A Level of Strangeness

The following game has a surprise move in a less-than-usual line, and when I researched it in earlier posts, I found a number of editorial errors. Strange...

bemillsy - leoarthur
blitz, FICS, 2012

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

See "Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 4)".

5.Bxf7+

A delayed Jerome Gambit move order (or a transition to a "modern" Jerome Gambit line, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6), although there are about 550 examples in The Database. I have never played the line, but of course Bill Wall has, as have GeniusPawn, GmCooper, HauntedKnight, hinders, sTpny, Teterow, DragonTail and jrhumphrey, to name just a few.

The line was looked at in the games aymmd - MOMLASAM, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 19)  and Wall, B - Guest848078, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 10) although there were diagram errors and references that subsequently needed correction in both posts.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nf3+ 

A surprise, but not as strong as the routine 7...Bxd4.

8.Qxf3

The correct capture, with a roughly equal game.

8...Bxd4 9.Bg5 

Overlooking something, perhaps already short of time.

9...Bxb2

Surprisingly, not Black's strongest move, although it does lead to some advantage. Rybka prefers 9...d6 10.Nd2 h6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.Qxe3 Re8 13.f3 Qe7 14.Rad1 Be6 15.b3 Kg8 with a clear advantage.

10.Nd2 

White should try 10.Qb3+, as after 10...Kg6 11.Qxb2 Kxg5 12.e5 he has chances against Black's uneasy King.  

10...Bxa1 11.Rxa1 d6 White forfeited on time.

Italian game for black less popular lines

I just ran across a video "Italian game for black less popular lines" offering

Italian game for amateurs explained. I explain here 7 less popular lines in Giuoco Piano...

I intended to make those openings as easy and short as possible since they are for players of ratings up to 1600 on FICS.

What is interesting is that the author covers the Jerome Gambit (without naming it), showing only two of the "modern" lines: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 and now 5.0-0 and 5.d4. There is no mention of the 5.Nxe5+ lines.

Unnerved

The Semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6) is a move order often chosen by Black to avoid premature enemy attacks. It does little, however, to dissuade the bizarre Jerome Gambit.

perrypawnpusher - lkytmr
blitz, FICS, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 

Greedy? Brave? Careless? Adventurous?

Strongest.

8.Qf5+

A few years ago I looked at Rybka's suggested 8.Qh3+ (see "Get back on the horse...") which may be better, but the move did not catch on: there are no examples in The Database.

8...Kd6 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Rd1 c5 11.c3 

Objectively, Black is doing well. With two extra pieces he can afford to return the Bishop while he safeguards his King.

But my opponent is unfamiliar with the position and uneasy with the attack. In blitz, that can become a disadvantage, as his next, unnerved move shows.

11...Nd3 12.Rxd3 Black resigned.

Black will have to give up a second piece, and he will have to give up more material to safeguard his King: e.g. 12...Kc7 13.Rxd4!? b6 (13...cxd4 leads to mate after 14.Bf4+) 14.Bf4+ d6 15.Qf7+ Qd7 16.Bxd6+ Kb7 and then 17.Qxd7+ Bxd7+ 18.Bc5!? leaves White ahead three pawns, when the chance of a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame is infinitesimal.

analysis diagram

Blast you, Mortimer Mouse!

 
I haven't bothered to name my computer mouse, but I am thinking I might call  it "Mortimer"...

perrypawnpusher - tuffmom

blitz, FICS, 2012
 
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 

8. Qe5

Mouse slip.

"I thought so", wrote tuffmom.

8...Nxe5 White resigned

Sic transit gloria.

Pay Attention

Even when facing a refuted opening such as the Jerome Gambit, Black must pay attention and remain serious until the point has been secured. If he simply "plays moves", expecting the game to win itself, he runs the risk of taking too many chances and winding up on the wrong side of a miniature.

MrJoker  - vicwill
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf6 

This is taking a bit of an unnecessary risk.

8.Qxc5 

Or the eyeblink game: 8.d4 d6 9.Bg5 checkmate, mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club, 2009. 

8...d6 

Another quickie: 8...Qe7 9.Qf5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010. 

9.Qe3 Ne5 

Another idea is 9...N8e7, e.g. 10.d4 Kf7 (10...c5 11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 13.Qf3+ Ke6 14.0-0 Ne5 15.Qh3+ Kf7 16.Qh5+ N7g6 17.Be3 Qb4 18.f4 Nc4 19.f5 Nxe3 20.fxg6+ Kg8 21.gxh7+ Rxh7 22.Qe8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010) 11.0-0 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nh8 14.Nc3 c6 15.Qg3 d5 16.f6 Neg6 17.fxg7 Kxg7 18.Be3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Nf7 20.Qf3 Ng5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Nxd5 Bg4 25.Nf4 Rf8 26.Qxb7 Rxf4 27.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf4+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011. 

