Troubled and Troubling Knights

I know that some chess players choose the Knight for their favorite piece, as its moves are "tricky" but I've never quite had to face the kind of the strange silliness that Black's Knights present in this game. Even so, they were more of a side show, as the "Jerome pawns" took center stage.

perrypawnpusher - whitepandora
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

10.0-0 Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5 Ne5

If 12...Rxe4 then 13.fxg6+, as in perrypawnpusher- bnxr, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 29)

13.d4 Neg4 14.Qb3+ d5

Better was 14...Kf8 as seen in Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd match, 1876 (1-0, 34).

15.e5 Ne4

After the game Rybka 3 suggested that it was time for Black to return the extra piece with 15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Rxe5 leading to an even game.

Now, White's "Jerome pawns" are beginning to look menacing. What to make of Black's advanced Knights? 

16.h3

Rybka suggested that White preface this move with 16.Nc3, which shows that computers can not only play chess, they sometimes can have a sense of humor.  The Black pawn at d5 is pinned, so White's move threatens the Black Knight at e4.

Unpinning the pawn with 16...Kf8 allows White to grab a pawn with 17.Qxd5, when Black can dump one troubled steed with 17...Nxc3 18.Qc5+ Kg8 19.Qxc3 and return the other with 19...Rf8 20.h3 Rxf5 21.Rxf5 Bxf5 22.hxg4, when White has an edge. 

Actually, Rybka suggests that White delay the pawn grab and try 17.h3 first, although this leads, after 17...Ngf2 18.Qxd5 Nxc3 19.Qc5+ Kg8 20.Qxc3 to 20...Ne4, when the second Black Knight can escape via g5.

16...Ngf2 17.Rxf2

I thought that my best chance here was to gather in the two Knights for one Rook. It turns out that I could have done better; or, more correctly, a better player could have done better...

It is easy to see that White has the alternate try 17.Be3, but Black's frustrating 17...Nh1 seems to hold that off, as 18.Kxh1 Ng3+ would lead to the same 2-for-1 swap.

Instead, White needs to shuffle in his Queen with 18.Bf4 Nhf2 19.Qf3 planning to return his Bishop to e3...

But Black is not asleep. With 19...Rf8 he can answer 20.Be3 with 20...Kg8 when Bxf2 can be answered by ...Bxf5 with equal chances. So White must first bolster his f-pawn with 21.g4, when 21...g6 is but one of Black's defensive ideas, i.e. 22.f6 Nxf6 23.Rxf2 Ne4 24.Qxf8+ Qxf8 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Nd2 Nxd2 27.Bxd2 and the drawish Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame beckons...

17...Nxf2 18.Kxf2

So far, most of the excitement has been in the notes, but that is about to change. White has two pawns for the exchange, but as in my recent game against LuigiJerk, my unprotected King should be my undoing.

18...Qh4+

Here it comes...

19.g3

This is not the best response, objectively, and I knew it at the time. However, if my opponent was surprised at his sudden good fortune (and I was guessing that he was), he might not have any "grand plans" at this point. If so, he might want to just grab a pawn and see what happens.

19...Qxh3

Like this.

20.Qxd5+ Kf8

21.e6 Qh2+ 22.Qg2 Qh5 23.g4 Qh4+ 24.Qg3 Qf6

It is frustrating, to have the Queen's attack produce so little. White seems to be consolidating.

25.Be3

Sloppy. It was consistent to return a pawn to continue development: 25.d5 Qd4+ 26.Be3 Qxd5 27.Nc3 Qc6.

25...g6

Black could have played 25...Bxe6 when White would just soldier on with 26.Nc3.

26.Qf4 gxf5 27.gxf5 a5

Opening a door for the Queen Rook to enter play.

In the meantime, White's "Jerome pawns" are not only connected and passed, their development has opened lines against the Black King.  

28.Nc3

Development is good, but it was okay to take time for 28.d5 (followed by Bd4).

28...c6 29.Qh6+

Still thinking "safety" when I could have played for mate with 29.Qd6+ Kg7 30.Rg1+

29...Qxh6 30.Bxh6+ Kg8

31.Rg1+ Kh8 32.Bg7+ Kg8 33.Bh6+

I had no intention of repeating the position three times for a draw, I just wanted to catch my breath and gain a little clock time.

33...Kh8 34.Bg7+ Kg8 35.Ne4

There is a mate starting with 35.Be5+ but I had things under control.

