Jedi Mind Tricks

Other than a few rather inexplicable moves, this game progresses as might be expected for two club players: my opponent tosses the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4) at me and I counter with a form of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). But what about those strange moves...?

perrypawnpusher - zadox
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ Ke7

Highly irregular. There can be only one reason that my opponent (rated higher than me) would do this...

5.Bxg8 Ke8

Stranger still.

6.Nxe5

No, no, no, no, no... This is the only move that gives the BSG any power! 

Clearly, this is some kind of Jedi "mind trick"!

Simple enough was 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Bg3 or 6.Nxd4 Rxg8 7.Nf3 with a clear advantage to White.

6...Qg5

7.Nf3

More madness. White should castle and then retreat whichever piece Black doesn't capture – leaving a pawn or two up.

Now Black is better.

7...Qxg2 8.Nxd4 Qxh1+ 9.Ke2

9...Qxd1+

Strange.

Instead, 9...Qxe4+ 10.Kf1 Rxg8 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Nxe2 d5 and Black has won the exchange, has the two Bishops and will develop faster.  

10.Kxd1 Rxg8

Black is still for choice, but I have time to catch my breath.

11.d3 d6 12.Nc3 Bg4+ 13.f3 Bh5 14.Bg5 c5

15.Nf5 Bxf3+ 16.Kd2 h6

A messy position, but I felt that I had made some progress.

17.Bf4 g6

18.Nxd6+ Bxd6 19.Bxd6 Kd7 20.Bxc5 b6

Black's Kingside has the possibility of developing a passed pawn, but otherwise I was comfortable with two "Jerome pawns" for the exchange.

21.Be3 Rac8

This and Black's next move allow me to get my Rook into play, to gather more pawns.

22.Rf1 Bg4 23.Rf7+

In the absence of any pawn play on the Kingside, White is going to maintain an initiative.

23...Ke6 24.Rxa7 g5 25.Ra6 Rc6 26.Nd5 Rgc8

27.Rxb6 Kd7

Allowing further problems.

28.Rxc6 Kxc6 29.Ne7+ Black resigned

Pawn Wave

Whether it is in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.various Bc5 5.Bxf7+), or the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nc4 4.Bxf7+), the pawns that White receives for his sacrificed piece(s) are very important. Sometimes these "Jerome pawns" advance like a wall and make mischief. Sometimes they advance like a wave.

perrypawnpusher - theferno
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

Wow – didn't I just play this?

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+

I'm sure glad that I read this blog, where this line was recently analyzed.

The New Year's Database has 61 games with this line, with White scoring 61%. (Remember the caution about statistics: Your mileage may vary.)

8... Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6

This move is stronger than 9...Ke8, which should have led to a draw after 10.Qg6+ etc. Instead, perrypawnpusher - adamzzzz, blitz FICS, 2009 continued: 10.Qe5+ Qe7 11.Qxd4 Bg7 12.Qc4 Kd8 13.Nc3 Nf6 14.0-0 c6 15.d4 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Qxd5+ Qd7 19.Bg5+ Kc7 20.Qc5+ Qc6 21.Qxc6+ bxc6 22.c3 Rb8 23.b3 Rh5 24.Bf4+ Kb7 25.Bxb8 Kxb8 26.Rae1 Ba6 27.Re8+ Kc7 28.Rfe1 Bh6 29.R8e5 Rxe5 30.Rxe5 Bd2 31.c4 Bc3 32.Re4 Bb7 33.d5 cxd5 34.cxd5 Bxd5 35.Re7+ Kb6 36.h4 Bf6 37.Rd7 Be6 38.Rd6+ Kc7 39.Rxe6 Black resigned

10.Qc5+ d6 11.Qxd4

Fritz8 gives a slight edge to Black here, but I am sure that any Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member would be happy with the four pawns that White has in exchange for his sacrificed Bishop.

11...Qd7

I am not sure of Black's idea, here. Perhaps he initially thought of following this up with ...Qd7-g4 – a good idea against my next move (12.f3 was more to the point). Otherwise, 11...Bg7 was a good alternative.

12.Nc3 Bg7

Again, 12...Qg4 was a reasonable choice.

