Jerome Pawns Have Mercy!

I just received another bullet game (1 minute, no increment) Jerome Gambit game from Cliff Hardy that ends rather brutally. I will leave the comments up to him, and add diagrams.

This is a bullet game played on Lichess, where the Jerome pawns were rather merciless:

Cliff Hardy - NN

1 0, Lichess, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Ng6?! 

The ever popular defence.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qe3 Be6?!

The regular mistake, which leads to a slight advantage to Black, and was inferior to 10...Kf7, with a clear advantage to Black.

11.0-0?!

11.f4 would have been more direct and better

11...Qd7?!

Now things are fairly equal but 11...Nh5!? 12. d4 Rf8 would have restrained White from playing the dangerous advance f4, and still kept a very healthy advantage for Black.

12.f4 Bf7 13.f5 Ne5?!

Encouraging the Jerome pawns to go on the march and yielding White a clear advantage, whereas the defensive 13...Ne7 would still have led to equality. 

14.d4 Nc4 15.Qg3 Bg8

Black tries to prevent the fork of Black's queen and bishop via the White pawn advance e4-e5-e6, though 15...Qe7 would have been a better attempt at doing that.

16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.e6 Qc6 

19.Bg5?

Still winning, but missing that I could have now simply played the superior 19.Qxg7

19...Nxc3 20.Qxc3 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Kf8 

22.f6 g6 23.f7 Qe5

Trying to shield his rook on h8 from attack but there is no defence any more to White's overpowering pawns.

24.e7+ Kg7 and Black resigned

Jerome pawns have mercy! White would checkmate in 2 moves after 25. f8=Q+ Rxf8 26. exf8=Q

Jerome Gambit: To Force or Not?

To force or not to force?

Should we play forcing lines - which give our opponents direction in what moves to play? Or should we leave them to their own devices, and trust that they will go astray?

The Jerome Gambit offers both opportunities, as the following game shows.
Wall, Bill - Guest1302712
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

This is about as forcing a move as White has at his disposal - although a small number of defenders have insisted upon refusing to accept the Bishop.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6

Both sides have thematic options. White is sure what he wants to do. Black, not so much.

8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 Re8 10.Bg5 c6 

Guarding against a possible Nd5, with pressure against his Knight at f6. A good alternative was to kick the enemy Bishop with 10...h6, or continue castling-by-hand with 10...Kg8.

11.b3

I admit to being puzzled by this move. So, apparently, was Bill's opponent.

11...Be6

Too casual, especially when 11...Kg8 was still available. It is the equivalent of yelling to the "Jerome pawns" - Come and get me!

12.f4 Ng6

Black needs to engage and fight back, as Stockfish 9 shows: 12...Neg4 13.h3 Nh6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.e5 Bxh3!? 16.gxh3 dxe5 17.Qc4+ Kg7 18.Rad1 Qe7 19.Rfe1 Kh8 20.fxe5 Nd7 21.Ne4 Nxe5 when Black's extra h-pawn may not be meaningful, but if either side would have an edge, it would be the second player. 

13.f5 Bc8 

Giving up the Bishop with 13...Ne5 was probably better than un-developing.

14.fxg6+ hxg6 15.Rad1 Bg4

White has pressure on Black's pawn at d6; Black counters with pressure on the White pawn at e4.

16.Rd2 Re6 

In protecting the d-pawn, Black overlooks a threat.

17.e5 Rxe5 18.Qxg4 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Qc5

Tactics now allow White, with an extra piece, to stay ahead.

20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Ne4 Qe3 22.Rxd6 Qxe4 

The return of this piece is not for free.

23.Rfxf6+ Ke7 24.Qd7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Questions

The Jerome Gambit gives rise to many questions. A few are examined in the following game.

Wall, Bill - Guest4660121
PlayChess.com, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nf6 

Black has so many ways to return some of the sacrificed material. This cold-blooded focus on development has been looked at before, as it is quite playable, and White needs to keep his wits about himself.

What a great way to surprise the attacker (except, in this case, White has been there, seen that.)

7.dxe5 Bxf2+ 

What Jerome Gambit player hasn't been the recipient of one of the many return Bishop sacrifices? Sometimes the gift is chosen after analysis of the position, sometimes it is chosen after psycho-analysis of the player.

Instead of stretching for a surprise, however, the defender might simply work on playing a strong move. Indeed, 7...Qe8 or 7...Qe7 should be looked at, according to Stockfish. Neither can be found in The Database. (Hmmm... Are those moves included in the "Jerome Gambit Secrets" series?)

The thoughtful 7...Nxe4 was seen, for example, in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016}(1-0, 16) and Wall, B - TenAndOnly10, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 21).

8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 

Instead, 9.Ke1 Qh4+!? was seen in Wall,B - Guest371494, PlayChess.com, 2018, (1-0, 21) ("Interesting, but it doesn't work" says Bill.)

9...d5 

Or 9...Rf8 as in Wall,B - Guest902091, PlayChess.com, 2017 (1-0, 17) and Wall,B -Guest7889049, PlayChess.com, 2018 (1-0, 12) 

10.Qf3+ Ke8 

The alternative, 10...Kg6, is about equally strong, although Black's King can hardly feel safe there, and there's always the lesson of Wall,B - Szachowski, playok.com, 2017 (1-0, 20)

11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Be6

An "objective" analysis of the position would suggest an even game, but it is essential to remember the old Jerome Gambit warning: whenever White has equalized, he has the advantage. There are many practical reasons why this is so.

13.Be3 b6 

Here is one: Black relaxes too soon.
He might have tried 13...c6, although that didn't turn out too well in Wall,B - MyDrunkAccount, lichess.org, 2016' (1-0, 20).

Perhaps: 13...Qd7. 

14.Qc6+ Ke7

And here is another kind of reaction to Jerome Gambit equality: any old move will do. (Probably 14...Bd7, instead, was best.) 

15.Bg5+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Outlandish

What are some of the most outlandish chess gambits?"

I was pleased to find this question as the title for a page on the Quora website.

Listed are:

Halloween Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5??

Muzio Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0–0?

Traxler Counter Attack1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5?

Elephant Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5?!

Paris Gambit1.Nh3?? d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4? Bxh3 4.Bxh3 exf4 5.0–0 fxg3 6.hxg3

Italian Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4?!

Leonhardt Gambit1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.b4?!

Of course, if you keep looking, of course, you will find the Jerome Gambit.

What is especially nice about the page is that it has links to three fun videos by Mato Jelic:

"The Birth of a Jerome Gambit"
"Is the Jerome Gambit Sound?"
"Practical Application of the Jerome Gambit"

I have mentioned the videos previously, but they are always worth a revisit.