Scoring 95%+ with the Jerome Gambit, Bill Wall can afford to think of a draw as "losing a half-point". In the following game, his opponent clearly has had enough excitement wandering through the fog of war and goes for the repetition of position, splitting the point.
An honorable draw against Mr. Wall. An honorable draw against Jerome's "Double Gambit".
Little did Black realize that by doing so, he was losing another half point.
Wall,B - Guest2627909
Playchess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4
One of the "modern" Jerome Gambit lines, instead of the classical 5.Nxe5. For a couple of earlier posts regarding 5.d4, see here and here.
5...Bxd4 6.c3 Bb6
Avoiding 6...Bc5 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 from Wall,B - Guest1366999, Playchess.com, 2011 (1-0, 38)
7.Qb3+ Kf8 8.Bg5 Qe8 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Nbd2 d6
11.a4 Qe6 12.Qc2 h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nc4 Be6 15.Qe2 a6 16.Nxb6 cxb6
17.Rfd1 Rd8 18.Qe3 Bg4 19.Qxb6 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxf3
21.Qxb7 Ne7 22.Re1 Nf5? 23.Qb6
23...Qg4+ 24.Kh1 Qf3+ 25.Kg1 Qg4+ 26.Kh1 Qf3+ Draw
This is all well and good, but what if on move 24 (or 26) Black had played 24...Nh4!? instead of suing for peace? Could he really afford to offer a double-Rook sacrifice?? (Did he have the time or the energy or the confidence to look for such a saving line of play?)
White's only choice would be to take one Rook with 25.Qxd8+, but after 25...Kf7 the threat of checkmate keeps him from taking the second Rook. He can try 26.Qc7+, as all but one reply allows him to constantly check as well, but 26...Ke8 is strong. There can follow 27.Qc6+ Kf8 28.Qxd6+ Kg8 and White has pretty much run out of options. He will have to go for 29.Qd8+ Kh7 30.Qxh4 and after 30...Qxh4 Black would clearly be winning.
This all seems to indicate that White should have tried 24.Kf1 instead of putting his King in the corner, although after 24...Qh3+ Black can either pursue repeated checks and a draw with 25.Ke2 Qg4+, etc. or return a piece with 25...Ke7 26.exf5 although the resulting position is likely to be eventually drawn, as well.
My guess, though, is that Guest2627909 was happy with his draw, and might even have felt fortunate to have obtained it.
(I remember a last round game in a long-ago tournament where I had a better endgame against a higher-rated opponent. He suddenly offered a draw, pointing out that I would then be well-placed enough to collect some prize money. We shook, I took a half-dozen steps toward the Tournament Director, and then stopped... By winning the game, I suddenly realized, I would have collected even more prize money. The draw allowed my opponent to cash in, too, while a loss would have left him with nothing.)
For all of the refutations published, here and elsewhere, the Jerome Gambit can still lead a defender into a lost and lonely place, where his King can find danger, and sometimes an ignominious and untimely death.
perrypawnpusher - ibnoe
FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6
This move, which surrenders another piece (7...d6, the Blackburne Defense, is preferrable, and 7...Qe7, the Whistler Defense, is best) is as old as a game from a match between Mexican Champion Andres Clemente Vazquez and American William Harrington, Mexico 1876.
Either Black is unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit (Quick! Block the Queen's check with a pawn! Yikes! Now my Rook is attacked by the Queen! Block the attack with my Knight!) or he believes that he can calm the opening by returning material, hoping to hold on in a pawn-down position.
8.Qxc5 Nxe4
In the notes to my game perrypawnpusher - brain50, JG3 thematic, Chessworld.net, 2008 I suggested 8...Nxe4. The earliest example of that move in The Database is Toromic - Achele, FICS, 2001 (0-1, 32).
9.Qd5+ Kf6
My game perrypawnpusher - LibertasProVita, blitz, FICS, 2009 continued 9...Kg7. In my notes (see "Sometimes a platypus has to do what a platypus has to do...") I suggested "After 10.Qxe4 Re8 11.Qe3 d5 12.0-0 Rxe3 13.dxe3 Bf5 White has Rook, a Knight and a pawn for his Queen. I think simply being a pawn up, with the text [10.0-0], is better." The same goes for 9...Kf6 10.Qxe4 in the current game.
10.0-0
Prudent, getting the King off of the dangerous file (10.Qxe4? Re8), but after the game Fritz 8 suggested the straight forward 10.d3, which simply wins the Knight, as it cannot move or Bg5+ would win Black's Queen.
