If you want them to stop laughing...

...first you have to stop telling jokes.

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is overly-long. That's not my opponent's fault – in fact, he thought my opening was such a joke that he rushed several "aggressive" moves that either put him at a disadvantage, or lost the chance at a serious advantage.

It's my fault. Several times when it looked like it was time for Black to exit, I made jokey moves that gave him hope that there would be more pratfalls like that ahead. It's fortunate for me that he didn't hold out until the moment of checkmate!

perrypawnpusher  - lorecai

blitz FICS, 2010


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

It is pleasant to watch my opponent take time over every move, especially when I've been here a number of times before.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

A different approach was seen in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009: 11.f3 Kf7 12.Qb3+ Be6 13.Qxb7 Kg8 14.d3 Nd7 15.d4 Bc4 16.Re1 Qb8 17.Qxb8 Raxb8 18.b3 Ba6 19.c4 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.Nc3 c6 22.Ne2 Rf6 23.f4 Rbf8 24.g4 h6 25.h4 Bc8 26.Kg2 Nb8 27.Kg3 Na6 28.a3 Nc7 29.g5 hxg5 30.hxg5 Rg6 31.d5 cxd5 32.exd5 Bf5 33.Nd4 Na6 34.Nxf5 Rxf5 35.Kg4 Black resigned 

11...Ng4

A very radical approach was taken by Pete Banks a couple of years ago: 11...Kd7 12.Nc3 b6 13.d4 c6 14.f5 Ne7 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nfd5 17.e6+ Kc7 18.Qe5+ Kb7 19.Qxg7 Nf6 20.Bg5 Nfg8 21.f6 Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Rxf6 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Qxe7+ Nd7 25.exd7 Qxd7 26.Qxd7+ Bxd7 27.Rf7 Kc7 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.Ne4 Kc8 30.Nf6 Be6 31.Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rxa7 Bf5 33.Nxh7 Bxc2 34.h4 Ke8 35.h5 Bxh7 36.Rxh7 Kf8 37.h6 Kg8 38.Rb7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic Chessworld,2008;


Wheras Louis Morin saw another defensive plan: 11...Rf7 12.Nc3 Kf8 13.d4 c6 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.f5 Ne7 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.h3 Re8 18.g4 b5 19.g5 Nfg8 20.Qg3 b4 21.Nd1 Qb6 22.Qxd6 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.exf5 Rd8 25.Qxb4 Qxd4+ 26.Qxd4 Rxd4 27.Bc3 Rf4 28.f6 gxf6 29.gxf6 Nxf6 30.Bxf6 Rxf6 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Nd5 33.a3 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kd6 35.Ne3 Nf4 36.Kg3 Ne2+ 37.Kf3 Nd4+ 38.Ke4 Ne6 39.h4 a5 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 c5 42.b5 Nd4 43.c4 h6 44.Nf5+ Ke6 45.Nxd4+ cxd4 46.b6 d3 47.Kxd3 Kf5 48.b7 Kg4 49.b8Q Kxh4 Black resigned, mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008.

12.Qg3 h5

13.d4 h4 14.Qd3 Rxf4

A surprising slip – enough so that I capture with the wrong piece. Still, White now gets the advantage.

15.Rxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qf6

17.Be3 h3 18.Nc3 hxg2 19.Kxg2 Qh4

This attack should not succeed, unless it is underestimated.

20.Bf4

This is silly: 20.h3 holds just fine – which I am sure that my opponent figured out, right after he mis-played his next move.

20...Nf2

If the Queen goes to f2, instead, Black wins a piece.

Lorecai must be convinced by now that he was playing a lucky someone who survives despite poor play. 

21.Qg3

The Queen's rush to defense makes everything okay for White.

21...Bh3+

An angry, impatient move; while the exchange of Queens would have saved the trapped Knight, at the cost of ending Black's attack.

22.Kxf2 Qxg3+ 23.hxg3

I'm up a pawn and a piece, but my play so far encourages Black to stay in the game.

23...Kd7 24.Rh1 Bg4

For the second half of the game, I focused on turning my material advantage into a win.

25.Ne2 Rf8 26.Ke3 Bxe2 27.Kxe2 Re8 28.Rh7 Rxe4+ 29.Kd3 Re7

30.c4 Rf7 31.d5 c6 32.dxc6+ bxc6 33.b4 Ke6 34.Kd4

34...Kf6 35.Bxd6 Rd7 36.Kc5 Ke6 37.Bf8 Kf6

38.Kxc6 Rd3 39.Rxg7 Rd2 40.Rxa7 Rd3

I was a little embarassed at this point that my opponent still didn't want to admit defeat – that he still thought he had a chance against me in this game.

