New Jerome Gambit Tournament

I will be following the progress of the upcoming (to start this month) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn.

The list of players signed up so far includes SeinfeldFan91, who won last year's Jerome Gambit tournament. Playing as well will be rigidwithfear, who played in one RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014 as well as last year's; and ZorroTheFox, deriver69, and BigD00, who played in another RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014.

The tournament is open to subscribers, not just RedHotPawn members, so I will not be joining in the fun.

A Nice Jerome Gambit

I just noticed that chessfriend Guido de Bouver of Flanders, Belgium, has a post on his Blackmar Diemer Gambit website (1.d4 d5 2.e4!? dxe4 3.Nc3; I have a link to it from this blog) which is titled "A Nice Jerome Gambit".

In the past we have exchanged ideas on the Jerome Gambit, although Guido's first love is the BDG, about which he has written a fine book, Attack With the Blackmar Diemer (see my review here).

About the following game, Guido notes "Friday evening, as a surprise act, I played a nice little Jerome gambit in our local chess club. My opponent, who had prepared himself for a fierce Blackmar Diemer, could not believe his eyes."

De Bouver, Guido - Verstappen
Mechelen, 2015

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 Nf6 

10.O-O Rf8 11.d4 b6 

We are already in unexplored territory, according to The Database.

12.f4

"Jerome pawns on the move!" Guido remarks.

12...Bb7 13.Nc3 Qe7 

14.f5 Nh8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.b3 Nf7 19.Bb2

Drawn

Guido's assessment: "A very complicated position - white has two strong pawns for the piece and has the safer king. If black however can exchange a few pieces, black should have the better endgame."

An Ordinary Day in the Life of the Jerome Gambit

The following Jerome Gambit game seems so ordinary, it is almost possible to forget that is comes from a "refuted" opening that grants the defender a "winning advantage" at move four. Bill Wall makes it look ordinary.

Wall, Bill - Borut, O
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Ng6

A normal move, but one that is rare in The Database, with fewer than 10 examples.

8.O-O

Bill played 8.Nc3 successfully in couple of games: 8...Nf6 9.Bg5 b6 (9...Ng4 10.Bxd8 Rxd8 11.Nb5 c6 12.Nc7 Rb8 13.Qxa7 White forfeited by disconnection in a won position, Wall,B - Socolata, FICS, 2013) 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Qd5+ Qe6 12.Qxa8 Black resigned, Wall,B - Socolate, FICS, 2013. 

8...d6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Bg5

Putting pressure on the Knight at f6, a typical Jerome Gambit theme.

10...Rf8 11.f4 Kg8

Black castles-by-hand.

12.Nd5 Bd7 13.Rad1 Bc6 14.Qc4 Kh8 

Black has safeguarded his King, and developed his often problematic light-squared Bishop.

15.e5 Bxd5 16.Rxd5 

16...Qd7

Unpinning the Knight, but missing the best, if tricky line: 16...Nxd5 17.Bxd8 Ne3 18.Qb3 Nxf1 19.Bxc7 Nxf4 20.Kxf1 Nd5+ 21.Kg1 Nxc7 22.Qxb7 Ne6 23.exd6 when Black's advantage in material - two Rooks and a Knight for a Queen - likely outweighs White's "Jerome pawns".

17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bh6 Rfe8

White has recovered his sacrificed piece, but will continue to put pressure on f6.

19.Qc3 Qf7 20.Rf5 Re6 21.Rb5 

21...b6

Black doesn't quite have the answer to White's next move, so this move is insufficient, compared to 21...Rg8. 

22.f5 Re5 23.fxg6 Qxg6 24.Rxe5

With a Black Rook on g8 (see above note), this move would not have been possible because of the threat to g2 (and further back rank threats).

24...fxe5 25.Bf8 Black resigned

White's Bishop is not as vulnerable as it appears at first look, and it makes threats to Black's pawns while possibly working with White's Queen for checkmate. The more you look, the more ordinary the position seems.

Trying To Escape The Inevitable

The following game reminds me of Douglas Adam's comment, above. I am not exactly sure why.

Wall, Bill - Guest2901729

PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 6.c3 Ne6 

It is already possible to see where danger might strike Black: along the d8-h4 diagonal, where his King and Queen are lined up; or in the center, where White's "Jerome pawns" can cause mischief.

