Jerome Gambit: LPDO Lesson

I have mentioned before (see "My House! My House! My Kingdom for a House!" and "LPDO Revisited") GM Nunn's warning in Secrets of Practical Chess (1998) that "loose pieces drop off" - that unprotected pieces can be lost to tactical shots.

The following game features an interesting opening battle in a variation of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that suddenly gets over-run by another example of LPDO.

MBItaly - CharlyMarly1904

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

This is known as the "Counter-Jerome Defense" or the "Counter-Jerome Gambit". It is one part psychology - If you are going to sacrifice a piece to disturb my King, then I am going to sacrifice a piece to disturb your King - and one part side-step from the main lines of the Jerome; for the price of a pawn, Black exchanges Queens and turns White's hopes of a smashing, crashing attack into a tedious task.

Previously one of the Jerome Gambit Secrets, it held the position of #13. 

8.Ke2 

The Counter-Jerome Gambit Declined. Yes, there is such a thing. See Intercrosse - azizmasud, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021 (1-0, 19) and mamen_oscar - MengalZ, 5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2021 (0-1, 14). 

For the alternative, 8.Kd1, see TacticalRain - sriramv, Internet, 2020 (1-0, 21).

I think that it is important to point out that White can safely capture the Bishop, but by declining he offers his own psychological take. In a 5-minute blitz game, you use what tools you have at hand.

8...Nf6 9.Rf1 

This is White's idea: pressure down the deadly f-file. It looks scary, and is scary in a blitz game, but it is only fair to point out that one of the ways Black can respond, with advantage, is 9...d6, e.g. 10.Qf4 Bd4 or 10.Qc3 Nxe4.

9...Bh4 

This should work, too.

10.g3 Re8 11.Qf4

11...Rxe4+ 

Overlooking the effects of the diabolical Rook on f1. Black's "protective" Knight on f6 is pinned, and thus ineffective.

12.Qxe4 Kg7 13.Qxh4 

Ouch.

13...Qe8+ 14.Kd1 Ne4 

15.d3 Nc5 

Another loose piece.

16.Qd4+ 

A Rook ahead, White does not have to calculate that 16.Qf6 leads to a checkmate in 7.

16...Kg8 17.Bh6 

Instead of snapping off the Knight, White goes for mate. Black can hang on with 17...Ne6, but for how long after 18.Qf6 ?

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Rolling Downhill

Playing over a Bill Wall Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game is a low like watching a boulder roll downhill.

It is true that in the following game that he gets a bit of help, but a miniature develops quickly.

Wall, Bill - Marquitos

internet, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6

Black checks to pull the c-pawn forward - to prevent White from putting his Knight on c3 - before retreating the Bishop to d6, connecting with a similar line touched upon in "Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 6)"

8.dxe5 Bxe5

Not safe. Bill suggests instead 8...Bf8.

9.Qh5+ 

Or 9.Qd5+.

9...Ke6 10.Qf5+ Kd6 

11.Na3 Qf6

Bill points out that 11...Bf6 works better, but still leaves White ahead.

12.Nc4+ Ke7

A slip that brings the game quickly to an end.

13.Bg5 d6 14.Bxf6+ Bxf6 15.Qa5 Black resigned

White has a Queen and a pawn for a Bishop.

The Traxler's Check Returns with Mikhail Tal

Recently I received another chess game from chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev. He was glad to make me glad too.

I have found else one ex-WCC Jerome-ish game! It is by M.Tal

That sounded interesting - and it was. Past World Chess Champion Mikhail Tal played the Traxler Defense, and the game quickly dove into complications. It reminds me of Tal's comment

You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2 + 2 = 5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.

However, some sources for the game did not agree with other sources about some of the facts of the game.

For example, Dr. Tim Harding referred to the game as a "Telephone corr, USSR 1968-69" in his January 2001 ChessMail magazine (page 48) but later asks

Can anyone clarify the circumstances of this game? I think it was a CC consultation game in the USSR. Heisman [The Traxler Counterattack, (2000) ] just calls it Readers v Tal. We have also seen White given as “White Rook Youth Club” and as “Chitatelj” (a transliteration of the Russian word for Readers)

Yury has put his detective skills to work

I have found else some important accounts about the dates of this game: 

1.The Soviet top GM Paul P. Keres has written on page 86 of his theoretical opening manual Dreispringerspiel bis Koenigsgambit (Berlin, 1971) that this game was played in 1969. 

2.Maarten de Zeeuw has written on page 147 of Yearbook, #63, where his article "Another Look at the Traxler Gambit" is published, that "the famous game between readers of Pionerskaya Pravda and Tal ...1968/69". 

3.The article "Traxler-Gegenangriff" (de.wikipedia.org) has written that this game was played in 1969. 

Further, about nature of this game. Wikipedia explains that a telephone was a channel between M.Tal and the editorial of "Pionerskaya Pravda". This editorial (which has had a strong chess editor) has gathered suggestions of every new move from Soviet pioneers (by postcards, most probably), and has chosen the best suggestion from them to make White's new move. Pioneers-players have got current news about this game from a new issue of the newspaper, most probably. So M.Tal and the editorial have had a time for their "home analysis" too. That is why, it is a correspondence game The Consultants - Tal , I have understood. 