41.Bd6 Ke6 42.c5 Rd4 43.b5 Rg4 44.b6 Rg8

45.Re7+ Kf5 46.b7 Kf6 47.Re3 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Familiar

I am playing in Chess.com's second "Italian opning [sic] rapid players". In the first round, Group 1, I have managed to play only one Jerome Gambit game, but it was a successful one.

Past experience prepared me for a good start in the game.

perrypawnpusher - BIJAN_H_F

italian opning rapid players, Chess.com, 2025

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 

This is a familiar position. The Database has 1,300 games where it occurs, with White scoring 63%.

Closer at hand, I have reached this position in 64 games, scoring 78%.

10.O-O 

Or 10.f4 as in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS,2010 (1-0, 18)

10...Rf8 

I have faced 10...Kf7 a number of times; 

perrypawnpusher - Feestt, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 19);

perrypawnpusher - thehunterrjames, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 25);

perrypawnpusher - Nadante, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 59);

perrypawnpusher - stcamillis, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18);

perrypawnpusher - Jore, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32); 

perrypawnpusher - avgur, blitz, FICS, 2013 (0-1, 27); 

perrypawnpusher - kenkenaditya, blitz, FICS, 2014  (1-0, 33); 

perrypawnpusher - scarsetto, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1,18); and

perrypawnpusher - acasimon1987, Chess.com, 2021 (0-1, 38) 

Also 10...Ng4  

perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 58); 

perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47);

perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS 2011 (1-0, 24);

perrypawnpusher - FiNLiP, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 59); and

perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18)

After 10...Qe7

perrypawnpusher - Edvardinho, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 57); and

 perrypawnpusher - Borislav007, Chess.com, iPhone 2024 (1-0, 12)

11.f4 Rf7 

Or 11...Ng4 as in

perrypawnpusher - blackburne, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, chessworld.net, 2008 (1-0, 38);

perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 47);

perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2 - 1/2, 58);

perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37);

perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010  (1-0, 47); and

perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS 2011 (1-0, 24)

Enough history. Back to the game.

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc4 

Or 13...Neg4, perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30) 

14.Qd3 Nb6 

Also possible was 14...b5. In similar positions, however, I have scored 7 - 1- 1. In this game, I now have a small advantage, based on my pawn center and Black's King's uneasy placement.

15.Bg5 h6 16.Bh4 Nbd7 

This move takes away a resource - exchanging Queens - that was still possible after 16...Bd7 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Bc6 19.exf6 Qxd3 20. cxd3 gxf6 and White has only a small advantage. 

17.Nc3 Nf8 

The Knight has been around: Nc6-e5-g6-e5-c4-b6-d7-f8.

18.Rad1 g5 19.Bg3 

Stockfish 16.1 prefers more active play, showing how to take advantage of the weak Black Kingside; 19.fxg6 Nxg6 20.Bxf6 Rxf6 21.Nd5 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Be6 23.Qg3 Bf7 24.Rf6 c6 25.Rxg6 Bxf6 26.Qxg6+ Kf8 27.Qxh6+ Kf7 28.Qxh6+ Kf8 29.Nc7

19...N8d7 20.e5 

White will win material, and maintain his advantage.

20...dxe5 21.dxe5 Qe7 

It is hard for Black to come up with an answer, as White's e-pawn not only threatens to take the Knight on f6, it threatens to advance to e7, forking two pieces.

22.exf6 Qxf6 

23.Rfe1+ 

Even stronger was 22.Nd5 right away.

23...Kf8 24.Nd5 Nc5 

Worth a try, but White will not slip at this point.

25.Qe3 b6 26.Qe8+ Kg7 27.Nxf6 Bb7 28.Nh5+ Black resigns

It is checkmate after 28...Kh7 29.Qxf7+ Kh8 30.Qg7# 

Deep Thinks

Although the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game was played at blitz speed (2 12), it contained two relatively long "deep thinks". With mine, I accidentally avoided an immediate destruction; with my opponent's, he immediately percipitated one.

perrypawnpusher - lorecai
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

10.0-0 Ng4

This is a multi-purpose move: attacking the Queen, preparing to attack the King (if White castles Kingside) and arranging to exchange Queens, if need be.

Our earlier game went 10...Rf8 11.f4 Ng4, perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47).

11.Qg3

This was my move choice after a pretty deep think, at least for a blitz time control. It seems like a prety obvious move, and I would bet that my opponent was wondering what was taking me so long to find it. What could I possibly be seeing in the position??

In part, I didn't like 11...Qh4 as a response, forcing the exchange of Queens, although things worked out well for tedhorst and Ghandy in their games with that move: tedhort - popasile, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 30) and Ghandy - julianaajedrez, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 26, a loss on time in an even game).

In my deliberations I eventually discarded 11.Qe2 – a move which, unbeknownst to me, quickly goes horribly wrong: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ White resigned, mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008.

So, although I did not come up with anything spectacularly good with my "deep think" at least I did not come up with something spectaularly bad, like 11.Qe2 would have been. 

11...h6

I am not sure what to think about this move. It could have been a mouse-slip for an intended 11...h5, as I faced last year in perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

In any event, it un-protects  the Black Knight at g6, which makes my next move easy to see (although 12.f3 might have been a tiny bit better).

12.h3 N4e5

It might have been time to try the "fishing pole" move, 12...h5!?, although the placement of White's Queen allows him to take the Knight and survive, e.g. 13.hxg4 hxg4 14.f4!? followed by developing the rest of his pieces and attention to defense (of course).

13.d4

For concrete reasons, 13.f4, which accomplishes the same thing (attacking and either winning or chasing away the defender of the Knight on g6), was better.

After the text, Black now has 13...Qh4, and 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 would only give White a small edge. If White opts to exchange Queens himself after 13...Qh4 with 14.Qxh4, Black would have the annoying 14...Nf3+ which breaks up White's pawns, 15.gxf3 before recapturing the Queen with 15...Nxh4. As White would then be due to lose another pawn, his advantage, again, would be small.

My opponent went into a deep think now.

13...Qg5

Wow.

Was this another mouse-slip for an intended 13...Qh4 ? Or was he counting on seeing 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 ?

Either way, this was an unfortunate move.

14.Bxg5 Black resigned

Bypassed in Time

Some lines in the Jerome Gambit and related openings get a lot of attention on this blog, while others get short shrift. Below, Black uses a rare defense to the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, White misses the best response, and, after a relatively short tussle, the first player loses.

Clearly I have some educational work to do.

lorecai - ffdallagnol
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 

It is rare that I can give the history of my attention to a particular line in short order, but with "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (2)", "Please don't do that", "My Turn Again" and "BSG: Later on in theDiscussion" that's about it.

Reflecting how often Bill Wall mines The Database for ideas for play (see "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"), I feel compelled to point out that I did not provide ffdallagnol with the games collection so that he could ambush lorecai with something rare.

6.Qh5

Looks aggressive, but best, leading to only a small edge for Black, is 6.c3, as Houdini 3 lays out: 6...d6 7.Nc4 Ne6 8.d4 Nf6 9.f4 d5 10.Ne5 dxe4 11.f5 Nc5 12.0-0 Nd3 13.Nxd3 exd3 14.Qxd3 Kf7 15.Bg5 Be7 16.Nd2 Re8 17.Rae1 Kg8 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qe4 Qd6 20.Rf3 Kh8 21.Rg3 Bd7 . I'll have to track down some of the relevant games.

6...Qe8 7.Qg5+

Wanting to keep the attack alive, but best play at this point, alas, was exchanging the Queens followed by 8.Kd1.

7...Nf6 8.Na3 d6 9.Nec4 

9...b5 10.Ne3 b4

This pawn charge is fun, but not best.

11.Nd5+

White can stir up more mischief with 11.e5 bxa3 12.exf6+ gxf6 although he still would be worse.

11...Kd7 12.Nxf6+ gxf6 13.Qxf6

Hoping the attack on the Rook on h8 will give him time to save his Knight on a3. In a way, he succeeds.

13...Qxe4+ 14.Kf1 Qe2+ 15.Kg1 Qe1 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Theory and Practice (Part 1)

I recently received a couple more games from Vlastimil Fejfar (see "Correspondence Play" Parts 1, 2, 3 for an introduction) - both quite complicated.

The following game makes its way through early Jerome Gambit theory and practice, as indicated by the links to games in the notes. There is a lot to understand from the first 12 moves - and that isn't even half of the game!

The game gets more and more complicated, but Vlasta crashes through for the win. 

Vlastous 2131 - AmetovB 2074
ChessManiac.com, 2016

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 Rf8 

10...Kf7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 64). 

Also: 10...Ng4 11.Qc3 N6e5 12.d4 Nxh2 13.Kxh2 Qh4+ 14.Kg1 Ng4 15.Bf4 Rf8 16.Bg3 Qh5 17.f3 Nf6 18.Qxc7 Bd7 19.Bxd6 Rc8 20.Qxb7 Rf7 21.Nc3 Qg5 22.Rae1 Ng4 23.Qd5 Qxd5 24.Nxd5 Nf6 25.Ne3 Rc6 26.e5 Nh5 27.d5 Ra6 28.e6 Bxe6 29.Nc4 Rxd6 30.Nxd6+ Kd7 31.dxe6+ Kxd6 32.exf7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1660564, PlayChess.com, 2013. 

