Jerome Gambit: An Idea - What Could Be More Natural?

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ) creates complications that can be "solved" by Black - if he has enough time to analyze deeply enough... In blitz games, that time is often not available.

The following game is another example of the defender doing fine - until he isn't. A problem arises when he chooses to play a very "natural" move that would come quickly to anyone who took a moment to look at the position... But a moment would not be long enough.

Carlos_Ricardo - Keran137

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 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+ 9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1

As I noted in an earlier post

An interesting line that I refer to as the "Nib's Defense," which made its first appearance in the American Chess Magazine of June 1899 in a comical article lampooning a new pastime, chess by phone. 

In a constructed game the author, "R.F.," overcame continued line noises and interruptions to use the Jerome Gambit to defeat "Nibs" in a dozen moves -- erroneously claiming checkmate, by the way. 

In 78 previous games in The Database, White scored 62%. This is the practical evaluation of the position. 

Komodo 12.1, however, rates Black almost a piece better.

10...Qf6  

There are 28 games in The Database with this position, with White scoring 50%.

"R.F." played 10...Ne7.

11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Kd8 13.e5 

Bothering the enemy Queen. There are many places she can go.

Counting this game, The Database records 7 games with this position, with White still scoring 50%.

13...Qc6

Offering the exchange of Queens. What could be more natural?

14.Qf8 checkmate

Blitz games can break your heart.

Jerome Gambit: Chess Is A Cruel Game

 

Imagine that you are defending against the Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. 

After 4 moves you are a piece ahead, and feeling fine. Sure, your King is a bit displaced, but, so what?

Then your opponent gives you another piece.You have got to be winning now, right? Sure, the check by the enemy Queen at move 6 is annoying, but you can deal with it.

By move 10, you have returned some of the sacrificed material and driven back the invading Her Majesty. The computer says your advantage is less than a pawn, but what does it know?

You continue to develop your pieces and use them to presure the enemy center. You even castle-by-hand Queenside.

Then you get checkmated two moves later.

You forgot the wisdom of sports philosopher Lawrence Peter Berra, "It ain't over 'till it's over". Something to remember.

Especially when facing the Jerome Gambit.

To appreciate the following game, it is important to notice that it is played at bullet speed, 1 minute with 1 second increment.

Pauliboy1031 - SoulSkinS69

1 1 bullet, Chess.com, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.d3 d6 

11.O-O Bd7 12.Re1 Bc6 13.Nc3 Kd7 14.d4 Rae8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 

17.Rd1+ Kc8 18.Qxa7 Nfg4 19.Qa8 checkmate

In the Jerome Gambit, the name of the game is "Attack!"

Jerome Gambit: Recent Draws

Draws in Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games are relatively rare. Either White's wild attack crashes through, or Black's defense wins the day.

The following drawn endings are therefore interesting, if a bit amusing.

Mwafakalhaswa - Chesstahiri, 3 2 blitz, TINDJAD, 2021 (1/2-1/2, 101)

Most 3-minute games do not last over 100 moves.

emv1 - Weirco, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2-1/2, 57)

Simple enough: a draw.

Chessyyy - sulimanchess, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2-1/2, 72)

Explanation: White ran out of time, and Black did not have mating material.

jerrylorry - amrab123454321, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2-1/2, 71)

Without any pawns, the extra Bishop is not enough.

vrijeme - majalcmaj, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2-1/2, 61)

Explanation: Black ran out of time, and White did not have mating material.

lazernicky - Sluntyai, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2-1/2, 72)

Bishops-of-opposite colors endgames can be drawn, even when one player has an extra pawn.

Jerome Gambit: Extra Tempo

The following hyper bullet (30 seconds on the clock for the entire game) Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) humorously raises the question as to whether an extra tempo helps or hurts an attacking or defending player.

I think I know the answer, but it doesn't include "always".

curtisasral - BestPositionIs69

1/2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Refusing the second sacrificed piece in this way (i.e. placing the King on the e8-h5 diagonal) is not a good idea. There are 151 examples in The Database. White scores 72%.

Instead, the more popular - and relatively stronger - choice is 5...Kf8. There are 499 examples in The Database. White scores 57%.