13.Nd5+

After the game Rybka preferred: 13.h3 b5 14.d3 c5 15.Qe3 Bb7 16.Ne2 Kd8 with and edge to White. Must be the pawns.

analysis diagram






13...Nxd5

This capture is a mistake. Better, according to Rybka, was 13...Kf7 14.Ne3 Qc6 15.d3 Ng4 16.Qd5+ Qxd5 17.Nxd5 Nxh2 18.Ke2 c6 19.Ne3 Be6 20.f4 Rag8 21.Bd2 Ke7 22.Bc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 when Black's pieces put good pressure on White's pawns, for an advantage.

analysis diagram





14.Qxg7+ Ke6 15.Qxh8 Nb4

White is up the exchange – plus those great Kingside pawns – so the next move is not hard to understand.

16.Qh3+ Ke7 17.Qxd7+ Bxd7 18.Kd1 Rf8

Black has a temporary advantage in development, but once White is safe, the pawns can roll.

19.f3 Kd8 20.d3 d5

21.Bg5+ Kc8 22.e5 Rf5 23.f4 d4 24.g4 Rf8 25.f5

25...Nd5 26.e6 Bc6 27.Re1 Rg8 28.h4

Black resigned

Walled In

The following game, featuring a Semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6) with a Jerome Gambit twist (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), shows how much you can achieve with a basic "sac and attack" attitude.

Of particular interest is the positional role that the "Jerome pawns" play early on.

 Wall - Ydiens

blitz 15 0, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

4.Bxf7+

Bill Wall is determined to have his attack, and wastes no time on "tempo moves" like 4.0-0 or 4.Nc3 or even 4.d3 which would give Black a chance to move his Bishop to where it could become a target at c5.

What surprised me when I looked up this position in the New Year's Database was how frequently 4.Bxf7+ had been played – there are 857 such games. Alas, White scored only 39% in them. (Of course, that could mean that Bill hasn't played enough 4.Bxf7+ games yet, so he hasnt' had much chance to boost the average.)

By contrast, there were only 157 games which went 4.0-0, 4.Nc3, or 4.d3 followed by 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+. White scored 51% in them. (4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ scored best at 85%).

4...Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6

6.d4 

At this point, out of the blue, I remembered another Wall game, a proto-Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: Wall - Vargas, San Antonio, 1979: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 h6 6.Nh4 Nxe4 7.Qh5 g6 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.Nf5 checkmate

analysis diagram





6...exd4 7.e5

Let's say you were going to play the Max Lange, but your opponent played ...h7-h6 instead of ...Bf8-c5, and you wanted to play e4-e5 without Black responding ...d7-d5 – hitting your Bishop – so you decide to sac your Bishop before he gets the chance...

Okay, okay, actually I don't know what's going on, but like a Supreme Court justice once said, "I don't know what 'good chess' is, but I know it when I see it!"

Or something like that.

7...Nd5 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 c6

Black has a piece for a pawn, but his practical difficulties give White some compensation: the unsheltered King and the poor state of Black's development.

10.c4 Ne7 11.c5 Nd5

The Knight has gotten a little exercise, but the "Jerome pawns" have been working, too. With Black so cramped, White doesn't feel a need to hurry.

12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Be7

It seems a bit contrary to advise Black to not develop a piece, but attacking the advanced pawn at c5 with ...b7-b6, on this move or the next, was better.

14.f4 Re8 15.f5

15...Bg5

We've seen this kind of position before: the computer says that things are about even, but White's position is a lot more fun to play.

16.Qb3+ Kf8

Rybka prefers 16...d5 17.cxd6+ Kf8, although one glance is enough to know why Black avoided that line: the pawns!

17.f6

17...g6 18.Bxg5 hxg5 19.Qh3

The end is near. The pawns are still walling Black in.

19...d5 20.Qh8+ Kf7 21.e6+ Black resigned

Database Alternative

On January 1, 2010 I offered Readers a PGN database of over 17,000 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. 

That size database might be too large for Readers who use ChessBase Light, so I have sliced the New Year's Database "pie" into three files: two of 6,000 games apiece, and one not quite that size.

Just email me: richardfkennedy@hotmail.com and make the request if you are interested.

A Sneaky Way to Defeat the Jerome Gambit

If things weren't bad enough for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – an opening with several refutations – last week I found another way to get beaten. This one might be The End for the Jerome, at least as it is played in the on-line communities such as the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS).

perrypawnpusher - "anonymous"

blitz 10 0, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+

At this point, my opponent disconnected from FICS.