10...Re8 11.d3 c6
Black would like to chase away the annoying Queen before retreating his endangered Knight (11...Nd6 won't do because of 12.Bg5+). His best chance, found by Rybka after the game, shows how dangerous the position actually is: 11...Re5 12.Qb3! Nd6 13.Qc3 (pinning the Rook) Ke6 14.Bf4 Rf5 15.Re1+ Kf7 16.Bh6! Rf6 17.Bg5. During the game I was looking at 11...Re5 12.Qd4, immediately pinning the Rook, but 12...c5, while still good for White, would have led to messy positions.
12.Qd4+ Kf5
Black does not "believe" in the attack, and wants at least a pawn back for the piece. Instead, he allows the Rook to be pinned after all.
13.dxe4+ Rxe4
14.Qd3 d5 15.f3 Ke5 16.fxe4 Black resigned
Wall,B - Guest1443273
playchess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+
I have referred to this as a "calming variation" in the "Nothing Happened" post a couple of years ago. Although it is similar in a way to the "anti-Bill Wall gambit," I don't think that Bill has seen this particular move in any of his games, but remember - he has The Database, and there are 70 examples there.
8.Kxf2 Qh4+ 9.Kf1 TN 9...Qf6+ 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6
The wild, madcap attack from the Jerome Gambit has been cancelled. Black, however, is simply a pawn down, and he is still a long way from the possible drawing chances of a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.
11.Nc3 c6 12.e5 Nh5 13.Ne4 Ke6 14.Ng5+ Ke7 15.d4 Rf8+ 16.Ke1 h6 17.Ne4 g5
Not only does White's Knight eye d6 and f6, we can see the foreboding (for Black) situation of the light-squared Bishop on c8 blocking the Rook at a8, a common behind-in-development feature in "reduced" Jerome Gambits.
18.Bd2 b6 19.Bb4+ c5 20.Nxc5!? bxc5 21.Bxc5+ Ke8 22.Bxf8 Kxf8
White has three pawns and a Rook against a Knight and Bishop. The pesky "Jerome pawns" quickly go to work.
23.h4 g4 24.Rf1+ Kg7 25.c4 Ba6 26.b3 Rd8 27.d5 Re8 28.e6
At first glance this looks like White is simply tossing a pawn, but he has a different idea.
28...dxe6 29.d6 Rd8 30.Rd1 Ng3 31.Rf4 h5 32.c5 Nf5?
Black needed to get the Bishop on the defensive a4-e8 diagonal with 32...Bb5.
33.Ra4 Bb7?
Allowing a nice finish.
34.Rxa7 Rd7 35.Rxb7! Rxb7 36.c6 Black resigned
The latest, from Bill Wall.
Wall,B - Guest497592
Playchess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+ Ke8
The interesting 7...Ke7 8.Qg5+ appeared in Wall,B - CKFM, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 44).
8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qe3 d5
Or 9...Nf6 10.Nc3 d6 11.0-0 Be6 (11...Ng4 12.Qg3 Qe5 13.Nd5 Qxg3 14.fxg3 Kd7 15.Rf7+ Wall,B - CKSP, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 15)) 12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg3 Qh4 14.Qxh4 Nxh4 15.g3 Nf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Re1+ Kd7 18.d3 Rae8 19.Bd2 c6 20.h3 Wall,B -Hirami,Z, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 20).
10.Nc3 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nf6 12.d3 Ne5 13.0-0 Nfg4
"When at a loss for a move, you can always threaten White's Queen." NOT.
14.Qe2 Bf5 15.Bg5 Qd7?
Better 15...Nf6.
16.h3 h6 17.Nc5 Qc6 18.hxg4 hxg5
This grants White a large advantage.
19.Qxe5+ Be6 20.Nxe6 Kd7
Mate follows. "Best" is the miserable 20...Qd6 21.Nxc7+
21.Qxg7+ Kxe6 22.Rfe1+ Kd5 23.Qe5 checkmate
What "chances" White has in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) come from a myriad of sources, not the least of which is opponent loss of focus or intensity. Too many games have ended up "1-0" because the defender did not see the necessity of putting all of his skill to use against a foolish, refuted opening.
perrypawnpusher - spydersweb
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6
Since one of the time-proven strategies to defuse the Jerome Gambit has been returning a piece, this defense can not technically be considered "bad".
Yet, after 11 moves (see diagram below) the players reach a position in which White has an extra move (f2-f4) in comparison to the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3. So, if Black wants to give up his King's Bishop and post his Knight at g6, the alternative might be a better choice.
9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6
10...Ke8 is an alternative, as in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22).
