Jerome Gambit: As Advertised (Part 1)

My most recent Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game in the ongoing Giuoco Piano tournament at Chess.com featured a line of play that I had looked at, but had only tried once before. It led to a complicated game - but, also a win.

If you want to know more about the variation, be sure to check out the links in the notes.

perrypawnpusher - DocBrowne

3d/move, Giuoco Piano tournament, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

Black is not just blocking the check and kicking the White Queen. This move leads to complications that include sacrificing the Rook at h8 - see "What About the Rook?"

7.Qxe5 d6 

Most chess players, if they know anything at all about the Jerome Gambit, know about Joseph Henry Blackburne's destruction of the opening, in Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (1-0, 14).

Jerome Gambit theory has progressed a lot since then. Check out  the comprehensive "Updating the Blackburne Defense (Part 1)"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4 

As I wrote earlier

I would like first to look at the under-investigated 9.d4. After all, if 9.0-0 leads to a draw, as Chandler and Dimitrov have argued, then 9.d4 might be the better chance for White to fight for an advantage.

Also, return to "Jerome Gambit Discovery" for more ideas on 9.d4. 

9...Qxe4+ 

Instead, 9...Bb4+ 10.c3 Qxe4+ was seen in  perrypawnpusher - bakker, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33).

10.Be3 Nf6 

The main plan for Black in the Blackburne defense is to attack White's King while trapping (and possibly winning) White's Queen. This move helps lock in the Queen.

Instead, 10...Qxg2 has been seen in 3 games in The Database, with White winning all 3 - although the position is complicated.

 

The earliest example I have of 9.d4 in The Database is Marfia,J - Stelter,J, Offhand Game, 1964 (1-0, 19) which continued 10...Qxc2 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qc3 when Black had failed in both of his objectives.

11.Nd2 Qxg2 12.0-0-0 b6

White is ahead the exchange.

After the game, I was shocked to see that Stockfish 14.1 assessed the first player as being almost a Queen better.

It is clear that Black's dark square Bishop is likely lost, and White's Queen has a way to escape imprisonment and avoid the threatened ...Bb7. A major factor in the imbalance has to be the difference in King safety, but I certainly wasn't sensitive to that while I was playing.

[to be continued]