Voice of Wreckage and Ruin

Many people play the Jerome Gambit for a very simple, straight-forward reason: it is fun. Imagine how much enjoyment Bill experienced in the following game, where he delivers wreckage and ruin upon the enemy King.

Wall, Bill - Guest3157671
PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5

Of course, 7.Qd5+, "the nudge", is also played by Bill: 

Wall,B - Quack, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22)
Wall, B - Vijay, V, Chess.com, 2010, (1-0, 22)
Wall,B - LC, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 20)
Wall,B - guest154187, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 22)
Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com 2012 (1-0, 32)
Wall,B - Guest4149739, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 30)
Wall, B - guest3797656, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 40)
Wall, B - guest392045, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 33)
Wall,B - Guest198654, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 21)
Wall, B - Guest428245, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0,20)  

7...d6 8.Qd5+ 

Ah, "Nudge 2.0", another Wall specialty.

8...Ke7

Or 8...Ke8 as in Wall,B - Seven11, Chess.com, 2008 (1-0, 51)

Or 8...Kf8 as in Wall,B - Chung,J, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 25).

Or 8...Be6 as in Wall, B - CheckMe, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 23) and Wall,B - Guest249301,PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 30).

9.O-O

Or 9.d3 as in Wall,B - Guest4395, Internet, 2001 (1-0, 18). 

9... Nf6

10.Qg5 Be6

Despite the awkward  placement of his King, Black is feeling comfortable with his lead in development. All he has to do is take care of that pesky White Queen, and it will be smooth sailing, he reassures himself.

11.f4 Bf7 12.d4

Indeed, and how can White expect to prevail when he is only moving his Queen and his pawns? (Ah, the eternal Jerome Gambit question!)

12...h6 13.Qg3

Bill suggests 13.Qb5 and 13.Qf5 as alternate possibilities.

13...Re8

It looks risky for Black, but Bill's suggestion of 13...Nxe4 14.Qe1 d5 15.f5 Nf8 has merit. 

14.f5 Nf8 

This position reminds me of the kind of thing that my old "Chess Challenger 7" computer used to do - leave its King in the center of the board, surround it by pieces, and consider the position to be good. Often it would continue with the advance of a Rook pawn.

15.e5

Of course, Bill advances his "Jerome pawns" and plans to open up the center to get at the enemy King.

15...dxe5

Things are already dire for the defender, as Bill points out: 15...Nh5 16.Qh4+ Nf6 17.Bxh6 and 15...Nd5 16.Qxg7.

16.dxe5 Nd5

Or, fast and furious, any of the following: 16...Nh5 17.Qa3+ Kd7 18.Rd1+ or 16...Qd4+ 17.Be3 or 16...Ne4 17.Qh4+ Kd7 18.Qxe4. 

17.Qxg7 Nd7 18.e6

18...N7f6 19.exf7 Rf8 20.Re1+ Kd6 

21.c4 Nb6 22.Rd1+ Kc5 23.Rxd8 Raxd8 24.Be3+ 

As the loss of Black's Queen is not enough to cause him to strike his colors, Bill brings out some more pieces to enforce checkmate. Bill also notes that 24.Qxf6 leads to mate as well. 

24...Kxc4 25.Na3+ Kd3 26.Bxh6 Ne4 27. Rd1+ Ke2 28. Qg4 checkmate

BSJG: Move-by-Move

The following game - another recent one from GameKnot.com - allows a closer look at an interesting, more-positional variation of an otherwise wild, attacking opening.

mr_kill - syiedan86
Team match, GameKnot.com, 2014

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

There are a number of ways to safely meet the BSG, including 4.Nxd4, 4.0-0, 4.d3 and 4.c3. Black wants to see 4.Nxe5?!, so he can respond with the thematic 4...Qg5!?

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. As a Jerome Gambit fan, I like the move. Also, it has been good to me - I have scored 91% in 41 games. (The Database* contains 4,452 BSJG games;White scores 56%.)

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.c3

This move shows up 398 times in The Database, scoring 55% for White. The major alternative is 6.Qh5+, which appears in 1,376 games, and with which White scores 61%.

Houdini 3 shows a slight preference for the text move, which doesn't surprise me, as 100% of my games contain the alternative.

6...Ne6

This move appears in 157 games, while the alternate retreat, 6...Nc6, appears 92 times. The challenging 6...Qg5 appears in 95 games. All score the same, plus or minus a percentage point or two.

7.d4

Here Houdini shows a slight preference for 7.Qh5+, leading to an even game.

7...d6 8.Nd3 Nf6 

This is a balanced position. (It must be remembered that Black cannot castle, as he has moved his King.)

A couple of ideas for White now include 9.Nd2, seen in the game GmCooper - Mazetov, lightning, FICS, 2001 (1-0, 28); and 9.d5 Nc5 10.Nxc5 dxc5 11.O-O, which is the choice of chess engines Houdini, Rybka and Stockfish.

9.e5 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Bd6 11.Qe2

Stronger might be 11.f4

11...Qe7 

In this tense position, White inexplicably dropped a piece, and the game was over.