11.Qe3
Notable is 11.Qf2 Nf6 12.d3 Rf8 13.0-0 Kf7 14.Nc3 Kg8 15.f5 Ne5 16.Bg5 Nf7 17.Bh4 c6 18.Ne2 Ne5 19.h3 Bd7 20.g4 h6 21.Nf4 a6 22.Rae1 Qe7 23.d4 Nf7 24.Ng6 Qd8 25.Nxf8 Qxf8 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.h4 Kg7 28.Kh2 Qe7 29.Qf4 Re8 30.Rg1 Kh7 31.c3 Rg8 32.Re3 Rg7 33.Reg3 Bc8 34.g5 fxg5 35.hxg5 Nxg5 36.f6 Qf7 37.Qh4 Qxf6 38.Qh5 Qf4 39.e5 dxe5 40.dxe5 Qxe5 41.Kh1 Be6 42.Qd1 Bd5+ 43.Kh2 Nf3+ 44.Kh3 Nxg1+ 45.Rxg1 Qe3+ 46.Kh2 Qf2+ 47.Kh3 Rxg1 White reigned, guest725 - guest114, Internet Chess Club, 2002.
11...Nf6
Alternatives:
11...Kf8, perrypawnpusher - Valseg, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 39);
11...Be6 12.f5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, FICS, 2010;
11...Bd7 perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS,2009 (1-0, 29).
12.0-0
It is probably better to tuck away the King first than create a broad center with 12.d4, as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).
Also seen was 12.Nc3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (0-1, 34).
12...Re8 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Neg4
It's always fun to harass the Queen, but 14...Nc6 was the right idea, as White then does not get much with 15.e5 Kf8 16.e6. Instead, I had planned on 15.Qd3 Kf8 16.Bg5.
15.Qd3 Kf8 16.Bg5
A bit better might have been the thematic 16.h3 Nh6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.Nd2
16...h6 17.Bxf6
This capture is not actually necessary as 17.Bh4 g5 18.fxg6 leads to an advantage for White. Best for Black after 17.Bh4 would be 17...h5, giving Black's advanced Knight a retreat square. Still, the second player's Kingside looks weakened, and White would probably not be worse.
17...Qxf6
The Queen is poorly placed only because the Knight is poorly placed. Better was 17...Nxf6 18.Nc3 with an edge to Black.
18.h3 Ne5
Played perhaps a bit too automatically. Play looks relatively equal after 18...d5 19.hxg4 Rxe4 20.c3 Rxg4 21.Nd2 c6 22.Rae1 Bd7.
19.dxe5 Qxe5 20.Nc3
How many times has White's advantage in the Jerome come down to better development, while Black's Queen Bishop sits at home, cutting off his Queen's Bishop?
20...c6 21.Rad1 d5
A miscalculation.
22.exd5 c5
Better, but not saving, was 22...Qe3+ 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.dxc6 bxc6.
23.f6 g5 24.Qg6 Black resigned
I have gone through difficult stretches with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) before, but the current one has been making me feel old and feeble.
Take a look.
perrypawnpusher - ojot
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf8
I faced a similar error in a Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit against acwizard last year (1-0, 18) and against tensecterror earlier this year (1-0, 39). I was surprised to find today's Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit to be the only example in The Database, with my opponent's move.
8.Ng6+ Kg8 9.Nxh8 Kxh8
White has a Rook and two pawns for two pieces. Black's King is safe and he has better development. The game seems about equal.
This may well be part of Black's plan: no advantage, but no surprises, either.
10.d3 d6 11.Be3 Bb4 12.f4
A thematic move, but the first indication of trouble: I was un-protecting my Bishop without giving thought to how to re-protect it. More enlightened was 12.Nd5.
12...Ng4 13.Qf3
Horrible. Of course, 13.Nd5 was the right idea, with still an even game.
13...Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Bc5 15.d4 Bxd4 White resigned
(Later on in the evening, I went back online at FICS, and again challenged my opponent with White. He decided to avoid the Jerome Gambit, and instead played the Philidor Defense. I won, but it wasn't any fun.)
Did you look over the games from Thursday's post?
Did you actually play the moves from Bill Wall's games out in your head or on a board?
Did you wind up asking yourself: What was Black thinking??
White plays 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 and before he can even think of sacrificing his Bishop with 4.Bxf7+ he sacrifices his Knight instead with 4.Nxe5.
Does Black say "Yippee! Gimme! Gimme!ThankYouVeryMuch!" and take the piece? No, he does not. He looks the gift horse in the mouth and plays 4...Nh6.
Really.
Next time around, the Bill's new opponent does take the Knight, but only after he sacrifices a piece of his own with 4...Bxf2+ 5.Kxf2 Nxe5.
What?
If these were over-the-board games, we might be accusing Bill of witchcraft – or would that be warlockcraft ?
Every time I tell Bill that it's risky to play such a refuted opening as the Jerome Gambit, he reminds me that it is only risky if the opponent knows the refutation.
Sometimes, instead, the opponent figures that the Jerome Gambiteer must know what he's doing – why else would someone sacrifice a piece, except if it were strong ? – and so bails out of the refutation, just in case.
With almost 1600 posts, this blog is many things, but most peculiarly an ongoing study of what must be considered errors in problem-solving.
