Brighter Lights

Speaking of "brighter lights" in the world of the Jerome Gambit (see previous post), here is Bill Wall's latest game. The ending should be rated "PG" for either "Parental Guidance advised" or simply "Plain Gory". The King hunt is brutal

Wall, Bill - Anonymous
lichess.org, 2016
(analysis by Bill Wall)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

7.O-O Ng4

One of a number of moves that keeps Black's advantage.

8.h3 Bd6

Aggressive, but 8...Bb6 was probably better. It was the choice of several computers ( Deep Shredder 10, Deep Sjeng 1.5,  Hiarcs 11.1, Shredder Paderborn) in computer vs computer tournaments in 2002, 2003 and 2008, for example. It also appeared in Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, JG3 thematic, Chessworld.net, 2008 (0-1, 38) and Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 33).

9.e5 Nxe5

Giving the piece back is "scientific" but it leads to an equal game, according to Stockfish 7.

With 9...Bxe5 Black returned a Bishop, instead, in Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27).

Another piece return was the wild 9...Nxf2 in Darthballz - Leftang, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 25).

Bill points out 9...Be7 10.hxg4 d6. 

10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Qd5+ Kf6 12.Re1 d6

Bill points out the tricky 12...Bd4 13.Nc3 Bxf2+ 14.Kh1 Bxe1 15.Bg5+, when Black will lose his Queen to either White's Bishop or Knight (when it comes to e4 with check).

13.Rxe5 dxe5 14.Qd8+ Ne7 15.Qxh8 Qe4

Abandoning his King to chaos.

Instead, Black had the prudent 15...Kf7, both protecting his pawn at g7 and the square at f8. If he wanted an exciting draw, he could try 15...Bxh3!? 16.Qxa8 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Qg4+ and  he could repeat the position with Queen checks.

16.Qf8+ Ke6

The bad news begins. The alternative: 16...Kg6 17.Qe8+ Kf6 (17...Kf5 18.Qf7#) 18.Nc3 Qxc2 19.Qf8+ Kg6 20.Qxe7.

17.Bg5 Qb4

Several other options, from Bill: 17...Ng6 18.Qg8+ Kd6 19.Qd8+ Kc6 20.Nc3 Qxc2 21.Qd5+ Kb6 22.Qb5# ; or 17...Qxc2 18.Qxe7+ Kf5 19.Qxg7; or 17...Nc6 18.Nc3 Qxc2 19.Qg8+ Kf5 20.Qxg7 Qxb2 21.Qf6# 

18.Qxg7

Instead, 18.Nc3 Qxb2 leads to checkmate. 

18...Bd7

The White b-pawn is still poisonous, and 18...Qxb2 would again lead to checkmate.

Best is probably 18...Nf5, but it still leads to misery, e.g. 19.Qg8+ Kd7 20.Nc3 Nd6 21.Rd1 Qd4 22.Rxd4 exd4 23.Qxh7+ Kc6 24.Ne2 Nf5 25.Bd8 as Bill notes. 

19.Qf6+ Kd5 20.Nc3+ Kc4 

Or 20...Kd4 21.Be3+ Kc4 22.Qf7+ Be6 23.Qxe6+ Nd5 24.Qxd5#; or 20...Kc5 21.Qxe7+ Kc4 22.b3+ Kxc3 23.Qxe5+ Qd4 24.Bd2+ Kxd2 25.Qxd4+ Kxc2 26.Rd1 Rd8 27.Qd2#. Black's King is not coming back from this journey.

21.b3+ Kxc3 

Or 21...Kd4 22.Rd1+ Kc5 23.Be3+ Qd4 24.Rxd4 exd4 25.Qxd4+ Kc6 26.Qc5#; or 21...Kc5 22.Qxe7+ Kb6 23.Qxb4+ Ka6 24.Qa3+ Kb6 25.Be3+ c5 26.Nd5+ Kc6 27.Qxc5#. 

22.Qxe5+ Qd4 

If 22...Kxc2 then 23.Rc1+ Kd3 24.Qe3# 

23.Bd2+ Kxd2 

Or 23...Kb2 24.Qxd4+ Kxc2 25.Rc1# ; or 23...Kxc2 24.Qxd4 Rd8 25.Rc1# 

24.Qxd4+ Kxc2 

If 24...Ke2 25.Qe3#

25.Rd1

Threatening 26.Qd2 mate

Black Resigned

Jerome Gambit: Past is Prologue

Here is a game from the first round of the Jerome Gambit tournament at RedHotPawn.com. Both White and Black clearly have a grasp of the opening, and the battle is an entertaining one. The outcome is an indication of how the second round - and the tournament - will turn out. 

