Giuoco Fortissimo

The following game reminds of a "tale that took less time than it takes to tell". It starts quietly, but does not stay that way.

Philidor 1792 - guest581
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6

Looking like a regular Giuoco Piano. But, wait...

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kg6

The King hunts the Knight, but soon becomes the hunted.

7.h4 h6 8.h5+ Kxg5 9.d4 checkmate.

[This post is #1,900 for the blog. Many thanks to Readers for their continued interest and support - Rick]

Slow Motion chess

Philidor 1792 has sent another collection of Jerome Gambit and Jerome-inspired games. The following game shows the progress of "Jerome pawns" as if in slow motion. I find it humorous that it all occured in a 3-minute blitz game.

Philidor 1792 - DerAndere
3 0 blitz, PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

The Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ 

Philidor 1792 is always game to play his extra pawns against his opponent's extra piece.

8...Bxe7 9.0-0 Nf6 10.d3 d6 11.Nc3 Kf7 12.h3 c6 13.Be3 Rf8 14.f4 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand as a protection against the "Jerome pawns".

15.g4 Nd7 16.Ne2 Bf6 17.c3 Be7 18.Kg2 d5 19.e5 Nc5 20.Rad1 h5 21.Kg3 hxg4 22.hxg4 Ne6

23.d4 Kf7 

Black decides to undo his castling, perhaps in response to the dangerous h-file - which he opened.

24.Rh1 Ke8 25.Rh7 Rg8 26.Rdh1 Bd7 27.f5 Ng5 28.Bxg5 Bxg5 29.e6 Bc8 

30.R1h5 Be7 31.Rh1 b6 32.Nf4 Bd6 33.g5 Ba6 34.Kg4 Bxf4 35.Kxf4 Bd3 36.Ke5 

White is already better, but here he missed the cooperative shot 36.Rxg7, e.g. 36...Rxg7 37.Rh8+ Ke7 38.f6+ Kxe6 39.fxg7 Kf7 40.Rxa8 Kxg7 41.Rxa7+ winning.

36...Rd8 37.Rh8 Kf8 38.f6 gxf6+ 39.gxf6 Re8 40.f7 Rxh8 41.Rxh8+ Kg7 42.fxe8Q Bg6 43.Rg8+ Kh6 44.Qxg6 checkmate

It Happens...

Concerning the following game, I have already written...

If you play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ) long enough, you will eventually play the 6.d4 variation (4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4) and one day you will come face-to-face with the best in-your-face variation for Black since J.H. Blackburne offered his Rook...

Sometimes, when you play the Jerome Gambit, you encounter an opponent who knows one of the refutations and who plays very well against you. It happens.

Wall,B - Guest6296711
PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

This line doesn't have a name attached to it, but I have referred to it in earlier posts as "A Pie-in-the-Face Variation". The earliest example that I have of it in The Database is Sorensen - Anonymous, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27).

It is interesting to note that The Database has 1213 games reaching the position after 6.d4, with White scoring 50%. Of those games, only 17% of the time does Black continue with 6...Qh4 - but he scores 70% with it.

7.0-0 Qxe4 

The weaker alternative, 7...Ng4, was seen in Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27), Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 38) and Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 33). 

8.dxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qc4 

Instead, Black played 9...Qc6 in Wall,B - Gorodetsky,D, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 18) and Wall,B - felineMMXI, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 18). 

10.Be3 

This is a small improvement over 10.Re1 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qc6 in Deep Sjeng 1.5 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003 (0-1, 46).

Black's extra piece outweighs White's two extra pawns. 

10...Re8 11.Bd4 d6 12.b3 Qa6 13.cxd6 Qxd6 14.Nb5 Qc6 15.Nxa7 Rxa7 16.Bxa7 b6 

17.Qd4 Ba6 18.c4 Nf3+ 

Black finishes off with sacrificial flair.

