As a serious fan of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I like to think about what would happen if the best chess players ever faced the opening - or, even more improbably, if the "best" ever played against the "worst".
Of course, I am realistic about the objective value of the Jerome Gambit, and am comfortable referring to it as "the worst." I have even written a cautionary 2-part article about the opening for Chess Life for Kids, about a decade ago (see " 'The Worst Chess Opening Ever' - Warning or Menace??").
One of my first blog posts on this site was an introduction to the bashing that the British powerhouse Joseph Henry Blackburne gave the Jerome Gambit (see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!") - even if we eventually had to show that the Blackburne Defense probably leads to a draw...
Over the years, there have been various "sightings".
There was the gathering in "No Way A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit" Parts 1, 2, & 3" which has a reference to "A GM plays the Jerome Gambit??"
I went chasing after a game supposedly played by Alekhine ("The Jerome Gambit is Going to Drive Me..." Parts 1 & 2) only to lead to disappointment (see "Much Ado About... Nothing").
Then there was the columnist, writing in 1914, that suggested that Steinitz had lost to the Jerome Gambit the first time he had faced it. No game example was given, however, nor any specifics, like location and year played. You can read about it in an aptly titled post "Jerome Gambit: Balderdash".
Likewise, there is a 1906 newspaper chess column talking about Emanuel Lasker defeating a Jerome Gambit in a simultaneous exhibition - and, while no game is given, the name of the player (and others who challenged Lasker), the location, and the date can be assessed, making the claim a bit more authentic.
I have done a bit more researching lately. I have also been reflecting on the question: What is the Jerome Gambit? The answer to the latter may help inform the former.
[to be continued]
What can you say about a one minute, no increment, chess game?
Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe rain, maybe snow.
Unless the opening is the Jerome Gambit. Then, put your bets on angelcamina, playing White, whether he is better or worse off, "objectively".
angelcamina - KPDGE
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Qf6
Sometimes in Jerome lines, it is useful for the defender to have his Queen on f6. In this case - with the King on the same file? Probably not. But, remember, this is a 1-minute game, and it will not be decided by nuances.
11.O-O Ne5
Reminds me of the Joker, in "The Dark Knight", saying he wants Batman to hit him.
12.f4
Hitting with the right. It might have been stronger to hit with the left, 12.d4.
12...Nc4 13.Qe2 Nb6 14.e5
14...Qe6 15.d4 Ne7 16.f5 Qc4 17.Qg4
Instead, 17.f6 works, but it allows Black to exchange Queens. Instead, White is going after the King.
17...Bxf5 18.Rxf5+ Nxf5 19.Qxf5+
19...Ke8
Freeing the f-file for his h-Rook. Stronger was 19...Kg8, freeing the file for his a-Rook. Who has time to figure this all out?
20.e6
Easy to understand (Attack! Attack!) but it leaves Black a way out.
20...Qxd4+ 21.Kh1 Rf8 22.Qg6+ Ke7 23.Bxh6
Nice. White is objectively in trouble, but this offer of a sacrifice - a bluff? - intimidates Black, and turns the game around. (The Bishop must be taken.)
23...Qf6 24.Bg5
Ow. Certainly the clock must have been a factor at this point.
24...Rae8 25.Bxf6+ Rxf6 26.Qxg7+ Kxe6 27.Re1+ Kf5 28.Rxe8 Kf4 29.Qg3+ Kf5 30.Qf3+ Black resigned
In the following online blitz game, Black "surprises" White with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit - only to be surprised, in turn, by receiving the Jerome Gambit treatment. Things go steadily in White's direction, until he makes a slip, and that is Black's chance; but he misses it.
angelcamina - felix_paton
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+
Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Qf6
Interesting, but 7...hxg6 had to be played.
8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.e5 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Qxf2 11.Qf7+
With fast time controls, this kind of thing can happen. The safe path was to snap up the advanced Knight with 11.Kxc2.
Okay, Black has his chance. Can he exit the highway to oblivion?
11...Kd8
Inertia. Instead, 11...Qxf7 12.Nxf7 Nxa1 would give him the advantage.
12.Qxf2 Black resigned.
And so it goes. angelcamina doesn't give many chances.
