Jerome Gambit: Don't open that door!

Sometimes when I am playing over a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game I secretly root for the player with the Black pieces.

It's kind of like watching a movie where someone enters a haunted house and starts wandering around. I want to yell out a warning: be careful in there, don't do anything foolish!

But in those scary movies – and often in Jerome Gambits – nobody ever listens to me...


bower50 - bobster38
www.GameKnot.com, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0

A "modern" variation, bypassing 5.Nxe5.

5...Qf6 6.d3 h6 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.a3


Black has entered the haunted house, but everything looks fine. He has his typical advantage, especially facing White's relaxed approach to the opening

8...a5 9.Nb5



A tricky staircase, but nothing really to worry about.

9...Bb6 10.Be3 Na7 11.Nxa7 Bxa7 12.d4



What's that creaky noise? Probably just a loose step...

12...d6 13.d5



Don't open that door!

13...Bxe3 14.fxe3 c6



Oh, no!

15.Nxe5+

Horrible – but not nearly as blood-curdling as 15.Nh4.

15...dxe5 16.Qh5+ g6



Better to defend against the Phantom Lady with the Dark Knight: 16...Ng6

17.Rxf6+ Kxf6 18.Qf3+ Kg7



Comparing pieces, Black has Bishop, Knight and Rook for his Queen; but we know these movies never turn out nicely.

19.d6

The text and the alternative 19.Rf1 show how helpless Black is, he has to immediately give back a piece.

19...Nd5 20.exd5

Or 20.Rf1

20...Rf8 21.Qe4 Rf5 22.dxc6 bxc6 23.Qxc6



It's too gruesome – I can't watch any more!

23...Rb8 24.Qc7+ Black resigns



Poor fellow. I told him not to open that door, er, file.

Jerome Gambit Blog: More Tidying Up

It's time to do a bit more tidying up (see "Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up") on the blog – looking back on older posts and updating things since the last effort...

Relationships with the ChessPub.com forum remain cordial, if distant (see "Jerome Gambit: Duck-Billed Platypus of Openings"). I posted a short message there with a link to this blog, and some people have followed it over, placing the site 13th in referrals to jeromegambit.blogspot.com, according to Google Analytics. Of course the actual number is 1/16 th of those who came over from the Something Awful website (see "Something Awful", "Something Awful Again" and "Return to Awful"), just to keep things in perspective.

"Is it September already?" requires a number of updates. To date there has been no Jerome Gambit tournament in Jerome, Arizona, as far as I know. I still have an observer near the scene, though (see "Driving Distance"). Bill Vallicella's very interesting and ever-challenging Maverick Philosopher website has a new location. A review copy of Benjamin Hale's book Philosophy Looks at Chess has arrived, and when I get past my current writer's block (i.e. spending all of my writing time on this blog, instead of writing reviews for Chessville) I'll have my say about it.

An update to "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)" would have to include chessfriend and game-contributor Martin Moller, of Denmark (see "Jerome meets the Elephant", "Jerome Gambit Strikes in Denmark!" and "Deadly Duel in Denmark" ) Unfortunately, the tournament mentioned in "A Jerome Gambit Gemeinde Adventure in Denmark" did not proceed as expected, and it is not likely that we will see further Jerome Gambit games from it.

The possible connection betwen Winston Churchill and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (see "From the Email Bag...") has been traced a bit. Churchill's mother was the American, Jennie Jerome (Lady Randolph Churchill; 1854-1921). Jennie's father was Leonard Jerome (1818-1891) of New York City fame and fortune. Leonard's father was Isaac Jerome; his grandfather was Aaron Jerome; his great-grandfather was Samuel Jerome. Samuel's father, Timothy Jerome, according to thePeerage, in 1710 "fled from France to England. In 1717 he sailed from the Isle of Wight to settle in Connecticut." Papers from the military records of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (born in Four Mile Point, New York, see "The Man, The Myth, The Legend...") show that upon his death in 1902, his widow, Jennie Jerome (the name is an interesting coincidence) filed for a survivor pension. One affadavit was signed by Edgar Jerome and Martha Millis, listed as brother and sister of Alonzo, living in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Further research, of course, is needed to make any link, such as an Alonzo Wheeler Jerome-linked homestead in Connecticut.

