Jerome Gambit: Zzzzzz.... Huh? (Part 1)

 

I thought I would interrupt the string of posts about Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura's adventures with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in order to share my most recent Jerome.

The following game shows my magical ability to turn a wildly dynamic opening into something quiet and sleepy. I was going to say that my plan was to play something "masterly", but GM Nakamura has already destroyed that notion, repeatedly.

Anyhow...

(I have included games in the notes because they might have more ideas than I had.)

perrypawnpusher - moush54

3 d / move, Chess.com, 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. Alonzo Wheeler Jerome faced this several times in a correspondence match with Lt. G. N. Whistler, secretary of the Lexington, Kentucky Chess Club, in 1876.

See "Jerome Gambit: Escape" for my latest suggestion that White now avoid capturing the Rook.

 8.Qd5+ 

I thought I would play something new (instead of my usual 8.Qf4+) - although the move is actually quite old.

About a year ago, I mentioned in "Jerome Gambit: Largely Overlooked by History"

The highly dangerous (for White) 8.Qxh8 appeared in Jerome - Norton, D., correspondence, 1876 (1/2 - 1/2, 20) and Jerome - Whistler, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 15). Jerome was fortunate to gain a half point from the two games. The December, 1876 issue of  American Chess Journal, commenting on the Whistler game, recommended 8.Qd5+ without analysis.

Then 8.Qd5+ practically disappeared from the face of the earth.

That comment was in the context of examining the game eronald - ayushsankar1006, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020 and I did publish BoomBoomTNT-YT - tyronev1, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 a couple of months later, but the fact is that there are still fewer than 20 games in The Database with the move - and all but two were played either last year or this.

8...Ke8 

A few games with the alternative 8...Kg7: 9.d4 Bb4+ (9...Bb6 10.f3 Nf6 11.Qb3 Bxd4 12.Nc3 d5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Bf5 15.Be3 Be6 16.Qxb7 Rab8 17.Qxa7 Bxb2 18.Rd1 Bc3+ 19.Kf2 Rhd8 20.Bd4+ Bxd4+ 21.Rxd4 Rxd4 22.Qxd4+ Qf6 23.Qc5 Rb2 24.Qxc7+ Qf7 25.Qc3+ Qf6 26.Qc7+ Bf7 27.e5 Qf5 28. Rc1 Rxa2 29.Qc3 Qe6 30.Qd4 Ra5 31.f4 Rd5 32.Qe3 g5 33.c4 Rd8 34.g3 gxf4 35.gxf4  Bg6 36.Qa7+ Qf7 37.Qxf7+ Kxf7 38.c5 Ke6 39.c6 Rc8 40.Ke3 Be8 41.c7 Bg6 42.Rc6+ Kd7 43.Rf6 Rxc7 44.f5 Be8 45.Rh6 Kd8 46.Kf4 Rg7 47.e6 Ra7 48.Ke5 Bb5 49.Kf6 Ke8 50.Rh4 Kf8 51.Rb4 Rb7 52. Rd4 Be8 53.h4 h5 54.Kg5 Rg7+ 55.Kf6 Rh7 56.Rf4 Rh6+ 57.Ke5 Bf7 58.f6 Bxe6 59.Kxe6 Rh7 60.Rf5 Ra7 61.Rxh5 Ra6+ 62.Kf5 Ra5+ 63.Kg6 Rxh5 64.Kxh5 Kf7 65.Kg5 Ke6 66.h5 Kf7 67.Kf5 Kf8 68.Kg6 Ke8 69.h6 Kd7 70.h7 Kd6 71.h8=Q Kd5 72.f7 Ke4 73.f8=Q Kd5 74.Qhf6 Kc4 75.Q8e7 Kd5 76.Qfd6+ Kc4 77.Qec7+ Black resigned, DerMichel - Waschbaer231, lichess.org, 2020) 10.c3 Nf6 11.Qe5 Qxe5 12.dxe5 Nxe4 13.cxb4 Re8 14.Nc3 Rxe5 15.O-O d5 16.Be3 c6 17.Bd4 Black resigned, BoomBoomTNT-YT - tyronev1, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; 

and 8...Kf8 9.O-O c6 10.Qc4 d5 11.exd5 cxd5 12.Qf4+ Nf6 13.d4 Bd6 14.Qd2 Qe4 15.Re1 Qh4 16.Qh6+ Qxh6 17.Bxh6+ Kf7 18.Nc3 Ng4 19.Bg5 Be6 20.Nb5 Bxh2+ 21.Kh1 a6 22.Nc7 Bxc7 23.f3 White resigned, eronald - ayushsankar1006, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020. 

9.d4

Or 9.O-O Nf6 10.Qc4 Nxe4 (10...d6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 Qf7 14.Re1+ Kd7 15.d4 Bb6 16.Qa4+ c6 17.dxc6+ bxc6 18.c3 Rae8 19.Bg5 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Re8 21.Be3 Ng4 22.d5 Bxe3 23.Qxg4+ Qf5 24.dxc6+ Kc7 25.Qxf5 gxf5 26.Rxe3 Kxc6 27.Rxe8 Black resigned, gbxdl - eistgleichmcc, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020) 11.Re1 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bxe1 13.d3 Nf2+ 14.Kg1 Qe2 15.Qd4 Rf8 16.Qe3+ Qxe3 17.Bxe3 Ng4 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bd2 Bxd2 20.Nxd2 d6 21.Re1+ Kd7 22.Ne4 b6 23.h3 Nf6 24.Nc3 Bb7 25.d4 Rae8 26.Rf1 Nd5 27.Nxd5 Bxd5 28.c3 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Bxa2 30.g3 c5 31.dxc5 dxc5 32.Kf2 b5 33.h4 a5 34.Kf3 b4 35.cxb4 axb4 36.Kf4 c4 37.g4 c3 38.bxc3 bxc3 39.g5 h5 White resigned, GreteVals - BigB0y, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020; or