SeinfeldFan91 - ZorroTheFox
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

7.O-O Ng4 8.h3 Bd6 9.e5 Be7 

Recommended,but there are no other examples in The Database.

Alternatively:

9...Nxe5 Giving the piece back is "scientific" but leads to an equal game according to Stockfish 7. 10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Qd5+ (11.f4 Bd6 12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Nd2 Nf6 14.Qd3 b6 15.Ne4 Bb7 16.Nxd6 cxd6 17.Qxd6+ Kf7 18.Qd3 Rhe8 19.Bd2 Kg8 20.f5 Nh5 21.Bc3 Nf4 22.Qc4+ Kh8 23.Rxf4 Qh6 24.Rg4 Rg8 25.f6 g6 26.f7+ Rg7 27.Qb4 d5 28.f8=Q+ Rxf8 29.Qxf8 checkmate, Darthnik - aufdermaur, FICS, 2011) 11...Kf6 (11...Kf8 12.Qxe5 d6 13.Bg5 Qxf2+ 14.Rxf2+ Black resigned, ndrwgn - balahap, FICS, 2013) 12.Re1 d6 13.Rxe5 dxe5 14.Qd8+ Ne7 15.Qxh8 Qe4 16.Qf8+ Ke6 17.Bg5 Qb4 18.Qxg7 Bd7 19.Qf6+ Kd5 20.Nc3+ Kc4 21.b3+ Kxc3 22.Qxe5+ Qd4 23.Bd2+ Kxd2 24.Qxd4+ Kxc2 25.Rd1 Black resigned, Wall,B - Anonymous, lichess.org, 2016; or

9...Bxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 (10...N4h6 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.Re1 Rf8 13.Re4 Qxe4 14.Nxe4 Kg8 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Nf6+ Kh8 17.Qd3 Ng6 18.Qc3 c6 19.Nh5 Rf5 20.e6+ Ne5 21.e7 Black resigned, iconsisonline - atizzle, FICS, 2010) 11.Qd5+ Kf6 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nc3 d6 14.Be3 Ke7 15.Rae1 Kd8 16.Nb5 Nf6 17.Qc4 Ne8 18.Bf2 Qf6 19.Bd4 Qh4 20.Rxe8+ Kxe8 21.Nxc7+ Kf8 22.f5 Ne5 23.f6 gxf6 24.Qd5 Kg7 25.Qxd6 Rg8 26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Bxe5 and White won, Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888; or

9...Nxf2 10.Rxf2+ Nf6 11.Rf4 Qg3 12.Rf3 Qg6 13.exd6 cxd6 14.c3 b6 15.Qb3+ Ke7 16.Re3+ Kd8 17.Na3 Bb7 18.Re2 Nh5 19.Nb5 Ng3 20.Rf2 Ne4 21.Re2 Rf8 22.Be3 Ng3 23.Rd2 Qe4 24.Re1 Rf3 25.Bg5+ Black resigned, Darthballz - Leftang, FICS, 2011. 

10.hxg4 Nh6

Reasonable and straight-forward, especially since White's response "forces" Black to make a move he wants to make, anyhow; but 10...d6 was deeper and better. 

11.g5 Ng4  

Of course. Still, taking the g-pawn was better, as now the game has equalized - although that may not be apparent at first glance. 

12.Qf3+ Ke8 13.Qh3 Bxg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Nc3 d5

15...h5!? was a thematic alternative. 

16.f4 Qg6

Thinking "attack" when "defense" was better attended to by 16...Qd8. 

17.Nxd5 Kd7 18.f5 Qg5 19.e6+ Kc6 

The alternative 19...Ke8 20.Rae1 is pretty bad for Black, but everything else leads to mate. 

20.Qc3+ Kxd5 21.Qc5+ Ke4 22.Rae1+ Ne3 23.Qe5 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Tactical Magic

The following game features a creative Queen sacrifice - not to break down the walls of the enemy's fortress, but to gain a tempo. It is quite a thing to watch, and finish of the game is equally entertaining.

