Jerome Gambit: More or Less (Part 1)

I still haven't had many opportunities to play chess lately, and when I have had the chance, I haven't been able to reach the Jerome Gambit. This has been a bit frustrating, as I know that in the earlier years of this blog I was able to share my adventures - good and bad - and trace out a path, as it were, sharing history, perspective and analysis, through this strange chess land.

Fortunately, readers of this blog have shared their games and analysis, and that has kept things moving. I hope you have appreciated their play. I certainly have.

Just the other day I was finally able to play an online blitz Jerome Gambit. As with many of my matches, there is both more and less there than meets the eye. Let me see if I can explain... 

Certain themes show up over and over in the game, the notes, and earlier games, and choosing among them is the challenge.

perrypawnpusher - scarsetto

blitz 5 5, FICS, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ 

I know that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome initially preferred 6.d4, but he never ran into the "pie-in-the-face variation" 6...Qh4!?.

I think I have tried 6.d4 only once, and, managed to swindle my way to a draw, after, of course, 6...Qh4. - perrypawnpusher - 4xe1, Chess.com, 2017 (1/2-1/2, 29).

For the record, The Database has 3,850 games with 6.Qh5+ (White scores 55%) and 1,608 games with 6.d4 (White scores 54%). Pretty even results.

6...Ke6 

The only other time that I have played scarsetto, a few years ago, he tried 6...Ng6 here. A dozen moves later, I hung my Queen: 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Rf8 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qd3 Kg8 15.h3 Bxf5 16.Rxf5 d5 17.hxg4 dxe4 18.Qxe4?? Nxe4 White resigned, perrypawnpusher - scarsetto, FICS, 2014. Ouch.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nh6 

Black develops a piece, attacking White's Queen, making room for his Rook to come to f8, and not preventing his Queen from coming, if she wishes, to f6. Taken separately, these are good things, but they do not fit well in the current position - a sign of a defender who has either been surprised by the Jerome Gambit, knows little about it, or treats it with disdain.

Those who play the Jerome Gambit should take a look at the diagram and decide what they would do next. For encouragement, I can point out that there are 8 examples of this position in The Database. White scored 100%.

(It should be pointed out that there are only 3 games in The Database that contain Stockfish 8's recommendation, 8...Kc6, simply giving up the Black Knight. However, Black won all of them.)

9.Qxe5+ Kc6

Here perrypawnpusher - GPP, blitz, FICS, 2010 was awarded to White by ajudication. I was surprised, acutally, as previous ajudications that I had encountered seemed to have been based on simply counting up the material each side has - and here Black still has a piece for two pawns. That raises a couple of important questions: What is White's advantage? How does he win? 

10.Qd5+ Kb6 

It seems pretty clear at first glance that White has the advantage - Black's unsafe King is more significant than White's small material deficit. But does White have a checkmate, or will he merely win back another piece and hold a small advantage? In a blitz game, it is important to know which goal you are chasing after.

11.Nc3 

I was betting on "checkmate", although I hadn't analyzed how.

If Bobby Fischer ever said "Long analysis, wrong analysis" he probably also said "No analysis - you better have a ton of experience in that position and an awesome memory" (or, maybe not).

The computer places its bet on "win back another piece". Best according to Stockfish 6 is 11.Qb3+!?

To understand the recommendation move (beyond "patzer sees check, patzer gives check") it is only necessary to look at Black's possible response, 11...Kc6, when a reasonable continuation would be 12.Nc3 d5 13.Qb5+ Kd6 14.e5+ Ke6 15.Qxc5 and White is up a couple of pawns while Black's King is still uneasy.

A steadier response for Black is 11...Ka6, when White has to find 12.Qa4+ Kb6 13.b4!?, threatening to win the Bishop outright and making it possible to put his dark-squared Bishop on the long a1-h8 diagonal. Stockfish 8 recommends the return of the piece immediately with 13...Bxf2+, which shows a pretty good sense of humor for a computer.

Bishop retreats for Black complicate the position, and one example will show how. After 11...Ka6 12.Qa4+ Kb6 13.b4!? Be7 White has a whole lot to figure out, in a short amount of time: 14.Qa5+ Kc6 15.Nc3 a6 16.b5+ Kd6 17.Qb4+ Ke6 18.Qb3+ d5 19.Nxd5 Kf7 20.Nxc7+ Kg6 21.f5+ Nxf5 (returning the piece is best) 22.exf5+ Bxf5 

analysis diagram




Here, White is a couple of pawns up, and should continue to pressure Black with 23.Qg3+, or at least 23.0-0. He should not grab the a8 Rook, as that would be a delightful blunder, leading to immediate crushing pressure on his own King, starting with 23.Nxa8? Bh4+ 24.g3 Re8+, etc, and if White's King survives, his Queen won't. 


Eight years ago I played, instead of 11.Nc3 or 11.Qb3+, the central push 11.d4 - but that leads down another road, so perhaps that is best looked at in the next post.

[to be continued]