7.d4 d6 8.Nd3 Nf6 9.d5

Best according to Stockfish 7. 

Interesting was 9.Qe2 as in Philidor 1792 - g-chessman1518, GameKnot.com, 2015(1-0, 22).

9...Nc5 10.Nxc5 dxc5 11.e5

An improvement over the older 11.f3 Ke8 12.O-O Be7 13.c4 Kf7 14.e5 Nd7 15.e6+ Ke8 Black resigned, AMITAF - UofM, FICS, 2010.

11...Nxd5

Trying to escape the inevitable. He should have given up the Knight directly.

12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.exf6+ gxf6

Or 13...Ke8 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.fxg7+ Kd7 16.gxh8=Q Be7 17.Qxh7 Kc6 18.Qxe7 Bd7 19.b4 Re8 20.Qxe8 Bxe8 21.bxc5 Kxc5 22.Nd2 b6 Black resigned, EdoTK - Jorma, FICS, 2006.

14.Bxf6+ Black resigned

Ouch! The Queen is lost.

Go On, Take The Money And Run

Black does well defending against the Jerome Gambit in the following game, until he becomes careless, and all of his gains disappear quickly.

Wall, Bill - Guest2905635
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, a transition from 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6.

6.d3 Re8

Or:

6...Ng4 7.Ng5+ Ke8 (7...Kg8 as in Wall,B - Richard123, Chess.com, 2010 [1-0, 10]) 8.Qxg4 h6 9.Qh5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nb5 checkmate, Wall,B - 321, InstantChess, 2015; or

6...Bb4 7.O-O Bxc3 8.Ng5+ Kg8 9.bxc3 h6 10.Nf3 d5 11.exd5 Qxd5 12.Be3 Bg4 13.c4 Qd8 14.h3 Be6 15.Rb1 b6 16.Re1 e4 17.dxe4 Bxc4 18.e5 Nd7 19.Qd2 Bxa2 20.Rbd1 Be6 21.Qc3
Ne7 22.Nd4 Bd5 23.Nf5 Nxf5 24.Rxd5 Ne7 25.Rd4 c5 26.Qc4+ Kh7 27.Qd3+Kg8 28.Rxd7 Qf8 29.Ra1 Nf5 30.Qd5+ Kh7 31.Rf7 Qg8 32.e6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012; or

6... Bxf2+ as in Wall,B - Igidius, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 15); or

6... Rf8 as in Wall,B - BarAbbas, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 45) 

7.O-O g6

Instead, 7...Nd4 was seen in Wall,B - Albulus, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 44).

8.Nd5 Nxd5 9.exd5 Ne7 10.Nxe5+ Kg8 11.Bg5 d6 12.Nf3 Qd7

Black has unpinned his Knight and plans to grab the advanced d-pawn. It looks like a simple idea.

13.d4 Bb6 14.Re1 Nxd5 15.c4 Ne7

There.

16.c5 dxc5 17.Qb3+ Kf8 18.Bh6 checkmate

Computer-Style Moves

As a way of lightening up a bit after the last post "Nightmare" I wanted to present a human vs computer engine game where the human wins - thanks, in part, to some very odd computer-style moves. 

I remember, many years ago, when I would play against Fidelity's "Chess Challenger 7", it was apparently programmed so that when it could see no way to improve its position, it would advance either its a-pawn or its h-pawn. (Yes, I have played the Jerome Gambit against it.)

Wall, Bill - BBchess engine
Palm Bay, FL, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6

8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+ Ke7

Already seen:

9...Kf7 10.fxe5 Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d6 12.Qc3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1690223, PlayChess.com, 2012; and

9...Ng4 10.Qxg4+ Ke7 11.Nc3 d6 $2 12.Nd5+ Kd8 13.Nxf6 Bxg4 14.Nxg4 h5 15.Nf2 Kd7 16.Nh3 Re8 17.d3 Nf6 18.Ng5 Ng4 19.h3 Nh2 20.Rh1 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest3164644, PlayChess.com, 2013.

