Jerome Gambit: Escape

 

In the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, White slips out of a dangerous position and escapes punishment for capturing a Rook. In turn, later on his opponent's Knight cannot escape after capturing a Rook - and that is a major reason that this blitz game ends up "1-0". 

payton321 - hindigrandmaster

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 

Whistler's Defense, named after Lt. G.N. Whistler, Secretary of the Lexington Kentucky Chess Club, who played the defense against Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in a series of correspondence games.

8.Qxh8 

Dangerous. When I play Black, I am always happy to see my opponents take the Rook. When I play White, I always stay away from this dangerous grab.

However, some players are content to enter complications with a firm belief that they can out-combine their opponents and escape.

For a couple of looks at this move, see the posts "Jerome Gambit: In Bullet, Almost Everything Is Playable" and "Jerome Gambit: Beware Free Hugs"

8...Nf6 

Faced with two attractive choices - attacking the enemy King and trapping the enemy Queen - Black chooses the more difficult one. He should have pursued 8...Qxe4+.

9.d3 

Beginning to set things right.

9...d6 10.Bh6 Bxf2+  

A tricky idea with the goal of eliminating White's annoying Bishop, so that White will be unable to check the King from g7. However, that would allow White to check from h7.

Remember, this is a 3-minute game, and it is not always possible or practical to analyze deeply. 

11.Kf1 

White wants to avoid the fork 11...Ng4+ 12.Ke2 Nxh6, but he would then have 13.Qxh7+ and be able to pick up the Knight on the next move.

11...Bd4 12.Qg7+ Ke6 13.Qxe7+ Kxe7 14.c3 Bb6 

The White Queen has gotten free and exchanged itself off. The first player is the exchange and a pawn ahead. 

15.Ke2 Bg4+ 16.Kd2 Be6 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxh6 Ng4 19.Bg5+ Kd7 20.d4 Rf8 

Black is keeping his pieces active, his only chance.

21.Na3 Rf2+ 22.Kd3 Rxb2 23.Nc4 

Looking at half of the board, this appears to be a very effective move, attacking the enemy Rook at the same time planning to exchange off one of Black's troublesome Bishops. Adding in the other half, however, shows that the move is a slip; Black's active Rook has been rewarded - almost.

23...Nf2+ 24.Ke3 Nxh1

So close, and yet so far... Black is happy to grab the exchange, overlooking the fact that he could grab a whole piece, instead, with 24...Bxc4 - and that piece needs to go because it attacks a Rook itself. 

25.Nxb2 Black resigned

Black's Knight will not escape.