More Errors in Thinking 3.2

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Heler, 

Chess.com, Giuoco Piano tournament, 2015

17.Bxf6

As Bill Wall had suggested, as an improvement over the previously played 17.Rae1.

17...gxf6 18.Nd5

As in my play against Hywel2. I wasn't sure if my change in move order was going to bring about anything more than a transposition; for example, if Black were now to play 18...Qg7 and I were to follow up with 19.Rae1, then 19...b6 would put us back in the earlier game.

18...Qf7

Black varies, as well, with the placement of his Queen.

19.Rae1 b6 20.Nf4 a5

The difference from the previous game is that White's Knight is now at f4, not d5, and his Rook is at f1, not f3. This allows Black's threat of ...Ba6 skewering White's Queen and winning the exchange.

I thought pressure along the c-file was the answer, allowing White's Knight to reach a beautiful outpost, but putting his Queen in the line of fire. Her Majesty eventually has to move again.

21.Qc3 Bb7 22.Ne6 Rac8 23.Rf3 Nd8 24.d5 c6 25.Qd2 cxd5 26.exd5

White has two pawns for a  piece, and a nice-looking Knight, but Black's army looks pretty active.

26...Qh5

A shock. I was planning on playing on the Kingside. What was my opponent doing??

I figured out a line that might give White the initiative, but I was still worried about Black's Queenside forces.

27.Nf4 Rxe1+ 28.Qxe1 Qf7 29.Re3 Nc6

White pins his hopes on the e-file and Black's weakened back rank, (as well as the possibility of a tricky tactic from the Hywel2 game). My opponent decided it was time to return the sacrificed piece.

30.dxc6 Bxc6 31.Re7

White is a pawn up, and Black decides to level the material.

31...Qxa2 32.Qc3

Suddenly, Black is in grave danger.

For example, if now 32...Rf8, to protect the f-pawn, White has 33.Ng6+ (a tactic right out of the earlier perrypawnpusher - Hywel2 game, which made it easy to see) Kg8 (if 33...hxg6 then 34.Qh3+ leads to mate) 34.Nxf8, and Black can only avoid checkmate by giving up his Queen, e.g. 34...Qa1+ 35.Re1 Qxe1 (or 35...Qa2 36.Ne6 Qxe6 37.fxe6) 36.Qxe1 Kxf8 when the imbalance in material is too great.

32...Kg8 33.Qg3+ Black resigned

More Errors in Thinking 3.1

The title of this post comes from a couple of previous ones - "More Errors in Thinking" and "More Errors in Thinking 2.0" - and can be explained by the truism I related earlier

One of my interests in exploring the Jerome Gambit comes from observing - and occasionally provoking - "errors in thinking". Essentially, the only way White can win is if Black errs - sometimes in the most fascinating of ways.

In the first of the two posts I presented the Jerome Gambit game perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Chess.com Italian Game tournament, 2015, with the gushing note

For a while it looked like it was going to be one of my best Jeromes ever, thanks to some fun tactics - but I fell victim to my own "error in thinking", and it was all for naught...

In the second of the two above posts, I presented the game again, adding notes and suggestions by Bill Wall, longtime Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member.

It all was in the service of some mental hand-wringing, the likes of which I have done before, for example, about a year ago in "Jerome pawns - Clowning Around"

After my discouraging loss with the Jerome Gambit in my previous Chess.com Italian Game tournament (perrypawnpusher - Buddy_Thompson), I knew that I had to cook up something new, or risk facing a future opponent who just "looked the refutation up" (and not even on this blog, mind you, but in my recent games on Chess.com).

Such worry bore fruit, however, in terms of a win in my return game with djdave28, as the post showed.

So - recently I played a couple of Jerome Gambits, one too-quickly leading "Toward Disaster" with the other "following, step-by-step, a recent loss of mine from a Chess.com Italian Game tournament."

As you might guess, that "recent loss" was the game chronicled in "More Errors in Thinking" and "More Errors in Thinking 2.0", perrypawnpusher - Hywel2, Chess.com Italian Game tournament, 2015.

So, "without further ado" as they say, let us take a look at my latest Jerome Gambit win, (with earlier notes cribbed from earlier posts).

perrypawnpusher - Heler, 
Chess.com, Giuoco Piano tournament, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 

I have also tried 13.Nc3 in perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23); perrypawnpusher - darqknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 63); perrypawnpusher - CorH, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24); and perrypawnpusher - yasserr, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 32).

