A Fan of the Jerome Gambit

Despite the bad news that his games might sometimes bring (see "Sometimes"), Philidor 1792 is a fan of the Jerome Gambit: he wins with it regularly, and is always willing to try different paths of play. Here is another collection of hard-fought play.


Philidor1792 - guest2324
Internet online game, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 

8...Bxd4 9.Na3 

Dating from as far back as Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1877, and still a good idea.

9...Ke7 

Two earlier encounters: 

9...Qf6 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 Kxd4 12.Be3+ Kc4 13.Qh5 Ne7 14.Qe2+ Kb4 15.a4 Qc6 16.Qd2+ Kc4 17.b3 checkmate, Philidor1792-NN, 2012; and

9...c6 10.c3 Qf6 11.cxd4 Qxf5 12.exf5 Nf7 13.Bf4+ Ke7 14.Nc4 d5 15.Ne3 Ngh6 16.g4 g6 17.fxg6 hxg6 18.f3 Bd7 19.Kf2 Raf8 20.Bg3 g5 21.Rae1 Kd8 22.h4 gxh4 23.Bxh4+ Kc8 24.Bf6 Rhg8 25.Kg3 Nd6 26.Be5 Nhf7 27.Bxd6 Nxd6 28.Rh6 Nf7 29.Rh7 Rh8 30.Reh1 Kd8 31.f4 Ke7 32.f5 Kf6 33.Kf4 Rxh7 34.Rxh7 Rh8 35.g5+ Ke7 36.g6 Rxh7 37.gxh7 Kf6 38.Ng4+ Kg7 39.Ne5 Nxe5 40.dxe5 Kxh7 41.e6 Be8 42.Ke5 Kg7 43.f6+ Kf8 44.b4 Bh5 45.a3 Bf3 46.Kd6 Ke8 47.f7+ Kf8 48.e7+ Kxf7 49.Kd7 Bg4+ 50.Kd8 d4 51.e8Q+ Black resigned, Philidor1792-NN, 2012.

10.Nb5 d5

An improvement over three other games:

10...Nc6 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qc5+ d6 13.Qxd4 Nf6 14.0-0 Re8 15.Bg5 Kf7 16.f4 h6 17.Bh4 Bg4 18.Rae1 a6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qxd8 Raxd8 21.fxe5 Black lost on time, Philidor1792 - guest324, Internet online game 2012; and

10...d6 11.Qg5+ Ke8 (11...Nf6 12.Nxd4 Kf7 13.f3 Nc6 14.Be3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Rf8 16.0-0-0 Kg8 17.h4 h6 18.Qe3 Qe7 19.g4 Be6 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5 Nd7 22.f4 Nc5 23.g6 Bg4 24.Qg3 Bxd1 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qh2+ Qh4 27.Qxh4+ Bh5 28.Qxh5+ Kg8 29.Qh7 checkmate, Philidor1792 - guest206, Internet online game, 2012) 12.Qxg7 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 Qf6+ 14.Qxf6 Nxf6 15.Nxc7+ Kd8 16.Nxa8 Rf8 17.Bg5 b6 18.Rhf1 Bb7 19.Kg1 Ned7 20.Rad1 Bxa8 21.Rxd6 Ke7 22.e5 Nxe5 23.Rdxf6 Rxf6 24.Bxf6+ Ke6 25.Bxe5 Kxe5 26.Rf7 Black lost on time, Philidor1792 - guest3422, Internet online game, 2012. 

11.Qg5+ Nf6 12.Nxd4 Nf7 13.Qe3 dxe4 14.Nb5 Bg4 15.f3

15...Bh5 16.Qc5+ Nd6 17.fxe4 b6 18.Qxc7+ Qd7 19.e5 Nxb5 20.exf6+ gxf6 21.Qxd7+ Kxd7 

White has only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, but he has only begun to fight! It can be discouraging for the "winning" player to face someone who refuses to lose.

22.0-0 Nd4 23.c3 Ne2+ 24.Kf2 Nxc1 25.Raxc1 Rhe8 26.Rc2 Re5 27.Rd2+ Kc6 28.Kg1 f5 29.Rf4 Rae8 30.Rh4 Bg6 31.Rc4+ Rc5 32.Rcd4 

32...Re7 33.Kf2 Rce5 34.Rc4+ Kb7 35.Rcd4 Bh5 36.Kg3 Re4 37.Rd7+ Ka6 38.Rxe7 Rxe7 39.Kf4 Re2 40.Rxe2 Bxe2 41.Kxf5 

41...Kb5 42.Ke4 Kc4 43.Ke3 Bd3 44.Kd2 Bb1 45.b3+ Kd5 46.a3 a5 47.g4 a4 48.bxa4 Kc4 49.Kc1 Be4 50.Kd2 Kb3 51.Ke3 Bb1 

It looks like Black has made some headway, but White is willing to exchange three pawns for one, to liquidate the Queenside. The Kingside will be next.

52.Kd4 Kxa4 53.c4 Kxa3 54.c5 bxc5+ 55.Kxc5 Kb3 56.Kd4 Bc2
57.Ke5 Kc3 58.h4 Kd3 59.g5 Bd1 60.Kf6 Bh5 61.Kg7 Bg6 62.h5 Be4 63.g6 hxg6 64.hxg6 Bxg6 65.Kxg6 Drawn

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws