Watch that last step...

I was logged onto FICS, waiting to challenge "metheny" to a game – a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), I hoped – when "AreWeThereYet" got to him first. I hung around and watched the first few moves – and then settled in to enjoy the whole game: a fun battle, with a lesson at the end.

AreWeThereYet  - metheny

blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5

Ooooooh. He's asking for it. I was saying to myself: sac the Bishop, sac the Bishop, sac the Bishop...

4.Bxf7+

Yes! I decided to stick around and watch the game.

I have 85 games with this move in my database: 55 wins, 28 losses, 2 draws – scoring 66%. Not bad, but I thought it would be higher.

I've sprinkled in a few short games along with my notes.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8

Rybka and others have preferred 5...Ke7: 6.Nc3 (6.Qf3 Nf6 7.Qa3+ d6 8.Qxa5 dxe5 9.Qxe5+ Kf7 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Qc3 Re8 White resigned, M,T-Lothar, remoteschach.de, 2006) 6...Qe8 7.d4 Kd8 8.0-0 d6 9.Nf3 Qg6 10.Qd3 equal game ;

Also 5...Ke6 6.d4 d6 (6...Bd6 7.Qg4+ Ke7 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Bxf6+ gxf6 10.Qg7+ Ke8 11.Qf7 checkmate, tih - Shatranje, FICS, 2000) 7.Nd3 d5 8.exd5+ Kxd5 9.Qh5+ Kxd4 10.Be3+ Ke4 11.Nd2 checkmate Sims - Collins, Detroit, 1999;

Or 5...Kf6 6.d4 d6 (6...g5 7.Qf3+ Ke7 8.Bxg5+ Nf6 9.Qxf6+ Ke8 10.Qf7 checkmate, thefrench - bouffant, net-chess, 2002) 7.Qf3+ Bf5 8.Qxf5+ Ke7 9.Qf7 checkmate, Karlsson - Parkes, IECC 2001.

6.Qh5+

Not so successful was 6.c3 Qg5 7.Qf3 Qxe5 8.d4 White resigned, majorminor - chilepine, FICS, 2005.

6...Ke7

Again, Rybka and others preferred 6...g6:
a) 7.Nxg6 Qf6 8.Nxh8+ Black resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - Umbertino, FICS, 2009 ;
b) 7.Nxg6 Nf6 8.Qe5+ (8.Qxa5 b6 9.Qe5+ Be7 10.Nxh8 d6 11.Qg5 Nxe4 12.Qg8+ Bf8 13.Qf7 checkmate, jdgalba - lukkaz,FICS, 2008) 8...Qe7 9.Nxe7 Black resigned, fmarius - drwinstonoboogie, FICS 2009;
c) 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.d4 Bh6 10.Bg5+ Bxg5 11.Qxg5+ Ke8 12.Qxa5 Qe7 13.Nc3 b6 14.Qe5 Qxe5 15.dxe5 Bb7 16.0-0-0 Nh6 slight advantage to White 

7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Qd5+

It is clear from this move that White has at least a draw, as he can repeat positions with continued checks. What if he wants more than a draw?

For starters, he can play as in the game, and pick up the wayward Black Knight at a5.

He can also play 8.d4, threatening to weave a mating net. Black's strongest response is 8...Qf6, but White's surprise shot 9.Nc4+ will allow a win of the Black Queen with 10.Bf4+. Something to remember the next time the line pops up!

8...Ke7 9.Qxa5

Of course, 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.d4 transposes into the previous note.

It is not as good to jump into a typical Jerome Gambit endgame (Queenless middlegame): 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Qxg8 Rxg8 11.Nf7+ Ke7 12.Nxd8 Kxd8 13.d3 b6 14.0-0 Nc6 15.f4 Ba6 16.Nc3 Bc5+ 17.Be3 Bxe3+ 18.Kh1 Nd4 19.Rf3 Nxf3 White resigned, paaras - worpe, FICS, 2004

9...d6 10.Nf3 Bg4

White has a comfortable two-pawn-plus position, and develops his game.