19.gxf3 Qxf3 20.Qd1 Re2 21.Qd8 Qg4+ 22.Kh1 Bb7+ White Resigned

The Montgomery Major Attack and Friends

I received an email the other day concerning Montgomery Major, whose name is attached to a gambit - the "Montgomery Major Attack" - that was touched upon in this blog about 4 1/2 years ago.

The line develops out of the Tennison Gambit, going 1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+. 

Of course, my interest was the way in which the opening showed certain Jerome Gambit (J. H. Blackburne might have said "Kentucky Opening") tendencies - although the piece sacrificed was a Knight, not a Bishop.

Much to my surprise, other than a half dozen bullet (1 minute, 0 increment) games at lichess.org, I have found only one example of the opening.

Watts,J (1835) - Zeidler,S (2235)
West Wales op Swansea, 1999

1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxe5 Nf6 7.Bc4+ Kg7 8.d4 Nc6 9.Qg5 h6 10.Qg3 Nxd4 11.0-0 b5 12.Rd1 bxc4 13.Rxd4 Qxd4 14.Qxc7+ White Resigned

This, in turn, reminded me of the Damiano Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6, which can continue 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+. 

The Damiano came up in a couple of my games while I was attempting to reach a Jerome Gambit - starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f6. These were examined in "A Jerome Gambit Declined" and "Frustration is the Grandmother of Invention".

One False Move

It is easy to view the Jerome Gambit (for White) as a superhighway to oblivion - any easy exit is one that the first player should take. On the other hand, the Jerome Gambit (for Black) can be a stroll down Easy Street - as long as you avoid falling down a manhole.

fehim - AndrewAJ
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6

Black is too casual in his defense, having much better in 6...Kf8, 6...Ke6, 6...Ng6 or 6...g6. The Database has 39 games with this position, with White scoring 77%.

Given that White scores 44% in the 10,600 regular Jerome Gambit games in The Database, the statistics strongly suggest that Black has made a bad move.

7.Qf5+

The best move, appearing in The Database 23 times, with White scoring 83%.

7...Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxc5 d6 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qe2 Nf6

White has regained his sacrificed material, with interest, and is better.

13.0-0 Bg4 14.f3 Bh5 15.e5 dxe5 16.Qxe5+ Qe7 17.Qxe7+ Kxe7

From here on out, White plays the Queenless middle game steadily with extra material, and Black is not able to overcome his disadvantage. A few slips brings the game to a close.

18.d3 h6 19.b3 Rhe8 20.Bb2 Nd5 21.Nd2 Ne3 22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.Rac1 g5 24.Ne4 Nd5 25.c4 Nf4 26.Rcd1 Rad8 27.d4 Bg6

28.Nc5 Ne2+ 29.Kf2 Nxd4 30.Rxe8 Kxe8 31.Rxd4 Rxd4 32.Bxd4 b6 33.Ne6 Kd7 34.Nf8+ Black resigned

Creative Exercise

Both players in the following game engage in creative play. As is fitting, the one who adds a little "Jerome" to his efforts is the one who wins.

AndrejRussia - casaralta
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening. White has a number of moves - e.g. 4.0-0, 4.Nc3, 4.c3, 4.d3, 4.d4 - that can advance his game. Most allow Black to play 4...Bc5, opening up the opportunity to transpose to the Jerome Gambit with 5.Bxf7+.

4.b4

Reminiscent of some ideas of Philidor1792. See "Essence of Evans / Jerome / Halloween", for example. It is interesting that Houdini 3, at 22 ply, gives only one response - 4...Bxb4 - that leads to an advantage for Black, and only by about 1/3 of a pawn.

4...Nd4 

Couriouser and curiouser. Black transposes to a Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4), where his extra ...h7-h6 may or may not be more helpful than White's extra b2-b4.

