Years ago I regularly played chess against a co-worker, and he constantly complained that he was winning the whole time - "All of the way up to the point that I checkmated you," I would reply.
Philidor 1792's play here reminds me of those fun days.
Philidor 1792 - guest2445
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening.
4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+
Instead, 5.0-0, hoping for 5...Bc5, so that White can play 6.Bxf7+, would be the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
In the game, White stops waiting and makes his sacrifice. It is a that was favored by Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member yorgos about 5 years ago.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nc6
An earlier game was over before Black knew what was going on: 7...Ng6 8.e5 Nh7 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Qd5 checkmate, You - Stranger, blitz, Chess-Samara.ru 2014.
8.e5 Ne8 9.0-0 Kg8 10.f4 d6 11.Be3 Bf5 12.g4 Bh7 13.Qe2 dxe5 14.Qc4+ Qd5 15.Qxd5 checkmate
Here are a selection of games by Philidor 1792, referenced in yesterday's post. He brings a bit of Jerome Gambit magic, a bit of Halloween Gambit sparkle, and lays on a bit of the 3-minute game crunch. It doesn't always work, but it's always entertaining.
Philidor 1792 - guest1223
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7
Well, it looks like Black is interested in the Hungarian Defense, not the Jerome Gambit - but he is in for some excitement, anyhow.
4.c3
Or the even calmer 4.O-O Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nc6 8.e5 Ne8 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Nc3 d6 11.Qd5+ Kf8 12.f4 Bf5 13.Rf2 Nb4 14.Qb3 c5 15.d5 a5 16.Be3 c4 17.Qxc4 Nxc2 18.Rxc2 Bxc2 19.Rf1 Rc8 20.Qd4 h5 21.Rf2 Bf5 22.Ne4 h4 23.g3 hxg3 24.hxg3 Rh3 25.Kg2 Qc7 26.Rd2 Rh6 27.Nf2 Qc4 28.Qxc4 Rxc4 29.g4 Bb1 30.a3 Rc2 31.Rxc2 Bxc2 White resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest267, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru 2014.
4...Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Ng6
Or 7...Nc6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Qf3+ Ke8 10.Qg3 Bf8 11.Bg5 Nge7 12.d5 Nb8 13.d6 cxd6 14.exd6 Nbc6 15.Qh4 Qa5 16.dxe7 Bxe7 17.Bxe7 Qe5+ 18.Kd2 Nxe7 19.Re1 Qf6 20.Qxf6 gxf6 21.Na3 Kf7 22.Nb5 d5 23.Nd6+ Kf8 24.Re3 Nf5 25.Re8+ Kg7 26.Nxf5+ Bxf5 27.Re7+ Kg6 28.Rxb7 Rhb8 29.Rxb8 Rxb8 30.b3 Re8 31.f3 h5 32.Re1 Rxe1 33.Kxe1 Bc8 34.Kf2 Kf5 35.Ke3 Ke5 36.b4 Ba6 37.g4 hxg4 38.fxg4 Bc4 39.a4 f5 40.gxf5 Kxf5 41.Kd4 Kg4 42.Kc5 Kh3 43.b5 Kxh2 44.a5 Kg3 45.b6 axb6+ 46.axb6 Ba6 47.Kxd5 Kf4 48.c4
Kf5 49.c5 Kf6 50.Kd6 Kf7 51.Kd7 Kf6 52.c6 Bb5 53.b7 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest1982, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru 2014.
8.e5 Ng8
Another time Black defended with 8...Ne8 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Qf3+ Kg8 12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Qf3+ Nf6 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.O-O d5 16.Bg5 c6 17.Nd2 Kf7 18.Rfe1 Bd7 19.c4 h6 20.Bxf6 Qxf6 21.Qb3 Rhe8 22.cxd5 Kf8 23.Qxb7 Qd6 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.dxc6 Bxc6 26.Qxa7 Kg8 27.Qa3 Qxd4 28.Nf3 Bxf3 29.Qxf3 Qxb2 30.Qb3+ Qxb3 31.axb3 Rb8 32.Rb1 Nf4 33.g3 Ne2+ 34.Kg2 Nd4 35.b4 Nc6 36.b5 Rb6 37.f4 Nd4 38.Rb4 Nxb5 39.f5 Rb7 40.g4 Nd6 41.Rxb7 Nxb7 42.Kg3 Kf7 43.Kf4 Nd6 44.Ke5 Nc4+ 45.Kf4 Kf6 46.h3 Nb6 47.Ke4 Kg5 48.Ke5 Kh4 49.f6 Nd7+ 50.Kf5 Nxf6 51.Kg6 Nxg4 52.Kxg7 h5 53.hxg4 hxg4 White resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest267, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014.
