The End

The following position is from the game tapirus - mrdenetop, from this year's online Kentucky Opening / Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at Chess.com.

The active pieces are on the Kingside, while the inactive pieces are on the Queenside, giving White the opportunity that he needed.

23...Kb6 24.Qd4+ Ka6 25.Qa4+ Kb6 26.Be3+ c5 27.Qb3+ Kc6 28.Qd5+ Kb5 29.Rxb7+ Black resigned

Black has had enough.

The finish is 29...Ka5 30.Qxd6 and Black is helpless to prevent White's Queen from capturing on c5, e.g. 30...Qe7 31.Rxe7 Bd7 32.Qxc5+ Bb5 33.a4 Kxa4 34.Qb4 checkmate, or 30...Bxb7 31.Qxc5+ Ka6 32.Qc4+ Ka5 33.Qb4+ Ka6 34.Qa4 checkmate

Chessville.com is Back!

My Home-Away-from-Home on the Internet has been, for many years, Chessville.com.

(By comparison, this blog has always been much more of a "man cave".)

Although Chessville has been inactive for almost a year, new material began showing up last week, under the editorship of Ken Surratt, brother of the previous Chessville guru, David Surratt.

I visit Chessbase and Chess History daily, and ChessCafe weekly. How nice to add Chessville back into the rotation!

Ready? Ready?! Ready!? Ready!

Having recently taken a look at the Blackburne Defense to the Jerome Gambit in AsceticKing9 - blackburne, ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2011, I figured that I was ready when my opponent sprung it on me. At least, as it turns out, I was more ready than he was.


perrypawnpusher - Carville
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

Blackburne's Defense, returning a Rook. See "Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit!"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Be6

Instead, it is critical to trap the White Queen with 9...Nf6.

Other Bishop moves seen in this position are 9...Bh3 as in Fritz 8-RevvedUp, 2 12 2006 (1-0, 18) and 9...Bg4 as in perrypawnpusher - MrScrumps, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 11).

10.Qc3

Getting the Queen out of danger, even at the cost of a pawn. A little better was 10.d3, for example 10...Rf8 11.Qc3 Nf6 12.Nd2 Kg8 13.Nf3

Previously seen: 10.d4 Rf8 11.Bh6 (11.Bg5 Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Qxg5 13.f4) 11...Qxh6 12.dxc5 Nf6 13.Qxf8+ Qxf8 14.Nc3 Bc4 15.Rfe1 Ng4 16.cxd6 Qxd6 17.f3 Qxh2 checkmate, Permanence - footsoldier, FICS, 2008.

10...Qxe4 11.d3 Qg4 12.Nd2 Rf8 13.Ne4 Bd5 14.h3 Qf5 15.Nxc5 dxc5

I am up a pawn and the exchange, and if I can continue to develop my pieces (even though now 16.Qxc5 is playable), that should mean something.

16.Be3 b6 17.Rae1 Ne7 18.d4

Intending to open the position for my pieces.

After the game, Houdini pointed out Black's vulnerability on the dark squares could be attacked, starting with 18.Bh6, since protecting against mate at g6 with 18...Rg8 allows White to keep the initiative 19.Re5 Qd7 20.Bg5!? Nc6 21.Rxd5!? Qxd5 22.Qf6+ Ke8 23.c4 Qd6 24.Re1+ Kd7 25.Qf7+ Kc8 26.Qxg8+ with clear advantage.

analysis diagram







18...c4 19.Qd2 Kg8

Black has completed castling-by-hand, but trouble is ahead.

20.Bh6 Rf7 21.Re5 Qh5

An oversight, but 21...Qd7, retreating the Queen and protecting the Bishop, would allow White to highlight the awkward position of Black's Knight with 22.Rfe1. White will then triple on the e-file with 23.Qe3, and Black can neither protect nor move the poor piece (because of the threat of mate).

22.Rxh5 Black resigned

Even in the Most Respectable of Settings

These days, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or one of its relatives, seems to show up all over the place, even in the most respectable of settings.

For example, consider the analysis of the Giuoco Piano from Yury V. Bukayev, at the Bruno's Chess Problem of the Day site, with a new, in-depth look at  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5!?

There is a lot to look at in the article, and I recommend it to those who play, or play against, the Giuoco Piano.

As a side note, the author took time to point out to me the following line, which he referred to (after 6...Bd7) as "the Jerome-Jerome exchange": 7.Nbd2 Na5 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.b4 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Nc6, an extremely rare tactical combination, he mentioned.

(I suspect that the "Jerome-Jerome exchange" may be rare in serious or well-played chess, but I cannot help mentioning that there are about 550 games in The Database with Bxf7+ for White and ...Bxf2+ for Black. Still that is only about 2% of the games in The Database, so I guess that is pretty rare, even among Jerome Gambits.)

