Jerome Gambit: Come One, Come All

I just started playing in a new 10-player Giuoco Piano thematic tournament at Chess.com. This means that I am playing 9 games at a time, and, as luck would have it, 8 of them are with the White pieces - so 8 of them are Jerome Gambits. (I'll get the 9th one later.)

There are some risks in playing so many Jeromes at the same time, but how much more difficult can it be than playing the Jerome Gambit in the first place??

As always, I will present the games as I finish them. 

More About The Jerome Gambit

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The Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.

You might be asking yourself: But is this stuff playable??

Luckily, I have already addressed this - many places on the blog - but especially in the posts "But is this stuff playable??" parts 1 and 2.

Visit the library or bookstore and you will find many helpful introductory books in the "...For Dummies" series. They are very popular.

So - why not a "Jerome Gambit for Dummies" book?

That was my inspiration for a series of posts - "Jerome Gambit for Dummies" 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Later I offered "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Wondering how others play the Jerome Gambit? I have collected over 55,000 Jerome Gambit and related games in "The Database".

What if a strong human player and a team of computers decided to take on the Jerome Gambit? What if, after their first game, the human played another game (changing colors) against another computer, using the line played by the first player? What if this "consultation", getting deeper into the heart of the opening, continued for 30 games?

This is what is chronicled in the posts "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down" from part 1 to part 30. Definitely worth checking out.

There are plenty of Jerome Gambit games played by (or against) computers mentioned on this blog, but let me point out a couple of classic collections - "Ionman vs the Bots" and"Jerome Gambit and the Perfesser" parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

You might prefer the "Bots on Our Side" series 1, 2 and 3.

Of course, I would be remiss if I left out one of the funniest blog post, thanks to Geoff Chandler's wicked imagination. Please enjoy "Mars Attacks!"

Jerome Gambit Explosion

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last month, July 2016, saw an explosion of visits to this site - over 2 1/2 as many Readers as those who stop by on an average month.

Some of this was due to a large increase in Readers from Russia. Добро пожаловат!

While the second largest group of visitors in July was from the USA, I was astonished to see that the third largest group was from - the Republic of Mauritius! Bienvenue and welcome!

There are over 2,250 posts on this blog, and many more are planned. A brief suggested introduction:

It all starts with "Welcome!", a look at the earliest published analysis "In The Beginning...", and the most notorious Jerome Gambit game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!",

About Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, the "inventor" of the Jerome Gambit, see "The Man, The Myth, The Legend..."

For early players and analyists see "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (early)". For a more recent list, see "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)". (The latter certainly bears updating.)

What are the most important Jerome Gambit games? The list is changing, but take a peek at "The Classics I (a first look)" and "The Classics II (a first look)" for a start.

After that, you can search for a favorite move or line, or track down a favorite player (try: Blackburne, Philidor1792 and Wall for starters; or check out my modest games - perrypawnputher) - or just wander around.

Be sure to know that if you have Jerome Gambit games that you have played, I would love to see them and share them with other readers.

-Rick

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit - Even the Young Are Playing It

I just found an interesting over-the-board Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit game - in a U10 event, of all things!

It is not unusual to find a young player using the trappy Blackburne Shilling Gambit, but - was he surprised by 4.Bxf7+ ?

Black countered well and won; he finished 4.5/5 for second place in the tournament. White pushed on valiantly in a not-so-concrete position, but lost; he finished 3/5, for 9th place (tiebreak).

My notes will be light, in case either player (or a Reader!) would like to venture into this opening again.

Yuen, Lok - Zheng, Richard
Youth Championship semi-quick, Quebec, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Ke6 

Both players follow the "best" line. Black maintains a slight edge if he brings his King back to safety. White has a strong pawn center and much latitude as to how to play.

8.d3

A couple of alternatives to consider: 8.Nc3 Kf7 9.Qb3+ (9.O-O) 9...Ke8 10.d3 c6 11.O-O d6 12.Bf4 Qf6 13.Ne2 Qe6 14.d5 cxd5 15.Nd4 Qf6 16.Qb5+ Kf7 17.Qxd5+ Kg6 18.e5 Qxf4 19.Ne6 Bxe6 20.Qxe6+ Kh5 21.Rae1 Black forfeited on time, papernoose - nuum, FICS, 2004; and

8.O-O d6 9.f4 Kf7 10.Qb3+ Ke8 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Qxd4+ 13.Kh1 Qxe5 14.Qf7+ Kd8 15.Qxf8+ Qe8 16.Qxg7 Ne7 17.d3 Bf5 18.Bg5 Kd7 19.Rxf5 Qh5 20.Qxe7+ Kc6 Black resigned, topsoul - moisesserraramos, lichess.org, 2016. 

8...Kf7 9.Qf3+ 

Perhaps stronger was 9.O-O. However, we have also seen that strong players like Wall and Philidor1792 are quite willing to exchange Queens and play with the pawns against the extra piece, in quick time controls.

9...Qf6 10.Qxf6+ 

Again, it was possible to look at 10.Bf4 and 10.Qe3. 

10...Nxf6 

White has to find a way to use his "Jerome pawns".

11.Bf4 Bb4+ 12.Nc3 c6 13.Bc7 d5 14.e5 

Perhaps 14.f3. Now the Bishop's life becomes complicated.

14...Ne8 

15.Bd8 Bf5 16.Bh4 Bxd3 17.Kd2 Bf5 18.Rhe1 Nc7 19.Bg3 Ne6 20.f3 Nxd4 

It looks like time is short. Black is clearly better.

21.Rac1 Nb5 22.a3 Bxc3+ 23.bxc3 Nxa3 24.Re3 Nc4+ 25.Ke2 Nxe3 26.Kxe3 a5 27.Kf4 Ke6 28.Rd1 a4 29.c4 a3 30.cxd5+ cxd5 31.Rb1 Bxb1 White resigned