Or 9.d3 Nf6 10.Qb3 d6 11.O-O Be6 12.Qc3 Kd7 13.Bg5 Raf8 14.d4 Bb6 15.Qb4 a5 16.Qa4+ c6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Qb4 19.Qxb4 axb4 20.Bxf6 Rhg8 21.Nd2 Ba5 22.Nc4 Bxc4 23.Rfd1+ Kc7 24.b3 Be6 25.Rd6 Rxf6 26.Rad1 Rf7 27.Rxe6 Rd8 28.Rxd8 Kxd8 29.g3 Bb6 30.Rd6+ Kc7 31.Rd2 Re7 32.Re2 Kd7 33.Kg2 Ke6 34.f4 Kf5 35.Rf2 Bxf2 36.Kxf2 g5 37.Kf3 g4+ 38.Ke3 h5 39.Kd4 Rd7+ 40.Kc5 Rd2 41.Kxb4 Rxh2 42.a3 h4 43.gxh4 Rxh4 44.c4 g3 45.a4 g2 46.Kc5 g1=Q+ 47.Kd6 Qb6 48.c5 Qxb3 49.e6 Qxe6+ 50.Kc7 Rh7+ 51.Kb6 Qb3+ 52.Ka5 Qc3+ 53.Kb6 Qb4+ 54.Ka7 Qa5+ 55.Kb8 Rh8+ 56.Kxb7 Rh7+ 57.Kxc6 Qa6+ 58.Kd5 Rd7 checkmate, Terminator20 - l3xr3x, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

9...Bb6 

Or 9...Nf6 10.Qxc5 Qxc5 (10...Qxe4+ 11.Kf1 Nd5 12.Bh6 d6 13.Qc4 Be6 14.Nd2 Ne3+ 15.Bxe3 Bxc4+ 16.Nxc4 Qxc2 17.Rc1 Qd3+ 18.Kg1 Kd7 19.h3 Rhe8 20.Kh2 b5 21.Rhd1 Qf5 22.Nd2 g5 23.Nf1 g4 24.Ng3 Qg6 25.h4 Rf8 26.h5 Qe6 27.Rc3 c6 28.Rdc1 Rac8 29.Ra3 Rc7 30.b4 Qd5 31.Rc2 Kc8 32.h6 Kb7 33.Rac3 Rf6 34.a3 Re6 35.Rc1 Rce7 36.Re1 Rg6 37.Rec1 Ree6 38.Rxc6 Qxc6 39.Rxc6 Kxc6 40.Nf5 Kd5 41.Ng7 Rxe3 42.fxe3 Rxh6+ 43.Kg3 Rg6 44.Nf5 h5 45.Nh4 Re6 46.Kf4 Re4+ 47.Kg5 Rxe3 48.Kxh5 Kxd4 49.Nf5+ Ke4 50.Nxe3 Kxe3 51.Kxg4 d5 52.Kf5 d4 53.g4 d3 54.g5 d2 55.g6 d1=Q 56.g7 Qd5+ 57.Kg6 Qg8 58.Kh6 Kd4 59.Kg6 Kc4 60.Kh6 Kb3 61.Kg6 Kxa3 62.Kf6 Kxb4 63.Kg6 a5 64.Kh6 a4 65.Kg6 a3 66.Kf6 a2 67.Kg6 a1=Q 68.Kh6 Qaxg7+ 69.Kh5 Qg6+ 70.Kh4 Q8h7 checkmate, batupahat - elmousse7, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org. 2020) 11.dxc5 Nxe4 12.O-O Nxc5 13.Re1+ Ne6 14.Bh6 b6 15.Nc3 c6 16.Ne4 Kf7 17.Nd6+ Kf6 18.Rad1 g5 19.Nxc8 Raxc8 20.Rxd7 Rcd8 21.Rxa7 Nd4 22.h4 gxh4 23.Bg7+ Kg5 24.Bxh8 Rxh8 25.c3 Nf5 26.Rf7 Kg6 27.Rc7 c5 28.Re6+ Kg5 29.Rxb6 Re8 30.Rxc5 h3 31.g3 Re1+ 32.Kh2 Kg4 33.Rb4+ Kg5 34.Kxh3 Rh1+ 35.Kg2 Ra1 36.g4 Black resigned, Alf02 - AndreasKaemper, 6 5 blitz, lichess.org, 2017; or 

9...c6 10.Qe5 Qxe5 11.dxe5 d5 12.O-O dxe4 13.Re1 Bf5 14.g3 Kd7 15.Be3 Ke8 16.Bxc5 Kd7 17.g4 Bxg4 18.h3 Bxh3 19.Rxe4 Kc7 20.Bd6+ Kd8 21.Rd4 Ke8 22.Bb8 Rxb8 23.e6 Rd8 24.Rd6 Rxd6 25.e7 White resigned, vrajeshpadiyar - RinshanKaihou, 1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2020

The more I looked at this position, the less I liked it. It looked like I was going to lose one of my center pawns after Black got in ...Nf6. My choice of moves saved the pawns, but it was rather uninspiring. 

10.Qe5 Qxe5 11.dxe5 Ne7 

There is not a lot to be excited about, if you are White.

It is possible to protect the pawn at e5 with f2-f4, although that rules out castling Kingside as long as Black's Bishop is on the a7-g1 diagonal. If Black challenges the advanced pawn with ...d7-d6, White can exchange, leaving an isolated Black pawn at d6 that could be pressured along the d-file if White castles Queenside.

In the meantime, Black's two Bishops look like they could be a serious menace.

I decided to make safe, solid moves, and see what happened.

[to be continued]