11.d3 Nf6 12.Bg5 Bxf3 13.gxf3 c6 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8

15.Rg1 h6 16.Bxf6+ gxf6 17.Nc3 b5

The endgame may take a while, but the game should be White's. He can infiltrate along the g-file, use f5 as a post for his Knight, and even look to open up another file with a2-a4. 

18.Kd2 a6 19.Ne2 h5 20.Nf4

Working against Black's possible ...d6-d5. I prefer Ne2-d4-f5.

20...Bh6 21.Ke3 Rhg8 22.Rg3 Rxg3

This seems a bit too cooperative, as it allows White to straighten out his pawns. Probably 22...d5 was best, now that the White Knight was pinned. 

23.fxg3 Rg8 24.b4 d5 25.exd5 cxd5

White's play has left his opponent with 4 pawn islands, to his own two. He might now have considered 26.a4 to open a line for his Rook.

26.Kd4 Kd6

If sacrificing a Bishop on move 4 always led to engames like this, we might see masters playing the Jerome Gambit...

27.Nxd5

Surprisingly, a weak move, as Black's next move reveals. In fact, it is hard to say if the move loses the game, or merely leaves White with a difficult draw to find. Amazing!

It looks like 27.Nxh5 was the correct move.

27...f5

The threat of an x-ray attack along the a1-h8 diagonal will win the White Knight: 28.Re1 Bg7+ 29.Ke3 Re8+ 30.Kd2 Rxe1 31.Kxe1 Kxd5, when White has three pawns against Black's Bishop. Fritz8 says Black wins, but not every club player plays like a computer, especially in blitz.

28.Ne3 Bg7 checkmate

Wow. An excting game: interesting opening play, a business-like middle, and a surprising resource that turns the table in the end.

My thanks to both metheny and AreWeThereYet.

For the record

I include this game "for the record" because it is technically a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, by transposition, and because I'm one of the two players tossing the pieces around.

However, it is one of those devilish 3 0 games which rapidly became a comedy of errors as my opponent (rated 125 higher than me), behind in material, kept throwing things at me, while I – for once, ahead on the clock – picked my moves quickly, knowing the game wouldn't end with a checkmate, but with a flag.

I have identified a few relevant points in the game, but it is best just played over with the Chess Publisher feature – chuckling (or covering your eyes) the whole way.

ncis  - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4

The Italian Gambit.

4...exd4 5.Bxf7+

From the Dubuque Chess Journal, November 1874

An unsound variation of Jerome's double opening. Note that it is the P at Q5 that gives the second player such a wonderfully harassing position later in the game.

5...Kxf7 6.e5

My database has 26 games with this position, 18 of them played by DragonTail (White) with limited success: 5-13-0.

An alternative was seen in Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, USA, 1874 – the game referred to, above, in the Dubuque Chess Journal – 6.Ng5+ Kf8 7.Qf3+ Qf6 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Qh5 Qg6 10.Qe2 Nf6 11.Kh1 h6 12.f4 Neg4 13.f5 hxg5 14.Qxg4 Rxh2+ 15.Kxh2 Nxg4+ 16.Kg3 Qh5 17.Nd2 Qh4+ 18.Kf3 Nh2+ and won.

6...d6 7.Ng5+ Ke8 8.Qf3 Nh6

Better was 8...Nxe5, but the text, while new, is adequate. 

9.e6 Rf8

Or 9...Qf6.

10.Nf7 Nxf7 11.exf7+ Rxf7 12.Qh5 Qe7+ 13.Kd2 Bb4+ 14.c3 dxc3+ 15.Nxc3 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 g6 17.Qb5 Kf8

Black is safely a piece and a pawn up, and actually overlooked a mate here: 17...Rxf2+ 18.Kd1 Bg4+ 19.Qe2 Qxe2. I'll stop annotating; there is little educational about my win.

