Attitude

When playing a gambit, especially an unsound one like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), attitude can be very important. Feeling confident, even when playing a bluff, is essential.

In the game below, for example, sent to me from a Jerome Gambit player in Russia, White seems to have ice water in his veins...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.f4

8...Nc6 9.e5 Bb4 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nd5

12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qf3 Nb6 14.f5 Kg7 15.Bh6+

15...Kxh6 16.f6 g5 17.Qf5 Qe8 18.Rf3 g4 19.Qxg4 Qh5 20.Qg7 checkmate

Graphic by Jeff Bucchino. The WizardOfDraws

Then You Win

Here is the latest Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) from Bill Wall, who comments modestly

I played a tough one here.  It was a 10-minute game for each side and he messed up in the end in time pressure.  He let me in the game after 38...c6 and I think he panicked on the 40th move with Nxf6 instead of Ndb6.   Up until then, I think he was winning

With all do respect to Mohandas Gandhi, who, as far as I know, never played the Jerome Gambit, the following game reminds me of something he spoke about: First they ignore... Then they laugh... Then they fight... Then you win ...

Wall,B - Tony7
blitz 10 0, Playchess.com, 2011
notes by Bill Wall [and Rick]

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

4...Kx7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qf5+ Qf6

[An unusual move — there are only 5 examples in The Database. But, guess what? One of them is a Bill Wall game. Figures.]

8.Qxc5 Nf4

[An improvement over 8...N8e7 from Wall,B - Doantaung, Chess.com, 2010:  9.Qxc7 Rf8 10.d3 Kg8 11.0-0 Kh8 12.Nc3 Nh4 13.f4 Qd4+ 14.Rf2 d6 15.Qxe7 Ng6 16.Qg5 Nxf4 17.Bxf4 Be6 18.Raf1 Black resigned]

9.0-0 Ne6 10.Qc4 Ne7 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.d3 Kg8 13.Be3 a6 14.f4 b5 15.Qb3 Qf7

16.f5 Nd8 17.Qb4 Ndc6 18.Qb3 d6 19.g4 Ne5 20.g5 Qxb3 21.axb3 Bb7

22.f6 gxf6 23.gxf6 N7g6 24.Bh6 Rf7 25.Bg7 Nd7 26.Rf2 Ndf8 27.b4 Ne6

28.Bh6 Kh8 29.Raf1 Rg8 30.Rg2 Ne5 31.h3 Rxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Nd7 33.Nd5 Bxd5 34.exd5 Nef8 35.Bg7+ Kg8

36.h4 Ng6 37.h5 Nge5 38.Kh3 c6? 39.d4 Nc4 40.dxc6 Nxf6 41.Bxf6 Ne3

If 41...Nxb2 42.Rg1+ and 43.d5

42.Re1 Rxf6

Not 42...Nxc2?? 43.Re8+ Rf8 44.Rxf8+ Kxf8 45.c7 wins

43.Rxe3 Rf7 44.Re8+ Kg7 45.Rd8 Rf5 46.c7 Rxh5+ 47.Kg4 Rh1 48.c8Q Black resigned

Easy As Pi

An understanding of how to play Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgames can help a player win or save many half-points. Although the basics can be simple to understand (i.e. establishing a blockade with the King and Bishop on squares of the same color as the Bishop; then safely using tempos to "pass"), carrying out the proper maneuvers can be tricky (see "A Not-so-Simple 'Simple Endgame'" and "A Not-so-Simple 'Simple Endgame' Addendum" for a recent example on this blog) especially at blitz speed, with players short of time.

This position is from IWantYourQueen  - Steftcho, blitz, FICS, 2011. Although White is a pawn ahead, Black has firmly blockaded the passer, and a draw should be routine.

White decides to give it one more try.  

65.Kf4 Kh5 66.Ke3 Kg6 67.Kd4 Kh5 68.Kc5 Kg6 69.Kd6 Kh5 70.Ke7 Kg6 71.Kf8

White's King has scrambled around to a position in front of his pawns, while Black's King patiently shuffled back and forth.

Now it is Black's Bishop to join the dance, with 71...Bg4 (or 71...Bh3) 72...Bf5, 73...Bg4, etc. and White can make no progress.

71...Kh7

Inexplicably allowing the blockade to be lifted.

72.Kf7

Of course.

72...Bg6+

Black gives up his pawn, as allowing White's g-pawn to advance (i.e. 72...Bg4 73.g6+) was suicidal.

73.Kxe6 Bf5+

Black could have tried the swindling 73...Bf7+, but if his opponent played 74.Kd6 (taking the Bishop would lead to stalemate) there would be a position with similar chances as in the game.

