BSJG Bullet: Too Fast To Figure Out

Sometimes you can meet an expected offbeat opening (e.g. the Jerome Gambit) with another offbeat opening (e.g. the Blackburne Shilling Gambit) and morph into an offbeat line (e.g. the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit) - all of which can be rationally calculated, if the clock allows you.

Alas, for Black, in the following game, that does not happen.

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. According to The Database, angelcamina is 9-0 with this line in bullet chess.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ 

6...g6 

Otherwise, White can checkmate, e.g. 6...Ke7 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc6 9.Qd5 checkmate, angelcamina - umutkaraca09, lichess.org, 2019. 

7.Nxg6 hxg6 

The alternative, 7...Nxc2+, should only lead to an even game, although angelcamina wrestled a win, e.g. 8.Kd1 Nxa1? 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ [10.Qe5#] Kd6 11.d4 [11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qe5#] Kc6 12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.Nc3 c6 14.Qb3+? Kc7? 15.Bf4+ d6 16.Qf7+ Ne7 17.e5 d5 18.e6+ Kb6 19.Na4+ Ka5 20.b3 b5 21.Bd2+ Ka6 22.Nc5+ Kb6 23.Qf4 Ng6 24.Qe3 Nxh8 25.Qc3 Bxc5 26.Qa5+ Kb7 27.Qxd8 Bb6 28.Qe7+ Ka6 29.Qxh7 Bb7 30.e7 Black resigned, angelcamina - eloali, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

Likewise, 7...Nf6 led to trouble, 8.Qe5+ Ne6 9.Nxh8 Bg7 10.Qf5 Bxh8 11.e5 Nd5 12.Qxh7 Bxe5 13.Qg8+ Nf8 14.f4 Nxf4 15.O-O Ne2+ 16.Kh1 Qe7 17.d4 Bxd4 18.Bg5 Ng3+ 19.hxg3 White won on time, angelcamina - Skhokho1507, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

And 7...Qf6 fared no better, e.g. 8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.e5 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Qxf2 11.Qf7+ Kd8 12.Qxf2 Black resigned, angelcamina - felix_paton, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

8.Qxh8 Nf6 

Not 8...Ke7 9.Qxd4 Ke8 10.O-O Be7 11.f4 Nf6 12.e5 Ng4 13.f5 b6 14.Qxg4 gxf5 15.Qg6+ Kf8 16.Rxf5+ Bf6 17.Rxf6+ Ke7 18.Rf7+ Ke8 19.Qg8 checkmate, angelcamina - aldiardiansyah, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019.

Now was the time for 8...Nxc2+, with advantage to Black. In the BSJG it can be hard to tell if the Rook on a1 is poisoned or not.

9.Kd1 d5 10.e5 

This is a slip, and in bullet games with a time control of one minute, no increment, they can be expected. Black now also misses the fact that 10...Ne4 would be crushing.

10...Nd7 11.c3 Nc6 

12.e6 Nf6 13.Re1 Qe7 14.d3 b6 

It would have been okay to grab the pawn with 14...Bxe6, but that would have taken some thinking time, and bullet games are notoriously short of that. Now White closes in.

15.Bg5 Bb7 16.Bxf6 Qd6 17.e7 

Those pesky "Jerome pawns"!

17...Nxe7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Rxe7+ Kxe7 

20.Qe5+ Kd7 21.Kc2 Bd6 22.Qg7+ Kc6 23.Nd2 d4 24.cxd4 Rf8 25.f3 Rf5 26.Ne4 Rd5 27.Nxd6 Rxd6 28.Rc1 Ba6 29.Kd2+ Kb7 30.Qxc7+ White won on time

BSJG: Sacrifice and More Sacrifice

In the "good old days" of chess, it was considered valiant to offer sacrifices, and craven to refuse them. These attitudes produced some very entertaining games - and a plethora of virtual tut tuts from the computers that came after, and supplied skeptical analysis.