In a comment to "Why not join in the discussion?" Pete Banks wrote the following:

Hi Rick,

I sent my latest escapade to Gary Lane after I sent it to you, as he'd asked for Jerome examples. Here is the relevant part of his reply: 'Did Rick Kennedy ever have his article published in the Germanmagazine he mentioned called Kaissiber? Anyway, you won't be able to use the opening as a surprise weapon for much longer because in November a winning game of yours is mentioned in my book "The Greatest Ever Tricks and Traps in the Opening" published by Everyman. Cheers Gary'

So a Jerome Gambit is to appear in print! Perhaps we'll get a revival going!

A check of the Everyman Chess website shows that Gary Lane's The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps is available now. Perhaps it should be included as the next entry in the "Jerome Gambit Scrapbook".

By the way, as for the Kaissiber saga, see "To Infinity... And Beyond! (Part II)", "Breaking News..." and "Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up". I'm still hopeful.

Regarding the "Jerome Gambit and the Perfesser series" Part I, Part II, Part III and PartIV, I have another instructive, exploratory "human vs computers" match coming up, where the protagonist, "RevvedUp" (a pseudonym of my invention), alternates between playing Black and playing White, using the line played by the computer in the previous game as his choice in the current one – thus extending his Jerome Gambit "book" through the use of the computers' praxis...

Familiar

Here's a familiar "guest" (Louis Morin) playing a line we are familiar with (see "A Real Game") – suddenly wandering off into unfamiliar territory. Happily, he escapes – a theme not unfamiliar to Jerome Gambit devotés...

guest653 - guest643
ICC blitz game 2 12, 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qxc7


A very dangerous time to be grabbing material, as Black now has counter-play similar to that of Whistler's Defense (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter VIII"). Safer was the routine 9.Qe3.

9...Qxe4+ 10.Kd1 Qg4+ 11.f3 Qxg2


12.Re1+ N8e7 13.Qc3 Nf4


Black's Knight moves in for the kill, but he probably would have done better with 13...Rf8 with play against the f3-pawn. The text move actually "protects" that target.

14.d4 Nfd5 15.Qb3 Rf8


The same idea, in a different situation, is not the same thing...

In blitz games things can get overlooked, and Black's move has a major problem, even if it is understandable: he is hammering away at the White King and forgets that what he should do now is move his own King with 15...Kd8.

16.Qxd5 Qxf3+ 17.Qxf3 Rxf3

The heat is off of White, and he can now begin to take the initiative himself.

18.Bg5 Rf7 19.Nc3 h6 20.Bxe7 Rxe7 21.Kd2 d6 22.Nd5 Rxe1 23.Rxe1+ Kd7


White has both a "good" Knight against a "bad" Bishop and a "good" Rook against a "bad" one.

24.Re7+ Kc6 25.c4 g6

Not well thought out. Of course 25...Bd7 was necessary, but Black's Kingside pawns will fall quickly and White's passer will then be the advantage he needs to win.

26.Rc7 checkmate

Lame, Lamer, Lamest

I just took a look at PC World magazine's list of the Top 11 Lamest Blogs ("After an Internet-wide search, here are the 11 blogs that depressed -- er, uh -- impressed us the most with their lameness.") and noticed that this blog is not listed.

I don't know to feel relieved or disappointed...

Actually, the Jerome Gambit is so far "below the radar" that it would probably take sonar to pick it up.

Still, a Gemeinde can hope, can't it??

"This site may harm your computer"

I love to use Google and other search engines to find Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) references.

I just ran across the following, though, and I have no interest at all in discovering what it says!

Beware: don't try it yourself, either!