Here are a few relevant games:

4...Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qb3+ Kf8 8.O-O d6 9.d4 Qe7 10.d5 Nb8 11.Qb5 Bb6 12.Be3 Bd7 13.Qb3 Na6 14.Nbd2 Rb8 15.Nc4 Nc5 16.Bxc5 Bxc5 17.a4 Nf6 18.Ncd2 Kf7 19.Nh4 Rhf8 20.c4 Kg8 21.Qg3 Nh5 22.Ng6 Qf6 23.Qf3 Qxf3 24.Nxf3 Rf7 25.Ngh4 Nf4 26.Nf5 Bxf5 27.exf5 Rxf5 28.Nh4 Rf6 White resigned, wardcleophus - Kiera, blitz, FICS, 2013;

4...Nxb4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Kf6 (6...Ke8 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Ne5+ Kb6 12.Nc3 Nxc2+ 13.Ke2 Nxa1 14.Na4+ Ka6 15.Nc5+ Kb5 16.Qc4+ Kb6 17.Qb4# karapetov - goterpaws, FICS, 2009;  6...Ke6 7.Bb2 Nf6 8.Qf3 Nc6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Nf7+ Black resigned, karapetov - drissE, FICS, 2009) 7.c3 (7.d4 d6 8.Qf3+ Bf5 9.Qxf5+ Ke7 10.Qf7# karapetov - hicoyoke, FICS, 2009) Nc6 8.Ng4+ Kf7 9.O-O Bd6 10.d4 Be7 11.d5 Nb8 12.Ne5+ Kf6 13.Ng4+ Kg6 14.Be3 d6 15.e5 Bg5 16.Nd2 Bxg4 17.Qxg4 Nd7 18.h4 Nxe5 19.Qg3 Nf6 20.hxg5 Nfg4 21.gxh6 Rxh6 22.Bxh6 Kxh6 23.f4 Black resigned, BJCAS - codh, FICS, 2013;

4...Nf6 5.b5 Nd4 (5...Na5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Ke6 (7...Ke8 8.Ng6 Rg8 9.O-O Nc4 10.d3 Nd6 11.e5 Nxb5 12.exf6 Qxf6 Black resigned, BJCAS - teddydog, FICS, 2009) 8.d4 d6 9.Ng6 Rg8 10.O-O Kf7 11.Nxf8 Rxf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.Qf3 Bg4 14.Qg3 Qd7 15.a4 Nxe4 16.Qh4 Nc4 17.h3 Bf5 18.g4 Bh7 19.f5 Qd8 20.Qe1 d5 21.Na3 Ncd6 22.c4 dxc4 23.Nxc4 Nxc4 24.Qxe4 Re8 25.Qd3 Ne5 26.Qb3+ Kh8 27.dxe5 Qd4+ 28.Be3 Qxe5 29.Rae1 Qg3+ 30.Kh1 Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Qxg4+ 32.Kf2 Qxf5+ 33.Ke2 Qg4+ 34.Kd2 Rad8+ 35.Kc1 Rxe3 36.Rxe3 Qg6 37.Rfe1 Qg5 38.Kb2 Rd2+ 39.Kc1 Rd5 40.Kb2 Rd2+ 41.Ka1 Bg8 42.Re8 Qf6+ 43.R1e5 Qxe5+ White resigned, xivarmy - walls, FICS, 2009) 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Bb2 Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 Bd6 9.Nc3 Rf8 10.Nd5 Kg8 11.Nxf6+ Rxf6 12.Qb3+ Kh8 13.O-O Be7 14.Bxe5 Re6 15.f4 d6 16.b6 axb6 17.Bd4 Rxe4 18.Qc3 Bf6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qxc7 Qf8 21.Qxb6 Ra6 22.Qb2 d5 23.d3 Rxf4 24.Rxf4 Qxf4 25.Rf1 Qd6 26.Qb5 Bd7 27.Qxb7 Rb6 28.Qa8+ Rb8 29.Qa5 Qb6+ 30.Qxb6 Rxb6 31.Rf8+ Kh7 32.h4 Rb1+ 33.Rf1 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 Ba4 35.c3 Bc2 36.d4 Bb1 37.a4 Bd3+ 38.Kf2 Kg6 39.Ke3 Bc2 40.a5 Ba4 41.a6 Kf6 42.Kf4 Ke6 43.g4 Kd6 44.g5 h5 45.Kf5 Bc2+46.Kf4 Black forfeited on time, umeshajm - lsatlow, FICS, 2013. 