13...Nc6

Oddly, this natural move was a TN according to The Database until perrypawnpusher- Hywel2, Chess.com, Italian Game tournament, 2015

Instead, 13...Neg4 was seen in Vazquez,A - Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match 1876 (1-0, 34);Wall,B - Vijay,V, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0. 64).

14.Nc3 Kg8 15.Qd3 Kh8 16.Bg5 Qd7

So far, all replay of the earlier game; but things were about to change.

[to be continued]

  

Another Zeromov Gambit

As a follow-up to the last post, let me point out that the presenter has many interesting videos online - including the game Nelson vs Sugar, which is another interesting Jerome Gambit. Since I have not shared that game on this blog, let me do so, now.

Nelson, Lamoni - Sugar, Zoltan
Jamaica, Queens, USA, 2006

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

4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6 

In an earlier post, "Jerome Gambit Doctor", the direct 6...Be7 was examined, as in HauntedKnight - Josue, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 29).

7.dxe5 Be7

Black wants no part of 7...Bxe5 8.Qd5+. See the recent "Borrowed As Good As Own".

8.O-O d6 9.f4

The computers prefer 9.Qf3+, as seen in Idealist - throwback, FICS, 2000: 9... Nf6 10.exf6 Bxf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rd1 Rf8 13.e5 Kg8 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Qg3 Qf8 16.Ne4 Rg6 17.Qc3 Qf5 18.Ng3 Qf7 19.Be3 Rf8 20.Rf1 c6 21.Rad1 d5 22.Qb4 b6 23.Qd6 Bg4 24.Rd2 Rxd6 25.Ne4 Rg6 26.Ng5 Qf5 27.h4 h6 28.c4 hxg5 29.Bxg5 Rxg5 30.hxg5 Qxg5 31.Rd3 Rf6 32.Rg3 Rh6 33.f3 Qe3+ 34.Rf2 Qe1+ 35.Rf1 Qxg3 36.fxg4 Rh2 37.Rf2 Rh1+ 38.Kxh1 Qxf2 39.Kh2 d4 40.Kh3 d3 41.g3 d2 42.Kh4 d1=Q 43.Kg5 Qdd2+ 44.Kh5 Qh6 checkmate

9... g6 10. e6+ 

"Ain't that a kick in the head?" as Dean Martin once asked.

Black can, and maybe should, take the pawn, but things will remain complicated, thanks to those annoying "Jerome pawns".

10...Kg7 11.f5 Nf6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Bg5

Instead, Stockfish suggests the wild, but it sees as balanced, 13.g4 h5!? 14.g5 Ng4 15.Qd4+ Kh7 16.f6.

13...Qb6+ 

14.Kh1 Qc7 15.fxg6

This gives Black a saving chance. Better was 15.Qf3.

15... hxg6

The computer gives 15...Bxe6, and while the rest of the recommendation is no walk in the park for Black's King, it turns out better than the text: 16.Qd4 Raf8 17.gxh7 Rxh7 18.Rad1 Qa5 19.Bf4 Qb6 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.e5 dxe5 22.Bxe5 Kg6 23.Bd6 Bf5 24.Rfe1 Bxd6 25.Rxd6 Bxc2 26.h3 Kg7 27.Ree6. 

Now White finishes up neatly.

16.Bxf6+ Bxf6 17.Rxf6 Kxf6 18.Qd4+ Kxe6 19.Qxh8 Rb8 20.Rf1 Qe7 Black resigned

Black's Bishop and Rook will stand around, helpless, while his King is chased and checkmated.

Zeromov Gambit!?

Another recent discovery on the internet is a Serbian language video examining the famous Jerome Gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885.

Having shown the first moves of the game - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ the presenter takes an aside to look at 6...Ke6, before continuing with Blackburne's 6...g6. There, White executes a checkmate in 17 moves - ah, well, but, anyhow, back to Blackburne...

I had to chuckle. Knowingly or not, the chess player had just shown the game Ghandybh  - ishahir, Chess.com, 2009, presented on this blog in the post "Teach / Learn" about 5 1/2 years ago.

For that matter, there had been updates in "Jerome Gambit on YouTube!?" (the game Ghandybh  - ishahir, Chess.com, 2009) and "Jerome Gambit: Winning Strategy #1".