I waited a couple of minutes, and, sure enough, he re-connected.

I issued a "resume" offer. He ignored it. Then, a bit later, he started a game with someone else.

Being a patient (but persistent) guy, I "observed" that second game, and when it was over, I issued another "resume" offer to "anonymous".

My opponent ignored it again.

Being also polite, I "messaged" him that I hoped we could run into each other again online, and finish our game.

I stopped back at FICS several times a day over the next few days, but did not run into "anonymous". I did not receive any return "message" or email, either.

Then I received a "message" that the game had been adjudicated in my opponent's favor.

Of course, I protested this in a return "message", but my "message" was met with the notice "mailbox full". (Later I learned that the adjudication message had come from a 'bot.)

I then "messaged" and emailed The Powers That Be at FICS, and learned back from them... 

If you have a question regarding an outcome of adjudication you may appeal the decision by messaging adjudicate. Make sure the game is still in your history or at least in your journal so that they may review it again...We cannot do anything if the game is no longer able to be viewed...

This was no help. I suppose that as long as the game was "adjourned", it was in my history, but as soon as perrypawnpusher - "anonymous" was adjudicated, the game was over and apparently it disappeared.

...You will have to provide analysis why you feel that the decision was incorrect...

 If I had analysis proving that White was better or even in the Jerome Gambit, I'd be writing a book about it (with a Foreword by Magnus Carlsen). All I have is my 87% score with it and a willingness to gamble.

...A disconnect is not adjudicated as an automatic loss. The loss was because you were behind in material and your opponent took advantage of that fact when requesting an adjudication. Sometimes when a gambit is being played and the material count is reflecting that, an abusive user can take advantage by disconnecting...

Really.

So, here is a caution to anyone playing the Jerome Gambit and its relatives – especially AlgozBR, BobTheBeginner, DragonTail, drumme, fmarius, Irvpat, Itajuba, jfhumphrey, Petasluk, Rattymouse, sTpny, stretto, UNPREDICTABLE, yorgos and hundreds of others who play Jerome-ish openings at my favorite chess site, FICS – know the rules of your site regarding disconnections, know who you are playing against, and be careful that your opponent is an above-the-board player, or your next Jerome Gambit might look like this:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 Black disconnected, game later adjudicated a win for Black.

Even folks who play the King's Gambit might have to fear

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 Black disconnected, game later adjudicated a win for Black (see "The King's Gambit is Busted" by R. Fischer).

Shillings: One Found, Two Lost (Part 3)

After my first game against xenoglot (see "Shillings: One Found, Two Lost (Part 2)") my opponent challenged me to another game. I quickly agreed, figuring One game with White, one game with Black, makes sense and seems fair to me...

When the board popped up on the monitor in front of me, however, I saw that I had the White pieces again. Oh, he wanted that kind of re-match.

perrypawnpusher - xenoglot
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

As in my first game with xenoglot.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+

 My opponent's improvement over his previous 7...Nf6. Better yet was 7...hxg6.

8.Kd1 Nf6

It is ironic that in developing this Knight now, xenoglot makes the same mis-play as in our previous game. Of course, there are 25 other games with this move in the New Year's Database.

After 8...hxg6 White doesn't have anything "objectively" better than 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.Qg5+ Ke8 11.Qg6+ repeating the position for a draw, although he does have alternatives.

9.Qe5+ Kf7

Forcing my hand, but things will not turn out right.

10.Nxh8+ Kg8 11.Kxc2 Kxh8

White is ahead two pawns and the exchange, but he lags in development and his King is not yet safe.

12.d4 d6 13.Qg5 Bg7 14.Nc3 c5

We've seen a hyper-modern touch in the Jerome Gambit before.

My plan is to work on development and use my advantages later.

15.Be3 Qe8 16.f3 Nd7

The tactical shot 16...Ng4 17.fxg4 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 was stronger and had the benefit of busting up White's center.

17.Rad1 Bf6 18.Qg3 cxd4 19.Bxd4 Ne5

Fighting until the end.

20.f4 Nf7

The end: the Knight had to go to d7 or g4.

 21.Bxf6 checkmate