Monday, July 21, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Get An Edge, Then Simplify


The "Italian opning [sic] rapid players tournament" - although the time control was not rapid, but 3 days per move - has concluded.

Of the five players, top-rated Shienny_Loves_Cats finished undefeated with 8 points.

I came in second, with 5 1/2 points. In a hurry to finish a game and the tournament, I accepted a draw in a game, when a bit more analysis of the position would have shown a clear winning path. Ah, well.

My Jerome Gambit game with Shienny_Loves_Cats has already appeared in  "Jerome Gambit: Ouch (Parts 1 & 2)".

Here is the other Jerome Gambit that I managed to achieve. My strategy was simple: get an edge, then simplify.


perrypawnpusher - SirGalton

Italian opening rapid players,Chess.com, 2025

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 


Black should do fine with this defense - if he knows what he is doing.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Na3 

Yury V. Bukayev has examined this move and 8...Bxa3, which was seen in Bukayev,Y - Karpov,A, tempo, 10+0  2022 (1-0, 18); although he judged 8...Qf6 to be a stronger move.

paulybuckets, at lichess.org, is 4 - 3 - 1 with 8.Na3.

8...Qf6 

Or 8...c6 as in perrypawnpusher - Klewnom, Italian Game tournament, Chess.com 2023 (0-1, 22). 

Now, a center skirmish allows me to claw back some material.

9.Nc4+ Nxc4 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Qxc5+ Nd6 12.e5 Qe6 13.O-O 

13...b6 14.exd6+ cxd6 15.Qg5+ 


Trying to stir something up.

15...Kf7 16.Qh5+ g6 


My guess is that my opponent was annoyed with the Queen checks and responded with a quick move that said Go away! After all, he already had to put up with the Jerome Gambit...

17.Qf3+ 

"I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members" said Grouch Marx.

17...Kg7 18.Qxa8 Ba6 19.d3 Nf6 


White is up the exchange and a pawn, with a safer King.

20.Qf3 

Taking the Queen out of danger, but missing 20.Bh6+ Kxh6 21.Qxh8.

Missing tactics like this prolongs my games.

21.Rc8 21.c3 Qg4 22.Qxg4 Nxg4 23.Rd1 Ne5 24.d4 

Being content to slowly convert my advantage.

24...Nd3 25.a4 

Things are a bit congested on the Queen's side, so opening the a-file seems like a good idea.

25...d5 26.a5 Nxc1 27.Rdxc1 Bc4 28.axb6 axb6 29.Ra7 Black resigned







Sunday, July 20, 2025

The Impatient Jerome Gambit

The following encounter between club level players is a good example of "impatience" vs "inattention".

This time, impatience wins.

I hope that both players enjoyed their game as much as I do.


Samuel123four - Andres263k

10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+

This game is an interesting mixture of modern play and earlier exploration, and I was pleased to receive it.

I had looked at this line a while back, for example "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights (Part 2)"

[T]he earliest example that I have found of the Two Knights "impatient Jerome Gambit" line, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+, is the following game. It is just the start of the investigation, as it raises many more questions than it answers.

The game referred to in that earlier post, Draper, Dr - Child AW, Belfast - Dublin team correspondence match-2, 1891-92 (0-1, 20), almost immediately diverges from the modern line.

 4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+ 

White wastes no time continuing his aggression.

Notice how more effective this Knight move is when Black has a Knight on f6, rather than a Bishop on c5, as in the troubling Face Palm variation.

The Database has 890 games with the current game's position. White scores 49% - a coin toss. 

By the way, Dr. Draper continued in his game, instead, with the quiet 5.Qe2

5...Ke8 6.O-O d5 


Black has no intention of going gently into that good night. His position is better, and he wants to make something of it.

Therein lies the seeds of his defeat: besting the Jerome Gambit (and its relatives) requires continued attention to the task.

7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Qh5+ 

Immediately taking advantage of the absence of Black's Knight.

Stockfish 16.1 evaluates three responses, one leading to checkmate by White, one leading to an equal game - and the move played in the game at hand.

8...g6 

The defense continues to defend.

9.Qf3 Qxg5 10.Qxd5 

An exchange of pieces.

10...Bh3 


Black tries his hand at attacking.

11.d4 Nxd4


Capturing a  pawn, with thoughts of ...Nxc2, perhaps, and then winning the Rook at a1.

But he slips - a major danger in facing Jerome Gambit or Jerome-like openings is that a moment of inattention can be all that it takes to move an assessment from "-+" to "+-".

And, so it is, here.

12.Bxg5 

Ouch.

12...c6 13.Qxe5+ Be7 14.Qxe7 checkmate



Saturday, July 19, 2025

Jerome Gambit: The BoardGameXpert Returns

 


Two new videos from TheBoardGameXpert:

What Is The Basic Theory Behind The Jerome Gambit? - The Board Game Xpert - YouTube
 
What Is The Basic Theory Behind The Jerome Gambit? In this engaging video, we'll dive into the fascinating world of the Jerome Gambit, ...



What Is The Best Refutation Of The Jerome Gambit? - The Board Game Xpert - YouTube
 
overview of the Jerome Gambit, a chess opening known for its aggressive nature. We'll cover how the gambit starts and the typical moves that ...

(An incomplete quote from the second video - "Castling kingside is important for king safety and connecting rooks." Since Black's King has moved, he can only castle-by-hand.)

Friday, July 18, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Back Rank Mate



One of the earliest checkmates a player learns is the "back rank mate" which takes advantage of the enemy King being sheltered by a row of unmoved pawns, preventing escape from a fatal check.