Contempt?!

If two chess players are equally matched and have fought hard in a game against each other, a draw might be a reasonable outcome.

If opponents in a game differ greatly in their strengths, the weaker player might be quite satisfied to split the point, while the stronger player might be unwilling to do so, except as a last resort.

Chess-playing programs have to take this into account: given that most of their opponents will be weaker than them, how ready should they be to accept a draw? It would be the height of absurdity if a human could open a game, for example, with 1.e4 and an offer of a draw – and the computer, seeing itself as worse off (even slightly, Black's fate) would agree to cease hostilities...

Programming a level of resistance to accepting draws is called setting its "contempt" level. Set it high enough, and the computer will play on, down a Rook or a Queen. That's contempt!

Recently I found myself away from home, staying in a hotel. While checking my email on the available computer, I noticed that it had the Chess Titans program. Time, I thought, for a quick Jerome Gambit game!

I've posted a Chess Titans game in the past (see "Artificial Ignorance" Parts 1 and 2) and the silicon beast appeared to be the perfect foil for such an offbeat gambit.

Kennedy - Chess Titans
casual game, 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 Bb4

See "Casually" for my most recent game against this line, or  "Coffee Break" for a fuller treatment. As the titles suggest, Black's defense is not the most strenuous.

8.dxe5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nxe4 10.Qd5+

10...Kg6 11.Qxe4+ Kf7

White has recovered his sacrificed material, but his pawn advantage is almost meaningless. He has to use the open lines against Black's King.

12.Qd5+

Hoping to drive the King back.

12...Kg6 13.Qe4+

At this point I was not interested in forcing a draw by a three-fold repetition of position; I was simply curious as to how the computer would see things.

13...Kh5

Wow, no draw now!

That's serious contempt.

14.Qf5+ Kh4 15.g3 checkmate

Sunday Tournament Update

There is an old caution that If you strike the King, you must kill him. Anything less than a terminal blow will allow the monarch to strike back...

Two weeks ago I reported that the player leading the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, AsceticKingK9, had suffered his first and only loss, on time; and that in his remaining two games, he was past the time limit, so his opponent could claim wins there, too.

A look at the ChessWorld site today indicates that AsceticKingK9 is back at the board and playing, again, giving the possibility of him finishing the tournament with 27 points in 28 games. 

Second place has already been wrapped up by mckenna215, with 23.5 points in 28 games.

Rikiki00 continues to creep forward in the race for third, fourth and fifth place, now having 17.5 points in 25 games. He is hoping to bypass Knight32 with 18.5 points out of 28 games and Braken  with 18.5 points out of 27 games. 

Patient Development

Here is an interesting game from the Chess.com "Kentucky Opening" (Jerome Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) tournament mentioned a couple of days ago. It shows that White's patient development, with a little bit of help from Black, can yield acceptable results.



 Topper76- mrdenetop
Chess.com, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6

One of many reasonable ways to meet the Jerome Gambit, based on the idea of returning one of the two sacrificed pieces.

8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.Nc3

Houdini sees as a bit better, still leading to an advantage for Black, a slightly different move order: 10.fxe5 Qxe5 11.Qf3 Nf6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Ne2 Rf8 14.d4 Bxd4 15.Bf4 Qxe4 16.Qxe4+ Nxe4 17.Nxd4 g5 18.Be3 Rxf1+ 19.Kxf1 d5

10...c6 11.fxe5 Qxe5 12.d3

A bit stronger, according to Houdini, was the interesting 12.d4, i.e. 12...Bxd4 13.Bf4 Qe6 14.Qf3 Bg7 15.0-0-0 Ke8 when Black is still for choice.

The basis of hope for White is clearly seen after the text, though, in Black's lagging development and centralized King.

12...d5 13.Qh4+ Ke8 14.Bf4 Qe6 15.0-0-0 d4 16.Qf2 b5 17.Kb1 Bb6

Small inexactitudes on Black's part have brought the game to about even. The second player must be careful, as he is still undeveloped and his King is still at risk. 

18.Ne2 c5

Houdini takes a long look at a way for Black to keep the game even: 18...Nf6 19.h3 Nd7 20.Nxd4 Qf7 21.e5 Qd5 22.Be3 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Qe6 24.Be3 Bb7 25.Rde1 Rf8 26.Qh4 Rxf1 27.Rxf1 h5 28.g4 c5 29.gxh5 gxh5 30.Qxh5+ Kd8 31.Rf7 Bd5 32.Bg5+ Kc7 33.Re7 Bxa2+ 34.Kc1

19.Bg5 Ne7 20.Nf4 Qf7

Black's extra material does him no good, parked in the garage.

21.Qe2 Qg7 22.Nd5 Bd8

A final (un-developing) slip.

23.Nf6+ Black resigned