Was The Immortal Draw (1872) Inspired By The Jerome Gambit Win (1863)??

I have spent a lot of time looking for the earlier games or analysis that inspired Alonzo Wheeler Jerome to invent his gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.  

I recently received an email from chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev that suggests that I may have been getting things backward.   

Dear Rick, good morning!

I suggest you to create the publication "Was Immortal Draw (1872) Inspired By Jerome Win (1863)?" Thus, you have published on your blog the following: "Jerome Gambit: Startling Discovery"

The "startling discovery" was of the accurate date of the game Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863, a "Jerome Gambit" almost a dozen years before Jerome published his analysis. I had originally dated it after Jerome.

I suggest to compare it with the game Hamppe - Meitner (1872) which is known as the Immortal Draw. Thus, the early opening stages of these games have a lot of common ideas:

1863: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4....

1872: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Na4 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Ke3 Qf4+ 6.Kd3 d5.....

Moreover, the blow Bxf7+ (Tonetti) and the blow ...Bxf2+ (Meitner) are not strong theoretically, we know today. Probably, Mr. Tonetti and Mr. Meitner also have understood that they make a not strong move, but with a bright psychological effect. The problem is the following: was the game of 1863 known to Mr. Meitner in the moment of this his game of 1872?

Yours sincerely,

Yury 

 I have looked at the Immortal Draw - see "Godfather of the Jerome Gambit" Part 1, 2, 3 and Endpiece as well as "Hamppe - Meitner Revealed" - but always from the perspective as an inspiration for the Jerome.

Yury raises a good question: can Hamppe - Meitner be traced back to the ideas of Jerome gambit?

Jerome Gambit: What Else?

It can be educational to follow the games of a particular chess player, to see what lines he likes, and how he confronts different defensive strategies.

The following blitz game is an interesting example.

Arisaaa - YM_30

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 N8e7 9.Qc3 

Instead of retreating his Queen to e3, White places it on the a1-h8 diagonal where it can manace the pawn on g7. Should Black protect the pawn, or should he let it go? Arisaaa's opponents have tried different ideas.

9...Kf7 

Also:

9...d6 10.Qxg7 (the Rook is protected, so Black sees this move as a minor inconvenience) Be6 11.d4 d5 12.Nc3 c6 13.O-O Qc7?! 14.g3 (14.f4) 14...Kd7 15.Na4?! Rag8?! (15...b6) 16.Nc5+ Kd6? 17.Bf4+ Nxf4 18.Qe5 checkmate, Arisaaa - TreinoLevaAperfeito, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021; and

9...Rg8 (this does not disrupt castling, as this disruption has already happened) 10.O-O d6 11.Re1 Be6 12.d4 d5 13.Qb3 b6 14.f4 Nf8?! 15.f5 Bf7 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Qxd5 Bxd5 18.Bg5 h6 19.Rxe7+ Kd8 20.Nc3 Bxg2 21.Rxg7+ hxg5 22.Rxg8 Ke7 23.Kxg2 Black resigned, Arisaaa - Diee24, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021. 

10.f4 Rf8 11.f5 Nh8 12.O-O Kg8 13.b3 

Black has castled-by-hand. Undaunted,White plans an attack along the a1-h8 diagonal.

This is a 3-minute game and things happen quickly.

13...Nf7

Preparing the Knight to return to the battlefield; but the Rook needed to be able to go to f7, for example 13...d5 14.Bb2 Rf7.

14.Bb2 g6 15.Qg7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Sillycon Persists

I am still having problems with the "sillycon defense" to the Jerome Gambit. Here is the latest example that I have discovered.

abyputera - JIUYAN

6 5 blitz, lichess.org,  2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Kc6 

9.Qxe5 d5 

Stockfish 14.1 likes this move, although it likes 9...Nf6 better. 

10.d4 Bb6 

Alternately, 10...Bf8 11.c4 Nf6 12.cxd5+ Kb6 13.Nc3 a6 14.Qg5 Ka7 15.O-O c6 16.e5 Nxd5 17.Qxd8 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Rb8 19.Rb1 Ka8 20.Be3 Bb4 21.Qb6 Bxc3 22.d5 c5 23.Bxc5 Black resigned, penguingim1-sutcunuri, lichess.org, 2020.

11.Nc3 

Interesting is 11.c4. The pawns are strong. The computer will go on and on in an equal position. 

11...Ba5 

12.exd5+ Kb6 13.Bd2 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qe7 

Exchanging Queens is a good defensive strategy, although danger to the King is more of an issue right now.

15.Rb1+ Ka6 16.O-O Qxe5 17.dxe5 Ne7 18.c4 b6 

The "Jerome pawns are powerful.

19.Bb4 Nf5 20.c5 bxc5 21. Bxc5 Bb7 22.c4 Bc8 23. Rb3 Bd7 24.e6  Be8 25. Rfb1 Bg6 26. Ra3 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Giuoco Piano Game Tournament Update

Two players from each of twenty 5-player groups in the "Giuoco Piano Game" tournament at Chess.com will advance from the first round to the second round.

At this point, it looks that out of DocBrowne, ycarissan, jonmather, Ben_is_not10 and myself, DocBrown and I (the two highest rated in the group) will advance.

So far I have scored 3 - 0 with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). One game remains. It is complicated and at this point favors my opponent. We shall see...

Jerome Gambit: Why? Redux

It was not long ago that I posted "Jerome Gambit: Why Would He Play That?" warning those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) of a modest-looking defensive move that could have painful consequences if overlooked.

At the time I was concerned that I might be over-emphasizing something - but I recently looked at the latest batch of games sent to me by Dan Middlemiss (something he does regularly, e.g. "Jerome Gambit: Box Load of Fun") and I noticed the following game.

Surprises and bad things can happen in a blitz game.

EXEZO - nebras1

10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 

7...d6 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bf4 Qf6 

The threat against White's Bishop disguises the major threat.

10.Bg3 Nf3+ White resigned

White will lose his Queen. 10.Qe3, 10.Ne2 or 10.Be3, for example, would have saved Her Majesty.