Jerome Gambit: What Can We Learn? (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - auswebby

3 days/move, "Giuoco Piano Game", Chess.com, 2022

13.Be3 

I think it was Alexander Kotov, in his Think Like A Grandmaster, who described an imaginary, but common, situation: in a complicated position, a player looks at one line, then a second one, analyzing both but being unable to choose between one or the other - so he finally, quickly, plays a third move without much consideration.

The move in the game was the result of me not being sure which move was better, 13.Nd2 or 13.f4.

13...Qg6 

Taking advantage of the fact that White's Queen cannot safely escape exchange. The rogue Queen is part of Jerome Gambit strategy and tactics, and seeing her leave the board was not encouraging to me.

14.Nd2 Qxg3 15.hxg3 Be6 

With the option of playing either c3-c4 or f2-f4, White should feel comfortable with his central pawn preponderance, but exchanging pawns would open lines for the enemy pieces, so I decided to sit still, instead.

16.f3 

After the game Stockfish 15 suggested 16.a4 c6 17.a5 Bc7 18.f3 h5 19.b4 Rc8 20.Bf4 Kf7 21.Kf2 Rhg8 22.Bg5 Rge8 23.Rh1 Kg6 24.Bf4 d5 25.Bxc7 Rxc7 26.e5 Rf8, leaving Black two pawn's worth better. Of course, that was well beyond my understanding of the position.

In subsequent play I accidentally achieved part of that recommendation. 

16...Kd7 17.Kf2 Rac8 

One more "lockdown" variation suggested by the computer: 17...a5 18.d5 Bxe3+ 19.Kxe3 Bf7 20.a4 h5 21.c4 c6 22.Rh1 Rhe8 23.Kd4 Ra6 24.Ra3 Rb6 25.Rb3 Rb4 26.Rxb4 axb4 27.b3 Rc8 28.Rb1 Ra8 29.Ra1 Kc7 30.a5 c4+ 31.Kd3

Analysis diagram

Clearly White is worse here, but can he hold on in his fortress?

Back to the game.

18.d5 Bf7 19.Nc4 Bxe3+ 20.Nxe3 

My King is not as brave as Stockfish 15's and does not choose to advance by capturing the Bishop.

20...c6 

Black, for his part, would like to open lines.

21.dxc6+ 

Too obliging, but I somehow thought that opening lines would benefit me. (Perhaps it was the location of Black's King.) Consistent with keeping things close would have been 21.c4.

21...bxc6 22.c4 Kc7 

23.Rad1 Rhd8 24.Rc1 

Wavering. Doubling Rooks on the d-file made more sense, again with the idea that pressure on the pawn at d6 would keep things static.

24...Kb7 25.b3 d5 26.exd5 cxd5 27.cxd5 Nxd5 

Allowing Black to play ...d5 was not wise.

White now has a position where his pawn majorities on both sides might lead to something in a game played at blitz speed, but with the time control in this game being 3 days per move, that would be a slim hope - especially considering Black's extra Bishop.

It is interesting that Komodo 13.02, which is a bit more "human like" in its move choices, evaluates the position as about 1 3/4 pawns better for Black, while the stronger Stockfish 15 sees Black as 3 1/2 pawns better. 

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: What Can We Learn? (Part 1)

There is more to annotating a lost chess game than discovering which moves to attach the "?!" and "?" symbols.

When that game starts out as a Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+, it can always be tempting to give the 4th and 5th moves "?"s and sign off with "...and the rest is a matter of technique (for Black)".

But, I play the Jerome Gambit (376 games from the 5th move given above; scoring 81%), and a lot of other club players do, as well. 

So the question is: What can we learn from this defeat?

The following game took place in the 4th round of the 2022-2023 "Giuoco Piano Game" tournament at Chess.com. My opponent had scored 8 - 0 - 0 in his group in the 1st round, 5 - 0 - 3 in the 2nd round, and 6 - 1 - 1 in the 3rd round, for a total of 19 wins, 1 loss and 4 draws.

We had met once before, 7 1/2 years ago, and the blog post "Toward Disaster" gives a clue as to how perrypawnpusher - auswebby, "Giuoco Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 2015 (0-1, 37) turned out. He was rated about 60 points higher than me back then, maybe twice that for this game.

perrypawnpusher - auswebby

3 days/move, "Giuoco Piano Game", Chess.com, 2022

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

If I am playing in a Giuoco Piano or Italian Game tournament, regardless of the time control, I will  play the Jerome Gambit every chance I get.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

The Jerome Defense to the Jerome Gambit (see "Jerome Gambit / Jerome Defense"), was mentioned by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in his analysis published in the July 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal.

