Continuing to present the games from the bullet match at lichess.org between Philidor1792 and Slayman, using the unusual Jerome Gambitish line mentioned a couple of posts ago - see "Jerome Gambit: Strange Beast". Philidor1792 - Slayman 2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bxf7+
Here we go. Philidor1792 was successful with this line in this rocket-fast match, winning three games, drawing one, losing none. 4...Kxf8 5.e5 Ng8
As we have seen, the best defense starts with 5...Qe7 6.Qe2 Ne8. However, in a 2 0 game you barely have time to breathe, let alone analyze deeply. Knowing anything about the line is a great advantage. 6.Nf3 Bc5 7.c3 d3
Black has no intention of helping White's development with 7...dxc3 8.Nxc3. 8.Qxd3 Bb6 9.O-O Ne7 10.Qc4+ Kf8 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bf4 Rg8
"Objectively" Black is better, with a piece for a pawn, but his position is horribly cramped and undeveloped. 13.Nbd2 g5 14.Bg3 Nbc6 15.Ne4 Nf5 16.Nf6 Nxg3
In a game with a slower time control, exchanging Queens would not be the best plan. Here White is up the exhange, and he can calculate better (and faster) with fewer pieces on the board. 22.Nc4 d5 23.Nxb6 axb6 24.a3 Be6 25.Rae1 c5
Black needs to activate his Queenside pawn majority. 26.Re3 d4 27. cxd4 cxd4 28.Re4 Rd8 29. Rd1 d3 30.Rd2 Bf5
39.Rxd3+ An option always available to the one ahead the exchange. 39...Bxd3 40.Kxd3 Kxb2 41.Kd4
Nice. White could have decided to run his a-pawn, but after 41.a4 Kb3 42.a5 c5 43.a6 c4+ 44.Ke4 c3 45.a7 c2 46.a8/Q c1/Q both of the Queens are back on the board, and calculation becomes a bit more time-intensive. Only the clock can beat White now, so he keeps it simpler. 41...Kxa3 42.Kc5 Kb3 43.f4 Kc3 44.f5
Now there will be only one Queen on the board, and White only needs one... 44...Kd3 45.f6 Ke4 46.f7 Kf3 47.f8=Q+ Kxg3 48.Qxh6 Kxg4 49.Kxc6
Alas for Black, if his remaining pawn were either the f-pawn or h-pawn - and more advanced - he would still have drawing chances. Was not to be... 49...Kg3 50.Qxg5+ Kh2 51.Qg4 Kh1 52.Kd5 Kh2 53.Ke4 Kh1 54.Kf3 White won on time
Following up on the previous post (see "Jerome Gambit: Strange Beast"), Philidor1792 sent me four games he recently played with the line (as White) in a match against Slayman, at lichess.org, at the quick speed of 2 minutes with no increment per game. Philidor1792 scored 3 1/2 - 1/2. It is fun to first look at the two shortest - and funniest - games. Philidor1792 - Slayman 2 0 bullet, lichess.org 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4
This is identified at lichess.org as "Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit". 3...exd4 4.Bxf7+
This is not a Jerome Gambit, but it has a Jerome feel about it, and certainly is equally outrageous. Of course, White also had 4.Nf3, offering the Urusov Gambit; and Black could have further declined with 4...Nc6, the Two Knights Defense.
I was amused to see that Stockfish 8 assessed the silly alternative, 6...Nf6, as completely equal (0.00), recommending the equally silly 7.Qd1, even with an analysis depth of 25 ply. Of course, Stockfish is confused by the possibility of repeating the position, resulting in a draw - just play the two moves and the computer leaps to point out, of course, that Black is better by 2 2/3 pawns. After the text move, however, Stockfish 8 assesses the top 6 replies by White to lead to complete equality (0.00) again. 7.Nh3 h6 8.Nf4+ Kf7
Remember: this is a 2-minute game, and any retreat probably looks the same as any other retreat. But: not so. The proper line was shown in another one of the games in the match: 8...Kh7 9.Qe4+ Kg8 10.Qd5+ Kh7 11.Qe4+ Ke8 12.Qd5+ Kh7 13.Qe4 drawn (by repetition). 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Ng6 checkmate
I just received a game from Philidor1792, and although it is not a "regular" Jerome Gambit, it is related, or "inspired by" - and it blew my mind. It features a pretty scary gambit, completely "objectively" unsound, but very uncomfortable to play against. You have been warned. saprvade - Philidor1792 3 2 blitz, lichess.org 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 So far we have a variation of the Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defense. The position could also arise from the Center Game, von der Lasa Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nf6. Now White can play 4.Nf3 and hope to transpose into the Urusov Gambit, although Black has 4...Nc6, moving the game into a Two Knights Defense or Scotch Gambit. 4. Bxf7+
Say what?? I could find no game examples in The Database, or in the ChessBase Big Database 2016. A Google search online was of no help. Philidor1792 pointed me toward the database at lichess.org, where I discovered that there were 41 games (including 1 0 bullet games and 3 0 blitz games) where White scored 51%. 4...Kxf7 5.e5 Qe7 6.Qe2 Ne8
Philidor1792 is a long-time Jerome-Gambit-and-related player. He knows what he is doing with Black, but the position already looks quite uncomfortable. Remember, too, this is a 3 2 blitz game. 7.Nf3 d6 Black's move is logical, but is a slip. Best seems the immediate safeguarding of the King with 7...Kg8 e.g. 8.Nxd4 and Stockfish 8 suggests the tortured continuation 8...c5 9.O-O Nc7 (if 9...cxd4 then 10.Qc4+ d5 11.Qxc8 Qd7 12.Qxd7 Nxd7) 10.Nf5 Qe6 11.Ne3 Nc6 12.f4 b6 13.c4 Nd4 and "of course" Black is "winning". Nice work if you can get it, as they used to say.
analysis diagram
8.Ng5+ Kg8 Of course this seems reasonable, but, as Philidor1792 points out, if 8...Kg6 then 9.e6 Bxe6 10.Nxe6 Kf7 11.Nxd4 Nc6 (or 11...Qxe2+ 12.Nxe2 Nc6) 12.Nxc6 Qxe2+ 13.Kxe2 bxc6 with an equal game. Of course. Easy as pie, in the blink of an eye.
