A GM Faces the Jerome Gambit (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

Cliff Hardy (2285) - GM Yasser Quesada Perez (2275), 

Lichess, 1 0, 2019

notes by Cliff Hardy and Rick

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

Finally! A GM has walked into my trap!

4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ 

Interesting. Some players - including Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, at first - prefer 6.d4, instead. The line is less forcing than the text, and gives Black more chances to go astray. Would the GM have found the sharpest reply, 6...Qh4!? That is a tale for another day, another game.-Rick

6...Kf8 

So, is this the revealed wisdom of the grandmaster? Is Black's best defense to the Jerome Gambit the Jerome Defense, seen in two Daniel Jaeger - Alonzo Wheeler Jerome correspondence games,  from 1880, both wins by Black?

Not necessarily.

There are at least 3 ways to address this issue.

First, we can ask another "grandmaster", Stockfish 10, what its choice is. It prefers 6...Ke6 over 6...Kf8 by about 3/4 of a pawn, although, of course it sees both moves as decisive for Black.

Secondly, we can check with The Database, which will give feedback on the results of different defensive moves, drawn from online club level player games. There are 529 games with 6...g6, which can lead to either the Blackburne or Whistler's Defenses, and against which White scores a surprising 72% - no doubt because of the complexity of the play. There are 2,071 games with 6...Ng6, and 1,101 games with 6...Ke6; against each White scores 53%. Finally, there are 663 games with 6...Kf8, against which White scores 49%.

So, if the grandmaster is "thinking like a club player", he will choose 6...Kf8.

I am not sure that GM Quesada Perez has ever given a thought to the Jerome Gambit, let alone prepared a special "best" defense against it. I suspect that when confronted by the Jerome in a bullet game, he simply grabbed a move that looked okay, that didn't advance his King further into danger, and that didn't possibly weaken his pawn structure.

To be fair, if the GM had 8 seconds left on his clock at the end of the game, then he used up 52 seconds for 54 moves - an average of slightly less than a second per move. That he spent twice that average - a whole 2 seconds - on 6...Kf8, might be significant only in humorous commentary. (I recall a master suggesting that in over-the-board blitz games, it was best to choose moves on the side of the board closest to the clock.)- Rick

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qd7

Perez's 9...Qd7 caught me on the hop. With more time, I probably would have played 10.h3 here to stop black going for a queen swap with 10...Qg4. Keeping queens on the board, I think gives White better attacking prospects, though I'd be interested in what the database has to say about the success rates of White's different options on this tenth move!

9...Qd7 is a novelty, according to The Database, although there are a couple of related games that this game will transpose into:

ChessCoachUA - PArnaudov, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2017: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 Qd7 10.Nc3 Qg4 11.Qxg4 Bxg4 12.h3 Be6 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Ke7 15.O-O Rhf8 16.Nb5 c6 17.Nd4 Nd7 18.a4 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Rf8 20.Rxf8 Nxf8 21.Kf2 g6 22.Nf3 Nd7 23.b3 a5 24.Ke2 Nc5 25.e5 dxe5 26.Nxe5 Kd6 27.d4 Nd7 28.Nd3 Bf5 29.g4 Bxd3+ 30.Kxd3 b5 31.axb5 cxb5 32.e4 a4 33.bxa4 bxa4 34.h4 a3 35.Kc3 Nb6 36.Kb3 Nc4 37.c3 Nd2+ 38.Kxa3 Nxe4 39.c4 Black lost on time; and

ZahariSokolov - puthoor, 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qd5 Nf6 9.Qd3 Qd7 10.O-O Qg4 11.Nc3 Be6 12.h3 Qg6 13.Qf3 Ke7 14.Nb5 Bb6 15.d3 a6 16.Na3 Rhf8 17.Qe2 Rae8 18.Be3 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 Kd8 20.Qa7 Bxh3 21.g3 Bc8 22.Qd4 Bd7 23.Rfe1 c6 24.Nc4 Ng4 25.Nxd6 Re6 26.Nxb7+ Kc8 27.Nc5 Rd6 28.Qb4 Qh6 29.Nxd7 Qh2+ White resigned - Rick

10.0-0 Qg4 11.Qxg4

Escaping the queen swap with 11.Qd3?! looked a little silly, with the queen blocking the d-pawn. (Yes, see the ZahariSokolov - puthoor game, above - Rick)

11...Bxg4 12.h3 Be6 13.d3 d5 14.e5 Nd7 15.Kh1

15...g6

For a second, I thought I'd botched the game, as I missed that 15...Nxe5?? was a possibility. However, if that had been played, 16.Re1 Bd6? 17.Bf4! would then have been a strong line for White, winning the piece back.

16.Bh6+ Ke7 17.f4 Bd4 

I am not sure what is going on here. It looks like Black wants to attack White's pawn at e5, to make the advance of the "Jerome pawns" more difficult. Komodo 10 gives two interesting lines, both with the second player sacrificing the exchange and both leading to equality: 18.g4 Raf8!? 19.Bxf8 Rxf8 20.Ne2 Bb6 21.d4 c5 22.c3 and 18.g4 Be3 19.Nd1 Bb6 20.f5 gxf5 21.gxf5 Raf8!? 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Nc3 Rxf5 24.Rxf5 Bxf5 25.Nxd5+ Ke6 26.Nxb6 Nxb6. - Rick

18.Bg5+? -++

The bishop was actually better placed on h6, where it would be hard for Black to remove it. On g5, it allows Black the chance of a bit of kingside counterplay by moving the h-pawn. 18.Rae1 would have been a better move, though Black would still have had a clear advantage. Unfortunately, after this move, I didn't really get back into the game. My 'trap' is starting to look not quite so good 😉.

18...Kf7 19.Rab1 h5 20.Ne2 Bb6 21.c3 

Hoping to get in d3-d4, but his opponent does not allow it.- Rick

21...Bf5 22.Rbd1 Nc5 23.Nc1 Ne6 24.Bh4 Be3 25.Ne2 c5 26.Bf2 Bxf2 27.Rxf2 d4 

White's extra pawns are blockaded. Slowly, Black makes his extra piece tell. There is a lot of serious strategy in this 1-minute game.- Rick

28.c4 h4 29.Kg1 a6 30.Kf1 b5 31.Ng1 Rab8 32.b3 bxc4 33.dxc4 a5 34.Nf3 a4 

35.Ng5+ Nxg5 36.fxg5 Ke6 37.Rf3 axb3 38.axb3 Rb7 39.Re1 Rhb8 40.Rf2 Rxb3 41.Ra2 Rb2 42.Ra6+ R8b6 43.Ra7 R2b3 44.Rh7 Rb1 45.Rxh4 Rxe1+ 46.Kxe1 

White still has two pawns for a piece, but Black has the dangerous passer.

46...Rb1+ 47.Kf2 Rb2+ 48.Kg3 Rb3+ 49.Kh2 Rb2 50.Rh7 Kxe5 51.Ra7 Kf4 52.Ra6 Ke3 53.Rd6 Rc2 54.Rf6 Rxc4 and White lost on time.

Wow.

Thanks, Cliff, for fighting the good fight - and then sharing it with us. - Rick