9.f4 d5
Or 9...d6 10.f5 Nxe5 (10...Nf8 11.O-O Ke8 12.Qe2 dxe5 13.dxe5 Bc5+ 14.Kh1 b6 15.b4 Be7 16.Na3 Bb7 17.Bf4 Qd5 18.Nb5 Bd8 19.Rad1 Qe4 20.Qd2 Qc4 21.a4 h6 22.Kg1 Bc6 23.Na3 Qe4 24.Nb5 Qxf5 25.Nd4 Qg6 26.Nxc6 Qxc6 27.Bg3 a6 28.Qf2 Qe6 29.Qxf8 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest11, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014) 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qb3+ Kf8 13.O-O Bc5+ 14.Kh1 Qd3 15.Rd1 Qe2 16.c4 Bxf5 17.Nc3 Qh5 18.Qxb7 Re8 19.Qxc7 Bd4 20.Rf1 Nf6 21.c5 Be6 22.Ne4 Qf7 23.Qc6 Qd7
24.Qxd7 Bxd7 25.Bg5 Re6 26.Nxf6 gxf6 27.Bxf6 Kg8 28.Rac1 Rc6 29.b4 h5 30.Bxh8 Kxh8 31.Rf7 Be6 32.Rxa7 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest449, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014.
10.f5 Bxf5 11.O-O Nh6 12.g4 Rf8 13.gxf5 Nh4 14.Qh5+ Kg8 15.f6 Black resigned
We have been looking at the creative ideas of Philidor 1792, and, like the animated character Buzz Lightyear says, they go "To infinity - and beyond!"
Of course, in this case, they start with the Jerome Gambit - and go beyond.
Here are some of the ideas that Philidor 1792 sent in an email, along with his large collection of games.
Since I wrote to you last time, I've played many Jerome games and found some fun ideas.
First of all, I explored the Modern Jerome Gambit and realized that here, in contrast to Double Jerome Gambit, one doesn't need to wait when opponent develop his bishop to c5 square (because the Qh5+ idea isn't involved), so why not to play Bxf7+ in response to Be7 or Nf6, without waiting Bc5 move?
As you wrote in your blog some people belive that "it is bad investment to sacrifice the second piece with 5.Nxe5" and prefer to "focus on development". (If there is any soundness to be found in the Jerome, then I believe it involves replacing 5. Nxe5+ with a different move. - Gary K. Gifford). Why do we need a black bishop on c5 then?
So I tried to play Bxf7+ after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 as a response to any black move. After that I saw that in the arising positions the main idea of the Halloween Gambit is applicable. For example after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 the black knight doesn't have any secure square (the g4 ana h5 squares are controled by the white queen and after Nd5 or Ne4, Qf3+ with a fork may follow.)
I had a lot of fun playing this kind of Jerome gambit. There are a lot of games in attachment. Hope you like them!
Again, as hard as it may be to believe, there are some players with Black who refuse to play against the Jerome Gambit, even when White unveils it a move down. Philidor 1792 has faced a few (above) who declined a winning position and instead chose a balanced one. In the following game White tosses in a bit of Halloween Gambit to get active play.
Philidor 1792 - guest1211
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bb3 Be7
Of course, 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ would be the Delayed Jerome Gambit, which is more than Black usually dreams of getting out of an opening. Still, some defenders resist...
5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Ne4 8.0-0
Philidor 1792 has also played the immediate 8.f3: 8...Bb4+ (8...Bh4+ 9.g3 Nxg3 10.hxg3 Bxg3+ 11.Kf1 b6 12.Nc3 Ba6+ 13.Kg2 Bf4 14.Nd5 Qg5+ 15.Kf2 Qg3 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest13, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014) 9.Kf1 Ng5 10.f4 Ne4 11.Qe2 d5 12.Qb5+ Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest1200, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014.
