Don't make me go Jerome all over you...

Sometimes you just want to play something Piano like the Giuoco, when all of a sudden your opponent does some thing really aggravating, and you're practically forced to get all aggressive on him – and what would be better than a lesson drawn from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Kedar - Dijkstra
Twente Young Masters B 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Na5



See what I mean?

5.Bxf7+
Look what you made me do!

5...Kxf7

Readers who are familiar with the Jerome Gambit will understand that there is at least one game where Black declined the sacrifice, as if to ask innocently What did I do?: 5...Kf8 6.Bxg8 Rxg8 7.b4 Bxb4 8.cxb4 Nc4 9.d3 Nd6 10.Nxe5 Nb5 11.Qb3 Nd6 12.Nc3 Qf6 13.d4 a5 14.Ba3 Ra6 15.Nd5 Qh4 16.Qf3+ Qf6 17.Nxf6 Nc4 18.Nxh7+ Ke7 19.Nxc4 d6 20.b5 Rb6 21.Nxb6 cxb6 22.e5 Black resigned, johnnybgood - richye, net-chess.com 2001.

6.Nxe5+

To be fair, this is not the only (or even the best) choice available to White here. There's always 6.b4, forking Black's pieces and winning one, leaving the first player with the better game.

6...Kf8

As expected, 6...Ke8 falls to the consistent 7.Qh5+ while 6...Ke7 can still be met with 7.b4.

7.Qh5

Of course.

7...Bxf2+


Perhaps more readily explained by psychology than raw calculation.

Black has several alternatives that lead to interesting struggles, as can be seen in the following games:

7...Qf6 8.d4 g6 9.Nxd7+ Bxd7 10.Qxc5+ Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Nxe7 12.Bh6+ Ke8 13.Nd2 Bb5 14.b3 Bd3 15.0-0-0 Rg8 16.h4 Rc8 17.Rhe1 b5 18.Re3 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Kd7 20.b4 Nac6 21.Nb3 Nd5 22.Nc5+ Kd8 23.Bg5+ Nce7 24.Rde1 Re8 25.Kd2 c6 26.Re6 Rc7 27.Na6 Rb7 28.Rxc6 Kd7 29.Rce6 Kc8 30.Nc5 Rc7 31.R1e5 h6 32.Bxh6 Rh8 33.Bg5 Rh7 34.Rxd5 Black resigned, Mueller - Laue, Badenweiler op, 1995;

7...Qe7 8.d4 Bb6 9.0-0 Qe8 10.Qf3+ Nf6 11.b4 Nc6 12.Nxc6 dxc6 13.e5 Bg4 14.Qf4 Be2 15.Re1 Bd3 16.Re3 Qg6 17.exf6 Re8 18.Rxe8+ Kxe8 19.Qe5+ Kd7 20.Qe7+ Kc8 21.f7 Qe4 22.Bg5 Qe2 23.f8Q+ Rxf8 24.Qxf8+ Kd7 25.Qxg7+ Kc8 26.Qf8+ Kd7 27.Qd8+ Ke6 28.Qe7+ Kd5 29.Qd7+ Kc4 30.Qf7+ Kb5 31.a4+ Ka6 32.b5+ Ka5 33.Nd2 Bc2 34.Nc4+ Qxc4 35.Qxc4 c5 36.dxc5 Bxc5 37.Qxc5 Black resigned, Steinert - Berg, Spree op, 1997;

7...Qe7 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Ng6+ hxg6 10.Qxh8 Qxe4 11.d4 Be7 12.Nd2 Qd5 13.Re1 d6 14.Nf1 Bd7 15.Bd2 Re8 16.Ne3 Qb5 17.b3 Kf7 18.c4 Qg5 19.f4 Qf6 20.Bc3 Bd8 21.Rac1 Nh6 22.Qh7 Nf5 23.Nd5 Qh4 24.Qxh4 Nxh4 25.Ne3 Nf5 26.Nxf5 gxf5 27.d5 Ne7 28.Kf2 Rh8 29.h3 c6 30.Bb4 c5 31.Bc3 Rh7 32.Re3 b5 33.Rce1 Ng6 34.Kf3 Rh4 35.g3 Rxh3 36.Kg2 Rh7 37.R1e2 b4 38.Ba1 Kf8 39.Kf3 Rh6 40.a3 a5 41.axb4 axb4 42.Ra2 Nxf4 43.gxf4 Rh3+ 44.Ke2 Rh2+ 45.Kd3 Rxa2 46.Re1 Kf7 47.Rb1 g5 48.fxg5 Bxg5 49.Bh8 Bf6 50.Bxf6 Kxf6 51.Ke3 Ke5 52.Kf3 Kf6 53.Kf4 Rf2+ 54.Ke3 Rh2 55.Kf4 Kg6 56.Kg3 Black resigned, Madureira -Petiz, Averio 1998.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Ke1


Simpler seemed 9.Nf3, but White liked the idea of lining up his Rook with Black's Queen and King on the f-file.

9...g6 10.Nxg6+ Qxg6 11.Rf1+ Kg7 12.Qe5+ Nf6 13.Qxa5


Not well thought out. White would have an edge after getting his piece back with the routine 13.Qe7+ Qf7 14.Qxf7+ Kxf7 15.e5.

13...Qxg2



Both players seem edgy: after 13...Qxe4+ 14.Kf2 Nd5 15.Kg1 Black seems to have enough activity to keep the position balanced.

The text allows White the opportunity to make more Rook threats against Queen and King, this time along the g-file, with the savvy 14.d3, threatening 15.Be3 (and Rg1).

Instead, the game slips to near even.

14.Qf5 Qxe4+ 15.Qxe4 Nxe4 16.d3 Nc5 17.Be3 Ne6

Prudent. Fritz8 gives White the edge after the pawn sacrifice 17...Nxd3+ 18.Kd2 Ne5 19.Na3.

18.Nd2 d5 19.Rf3 Bd7 20.Kf2 Rhg8 21.Rg1+ Black resigns

This has to be clock-related, or perhaps the second player was seeing ghosts. Certainly 21...Kh8 gave Black good chances of minimizing whatever disadvantage he had.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"