But what really shocked me about the Serbian video was the reference to the opening as the Jerome Gambit, or the Zeromov Gambit.

I had not heard that one before. Looks like I have more research ahead of me!

A Nigerian Abrahams Jerome Gambit

The other day I came across a chess thread on a Nigerian website, 
Nairaland.com, with a post by InesQor, who wrote 

I just finished a chess game on this new site I found (lichess) and the game was really odd to me.
I won, but I'm wondering if the Jerome gambit my opponent played could ever have been played better than it was. Or else, if it is so terrible an opening?! Better players in the house, what do you think?...
Caveat: I haven't played chess in a while so I'm not in the best of form: playing fast (thus, there are some blunders.)

I am not sure that I am a better player than you are, but I am glad to be of some assistance, InesQor!

Anonymous - Anonymous
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7

The site lichess identifies this as "Bishop's Opening, Jerome Gambit". My preference is to refer to it as the "Abrahams Jerome Gambit" as opposed to the Jerome Gambit proper (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

The point is largely moot here, as with White's and Black's next moves, the game transposes to the "regular" Jerome Gambit.

4.Nf3

White would have better chances of an attack after 4.Qh5+, although Black still would be better.

The fact is that the Jerome Gambit is pretty much a terrible opening, although in a 3-minute blitz game between club players, it has some practical value.

4...Nc6 5.d3 

This move marks the game as a "modern" Jerome Gambit variation, as opposed to the "classical" lines which feature 5.Nxe5+ - a move that was almost always played back in the time of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome. However, modern players are not always willing to sacrifice a second piece.

5...Nf6 6.Bg5 Rf8 7.c3 Kg8 

Black has played very well, developing his pieces and castling-by-hand. It is up to White to show that he has any kind of compensation for his sacrificed piece.

8.Qb3+ Kh8 9.h4 Qe8 10.h5 Qe6 

Black offers to exchange Queens, snuffing out White's attacking chances. He could have gone further with the counter-attack 10...Ng4!?, sowing confusion in his opponent's ranks.

11.c4 Nxh5

A very sharp idea, if followed up correctly.

12.Rxh5 Bxf2+

Black misses 12...Qg4! with a chance to recover his sacrificed material (with interest), moving toward a strong attack on White's King. If he does not take advantage of his Queen's opportunities, White will recover - and the first player still has an extra piece.

13.Kxf2 Nd4 14.Qd1 d5

Things are looking complicated - and in a 3-minute game!

White has a chance to work on a counter-counter-attack, with 15.Be3, e.g. 15...dxe4 16.dxe4 Qg4 17.Qh1.

The game now bounces back and forth - time must have been running short for both players.

15.cxd5 Qb6 

A scary move - a strong tool in blitz - but the Queen would be better placed on g6. White's response is all bluff, however.

16.Rxh7+ Kxh7 17.Qh1+ Kg8 18.Kg3 Ne2+ 19.Kh4

Allowing checkmate, but White was worse in any event.

19...Qf2+ 20. Kh5 Ng3+ 21. Kg6 Nxh1 22. Nxe5 Rf6+ 23. Bxf6 Qxf6+ 24.Kh5 Qh6 checkmate

Very nice!

Happy Blog Birthday

Happy Blog Birthday.

This blog started on June 10, 2008, with "Welcome".

I posted daily for almost 5 years, before changing to the current arrangement of posting every-other-day.

Dozens of good Readers have contributed games and analysis.

Hundreds of players continue to experiment with the Jerome Gambit and its relatives.

Many thanks for 7 years of fun and excitement!

Doing the Enemy's Work

I like the Jerome Gambit in all its variations, and I love to show a snappy Jerome Gambit win; but sometimes it is necessary to balance the scale, and give Black a hand, too...

acuriel - DOCTOERDETROIT 
blitz, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Kf8 5.Qf5+ Nf6 6.Qxe5

Here is a position in the Abrahams Jerome Gambit that has been reached in 72 games in The Database. What is Black's best move now?

6...Bxf2+ 

Of course.

However, the move was played in only 7 of the aforementioned games, less than 10% of the time! Defenders, step up your game!

7.Kxf2 

Unwittingly going along with Black's plan.

7...Ng4+ 

Forking King and Queen.

White resigned