Jerome Gambit: Over The Rainbow (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

Wall, Bill - Guest4105968
PlayChess.com, 2018

After examining the opening moves (see previous post) I was inclined to simply write "I don't understand the rest of the game" and give the finishing 40 moves. But, let me persist.

11.Qf3+

White wants to avoid any uncovered attack by Black's Bishop on his Queen, with ...d5.

11...Nf6 12.Nc3 Ne6 13.O-O-O 

13...Be5 

Maybe he should have tried 13...Bxc3, disrupting White's Queenside pawns, as 14.bxc3 would be necessary to preserve the e-pawn.

14.Nd5 d6 15.Rhe1 Rf8 

Preparing to castle-by-hand with ...Kg8.

16.g3 g5 

To forestall f2-f4? I suspect the mundane 16...Kg8 was more to the point.

17.Qe3 Bd7 

Stockfish 9 doesn't like this move ( preferring 17...Kg8) and I can sort of understand why, although I never would have found the recommended line over-the-board (although Bill probably would have): 17...Kg8 18.Nxc7!? Nxc7 19.Qxg5+ Kh8 20.f4 Bd4 21.e5!? dxe5 22.fxe5 Ne6!? (Black's strength is in his pieces) 23.Qh4 Nd5 24.Qe4!? Nb6 25. Rxd4 Nxd4 26.Qxd4 Be6 and White's passed pawn is not to be trifled with. 

18.Nxc7!? Nxc7 19.f4 gxf4 20.gxf4 Nfd5 21.exd5 Bf6 22.Qe4 Kg8

The combination has won White a pawn. What next?

23.h4

Of course, now 23...Bxh4? 24.Rh1 would be self-injurious for Black.

Instead of the text move, however, Stockfish 9 suggests 23.Qb4, when the Queen will be able to snap off either the b7 or the d6 pawn, and then pull back to await further developments.

That's one of the problems with computer analysis: when there isn't a tactical strike available, too often it suggests that you bide your time, then take a small nibble, wait some more, then, maybe, take another tiny bite... 

It is easy to see why Bill preferred more direct action.

23...Na6 24.Qg2+ Kh8 

25.c3

Arrrggghh!

Such a practical move.

When I ask the computer for an alternative, it suggests the exchange sacrifice 25.Re6!? Bxe6 26.dxe6 Rae8 27.Rxd6 followed by another one after 27...Be7 - reassuring me that after 28.Qd5!? Bxd6 29.Qxd6 Nxe6!? 30.Qxe6 Rae8 White is winning easily.  

analysis diagram






Looks like a lot more hard work to me.

25...Nc5 26.Re3 Rg8 27.Qf2 Bf5 28.h5 h6 29.Rg1

Bill comes up with an exchange offer, after all. Sacrifices work well when they are disguised as an oversight. Black should not take the bait.

29...Nd3+ 30.Rxd3 Rxg1+ 31.Qxg1 Bxd3 

32.Qg4!?

Taking advantage of the lack of coordination of Black's pieces. But, is it worth trading a Rook for a Knight?

32...Rd8 33.Qe6 Kg7 34.Qe3 Bf5 35.Qxa7 Rd7 

White snarfs a pawn. If this were a Marvel comic book, Black would be yelling "Avengers, assemble!" a his pieces are pulling themselves together again.

36.Qe3

Centralizing his Queen.

It goes, almost without saying, that Stockfish 9 criticizes this good move, suggesting its own version of yelling "Jerome pawns, assemble!" - 36.a4 Be4 37.a5 Re7 38.c4 Kf7 39.Qb6 Rd7 40.Kd2 Bf5 41.b4 Bb2 42.c5 dxc5 43.bxc5 Rxd5+ 44.Ke2 Bd4 45.Qxb7+ Rd7  

analysis diagram






Sure, White's three passed pawns look scary, but his King looks like he is about to volunteer to be a pinata. And White is supposed to volunteer to reach this position?

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Over the Rainbow (Part 1)

Over the years, I have loosely classified Jerome Gambit games by strategy: "White attacks aggressively", "Black counter-attacks aggressively", and "Black counters well, so White adopts a slow, solid, come-get-me approach". That covers a lot of games in The Database.

Then there are games like the following, however, which might as well be classified as "somewhere over the rainbow". 

Wall, Bill - Guest4105968
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Ke6

The move appears in 28 games in The Database (updated). It is somewhat understood, after some serious blog coverage, here - the most recent being in another of Bill Wall's games from 2 years ago (see "Jerome Gambit: This Is How It's Done"), where I wrote

This move follows the "psychology" of "If you want me to take the Knight, then I won't take the Knight", but it is simply not a good move. It is relatively rare: The Database has 24 games, with White scoring 65% . 

Still, it is worth knowing the followup, as this "defense" has shown up in the games of Jerome Gambit regulars: blackburne, MrJoker, Petasluk, stretto, UNPREDICTABLE, and ZahariSokolov. I have faced it a couple of times and come away with wins. 