18.Re1 Rxf2+ 19.Kd1 Qf6 20.Bh6+ Kf7 21.Qd5+ Be6 22.Rxe6 Qxe6 23.Qb3 Qxb3+ 24.axb3 Re8 25.Ra4 Ree2 26.Rh4 Rxg2 27.Rf4+ Ke7 28.Bf8+ Kd7 29.Rf7+ Ke6 30.Rxh7 Ref2 31.Ke1 Re2+ 32.Kf1 Ref2+ White forfeited on time

Sometimes a platypus has to do what a platypus has to do...

I like to think of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) as "the duck-billed platypus of chess openings" – something strange, unexpected, and often quite dangerous.

The following game is not amazing or even unusual, it's just business as usual for the platypus...

perrypawnpusher  - LibertasProVita

blitz FICS, 2009

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

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

7.Qxe5 Nf6

So far, we have the usual scenario. Black accepts the first piece without question. Then he happily accepts the second piece. Then he reacts to White's obviously wrong early Queen move by blocking the check with his g-pawn. Take that!

When White does take that – the Knight on e5 – Black slows down. Hmmm... Bishop on c5 is en prise, Rook on h8 too...

If Black doesn't know the Blackburne (7...d6) or Whistler (7...Qe7) defenses, then he is most likely going to guard his Rook on h8 with 7...Nf6.

Of course, that leaves White simply up two pawns – one, if Black is aware – after the Black Bishop disappears.

8.Qxc5 Nxe4

The alternative 8...d6 is at least as old as Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd match, Mexico, 1876:  9.Qe3 Re8 10.d3 Ng4 11.Qf3+ Kg7 12.0-0 Rf8 13.Qg3 Qf6 14.h3 Ne5 15.Nc3 c6 16.Bg5 Qe6 17.Qh4 Nf7 18.f4 h6 19.f5 hxg5 20.fxe6 gxh4 21.Rxf7+ Rxf7 22.exf7 Kxf7 23.Rf1+ Kg7 24.e5 d5 25.Ne2 b5 26.Nd4 Bd7 27.Rf6 Rc8 28.Rd6 Be8 29.Kf2 Kf7 30.Kf3 c5 31.Ne2 d4 32.Kg4 Rc6 33.Kxh4 Rxd6 34.exd6 Kf6 35.Ng3 Bc6 36.Ne4+ Bxe4 37.dxe4 a5 38.e5+ Ke6 39.Kg3 Black resigned

9.Qd5+

Or 9.Qc4+ d5 10.Qb3 Re8 11.0-0 Nc5 12.Qf3+ Kg7 13.b4 Ne4 14.Bb2+ Kg8 15.d3 Ng5 16.Qf6 Qxf6 17.Bxf6 Ne6 18.Be5 c6 19.d4 b6 20.f4 Ba6 21.Rf2 c5 22.bxc5 bxc5 23.c3 cxd4 24.cxd4 Bd3 25.Nc3 Rac8 26.Nxd5 Be4 27.Nf6+ Kf7 28.Nxe4 Ng7 29.Nd6+ Kf8 30.Bxg7+ Kxg7 31.Nxe8+ Rxe8 32.Kf1 Re4 33.Rd1 a5 34.d5 Black resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - hahahehe, FICS 2009.

9...Kg7 10.0-0

After 10.Qxe4 Re8 11.Qe3 d5 12.0-0 Rxe3 13.dxe3 Bf5 White has Rook, a Knight and a pawn for his Queen. I think simply being a pawn up, with the text, is better. 

10...Re8 11.d3 Nf6 12.Qf3 Qe7 13.Bg5 d6

White's focus is on the pinned Knight at f6. He would like nothing better than to exchange pieces down to a pawn plus endgame. And, who knows, he might even get lucky.

14.Nc3 Bf5

Like I said...

15.Nd5 Qf7 16.Bxf6+ Kg8 17.Bc3 c6

18.Ne3

Of course, winning the exchange with 18.Nf6+ was stronger. 