Tactical magic.

Wall, Bill - Anonymous

internet, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.Nd2 Ne7 9.O-O Re8 10.Qc3 N7c6 

11.f4 Ng6 12.e5 Qf5 13.Qb3+ 

White wishes to interrupt Black's plan to castle-by-hand.

13...Kf8 14.Nf3 d6 15.Ng5 Nh8 16.h3 h6 

Skirmishes on the Kingside do not change the balance. Black is still better, with a piece for a pawn.

17.Bd2 Nd4 18.Qd5 Ne6 19.Ne4 Nf7 

Black's pieces shuffle themselves, the better to protect their King.

Once again, as White, Bill has slowly managed to bring about an exchange of roles. Black should be attacking.

20.g4 Qh7 21.f5 c6

It is interesting that Stockfish 13 suggests the return of the sacrificed material, with 21...Neg5 22.e6 Nxe6 23.fxe6 Bxe6. Things can then get tactically messy if White goes for one more pawn, i.e. 24.Qxb7 Rab8 25.Qc6 Bxg4 26.Qxc7 Bf5 27.Ng3 Qg6 28.Kh2 Be6 29.Ne2 Rbc8 30.Nf4 Rxc7 31.Nxg6+ Kg8 32.c3 Kh7 33.Nf4 Bc4 34.Rf2 Ng5 and Black would still have an edge.

22.Qc4 

Stockfish 13, which frequently sees White as worse in any Jerome Gambit - and, therefore, often suggests long lines ending in a draw by repetition - of course preferred 22.Qa5 Neg5 23.Nxd6 Nxd6 24.exd6 b6 25.Qc3 Bd7 26.Rae1 Ne4 27.Qd3 Nf6 28.Re7 Rxe7 29.dxe7+ Kxe7 30.Bc3 Kf8 31.Qd6+ Kg8 32.Re1 Re8 33.Rxe8+ Bxe8 34.Qd8 Kf7 35.Qc7+ Kg8 36.Qb8 etc. Cute.

When you get to the end of this game, I hope you appreciate the fact that White was played by a human. Especially since Black now believes he has caught White in a blunder.

22...d5 

Forking Queen and Knight.

23.fxe6 

Wonderful! White has a draw in hand, and more if Black becomes too excited.

23...dxc4 24.Bb4+ Re7 

If the King moves instead, White has a checkmate in 10 moves.

25.Rxf7+ Kg8 

Because 25...Ke8 will result in checkmate.

26.Nf6+ gxf6 

Again, forced to avoid a short checkmate.

27.Bxe7 

White is down a Queen for a Rook. Can he keep things going?

27...Qxf7  

I think that this move was deeply thought out - just not deeply enough. Black imagines reducing the position to an ending of Bishops-of-opposite-colors (despite the Rooks being on the board) where he can take refuge in a draw.

He has the right idea, with best play the game is drawn, but he would have been closer to that goal with 27...Qe4, when his King would be trapped in a sort of "windmill" that would have produced a repetion of position: 28.Rf8+ Kh7 29.Rf7+ Kg6 30.Rxf6+ Kh7 (not 30...Kg5, as 31.Raf1 will produce situations where Black will lose his Queen to a discovered check) 31.Rf7+, etc.

28.exf7+ Kxf7 29.Bxf6 Be6 

30.Rf1 Kg6 31.Be7 Bd5 32.Rf6+ Kg7 33.Rd6 Re8 34.Bf6+ Kg8 

35.Rd7

This move should have given Black pause. The "correct" way to pursue a draw is 35.Rd8, exchanging Rooks.

 35...Rb8 36.Kf2 

The King will lend an extra hand.

36...Bf7 37.Ke3 c5 38.Ke4 Kf8 39.Kf5 a5 40.e6 Bg8 41.Rd8+ 

Instead of celebrating here, Black resigned.

The sad truth is that even after 41...Rxd8 42.Bxd8, White's King is well-placed to capture the pawn on h6, and that will leave him with too many pawns for the opposite color Bishop ending.

But White had no intention  of entering that line, planning 41...Rxd8 42.e7+! when checkmate arrives quickly after the promotion, 42...Kf7 43.exd8/Q. 

Very, very nice.