12.Bg5 Nxg5 White resigned

[*A word about statistics. In any database devoted to a particular opening, the success of the line will be inflated, as partisans and publishers tend to show off successes, not abject failures. I have corrected for this somewhat, in that about 90% of the games in The Database are drawn from play at FICS, over a 12-year period - all the wins, losses and draws in each particular opening. Statistics in The Database, thus, largely reflect the results of "average" club players in an "average" online game environment.] 

Jerome Pawn Fall

The "Jerome pawns" - the one White obtains in exchange for his piece(s) - can be a powerful attacking or positional force. However, if White does not take care of his pawns, they can also become targets and the cause of his downfall, as in the following game.

ulla - abebe
milenrousoulski's mini-tournament, 
GameKnot.com, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf6 

Four years ago, in "BSG: Later on in the Discussion", I suggested that now, after 6.Nf3, the game would be equal. Shortly afterwards, I faced 5...Kf6 played by RVLY, a specialist in the line (see "Whose Territory Are We Fighting On?"), but after 6.c3 Kxe5 we transposed into more regular 5...Ke6 lines. GOH, a member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde playing at FICS, has faced 6.c3 Ne6 and 6.c3 d6. To date, The Database does not include a game with my suggestion 6.c3 Nc2+!?

6.Ng4+

There are 66 games with this line in The Database, played by the likes of Jerome Gambiteers GOH, HauntedKnight, MyGameUMove, stretto, Wall and yorgos. 

6...Ke7 7.c3 Ne6 

Or 7...Nc6 8.d4 d6 9.d5 Bxg4 10.Qxg4 Qd7 11.Qxd7+ Kxd7 12.dxc6+ Kxc6 13.0-0 Nf6 14.f3 h6 15.Be3 Be7 16.Nd2 b5 17.Nb3 a6 18.Nd4+ Kb7 19.Nf5 Bf8 20.Bd4 Re8 21.Rfd1 Re6 22.a4 g6 23.axb5 gxf5 24.bxa6+ Ka8 25.exf5 Re5 26.Bxe5 dxe5 27.Rd8+ Ka7 28.Ra5 Bc5+ 29.Rxc5 Rxd8 30.Rxc7+ Kb8 31.Rc6 Nd5 32.Rxh6 Nf4 33.g3 Rd1+ 34.Kf2 Nd3+ 35.Ke2 Nxb2 36.Rb6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - GYHZ, FICS, 2010. 

8.d4 h5

Or 8...Nf6 9.d5 Nc5 10.0-0 Ke8 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.b4 Na6 15.e5 Qg6 16.Qd4 b6 17.f4 Bb7 18.f5 Qg5 19.Nd2 c5 20.dxc6 Bxc6 21.Ne4 Qg4 22.Nd6+ Kd8 23.Qxg4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Darksquare, 15 0 game, Chess.com, 2010.

9.Ne5 Qe8 10.d5 

Unsettling the pawn front and ignoring the pawns left behind (e.g. at g2). White should have tried 10.0-0 followed by adding another pawn to the center with f2-f4. 

10...Nc5 11.Bg5+ Nf6 12.Qd4 d6 13.Nc4

White might have done better to try 13.Nd2 dxe5 14.Qxc5+ Kd8 15.Qe3, although Black would still have the advantage. 

13...Qg6

Striking back at the pawns.

14.Bxf6+ gxf6 15.g3 Qxe4+ 16.Qxe4+ Nxe4 17.0-0

The g-pawn is safe, but Black will now unravel his position and make use of his extra material. White does not complicate enough to distract him.

17...Kf7 18.Re1 Ng5 19.Nbd2 Bg4 20.Re3 Bh6 21.f4 Nh3+ 22.Kg2 Rhe8 White resigned

There is still play in the game, even after the Rooks are exchanged, but with only a pawn for Black's piece, it would be all uphill for White.

Cure Worse Than The Disease

I don't hang around GameKnot.com as much as I used to, but it is still a great place to visit and pick up a few Jerome Gambit or Jerome-related games.

The following game shows the typical "Jerome treatment" when Black "simply" tries to exchange his Knight for White's Italian Bishop. Black's "cure" for this approach turns out worse than the "disease" itself.

abinadi1 - mebaku
GameKnot.com, 2013

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Na5 

Discussed in this blog as early as 2008 in "Offside!" and "The Other Side" and as recently as this year in "Always Good to Remember".

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 6.d4 h5

This is something new, as far as The Database is concerned. Black prevents White from playing either Qc1-h5 or Qd1-g4. However, the idea has several holes in it...

7.Bg5+ Nf6 8.Ng6+ Kf7 9.Nxh8+ Kg8 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Qxh5

White succeeds in getting his Queen to h5 after all, and is the exchange plus three pawns ahead.

11...g5 12.Ng6 Bg7 13.e5 Qb6 14.Ne7+ Kf8 15. Nf5 d6 16.Nxg7 Qxb2 

Black's counterattack will prove insufficient.

