A Game for the Skeptics

Another game from the "Netherlands collection" shows White facing a "theoretical novelty" (there are so many ways to face and defeat the Jerome Gambit!) with some creativity of his own – leading to a miniature that probably pleased the first player (and anyone else looking on).

Jabbaman - HrDoctor
HCL-B1994 www.playch (6), 2003

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

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Ne7

TN. Developing another piece, giving a piece back. No other examples in The Database.

8.Qh5+ N5g6

With all those pieces available, it still is probably best to react to White's Queen check with 8...g6.

9.Qxc5 Re8 10.f4 Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand, and White has mobilized his "Jerome pawns". The position is close to even.

11.f5 Nf8 12.f6

Wasting no time breaking into the King's position.

12...gxf6 13.Qh5

This is the kind of position that produces Jerome Gambit skeptics: White has been giving away pieces, and playing with his pawns and his Queen; while Black has gotten his King to safety and developed three pieces...

Only, the game is even, or White might be a bit better; as he has (or will have) enough pawns to compensate for his sacrificed piece, and his developing pieces will pose more threats to Black's King than Black's already-developed pieces will pose to White's King.

13...Nc6 14.Bxh6 Rxe4 15.Bxf8 d5 16.Qg6+ Black resigned

After 16...Kxf8 White will win Black's Queen with 17.Rxf6+.

Counterplay!

Sometimes the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be just plain fun: sacrifice a couple of pieces, create a crazy-mixed-up position, and confuse the opponent enough that he can be defeated.

But, what if your opponent fights back – hard?

That is what the following game is about, as we see Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Bill Wall overcoming some serious counterplay.

Wall,B - Letsplaychess
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2011
notes by Bill Wall [and Rick]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5

[Italian Four Knights Game]

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Qe2

[I was always curious about the attraction of this move. The game continuation shows one reason to play it. - Rick]

6...d6 7.Qc4+ Be6? 8.Ng5+

[There's that pesky Ng5+ again! Letsplaychess has been officially identified as someone who does not read this blog, or he might have been forewarned. According to The Database, an FICS player named hinders pulled off this maneuver a half dozen times in 2000-2002. - Rick]

8...Kg6 9.Nxe6

[Black has returned the sacrificed piece, but he is not content to shiver and shake in the dark. Hinders had it easier. - Rick]

9...Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Ng4+ 11.Kg1 Qf6

Threatening ...Qf2 mate

12.Nd1 Na5 13.Qc3 Qxe6 14.Qxa5 Qc4

Threatening 15...Qe2

15.d3 Qxc2

Threatening 16...Qxc1+ 17.Qe1 Qxe1 mate

16.Qd2 Qc5+ 17.Nf2 Rhf8

Threatening 18...Qxf2+

18.Qg5+ Kf7

Threatening 20...Qxf2 mate

19.Qxg4 Kg8

Threatening 20...Qxf2 mate

20.Qe2 Rf7 21.Be3 Qb5 22.Qc2 c6 23.h4 Raf8 24.h5

24.Bxa7? b6 traps the Bishop

24...d5 25.h6 d4 26.hxg7 dxe3 27.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 28.Ng4 Qb6

Threatening 29...e2.

29.Qe2 Rg7 30.Rf1+ Kg8 31.Nh6+ Kh8 32.Rf8+ Black resigned

It's A Small World After All (Part 2)

Of course [continuing from "It's A Small World After All (Part 1)"] there would not be much of a story if "fluffybunnyfeet" did not turn out to be National Master James Marfia after all.

He did.

We swapped emails. Jim remembered his opponent and the game. Of the Jerome, he noted "It was, indeed, not much of a gambit."

All of which is a light-hearted introduction to a game that is of significant interest for the serious Jerome Gambiteer.


Marfia,J - Stelter,J
Offhand Game, 1964

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

7.Qxe5 d6

Blackburne's "generous" offer of a Rook.

Those slightly familiar with Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, will remember the game ending in a crush of White.

Those a bit more familiar will recall that later analysis suggested that White was winning.

Regular Readers will know, however, that the move actually leads to a complicated draw. (See "Flaws" Part 1 and Part 2.) 

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4

The Database has only 5 other games with this move, including perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33).

