After early uneasy seas common to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) the following game settled down to a calm affair, evenly balanced and headed for the split point – until a squall upset Black's chances.
perrypawnpusher - Jore
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
Here we have a common setup for this variation of the Jerome Gambit. Black has a piece for two pawns, but his King cannot castle and is currently in the middle of the board. Castling-by-hand is a natural short-term goal.
10.f4 Rf8 11.0-0 Kf7 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4
A recurring theme: Knight(s) harassing Queen.
In this situation 13...Nc6 was probably better.
14.Qf4
After the game Rybka recommended: 14.Qb3+ Ke8 15.h3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 preventing Black's King from reaching safety and destroying the monarch's sanctuary.
14...Kg8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nxe5
Black has gotten his King to safety, and now returns a piece for the two pawns, and active play. A more effective way to accomplish this was through 16...Bxf5.
17.Qxe5 Ng4 18.Qf4 Rxf5
19.Qc4+ Qd5 20.Qxd5+ Rxd5 21.Nc3 Rd8
22.Bf4 c6 23.Rad1 Bf5
24.h3 Bxc2
A mis-calculation. Retreating the Knight with 24...Nf6 kept the game even.
25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.hxg4 Rf8 27.Be3
27...Re8 28.Bxa7 Bd3 29.Rd1 Bg6 30.a3 b5 31.Rd6 Re1+ 32.Kf2 Black resigned
Lately I have been playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) against stronger competition, but the following game was played in a "giving Jerome Gambit odds" mode against a weaker player – and a good thing, too. It can be embarassing to do a whole lot of analysis on a particular position, only to forget it while playing over the board!
perrypawnpusher - crayongod
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6
Yes! Not long ago, I took a deep look at this position!
Uh, what did I recommend here? I forget...
6.Qh5
No, that's not right.
White's best chance comes from the sharp 6.Qg4+!?, when 6...Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 (other captures are worse, including 7...Kxd4 which leads to mate) 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxg8 and White has an edge, as his Queen and Black's unstable King are good compensation for Black's pieces after either 10...Nxd8 or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Na3 Nf6 14.0-0.
I mis-remembered theory: 6.Qh5 is the best move to answer 5...Kf6.
6...Qf6
Chances are that if you give the position after 5.Qh5 to your computer, it will recommend 5...Nxe5 for Black, unwittingly returning the game to a Jerome Gambit main line, i.e. 5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6.
Black's move in the game, however, threatens White's weak f2 square, and also keeps his advantage.
7.Nxc6
A horrible oversight, still believing that I was following theory.
After 7.Nf3 d6 8.Nc3 White would have his typical two-pawns-for-a-piece disadvantage.
7...Qxf2+ 8.Kd1
I made my move confidently. Truly, ignorance is bliss.
8...Qxg2 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qd5 checkmate
Yes!
Er, no...
Black's 8th move, designed to inflict more damage by going after my Rook, was an error. Had he played 8...dxc6 first, he would have safe-guarded his King and left me with little option other than 9.Qf3 Qxf3 10.gxf3 Nf6, when Black would have had a piece for a pawn, better development, open lines for attack and the two Bishops...
The slogan In the Jerome Gambit, Black wins by force, White wins by farce reflects the fact that the gambiteer will always need some kind of help from the defender in order to take (or even split) the point.
In the following game my opponent was careful to a fault, giving me time to get my opening up and running – much to his discomfort, and later, distress.
perrypawnpusher - Macgregr
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening. It is often a sign of caution by Black: no enemy Knight will come to g5. It can also signal that the second player is planning on taking his time in putting together his defense – something that should please White.
4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Qe7
11.Nc3 Be6 12.f4 Nf8
A bit better was 12...Bf7.
My opponent was being very careful – often a good idea, but here he risks falling behind in development. (Castling-by-hand on the Kingside, for example, is a long way off.)
Maybe he believed that he had all the time in the world against an opening as derelict as the Jerome Gambit?
13.f5 Bc4 14.d3 Bb5
A slip – connected directly, I suspect, to his dismissal of the Jerome as something unworthy of his full attention.
Black could minimize his disadvantage by identifying White's threats and playing to meet them: 14...Bf7 15.d4 Kd7 16.e5 Re8 17.e6 Bxe6 19.fxe6 Qxe6 20.Qd3.
analysis diagram
White has an edge – because of his slightly better development.
15.Nxb5 Qd7 16.Nc3 g6
17.Bd2 Kd8 18.d4 Nf6
19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5
White is just playing his Jerome Gambit moves...