The text is a serious miscalculation, however, as White can take the Bishop on f5.

74.Kf7

Instead, the game would be over after 74.Kxf5 Kg8 75.g6 Kf8 76.g7+ Kf7 77.e6+ Kg8 78.e7 Kf7 79.g8Q+ Kxg8 80.e8Q+ Kh7 81.Qg6 checkmate 

Although things look dire for Black, I think that the unfortunate placement of White's Bishop, and the proper placement of Black's King, still allow a draw.

74...Bg6+ 75.Ke7 Be4 76.e6 Kg6

If Black's King had gone to g8, instead, could White have won? I do not think so. By committing to blockade the g-pawn, Black lets the e-pawn advance.

77.Kf8 Bd5 78.e7 Bc6 79.e8Q+ Bxe8 80.Kxe8

White's King now just needs to shoulder Black's King out from in front of his pawn and then it, too, can advance.

80...Kf5 81.Ke7 Kg6 82.Ke6 Kh7 83.Kf7

Too funny.

White has bypassed all of the Bishops-of-opposite-colors drawing snares, only to fall into stalemate.

Hats off to Black, for holding on to the last hope.

Just Plain Annoying

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be just plain annoying. Black has his mind on playing an interesting line that he has prepared, and then, suddenly, What is this?? Who wants to bother with this?

Yet, the nagging question also arises in the second player's mind: Who wants to lose to this junk? (Okay, so what do I do now?)

I think that helps explain the sudden end of the following game. It is as if Black, rated about 250 points above his opponent, realizes that he missed a move to finish off White, and decided: Phooey! I didn't really want to play this game, anyhow...

MyGameUMove - cqs
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6

Black has a comfortable, better, winning position. Of course.

9.Qc4+ d5 10.exd5 Qxd5 11.Qe2 Re8 12.Be3 Kg8

More material, better development, safe King... yadda, yadda, yadda...

13.Nc3 Qe5 14.Rae1 Qd6 15.Nb5 Qd8 16.Rd1 Qe7 17.Rde1 a6 18.Qc4+ Qf7

Oh, rats! If I had played 18...Be6, it would be "Game over!"

Of course, it should have been "Game over!" after move 4, anyhow.

Why am I wasting my time on this game??

19.Qxf7+ Black forfeited by disconnection

(This might have puzzled White, who could see that after 19...Kxf7 20.Nxc7 Be6 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 he would have a Rook and two pawns against Black's two Knights, at best only a theoretical edge, if any.)

Silicon Jurassic Park

Reader quickturtle must have been browsing back posts on this blog recently (something that I highly recommend, by the way: there are almost 1,300 of them; you can use the "search this blog" Google gadget if you are looking for something special) as he posted a comment to "A Jerome Gambit 'Challenger' ", my tale of a Jerome Gambit-tinged battle against the venerable Chess Challenger 7 chess computer.

Because his comment hints at future adventures, I reprint it here:

Rick, this was a wonderful game and analysis. I still have to give the CC7 a lot of credit considering it's age and the limited amount of info those old machines had. I still have a Fidelity Designer 2100 and a Novag Super Expert and now I'm going to pull them out of the closet and give the Jerome a shot with them :)



Good luck against those silicon dinosaurs, quickturtle.

Be careful, too: remember those "Jurassic Park" movies!

Sunday Tournament Update

The standings of the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament

AsceticKingK9                                                  25/26
mckenna215                                                      23.5/28
braken                                                               19.5/28
Knight32                                                           18.5/28
Rikiki00                                                            17.5/26
shm19cs                                                            15.5/27
blackburne                                                          15/28
Magni                                                                 12/26
Haroldlee123                                                      11/27
DREWBEAR 63                                                11/28
pixifrufru                                                             8/27
Baron wd von Blanc, heart pirate                       7.5/26
Luke Warm                                                          6/26
klonka59                                                              4/24
martind1991                                                         1/15

How Long?

I think I have shared before that one chessfriend of mine said he enjoys playing chess at a local bar and he has found that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a perfect opening to play there, as, win or lose, the game is usually over quickly...

The other day I was wondering about the other end of the time spectrum: how long can a Jerome Gambit game last, especially a blitz game? I consulted The Database, and found some interesting answers.

MAILMANUK - Buckeyeski, blitz, FICS, 2002

After149 moves, this game was drawn by the "50 move rule" (although it could have been drawn, for the same reason, over 35 moves earlier)



HIARCS 11.1 UCI - Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit, 2008

Here, the two silicon monsters battled for 147 moves. 





DOCTOERDETROIT - jpiza, blitz, FICS, 2009

Here, consistent with our topic, on move 145, Black lost on time.