The Risk of Improvisation

When an opening has an established refutation (or several) it can be risky to wander away from it (them). In the following game, Black improvises away from a safe response to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - to his own detriment.


Petasluk - KvanHouten
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 Ne7 

Black has played "The Annoying Defense" (see 1, 2, 3 for some coverage) 7...d6, which returns a piece and gives White little for his attack to gnaw upon. How annoying!

Yet, the "main line" of "The Annoying Defense" is the consistent 8...dxe5, and Black risks his usual solid position by avoiding the move.

9.Rf1

Creating some pressure on Black.

Previously seen: 9.exd6 Kxd6 10.e5+ Kc6 11.Qf3+ Qd5 12.Qf7? Qxf7 13.d3 Qf2+ 14.Kd1 Bg4, checkmate,  GuyEtienne - carssi, FICS, 2008. 

9...Ng6 

Planning to use the Knight to capture on e5 (instead of the more mundane, but correct, 9...dxe5), but this much improvisation is deadly, a White's previous move was more than a tempo loss.

10.Qf5+ Ke7 11.Qf7 checkmate

Another Log on the Fire

Declining any kind of Jerome Gambit can only be justified for "psychological" reasons, as the defender is swapping at least an even game - and often a better game - for a worse one. Yet, as the new batch of games added to The Database shows, it still happens.

lksharma - Zaprax
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

There is no need to decline the Bishop, as Black gets a roughly even game with the capture.

5.Nxe5 d6 

White has scored 61% from this position, in 130 games in The Database. Given that the first player is two pawns up, that relatively low success rate is probably a reflection of play at the club (and blitz) level.

6.Qh5

This looks aggressive ("one more log on the fire") but has not always worked for White - see crokit - sahistonline, blitz, FICS, 2011 for one other time out of ten games that it did - and the more prosaic 6.Bxg8 Rxg8 would not hand over the advantage to the second player as the text does.

6...dxe5

This move is good for Black, but challenging the White Queen with 6...Nf6 was even stronger. 

7.Qg5+ Kd7 

Again, 7...Nf6 was the move. It looks as if Black were responding to the possibility of 7...Kxf7 8.Qxd8, giving up his Queen; but, had he chosen that move order, after 8...Nxc2+ 9.Kf1 Bd6 10.Nc3 Nxa1 the game would have been about even. 

analysis diagram




8.Qxe5 Nxc2+ 

Falling for the bait. Houdini prefers consolidation with 8...c5 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Bb3 Bd6 11.Qg5 Kc7 12.d3 Kb8 13.Bf4 Re8 14.Bxd6+ Qxd6 15.0-0-0 a6 16.f4 Qc7 with Black as slightly better.

analysis diagram





9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qe6 checkmate

Oh, My!

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Sometimes a diagram is worth the same.

White to move.

fianchettosstorm - UGAFootball, blitz, FICS, 2013

Again the Nightmare

In light of the earlier "The Pawns! The Pawns!", alternate titles for this post easily came to mind, such as "Nothing Succeeds Like Excess" or "Too Much is Not Enough" - but whatever you call it, today we see more bad dreams for Black, thanks to the "Jerome pawns."

Wall, Bill - Atacan
PlayChess.com, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 

9...Be6

Also seen is 9...N8e7, from perrypawnpusher - rsiemon, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0,23).

10.f4

Or 10.O-O, as in Wall,B - Parsom, Chess.com, 2010, (1-0, 25).

10...Bd7

The Bishop can  also go the other way, 10...Bf7, as in perrypawnpusher - Kingsmeal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 25) and perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 33).

A more spirited reply is 10...Qh4+, as in perrypawnpusher - udofink, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29). 

11.O-O N8e7 12.d4

Or 12.f5 as in perrypawnpusher - nmuffjgp, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 23).

12...h5

Black looks like he wants to join in the pawn fun, but he soon is out-played.

