It can be fun for Black to play a game of "duelling Knights" in certain lines of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit - his Knight is busy on one side of the board while White's is busy on the other - but he has to be careful not to fall victim of a poisoned piece. aguisou - Gomenovich blitz, FICS, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ Interestingly, drumme - Gomenovich, blitz, FICS, 2014 continued 6.c3 Nc6 before the Queen check, 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Qf6 9.Nxh8+ Kd8 10.Nf7+ Ke7 11.d3 Qxf7 12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.Bxf6+ Qxf6 14.Qxh7+ Qg7 15.Qh4+ Ke8 16.0-0 Ne5 17.Nd2 Nxd3 18.Nf3 d6 19.e5 Qg4 20.Qh8 dxe5 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.Qxe5+ Be7 23.Rae1 Bd7 24.Qxe7 checkmate. Kicking the Knight first didn't work in gregweb - Gomenovich, blitz, FICS, 2015 as Black had an effective counter 6.c3 d6 7.cxd4 dxe5 8.dxe5 Qe7 9.d4 Bd7 10.0-0 Nh6 11.Nc3 c5 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Nf6+ Kf7 15.Qh5+ Ke7 16.d5 Bg7 17.d6+ Kf8 18.e6 Bxe6 19.e5 Bxf6 20.exf6 Qxf6 21.Qxc5 Kf7 22.Qc7+ Kg6 23.Qxb7 Rhb8 24.Qe4+ Bf5 25.Qe7 Qxe7 26.dxe7 Re8 27.Rfe1 Kf7 28.Rac1 Rac8 29.Rcd1 Rxe7 30.Rxe7+ Kxe7 31.Rd5 Be6 32.Ra5 Rc7 33.Rh5 Rc1 checkmate. aguisou has had some experience with 6.c3 as well, in a couple of games played a couple of months apart: 6...Qg5 7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qf3 Qg5 9.Qf7+ (here Black resigned inaLmaLja - aguisou, blitz, FICS, 2014) Kd8 10.Qxf8 checkmate, aLmaLja - aguisou, blitz, FICS, 2014. 6...g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+
The pawn is digestible, but the Rook is poisoned. 8.Kd1 Nxa1 A quick look at The Database shows 65 games with this position. White scores 82%. 9.Nxh8+ Ke7
Today's blog is full of games relevant to our main one. There is a little bit of "theory" tossed in, too. Enjoy the efforts of steveod and PEITONER. PEITONER - steveod blitz, FICS, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The King retreat is safer, but not without its perils, as White has shown: 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.e5 Nd5 10.Qg4+ Kf7 11.Nxd5 d6 12.Qf4+ Kg8 13.0-0 dxe5 14.Qxe5 Bd6 15.Qe4 h6 16.d3 Bd7 17.Re1 Bc6 18.Ne7+ Bxe7 19.Qxe7 Qxd4 20.Qe6+ Kh7 21.Qf5+ Kg8 22.Be3 Qh4 23.d4 Rf8 24.Qe6+ Kh7 25.d5 Bb5 26.Rac1 c6 27.d6 Rhg8 28.Rcd1 Kh8 29.d7 Qb4 30.Bd4 Bc4 31.Qxh6 checkmate, PEITONER - aresa, FICS, 2015 8.d3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 A natural response. In "The Threat Is Greater..." I mentioned the two alternatives, 9.Ke2!? and 9.Kf1!?, which threaten to win a piece after 9...Ke5 10.Qb3 followed by 11.Qxb4. The Database shows that these suggestions have yet to be followed. 9...Ke5
Or 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3+ Ke5 (10...Kxc3 11.0-0 Qf6 12.Be3 Kb4 13.Rb1+ Ka5 14.Qb3 c6 15.Qa3 checkmate, Edisce - nkm, FICS, 2005) 11.f4+ (11.Qh5+ was the correct move, as in perrypawnpusher - AdamRou, blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 28]) 11...Kf6 Black forfeited by disconnection, kocanda - ETERHERE, standard, FICS, 2014 10.0-0 White could also whip up an attack with10.d4+ Kf6 11.Qf3+. 10...Nf6 11.d4+ Ke6 12.Qb3+ The Queen goes to b3 and then captures the Bishop, after all. (See the note to White's 9th move.) 12...d5 13.Qxb4 Kf7
White's center pawns help him take command. 14.e5 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.f3 a5 17.fxe4+ Ke8 18.Qc4 Rf8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Be3 c6 21.Rf1+ Ke7 22.Qf7 checkmate
The previous blog post mentioned that a large percentage of the games in The Database is from the online website the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS). This is because that is the site where I am a member, have played most of my Jerome Gambit games, and have the greatest access to their games database. I am always open to game contributions from Readers, and I would like nothing better than to be able to add 50,000 - or 5,000 - or 500 - or 50 - or 5 - Jerome Gambit (or related) games played on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) site, or GameKnot.com, or Chess.com , or wherever - or even (especially) over-the-board games played at your favorite chess club. By the way, I have already received requests for a copy of The Database. I can send you a compressed (.zip) PGN file via email, at no cost - just ask.