18...Re6 19.Nxf5

And here, 19.g4 wins a piece. 

19...Qxf5 20.Qxf5 gxf5

21.Rfe1 Rg6 22.Re7 b5

23.Rae1 Kf8 24.Rxh7 c5 25.Rh8+ Rg8 26.Rxg8+ Kxg8

Up a piece and two pawns, I can slowly make my way to the full point.

27.Re6 b4 28.Bd2 Rd8 29.Kf1 Kf7

30.Re3 a5 31.b3 d5 32.h4 c4 33.dxc4 dxc4 34.Ke2 c3 35.Bc1 Kg6

36.Rd3 Rh8 37.g3 Kh5 38.Rd5 Kg4 39.Rxa5 Re8+

40.Be3 f4 41.Rg5+ Kh3 42.gxf4 Kxh4 43.f5

This allows Black a nice tactic, but the resulting position is just as lost for him.

43...Rxe3+ 44.fxe3 Kxg5 45.e4 Black resigned

Black cannot capture one of the two passed pawns without allowing the other to advance and Queen. White can either escort the pair forward with his King, or capture Black's remaining pawns, freeing up three more pawns for Queening.

Tied Up, or How Much Is A Queen Worth?

There's nothing like receiving the gift of your opponent's Queen in the first twelve moves of a game, especially when you are in a critical line of one of the Jerome Gambit's (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) refutations.

Why, it only took me 32 more moves to end the game!

Huh?

perrypawnpusher  - elyza
blitz FICS, 2009

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

\

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

This is one of the classical refutations of the Jerome Gambit.

Modern players unfamiliar with the Jerome may prefer 6...Ng6, 6...Kf8 or 6...g6 because this line feels more dangerous, but the King is actually safe in the middle of the board – and Black has two extra pieces, as well.

My first conclusion about my opponent, who was playing without much hesitation: he either doesn't like to return material, or he knows what he is doing.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

Ah, yes, the "Nibs" defense – or counter-attack, if you will. It's beginning to look like my opponent elyza has stopped by this blog a time or two.

9.g3 Nf3+

Wow! Seriously cutting-edge play. For some background, check out "Repairing a Variation (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3) and (Part 4)".

10.Kd1

If you are going to battle the Queen-sac line, I think 10.Kd1 is the right move. If you are looking toward the endgame, 10.Kf1 is to be preferred – "Repairing a Variation (Part 4)"

The alternative: 10.Kf1 Qh6 (10...Qf6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Kd8 13.Kg2 d6 14.Qd5 Ne7 15.Qd3 Nd4 16.e5 dxe5 17.c3 Bf5 18.fxe5 Qc6+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - james042665, Chess.com, 2008) 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Qd6 13.Qxd6+ cxd6 14.c3 g5 15.Kf2 g4 16.h3 d5 17.hxg4 dxe4 18.d3 d5 19.g5 h6 20.dxe4 dxe4 21.Nd2 Nxd2 22.Bxd2 Bg4 23.Be3 Ke6 24.Rh4 Kf5 25.Bd4 Rh7 26.Rah1 h5 27.Ke3 Ne7 28.R4h2 Nd5+ 29.Kd2 b6 30.Re1 Re8 31.Be3 Rd8 32.Kc2 Rc7 33.a3 Rcd7 34.Bd4 b5 35.Be5 Rc8 36.Kb1 a5 37.g6 b4 38.axb4 axb4 39.g7 b3 40.Bd4 Kg6 41.Kc1 Kf5 42.Rhh1 Nb4 43.Kd2 Rxd4+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - Temmo, JG3 thematic, Chessworld, 2008.

