Let's face it, some players succeed with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - even the more difficult lines - because they are strong, and they would succeed against their opponents whatever opening they used.
Then, there is the rest of us. Staying away from really bad lines (relatively speaking: remember, we are talking about the Jerome Gambit here) is essential. Never mind that our heroes have played them and escaped to triumph. There are some risks we should not take.
Galamon - GimpBishop
blitz, FICS, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7
Whistler's Defense. Stronger, much less known, and more dangerous for White than Blackburne's Defense (7...d6).
Do yourself a favor as a Jerome Gambiteer: don't take the Rook.
8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1
Yes, I know that Bill Wall once played the equally painful 9.Kd1 and managed a draw in Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, blitz 10 0, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 14). Better to remember the lessons of Jerome,A - Whistler,G, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 15)
9...Qxc2
Yes, I know that against 9...Nf6 ZahariSokolov at FICS won his game last year (ZahariSokolov - Dragonianlee, FICS, 2014 [1-0, 20]) and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome achieved a draw, a long time ago, in a correspondence game (Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 [½-½, 20]) but both were fortunate; and while the text is okay, 9...Qh4!? is stronger than either it or 9...Nf6.
10.Qxh7+ Kf8
If you have access to The Database you might want to point out to me that after 10...Kf6 White won in markinchrist - Gurucool, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 20) - but that was only because Black forfeited by disconnection when he had a forced checkmate in 9 moves.
11.Qxg6
A blunder.
Yes, chessmanjeff of FICS both won and lost games with 11.Nc3 (chessmanjeff - CHESSWILL, blitz, FICS, 2013 [1-0, 38] and chessmanjeff - throwback, blitz, FICS, 2014 [0-1, 16]) - that's scoring 50%, right? - but "objectively" Black's game was still better.
11...Qd1 checkmate
As a follow-up to the last post, let me point out that the presenter has many interesting videos online - including the game Nelson vs Sugar, which is another interesting Jerome Gambit. Since I have not shared that game on this blog, let me do so, now.
Nelson, Lamoni - Sugar, Zoltan
Jamaica, Queens, USA, 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
In an earlier post, "Jerome Gambit Doctor", the direct 6...Be7 was examined, as in HauntedKnight - Josue, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 29).
7.dxe5 Be7
Black wants no part of 7...Bxe5 8.Qd5+. See the recent "Borrowed As Good As Own".
8.O-O d6 9.f4
The computers prefer 9.Qf3+, as seen in Idealist - throwback, FICS, 2000: 9... Nf6 10.exf6 Bxf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rd1 Rf8 13.e5 Kg8 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Qg3 Qf8 16.Ne4 Rg6 17.Qc3 Qf5 18.Ng3 Qf7 19.Be3 Rf8 20.Rf1 c6 21.Rad1 d5 22.Qb4 b6 23.Qd6 Bg4 24.Rd2 Rxd6 25.Ne4 Rg6 26.Ng5 Qf5 27.h4 h6 28.c4 hxg5 29.Bxg5 Rxg5 30.hxg5 Qxg5 31.Rd3 Rf6 32.Rg3 Rh6 33.f3 Qe3+ 34.Rf2 Qe1+ 35.Rf1 Qxg3 36.fxg4 Rh2 37.Rf2 Rh1+ 38.Kxh1 Qxf2 39.Kh2 d4 40.Kh3 d3 41.g3 d2 42.Kh4 d1=Q 43.Kg5 Qdd2+ 44.Kh5 Qh6 checkmate
9... g6 10. e6+
"Ain't that a kick in the head?" as Dean Martin once asked.
Black can, and maybe should, take the pawn, but things will remain complicated, thanks to those annoying "Jerome pawns".
10...Kg7 11.f5 Nf6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Bg5
Instead, Stockfish suggests the wild, but it sees as balanced, 13.g4 h5!? 14.g5 Ng4 15.Qd4+ Kh7 16.f6.
13...Qb6+
14.Kh1 Qc7 15.fxg6
This gives Black a saving chance. Better was 15.Qf3.
15... hxg6
The computer gives 15...Bxe6, and while the rest of the recommendation is no walk in the park for Black's King, it turns out better than the text: 16.Qd4 Raf8 17.gxh7 Rxh7 18.Rad1 Qa5 19.Bf4 Qb6 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.e5 dxe5 22.Bxe5 Kg6 23.Bd6 Bf5 24.Rfe1 Bxd6 25.Rxd6 Bxc2 26.h3 Kg7 27.Ree6.
Now White finishes up neatly.
16.Bxf6+ Bxf6 17.Rxf6 Kxf6 18.Qd4+ Kxe6 19.Qxh8 Rb8 20.Rf1 Qe7 Black resigned
Black's Bishop and Rook will stand around, helpless, while his King is chased and checkmated.
I have used the "Day in the Life of" blog posts to present Jerome Gambit games that are not "perfect" (or "perfectly awful") to show the eb and flow of the game, how the attacker must adjust and continue to move forward, how the defender must shift and slide in order to stay in the game.
The following ZahariSokolov game is quite an adventure. Both sides have chances in an all-out brawl.
ZahariSokolov - Dragonianlee
standard, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7
This is Whistler's Defense, even stronger than Blackburne's Defense (7...d6).
