Shock and Awe

As the song goes, "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail," and the same goes for me when it comes to playing or facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), despite its shortcomings.
Make no mistake, I have a decent record against the Jerome. There are times, though, when I'd rather not run into it.

Like when I experience my own "shock and awe."

yorgos - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0 FICS, 2009

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


Oh, man, not the Jerome Gambit!

This is supposed to be a Two Knights Defense!

I don't want to face the Jerome!

Not in a 3 0 game!

Readers please note: a defeatist attitude will get you nowhere, as this game shows.

Also, my own personal experience of Jerome Gambit "shock and awe" in this game cost me some time on the clock – and since the game quickly became a sprint against time, and when my flag fell my opponent had less than two seconds left on his own clock – well, you can see where that time-difference came from, right??

4...Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 Qe8 7.0-0 Nxe5

8.Qxd4 d6 9.Ng5+ Kg8 10.Nc3 h6 11.Nge4 Be7
12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Qd5+ Qf7 14.Qxf7+ Kxf7

Black is "simply" a piece up, and in a regular time limit game the outcome would be a foregone conclusion. But here the moves come faster and faster as the clocks tick down.

15.Nd5 c6 16.Nf4 Rf8 17.Nh5 Kg8 18.f4 Nf7 19.Bd2 Bf5 20.Rac1 b6 21.Rf3 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Bd4+ 23.Kf1 Rae8

My position is like that of a person who jumped off of the top of a skyscraper, and who said after passing 23 floors, "So far everything seems to be going well."

24.Rg3 Bxc2 25.Rc1 Bd3+

Oops.

It's ok, I'm still better.

26.Rxd3 c5 27.Bc3 Bxc3 28.Rcxc3 Kh7 29.Rg3 Rg8

The correct move was the nifty 29...Ng5, but we were moving pretty fast now.

30.f5 d5 31.Nf4 d4 32.Rcd3 Ng5 33.h4

I hate to point out that 33.Rxg5 hxg5 34.Rh3 would have been mate. We were just throwing pieces now. The Jerome Gambit has equal chances in a game of horseshoes.

33...Ne4 34.Rg6 Nf6 35.h5 Re5 36.g4 Rge8 37.Ne6 Re7 38.Rf3 Re4 39.g5 hxg5 40.h6 gxh6 41.Rxf6 Re3 42.Nf8+ Kg8 43.Rxe3 dxe3 44.Nd7 Rf7 45.Rxh6 Rxf5+ 46.Ke2 Rf2+ 47.Kxe3 Rxa2 48.Nxc5 Black forfeits on time


The Jerome Gambit is not just an opening, it's a spirit of relentless play, and a willingess to win by whatever means necessary.

I salute my opponent, yorgos, for his bold win.

And I think I'll return to 1...e6 for a while.