5. Bxf7+ 

The Jerome Gambit treatment.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6 

7. Ng6 Bxb4

Instead, 7...Qg5 8.Nxf8+ (not 8.Nxh8, Qxg2 winning) Kf7 9.O-O Kxf8 would be about equal. 

8.Qg4+ Kd6 9.e5+ Kd5 10.c4+

Even stronger is 10.c3 c5 11.cxd4, but White is thinking about Black's King. 

10...Kxc4 

A bit better was 10...Kc5, but Black's King would remain at risk. 

11.Na3+ Bxa3 12.Bxa3 c5 

This move is to protect the Knight, but it hems the King in.

13.Rc1+ Kb5 14.Rxc5+ Kb6 15.Qxd4 d6 16.Rxc8+ Ka6 17.Rxd8 Black resigned

Ouch

The following game shows some interesting play by White, burying Black's Bishop - the risk the second player takes when he opts to play 6...bxc6 instead of 6...dxc6. Still, Black is doing fine until he sends his Queen off on what turns out to be a suicide mission, to liberate the entombed piece. Ouch!

chessmanjeff - ouucch
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Kf8

This is as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, USA, 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29) and was enthusiastically endorsed by Lt. Sorensen in his 1877 article on the Jerome Gambit in Nordisk Skaktidende. See "Critical Line: 5...Kf8 (1)".

The Database has 171 games, with White scoring 53%.

6.Nxc6

Instead, 6.Qh5 would reach the Banks Variation. See "Critical Line: 5...Kf8 (2)".

6...bxc6 

Not as accurate as 6...dxc6. See "Critical Line: 5...Kf8 (3)".

7.d4 Bb6 8. O-O d6 

The alternative, 8...Qf6, was seen in Petasluk - Snorkledorf, blitz, FICS, 2006 (1-0, 24).

9.c4 

White plays positionally against Black's dark-square Bishop. Alternatives include 9.f4, as in perrypawnpusher - hdig, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 17); 9.Nc3, as in perrypawnpusher - mika76, GameKnot.com, 2008 (1-0, 17); and 9.Qf3+, as in MrJoker - Melbourne, blitz, ICC, 2011 (1-0, 37).

9...c5 10.d5  Qf6 11.Nc3 a5 12.f4 Ne7

Instead, 12...Qd4+ would keep Black's edge.

13.e5 Qg6 14.e6 Ke8 15.Qf3

Houdini suggests the pawn sacrifice 15.f5!?, seeing White as better after 15...Nxf5 16.Qa4+ Kd8 17.Bd2 Nd4 18.Rae1 Nxe6 19.dxe6 Bxe6.

15...Rf8 16.Ne4 Nf5 17.Qh3 Nd4 18.Ng5

A slip which should be punished by the Queen offer 18...Qxg5!, as 19.fxg5 Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Rxf1 would be checkmate.

18...h6 19.Nf7 Qe4 

Houdini prefers that, instead of pawn-hunting, Black return the exchange with 19...Rxf7 20.exf7 Kxf7, when he still is better.

The second player, however, is focused upon freeing up his imprisoned dark-square Bishop, and absolutely nothing will get in the way of completing that mission.

20.Bd2 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Qxc4

22.Qh5 Qxd5 

Freeing the c5 pawn to advance, freeing the Bishop... But ignoring the danger to his King - and Queen.

23.Qxd5 Black resigned