A half dozen years later Jerome used the defense against his own gambit in two games: Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence, 1880 (0-1, 14) and Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence, 1880 (0-1, 40)

To take a broader perspective, The Database has 1,965 games with this move. White scores 48%.

I have played 40 games games against 6...Kf8, scoring 76%.

7.Qxe5 Qe7 

The analysis engine at lichess.org, commenting on a different game with the same position, fussed that 7...Qe7 was "inaccurate", preferring 7...d5.

Consulting The Database - which has almost 25,000 games starting with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ plus an additional 55,000 related games - I found 2,171 examples with 7...Qe7. White scored 42%. (That means Black scored 58%, which is not bad for an inaccuracy.) 

By contrast, in the 10 games where I faced 7...Qe7, I scored 70%. 

Although 7...d5 is very rare in the games in The Database, of the 5 games it contained, White scored only 20%, so the silicon beast may be onto something. That would make the move "Jerome Gambit Secret #17", I think.

8.Qf4+ 

I am not sure that 8.Qxe7+ would come to mind for the Jerome Gambiteer, but I note that The Database has 80 such games, with White scoring 59%.

8...Ke8 9.O-O d6 

10.c3 Qf7 11.Qg3 Ne7 12.d4 Bb6

White has two pawns for his sacrificed piece and a formidible pawn center. Black's extra piece gives him the Bishop pair. White's King is castled, Black's King is in on a center file with no quick escape.

Stockfish 15, which usually takes a somewhat skeptical view of the Jerome Gambit in its analysis, sees Black now as about a pawn and a half better (34 ply). That is about a two-pawn improvement for White since 4.Bxf7+, but there is plenty of work still to be done. 

[to be continued]

Happy New Year 2023

It seems appropriate to start the new year with a Bill Wall Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game featuring play all over the board - followed by a Queen sacrifice leading to a nifty checkmate. 

Wall, Bill - Smithey

Internet, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O Ne7 

Black intends to put his Rook at f8 and castle-by-hand his King to g8, so this Knight move (more often seen is 8...Nf6) is designed to not block the f-file.

9.f4 N5c6

Instead, Wall, Bill - Guest2614882, PlayChess.com, 2017 (1-0, 16) continued 9...N7c6.

10.Qf2 Rf8 11.Nc3 Kg8 12.h4

Aggression, anyone?

This pawn takes center stage for a while, then disappears in the wings, only to return and have a starring role in the final act.

12...a6 

Black is not impressed. 

13.h5 Qe8 14.h6 g6 

End of story?

15.Be3 Qf7 16.Rad1 Bg4 17.Rd2 Be6 18.Qg3 Bxa2 

Black plans to return his extra piece for three pawns. The action turns to the Queen's wing, where the question is: are the 3 connected passed pawns strengths or targets?

19.b3 Bxb3 20.cxb3 Qxb3 21.Rc1 Rae8 22.f5 Qa3 23.Ra2 Qb4 24.Ra4 Qb3 25.Bg5 b5 26.Rxa6 Ne5 27.Rb1 Qc4 28.Bxe7 Rxe7 29.Rxb5 c6 30.Ra4 Qf7 31.Rba5 Kh8

Parts of the Queenside have gone up in smoke. White's pieces remain there, while Black's have been reassigned to the Kingside.

The game is in balance.

32.Qh3 gxf5 33.exf5 Rg8 

Stockfish 15 does not like this move, suggesting that Black needs to get his passed pawns rolling.

I find its recommended line of play - ending with Black sacrificing the exchange in order to then draw by repetition of position - hard to follow; perhaps White's attacking possibilities balance Black's promoting possibililties? One thing is clear, that White's pawn at h6 creates some back rank checkmate threats. Anyhow: 33...d5 34.Ra8 Ree8 35.Rxe8 Rxe8 36.Nd1 Qf6 37.Nf2 Qg5 38.g4 Qf6 39.Kg2 Rg8 40.Kf1 Nf7 41.Qg3 Nxh6 42.Qc7 Qc3 43.Ra7 Rg7 44.Qc8+ Ng8 45.Ra8 Qc4+ 46.Kg2 Rxg4+ 47.Nxg4 Qxg4+ 48.Kh2 Qe2+ 49.Kh3 with a draw coming.

