Admittedly, there is a lot of "psychology" behind playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), starting with the notion that it is worth playing in the first place.
Often Black tries to counter with his own "psychology", but that is almost always a double-edged sword.
MrJoker - Macuta
blit, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kf8
The Jerome Gambit Declined.
There are times when the philosophy "If you want me to take the sacrifice, I won't take the sacrifice" might work, but here White is offering his opponent a won game, and Black is refusing.
5.Bxg8 Rxg8
6.Nxe5 Bxf2+
Here we go, again. White is expecting 6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6, so Black "disappoints" him again.
7.Kxf2 Nxe5
Black has certainly taken the steam out of the Jerome Gambit, although it has left him in a relatively straight-forward position, a pawn down.
As he soon learns to his dismay, it is not yet time to relax.
8.Rf1
mrjoker has also played 8.d4, as in MrJoker - ThePawnSnatcher, blitz, 2 12 Internet Chess Club, 2011: 8...Qf6+ 9.Ke1 Qh4+ 10.Kd2 Ng4 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Rf1 Nf6 13.Nc3 c6 14.Kd3 d6 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Bg4 17.Qf4 Rd8+ 18.Ke3 Nd5+ 19.Nxd5 Rxd5 20.Qf7+ Kd8 21.Qxg8+ Kc7 22.Qxg7+ Kb6 23.Bd2 Be6 24.Rad1 Qd4+ 25.Kf3 Qh4 26.Be3+ Ka6 27.g3 Qxh2 28.c4 Qh5+ 29.g4 Qh3+ 30.Kf2 Qh2+ 31.Ke1 Qh4+ 32.Bf2 Rxd1+ 33.Kxd1 Qh3 Black resigned
8...Ke7 9.d4 Ng6 10.Bg5+ Black resigned
Today marks the third "birthday" of this blog, where I have posted daily since the beginning.
Readers have stopped in from around the world, from over 100 different countries according to Google Analytics. So far, no one from North Korea has checked in, but they have from Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Lituania, Luxembourg, Macedonia [FYROM], Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Many players have shared their games and analyses, and I want to express a special "thank you" to them.
The Database, containing Jerome Gambit games and those with related openings, has grown to over 27,500 games.
Looking forward: When I first started posting on this blog, I did not have any of my own examples of the Jerome Gambit to share, as it seemed too risky an opening for me to play. I finally started offering the Gambit, tentatively, and then played it more and more, as I found out that, whatever its "objective" worth, I scored over 80% in my games.
My most recent 10 games (three losses, two draws, five lucky wins) have convinced me that in our current relationship, curiously enough, the Jerome Gambit and I have traded places.
In each game, the opening (in cooperation with my opponent, of course) has offered me many opportunities for exciting, dynamic, winning play – even as I have been slowly increasing the level of strength of my opponents – and the failures have been my own, usually tactical ineptitude.
Far from the Jerome Gambit letting me down in our games, I have let it down. My goal for this coming year is to play up to its expectations, by sharpening my play to match the adventures of 4.Bxf7+.
Thanks to the efforts of chessfriend Julio Alberto González, who has been following this blog, selected posts from jeromegambit.blogspot.com are now available in Spanish at his website, http://www.notichess.com.ar/.
Fantástico!
Y gracias, mi amigo
The title of this post was pronounced in the November, 1874 Dubuque Chess Journal about a move that transposed a game into a Jerome Gambit. It applies to Black's 7th move in the following game – which we have seen before, but should examine again.
MrJoker - Melbourne
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nd3+
Ahhh... The joys of being two pieces ahead! There are so many ways for Black to return material.
Jerome Gambiteers should pay attention, as this admittedly unpopular move, nonetheless, leaves Black better.
8.cxd3
Take the Knight. Luke Warm - eddie43, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2010 continued instead 8.Kd1 Nf2+ 9.Ke2 Nxh1 10.Qe5+ Kf7 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.Qxc5 d6 13.Qd4 Nf6 14.d3 Qd7 15.f5 Qf7 16.Nc3 Qh5+ 17.Kf1 Qxh2 18.Qg1 Ng3+ 19.Kf2 Ng4+ 20.Kf3 Qxg1 21.Kxg3 h5 22.Ne2 Qf2+ 23.Kh3 Qxe2 24.Bg5 Ne3 White resigned
8...Bd4 9.Qd5+ Black disconnected and forfeited
As you might guess, that is not the complete story.
Three days later the two opponents met again, and this time Black wisely retreated the Bishop. In the end, though, White prevailed in MrJoker - Melbourne, blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011: 8...Bb6 9.b3 Qf6 10.Qe8+ Qe7 11.f5+ Kf6 12.Bb2+ Kg5 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14.Bxg7 Rg8 15.f6 Ng6 16.h4+ Kh5 17.g4+ Kxg4 18.h5 Bd4 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.f7 Bxa1 21.fxg8Q Bxg7 22.Qxg7 d6 23.Qxg6+ Black disconnected and forfeited.