8...d5 9.f3 Ng5 10.Nc3 c6 11.f4 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.f5
13...Nh4 14.e6 0-0 15.Be3 g6 16.exf7+ Kg7 17.fxg6 Nxg6 18.Qh5 Black resigned
What if Black refuses to play the Jerome Gambit, even a move down? Philidor 1792 has faced a few of those contrarians (above), who declined a winning position and instead chose a balanced one - and still found a way to play interesting chess.
Philidor 1792 - guest88
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bb3 Nxe4
Of course, 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ is the Delayed Jerome Gambit. While its theory is still developing, we can be sure that it is as refuted as the Jerome Gambit itself.
5.Qe2 d5 6.d3 Nf6
Or 6...Nc5 7.Nxe5 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Be6 10.Nc3 Nxb3 11.axb3 Nxe5 12.Qxe5 Bd6 13.Qh5 c6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Rxe6 fxg5 16.Rae1 h6 17.Nb1 Qc7 18.Nd2 Bc5 19.Nf3 Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Rxf7 21.d4 Bb6 22.Re7 Raf8 23.c3 g4 24.Rxf7 Rxf7 25.Ne5 Re7 26.f4 h5 27.Kf2 c5 28.dxc5 Bxc5+ 29.Kg3 Kh7 30.Rd1 d4 31.cxd4 Bb6 32.d5 g5 33.d6 Re8 34.d7 Rd8 35.fxg5 Bc7 36.Kf4 Bxe5+ 37.Kxe5 Kg6 38.Ke6 Black resigned, Philidor1792 - Sasha63, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014.
7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.Qxe5+ Qe7 9.Bf4 Qxe5+ 10.Bxe5 c6 11.0-0
Or 11.c4 Be7 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.dxc4 0-0 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.Rhe1 Bg4 16.f3 Bf5 17.Bc2 Bxc2 18.Kxc2 Rad8 19.Bc7 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Kf8 21.g4 h6 22.a3 Bc5 23.Bd6+ Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.c5 Rd8 26.Rxd8 Kxd8 27.Kd3 Ke7 28.Kd4 Ke6 29.b4 a6 30.h4 g6 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 Ne8 33.Ke4 f5+ 34.Kd4 Ng7 35.Na4 Nh5 36.Nb6 Nf4 37.Nc4 Nh3 38.Nd6 Nxg5 39.f4 Nh3 40.Ke3 Kd5 41.Nxb7 g5 42.Nd6 gxf4+ 43.Kf3 Ke6 44.Nc4 Kd5 45.Nd6 Ke5 46.Nf7+ Kf6 47.Nd6 Ke6 48.Nc4 Kd5 49.Nd6 Ke5 50.Nf7+ Ke6 51.Nd6 Kf6 52.a4 Kg5 53.Nf7+ Kg6 54.Ne5+ Kg5 55.Nxc6 Ng1+ 56.Kg2 Ne2 57.Nb8 Nd4 58.c6 Kg4 59.c7 f3+ 60.Kf2 Ne6 61.c8Q Ng5 62.Qg8 Kf4 63.Qxg5+ Kxg5 64.Nxa6 Kf6 65.Nc5 Ke5 66.Kxf3 Kd6 67.Kf4 Kc6 68.Kxf5 Kb6 69.Ke5 Kc6 70.Kd4 Kb6 71.Kd5 Ka7 72.b5 Kb6 73.Nb3 Ka7 74.Kc6 Kb8 75.a5 Ka7 76.a6 Kb8 77.b6 Ka8 78.Na5 Black resigned, Philidor1792 - vlad2201, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014.
11...Be6 12.c4 dxc4 13.dxc4 0-0-0 14.Nc3 Ng4 15.Bf4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.Rad1 Rhd8 18.Ne4 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 20.Bxd1 Ne5
The game remains balanced. Phlidor 1792 remains content, perhaps remembering the wry adage from the Jerome Gambit: When the game is even, White is better.
21.Be2 f5 22.Nd2 Kc7 23.f4 Nd7 24.Kf2 a5 25.Ke3 Kd6 26.Nf3 h6 27.Nd4 Nc5 28.b3 Bd7 29.Bh5
29...Ne4
Lulled by the play, Black's Knight routinely grabs the outpost at e4, instead of preparing to post his King at f6 with 29...Ke7.
30.Bg6 Nc3 31.a4
In turn, White neglects to make Black work harder: 31.a3 Nb1 32.a4 Nc3 33.Nxf5+, winning a pawn.
Perhaps time was a factor for both players.