The world of "bullet chess" - in this case, a time limit of one minute with no increment - has brought back wild play, and, a person can win the game, even if he loses the annotations. The following game is an enjoyable example.

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit - a practical choice in bullet chess. It is one of those openings that an opponent can be expected to disarm and defeat, if he has enough time; of course there often is not enough time in bullet chess.

4.Bxf7+ 

However, angelcamina has come prepared! This is the infamous Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 

(You are right, Reader: there are no game examples of Joseph Henry Blackburne ever playing 3...Nd4. And, you are right again: there are no game examples of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome playing 4.Bxf7+ as a response. However, the opening calls out for the name, and I have supplied it.)  

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5 

White's "strongest" move is 6.c3, leading to an even game, but angelcamina is planning to sacrifice his way to victory.

 6...Nf6 7.Qf7+ Kxe5 8.f4+ Kxe4 9.Nc3+ Kxf4 

What if Black plays 9...Kf5 instead? It turns out that White has already answered that question (more sacrifice), in angelcamina - rabirabi, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13).

10.d3+ 

Warning: if you follow this line of play in the future, angelcamina will improve with 10.0-0+.

10...Ke5 11.O-O Nxc2 

One last grab of material.

12.Bf4+ Kd4 13.Qc4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Tempo Waste

One way for Black to make the Jerome Gambit "playable" is to give up tempos without gaining much in return. Bit by bit, White gets more compensation for his sacrificed material, until he has the better game.  

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

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

Stronger than the superficially attractive 11...Ng4, as in angelcamina - frn000,1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 23) 

12.Nc3 

angelcamina has also played 12.d3, in  angelcamina - Danielpia, 1-0, bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 28) 

12...Kg8 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3 Nf6 

15.f5 Ne7 16.Bg5 Nc6 17.Bh6 

This works, but more solid was 17.Rd1.

17...Nh5

This will not turn out well.

18.Qg4 Qf6 19.Qxh5 gxh6 20.Qxe8+ Qf8 21.Qxf8+ Kxf8 

White is up the exchange and a couple of pawns. He has only to be careful about the clock.

22.Rad1 Nb4 23.Rd2 Nc6 24.a3 Bd7 25.Nd5 Rc8 26.Re1 a5 27.g4 a4 

28.e5 dxe5 29.dxe5 Na5 30.Nf6 Be8 31.Nxh7+ Kg7 32.Nf6 Bf7 33.Rd7 Rf8 34.Nh5+ Kg8 35.e6 White won on time

White's "Jerome pawns" would win the day, in any case. 

Jerome Gambit: Stunned

If a defender is not familiar with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), missteps are easy to find. The following game is one example as to how the opening can be effective in club play - one slip, and Black has passed the point of no return.

TitoH - prosoccer
RedHotPawn.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Black turns the advantage over to White, in order to not play along with the attacker's plans. For a recent example, see "Jerome Gambit: Disease 1, Cure 0".

6.Qh5+ 

The consistent 6.Nxc6 is stronger, although it could lead to the aggressive 6...Qh4!? (There are still no examples of this move in The Database.)

6...g6 7.Nxg6

The Database has 38 games with this position. White scores a hefty 72%.

7...Qf6 

For an earlier discussion of this line, review "Jerome Gambit Secrets #3".

Black's strongest response was 7...Bxf2+, leading to a small advantage for him, after 8.Kxf2 Nf6. The earliest examples that I have of 7...Bxf2+ are the twin games Hultgren, R - Harrow, and Blackstone, J - Dommeyer, C, both played in Campbell, California and both played in 1960. Sadly - for Black - The Database has 10 games with the move, with White winning 8 of them.

8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.d4 

9...Bxd4 

Tripping over White's out-stretched foot... 

10.Bg5 Bxf2+ 11.Ke2 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Meanwhile

Having played the Jerome Gambits currently available to me in the second round of the "Italian Game Classic" tournament at Chess.com (I have Black in one game, so I will have one more chance this round, after that contest is completed), I have just started play in the second round of the "Italian Game Battlegrounds" tournament at Chess.com, as well. I have Black in one game, but White in another - so, another Jerome Gambit!

