Friday, October 28, 2011

Counterplay!

Sometimes the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be just plain fun: sacrifice a couple of pieces, create a crazy-mixed-up position, and confuse the opponent enough that he can be defeated.

But, what if your opponent fights back hard?

That is what the following game is about, as we see Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Bill Wall overcoming some serious counterplay.

Wall,B - Letsplaychess
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2011
notes by Bill Wall [and Rick]

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


[Italian Four Knights Game]

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Qe2


[I was always curious about the attraction of this move. The game continuation shows one reason to play it. - Rick]

6...d6 7.Qc4+ Be6? 8.Ng5+

[There's that pesky Ng5+ again! Letsplaychess has been officially identified as someone who does not read this blog, or he might have been forewarned. According to The Database, an FICS player named hinders pulled off this maneuver a half dozen times in 2000-2002. - Rick]

8...Kg6 9.Nxe6

[Black has returned the sacrificed piece, but he is not content to shiver and shake in the dark. Hinders had it easier. - Rick]

9...Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Ng4+ 11.Kg1 Qf6


Threatening ...Qf2 mate

12.Nd1 Na5 13.Qc3 Qxe6 14.Qxa5 Qc4


Threatening 15...Qe2

15.d3 Qxc2

Threatening 16...Qxc1+ 17.Qe1 Qxe1 mate

16.Qd2 Qc5+ 17.Nf2 Rhf8


Threatening 18...Qxf2+

18.Qg5+ Kf7

Threatening 20...Qxf2 mate

19.Qxg4 Kg8

Threatening 20...Qxf2 mate

20.Qe2 Rf7 21.Be3 Qb5 22.Qc2 c6 23.h4 Raf8 24.h5


24.Bxa7? b6 traps the Bishop

24...d5 25.h6 d4 26.hxg7 dxe3 27.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 28.Ng4 Qb6


Threatening 29...e2.

29.Qe2 Rg7 30.Rf1+ Kg8 31.Nh6+ Kh8 32.Rf8+ Black resigned

Thursday, October 27, 2011

It's A Small World After All (Part 2)


Of course [continuing from "It's A Small World After All (Part 1)"] there would not be much of a story if "fluffybunnyfeet" did not turn out to be National Master James Marfia after all.

He did.

We swapped emails. Jim remembered his opponent and the game. Of the Jerome, he noted "It was, indeed, not much of a gambit."

All of which is a light-hearted introduction to a game that is of significant interest for the serious Jerome Gambiteer.


Marfia,J - Stelter,J
Offhand Game, 1964

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


4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6


7.Qxe5 d6

Blackburne's "generous" offer of a Rook.

Those slightly familiar with Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, will remember the game ending in a crush of White.

Those a bit more familiar will recall that later analysis suggested that White was winning.

Regular Readers will know, however, that the move actually leads to a complicated draw. (See "Flaws" Part 1 and Part 2.) 

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4

The Database has only 5 other games with this move, including perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33).

9...Qxe4+

Black's best was 9...Nf6, as detailed in "Traps and Zaps", leading to a complicated mess that favors the second player.

The text is tempting, but losing.

10.Be3 Qxc2

Houdini recommends 10...Qxg2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Rf1 Bb6 13.Nc3 Bf5 14.0-0-0 Qh3 15.Qxh3 Bxh3 16.Rfe1 Bf5 17.f3 Ba5 18.Bd2 Nf6 when White is better.
11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qc3


Withdrawing the White Queen from mischief, guarding the White King, and offering a safety-making exchange.

12...Qxc3+ 13.Nxc3 Bf5 14.Bxc5 Re8+ 15.Be3 Re5 16.0-0 Bd3 17.Rfd1 Bc2 18.Rd7+ Re7 19.Rxe7+ Nxe7 Black resigned





A Rook is, after all, a Rook.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

It's A Small World After All (Part 1)


I would like to share another typical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) story. "Typical" in that, of course, it has several rather odd features...

A Reader from the Netherlands requested a copy of The Database the other day.

