Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Thank You

 


Every month, Bill Wall sends me his new Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games. Often they are hard-fought battles that extend the theory of the opening. Sometimes they are miniatures - often because of the assistance of the defender. (In those cases, I am sure that Bill says "Thank you".)

The following game is an example of how in the Jerome Gambit one oversight on defense can quickly turn the game into a "1 - 0" result.


Wall, Bill - Kayck

internet, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 


The Database shows 961 games with this position for Bill, with him scoring 94%. Those are pretty solid numbers.

(Older skeptics who are familiar with both chess and basketball might say that It's not the shoes.)

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 


So far, so good, for Black.

7.f4 g6

The defender follows the advice that if a piece of yours is attacked, you don't have to move the piece, you can attack a piece of a higher value. In this particular case, however, the advice does not apply.

The Database has 56 games with this position, with White scoring 74%. More to the point, it has 4 games played by Bill with this position, with him scoring 100%.

Instead, 7...d6 leads to the "annoying defense" which is a tougher nut for White to crack.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxh8 Black resigned


Black is down the exchange and a couple of pawns.

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