The other day I wandered back through early posts to see when I started collecting Jerome Gambit (and related) games in a database for this blog. My first mention of a special base came in the June 20, 2008 post. In a post about a week later I noted that the database contined 950 games. The post included the following information
In all about 7% are over-the-board games, 12% involve computers (person vs computer or computer vs computer), 2% are traditional (snail mail) correspondence games and 79% are games played on the internet (various time controls).
It is fun to look back and see that in the early days of this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) blog, I bragged of having a database of whopping 950 Jerome Gambit Games. Of course, today, the modern version of that database (aka "The Database") has over 1,000 games played by DragonTail alone.
In the beginning, in order to expand the number of Jerome Gambit games that I had access to, I offered aPGN file of 210 of the games mentioned on this blog, (not all Jeromes) in exchange for any games sent to me. The offer quickly expanded to almost 500 games, and onJune 10, 2009, the first "birthday" of this blog (celebrating a year of posting everyday) I offered a "present" of over 1,100 games.
Instead of "games posted on this blog" I switched to developing a PGN database of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games.
By the time I offered the "New Year's Database" it contained over 17,000 games.This year's version, renamed "The Database" and offered on January 1, 2011, contained over 22,500 games, and included the above-mentioned variations, plus the nameless 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+.
Today, The Database contains about 25,000 games. (It is still available to interested Readers at no cost).
I have not given information about The Database since February, 2015, so I thought I would bring Readers up-to-date. I have updated The Database with games from FICS (Free Internet Chess Server) through November 2015. It now contains 53,740 games. The basic Jerome Gambit position, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, appears in about 12,112 games. White scores 45% The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+, appears 2,368 times. White scores 38%. Interestingly, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxf7+, appears only124 times, but White scores 67%. Note the "power" (or lack of) ...h6. This is reflected in the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+, appearing in 170 games, where White scores 65%. Interestingly, with 4.Nc3, in about 130 games, White scores only 54%. The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+, appears in about 5,170 games, with White scoring 56%. A large number of recent examples of the Abrahams Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+, have been added. There are 17,137 examples, and White scores 51%. Because the line continues to show up, and is worth knowing, the nameless 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ appears in The Database 2,197 times, with White scoring 72%. There is also a large selection of Jerome-ish lines, featuring, for example, an early Bxf7+ by White. Some Reversed Jerome Gambit games have been included, as well. Of course, all statistics need to be taken with a grain of salt (see "Caveat" for some fun, though) but it is relevant to note that about 95% of The Database is drawn from 15 years of FICS games, making much of it representative of online club play. Some reasonable conclusions can be drawn. I can email The Database at no charge to anyone who requests it.