I'm sure, it was finished in 1969. Was it started in 1969 or in 1968? The Lenin Komsomol has celebrated 50 years in the October, 29, 1968. The newspaper "Pionerskaya Pravda" was edited by it, so, it maybe, this game was started in the October or in the November of 1968. It is my version now. 

 

The Consultants - Mikhail Tal

correspondence, 1969 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 

The Traxler countergambit in the Two Knights defense. It is very complicated.

5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 

With a Jerome-ish twist.

6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Kg1 Qh4 

8.g3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Qxg3+ 10.Kf1 Rf8 

11.Qh5 d5 12.Bxd5 Nd4 13.Qh2 Qg4 14.Qxe5+ 

14...Be6 15.Bxe6 Qf3+ 16.Kg1 Ne2+ 17.Kh2 Qf2+ 18.Kh3 Qf3+ 19.Kh4 Qf2+ 20.Kh5 Rxf7 

It was only here that Stockfish 14.1 pointed out that this was its last book move!

21.Bxf7+ Kxf7 22.Rh2 

A slip, according to the computer, as 22.Qd5+ Kf8 23.d3 c6 24.Qd6+ Kg8 25.Rh2 Ng3+ 26.Kg4 Qxh2 27.Bh6 Rf8 28.Nd2 gxh6 29.Qe6+ Kg7 30.Qe7+ Rf7 31.Qe5+ Kg8 32.Qe8+ Rf8 would lead to a draw. Okay, if you say so.

Now the Consultants get into deep trouble.

22...Qf3+ 23.Kh4 g5+ 24.Qxg5 Rg8 25.Qh5+ Qxh5+ 26.Kxh5 

Sure, Tal is now down a Rook and a Bishop, but his pieces are all developed, and Black's are mostly not. The game is almost over.

26...Ng3+ 

Some observers were surprised that the Magician from Riga missed the checkmate 26...Nf4+ 27.Kh6 Rg6+ 28.Kxh7 Rg7+ 29.Kh6 Kg8 30.Rg2 Rxg2 31.Nc3 Rg6#  

27.Kh6 

The proper defnse was 27.Kh4 when Black has only the draw 27...Nf5+ 28. Kh5 Ng3+ etc.

 27...Nf5+ 

Again, Tal "misses" the checkmate that would come after 27...Rg6+ 28.Kxh7 Ne4 29.Rf2+ Nxf2 30.d4 Ng4 31.Kh8 Nf6 32.Nc3 Rg8# 

28.Kxh7 Rg7+ Draw

I suspect that Tal was enjoying the game, and rather than overlooking the possible checkmates, he decided to settle for a draw and give his young opponents the opportunity of a lifetime - to say that they drew a game against an ex-world champion.

Jerome Gambit: Giuoco Piano Game tournament Round 2

Round 2 of the Giuoco Piano Game tournament at Chess.com has begun.

I am matched in my group against Cuilleanain, grammers123, MoMalek11 and Ryszak.

We will be playing all 8 of our games simultaneously, so I am glad that the time control is 1 move per 3 days.

Of course, I am playing 4 Jerome Gambits.

I wish the best chess to my opponents!

Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 6)

                                                       

[continued from previous post]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

Looking now at 6.d4, Black has three main choices: move, his Bishop, move his Knight, or leave both their own fate and do something else.

The most frequent Bishop move is also the simplest, is 6...Bxd4, surrendering a piece. It occurs as 38% of the responses to 6.d4, and after 7.Qxd4 d6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.f4 Nc6 we have a typical battle between White's center pawns and Black's extra piece.

The alternative 6...Bb4+ - which makes up a little more than 1% of the responses to 6.d4 - returns a piece for a pawn after 7.c3 Bxc3+, whichever way White captures the piece. Retreating with 7...Ba5 instead of capturing is rare and slightly better for Black. Overall, White scores 57%.

The straight Bishop retreat 6...Bb6 - which makes up a fraction of 1% of the response to 6.d4 - gives up the Knight with 7.dxe5. White scores 57%.

The rare 6...Be7 likewise gives up the Knight with 7.dxe5. Curiously, White scores only 34% in this line.

Black hopes for recapture after 6...Bd6 - which makes up a fraction of 1% of the response to 6.d4 - 7.dxe5, but realizes that the Bishop will be lost after 7...Bxe5 8.Qd5+. In all, White scores 73%.

Turning to Knight moves, both 6...Nc6 and 6...Ng6 are relatively rare and simply surrender the Bishop, ultimately making it easier for White to play f2-f4. The first player has the advantage against either move.

The strongest reaction to 6.d4 - making up 14% of the responses - is to ignore the threats to the minor pieces and go on the attack with 6...Qh4. After 7.0-0 Qxe4 8.dxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qc6 White's center has dissolved, and he is at risk for losing the one pawn that is compensation for his sacrificed piece. The play is complicated, however, and The Database, nonetheless, shows that White scores 63% against 6...Qh4.

Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 5)

                                                  

[continued from previous post]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

As previously noted

This is the fourth Critical Position.

White follows up with 6.Qh5+ (scoring 58%) about four times as often as he plays 6.d4 (scoring 56%).

Looking first at 6.Qh5+, there are four primary responses: 6...Ng6, 6...Ke6, 6...Kf8 and 6...g6.  

The odd alternative 6...Ke7 (less than 1% of the games with 6.Qh5+) can be dismissed with 7.Qxe5+ Kf7 8.Qxc5, when White has simply recovered both sacrificed pieces and is two pawns ahead. As soon as he castles, his King will be much safer than Black's. The same can be said for 6...Kf6 (about 2% of the games with 6.Qh5+) 7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5.

after 6...Ng6

The reasonable 6...Ng6 - which makes up 45% of the replies - pulls back one of the threatened minor pieces and keeps Black's King on the 7th rank, in preparation for bringing his Rook to f8 or e8. White plays 7.Qd5+, taking the time to drive the enemy King back, and after 7...Ke8 8.Qxc5, he regains one of his two sacrificed pieces, at the same time making castling and f2-f4 possible. He will advance his "Jerome pawns" with an attack in the center or along the f-file. According to The Database, White scores 57% against 6...Ng6.

after 6...Ke6

The adventurous 6...Ke6 - making up 24% of the replies - allows Black's King to immediately take part in defense in an attempt to hold onto his two extra pieces. White challenges this idea with  7.Qf5+, 7.f4, or 7.Qh3+ and can usually regain a piece, leaving him with two pawns for a piece. According to The Database, White scores scores 55% against 6...Ke6.

after 6...Kf8

The solid 6...Kf8 - making up 16% of the replies - takes Black's King back to relative safety. Although the King then is blocking his Rook from coming to f8 or e8, and is resting on the sometimes dangerous f-file (if White castles Kingside), White has a more difficult time organizing his attack- again, two "Jerome pawns" vs the extra piece. After 7.Qxe5 d6 White must re-position his Queen and advance slowly. According to The Database, White scores 49% after 6...Kf8.

after 6...g6

The move 6...g6 - making up 13% of the replies - sharply deals with White's check, but frequently offers Black's Rook at h8. The play after 7.Qxe5 d6 or 7...Qe7 is complicated, with the better or more knowledgeable player succeeding. According to The Database, White scores 73% 

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 4)

                                                  

[continued from the previous post]

5.Nxe5+

This is the third Critical Position.

Black's most frequent response is the logical 5...Nxe5 (more than 95% of the time, according to The Database), but he has alternatives in 5...Ke8 and 5...Ke7 and 5...Kf8. 

The first of these "others" leads to an odd, somewhat quiet, unplayed line that is about even. It was first mentioned on this blog in "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory" and later in "Jerome Gambit Secret #3": 5...Ke8 6.Nxc6 Qh4 (still a novelty) 7.d4 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Bb6 10.Nb4 Bxd4 11.Nd5 Kd8. White can try for something with 12.Bg5+ and 13.c3.

Instead, the twin games Hultgren - Harrow, SVE cup, Campbell, CA, 1960 and Blackstone - Dommeyer, skittles, Campbell, CA 1960 continued in a more Jerome-like manner after 5...Ke8 with 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Nf4+ Kd8 10.d3 d6 11.Rf1 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Qf6 13.c3 Black resigned. Black missed the stronger defense starting with 8...Nf6, when White seems just about to get things together at several points, but never does: 9.Qh4 Rg8 10.Rf1 Rxg6 11.Kg1 d5 12.d3 dxe4 13.Bg5 Qd4+ 14.Kh1 Ng4 15.Nc3 e3 16.Rae1Nf2+ 18.Kg1 Nh3+ 19.gxh3 Qg7 20.Qh5 h6 21.Rxe3 Kd7 22.Ne4 Rxg5+ 23.Nxg5 hxg5 24.Rf1 Rh8 25.Qe2 Qh7 26.Re1 Nd4 27.Qf1 Bxh3 28.Qf6 Nc6 29.Rg3 Kc8 30.Rxg5 Bd7 31.Re2 - interesting enough that I could go on another 20 moves, but you get the idea.    

The second alternative, 5...Ke7, is insufficient and can be dispatched in typical Jerome Gambit manner after 6.Qh5, as we recently saw in NN - Pokimane-bot, Chess.com, 2022 (1-0, 21).

The last of these "others", 5...Kf8, is a respected defense going back to Jerome - Brownson, Iowa 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29). An early look on this blog, "Critical Line: 5...Kf8 (1, 2, 3 and Revisited), remains relevant today.

By the way, the thematic and optimistic Banks Variation, 5...Kf8 6.Qh5, (see "Jerome Gambit and Vlad Tepes..." and "Jerome Gambit, Vlad Tepes... and Garlic!") is tempting, but Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's 6.Nxc6 is best.

5...Nxe5This is the fourth Critical Position.

White follows up with 6.Qh5+ (scoring 58%) about four times as often as he plays 6.d4 (scoring 56%).

[to be continued]