Like my book, The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses, which was more popular in Europe than in the USA, this blog has a decent international following. (There is nothing quite like watching a player from Moldova, in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, successfully play a move that I have championed, and others mostly have ignored.)

I was happy to oblige.

I was even happier when the Reader offered, in return, his Jerome Gambit (and related openings) collection. Although The Database has over 25,500 games, it is focused largely on FICS games and those that I have discovered in my historical research. I know that there are many, many other games out there.

One of my new aquisitions was the 1964 "offhand game" between "Marfia, J" and "Stelter, J".

I wondered: was that Jim Marfia, author of four books on the U.S. Open in the 1980s; author of Queen's Gambit with Bf4 and Queen's Indian with 4.g3; and translator for Botvinnik's 15 Games and Their Stories and Botvinnik on the Endgame, as well as Korchnoi's Persona Non Grata, Nimzovich's Carlsbad International Chess Tournament 1929, and Bronstein's Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 (among others)?

After some searching, I discovered that "the" Jim Marfia was involved in West Michigan Chess. Further searching oncovered a recent game and the fact that he was playing games online at queenalice.com and GameKnot.com under the handle "fluffybunnyfeet".

As my wife said, "You can't make this stuff up..."

[to be continued]

   


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Scary Stuff




I have not had a chance to play a Jerome Gambit game at FICS in a couple of weeks, so I was thrilled to get one in a 15 5 game, my latest attempt to play "slower" (well, slower than pure blitz) chess.



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

At this point, my opponent took a minute to decide what to do about the attacking Bishop. Then I received this message:

Your opponent, Badoglio, has lost contact or quit.

{Game 382 (perrypawnpusher vs. Badoglio) Badoglio lost connection and too few moves; game aborted} *

I guess, this being the Halloween season, the Jerome Gambit might have scared him.

Not too much, though, as a couple of minutes later he was back on FICS and playing another game. I was ready to challenge him at the end of that game, but he logged off.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Double Tap



The following position, from a game in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament, develops a theme first presented three weeks ago in a Sunday Tournament Update: the apparently misplaced Bishop that is too deadly to capture (Black has just played 10...Bh3).


However, even though White in this game refuses the piece, a similar continuation comes about.

11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nd5 Nf3+


Black's move reminds me of the "double tap", explained by "Columbus" (my home town) in the over-the-top movie "Zombieland".

White resigned.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday Tournament Update

 AsceticKingK9 is clearly the "top dog" as the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament heats up, with 2/3 if its games completed. The leader has 20 points out of 20 games, which is hard to beat!

Right behind AsceticKingK9 is mckenna215, with 19.5 points out of 22 games.

Players who also have a mathematical chance of overtaking the "King" are Rikiki00, with 10.5 points out of 17 games, and "dark horse" Luke Warm, with 1 point out of 5 games.

Meanwhile, braken, with 17.5 points out of 26 games, holds third place and challenges for second place.

White is scoring 38% over all. The Jerome Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/Ke7) has yet to be successful in 8 games. The "classical" Jerome Gambit lines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) have scored 43%, while the "modern" lines (not 5.Nxe5+) have scored 31%.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Meet Jerome

Here is the latest over-the-board Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) from Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne"). Pete is the strongest player I know of who plays the Jerome in "real" games where rating points (and the esteem of his clubmates) are on the line.

In this game, Pete introduces his young opponent to chess-the-way-it-can-not-be-played-anymore. All of Black's modern "tools", however, fail to crack the code...

The annotations are by the winner, from his post at: http://www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/pbcollect.htm

P Banks, Halesowen - M Ferguson, Birmingham Checkmates
Dudley League division 2
October 2011

As the game started I knew that my opponent was graded about the same as me, and as a junior he was likely to be stronger than his grade. He's probably also been coached in 'correct' chess. Therefore I'm going to have to play something unusual that he might not have encountered before. I also try to look as much like an evil grandad as possible and growl at him during the pre-match pleasantries. Intimidation helps against kids.