I will share the game here, when it is completed.

Jerome Gambit: A Way Out of the Woods (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

My second Jerome Gambit, in the second round of the "Italian Game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, was a battle. I flailed around for a while, trying to put together a decent plan. In the end, it was the pawns.

perrypawnpusher - FedeMamut
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com 2019

12.Bg5 

This move is often thematic in the Jerome Gambit. However, when the game was over and I submitted it for Chess.com's computer analysis, the verdict was that while 12.Bg5 was "good", 12.h4 was "best". However, in the same position, I would choose my move, again, instead of weakening my Kingside.

12...Qe5 

Unpinning the Knight, moving the Queen to a more active post - and offering to exchange Queens. With Black's dark squared Bishop still holding back my f-pawn, I wasn't sure what my best way forward would be - but it certainly wasn't exchanging Queens. 

13.Bf4 Qd4 14.Be3 Qb4 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 

Never mind what the Chess.com computer said about the past few moves (I am sure that you can guess) - I have gotten rid of the pinning Bishop, and Black's Queen will have to stay on the a7-g1 diagonal to keep my f-pawn at home.

16.Rae1 h4 17.Qf4 Qe5 18.Qd2 Be6

19.f4 

Ta dah!

"Good", but 19.h3 was "best". Maybe so, but how does White follow up? The Chess.com computer's move would have led me further into the wilderness.

19...Qd4+ 20.Kh1 h3 21.g3 a5 

This move reminded me, fondly, of the Fidelity Chess Challenger 7, a dedicated chess computer (running on the 8-bit Z80 cpu) which came out in 1979. Whenever it assessed its position as good, but didn't have a way forward, it would often launch one of it's Rook pawns.

I was skeptical of my opponent's move when he played it, as it seemed like it gave me a free tempo, but the Chess.com computer later labelled it as "good". I figured that it was time to strike in the middle, and, of course, played another "inaccuracy".

22.e5 

The computer preferred 22.Ne2. That is an interesting move, and Stockfish 10 (at 35 ply), afterwards, could barely differentiate it from 22.Nd1 and 22.f5 (they were within 4/100th of a pawn of each other!). That last move held the possibility of White following up with Rf1-f4, and then g4 and a later g5, so I should have given it consideration.

22...Nd5

Okay, this is a "blunder", but it is helpful to understand why.

When White's pawn advances in the Jerome Gambit, the question for Black is often "to exchange or not?" Black decided not to, in our game, but he overlooked the better 22...Bd5+, probably because the piece can be snapped off right away with 23.Nxd5. After 23...Qxd5+ 24.Kg1 Qd4+ 25.Kh1 Qd5+, etc, Black would have a draw - but why would he want it? Instead, 25...Nd7 would keep Black's advantage, as after 26.e6, the pawn could easily be blockaded.

Black's move gave me a tempo, and I spent it on the "Jerome pawns". 

23.f5 Bg8 

24.e6

I could not figure out how to make 24.f6 work, and, therefore, settled for blocking in Black's light square Bishop - which often gets blocked in (or neglected) on the Queenside. The g-pawn looked like it had a future in a supporting role.

Black's next few moves show that he wasn't sure how to continue, either.

24...Nxc3 25.bxc3 Qf6 26. g4 Qh6 

It is true that 27.Qxh6 now would turn the advantage back over to Black, but I was not interested in anything so peaceful. Besides, there was another tempo to find for my "Jerome pawns".

27.g5 Qh5 28.Qf4 

Certainly, 28.f6 also would work here, but the text targeted Black's pawn at d6, giving White's Queen entrance behind enemy lines. The f-pawn would have its day.

28...Qe8 29.f6 g6 30.Qxd6+ Black resigned

(I just noticed that I still had all 8 of my pawns.)