21.Nxd5 Qxd5 22.Bc3
22...Rg8
A final slip. Necessary was 22...Kc8.
23.Rad1 Black resigned
If you are playing the Black pieces and are facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), is a draw a favorable outcome for you? In my experience, my opponents would respond with a resounding "No!" – despite the fact that I have scored 85%+ with the opening.
In the following game my opponent quickly reached a worse position. My sloppiness allowed a draw by repetition – which would have been a fair result for both of us.
Instead, my opponent sought more – and found less.
perrypawnpusher - elyza
blitz FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
This can lead to either the Blackburne (7.Qxe5 d6) or Whistler (7.Qxe5 Qe7) Defenses.
7.Qxe5 Bd6
This is kind of a "semi-Blackburne" defense, the kind of thing that I fussed about in "Half a defense is worse than none at all...".
The updated New Year's Database gives 25 previous games, with White scoring 88%.
The successful 6...g6 defense relies on a blistering attack on White's King (and possibly trapping White's Queen) to offset the loss of the Rook. That doesn't happen after 7...Bd6.
8.Qxh8 Qg5
After the game, Rybka recommended 8...Qh4 9.d3 Qh5 10.g4 Qh3 11.g5 b6 12.Be3 Ba6 13.Nd2 Rf8 14.Qc3 Ne7 with advantage to White as his Queen has escaped, his King will soon castle, and he has a material edge.
analysis diagram
Two previously unsuccessful tries for Black were: 8...Be7 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 d6 11.d4 Bd7 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Kf8 15.Qh8+ Kf7 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Nc3 c6 18.0-0 Rg8 19.f4 Bh3 20.Rf2 Bd7 21.e5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Ke8 23.f5 Bc5 24.f6 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Be6 26.Ne4 Rf8 27.Nd6+ Kd7 28.Rd1 Kc7 29.h3 Bd5 30.g4 Rh8 31.Kg3 b6 32.h4 Be6 33.g5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - tuffnut, blitz FICS, 2007; and
8...Ke6 9.Qxh7 Ne7 10.d4 c5 11.d5+ Ke5 12.Nc3 Kd4 13.Be3+ Kc4 14.0-0-0 Be5 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Qh3 d6 17.Qd3+ Kb4 18.a3+ Ka5 19.Qc4 Bxc3 20.Bxc3+ Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz FICS, 2008.
9.Qxh7+ Kf6 10.Qxg8
Grabbing the extra piece, but simpler was 10.0-0 Nh6 11.d4 b6 12.Bxg5+ Black resigned, MariaTavares - PeterPygmalion, FICS, 2005
10...Qxg2 11.Rf1
This was a knee-jerk reaction, almost as fast as my capture of the Knight – and it could have had unhappy consequences.
The fact is – in a reversal of roles from the Blackburne or Whistler defenses – White is in position to give up his Rook and focus on bringing danger to Black's King with: 11.Nc3!? Qxh1+ 12.Ke2.
analysis diagram
Black's best move now is 12...c6, keeping White's Knight off of d5, although like all the other choices it will lead to checkmate (starting with 13.d4).
11...Qxe4+ 12.Kd1
12...b6
It was wisest to split the point: 12...Qf3+ 13.Ke1 Qe4+ 14.Kd1 etc., repeating the position.
13.Qh8+ Kf5 14.Qh3+ Kf6
15.Nc3 Qe5 16.Qf3+ Kg7 17.Qxa8
17...Qh5+ 18.f3 Ba6 19.d3 Qxh2 20.Qe4 Qg2 21.Qe2
White's King is safe, the extra material will tell.
22...Qg3 22.Ne4 Qh4 23.Nxd6 cxd6 24.Re1 Black resigned
I am going to take advantage of the return of Chessville to point out Clyde Nakamura's very interesting article there on "The Psychology of Gambit Chess Openings".
Clyde is a very creative, aggressive player who specializes in gambits, many of his own creation.
While his article uses gambits other than the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) to make his points, this makes it doubly worth reading: learn about the psychology of gambits, maybe pick up one or two unortodox openings as well...
Some moves are very common in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+): Bxf7+, Nxe5+, Qh5+ for White, for example; and ...Kf8, ...Qf6 or ...Qe7 for Black. Good moves have to be played at the right time, however, as my opponent learned in the following game.
perrypawnpusher - zsilber
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+ Kf6 8.Qxc5
9...Qe7 9.Qf5 checkmate
