Sunday, March 21, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Again?



Here we go again?

Of course you are familiar with the following position


It is the Jerome Gambit. Perhap White is generously giving his opponent "Jerome Gambit odds".

And what about this position?


You might remember that this is from the game Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876  (1-0, 18), where White is about to give his opponent Jerome Gambit and Rook odds.

Then there is this memorable position, where White appears to be doomed, but was actually quite lucky


While there is a mate-in-2 on the board (GeorgeCool - xadrezedificil, blitz, FICS, 2011), Black ran out of time and White had no mating material (!) so the game was declared a draw.

All of which leads us to the following position, where it appears that White has given both Jerome Gambit and Queen odds. Oh, my.


Here is how the game got there.

RonnitSonnit - NN
3 5 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qf3+ Nxf3+ 7.gxf3 

It came with the following introduction
I am unsure if you are still accepting reader games being submitted but this game is a beauty. I was playing a series of blitz games with a friend and by game 11 I was looking to throw him off after several boring Berlin and Dragon games, so I employed the Jerome Gambit. What's special about this game is 6.Qf3+, a queen sacrifice with no immediate material or positional compensation, but awards White with a physiological advantage, a benefit of the Jerome. With him off his game due to the sheer randomness of the Jerome Gambit, I made it to the endgame with even material and finished him off with a nice passed pawn to queen/king checkmate
You might want to refer to White's 6th move as a "blunder". I am inclined to remember to the distinction: When your opponent gains material, it is a "sacrifice" if you win, and a "blunder" when you lose.

Also, keep in mind GeorgeCool - xadrezedificil, 2011, above.

7...Qh4 8.Rf1 Qh5 9.d3 Ne7 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Rg8 12.Rh1 g5


13.Nd2 d5 14.O-O-O Qh6 15.exd5 Qf6 16.e4 Kg7 17.Rhg1 h5 18.h4 g4 19.fxg4 hxg4 20.Kb1 Qf2 


21.Rh1 a5 22.Nc4 Qf6 23.Rdf1 Qd4 24.Rd1 b5 25.Na3 Rb8 26.c3 Qe3 27.Nc2 Qc5 28.a3 Qb6 29.h5 g3 30.Rd2 Rb7 31.Rg2 Qd6


Give White credit, he plays along and refuses to panic.

32.Nd4 Bg4 33.Rhg1 Kf7 34.Rxg3 Qf4 35.h6 Nxd5?


One use for extra material is to give some of it back to break down the enemy fortress.

36.h7 Re8 37.Rxg4 Nxc3+? 38.bxc3 Qf6 


Black has a Queen for a Knight and a couple of pawns, but White's threats make the game even. Quite Jerome-ish.

39.Rg5 c5 40.Nf5 Rd7? 41.Rg7+ Ke6 42.R1g6 Rxg7 43.Nxg7+ Kf7 44.Rxf6+ Kxg7 

Things are looking up for White. You might even say that he is winning.

45.Rc6 c4 46.dxc4 Re7 47.cxb5 Kxh7 48.Ra6 Rxe4 49.Rxa5 Rf4 50.Ra7+ Kh8

51.b6 Rf1+ 52.Kc2 Rf2+ 53.Kb3 Rf3 54.b7 Rf8 55.Ra8 Kg7 56.Rxf8 Kxf8 57.b8=Q+ Kg7 58.Kc4 Kf7 59.Kd5 Kg7 60.Ke6 Kh6 61.Qg3 Kh7 62.Kf7 Kh8 63.Qh3 checkmate









1 comment:

  1. Wow, white was toying with black hard they just gave away their queen and still checkmated in an endgame

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