Recently, I received an email from Vlastimil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic, who shared three of his Jerome Gambit correspondence games. Fejfar, Vlastimil - Vins corr Czech Republic, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6
A line seen as early as in a note in G.H.D. Gossip's 1891 The Chess Player's Vade Mecum and Pocket Guide to the Openings with all the latest theoretical discoveries and traps in the openings revealed, and more recently supported by FM Eric Schiller in his books on unorthodox openings. (It is fun to read MrJoker's comments about some of Schiller's analysis - see "Joker's Wild" 1, 2 and Conclusion.) 8.Rf1 Nc6 This move is cold-blooded, but playable. Black simply returns a piece. 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qh5 Bd7 11.Nc3 Be8 12.Qh3+ Kf7 13.d3 Nge7 14.Be3 h6 15.O-O-O Rf8 16.g4 Kg8
Black castles-by-hand just in time. White's attack (and two extra pawns) is good compensation for his sacrificed piece. 17.g5 hxg5 Stronger for the defense was17...Qf7. 18.fxg5 Qg6 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Qh8+ Ng8 21.Rf1+ Bf7 22.Nd5 Nce7
Black covers up as much as possible, but he overlooks something. His best chance was 22...Qe6. 23.Nf4 Black resigned It is Black's Queen, not his King, who is checkmated!
Recently, I received an email from Vlastimil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic, who shared three of his Jerome Gambit correspondence games - a pleasant return to the days of when Alonzo Wheeler Jerome would defend "his" game the same way.
As in the game in the previous blog post, Black plays what I have called "the annoying defense". He gives back a piece and plans to stay out of trouble. It can be difficult for White to put together an attack. 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Kd6 10.Qd3+ Ke7 11.Qg3 Ke8
Black has managed to develop his Knight, but his Queenside has a familiar difficulty. 16.d3 Qc7 17.c3 Bxe3 18.Bxe3 Qe7 19.0-0-0 Rf8 20.Rf3 Bd7 21.Rdf1 c5 22.Bxc5 Black resigned
Black did not like the look of things after 23...Qxc5 24.Qxg7 with threats against the Knight at f6, as suddenly his King looks very vulnerable.
Alonzo Wheeler Jerome developed and defended his gambit in both across-the-board and correspondence games in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He even arranged to play the Jerome Gambit against readers of the Literary Digest. In modern times, however, the Jerome is most likely to show up in internet games, often blitz; although the occasional face-to-face contest still can be found. Recently, I received an email from Vlastimil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic, who shared three of his Jerome Gambit correspondence games - a pleasant return to the days of AWJ. Fejfar,V - Pressl corr Czech Republic, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
White faces what I have called "the annoying defense", where Black calmly gives back a piece and avoids any risky misadventures, remaining up a piece for a pawn. The idea is at least as old as D'Aumiller, A.D. - A.P., Livorno, 1878(1-0, 19). It is the choice of many computer programs in games in The Database, including Fritz, Hiarcs, Junior, Rybka, Shredder and Spike; so I have also referred to it as "the silicon defense". Also, 7...d6 isthe move recommended by many authorities, including IM Gary Lane in his The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps. Vlasta proceeds calmly against it. 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Kd6 10.Qd3+ Ke7 11.Qg3 Ke6 12.Qb3+ Ke7 13.Qg3 Ke6 14.Qb3+ Ke7 15.Qg3
Drawn It is not clear who came out "ahead" in this encounter, Black, who was able to split the point, or White, who was able to play a "refuted" opening and not lose. I am sympathetic. Thesecond roundof the Chess.com Italian Game Tournamenthas concluded for me, again (like in the first round) without being able to contest a single Jerome Gambit, which my opponents dodged. With White I scored two wins (one on time), four draws and no losses. Did more than half of my opponents "succeed" in "winning half a point" against me, or did they miss out on strolling to victory?
[This is blog post number 2,150, for those who might wonder. - Rick]