35...Bxe6 36.Nf6+ Kf7 37.Nxe8 Rxe8 38.fxe6+ Rxe6

39.Be5 b5 40.Rg7+ Ke8 41.Rxh7 c5 42.c3 cxd4 43.cxd4 Rc6 44.Ke3 Rc2 45.Rh2 Rc6 46.Ke4 a4 47.Rh8+ Kd7 48.Rh7+ Ke6 49.Rh6+ Kd7 50.Rxc6 Kxc6

51.d5+ Kd7 52.Kf5 b4 53.Kf6 a3 54.b3 Kd8 55.Bd6 Kd7 56.Bxb4 Kc7 57.Ke7 Kb6 58.d6 Kb5 59.Bxa3 Kb6 60.d7 Kb5 61.d8Q Ka6 62.Qb8 Ka5 63.Bc5 Ka6 64.Qb6 checkmate

Update: Blackburne Defense

Given that the miniature Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 is likely the most-well-known of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games, it stands to reason that the counter-attack that "The Black Death" adopted to utterly destroy his opponent is likely the most-well-known of the defenses to the Jerome Gambit.

However, as we have seen in the past, not everyone who "knows" the Blackburne defense actually knows it.

Last year we took a look at Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member blackburne, playing the Blackburne (of course, he plays against it, too). It looks like it's about time to check out how another Gemeinde member is handling the defense these days.

MrJoker - submariner
blitz 2 12, ICC, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

Here is Blackburne's offer of a Rook.

My guess is that most players believe that it wins for Black. Some (secretly) know that it wins for White. A few (even more secretly) know that it leads to an edgy draw...

8.Qxh8

Depending on your mood, or upon your opponent, you can pass on the Rook, although that leaves Black better. That did not seem to matter in MrJoker - chiron, Internet Chess Club 2011: 8.Qg3 Qe7 9.d3 Nf6 10.O-O Kg7 11.Nc3 c6 12.Be3 Bb6 13.f4 Bc7 14.f5 Nh5 15.Bd4+ Kg8 16.Qg4 Nf6 17.Qg5 Kf7 18.fxg6+ hxg6 19.Rxf6+ Black resigned.

8... Qh4

The idea: Black will combine a checkmate attack with plans to trap White's Queen – not so much to win it (although that is possible if the first player gets sloppy), but to keep it out of play (even if it takes the further sacrifice of the other Black Rook).

This year MrJoker faced 8... Bxf2+, which was a bit of an odd move, as if his opponent "knew" that 7...d6 was the right way to go, but did not know how to continue further. The game went 9.Kxf2 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qxe4 11.Qxh7+ Kf6 12.Qh4+ Qxh4 13.gxh4 Bh3 14.Kg3 Bf5 15.d3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 and Black resigned, MrJoker - NSonnenberg, Internet Chess Club, 2011.

9. O-O

Another complicated defense (for White, against the counter-attack) is 9.d4 (see "A Closer Look (Part V)" as in 9...Qxe4+ 10.Be3 Bb6 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14.O-O-O Bf5 15.Bg5 Nc6 16.Nd5 Be6 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.d5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Nb4 20.Rd4 Nxa2+ 21.Kb1 Ra5 22.Bd2 Black resigned, MrJoker -carrotop, Internet Chess Club, 2011.

9... Bg4

This is a new move, as far as The Database is concerned. Perhaps Black did not remember 9...Nf6 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13. Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14. gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate, Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885. Wow!


Chances are that MrJoker remembered 9...Nf6 10.d4 Bxd4 11.Qd8 Bf5 12.Qxc7+ Bd7 13.Qxd6 Bb6 14.e5 Ng4 15.Qxd7+ Kg8 16.h3 Bxf2+ 17.Kh1 h5 18.Bf4 Black resigned, mrjoker - annicks, Internet Chess Club, 2000.

10. d4

Blocking the attacking dark-squared Bishop. White has some untangling to do, but he has the exchange and a couple of pawns for his discomfort. 

10...Bb6 11.f3 Bd7 12.Be3 Re8 13.Bf2 Qh5

Black is still fighting: he has rescued one Bishop, then the other; he has moved his Queen out of the line of fire; and he has finally protected his Rook, so that he can finally trap the White Queen...

White would do well to play 14.e5 now, setting up f6 as an escape square for his Queen after ...Ne7.

14.Nc3 Nf6 15.Qxe8+ Kxe8

White has two Rooks and two pawns for a Queen and a Bishop – not quite enough for equality, but plenty enough for him to keep fighting.  

16.Rae1 Kf7 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Bxf2+ 19.Rxf2 Ng8

20.Nd5 c6

White now reverses his next two moves, but he gets away with it.

21.e6+ Bxe6 22.Nf4 Qc5

Instead, 22...Qa5 holds because of 23.Rxe6 g5!?

23.Nxe6 Nf6

A final, fatal slip.

24.Nxc5 Black resigned

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