10.Nc3 d6 11.Nd5+ Kd8

Or 11...Kf7 12.Qb3 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qg4 14.fxe5+ Kg7 15.d3 dxe5 16.Nxc7 Rb8 17.Ne8 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest5541035, PlayChess.com, 2014. 

12.Qg3 Nd3+ 

Or 12...Qe6 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.d4 Ne7 15.dxc5 Nxd5 16.Bg5+ Ke8 17.exd5 Qxd5 18.Rf2 Be6 19.Rd2 Qxc5 20.O-O-O Rf8 21.Qh4 h5 22.Bh6 Rf5 23.Rd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8+ Kf7 25.Rf8+ Qxf8 26.Bxf8 Kxf8 27.Qd8+ Kg7 28.Qxc7+ Kh6 29.h4 Rf1+ 30.Kd2 Rf2+ 31.Ke3 Rf5 32.Qd8 a6 33.Qh8 checkmate, Wall, B - Aburasian, Chess.com, 2010. 

13.Qxd3 Qg7 14.c3 Ne7 15.b4 Bb6 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Qc2 Qh6 18.h3 Qh4+ 19.Rf2 Be6 20.d3 Rf8 21.a4 Qg3 22.Kf1 Qh2

It is not clear what the computer "hopes" to accomplish with this Queen infiltration. Her Majesty ultimately gets imprisoned in her forward outpost. 

23.Rf3 Qh1+ 24.Kf2 Bd7 25.b5 Be6

*What to do? What to do? What to do?*

26.c4 Kd7 27.Qc3 Rg8

28.Bd2 Qh2 29.d4 Bf7 30.e5 Nf5 31.d5 Rge8 32.Re1 Nh4

Perhaps BBchess first looked at 32...Rxa4 33.e6+ Bxe6 34.dxe6+ Rxe6 35.Rxe6 Kxe6 gaining 3 pawns for its piece, only later to uncover the sharp 36.c5!? 

33.e6+ Kc8 34.Rg3 Bxe6 35.dxe6 Rxa4

Black's pieces are uncoordinated, especially the Queen.

36.Qb3 Ra8 37.Qb2 Kb8 38.e7 Nf5 39.Rg5 d5

The advanced e-pawn is untouchable, as 39...Rxe7 leads to mate after 40.Qh8+ while 39.Nxe7 is well met by 40.f5!?

40.Rxf5 gxf5 41.cxd5 Ra4 42.Qe5 Ra2 43.Qd4 h5 44.d6 cxd6 45.Qxd6+ Ka8 46.Re6 Rc2

Black has found a round about way to link Rooks, but it is too late.

47.Qd8+ Rc8 48.Qxb6 Rg8 49.Rg6 Rxg6 50.Qxg6 h4 51.e8=Q Black resigned

Nightmare

I have seen computers grind people down, and punish them for tactical oversights. I was a bit disturbed by the King hunt in the following game, too.

It's important to remember: it's not Bill so much as it's the Jerome Gambit, responsible for the loss.

Wall, Bill - Andscacs engine
Palm Bay, FL, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6 

The computers' favorite, the "annoying" or "silicon" defense.

8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Kf7 10.Rf1+ 

This is a change from 10.Qh5+ as seen in Wall,B - Bison engine, Palm Bay, FL 2015 (1/2-1/2, 67) but it may not be an improvement. The Andscacs engine declines to transpose into that game, and for White there may be an advantage in using the earlier Queen check (at h5), provoking ...g6, before Black's King can retreat to g8, as it does in this game.

10...Nf6 11.Qh5+ Kg8 12.Qxe5 Bd6 13.Qg5 h6 14.Qh4 Qe7

White's King, not Black's, is at risk. Ominous.

15.d4 Nxe4 16.Qxe7 Bxe7 17.Bf4 Bh4+ 18.Ke2 Bg4+ 19.Kd3 Bf5 20.Kc4 b5+ 21.Kxb5 Rb8+ 22.Ka5 Rxb2 23.Bxc7 g6

24.g3 Be7 25.c3 Rh7 26.g4 Bd7 27.Rc1 Bd6 28.Bd8 Nc5 29.dxc5 Bxc5 30.Ka6 Bb6 31.Bxb6 Bc8+ 32.Ka5 axb6+ 33.Ka4 Ra7 checkmate