Black's tactical oversight on move 12 is like a visit from an old friend. (As the Beatles sang, "I get by with a little help from my friends.") It is an interesting variation on the old "optical illusion" which has garnered me a few points. perrypawnpusher - johnEjohnE blitz, FICS, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 a6 Okay, no Jerome Gambit - yet. Patience. 4.O-O Here Bill Wall jumped the gun with 4.Bxf7+ and earned a quick victory in Wall,B - GuestDLNJ, FICS, 2010(1-0, 11). A Scotch variation was seen with 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Black resigned, Melenos - Rocangus, FICS, 2010. 4... Nf6 Stubborn. After 4... Bc5 I played 5. Bxf7+ inperrypawnpusher - Tlslevens, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 28). 5. Nc3 I could have played 5.Ng5, as in the Two Knights Defense, 5...d5 6.exd5 Na5 7.d3 etc., but I was still angling for a Jerome Gambit. 5... Bc5 6. Bxf7+
At last. A Delayed Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. 6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Nf3+
A bright idea, similar to the move by AirmanLeonidas, when he had advanced h7-h7 instead of this game's a7-a6. The equally interesting 8... Qe7 was seen in Wall,B - Pawndering, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 16). 9. gxf3 Writing about my game against AirmanLeonidas, I commented about the pawn capture vs the Queen capture
Going with the "Jerome pawns," but not the best. After the game Rybka suggested: 9.Qxf3, since if 9...Bxd4 White can regain the pawn with 10.Nb5 Be5 11.Qb3+ d5 12.f4 Bd6 13.Nxd6+ Qxd6 14.e5 Qb6+ 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.exf6 gxf6 when Black may have a small edge if he can use his open lines.
However, in the current game, the helpful 10.Nb5 is not playable, due to Black's pawn on a6. Still, a long-time Jerome Gambiteer once went with the Queen capture: 9.Qxf3 Bxd4 10.Nd5 c6 11.Nxf6 Qxf6 12.Qb3+ Qe6 13.c4 Re8 14.Be3 Qxe4 15.c5+ Re6 16.Rae1 Ke7 17.Bxd4 Qxd4 18.Rxe6+ dxe6 19.Qc2 g6 20.b4Black forfeited on time, jfhumphrey - spince, FICS, 2013. 9...Bb4 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 d6 12.Qd3
Black misunderstands the reason for this move, and overlooks my response. It's blitz. It happens. 12...Rf8 13.Qc4+ Be6 14.Qxb4 Bh3
Black's pressure on White's King does not compensate for being behind two pawns, with the smaller center. He appears to have been shaken by falling for the cheap tactic. 15.Rfe1 Kg8 16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Qe8 18.exf6 Qf7
Here Black forfeited by disconnection. After 19.fxg7 Qxg7+ 20.Bg3 White would clearly be better.
In the last few days I have added over 10,000 Abrahams Jerome Gambit games (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+), which we have been discussing recently, to The Database, pushing it almost to 51,000 games, total. (I can probably add another 10,000 Abrahams JG games to bring things up-to-date with play at FICS.) Reviewing my email files, I note that in the past I have discussed the opening with the always-impressive IM/PhD Tim Harding (whose 1973 Bishop's Opening is a classic, whose articles for chesscafe.com helped answer the question "What Exactly Is the Bishop's Opening?", and whose biography of Joseph Henry Blackburne many await from McFarland) and with Michael Goeller, who maintains an excellent online resource on the Bishop's Opening; and neither was familiar with the early Bishop sacrifice. That pretty much makes three of us. I have recently contacted IM Gary Lane, a long-time friend of this blog, who has written Winning With the Bishop's Opening (1993) and The Bishop's Opening Explained (2005). While he is not familiar with the Abrahams Jerome Gambit, either, he is willing to take a look at it with his readers in his next month's "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe.com. I hope to learn more - much more. I need to. It is ridiculous that the "oldest" over-the-board game example of this line in The Database is a 2003 game: Kuckuck,D - Loesche,N EU-ch U08 Germany, 2003 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Nxe5+ Kf8 7.Re1 Bb4 8.Rxe4 b6 9.Rxb4 Bb7 10.c4 Ke7 11.d3 h5 12.f3 g5 13.f4 gxf4 14.Bxf4 d6 15.Bg3 h4 16.Bf2 b5 17.Rb3 Rh7 18.Nd2 Qd7 19.Ne4 Nc6 Black resigned The "oldest" online game example in The Database is only from 1999. ChessNinja - Leebros FICS,1999 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Kf8 5.Qxe5 Qe7 6.Qf5+ Nf6 7.e5 d6 8.Qxc8+ Kf7 9.Qxh8 Nc6 10.Qxa8 Qxe5+ 11.Ne2 Nd4 12.Nbc3 Ng4 13.Qxb7 Nxc2+ 14.Kf1 Nxh2+ 15.Rxh2 Qxh2 16.Qxc7+ Kg6 17.Rb1 Qh1+ 18.Ng1 Ne1 19.Kxe1 Qxg1+ 20.Ke2 Qxf2+ 21.Kd1 Black ran out of time
After the previous post ("Keep Your Eye on the Prize") I started gathering thousands of Abrahams Jerome Gambit games and adding them to The Database, to develop a better understanding of the opening. As the following game shows, theory of some of the variations is not far developed. macele - torment blitz, FICS, 2005 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+
3...Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Ke6 5.Nf3
I was surprised to see that this move leads to an even game. So far, less than half of the games in The Database have this move. Now, after 5...Nc6, the position would resemble a Jerome Gambit where the "ghost" White Queen has passed through the White Knight to deliver check. 5...d6 6.Ng5+ I have always been suspicious of this move in the Jerome Gambit proper, but here it seems necessary. 6...Kd7 7.Nf7 Qf6
Black is temporarily down the exchange, but White's Knight on h8 will soon be lost, giving the defender the advantage. 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Bg5 Nc6 15.O-O Rxh8 16.Re1 h6 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.Rxe3 Rd8 19.Na3 a6 20.Nc4 Ke6 21.f3 Nd5 22.Re2
Putting Black's Queen on f6, with the idea of exchanging Her Majesty, is a common anti-Jerome Gambit strategy. In the following game, Black introduces the plan, then wavers - and the game ends quickly.
Another example of the Abrahams Jerome Gambit. As far as I can tell, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome did not play the Bishop sacrifice out of the Bishop's Opening, but Gerald Abrahams attributed the gambit to him nonetheless. 4...Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Ke6 5.Qf5+ Houdini judges the Abrahams Jerome less harshly than it does the Jerome proper, suggesting that here 5.Nf3, instead, equalizes. This bears further examination, as this blog has in the past presented only two losses by White with 5.Nf3 - see "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit (Part II)". 5...Kd6 6.Nf3 Qf6 7.d4 Bxd4