9...Qxe4+

Black's best was 9...Nf6, as detailed in "Traps and Zaps", leading to a complicated mess that favors the second player.

The text is tempting, but losing.

10.Be3 Qxc2

Houdini recommends 10...Qxg2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Rf1 Bb6 13.Nc3 Bf5 14.0-0-0 Qh3 15.Qxh3 Bxh3 16.Rfe1 Bf5 17.f3 Ba5 18.Bd2 Nf6 when White is better.
11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qc3

Withdrawing the White Queen from mischief, guarding the White King, and offering a safety-making exchange.

12...Qxc3+ 13.Nxc3 Bf5 14.Bxc5 Re8+ 15.Be3 Re5 16.0-0 Bd3 17.Rfd1 Bc2 18.Rd7+ Re7 19.Rxe7+ Nxe7 Black resigned

A Rook is, after all, a Rook.

It's A Small World After All (Part 1)

I would like to share another typical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) story. "Typical" in that, of course, it has several rather odd features...

A Reader from the Netherlands requested a copy of The Database the other day.

Like my book, The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses, which was more popular in Europe than in the USA, this blog has a decent international following. (There is nothing quite like watching a player from Moldova, in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, successfully play a move that I have championed, and others mostly have ignored.)

I was happy to oblige.

I was even happier when the Reader offered, in return, his Jerome Gambit (and related openings) collection. Although The Database has over 25,500 games, it is focused largely on FICS games and those that I have discovered in my historical research. I know that there are many, many other games out there.

One of my new aquisitions was the 1964 "offhand game" between "Marfia, J" and "Stelter, J".

I wondered: was that Jim Marfia, author of four books on the U.S. Open in the 1980s; author of Queen's Gambit with Bf4 and Queen's Indian with 4.g3; and translator for Botvinnik's 15 Games and Their Stories and Botvinnik on the Endgame, as well as Korchnoi's Persona Non Grata, Nimzovich's Carlsbad International Chess Tournament 1929, and Bronstein's Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 (among others)?

After some searching, I discovered that "the" Jim Marfia was involved in West Michigan Chess. Further searching oncovered a recent game and the fact that he was playing games online at queenalice.com and GameKnot.com under the handle "fluffybunnyfeet".

As my wife said, "You can't make this stuff up..."

[to be continued]

   

Scary Stuff

I have not had a chance to play a Jerome Gambit game at FICS in a couple of weeks, so I was thrilled to get one in a 15 5 game, my latest attempt to play "slower" (well, slower than pure blitz) chess.



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

At this point, my opponent took a minute to decide what to do about the attacking Bishop. Then I received this message:

Your opponent, Badoglio, has lost contact or quit.

{Game 382 (perrypawnpusher vs. Badoglio) Badoglio lost connection and too few moves; game aborted} *

I guess, this being the Halloween season, the Jerome Gambit might have scared him.

Not too much, though, as a couple of minutes later he was back on FICS and playing another game. I was ready to challenge him at the end of that game, but he logged off.

Double Tap

The following position, from a game in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament, develops a theme first presented three weeks ago in a Sunday Tournament Update: the apparently misplaced Bishop that is too deadly to capture (Black has just played 10...Bh3).

However, even though White in this game refuses the piece, a similar continuation comes about.

11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nd5 Nf3+

Black's move reminds me of the "double tap", explained by "Columbus" (my home town) in the over-the-top movie "Zombieland".

White resigned.

Sunday Tournament Update

 AsceticKingK9 is clearly the "top dog" as the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament heats up, with 2/3 if its games completed. The leader has 20 points out of 20 games, which is hard to beat!

Right behind AsceticKingK9 is mckenna215, with 19.5 points out of 22 games.

Players who also have a mathematical chance of overtaking the "King" are Rikiki00, with 10.5 points out of 17 games, and "dark horse" Luke Warm, with 1 point out of 5 games.

Meanwhile, braken, with 17.5 points out of 26 games, holds third place and challenges for second place.

White is scoring 38% over all. The Jerome Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/Ke7) has yet to be successful in 8 games. The "classical" Jerome Gambit lines (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) have scored 43%, while the "modern" lines (not 5.Nxe5+) have scored 31%.