In fact, I have posted a disproportionate number of times on the line - although, in fairness, they were all interesting posts, going back to "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory" and including "A Strange, But Intriguing Path, Parts 1, 2, & 3" and "Still Strange, Still Intriguing Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4." The most recent post on the line is "We Know What We're Doing (Sort of)".  

Curiously enough, there is still more to learn about the variation, as we shall see.

6.Qg4+

This move, Stockfish 9's preference, is probably the best move, although it has appeared only 5 times in The Database before the current game.

Actually, computer analysis is only slightly helpful in choosing the proper move. Some examples are: 6.d4, evaluated as 0.00 by Stockfish 9 at 35 ply, is seen as the second best move; while the retrograde 6.Nf3!? (no games in The Database), evaluated as -.28 by Stockfish 9 at 35 ply, is seen as the third best move.

Certainly 6.0-0 (no games in The Database) should be playable, although Stockfish 9 at 35 ply evaluates it as -.65 - what's 2/3 of a pawn between friends, right? The game should continue  6...Nxe5 (the only move for advantage) 7.d4 d6.

Most popular for White, and probably most thematic, has been 6.Nxc6, which Stockfish 9 evaluates (at 35 ply) as -.81 after 6...dxc6. A mistake is 6...bxc6?, as it is strongly met by 7.Qg4+!. Black can mix everything up by not capturing the Knight and playing, instead, 6...Qh4!? although Stockfish 9 rates the position after 7.Qe2, then, as roughly even, +.10 (at 35 ply).

With Stockfish 9 pontificating as usual, it is important to remember that we are usually talking about games between club players, and Geoff Chandler's humorous but accurate blunder table always needs to be taken into account - especially because we are talking about the Jerome Gambit! Play what you feel comfortable playing.

6... Kxe5 7.d4+! Bxd4 8.Bf4+! Kf6 9.Bg5+! Kf7 10.Bxd8 Nxd8

Okay, White has played the "best" moves, and now has a Queen and a pawn for three pieces. As Dorothy said, in "The Wizard of Oz", "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Indeed, the position looks like a challenge to play. Nobody is going to attack or counter-attack aggressively, and it looks like it would be to White's disadvantage to sit back and do nothing.

(By the way, the snarky 10...Bxb2?!, instead of capturing the Knight at d8, would be met by 11.Qf3+! Ke8 12.Bxc7, when, after 12...Bxa1 13.Na3, White would have an advantage in development and King safety to offset the material imbalance [Q + P vs R + B + N]. White can respond to either 13...d5 or 13...Nf6 with 14.0-0 and Black will not be able to get his defenders out fast enough, as they will also have to run the risk of going to the wrong square and being picked off by the enemy Queen with a checking fork. This is a return to the Jerome theme of "White attacks aggressively".)

Looking for guidance, I discovered that the venerable Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine (1941) has about 1/4 of a page covering "QUEEN vs THREE PIECES", which can easily be summarized

Without Pawns this is drawn, but there are a few positions where the pieces win... With Pawns the two forces are roughly equivalent. However, with no other material Q + P vs 3 pieces is drawn, while 3 pieces + Pawn win vs Queen. 

The newer Fundamental Chess Endings (2001) by Karsetn Mueller and Frank Lamprecht has about a page of coverage, devoted to the analysis of two game examples, and the terse bit of advice

Outposts, king security and passed pawns again play a major role

 I then checked out the internet to see what was available. One such article that I found to be helpful is here.

All of this information is enlightening, but, in the meantime, two people were playing the game.

[to be continued]

Jerome Pawns Have Mercy!

I just received another bullet game (1 minute, no increment) Jerome Gambit game from Cliff Hardy that ends rather brutally. I will leave the comments up to him, and add diagrams.

This is a bullet game played on Lichess, where the Jerome pawns were rather merciless:

Cliff Hardy - NN

1 0, Lichess, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Ng6?! 

The ever popular defence.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qe3 Be6?!

The regular mistake, which leads to a slight advantage to Black, and was inferior to 10...Kf7, with a clear advantage to Black.

11.0-0?!

11.f4 would have been more direct and better

11...Qd7?!

Now things are fairly equal but 11...Nh5!? 12. d4 Rf8 would have restrained White from playing the dangerous advance f4, and still kept a very healthy advantage for Black.

12.f4 Bf7 13.f5 Ne5?!

Encouraging the Jerome pawns to go on the march and yielding White a clear advantage, whereas the defensive 13...Ne7 would still have led to equality. 

14.d4 Nc4 15.Qg3 Bg8

Black tries to prevent the fork of Black's queen and bishop via the White pawn advance e4-e5-e6, though 15...Qe7 would have been a better attempt at doing that.

16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.e6 Qc6 

19.Bg5?

Still winning, but missing that I could have now simply played the superior 19.Qxg7

19...Nxc3 20.Qxc3 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Kf8 

22.f6 g6 23.f7 Qe5

Trying to shield his rook on h8 from attack but there is no defence any more to White's overpowering pawns.

24.e7+ Kg7 and Black resigned

Jerome pawns have mercy! White would checkmate in 2 moves after 25. f8=Q+ Rxf8 26. exf8=Q

Jerome Gambit: To Force or Not?

