Again, as hard as it may be to believe, there are some players with Black who refuse to play against the Jerome Gambit, even when White unveils it a move down. Philidor 1792 has faced a few (above) who declined a winning position and instead chose a balanced one. In the following game White tosses in a bit of Halloween Gambit to get active play.
Philidor 1792 - guest1211
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bb3 Be7
Of course, 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ would be the Delayed Jerome Gambit, which is more than Black usually dreams of getting out of an opening. Still, some defenders resist...
5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Ne4 8.0-0
Philidor 1792 has also played the immediate 8.f3: 8...Bb4+ (8...Bh4+ 9.g3 Nxg3 10.hxg3 Bxg3+ 11.Kf1 b6 12.Nc3 Ba6+ 13.Kg2 Bf4 14.Nd5 Qg5+ 15.Kf2 Qg3 checkmate, Philidor 1792 - guest13, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014) 9.Kf1 Ng5 10.f4 Ne4 11.Qe2 d5 12.Qb5+ Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest1200, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014.
8...d5 9.f3 Ng5 10.Nc3 c6 11.f4 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.f5
13...Nh4 14.e6 0-0 15.Be3 g6 16.exf7+ Kg7 17.fxg6 Nxg6 18.Qh5 Black resigned
What if Black refuses to play the Jerome Gambit, even a move down? Philidor 1792 has faced a few of those contrarians (above), who declined a winning position and instead chose a balanced one - and still found a way to play interesting chess.
Philidor 1792 - guest88
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bb3 Nxe4
Of course, 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ is the Delayed Jerome Gambit. While its theory is still developing, we can be sure that it is as refuted as the Jerome Gambit itself.
5.Qe2 d5 6.d3 Nf6
Or 6...Nc5 7.Nxe5 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Be6 10.Nc3 Nxb3 11.axb3 Nxe5 12.Qxe5 Bd6 13.Qh5 c6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Rxe6 fxg5 16.Rae1 h6 17.Nb1 Qc7 18.Nd2 Bc5 19.Nf3 Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Rxf7 21.d4 Bb6 22.Re7 Raf8 23.c3 g4 24.Rxf7 Rxf7 25.Ne5 Re7 26.f4 h5 27.Kf2 c5 28.dxc5 Bxc5+ 29.Kg3 Kh7 30.Rd1 d4 31.cxd4 Bb6 32.d5 g5 33.d6 Re8 34.d7 Rd8 35.fxg5 Bc7 36.Kf4 Bxe5+ 37.Kxe5 Kg6 38.Ke6 Black resigned, Philidor1792 - Sasha63, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014.
7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.Qxe5+ Qe7 9.Bf4 Qxe5+ 10.Bxe5 c6 11.0-0
Or 11.c4 Be7 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.dxc4 0-0 14.0-0-0 Re8 15.Rhe1 Bg4 16.f3 Bf5 17.Bc2 Bxc2 18.Kxc2 Rad8 19.Bc7 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Kf8 21.g4 h6 22.a3 Bc5 23.Bd6+ Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.c5 Rd8 26.Rxd8 Kxd8 27.Kd3 Ke7 28.Kd4 Ke6 29.b4 a6 30.h4 g6 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 Ne8 33.Ke4 f5+ 34.Kd4 Ng7 35.Na4 Nh5 36.Nb6 Nf4 37.Nc4 Nh3 38.Nd6 Nxg5 39.f4 Nh3 40.Ke3 Kd5 41.Nxb7 g5 42.Nd6 gxf4+ 43.Kf3 Ke6 44.Nc4 Kd5 45.Nd6 Ke5 46.Nf7+ Kf6 47.Nd6 Ke6 48.Nc4 Kd5 49.Nd6 Ke5 50.Nf7+ Ke6 51.Nd6 Kf6 52.a4 Kg5 53.Nf7+ Kg6 54.Ne5+ Kg5 55.Nxc6 Ng1+ 56.Kg2 Ne2 57.Nb8 Nd4 58.c6 Kg4 59.c7 f3+ 60.Kf2 Ne6 61.c8Q Ng5 62.Qg8 Kf4 63.Qxg5+ Kxg5 64.Nxa6 Kf6 65.Nc5 Ke5 66.Kxf3 Kd6 67.Kf4 Kc6 68.Kxf5 Kb6 69.Ke5 Kc6 70.Kd4 Kb6 71.Kd5 Ka7 72.b5 Kb6 73.Nb3 Ka7 74.Kc6 Kb8 75.a5 Ka7 76.a6 Kb8 77.b6 Ka8 78.Na5 Black resigned, Philidor1792 - vlad2201, Chess-Samara.ru, 2014.
11...Be6 12.c4 dxc4 13.dxc4 0-0-0 14.Nc3 Ng4 15.Bf4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.Rad1 Rhd8 18.Ne4 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 20.Bxd1 Ne5
The game remains balanced. Phlidor 1792 remains content, perhaps remembering the wry adage from the Jerome Gambit: When the game is even, White is better.
