Tuesday, April 4, 2023

The Winning Part of the Same Jerome Gambit – 4.c3 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.b4 Nxf2 7.Bxf7+! (Part 2)

 



The Winning Part of the Same Jerome Gambit – 4.c3 Nf6  

5.0-0 Nxe4 6.b4 Nxf2 7.Bxf7+! (Part 2)   

  

(by Yury V. Bukayev) 

 

 

In this part of my new analytical research I’ll focus with the help of my new inventions on the nature of the move 7.Bxf7+: it is enough important to understand, is it a true gambit, or a true pseudogambit (like the standard system of the Queen’s gambit – 1.d4 d5 2.c4), or something other, in fact. Thus, this part of my new research is also a large development of my other analytical research ‘Lose Never with a Strong Deferred Jerome Gambit! (Part 3)’ (it was published in January 16, 2023, on Rick Kennedy’s blog). 

 

For a lot of modern experts, the term “pseudogambit” is unnecessary, so they name 1.d4 d5 2.c4 as a usual gambit, and they are ready to name 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.b4 Nxf2 7.Bxf7+! as a usual gambit too. Let’s not prevent them to do it. But, in fact, the following much more detailed approach can be created and used. 

 

According to my definition of a true pseudogambit, the standard system of the Queen’s gambit is a true pseudogambit, because: 

1) after the acceptance 2…dxc4 White can regain the material by the direct attack - 3.Qa4+ Nc6 4.e3 Be6 5.Bxc4  

and 

2) since White’s next move (the 4th move) after his start of this attack White’s other ways aren’t better than this attack, for example: 5.Qb5?! Rb8 6.Bxc4 a6 isn’t better for White, 5.Na3? a6 with 6…b5, 5.Nc3? a6! 6.Qd1 Na5 or 6…Nf6, 4.Nf3?! Bg4 5.Ne5?! Qxd4 6.Nxc6 Qd7 7.Qxc4 Qxc6! 8.Qxc6 bxc6.  

 

Further, we can consider 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.0-0!? (It is a gambit, of course.) 5…Nxe4 6.b4!? Nxf2!? (I have considered it in the Part 1.) 7.Bxf7+!. Thus, let’s consider my new inventions after the acceptance – 7…Kxf7. 

 

After 8.Qb3+ Ke8 White has two good ways (9.d4 Be7 10.Rxf2 and 9.bxc5), both of them lead to White’s advantage. Only one of them – 9.bxc5 – is a direct attack. It is only an illusion that the direct attack is finished. And after 9…Nd3 10.Qc4 Nxc1 the continuation of the direct attack – 11.Rxc1 – is worse than the other way – the gambit way 11.Na3!!. (Moreover, the gambit 10.Ne1!? Nf4 11.d4 Ne2+ 12.Kh1 Rf8 13.Nf3 is, it maybe, a little stronger than 10.Qc4.) 

 

Thus, after 10.Qc4 Nxc1 on the way 11.Rxc1 d5! 12.cxd6 cxd6! White has enough compensation, but not more, probably. Alternatively, on the way 11.Na3!! Nxa2?! (Black has a Bishop and two pawns up this moment) White plays 12.Nb5!! with a very strong attack. After 11.Na3!! the best response 11…d5! 12.cxd6 Qxd6 13.Nb5 Qd3 14.Qc5! Ne2+ 15.Kh1 Qd7! doesn’t lead to enough good defence: after 16.Rae1 White attacks and stands better. 

 

That is why 7.Bxf7+! isn’t a true pseudogambit, in fact. But what is this 7th move? Due to the gambit 11.Na3!! and due to some White’s gambits after 7…Kf8 (please, look at my Part 1 of this research), it is right to say that 7.Bxf7+! is, according to my new term, a protogambit - a protosacrifice which is a source of several winning gambits. 

 

Once again, the Jerome gambit (JG) isn’t 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ only, it is also a large family of deferred (not of relative) systems with Bxf7+ which are the parts of JG. And the above part of JG is, probably, the strongest and the most important for practice: the probability of Black’s move 6…Nxf2 in practice is enough high.  

 

Thus, my previous research and this my research are a start of the golden era of JG in chess opening theory and practice. 

 

 

 

Contact the author:  istinayubukayev@yandex.ru  

 

 

© 2023 Yury V. Bukayev (Copyright © Bukayev Yury Vyacheslavovich 2023). All rights reserved.  

[A legal using of this investigation with a reference to it is permitted  

and doesn’t require author’s consent.] 

 

Monday, April 3, 2023

Jerome Gambit: Puzzles



If you enjoy improving your tactical skills by completing chess puzzles, lichess.org has a large collection of them (see "Puzzles by openings") including 116 Italian Game: Jerome Gambit puzzles, based on games played at that website.

I was astonished to see that 552,511 games starting with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ have been played at lichess. (White scores 49.5%) That is over 20 times the number of like games that I have in The Database.

Alas, there does not seem to be any easy way to download that half-million-game collection...

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit: Tactical Finish


You can play the most sound, or the least reputable openings, but sometimes it just comes down to tactics.

Longtime blog contributor angelcamina shows how it is done.


angelcamina - Mitay93

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023


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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit. 

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6  

Not 6...Ke7 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc6 9.Qd5 checkmate, angelcamina - umutkaraca09, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

7.Nxg6 hxg6 

Instead, 7... Nxc2+ should only lead to an even game 8.Kd1 Nxa1 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.d4 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.

The counter-attack 7...Nf6 is not enough, e.g. 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.

Also insufficient: 7...Qf6 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 

Possibly a mouse slip: 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 

9.O-O

Better than 9.Kd1 d5 10.e5 Nd7 11.c3 Nc6 12.e6 Nf6 13.Re1 Qe7 14.d3 b6 15.Bg5 Bb7 16.Bxf6 Qd6 17.e7 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, angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

9...Nxc2 

White can afford to offer the Rook.

10.e5 Nd5 11.d4 Nxa1 12.Bh6 Qe7 

13.Nd2

The correct Knight move was 13.Nc3, but at bullet speed there are plenty of slips ahead for both sides.

13...Nc2 14.Ne4 Nxd4 15.f4 Nf5 16.Bg5 

A core bullet recommendation: When in doubt, make a threat.

16...Qf7 17.Rd1 c6 18.Rxd5 

Why is White doing this?

18...cxd5 19.Nf6+ Kd8 20.Nxd5+ Ke8 21.Nc7 checkmate