11.f4 

A couple of other pawn ideas:

11.f3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, Internet Chess Club, 2009 (1-0, 35); and 11.d4 as in De Bouver,G - Verstappen, Mechelen, 2015 (1/2-1/2, 19) 

11...Kf7 

Or 11...Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 20), perrypawnpusher - obturator, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 31), and perrypawnpusher - fogab, blitz, FICS, 2014, (1-0, 27); or 

11...Ng4 as in perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 58),  perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24); or

11...Rf7 as in mrjoker - Mandragora, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (1-0, 49) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30). 

12.f5 Ne7 

More frequently see is 12...Ne5 as in 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qd3 (or 14.Qf4 in perrypawnpusher - Jore, blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 32] ; or 14.Qb3+ in perrypawnpusher - avgur, blitz, FICS, 2013 [0-1, 27]) 14...Kg8 15.h3 Bxf5 (or 15...Nh6 in perrypawnpusher - kenkenaditya, blitz, FICS, 2014 [1-0, 33]) 16.Rxf5 d5 17.hxg4 dxe4 18.Qxe4 Nxe4 White resigned,  perrypawnpusher - scarsetto, blitz, FICS, 2014.

Vlasta is on his own now. The first thing he does is provoke Black, allowing his own "Jerome pawns" to advance. An interesting skirmish against the Black Knights follows.

13.Qb3+ d5 14.e5 Ng4 15.Qg3 Nh6 16.f6 Ng6 17.d4 Nf5 18.Qd3

18...gxf6 19.g4 Rg8 20.Kh1 Nfh4 

The position grows more complex. Black should have kept a balanced position with 20...Nfe7 21.Rxf6+ Ke8.

21.Bg5 Bf5 

This can't be right; but look at the position.

22.gxf5 Nxe5 23.dxe5 Rxg5 24.e6+ Ke7 

Black has returned the gambit piece, and employs his King to blockade the enemy passed pawn.

Look closely, however, as his game quickly falls apart.  

25.Nc3 d4 26.Qe4 Qd6 27.Nd5+ Ke8 28.Nxf6+ Ke7 29.Qxh4 Qc6+ 30.Ne4 h6 31.Rae1 Rh8 32.Rf3 Black resigned

Complicated to the end. Look at the pins!

(This is blog post number 2,300.)

It's Not A Blunder If It Doesn't Get Refuted

I was feeling pretty good about the following game until I played it over and almost choked on the winning 21st move. I wonder if my opponent had the same experience? Oh, well, strange things happen in blitz...

perrypawnpusher  - dkahnd
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

My opponent and I have met a couple of times before. Once he chose 6...Kf8 (1-0, 20) perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0

There are 48 games with this position in the updated New Year's Database. White has scored 66%, but it has caused me my share of headaches.

10...Rf8 11.f4

Here 11...Ng4 12.Qg3 looks critical.

MRBarupal beat me with 12...Qh4 (perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 [0-1, 47]) while I was able to hold jgknight to a draw in that line (perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 [½-½, 58]).

Less effective was 12...h5 (perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010, [1-0,47]).

Strongest may be 12...Qf6, which was reached by transposition (10.f4 Ng4 11.Qg3 Rf8 12.0-0 Qf6) in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 37).

11...Rf7

11...Kd7 was perhaps a bit too risky in perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 38)

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4

Certainly tempting, given the above lines, but 13...Nc6 might be better.

14.Qf3 Re7

15.h3 Rxe4

The play is heating up. Black did not like the looks of 15...Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6, so he pushes ahead.

16.hxg4

After the game Rybka offered 16.Bg5 Rxd4 17.hxg4 as a bit better.

16...Rxg4 17.Re1+ Kf8 18.Nc3

A reasonable pawn sacrifice to focus on development to further the attack.

18...Rxd4 19.Bg5 Bd7 20.Qe3

More in line with the position was repositioning the Knight with 20.Ne2 Rc4 21.Nf4 giving an edge to White.

20...c5 21.Nd5

Wow.

If we had eggs, we could have ham an eggs – if we had ham.

Readers can probably see that 21.Rad1 keeps the game even.

21...Rg4

Double Wow.

Now Black goes down in flames.

22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Qh6+ Rg7 24.Re7

24...Qxe7 25.Nxe7 Re8 26.Re1 Rexe7 27.Rxe7 Kxe7 28.Qxg7+ Kd8 29.Qxf6+ Kc7 30.Qe7 Black resigned