21.Be2 f5 22.Nd2 Kc7 23.f4 Nd7 24.Kf2 a5 25.Ke3 Kd6 26.Nf3 h6 27.Nd4 Nc5 28.b3 Bd7 29.Bh5
29...Ne4
Lulled by the play, Black's Knight routinely grabs the outpost at e4, instead of preparing to post his King at f6 with 29...Ke7.
30.Bg6 Nc3 31.a4
In turn, White neglects to make Black work harder: 31.a3 Nb1 32.a4 Nc3 33.Nxf5+, winning a pawn.
Perhaps time was a factor for both players.
31...Nd1+
Black overlooks his escape: 31...Kc5 32.Nxf5 Bxf5 33.Bxf5 Kb4 34.Bc2 b5 35.cxb5 cxb5 36.axb5 Nxb5 now both sides will Queen a pawn 37.g4 Kc3 38.Bd1 Nd4 39.g5 hxg5 40.fxg5 Nxb3 41.h4 a4 42.h5 a3 43.Bxb3 Kxb3 44.h6 gxh6 45.g6 a2 46.g7 a1Q 47.g8Q+ Kb4 48.Qb8+ and Black's extra pawn will not be enough to win.
32.Kd2 Nf2 33.Bxf5
I am not sure if Black resigned here, or if he lost on time. He had the consistent 33...Kc5 available, when he had good drawing chances against either 34.Bxd7 (34...Kxd4) or 34.Ke3 (34...Nd1+ 35.Ke4 Nf2+ etc.) White's winning move was to capture with the Knight, i.e. 33.Nxf5+ Bxf5 34.Bxf5.
Once again we see the "secret weapon" of the Jerome Gambit - it takes clock time for Black to solve its mysteries - come to the aid of the inventive Philidor 1792.
Philidor 1792 - guest24
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bb3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
A delayed Jerome Gambit. We have seen several from Philidor 1792.
In this game, Black is skeptical: how can a refuted opening be playable, a move down?
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qc4+ d5 10.exd5 Qxd5
11.Qb3 Re8+ 12.Be3 Qxb3 13.axb3 Nd5 14.0-0
Following the old card-playing advice: play 'em like you have 'em.
14...Nxe3 15.fxe3+ Kg8
16.Rf3 a6 17.Nc3 Be6 18.Ra4 Ne5 19.Rg3 Nf7 20.Rb4 b5 21.Ne4 Bd5
The first sign of either nerves or time pressure.
22.Nf6+ Kf8 23.Nxd5 Re5 24.Nc3 c5 25.Re4 Rae8 26.Rxe5 Rxe5 27.Kf2 Nd6 28.Rf3+ Ke7 29.Ke2 Nf5 30.Rh3
White has a small advantage, but here Black lost on time.
Even when Philidor 1792 does not play a "true" Jerome Gambit, he finds ways to add its flavor to his blitz play. In the following game he experiments, too, with the Evans Gambit. The result, as in many 3-minute games: aggression, persistence, creativity and win.
Philidor 1792 - guest433
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.a3
A bit of a twist - usual for the Evans Gambit is 5.c3. Philidor 1792, as we know, likes to experiment.
5...Ba5
Or 5...Be7, which took a non-Jerome path: 6.Ba2 Nf6 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Nc6 9.d5 Ne5 10.f4 Ng6 11.e5 Ng8 12.d6 cxd6 13.Qd5 Nh6 14.exd6 Bf6 15.f5 0-0 16.fxg6 Bxa1 17.Bxh6 Qh4+ 18.Kd1 Qxh6 19.gxf7+ Kh8 20.Re1 Qg6 21.Nd2 Bc3 22.Re8 Rxe8 23.Qg5 Qe6 24.Bxe6 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest55, 3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 03.02.2014
6.Bxf7+
Giving the Evans-ish opening a Jerome-ish spin.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Qh5+ Ng6 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxa5 Nf6 11.Nc3 b6 12.Qg5 Qe7 13.0-0 Bb7
14.d3 Qe5 15.Qxe5+ Nxe5 16.f4 Nf7 17.Nb5 Kd8 18.c4 d6 19.Nd4 c5 20.Nf5 g6 21.Ne3 Re8
22.Bb2 Nd7 23.a4 a5 24.g4 Kc7 25.Kf2 Rf8 26.Kg3 g5 27.Nf5 gxf4+ 28.Kxf4 Nde5 29.Rad1 Rg8
30.Rg1 Rg6 31.h4 Rag8 32.g5 h6 33.Ne7 hxg5+ 34.hxg5 Rxg5 35.Nxg8 Nxd3+ 36.Rxd3 Rxg1 37.Ne7 Rf1+ 38.Ke3 Ne5
39.Bxe5 dxe5 40.Nd5+ Kc6 41.Rb3 Re1+ 42.Kd3 Rd1+ 43.Ke2 Rd4 44.Rxb6+ Kd7 45.Rxb7+ Black resigned