34.Ne4 Rd7 

Again, the computer's preference leads to an endgame that is probably a lot clearer to Stockfish than humans (but still better for White?): 34...Rb7 35.Ra8 Rb1+ 36.Kh2 Rbb8 37.Rxb8 Rxb8 38.Qh4 Qxf5 39.Qf6+ Qxf6 40.Nxf6 Nf7 41.Ra7 Rf8 42.Re7 c5 43.Kh3 c4 44.Nd7 Kg8 45.Nxf8 Kxf8 46.Rd7 Ke8 47.Rc7 Nxh6 48.Kg3 Kd8 49.Rxc4 Ng8 50.Kf4 

35.Ra8 Rdd8 36.Rxd8 Rxd8 37.Nxd6 Qd5 

Again, the back rank threats appear, and Black cannot afford to capture the Knight because of 38.Ra8+, etc.

38.Qg3 

Threatening 39.Qg7 checkmate. 

38...Rg8 39.Qxe5+ 

Nice. The Queen sac crowns White's attack.

39...Qxe5 40.Nf7 checkmate

Stockfish 15 vs Magnus Carlsen?

Readers of this blog are familiar with Yury V. Bukayev. Recall his most recent post, "JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 14)".

Recently, Yury sent me a link to a fascinating video featuring an animated impression of Stockfish. (See "Stockfish 15 introduces himself"). 

The video, "Stockfish 15.1 (4k Elo) Sacrificed his Bishop Against Magnus Carlsen | Magnus chess | Online Chess" starts with Stockfish asking "Chess friends do you ever sacrifice your bishop for no reason?"

There follows a game - unfortunately not a Jerome Gambit - with the following information 

    Game: Bishop Sacrifice For no Reason

    White: Stockfish 15.1

    Black: Magnus Carlsen

    White Elo: "4023"

    Black Elo: "2864"

    Time: 15/3

    Opening Name: B07 Pirc Defense, Botez Gamebit Bishop                Sacrifice

    Date: 26.12.2022

This header is funny.

(By the way, some have suggested that the Jerome Gambit, itself, features piece sacrifices "For no Reasons".)

I am not the first person to speculate that the "Magnus Carlsen" in the game might have been a chess bot, not the real live chess champion.

The game began 1.e4 d6 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+ which is what caught Yury's eye.

If "Gamebit" is a mis-spelling of "Gambit", then the reference to the Botez Gambit is understandable. Recall the blog post here from earlier this year, "The Jerome-Botez Gambit".

The game?

1.e4 d6 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.d4 c5 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qd3 Ne5 8.Qe2 Qb6 9.a4 Qb4 10.a5 Bg4 11.f3 Bd7 12.f4 Nc4 13.a6 b6 14.Qd3 Bc6 15.Nf3 Nxe4 16.Nd4 Nxb2 17.Bxb2 Qxb2 18.Nxe4 Qxa1+ 19.Kf2 Qa4 20.Nc3 Qb4 21.Nxc6 Qxf4+ 22.Ke1 Qc1+ 23.Nd1 Qg5 24.Rf1+ Ke8 25.Qe4 g6 26.h4 Qc5 27.Ne3 Kd7 28.Nd4 Qa5+ 29.Kf2 Rc8 30.Nd5 Qxa6 31.Qe6+ Kd8 32.Kg1 Rc5 33.Rxf8+ Rxf8 34.Qxe7+ Kc8 35.Qxf8+ Kb7 36.Qe7+ Ka8 37.Nc7+ Rxc7 38.Qxc7 Qb7 39.Qd8+ Qb8 40.Qd7 Qb7 41.Qd8+ Qb8 42.Qd7 Qb7 43.Qe8+ Qb8 44.Qf7 Qc8 45.Qd5+ Qb7 46.Qg8+ Qb8 47.Qd5+ Qb7 48.Nc6 Qc7 49.Nb4+ Qb7 50.Qg8+ Qb8 51.Qd5+ Qb7 52.Qxd6 a5 53.Nd5 Ka7 54.c4 Qb8 55.Qf6 a4 56.Qe7+ Qb7 57.Qd6 h6 58.Kf2 Ka8 59.Ke3 Ka7 60.Kd2 g5 61.h5 g4 62.Ke3 Qb8 63.Qd7+ Qb7 64.Qxa4+ Kb8 65.Qb5 g3 66.Nxb6 Ka7 67.Nd5 Qxb5 68.cxb5 Kb7 69.Kf4 Kc8 70.Kf5 Kd7 71.Kg6 Kd6 72.b6 Kxd5 73.b7 Ke5 74.b8=Q+ Ke6 75.Kxh6 Kf5 76.Kg7 Ke4 77.h6 Ke3 78.Qxg3+ Kd4 79.h7 Kc4 80.h8=Q Kb5 81.Kg6 Kb4 82.Qgc3+ Kb5 83.Qb8+ Ka6 84.Qa1#