Mfkiqpl旅行社旅游线路预订程序-留言板 - [ Translate this page ]
This site may harm your computer.... %PPP, http://q92bp.cn/jerome/jerome-gambit.html jerome gambit, 358, http:// 84ygp.cn/freemason/freemason-facts.html freemason facts, kfyis, ...www.xyzq.gov.cn/lvyou/guestbook.asp?page=4010 - Similar pages

Pulling A Rabbit Out of A Hat

My latest Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – by transposition the game became one of the "modern" variations (see "Jerome Gambit: Chapter IV" and "Jerome Gambit: A Closer Look (Part III)") – was pretty routine, although I was pleased to have missed an "opportunity" to lose dramatically. It's better to learn the wrinkles after the game.


perrypawnpusher - islanderchess
FICS blitz game, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

That's okay. I can wait a move or two. See "Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit"

4.0-0 Bc5

That's better.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7

It's like we started out 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 h6.

6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6

A novelty – and a good one.

8.Qxe5 Nf6

The right move was the retrograde 8...Bf8, since then 9.Qxh8 Bg7 would lead to the win of the White Queen. Moving quickly, I might have fallen for that. Ouch!

Now we have a typical Jerome-Gambit-gone-right, where White is up a couple of pawns.

9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Ng4 11.Qf4+ Kg7 12.d4 Rf8 13.Qg3 g5

14.Nc3 c5 15.f4 cxd4 16.Ne2 Ne3 17.Bxe3 dxe3 18.Qxe3 gxf4 19.Nxf4 Qg5

Not much has changed. White is still ahead by 2 pawns.

My opponent does not heed the advice: when you are ahead, exchange pieces; when you are behind, exchange pawns.

20.Nd5 Qxe3+ 21.Nxe3 Be6 22.Nf5+ Bxf5 23.exf5 Rae8 24.Rae1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxf5 26.Re7+ Kf6 27.Rxb7 Rc5

My endgame technique is rusty, but not enough to change the outcome of the game.

28.Rxa7 Rxc2 29.Rb7 Rc1+ 30.Kf2 Ke5 31.Rb3 Rc2+ 32.Kf3 d5 33.Re3+ Kf5 34.Re2 Rc4 35.g3 h5 36.b3 Rc5 37.Ke3 Rc3+


This loses another pawn.

38.Kd4 Rf3 39.Kxd5 Kg4 40.b4 h4 41.gxh4 Kxh4 42.b5 Rd3+ 43.Kc4 Rd7 44.b6 Rb7 45.Kc5 Rxb6 46.Kxb6 Black resigns

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

How Many...?

Here's a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ) game that has puzzled me mightily. It is, among other things, an exploration into the question "How many pawns provide White compensation for his sacrificed piece?"

guest585 - guest983

ICC 2 12, 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 Qe7

Counter-attacking the center – and White would prefer not to exchange Queens.

8.Qc4+ d5

What's a pawn between friends? White will now have three for his Knight, but Black is planning to develop his pieces quickly and then squash his opponent like a bug!

Calmer was 8...Qe6 9.Qc3 (9.Qxe6 Kxe6 10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4 Ne7 12.f5+ Ke5 13.d3 d5 14.Bf4+ Kd4 15.c3+ Kc5 16.e5 Bxf5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bxc7 Rac8 19.Ba5 Bxd3 20.Rxf6 Nc6 21.Na3 d4 22.cxd4+ Nxd4 23.Rd1 Be4 24.Bb4+ Kd5 25.Rd6+ Black resigned, obviously - levigun, www.GameKnot.com, 2004) Qxe4+ 10.Qe3 Qxg2 11.Rf1 Qxh2 12.d3 Nf6 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Ne4 d5 15.Ng5+ Kf8 0-1 Nestor250168 - drewbear, www.chessworld.net, 2007

9.Qxd5+ Be6 10.Qxb7 Re8

Materialists are probably getting nervous here, and the computer – a classic material-grabber – agrees, suggesting instead 10...Nf6 11.d3 Rhb8 with superior development and approximate equality.

11.d3 h6 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.Be3

I don't care how many pawns White has for his piece, he looks like he is in terrible danger. Yet, Rybka 3 insists that White can have another serving with 13.Qxa7 and get away with it.

13...Rhf8

Consistent; but sliding the other Rook over to confront the Queen was better.

14.0-0

Rybka still prefers the pawn-grab at a7.

14...c5 15.Qxe7+ Nxe7 16.Bxc5 Kg8 17.Bxa7 Ng6 18.f4 Black resigns

Amazing.