Jerome Gambit: Delayed "His Nibs"

 

Yesterday I took a look at the Norton Defense to the Jerome Gambit. Today I was looking to see if there was anything new with the related "Nibs" defense, and discovered the "delayed His Nibs" variation.

Curious.

I thought it deserved a look.

John_Koss - obrigachka

5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3

White develops, bypassing the more dynamic 8.f4. The text shows up in 147 games in The Database, with White scoring 27%. 

8...a6 

I was surprised that this was not a novelty, because it seems to be a quiet move in what could become a very noisy position. Is the idea to stop White from playing Nb5+? In fact, 8...a6 shows up in The Database 17 times. Even more interestingly, Black scored 13 - 4.

9.f4 

Three alternatives have not been successful

9.d4 Bxd4 10.Nd5 c6 11.Bd2 cxd5 12.Bb4+ Kc6 13.exd5+ Kxd5 14.c4+ Kxc4 15.a3 Qf6 16.Rc1+ Kb3 17.Qc2+ Ka2 18.Ra1+ Kxa1 19.O-O+ Ka2 20.b3+ Bb2 21.Bc3 Nf3+ 22.gxf3 Qxc3 23.Qb1+ Kxb3 White left the game, Azerbaijan12385 - Hans1955, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021;

9.O-O Qf6 10.Qh3 c6 11.a3 Kc7 12.b4 Ba7 13.d3 d5 14.exd5 Bxh3, White resigned, dierv - Raklado, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2021; and

9.d3 Qf6 10.Bf4 (10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.Bf4 Ke6 12.O-O d6 13.a3 Rf8 14.Bg3 Nh5 15.Bh4 c6 16.Ne2 Nf4 17.Nxf4+ Rxf4 18.g3 Nf3+ 19.Kg2 Nxh4+ 20.gxh4 Bd7 21.Rad1 Raf8 22.Rd2 Ba7 23.b4 Rxh4 24.c4 Bd4 25.Kg3 Rhf4 26.f3 Ke5 27.h4 h5 28.a4 R8f6 29.b5 axb5 30.axb5 cxb5 31.cxb5 Bxb5 32.Rc2 Bxd3 33.Rc7 Bxf1 White resigned, ZahariSokolov - PeterKlo, 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017) 10...Qxf5 11.exf5 Nf6 12.Ne4+ Nxe4 13.dxe4 g6 14.O-O-O+ Kc6 15.Bxe5 Re8 16.Bc3 Rxe4 17.Rd3 gxf5 18.Rhd1 Bxf2 19.b4 Be3+ 20.Kb2 f4 21.a4 Kb6 22.a5+ Ka7 23.g3 d6 24.gxf4 Bxf4 25.Bd4+ b6 26.axb6+ cxb6 27.Ra1 Be5 28.Bxe5 dxe5 29.b5 a5 30.Rg3 Bb7 31.Rg7 Rb4+ 32.Kc3 Rxb5 33.Rxh7 Rc8+ 34.Kd3 Rbc5 35.Ra2 Rc3+ 36.Kd2 e4 37.h4 e3+ 38.Ke2 Ka6 39.Re7 Rxc2+ 40.Rxc2 Rxc2+ 41.Kxe3 Rc5 42.Kd4 Rh5 43.Kc3 Rxh4 44.Re5 Bc6 White resigned, soraneptune - dhanraj1234, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020.

9...Qh4+ 

Black strikes with something new. The computer prefers 9...Kc6 - a delayed Sillycon Defense.

10.g3 Nf3+ 

Compare this with the original "His Nibs" defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+

11.Kd1 Qf6 

Black has to retreat his Queen, and Stockfish 14 recommends he play 11...Qh6.

Play according to the "His Nibs" variation does not work: 11...Ne7 12.e5+ Kc6 13.Qe4+ d5 14.exd6+ and now the thematic 14...Nd5 would lose to 15.Qxd5+ because of White's developed Queenside Knight. So, in this "delayed" variation, ...a6 does not appear to help Black, while ...Nc3 is a plus for White.

12.Qd5+ 

White is better with this move - which initiates a familiar series - but it is quite likely that the time control - 5 3 blitz - kept him from finding the better 12.e5+, where White unprotects his Queen, but with check. Black's best would then be to return one of the sacrificed pieces with 12...Nxe5 13. fxe5+ Qxe5. White's Queen would still be attacked but unprotected, but now would come 14.Ne4+. Black gives up his Queen, or soon is checkmated.

12...Ke7 13.Qxc5+ d6 14.Nd5+ 

14...Kf7 

Another one of the move choices that would benefit from more thinking time, to come up with 14...Kf8 15.Qe3 Qd4 16.Qxf3 Bg4 17.Qxg4 Qxe4 18.Rf1 Qxd5 19.Qf3 Qxf3+ 20.Rxf3 and about an even game.

15.Qxc7+ Black resigned

White's Queen is safe, but Black's is not.