13.c4 h4 14.b4 h3 15.g3 Bg4 16.f5 Nf8 17.d5

The "Jerome pawns" in all their (initial) glory.

A humorous alternative, pointed out by Bill, is 17.Rf4 Bh5 18.Rh4 winning Black's advanced pawn.

17...c6 18.a4 cxd5 19.exd5 Qc7 20.Rf4 Bd1

Humorous, but Black cannot really afford this levity.

21.Nc3 Bc2 22.f6 gxf6 23.Nb5 Qb6 24.c5 dxc5 25.bxc5 Qa5

Now comes the finish, and the "Jerome pawns" do their part.

26.Rxf6 Qd8 27.Nd6+ Kd7 28.Nxb7 Qe8 29.c6+ Kc7 30.d6+ Kxc6 31.Qc5+ Kxb7 32.Qc7+ Ka6 33.d7+ Black resigned

Fight Back!

In the following game my opponent was not intimidated by the Jerome Gambit - in fact, he fought back ferociously. The game was a bit of a street brawl for a while, but, in the end, the "Jerome pawns" saved the day for me.

perrypawnpusher  - truxtrux
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Nf3+ 

9.gxf3

When I played my move, I kept thinking that I ought to be able to play 9.Qxf3, but I wasn't sure why. Later, I looked the move up, and, sure enough, it had done well for me (if 9...Bxd4 then 10.Nb5) in AlonzoJerome - HenryV, blitz, ICC, 2011 (1-0, 33) and perrypawnpusher - TijsH, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37).

9...Bb6

A bit stronger is 9...Bb4, althought I did okay against it in perrypawnpusher - AirmanLeonidas, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

10.f4

After the game Houdini preferred 10.e5 Nh7 11.d5 Re8 12.f4 Kg8, with Black a bit better (King has castled-by-hand, has a piece for two pawns).

10...d5 11.e5 Bh3 

There is no question what is on Black's mind.

12.Re1

After the game, Houdini showed a preference for 12.exf6 Bxf1 13.fxg7 Rg8 14.Qh5+ (I had not thought of this in my calculations; it prevents ...Qh4) Kxg7 15.Kxf1 Bxd4, still with an edge for Black. 

12...Ng4 13.Qf3 Qh4 14.Be3

A bit better is 14.Qxd5+ first. For this reason, Black should play ...c6.

14...Nxe3 15.fxe3 g5 

Too brash, but very understandable: Black intends to wipe my King off of the board.

16.f5

Taking the pawn (with discovered check) was stronger, but I was shaking in my boots and wanted the position as closed as possible.

16...g4 17.Qf4 

Instead, 17.Qxd5+ Kf8 18.Qe4 likely would give White the slightly better game, due to the imposing "Jerome pawns". 

17...Rhg8 18.e6+ Kf6  

This gives White too much help. After 18...Kf8 19.Nxd5 I would have had only a small advantage.

19.Qe5+ Kg5 20.Qf4+ 

Nerves, and an eye on the clock. Instead, 20.Nxd5 Raf8 21.f6+ Kg6 22.e7 Rxf6 23.e8Q+ Rxe8 24.Qxe8+ and White benefits from the curious situation of Black's King and Queen, e.g. 25...Kg7 26.Qe7+ Kg6 27.Nf4+ as Houdini later pointed out.

20...Kh5 21.Ne2 g3 22.Nxg3+ Rxg3+ 23.hxg3 Qxf4 24.gxf4 Rg8+ 

Black has two Bishops (and the initiative) for for a Rook and 3 pawns, but probably 24...Bxf5 was the way to go.

25.Kh2

Wrong way, this only draws. Instead, 25.Kf2 Bxf5 26.e7 Re8 27.Rg1 Be4 28.Rg7 looks like the way to advantage for White.

Both of us were looking at our clocks now, however.

25...Kh4

This gave me the time to infiltrate my Rook into Black's position, and the game shifted permanently. 