10...Qf6

Or 10...Qh6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Qd6 13.Qxd6+ cxd6 14.c3 Nf6 15.d3 b6 16.Ke2 d5 17.Kxf3 dxe4+ 18.dxe4 Bb7 19.Re1 Kf7 20.Nd2 Rhe8 21.g4 d5 22.e5 d4+ 23.Kg3 dxc3 24.bxc3 Nd5 25.Bb2 Rad8 26.Ne4 Nf6 27.Nd6+ Kf8 28.Nxb7 Rd7 29.Ba3+ Kf7 30.Nd6+ Rxd6 31.exd6 Ne4+ 32.Rxe4 Rxe4 33.Kf3 Rc4 34.d7 Rxc3+ 35.Ke4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - electrahan, blitz FICS, 2009

11.e5+

Fail.

This looked like a great move at the time, but the right path had already been laid out for me by Louis Morin ("mrjoker"), that of simply collecting the dark-squared Black Bishop: 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ d6 13.Qxc7+ Bd7 14.Nc3 Rc8 15.Nd5+ Ke6 16.Qxb7 Qd4 17.f5+ Ke5 18.Qxd7 Nf6 19.Qe6 checkmate, guest2365 - guest2535, Internet Chess Club, 2004

11...Ke7

Wow.

Black was taken in by the move, too. Had he played, instead, 11...Nxe5 12.fxe5+ Qxe5 he would have shown that my pawn advance was a blunder.

12.exf6+ Nxf6

Game over? Hardly. My opponent probably wants me to show him that I have more than just a good sense of humor in the opening. Or maybe he is aware that sometimes I get... tired.

13.Qxc5+ d6 14.Qe3+ Kf7

15.h3

Naturally not 15.Qxf3 Bg4 winning the Queen.

15...Nxd2 16.Bxd2 Re8

17.Qf2 Kg8 18.Re1 Bxh3

I don't mind giving up the pawn. I'm trying to untangle my pieces on the Queenside.

19.Nc3 Bg4+ 20.Kc1 c5 21.b3 b5 22.Kb2 b4 23.Ne2 Ne4

This is getting annoying.

24.Qe3 a5 25.Qd3 a4 26.Ng1 a3+ 27.Kc1

27...Rad8

I was getting frustrated. Being this tied up was ridiculous!

28.c4

This is not a BLUNDER, but it is clearly an INACCURACY – see "Italian Game Anti-Fried Liver Defense (Part 2)" – since 28.Rxe4 was the best move. (Would it have ended the game? Probably not.)

Here is my new annotation for "I should have had some coffee":

28...Nf2 29.Rxe8+ Rxe8 30.Qxd6 Ne4

31.Qd5+ Be6

A slip. It helped.

I knew that I was going to have to go all the way to checkmate with my opponent, though, and time was running low.

32.Qxe4 Bf7 33.Qg2 Bh5 34.Kc2 Bg6+

35.Kd1 Be4 36.Qf2 Bf5 37.Nf3 Bg4

38.Be3 Rd8+ 39.Ke1 Rd3 40.Rd1

At last!

40...Rc3 41.Rd8+ Kf7 42.Ne5+ Ke7 43.Qd2 Bf5 44.Qd6 checkmate

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws

"How to Win Without Thinking"

It's time to point out to all readers that the latest BCM has an article written by Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne"), titled "How to Win Without Thinking."

Check it out!

British Chess Magazine : November 2009
Cover photo: Magnus Carlsen wins in Nanjing

Nanjing - it was Magnus Carlsen all the way at the ‘Pearl Spring’ tournament – which could prove to be one of the most significant turning points in the past decade. Ian Rogers was present to witness Carlsen’s star turn and annotate all his key games.

Short-Efimenko - Nigel Short faced a tough assignment in Ukraine, playing one of that country’s best young grandmasters. He lost the first game – could he recover? Read on...

Paignton - this well-loved congress is almost as traditional as Devon cream – Keith Arkell writes about one of his favourite events and annotates some games.

Read the November 2009 new book reviews

Kasparov-Karpov, Valencia • Speelman on the Endgame • Inventi Antwerp • Games Department with Sam Collins • A Reader Recollects... Mike Read • Spot The Continuation • How to Win Without Thinking • News in Brief • Quotes and Queries (with Phil Hughes) • Endgame Studies (with John Beasley)