17.Qh8+ Kf7 18.O-O Qxa1 19.e6+ Ke7 20.Qe8+ Kf6 21.Qf7 checkmate

Overwhelmed

One of the nice things about playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is that sometimes your opponent does not know how to respond. He can try this, or that, or something else, but it all turns out bad for him in the end. Bill Wall's latest game is a good example.

Wall, Bill - Arty
blitz 10 0, PlayChess.com, 2014

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

A brave choice! Black wishes to hold on to his two extra pieces.

7.f4 Ng6

Choosing to let go of a piece, after all. Otherwise, the consistent move would be the counter-attacking 7...Qf6.

8.Qxc5

Improving on 8.f5+ from Wall,B - Guest1157782, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 20). 

8... Qh4+ 

There are variations where this move is strong and leads to favorable complications. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

Withdrawing the at-risk Knight with 8... N6e7 would lead to an even game. 

9.g3 Qf6

Two alternative retreats appear in The Database: 9... Qg4 from Permanence - jgknight, FICS, 2008 (0-1, 38) and 9... Qe7 from Permanence - Pianisimo, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 17). 

10.f5+ Kf7 11.fxg6+ Qxg6 12.O-O+ Nf6 13.e5 

White has his two sacrificed pieces back, and aims to gather another one in, as interest. Black's defense collapses.

13...d6 14.Qxc7+ Bd7 15.Qxd7+ Black resigned

Repair Work

In the early years of this blog (2008 and 2009) I experimented in different ways by adding a small chess board to each post, upon which the Reader could play out the moves of the game presented. In one format, code linked my blog post to another web page where the chess board was set up.

This worked until the linked-to web page became inactive. I discovered at that point that some of the earlier Jerome Gambit blog posts (i.e. from 5 or 6 years back) were viewable only for a few seconds, after which they were replaced by information about the availability of the second website. Frustrating.

When I provide a link in a current Jerome Gambit blog post to an older post, I now make sure to go back to the older post and edit out the linking code, so that the post is viewable.

I am in the process of visiting all of the early blog posts, and making the proper edits so that all of them will be visible for as long as Readers are willing to gaze. This may take a bit of time.

In the meantime, as they say in construction, "Please pardon our dust".

[Although there was some fall-off from September 2014's record-setting number of visitors to the blog, October 2014 still placed in the top 10 months, calculated since the start in 2008. Many thanks, Readers - and please feel welcome to continue to visit!] 

Chess Is Not Life

Despite what different masters are reported to have said, it is not true that "Chess Is Life". Sometimes it appears that "life" is what keeps us busy, and occasionally from playing chess, though...

perrypawnpusher  - mnoori
blitz, FICS, 2014

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 Qf6

10.Nc3

The is one move among many possible.

Bill Wall has played 10.d3, as in Wall,B - G3LC, PlayChess.com 2011 (1-0, 22).

Louis Morin has show an interest in 10.d4, as in mrjoker - Igor77, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (1-0, 70), guest2199 - guest401, Internet Chess Club, 2004 (1-0, 87) and MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club, 2011 (1-0, 13).

I've varied with 10.0-0, as in perrypawnpusher - TJPOT, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 48) and perrypawnpusher - LeiCar, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 25). 

10...Be6

Possibly better was 10...c6, as in perrypawnpusher - pitrisko, blitz, FICS 2011 (1-0, 28), perrypawnpusher - HGBoone, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0,59) and MrJoker - ZICO, Internet Chess Club, 2012 (1-0, 34).

11.0-0 N8e7 12.f4 Bd7 

In this kind of position, I usually see things differently during the game than Houdini sees afterwards. I think "tactics" and play f4-f5, "kicking" Black's Knight, hoping to chase him to e5 when I can "kick" it again with d2-d4. Houdini "thinks" "position" and chooses d2-d4 instead, suggesting that Black respond to a later f4-f5 by withdrawing his Knight to g8.

13.f5 Ne5

In all fairness, had my opponent played 13...Nf8 here instead, I would have followed up with 14.d4.

14.d4 Nc4

My opponent prefers to play actively, but 14...N5c6 was probably better, with and edge to Black.

15.Qd3 b5 

I was pretty sure during the game that Houdini would want me now to play 16.a4, but I couldn't figure out what would be wrong with Black simply defending with 16...c6. After the game Houdini showed me 17.e5 dxe5 18.Ne4!? with a sharp attack - good for you, Readers, who figured that out!

I was unhappy with the possibility of 16.a4 b4 as well, although, again, after the game Houdini said "no worries" after 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.axb5 and White will eventually capture the pawn at b4. Well, okay...

16.b3 Nb6

After the game Houdini again pointed out that if 16...b4, White would have the familiar 17.e5 dxe5 18.Ne4!? I think I would have answered 16...b4 with 17.bxc4 bxc3 18.Qxc3 and been happy with my broad pawn center.

17.Nxb5 

At this point my opponent seems to have disappeared, and Black forfeited on time. Quite likely, "life" intruded; I hope nothing bad. 

Instead, after 17...Bxb5 18.Qxb5+ Nd7 19.Bb2 White would have a comfortable game, with three pawns for his sacrificed piece, and possibly a small edge.