31...Nd1+
Black overlooks his escape: 31...Kc5 32.Nxf5 Bxf5 33.Bxf5 Kb4 34.Bc2 b5 35.cxb5 cxb5 36.axb5 Nxb5 now both sides will Queen a pawn 37.g4 Kc3 38.Bd1 Nd4 39.g5 hxg5 40.fxg5 Nxb3 41.h4 a4 42.h5 a3 43.Bxb3 Kxb3 44.h6 gxh6 45.g6 a2 46.g7 a1Q 47.g8Q+ Kb4 48.Qb8+ and Black's extra pawn will not be enough to win.
32.Kd2 Nf2 33.Bxf5
I am not sure if Black resigned here, or if he lost on time. He had the consistent 33...Kc5 available, when he had good drawing chances against either 34.Bxd7 (34...Kxd4) or 34.Ke3 (34...Nd1+ 35.Ke4 Nf2+ etc.) White's winning move was to capture with the Knight, i.e. 33.Nxf5+ Bxf5 34.Bxf5.
Once again we see the "secret weapon" of the Jerome Gambit - it takes clock time for Black to solve its mysteries - come to the aid of the inventive Philidor 1792.
Philidor 1792 - guest24
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bb3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
A delayed Jerome Gambit. We have seen several from Philidor 1792.
In this game, Black is skeptical: how can a refuted opening be playable, a move down?
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qc4+ d5 10.exd5 Qxd5
11.Qb3 Re8+ 12.Be3 Qxb3 13.axb3 Nd5 14.0-0
Following the old card-playing advice: play 'em like you have 'em.
14...Nxe3 15.fxe3+ Kg8
16.Rf3 a6 17.Nc3 Be6 18.Ra4 Ne5 19.Rg3 Nf7 20.Rb4 b5 21.Ne4 Bd5
The first sign of either nerves or time pressure.
22.Nf6+ Kf8 23.Nxd5 Re5 24.Nc3 c5 25.Re4 Rae8 26.Rxe5 Rxe5 27.Kf2 Nd6 28.Rf3+ Ke7 29.Ke2 Nf5 30.Rh3
White has a small advantage, but here Black lost on time.
Even when Philidor 1792 does not play a "true" Jerome Gambit, he finds ways to add its flavor to his blitz play. In the following game he experiments, too, with the Evans Gambit. The result, as in many 3-minute games: aggression, persistence, creativity and win.
Philidor 1792 - guest433
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.a3
A bit of a twist - usual for the Evans Gambit is 5.c3. Philidor 1792, as we know, likes to experiment.
5...Ba5
Or 5...Be7, which took a non-Jerome path: 6.Ba2 Nf6 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Nc6 9.d5 Ne5 10.f4 Ng6 11.e5 Ng8 12.d6 cxd6 13.Qd5 Nh6 14.exd6 Bf6 15.f5 0-0 16.fxg6 Bxa1 17.Bxh6 Qh4+ 18.Kd1 Qxh6 19.gxf7+ Kh8 20.Re1 Qg6 21.Nd2 Bc3 22.Re8 Rxe8 23.Qg5 Qe6 24.Bxe6 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest55, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 03.02.2014
6.Bxf7+
Giving the Evans-ish opening a Jerome-ish spin.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Qh5+ Ng6 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxa5 Nf6 11.Nc3 b6 12.Qg5 Qe7 13.0-0 Bb7
14.d3 Qe5 15.Qxe5+ Nxe5 16.f4 Nf7 17.Nb5 Kd8 18.c4 d6 19.Nd4 c5 20.Nf5 g6 21.Ne3 Re8
22.Bb2 Nd7 23.a4 a5 24.g4 Kc7 25.Kf2 Rf8 26.Kg3 g5 27.Nf5 gxf4+ 28.Kxf4 Nde5 29.Rad1 Rg8
30.Rg1 Rg6 31.h4 Rag8 32.g5 h6 33.Ne7 hxg5+ 34.hxg5 Rxg5 35.Nxg8 Nxd3+ 36.Rxd3 Rxg1 37.Ne7 Rf1+ 38.Ke3 Ne5
39.Bxe5 dxe5 40.Nd5+ Kc6 41.Rb3 Re1+ 42.Kd3 Rd1+ 43.Ke2 Rd4 44.Rxb6+ Kd7 45.Rxb7+ Black resigned
