A Second Chance to Decline

Here is a recent game played by Philidor 1792, from a cache of games he sent not long ago. His opponent declines the offer of a second piece with an inaccuracy that is worth knowing - and punishing. 

Philidor 1792 - Guest834593
3 0 blitz, PlayChess.com, 02.11.2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

While declining the second piece is as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29), the safest place for Black's King to retreat to is f8, not e8.

6.Qh5+

It's possible that 6.Nxc6 is stronger, but who can resist checking the King?

On the other hand, White's Knight capture is tricky, as 6...bxc6? is not the correct response - see perrypawnpusher - rodrigojalpa, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 25); perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 42); Wall,B - Qwerty, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 9); and Wall,B - LFTN, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 20).

Neither is 6...dxc6? the right move - see Wall,B - Gebba, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 11).

Although I have suggested the untried 6...Bf2+ in "Don't Drive Like My Brother", the best response for Black, still untried as far as The Database is concerned is 6...Qh4!?, as after 7.d4 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Bb6 10.Nb4 Bxd4 11.Nd5 Kd8 Black has an equal game. (Of course, he turned down a second piece to get there.)

6...g6

Silly alternatives: 6...Kf8 7.Qf7 checkmate,  perrypawnpusher - platel, blitz, FICS, 2011  and 6...Ke7 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Nxc6+ Kf6 10.Qf5 checkmate, Kennedy - WeakDelphi, 2 12 blitz, 2008.

7.Nxg6 Bxf2+

Instead, 7...Qf6 was no solution in perrypawnpusher - schachix, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 10).

8.Kxf2 Qf6+

Black goes astray: 8...Nf6  was the way to keep an edge.

9.Nf4+ Kd8 10.d3 Nge7

Or 10...d6 11.Rf1 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Qf6 13.c3 Black resigned, Hultgren,R - Harrow, Campbell, CA 1960. 

11.Nc3 d6 12.Rf1 Ng6 13.Kg1

Usually it is Black who has to castle-by-hand. White is two pawns ahead, with a safer King.

13...Qd4+ 14.Kh1 Nge5 15.Nfd5 Be6 16.Be3 Black resigned

Black's Queen is trapped in the middle of the board!

A Jerome Addiction

Bill Wall sent me his first Jerome Gambit of 2015 with the following note.

I just can't help myself.  As soon as I see 3...Bc5 I just have to play 4.Bxf7.  I told myself not to play it and work on other Italian variations.  But oh no.  I see 3...Bc5, I have to play 4...Bxf7+.  It must be a Jerome addiction.
Anyway, I played a nice Jerome on FICS, my first Jerome of the year.  He got his knight trapped, forgetting to make an exit for himself, and I later mated him.  He had a good game up to 16...c6, blocking a pawn I might have taken, but overlooking his knight can't move anywhere safe after 17.h3.

Wall,B - CMSK
FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 

The Jerome Gambit, Jerome variation, first outlined in the Dubuque Chess Journal, July 1874.

Three of Bill's games continued 7...d6: Wall,B -GoldCoinCollector, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 17); Wall,B - GuestZCLK, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15); and Wall,B - Schichua,S, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 22).

8.Qf4+ Nf6 

Instead, Black continued with 8...Qf6 in Wall,B - Guest340293, PlayChess.com, 2012, (1-0, 41),  Wall,B - Josti, PlayChess.com, 2013, (1-0, 26),  and Wall,B - Guest4644930, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 26).

9.d3 d6 10.Nc3 Be6 11.0-0 h6

12.Be3 g5

Black is feeling aggressive!

13.Qf3 Kg7 14.e5 

Bill notes better may be 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.e5 Nd7 16.Qxb7. 

14...Ng4 15.Bxc5 

Not 15.Qxb7? Nxe3. 

15...dxc5 16.Rae1

 Still, Bill cautions,16.Qxb7?! Rab8 17.Qxa7 Rxb2.

16...c6? 

As Bill mentioned in the note above, this strands the Black Knight. Better: 16...Rhf8 17.Qe2 (17.Qxb7 Rab8 18.Qxa7 Rxb2) 17...h5; 
16...h5 17.Qxb7 Rab8 18.Qxa7 Rxb2 19.Re2. 

17.h3 Raf8 18.Qg3

Or 18.Qd1 Nxf2 19.Rxf2 Rxf2 20.Kxf2 Rf8+ 21.Kg1. 

18...h5

If 18...Nxf2 19.Rxf2 Rxf2 20.Qxf2 Rf8 21.Qe3. 

19.hxg4 h4 

Black's attack looks dangerous, but it will become clear that White is in control.

20.Qh3 Qd7 21.Ne4 Bxg4 22.Qe3 Rh5 

Admitting his Kingside pawn structure needs reinforcing, but this allows a fork.

23.Nf6 Rxf6 24.exf6+ Kxf6 25.Qxc5

25...h3 26.Qf8+ Kg6 27.Re7 hxg2 28.Qf7+ Kh6 29.Qg7 checkmate

A Jerome Gambit Database

Scouring the internet with Google the other day, I ran across A Jerome Gambit Database set up by an anonymous creator who appears to have knowledge of Bill Wall's games, Rev. Tim Sawyer's blog, and this site as well. Feel free to check it out. If you have any more information about the site or author, please let me know.

This Is Your Last Chance

After the previous post on the Jerome Gambit Declined, here is a fun example (or three: also see my two games against walkinthespirit: #1 and #2).