1.e4 e5

Now, shall I play King's Gambit or Nf3? I'm tempted to play f4 because I like the positions you get if Black responds classically. The trouble is a lot of people now play an early...d6 which leads to a more closed game. I think this was Fischer's idea. Anyway...

2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

I can't believe my luck! This allows me to play the Jerome Gambit. If he'd played 3...Nf6 I'd have gone for the Fried Liver Attack.

4.Bxf7+

Bingo! He'd obviously never seen this before, and thought for a long time. This in itself almost justifies the sac because it is a rapid-play finish, and though I'm a quick player, juniors are sometimes even quicker, so any advantage on the clock is a real bonus.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

He hadn't been expecting this either - the 'Classical' Jerome. Two pieces sacced in the first 5 moves. Another long think by my opponent.

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6


This is all a standard line, and he's found all the right moves though it's taken a long time. I've effectively sacced a piece for two pawns and exposed his king, but now comes the downside of this opening. I have to try to develop and consolidate before I can attack any more.

8.Qe3 Nf6 9.d3 Re8 10.0-0

I couldn't allow ...d5 while my king was in the middle. My opponent dominates for the next spell.

10...Ng4

After 10 moves, I've used 3 minutes against 25 by him. The game is only 75+15minutes, so I'm pleased with that.

11.Qf3+

I think this is a mistake. I should have played Qg3. I was afraid of 11....Qh4, but in the end it comes to the same thing. I've just wasted a move.

11...Qf6 12.Qg3 Qh4

If I go h3, he'll swap and my pawns are messed up. If I go f3, he could go back to f6, and it's either a draw by repetition or I swap queens. Might as well do it now, though I think I'm losing.

[Pete's opponent was probably very pleased with himself. He had remembered his coaching and used the time that he needed to deal with two opening surprises that otherwise might have caused him to blunder. True, he might run short of time later, but if he goofs up early, there won't be a later... Returning a piece rather than hanging onto both of the gifts was a practical, even scientific, decision. Now Black disables White's attack by swapping Queens. If need be, in the future, he can even return his extra piece for some pawns. Science vs Alchemy, Q.E.D. - Rick]

13.Qxh4 Nxh4

I need to get pieces developed, but also push the famous 'Jerome pawns' as soon as possible. If I can make immediate threats at least I get back some initiative.

14.f4 Ng6 15.Nc3 c6 16.f5 N6e5 17.h3 Nf6 18.g4


18...Nfxg4

That's a surprise, and possibly a mistake, but I can see why he did it. He returns the material, but gets a passed pawn.

19.hxg4 Nxg4 20.Rf4 Nf6 21.Bd2 d5 22.Re1 dxe4 23.dxe4


I'm feeling a bit more confident now. I've got a passed pawn as well, my development is (finally) better, and my king is in front of his dangerous pawns.

23...h6 24.Rf3 b6 25.e5 Nd5 26.Nxd5 cxd5


I think he's beginning to lose it. He's now got an isolated pawn, and my two look pretty dangerous.

27.e6+ Kf6 28.Bc3+ Ke7

There might be something clever here, but I just take the pawn. I'm not afraid of 29...Rg8 because of 30.f6

29.Bxg7 Kd6 30.Bxh6


I think this is won now. The clocks go back 15 minutes after his next move. I'll have 65 minutes left and he'll have 20 minutes. He's been looking anxiously at the clock for a long time now.

30...Rg8+ 31.Kf2 Rh8 32.Bf4+ Ke7 33.f6+


If 33.....Kxf6 34 Be5. This is about the cleverest manoeuvre I've made all game, and it's only one move deep. He glances at me for the first time in the game and I give a little half-smirk.

33...Kf8 34.Bd6+ Ke8 35.f7+ Kd8 36.f8Q+ Rxf8 37.Rxf8 checkmate 


It's always good to keep kids in their place as long as possible. In a couple of years' time he'll probably thrash me.