A couple of months later, White again benefitted from the hanging Bishop, in MrJoker - wikidguru, blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011: 8...Bd4 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxd4 Nf6 11.b3 d6 12.Ba3 Bg4 13.e5 Ne8 14.Nc3 Kf7 15.0-0 h5 16.Ne4 dxe5 17.fxe5+ Kg8 18.Qc4+ Kh7 19.Qf7 Qd7 20.h3 Qd4+ 21.Kh1 Qxe5 22.hxg4 hxg4 23.g3 Rd8 24.Kg2 Qf6 25.Nxf6+ Nxf6 26.Rh1+ Black resigned
Another Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member, Petasluk, had already handled the situation when Black supported the Bishop, rather than retreat or abandon it, in Petasluk - lowmiles, blitz, FICS, 2010: 8...d6 9.Nc3 c6 10.Ne2 g6 11.Qf3 Qh4+ 12.g3 Qh3 13.d4 Bb4 14.a3 Ba5 15.b4 Bb6 16.Bb2 Nf6 17.0-0-0 a5 18.d5+ cxd5 19.exd5+ Kf7 20.Bxf6 Kxf6 21.Qc3+ Kf7 22.Qxh8 axb4 23.axb4 Qg2 24.Nc3 Qf3 25.Qxh7+ Ke8 26.Rde1+ Kd8 27.Qe7 checkmate
As I've mentioned in "Housekeeping..." and "Barely Legal", there is still a chance for satisfaction when you try for a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and your opponent opts for a defense with ...d7-d6
perrypawnpusher - Olito
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening.
4.O-O d6
The Hungarian Defense, or a variation of the Philidor.
5.d4 Bg4 6.Nc3 Nxd4 7.Nxe5 Bxd1
Oooops.
8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9. Nd5 checkmate
The following game is from the recent collection sent to me by Louis Morin. It again shows that if your opponent becomes disoriented by the Jerome Gambit, the game can be over before he even knows it.
James Mason in America
The Early Chess Career, 1867-1878
Joost van Winsen
hard cover
(McFarland, 2011)
I wanted to title this review "Mason, James Mason; International Man of Mystery".
I know that mashes together a couple of movie concepts: the "Bond, James Bond" self-introduction from Ian Fleming's secret agent, and the reference to the spoof "Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery."
Yet, the question Joost van Winsen addresses in his very readable book is: Who is James Mason? The query has several interesting aspects.
A good place to start would be to acknowledge that for the years covered by James Mason in America, the titled player was arguably the strongest among active players in the country, save, perhaps, for George H. Mackenzie.
Too many readers, I am afraid, would respond: Who is George H. Mackenzie?
Ah, yes.
If you are interested in the history of chess play in the United States, James Mason in America is a rich look at the early career of a fine player and writer (columnist for The Spirit of the Times and The American Chess Journal ) – and the development of the American chess scene, especially in the post-Morphy era, and especially in New York.
Even if the reader is not a chess history buff, the 200 plus games and positions in the book give a lot of entertainment and instruction on the play of double King pawn and double Queen pawn openings, including gambits – drawn from club and match play, and far more likely to be relevant to the study of modern day club players than, say, the latest tweaks in the Catalan as played by today's 2700+ rated gladiators.
If you are looking for the latest Informant-style analysis; well, best look for the latest Informant, instead.
The post-Civil War period was a time of the rise of American chess clubs, where a man like Mason, an Irish immigrant from Kilkenny, could not only move up among the ranks of players by dint of skill and effort, he would have a chance to make business contacts that might allow him to move up financially and socially, as well.
It was also a time of rivalries – between individuals, factions, clubs, cities and regions. Who would, for example, pull together everything for an international chess congress for the country's centennial year? Could there be an early American Chess Association? Who was the best American player? How did the Americans stand up to European chess play?
Personal battles were not just fought over the chessboard, but in print, via rival chess news sources. A look back at American chess in this period showed the beginnings (later, perfected by Steinitz) of a third phase of combat: one could claim that he lost the game, for example, but won the post-mortem analysis, only to be trumped again in the coverage of the match...
It is interesting in this light to see the British Henry Bird complain that during his sojourn in America, no matter how many games he won, it seems that the papers mostly published his losses. He even had Fischer-like complaints that in a particular tournament, the Americans conspired against him to make their own wins easier, and his more difficult.
Van Winsen paints an intriguing picture of Mason, and it is a compelling one, if at times containing somewhat un-heroic elements. Having negotiated a match with Max Judd in St. Louis for 1876, Mason surprised his opponent by simply not showing up, in the city or for the match. Apparently they met later and played some games, although neither could agree in print, who won, how many games, etc.
Mason won the Fourth American Chess Congress amidst charges that he bought and sold games. Mason claimed innocence, of course. On the other hand, he became a strong voice for proper recompense for play, an advocate for the professional chess player.
As James Mason in America shows, in its notes (by Mason) to games and in articles and letters by its subject, that Mason was an instructive writer and a fine annotator. This is value beyond taking the reader back in time to a rich, varigated chess world that was remarkably different – and, at times, remarkably similar – to our own, today.
The final mystery, which the author explores to the best of current resources, is the fact that James Mason was not actually James Mason. While not quite on the level of claims such as William Shakespeare's works being actually penned by, say, Sir Francis Bacon, it is fascinating to consider in yet another way that a pre-teen "Patrick Dwyer" (currently the best guess) might have completely re-invented himself on this side of the Atlantic, plunging into the world of chess and emerging as "James Mason".
James Mason's early chess career in the United States ended with his return to the Old World. It is hoped that author Joost van Winsen will return, as well, with further chronicles of his subject.
