Interesting...

There is an interesting article on the 1918 Rye Beach Masters' Tournament at the eclectic, educational and entertaining Tartajubow on Chess II website. I am always pleased to find "Danvers Opening", "Kentucky Opening" and "Jerome Gambit" on the same page.

Check it out.

Jerome Gambit: Three Tools

When I am trying to make sense out of different lines of play of the Jerome Gambit - to post on this blog, or to prepare for a game - I generally use 3 tools.

It is often helpful to know what a computer chess engine "thinks" of a line or position. I currently use Stockfish 8 & 9, but have also used Houdini, Rybka, Fritz and Crafty. Computers are very good at pointing out tactical shots, and have been getting better and better at understanding positional nuances. (I have not tried Komodo, but it is supposed to be advanced in positional assessment.)

Of course, "objective" evaluation of the Jerome Gambit can be meaningless by itself. If machines could talk (I'm looking at you, Talking Fritz), after move 4 they would say "White, you are busted, why not stop wasting your time and just start another game?"

I leaven the serious look at Jerome lines with a peek at games drawn from The Database, currently 56,000+ Jerome Gambit and Jerome-related games that generally reflect online club play. Some players are very successful with my favorite "refuted" chess opening!

While I would not, ever, compare the Jerome Gambit to the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defense, nor compare myself to Bobby Fischer, I was always impressed when Bobby would play Black with the Najdorf and win - and then turn around and take White and beat the Najdorf. Bobby was an awesome player, but he also showed the benefit of really knowing, down deep, the opening you play.

Finally, I always appreciate the wisdom of Geoff Chandler's humorous, but intuitively correct, "blunder table". In master and grandmaster games, the advantage of a pawn is frequently enough for a win. As we move down to the play of less-developed players, however, it can sometimes take a Knight or a Rook before one side has a "winning" advantage.

So, while the top players would hardly play an opening that involves the sacrifice of two pieces, it is not at all surprising (despite computer carping) to find that in club games - especially fast ones - that the Jerome Gambit can find its place - especially in lines where Black returns a piece, leaving him with a piece for two pawns (essentially a pawn ahead). That is hardly enough to guarantee a win for the second player! 

Jerome Gambit: Strangeness Awaits

The following Jerome Gambit game is not an exemplar, but it has an appearance of strangeness that makes it fun to play over. 

Wall, Bill - Faave, Al
PlayChess.com, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6

This is not the way to return the sacrificed material - Black gets little for it.

Just as the game was not "over" after White's 4th move, it it not yet over after Black's 7th. (Although White is up a couple of pawns.)

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qa5 b6 11.Qg5 h6 12.Qb5 a6 13.Qb3+ Be6 14.Qe3

White exaggerates the errors of his opening - more than half of his moves are with his Queen! She has bounced around, encouraging Black to loosen the positions of his pawns.

14...Ng4 

Harassing the enemy Queen further. 

15.Qg3 Nf6 16.Nc3 Rf8 17.f5 Bd7 18.d3 Bc6 19.Qg6+ Ke7 

It is understandable tht Black did not want to castle-by-hand with 19...Kg8, as White can respond with 20.Bxh6, but the King will not be safe in the center of the board.

20.Qxg7+ Rf7 21.Qxh6 Qg8 22.g3 Qg4 

Black has an advantage in development, and wants to put it to use by pressuring White's King and Queen. (I am not ready to refer to this line of play as "the four pawns defense".)

23.Bg5 Rg8 24.Bh4 Rgg7 

I was surprised to see that Stockfish 8 assesses this position to be vastly favorable for White - "+13", which is equivalent to the 4 extra pawns White has, plus and extra Queen. Clearly White is about to win back some material, but still...

25.h3 Qf3 26.Rf1 Qg2 


27. Bxf6+ Kd7 28. Bxg7 Qxg3+ 29. Ke2 Rxg7 

Eventually White's extra Rook - and pawns - will mean something, but for now his King still has to be careful.

30.f6 Rf7 31.Qh5 Rf8 32.Qh7+ Kc8 33.Qg7 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Their Majesties

Here is the latest Jerome Gambit from Vlasta Fejfar, featuring two wandering Queens. White's Queen successfully attacks, while Black's Queen is a few steps slow in defending. In a surprise twist, the player who loses his Queen, wins the game!

vlastous - Marwan 86
internet, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4

This move is at least as old as D'Aumiller - AP, Livorno, 1878 (1-0, 19), appeared in 2 of the Jerome - Charles correspondence games in their 1881 match (both games incomplete), and appeared in 6 of the games in the legendary (to Jerome Gambit players, anyhow) Fisher-Kirshner - KnightStalker match of 1993.

4...Qf6 8. Rf1 g6 

We have seen a couple of Vlasta's opponents try other ideas:

8...Nd3+ "creatively returning a piece" in Vlastous - Kombe, internet, 2017, (1-0, 22); and

8...Nc6 "cold-blooded, but playable" in Fejfar,V - Vins, corr Czech Republic, 2015, (1-0, 23). 

9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.fxe5 Qxe5 11.Qf3 Qf6 

A common criticism of the Jerome Gambit is that White moves his Queen too early and too often. So far in this game, however, Black has kept pace with White.

Vlastous 2344 -Daboa 1799, Chessmaniac.com, 2016, (1-0, 42) saw the alternative, 11...Nf6.

12.Qe2 Qa6 

You can almost hear Black sigh "Enough, already!". The threat to exchange Queens is easily parried, though, and Her Majesty soon finds that she needs to get back in the fray.

13.d3 Ke8 14.Nc3 Ne7 15.Nd5 Qc6 

To protect against the threatened Knight fork at c7.

Black's best defense was 15...Kd8, when a typical messy game can continue with 16.Bg5 c6 17.b4 cxd5 18.bxc5 dxe4 19.Rf7 Re8 20.Qxe4 Qe6 21.Qxe6 dxe6 22.Rxh7 when White clearly has compensation for his sacrificed material, although the game is about even. (Who is more comfortable, though?)

16.Qf3 Nxd5 

Opening the e-file with the enemy Queen facing the King is pretty risky, but the best move, 16...Nf5, still loses. (And it turns out that White doesn't need the e-file after all.)

17.Qf7+ Kd8 18.Bg5+ Be7 

Black does not want to give up his Queen with 18...Qf6.

White decides to give up his.

19.Qf8+ Rxf8 20.Rxf8 checkmate

Very nice.