Jerome Gambit: Battered But Unbowed (Part 1)

Not too long ago, I was feeling bored, and decided that what I needed was a chess game. Instead of jumping online at FICS or Chess.com, I challenged my old favorite punching bag, the Chess Titans program. "Just to make it interesting," I set it to an intermediate level.

Almost immediately, I was the one being punched. Things went horribly wrong, and I could have resigned at a number of points - but I was playing the Jerome Gambit, by golly, and I was going to hang on as best I could!

Oddly, the computer played what seemed to be a very human-like move, and suddenly the game began to swing my way. In the end, the computer held on and forced me to checkmate it. 

perrypawpusher - Chess Titans

2022

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 

As I wrote, years ago,

The first example in my database of a game with 8...Qh4+ is an imaginary game presented in the June 1899 issue of the American Chess Magazine. In an article titled "A CHESS SCRAP" by "R.F." it is supposedly an early example of chess-by-telephone – filled with all of the difficulties that came from using a then new and unproven technology. 

9.g3 Nf3+ 

Seen in "R.F." - "Nibs" telephone chess, 1899 (1-0, 12)

I was not going to see a repeat of my earlier game, 9...c6 10.Qxe5 checkmate, Rick - Chess Titans, beginner level, 2021

By the way, The Database has 134 games with this position, with White scoring 59%, despite Komodo 12.1.1 assessing Black as about 1 3/4 pawns better. Things are complicated, and the player with the better understanding of specific tactics and strategy will have the advantage. 

10.Kd1 Ne7 

Likewise, no chance for 10...Qe7 11.Qd5 checkmate as in three of my human vs human games.

11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ 

13...Kxd6 

I remember years ago hearing from a chessfriend, "Mad Dog", that he was playing a Jerome Gambit correspondence game, and had just won his opponent's Queen. He was looking forward to a win - but was disappointed in the end. It turns out that the loss of the Queen was a sacrifice. See abhailey - peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008 (0-1, 20).

In "Mad Dog's" game, Black played the more accurate 13...Nd5, and after 14.gxh4 he played 14...Bg4

14.gxh4 Bg4 

What difference does Black's 13th move make? With Black' Knight still on e7 (instead of on d5) and no pawn at d6, White now has 15.f5!?, when 15...Ne5+ is not as strong, since 16.Ke1 is not as well met by 16...Rae8. Black does best to meet 15.f5 with the logical 15...Nxh2+ when his pieces are suspended like acrobats after 16.Ke1 Nxf5 but he still wins White's Queen (and is better) after 17.d3 Rae8 18.Bf4+ Kd7 19.Rxh2 Rxe4+ 20.dxe4, according to Stockfish 14.1.

I actually have a game in The Database that features 15.f5!?, NN - NN, 2020 (1-0, 31). 

The earliest related game that I have is ionman - mscp, 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2005 (1-0, 53) which continued 15.Qa4+. A recent game, amir198 - ameeralsallehi, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021 (1-0, 28), continued 15.Qxb7.

Complicated!

15.Qd3+ 

A frantic move. I did not know it at the time, but the move had been played 4 years ago in mwafakalhaswa - Masali007, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2018 (1-0, 37). Black's response in that game, 15...Ke6, allowed White to untangle things a bit, to his benefit, with 16.Re1+!?

15...Nd5 16.Qxd5+ 

I could not think of anything else to do except return the Queen. After the game, Stockfish 14.1 laughed and assessed Black as a Queen better. Certainly 16.Nc3 was more to the point.

16...Kxd5 

"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into," said Oliver Hardy to Stan Laurel, or me to the Jerome Gambit.

White has two pawns for a piece, but his King, near home, is in far more danger than Black's King in the center of the board.

[to be continued]