8.Qxh8
ZahariSokolov has over 90 games in The Database, but none show him facing Whistler's Defense before this game. Does he take the Rook unaware of the dangers, or does he plunge right into complications trusting that he will find a way out??
8...Qxe4+ 9.Kf1
White's other alternative is also dreary: 9.Kd1 Qxg2
or
a) 9...Qg4+ 10.f3 Qxg2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Re1 d5 13.Qh4 Qxf3+ 14.Re2 Bg4 15.Nc3 Bf2 White resigned, Jerome,A - Whistler,G, correspondence, 1876; or
b) 9...d5 10.Re1 Bg4+ 11.f3 Bxf3+ 12.gxf3 Qxf3+ 13.Re2 Re8 14.Qxh7+ Kf8 15.Nc3 Qf1+ 16.Re1 Qxe1 checkmate, franciskov - danielhidrobo, FICS, 2013.
10.Re1 Qf3+? 11.Re2 Qh1+ 12.Re1 Qf3+ 13.Re2 Qh1+ 14.Re1 Qf3+ Draw, Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, 40 0, FICS, 2011. A bad case of "nerves". (On the other hand, many players would jump at a chance to draw against Bill Wall!)
9...Nf6
The text is the best move. Results from other moves, as seen in The Database, show that the complexity of the position gives White chances:
9...Qxc2 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 (10...Kf6 11.Qh4+ Kg7 12.Nc3 Qd3+ 13.Kg1 d6 14.g3 Bd7 15.b4 Bd4 16.Bb2 Bc6 17.Na4 Bxb2 18.Nxb2 Qf3 19.Qd4+ Nf6 20.Kf1 Qxh1+ Black forfeits by disconnection, markinchrist - Gurucool, FICS, 2013) 11.Na3 (11.Nc3 Qd3+ 12.Ne2 (12.Kg1 d6 13.Qh4 Bf5 14.h3 Re8 15.Kh2 d5 16.f4 d4 17.Na4 Bd6 18.b3 Be7 19.Qf2 Bf6 20.Nb2 Qe4 21.d3 Qd5 22.Re1 Rxe1 23.Qxe1 Qd6 24.Bd2 Nh6 25.Nc4 g5 26.Nxd6 cxd6 27.Bb4 g4 28.Bxd6+ Kf7 29.Kg3 gxh3 30.gxh3 Bxd3 31.Qb4 Nf5+ 32.Kf2 Bh4+ 33.Kg1 Be4 34.Rc1 Ng3 35.Rc7+ Kg6 36.Kh2 Nf1+ 37.Kg1 Nd2 38.Qxd2 Black resigned, chessmanjeff - CHESSWILL, FICS, 2013) 12...b6 13.h4 Ba6 14.Rh3 Qxe2+ 15.Kg1 Qxf2+ 16.Kh1 Qg1, checkmate, chessmanjeff - throwback, FICS, 2014) 11...Qf5 12.d4 Bxd4 13.Qh4 c5 14.Bh6+ Kf7 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.Re1 g5 17.Qg3 d5 18.b4 Be6 19.Qc7+ Kg6 20.Qd6 Ne4 21.Rxe4 dxe4 22.bxc5 Qxf2 checkmate, shugart - roentgenium, FICS, 2014; or
9...Qc4+ 10.d3 Qxc2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qf4+ (14.Qd2 Qa4 15.Nc3 d6 16.Nxa4 Black resigned, Abijud - Jeru, blitz, FICS, 2005) 14...Ke8 15.Nd2 Qxd3+ 16.Kg1 Bd6 17.Re1+ Kd8 Black resigned, IagainstI - kingphilippineda, FICS, 2013.
10.d3
Or 10.Nc3 Qe5 11.d3 b6 12.Bh6 Qf5 13.Qg7+ Ke6 14.Re1+ Kd6 15.Qf8+ Kc6 16.Qf7 Qxf2, checkmate, shugart - bakugan, FICS, 2014.
10...Qf5
Possibly 10...Qd4 is best, or Black could try 10...Qh4.
11.f3
White is up a pawn and the exchange, and despite the precarious position of his King and his poor development, Houdini sees the game as about even now.
11...Bf8 12.Nc3 d5
13.Bd2
As a historical note, 13.h4!? Qd7 14.h5 Bg7 15.hxg6+ Kxg6 16.Rh6+ Bxh6 17.Bxh6 b6 18.Ne2 Qf7 19.Qf8 Qxf8 20.Bxf8 Draw was Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876.
13...b6 14.Nb5
White would do better to continue his development with 14.Re1. Yet, White has some attacking ideas associated with his move.
14...c6
Black is distracted - perhaps that was part of White's plan. The second player is clearly better after the prudent 14...Qd7.
15.Nd6+
Getting ahead of himself! First White should play 15.Bh6! when Black's position will collapse, for example 15...Ba6 (or 15...Bb7) 16.Bxf8 Rxf8 17.Nd6+ Ke6 18.Qxf8.
15...Bxd6 16.Bh6
16...Bb7
Here Black misses his chance to grab the advantage again with 16...Qxf3+! 17.gxf3 Bh3+ 18.Ke2 Rxh8. Amazing.
Now White crashes through.
17.Qg7+ Ke6 18.Re1+ Be5 19.Qxb7 Ng4 20.Qxc6+
Black forfeited by disconnection. You can sense his great disappointment.
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