11.d4, instead, when 11...Bxd4 can be answered with 12.Qc4+ Bc5 12.b4. If Black tries 11...Ne4 instead, White can retreat his Queen with 12.Qb3 or try 12.c4, answering 12...d5 with 13.Qxd5+ Qxd5 14.cxd5 Kxd5 15.dxc5 Nxc5.

Black can also defend d5 with 9...c6, when 10.Qxg7 Nf6 11.Qxf6 Qxf6 12.e5+ Qxe5 13.fxe5+ Kxe5 leads, as with 9...Nf6, to an edge for White.

All of this I learned after the game, with the help of Rybka 3 and Fritz 8.

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6

The alternative, 10...Ke8, was seen in perrypawnpusher - calexander, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 25). (Yes, I missed taking the Knight on f7 there, too.)

11.Qe3 Be6

Here Black has an edge. His Knight on f7 slightly out-weighs my two "Jerome pawns".

12.f5 Bd7 13.d4 Nf6 14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nd5

After 15...Ng4 the game would be tactically tricky, but roughly balanced. (I don't think I'll ever criticize myself for castling "too early" in a Jerome Gambit again.)

16.Qa3+

A strange move. Simply 16.Qc5+ allows White to win the Knight at d5.

16...Ke8

While a superficial look (like the kind that I took) shows that White is on the edge of forking two pieces with his e-pawn, anything deeper shows the first player's King at great risk.

White needs to castle here.

17.e6 Qh4+ 18.Kf1

Going the wrong way, but after 18.Kd1 Bc6 19.exf7+ Kxf7 White's extra pawn would mean nothing, while his insecure King and undeveloped pieces would give Black the advantage.

Quite a lesson about King safety for the Jerome Gambiteer!

18...Bb5+ White resigned

A Puzzle

Sometimes my games end with a puzzle, leaving me to wonder what has happened. Often, this is because of what has gone on in the game. However, in the following contest I had to wonder what had gone on outside the game.


perrypawnpusher - transilvania
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.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Qc4+

The correct response to the attack on the Queen.

I have won two games with 10.Qd3, perrypawnpusher - LeChinois, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15)) and perrypawnpusher - javipangea, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 19), nonetheless.

10...Kf8

Correct, again, although I have lost two games to 10...Kg6, perrypawnpusher - mjmonday, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 26) and perrypawnpusher - DeDaapse, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 19).

Go figure.

11.f4 d6 12.Be3

Here, Black stands well.

However, with over 5 minutes left on his clock, he let them all run our and forfeited on time.

I hope nothing bad happened. Perhaps, as they say, he "had bigger fish to fry."