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nd4

 At this point it is relevant to mention the related game arunmech - gemasamol, 15 0 standard, FICS, 2016: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bd5 Nd4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 -- Here we have the same position as above, only it is Black's move.

How does he use the move? 8...Nxc2+?! This fork appears in several lines in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, and chasing after the Rook on a1 is often a poor idea, a distraction. 9.Kd1 Nf6 10.Qe5+ Kf7 11.Nxh8+ Qxh8 12.Qd5+? (White hung his Queen in what might have been a mouse slip, if he intended 12.Qxc5+ and then 13.Qxc2, and then at the last fraction of a second realized that capturing the Bishop didn't give check, but another move would...) White resigned

8.Ne5+ Black resigned 

Sometimes it happens this way.

Stronger was 8.Nxh8+, because after 8...Ke7 9.Qxh7+ Ke6 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ d6 13.Qxd4 White finds himself significantly ahead in material.

Black's resignation was appropriate, though, as also collects material with 8...Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxd4 Nf6 (12...dxe5 loses to 13.Qxe5+ and 13.Qh8) 13.Nf3.

Jerome Gambit: Out of Gas

I have pointed out that what an attacker risks with a mis-step is the loss of his attack, while what a defender risks with a mis-step is the loss of his King.

This rule of thumb, however, is upended in a heavily sacrificial opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). If the attacker invests a large amount of material, then a mis-step could end his attack and leave him short-handed to continue the game.

The following blitz game shows how this can happen.

superslide - NIP94

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 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+ 9.Kd1 

Black's Queen check is part of a dangerous counter attack.

White seems concerned that 9.g3 would be met by 9...Nf3+ and so moves his King, instead. The choice, however, causes more problems.

White scored 20% in the 5 games with this move in The Database. See perrypawnpusher - Drewbear, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 10) for an example.  

9...Qg4+ 

This will force the exchange of Queens, and leave White with two pawns for two sacrificed pieces - and his attack runs out of gas.

10.Qxg4 Nxg4 11.Rf1 Nxh2 12.Rh1 Ng4 

13.Rf1 Nf2+ 14.Rxf2 Bxf2 15.Ke2 White resigned

The position has settled down. Black's advantage is apparent.

Jerome Gambit: Excitable

I know that sometimes I can be a bit excitable about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

For example, when this blog was only 4 months old (almost 14 years, or about 3,575 posts ago) I heard about the existance of a book All or Nothing! The Jerome Gambit, by Chaim Schmendrik and was ecstatic.

Of course, as I related in "rec.games.chess.misc & email" it was a joke. There was no such book.

Later, I admitted that "The Jerome Gambit is Going to Drive Me... (Parts 1 & 2)" after I tried to chase down a story about Alekhine losing to the Jerome Gambit... It was, again, "Much Ado About... Nothing".

Even later, I chronicled some of this searching in "Jerome Gambit: Worse vs Best (Parts 1, 2 & 3)". (Emanuel Lasker faced the Jerome? Wilhelm Steinitz lost to the Jerome?) After all, the good Dr. Michael Goeller had informed me that GM Larry Christiansen had played the Jerome - see "A GM plays the Jerome Gambit ??"

I mention all of this as prelude, for chessfriend Dan Middlemiss - a devoted Stafford Gambit aficionado and relentless provider of Jerome Gambit games that I had not yet seen - teased me with the following tidbit

BTW, during the Gibraltar Battle of the Sexes tournament, somebody in the chat (a highly suspect source!) mentioned that GM Pia Cramling has been know to dabble in the Jerome Gambit. I wonder whether your readers might be able to confirm this....

Wow.

Oh, no, here I go again... 

(I sent a message to WFM Anna Cramling, GM Cramling's daughter as well as a Twitch live streamer and YouTuber, asking if either one of them had experimented with the Jerome Gambit.)

Jerome Gambit: Match!?

 

Just received a challenge to play a Jerome Gambit match, each of us playing Whites with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, the winner being the first to 5 points.

How could I resist?

Still working out how many games to play at a time, and what the time control will be, but it looks like a lot of fun.

Winter Olympics. Super Bowl. Jerome Gambit.

Sounds awesome.