HauntedKnight - bozidaranas
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kf8 6.Bb3

Transposing to the main Declined line, 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.0-0. Black, given one, only, and his last chance to accept one or two pieces, shows that he wants no part of White's goofy attack - and strikes back

6...d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nxe5

White responds with the "fork trick".

8...Nxe5 9.d4 Be7 10.dxe5 Nb4

It is too late to quibble that 10...c6 was stronger.

11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Qf7+ Kd7 13.Rd1+ Black resigned

All or Nothing! notebook (1)

Working on my book, All or Nothing!, The Jerome Gambit, has forced me to take a better look at variations that I have generally dismissed.

The first line to get more attention is one that I have thought little about, the Jerome Gambit Declined.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 

In the broader sense of things, it seems odd that Black would give up an "objectively" won game (White has sacrficed one piece and may sacrifice a second) to be down material, all at move 4.

In fact, the line is rarely played: of 10,670 games in The Database that have White's first four moves, above, only 245 - roughly 2% - contain 4...Kf8. Less than 1/2 % contain 4...Ke7.

Yet, Black may have his reasons, if only based in psychology. For starters, he does not give White the wild play he is looking for - in fact, Black becomes the gambiteer, offering a pawn and position for slightly better development. White must take further risks if he want's to challenge that situation.

White's best move in response to Black declining the Bishop is to play 5.Bb3 (or the similarly-motivated 5.Bc4 or 5.Bd5) settling for a solid pawn plus and eventual play against Black's displaced King. Also good for White is 5.Bxg8, exchanging rather than retreating the Bishop.

It is quite possible that Black declines the Jerome Gambit in hopes that White will continue to offer the piece with 5.Nxe5!? or 5.0-0!? with the plan to transpose into the Jerome Gambit accepted, where Black eventually takes the Bishop, having taken two moves to do so, instead of the usual one. This is convoluted thinking, that White, having been spared a losing game, will want to persist in seeking his attack/disadvantage, rather than settle for an advantageous non-Jerome Gambit position...

The Jerome Gambit: it has its own logic!

Not What Was Expected

In the following game Bill Wall played the Jerome Gambit, retreated his Queen to an odd square, allowed it to be exchanged off - and, later won. All in all, not what was expected for a "refuted" opening, played loosely - but what did you expect? Bill goes on to win in the endgame.

Wall,B - Guest10254637
PlayChess.com, 2014

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qc3

A more usual retreat is 8.Qg3, but Bill likes to experiment. 

8...Qf6 9.0-0 

A small caution: 9.Qb3? Qxf2+ White resigned, GeniusPawn - satori, FICS, 2000. 

9...Qxc3 

Also seen was 9...Bd4 10.Qxc7 Bxb2 11.Bxb2 Qxb2 12.Qxd6+ Ne7 13.Nc3 Kf7 14.Qf4+ Ke8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Kd8 17.Rfe1 Qxc2 18.Qg5+ Kc7 19.Rac1 Qxc1 20.Rxc1+ Kb8 21.Qe5 checkmate, guest714 - guest1041, Internet Chess Club, 2003.

10.Nxc3 

White has two pawns for his sacrificed piece.

10...Nf6 11.d3 Kf7

Black did not castle-by-hand in Abijud - djinmaster, FICS, 2005:  11...Bg4 12.a4 a6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nd5 Bd4 16.c3 Be5 17.f4 Be2 18.fxe5 Bxf1 19.Rxf1 dxe5 20.Nxf6 Ke7 21.Nd5+ Kd7 22.Rf5 c6 23.Nb6+ Ke6 24.Nxa8 Rxa8 25.Rh5 Rh8 26.Kf2 Rh7 27.Ke3 Kf6 28.g4 b6 29.h4 c5 30.Rf5+ Ke6 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 Rh3+ 33.Kd2 Rh2+ 34.Kc1 Black forfeited on time. 

12.Re1

Bill points out two alternatives: 12.Na4 Bb4 13.a3 Ba5; and
12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 c6. 

12...Rf8 13.h3 Bd7 14.a4 Rae8 15.Be3 Bb4

I suspect that Black felt good about this move, taking advantage of the fact that the Bishop cannot be kicked away by a2-a3. The fact is, though, that White can now spring his "Jerome pawns".

16.f4 a6 17.Re2 Bc6 18.Rf2 Bxc3 19.bxc3

Black will now give back his piece to fracture White's pawns.

19...Bxe4 20.dxe4 Nxe4

The rest of the game is interesting, as White's pawns are not as weak as they appear - or the pawn structure gives chances to White's pieces. The game is balanced - for a while.  

21.Rf3 Nxc3 22.Bf2 Ne4 23.Bd4 d5 

24.Rb3 b6 25.Rd1 Kg8 

Completing castling-by-hand, but perhaps that was no longer necessary, in which case it is not a good use of tempo. 

26.Be5 Nc5 27.Rc3 c6

Bill points out the better 27...Rd8 28.Bxc7 Nxa4. 

28.a5 Nd7 29.axb6 Nxb6 30.Rxc6 Nc4 31.Rxd5 Ne3

Black misses his chance to exchange off White's Bishop and head toward  a R + Ps endgame where he has practical drawing chances, Bill notes: 31...Nxe5 32.fxe5 Rf5 33.Rxa6 Rfxe5 34.Rxe5 Rxe5.

32.Rd7 Rf7 33.Rxf7 Kxf7 34.Kf2 Nd1+ 35.Ke2 Nb2 36.Kf3 Na4 37.Rxa6 Nc5 38.Ra7+ Black resigned

Happy New Year!

Wishing Readers an exciting, healthy and hopeful 2015!