After 25...Bxf5 26.Rg1 Re8 27.Rg3 Rxe6 28.Rh1 Be4 29.Rhg1 Bf5 30.Kg2 Be4+ 31.Kf2 Kh4 32.Rg4+ Kh5 33.R4g3 Houdini could not find a way for White to make progress. 

26.Rg1 Rxg1 27.Rxg1 Bxf5 28.e7 Bd7 29.Rg8

29...c6 30.e8Q Bxe8 31.Rxe8 

White is up only the exchange and a pawn, but Black has too many weaknesses, and the rest of the game, albeit, played short of time, is not hard to understand.

31...c5 32.c3 cxd4 33.cxd4 Bc7 34.Re7 Bd6 35.Rxb7 h5 36.Rxa7 Kg4 37.Rd7 Bb8 38.Rxd5 h4 39.a4 h3 40.a5 Kf3 41.Kxh3 Kxe3 42.a6 Kxf4 43.Ra5 Ke4 44.a7 Bxa7 45.Rxa7 Kxd4

46.Rb7 Kc5 47.Kg3 Kc6 48.Rb3 Kc5 49.Rf3 Kc4 50.Kf2 Kd4 51.Ke2 Ke4 52.Rh3 Kd4 53.Kd2 Kc4 54.b3+ Kb4 55.Kc2 Ka5 56.Rh4 Kb5 57.Kc3 Kc5 58.b4+ Kb5 59.Rh5+ Ka4 60.Kc4 

Yes, 60.Ra5 would have been checkmate.

60...Ka3 61.b5 Ka4 62.b6 Ka3 63.b7 Kb2 64.b8Q+ Kc1 65.Rh2

At this point my opponent had more than 3 minutes on his clock, but he elected to forfeits on time.

Hats off to truxtrux for a fighting game!

Swan Song

Having reached an advantageous position in my game against MarkHundleby1 (defending against an Evans Gambit) in the Italian Game tournament at Chess.com - only to drop a rook in a one-move blunder - I find myself in a two-way battle for last place in the fourth and final round. Still, if I win our remaining game, I can take 3rd place - not a terrible outcome, as my rating is 3rd highest among the players.

So, of course, the Jerome Gambit is in order, as I have the white pieces.

Curiously enough, after 11 moves our game resembles my battle against Navarrra from a couple of years ago - although dedicated Readers who wish to see that particular skirmish will be frustrated by the fact that most of my references to the game erroniously link to an earlier (by two weeks), different game with the same opponent. (Note to self: please fix.)

My most accurate reference to the relevant Navarrra game can be found in "Done In By Greed": 

[Hmmm, I don't think that I have posted this game yet - RK]

Quick Update on Another Update

A few months ago (see "Take your chance when you get it...") I took at look at recent play in Whistler's Defense to the Jerome Gambit - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7!?. 

With the new batch of games in the Database (see "Updating") I wondered what, if anything, was new. I found two games that reminded me of the old adage "It isn't a blunder until it's refuted".

Here is a quick look.

IagainstI - kingphilippineda, 
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7

8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Qc4+

Instead, markinchrist - Gurucool, blitz, FICS, 2013, continued
9...Qxc2 10.Qxh7+ Kf6 11.Qh4+ Kg7 12.Nc3 Qd3+ 13.Kg1 d6 14.g3 (throwing away the advantage; 14.b3 followed by 15.Bb2 keeps it) Bd7 15.b4 (the idea here doesn't work) Bd4 16.Bb2 Bc6 17.Na4 Bxb2 18.Nxb2 Qf3 19.Qd4+ Nf6 20.Kf1 Qxh1+ here Black forfeited by disconnection in a winning position

10.d3 Qxc2 

White pursues the wrong goal, gaining material instead of attacking White's King - and protecting his own.

11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qf4+ Ke8 15.Nd2 Qxd3+ 16.Kg1 Bd6 17.Re1+ Kd8 Black resigned