To force or not to force?

Should we play forcing lines - which give our opponents direction in what moves to play? Or should we leave them to their own devices, and trust that they will go astray?

The Jerome Gambit offers both opportunities, as the following game shows.
Wall, Bill - Guest1302712
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

This is about as forcing a move as White has at his disposal - although a small number of defenders have insisted upon refusing to accept the Bishop.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6

Both sides have thematic options. White is sure what he wants to do. Black, not so much.

8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 Re8 10.Bg5 c6 

Guarding against a possible Nd5, with pressure against his Knight at f6. A good alternative was to kick the enemy Bishop with 10...h6, or continue castling-by-hand with 10...Kg8.

11.b3

I admit to being puzzled by this move. So, apparently, was Bill's opponent.

11...Be6

Too casual, especially when 11...Kg8 was still available. It is the equivalent of yelling to the "Jerome pawns" - Come and get me!

12.f4 Ng6

Black needs to engage and fight back, as Stockfish 9 shows: 12...Neg4 13.h3 Nh6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.e5 Bxh3!? 16.gxh3 dxe5 17.Qc4+ Kg7 18.Rad1 Qe7 19.Rfe1 Kh8 20.fxe5 Nd7 21.Ne4 Nxe5 when Black's extra h-pawn may not be meaningful, but if either side would have an edge, it would be the second player. 

13.f5 Bc8 

Giving up the Bishop with 13...Ne5 was probably better than un-developing.

14.fxg6+ hxg6 15.Rad1 Bg4

White has pressure on Black's pawn at d6; Black counters with pressure on the White pawn at e4.

16.Rd2 Re6 

In protecting the d-pawn, Black overlooks a threat.

17.e5 Rxe5 18.Qxg4 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Qc5

Tactics now allow White, with an extra piece, to stay ahead.

20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Ne4 Qe3 22.Rxd6 Qxe4 

The return of this piece is not for free.

23.Rfxf6+ Ke7 24.Qd7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Questions

The Jerome Gambit gives rise to many questions. A few are examined in the following game.

Wall, Bill - Guest4660121
PlayChess.com, 2018

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nf6 

Black has so many ways to return some of the sacrificed material. This cold-blooded focus on development has been looked at before, as it is quite playable, and White needs to keep his wits about himself.

What a great way to surprise the attacker (except, in this case, White has been there, seen that.)

7.dxe5 Bxf2+ 

What Jerome Gambit player hasn't been the recipient of one of the many return Bishop sacrifices? Sometimes the gift is chosen after analysis of the position, sometimes it is chosen after psycho-analysis of the player.

Instead of stretching for a surprise, however, the defender might simply work on playing a strong move. Indeed, 7...Qe8 or 7...Qe7 should be looked at, according to Stockfish. Neither can be found in The Database. (Hmmm... Are those moves included in the "Jerome Gambit Secrets" series?)

The thoughtful 7...Nxe4 was seen, for example, in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016}(1-0, 16) and Wall, B - TenAndOnly10, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 21).

8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 

Instead, 9.Ke1 Qh4+!? was seen in Wall,B - Guest371494, PlayChess.com, 2018, (1-0, 21) ("Interesting, but it doesn't work" says Bill.)

9...d5 

Or 9...Rf8 as in Wall,B - Guest902091, PlayChess.com, 2017 (1-0, 17) and Wall,B -Guest7889049, PlayChess.com, 2018 (1-0, 12) 

10.Qf3+ Ke8 

The alternative, 10...Kg6, is about equally strong, although Black's King can hardly feel safe there, and there's always the lesson of Wall,B - Szachowski, playok.com, 2017 (1-0, 20)

11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Be6

An "objective" analysis of the position would suggest an even game, but it is essential to remember the old Jerome Gambit warning: whenever White has equalized, he has the advantage. There are many practical reasons why this is so.

13.Be3 b6 

Here is one: Black relaxes too soon.
He might have tried 13...c6, although that didn't turn out too well in Wall,B - MyDrunkAccount, lichess.org, 2016' (1-0, 20).

Perhaps: 13...Qd7. 

14.Qc6+ Ke7

And here is another kind of reaction to Jerome Gambit equality: any old move will do. (Probably 14...Bd7, instead, was best.) 

15.Bg5+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Outlandish

What are some of the most outlandish chess gambits?"

I was pleased to find this question as the title for a page on the Quora website.

Listed are:

Halloween Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5??

Muzio Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0–0?

Traxler Counter Attack1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5?

Elephant Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5?!

Paris Gambit1.Nh3?? d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4? Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4 5.0–0 fxg3 6.hxg3

Italian Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4?!

Leonhardt Gambit1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.b4?!

Of course, if you keep looking, of course, you will find the Jerome Gambit.

What is especially nice about the page is that it has links to three fun videos by Mato Jelic:

"The Birth of a Jerome Gambit"
"Is the Jerome Gambit Sound?"
"Practical Application of the Jerome Gambit"

I have mentioned the videos previously, but they are always worth a revisit.