Apparently Magnus Carlsen wanted to "avenge" that loss as a few days later there came the video "Stockfish 15.1 (4K Elo) Sacrificed His Bishop in the Opening | Stockfish vs Magnus | Fide magnus" but with no vindication, alas (Stockfish as White)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bh6 gxh6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qd2 Bg7 5.O-O-O Ne4 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.e3 O-O 8.Ne2 c5 9.f3 cxd4 10.exd4 exf3 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.c3 Bg4 13.h3 fxg2 14.Qxg2 Qa5 15.hxg4 Qxa2 16.Nf5 Rfc8 17.Qe4 Bf6 18.Bd3 Kf8 19.Bb1 Qa4 20.Rxh6 Na5 21.Kd2 Nc4+ 22.Ke2 Rc7 23.Rxh7 e6 24.g5 Nxb2 25.Rdh1 Qa6+ 26.Bd3 exf5 27. gxf6 Qxf6 28.Rh8+ Qxh8 29.Rxh8+ Kg7 30.Qe5+ f6 31.Qxc7+ Kxh8 32.Bxf5 Re8+ 33.Kf1 Kg8 34.Bg6 Re1+ 35.Kxe1 Nd3+ 36.Kd2 Ne5 37.dxe5 fxe5 38.Qf7+ Kh8 39.Qh7# 

Hmmm... The "world champion" being thrashed, twice.

Hard to explain.

Although HAL 9000 (from "2001:A Space Odyssey") might have commented that "It can only be attributable to human error."

Jerome Gambit: Festina Lente

 Festina Lente. Make haste, slowly.

In the following game, first Black, then White, seems to turn placid in choice of moves. In gambit play, this can frustrate an attack, or work against a defense.

In the following game, it leads to a forced series of exchanges and the explosiveness of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is defused.

selim_han - Sharonluver

10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3 a6 

At first glance it seems odd that Black would "waste" a move like this in the middle of defending against an attack, but the move does prevent Nb5+, and even provides a place of safety for his King, if need be, at a7.

Of the 23 games in The Database with this position, Black has won 15.

9.O-O  

Apparently White is not in a hurry, either. He might have tried the more challnging 9.f4 instead.

 9...Nh6 10.Qf4 

The first player leaves himself open to a series of exchanges that dissolve his attack and provide the defender with a strong endgame.

10...Rf8

At this point White left the game, which is tandamount to resigning.

There are many possible explanations - including intrusion by the outside-the-game "real world" - but perhaps he looked at this likely line of  play, and decided he could better spend his energies elsewhere: 11.Qg3 Rxf2 12.Rxf2 Nhg4 13.Nd1 Qf6 14.b3 (or 14.d3) Nxf2 15.Nxf2 Qxf2+ 16.Qxf2 Nxf2 17.Kxf2 Ke6 and Black's extra piece outweighs White's extra pawn.

Jerome Gambit: Chaos

The Jerome Gambit is a strange opening. It is chaotic enough that players who have positions that are advantageous, lose. This is one reason that bullet or blitz players are drawn to it.

Check out the following game. 

Foxterie - TainoGood

10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nd3+

I like this quirky move. Stockfish 15 does, too, seeing Black as almost 4 pawns better. Still, The Database has 25 games with this move, with White scoring 64%.

As I wrote in "Jerome Gambit: It Takes More Than A Move"

Creative and cool.

Anyone who has read Aron Nimzowitsch's The Blockade will recognize the idea behind this move.

Something similar is equally deadly for Black, when the d-pawn is blocked, which in turn blocks the Bishop, which then keeps the Rook from entering the game. 

I have looked at this move before, in "Brilliant, but Not Sound" and "Jerome Gambit: The Hurrieder I Go, The Behinder I Get", where you will see Petasluk mentioned as well.

8.cxd3 Be7 

Black turns conservative, withdrawing his attacked Bishop. Instead, he needed to continue to play actively, with 8...d5.

9.Qf5+  Kd6 10.Qd5 checkmate

1874

* 1874*

1874 was an interesting year.

From Wikipedia

New York City annexed The Bronx.

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

The Universal Postal Union was established.

The Philadelphia Zoo opened, the first public zoo in the United States.

The New York Zoo hoax, a supposed breakout of animals from the Central Park Zoo, was perpetrated on the public.

The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, with cylindrical platen and QWERTY keyboard, was first marketed in the United States.

The Chicago Fire of 1874 burned down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings, killing 20 people.

Mathew Evans and Henry Woodward patent the first incandescent lamp, with an electric light bulb.

And, of course

The Dubuque Chess Journal published "New Chess Opening" Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's "analyses of a new move in the Giuoco Piano, first played by him, which we offer our readers as: Jerome's Double Opening" - later known as the Jerome Gambit