Jerome Gambit: How Do Games End?

 

Occasionally, I sift through Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games in The Database to find final positions that are interesting.

I would like to share a few.

Rooking4Love - vher, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

White appears to be at great risk of losing. In fact Black now has a checkmate in 4, 27...Bg4+ 28.Kg2 Qh3+ 29.Kg1 Bxf3 30.Bc5 Qh1#. Black's only problem? He ran out of time. 

I have said it many times: Often Black can "solve" the Jerome Gambit if he has enough time; but often he does not have enough time. 

TheGreatZe - Gzaborey, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

To balance things out after that first example, I can share this blitz game where White, indeed, would have been happy to see his opponent's flag fall - but he was not fortunate this time around, losing in 84 moves.

TheGreatZe - djoer6, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

If it were Black's move, he could checkmate in 2 with ...b2+ followed by ...b1/Q#. Alas, it is White's move, which  means that it is stalemate and a draw.

Those Jerome Gambit players have all the luck.

Wolfpack1051 - deepme_987, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021

Here, the clock is once again on White's side, but he can only gain a draw when his opponent's time runs out, as he does not have sufficient mating material.

Wolfpack1051 - d_challenger, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021 

Again, one of the skills of the successful bullet player is to stay ahead of his opponent on the clock, so that even if things become troublesome on the board - he wins. Or, in this case, again, he draws, because he does not have sufficient mating material.