In the following game, Bill Wall does not get to deliver that check, but his various threats to do so determine the game.

 

Wall, Bill - Dasasary

sparkchess, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

6.Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O Nf6 

Seen as early as Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1876 (1/2-1/2, 41 ).

Black has a piece for a pawn. White has a plan. 

9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd1 

New for Bill. Five times previously, he had chosen 10.Qd3. 

10...Re8 

Good. Black avoids 10...Nxe4 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.Qxe4+ when he would only have an edge. 

11.Nc3 Kg8 

12.f5 

Setting a trap. 

12...Nxe4 

Having rightly resisted the e-pawn at move 10, he suddenly finds the poisoned pawn appealing. 

13.Nxe4 Rxe4 14.Qd5+ 

14...Re6 

A sad necessity. 

15.fxe6 Qe7 16.Bg5 

16...Qxe6 

Better was 16...Bxe6 17.Qxc6 Qxg5 18.Qxc7 Bd5 19.Rf2 Re8 but it would still leave the second player behind.

17.Rae1 

Offering his Queen.

17...Ne5 

Or 17...Nd4 18.Qxd4 checkmate in 12. 

18.Rxe5 Black resigned


The White Rook cannot be taken by the Queen, because she is pinned. The pawn cannot take the Rook, as this would allow 19.Qd8+ checkmate


Thursday, July 17, 2025

Grandmaster Olga A. Girya Simultaneous Exhibition




Chessfriend and major contributor to this blog, Yury V. Bukayev, reports that Grandmaster Olga A. Girya recently had a 15-board simultaneous exhibition in Moscow. 

Her score was 14 1/2 - 1/2 , that is, she won fourteen games and drew one.

That draw was Yury's game.

Excellent!

Yury shares the official publication on the website of the Moscow Chess Federation:  
https://moscowchess.org/news/18596 .

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Ouch (Part 2)

 

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Shienny_Loves_Cats

Italian opening rapid players, Chess.com, 2025


13.Nd2 Be6 14.Nf3 Nh5 


15.Qe1 

I didn't think that exchanging Queens with either 15.Qg5 or 15.Qh4 would help me attack, but Stockfish 16.1 (33 ply) sees little difference between the text and the two alternatives - or even 15.Qf2.

15...Qe7 16.c3 

I wasn't sure what to do here.

It turns out, in the post-mortem, the computer didn't have much of an idea, suggesting little moves here and there, i.e. 16.Qc3 Kh8 17.Rae1 h6 18.Nd4 c5 19.Ne2 Kh7 20.Nf4 Nf6 21.Re2 b5 22.Ref2 b4 23.Qe1 Bf7 24.Rf3 d5 25.exd5 Nxd5 26.Qf2 Rfe8 27.e4 Nxf4 28.Rxf4 and Black is still better, of course.

16...Bg4 17.h3 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Qg5+ 


I have the more impressive central pawn mass, but my opponent has the more impressive attack on the King.

19.Kh2 Kh8 20.Rg1 Qb5 21.Qd2 

A slip, but at this point it hardly matters.

21...Rxf3 22.d4 Raf8 23.Rg2 Qd7 White resigned


I suppose it was a bit unfair to rob my opponent of an exciting checkmate - 24.Rg4 Rxh3+ 25.Kxh3 Rf3+ 26.Kh2 Qxg4 27.Qg2 Rg3 28.Qxg3 Qxg3+ 29.Kh1 Qh3+ 30.Kg1 Qxe3+ 31.Kf1 Nf4 32.e5 Qe2+ 33.Kg1 Qg2 # - but I had had enough for one game.

It seems pretty clear that Shienny_Loves_Cats will win the Chess.com "Italian opening rapid players" tournament, but I still have a chance at second place.

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Ouch (Part 1)



Ouch.

The following loss with the Jerome Gambit is painful - even more so since, in post-game analysis, Stockfish 16.1 first suggested an alternative move (improvement) to one that I played only on my 18th move. I was on familiar territory. Allegedly.

Alas, five moves later, I resigned.

More specious numbers:

From the early moves, onward, Stockfish continued to rate my position after each moves as about 2 1/2 pawns worse than my opponent. I was not able to whittle that difference down. For a similar lament, see "Jerome Gambit: Success is Not Around the Corner in A Circular Room".

Finally, I had to  ponder the fact that pieces are, roughly, worth about 3 pawns, so that my Jerome Gambit sacrifices of two pieces (6 pawns) for two pawns (2 pawns) gave a net of being down about 4 pawns. If Stockfish rated me as being only 2 1/2 pawns down, does that mean that I had about 1 1/2 pawns worth of compensation?

Also relevant to this discussion is Geoff Chandler's "blunder table". 

 

perrypawnpusher - Shienny_Loves_Cats

Italian opening rapid players, Chess.com, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 

Instead, 8...Be6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - GuestGCSC, blitz, FICS, 2023 (0-1, 49).

9.d3 

Stockfish doesn't see much difference between the text and 9.Nc3, which was seen in 

perrypawnpusher - klixar, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33);

 perrypawnpusher - truuf, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 32);

perrypawnpusher - mallack, Italian Game Battlegrounds, Chess.com 2019 (1-0, 23); 

perrypawnpusher - Abhishek29, Italian Game Battlegrounds, Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 35);

perrypawnpusher - klask, blitz, FICS, 2023  (0-1, 47); and

perrypawnpusher - cool64chess, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 24).

9...Kf7 


Or






10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Rf8 12.O-O Kg8 


Black has his traditional piece-for-two-pawns Jerome Gambit material advantage.

[to be continued]