Rybka suggests 9...Kf7. 

10.d4 Ng4 

Equally dismal was 10...Nc4, i.e. 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 b5 13.Qxc7+ Ne7 14.a4 b4 15.Qxc4+ d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5+ Be6 18.Qf3+ Ke7 19.Bg5+ Kd6 20.Nd2 Rhe8 21.Ne4+ Kd7 22.Nc5+ Kd6 23.Qf4+ Kc6 24.0-0-0 Bd5 25.Na6 Kb6 26.Qd6+ Bc6 27.Nxb4 Rac8 28.d5 Red8 29.Bxd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Kc5 31.Nxc6 a5 32.Qxa5+ Kc4 33.Qb4 checkmate, MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011.

Black needed to retreat the Knight to c6.

11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 Black resigned

Still Strange, Still Intriguing (Part 4)

Returning to the game MrJoker - Melbourne, blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2012, which has so far gone 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

6.Qg4+ 

In an earlier game against the same opponent, MrJoker, instead, played va banque with 6.Nf7!?, and Black was immediately stupified 6...Kxf7 (best was 6...Qh4) and the second player lost in due course: 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qd5+ Qe6 10.Nc3 Nb4 11.Qxe6+ Kxe6 12.Kd1 a6 13.d4 b5 14.a3 Nxc2 15.Kxc2 Bb7 16.Bf4 d6 17.Rae1 Kf7 18.f3 Ne7 19.g4 Nc6 20.Be3 Na5 21.b3 Rhe8 22.Bd2 Nc6 23.Kd3 Rab8 24.h4 Na5 25.Kc2 Nc6 26.Ne2 a5 27.h5 Ne7 28.Bxa5 Black resigned, MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club, 2011;

6.Nxc6 was seen in the fiasco perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 41); while

6.Qh5 received more good luck than it deserved in perrypawnpusher - crayongod, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 10); and 

6.f4 reached an unfortunate end in blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (0-1,10). 

6...Kxe5 7.Qf5+

Winning a piece and settling into a typical two-pawns-for-a-piece Jerome Gambit middle game. As we have seen in the past few days, the theoretical line is 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 winning Black's Queen for three pieces. It is not immediately apparent that White is better in this line, and there are no game examples, yet.

7...Kd6 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Nf6 

11.0-0 Re8 12.d3 Kf8 13.f4 Kg8 

Melbourne has faced the Jerome Gambit before in the hands of MrJoker, and he knows the value of castling-by-hand.

14.h3 b6 15.Nc3 Ba6 

16.g4 

It was probably better to get the Queen off of the e-file with 16.Qf2. 

16...Nb4 17.Qe2 Nd7 18.a3 Nc6 19.Be3 Qh4 20.Qg2 Nc5 

21.Bf2 Qf6 22.Nd5 Qd8 23.b4 Nd7 24.c4 Bb7 

25.Rae1 Ne7 26.Ne3 Ng6 27.Bg3 c5 28.Nf5 Nf6 29.b5 a6 30.Qf2 axb5 31.e5 dxe5 32.fxe5 Nd7 33.e6 Nf6 34.Nd6 Re7 

A complicated mess has arisen.

35.Nf7 Rxa3 36.Nxd8 Black disconnected and forfeited

Black was no doubt unhappy at dropping his Queen. More troubling is that 35...Qxd3 would have given him a winning game.

Still Strange, Still Intriguing (Part 3)

My first game experience with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Ke6, 

was a bit embarassing, as I annotated perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 41) in "Stinkin' up the Chessboard".

Part of the problem was that I had forgotten all of the analysis that I had shared with Readers!

Progress on the line was summarized in early 2010 in "Looking Backwards".

My second experience with 5...Ke6 came not much later, in perrypawnpusher - crayongod, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 10), although again I forgot my preparation and played 6.Qh5. This was chronicled in "Yes! Er, no..."

White's best chance comes from the sharp 6.Qg4+!?, when 6...Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 (other captures are worse, including 7...Kxd4 which leads to mate) 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxg8 and White has an edge, as his Queen and Black's unstable King are good compensation for Black's pieces after either 10...Nxd8 or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Na3 Nf6 14.0-0.

That should be plenty of introduction, so we shall return to MrJoker - Melbourne, ICC, 2012, in tomorrow's post.