The Story of the Jerome Gambit

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a school for tactics. Ideally, the players discover all of the moves during the game, but often they have to be uncovered and appreciated afterward.

If you are a tactical wizard, there is room for the Jerome Gambit in your opening repertoire. If you are becoming a tactical wizard, the story is the same.

The following game has tactics galore. White had his chances, as did Black, and both, as Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed by that much."

With all the notes, I mean no disrespect to either player. There is much to learn from this game. It is a fact of blitz that there was little time to find everything.

lksharma - garciadeveas

3 0 blitz, FICS, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.d4 

White is willing to offer more material to open another line of attack. In a 3-minute game, this is more playable - lksharma has played it 40 times before this game.

5...Nxd4 

I suppose that Black avoided 5...Bxd4 to avoid 6.Nxd4 (winning Bishop for Knight) or 6.c3 (kicking the Bishop with tempo) but it was the better move. The text unprotects the pawn at e5.

6.Nxe5+ Kf8 7.Qh5 

Simply going for checkmate.

7...g6 

This is the story of Jerome Gambit: Black has a defense, but he has to find it. With 7...Qe7 he could have secured his position.

8.Nxg6+ hxg6 9.Qxh8 

The Rook capture looked attractive, but White could have simplied things - to his advantage - with 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qxd4, cleaning up the counter-attackers.

It is possible that White chose his move based on the belief that the upcoming Black Knight fork would be unsuccessful.

9...Nxc2+ 10.Kf1 

The King seeks shelter, but he was needed to help on the Queenside: 10.Kd1 Nxa1 11.Bh6+ Kf7 12.Qg7+ Ke6 13.Qxg6+ Nf6 14.Bg7 d6 15.Nc3 When White is better, even if he is down a couple of pieces!

10...Qf6 11.Bh6+ 

Development with check. This is an idea to remember.

11...Kf7

Black returns the favor with a King's misstep of his own. The proper move was 11...Ke7. What difference does it make? It means that when White checks with his Queen, Black's Queen can interpose. An exchange of Queens would squash White's attack, and Black's King would no longer be in danger - while the material advantage would make Black better.  

12.Qh7+ Ke6 13.Qxg8+ 

Now Black has two reasonable choices.

He can interpose his Queen, and after 13...Qf7 14.Qxf7+ Kxf7 15.Ke2 Nxe1 16.Rc1 b6 17.Nc3 Bb7 18.Rxa1 White would be a pawn up, but Black would have the two Bishops.

Of course, if a draw is okay for Black, he can simply play 13...Ke7, when White's best choice is probably 14.Qh7+ Ke8 15.Qg8+ etc. with a draw by repetition. A messier draw - or a prettier one, depending on how you look at it - would be 14.Ke1 Nxa1 15.Nc3 Qxf2+ 16.Kd1 Qc2+ 17.Ke1 Qf2+ etc.

Instead, Black looks at all that he has going on - the capture of the Rook at a1 and the Queen check at f2 - and steps into danger. 

13...Kd6

Missing the fact that White now has the same kind of clean up move mentioned in the note to move 9.

14.f4 

Very much a Jerome Gambit move. The threatened pawn fork of the enemy King and Queen is attractive.

Still, it was okay to go for a simpler win with 14.Qd5+ Ke7 15.Qxc5+ Ke8 16.Qxc2  or the related 14.Bf8+ Kc6 15.Qd5+ Kb6 16.Bxc5+ Ka6 17.Qd3+ b5 18.Qxc2.

14...Ne3+ 

Black has one last attacking idea. He has to keep checking to keep things going.

15.Ke2 Qxb2+ 16.Kf3 

Tragic. With 16.Nd2 there was safety. 

16...Qxg2 checkmate 

Wow.