Black has pretty much weathered the storm, although White has an edge due to a slightly better pawn structure and a safer King. 16.O-O Kf7 17.Re1 Rhe8 18.Be3 Bd6 19.Bxa7 b6 20.Nb5 Rec8
White's Queenside adventures do not seem to be amounting to much. 21.Red1 Kg8 22.Nc3 e4 23.Nd4 Nc5 24.Ncb5 Nb7 25.Nc6 Bf8 26.b4 Nd6 27.Nxd6 Bxd6
White is still a bit better, but not by very much. What in the world are his minor pieces doing? 28.c4 Nd7 29.Rxd6 cxd6 30.Ne7+ Kf7 31.Nxc8 Rxc8 32.b3 Ra8
The following game has a line in the Jerome Gambit (Delayed?) that I am not very familiar with, so I consulted with The Database and Stockfish 8 for some assistance. It is good to see jfhumphrey move quickly to victory. jfhumphrey - ckilee 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O
4...Nf6 Transposing to a Two Knights Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6) with ...Bc5 added. The Database has 1,148 games with this position, with White scoring 42%. (For comparison, The Database shows White scoring 45% after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 Now The Database has 1,909 games with this position (oh, the joys of transposition) with White scoring 40%. 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4
The Database has 291 games with this position, with White scoring 45%. 7...Bd6 Now, however, The Database has 35 games with this position, with White scoring 71%. From a practical point of view, Black has made an error that generally gets punished. Interestingly enough, Stockfish 8 sees the text move as giving White less than a half of a pawn advantage. It prefers 7...d5, and this is backed up by The Database, which has 10 games with that move - all of them wins for Black. 8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd6 10.e5 Bc5+
Bleh... Abject humiliation. I just completed a 10 0 online blitz game with the Jerome Gambit. I won on time. I won't annoy my opponent by giving his name. For historical purposes, here is the final position when his flag fell (with Black to move, mind you). I don't need Stockfish's help to figure this one out.
I know that I have shown other Jerome Gambit players escaping similarly, but it's a bit different when it is my game. What kind of a role model is that? I have half a mind to take up knitting.
I know that I have said before that I am glad that I read this blog, but my most recent Jerome Gambit game reinforced this habit - on the day the previous post appeared, I played the following game. Using "The Machine Idea", I quickly developed an advantage. Despite my opponent's efforts at counter-attack, and the time ticking off my clock, I was able to construct a checkmate. perrypawnpusher - Praotorian
An idea favored by some chess computer programs, looked at in Petasluk - GriffyJr, blitz, FICS, 2017,(0-1, 30). 9.fxe5+ Bxe5 Instead of this capture, Stockfish 8 recommends the following line, which takes the game in a very different direction, but which winds up with a small advantage for Black: 9... Kc6 10.c3 d6 11.e6 Ne7 12.Qf1 Rf8 13.Qc4+
Bc5 14.a4 a6 15.d4 b5 16.Qe2 Ba7 17.axb5+ axb5 18.d5+ Kb7 19.Qxb5+ Bb6
20.Ra3 Rxa3 21.Nxa3 Ka7 22.Qa4+ Ba6 23.Nc2 Qe8 24.Qxe8 Rxe8. White has three pawns for the sacrificed piece, but Black has the two Bishops.
Analysis Diagram 10.d4 I remembered GriffyJr's improvement. 10...Bxd4
A blitz move. Black's best was the counter-attack with 10...Qh4+. 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxd4 Qe813.Bg5+ Kf8
Material is even, but White's attack is deadly. Stockfish 8 comlained after the game that 13...Kf7 would have held out longer, but I still would have had a significant advantage. 14.O-O+ Nf6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rxf6+
Good enough to win, but a post mortem suggested 16.Qxf6+ Kg8 17.Qg5+ Qg6 18.Qe7 Qe8 19.Qxe8+
Kg7 20.Qe5+ Kh6 21.Rf6+ Kg7 22.Qg5 checkmate. This is a good maneuver to remember - even in time pressure. 16...Kg8 17.Qd5+ Kg7 18.Qg5+ Qg6 19.Rxg6+ hxg6
White has a Queen and a couple of pawns for a Rook - if he can manage his clock. Unfortunately, although my opponent's time was moving quickly, mine was falling even faster. My opponent was aware of this, and continued to fight. 20.Qe5+ Kg8 21.Nc3 d6 22.Qf6 Rh7 23.Rf1 Bd7
Heh. In the Jerome Gambit I sacrifice two pieces and challenge my opponent: show me your win. Here Praotorian throws the challenge back at me. 24.Qxg6+ Rg7 25.Qf6 Kh7 26.Rf4 d5 27.Rh4+ Kg8 28.Nxd5 Rf8
Everything is fine, but tick, tick, tick... 29.Qc3 Bb5 30.Ne3 Be2 31.Nf5 Rgf7 32.Qh8 checkmate
