Jerome Gambit: Don't Slip, Defender

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) does not win by force - it requires help from the defender. 

Sometimes that help comes in the form of a "slip" - something always possible in a blitz game.  

gentasolli - Abbas3197

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.f4 Qf6 

8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.fxe5 Qxe5 11.d3 d5 

Black's defense is turning into a counterattack. He has an extra piece for a pawn, and his two Bishops are powerful.

12.Qh4+ Kd6 

Ooops.

13.Bf4 Black resigned

Black can console himself that he had "won" the analysis - objectively, he was better - while all White has is a win.

A Short Quick Win Worth Remembering

 

With a flurry of new games from Dan Middlemiss, I could not miss the fact that blitz and bullet players have been applying the Jerome Gambit treatment to the Two Knights Defense a lot lately.

One example is

GirelliGiovanni - OnlyYellowKnight, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5 checkmate

The Database has 20 game examples with this win, 8 by PedrosF1 at lichess.org.

Another example is

RookieWarchief - sdine, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5 checkmate

The Database has 17 game examples with this win, 8 by PedrosF1 at lichess.org.

Whether Black retires his Knight to g6 or c6, it is worth remembering this line. 

Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit Crush

Computer chess programs tend to cringe when assessing most things related to the Jerome Gambit.

However, as the following game demonstrates, the defender has a limited time - especially in a blitz game - to think like a computer, before experiencing a very dangerous attack on his King. 

Guest8331223623 - Guest6049581065

10 0 blitz, Chess.com

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit. White does not wait for his opponent to develop a Bishop to c5 before attacking.

The Database has 2,634 games with this line. White scores 42%. 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 

The play has a Halloween Gambit feel.

8.O-O Nf6 9.Be3 Bd6 

White would meet 9...Nxe4 with 10.Qd4.

10.f4 Neg4 11.Bd4 Nxe4 12.Qxg4 Rf8 

Black's defense has been holding, but there are tell tale problems, such as his Bishop blocking the d-pawn which blocks the other Bishop which hems in the Rook...

With the text move Black prepares to castle-by-hand, but he overlooks the danger of the White Bishop at d4. Instead, 12...Nf6 would have been solid.

White's attack is now brutal.

13.Qxg7+ Ke8 14.Qg6+ Rf7 15.Re1 Qe7 

A little bit better would have been 15...Be7, but it hardly matters.

16.Rxe4 Qxe4 17.Qxe4+ Re7 

See the previous note.

18.Qg6+ Rf7 19.Nc3 c6 20.Re1+ Kf8 21.Qxh6+ Kg8 22.Qh8 checkmate

Recall the note to Black's 12th move.

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit Declined

I think it was Steinitz who said that the best way to refute a gambit is to accept it. Certainly the strongest "refutations" of the Jerome Gambit are in the accepted lines. 

The same can be said of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

Raynier29 - Floppy-Bischer

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7 

I was surprised to find that The Database has over 800 games with this move. White scores 70%, which is pretty significant given that the average rating of White vs Black is almost even (12 points difference).

Posted some time ago

I have met this move before (see "Jedi Mind Tricks", "Jedi Mind Tricks / Rematch", "Sith Still and Don't Move", "Never Mind" and "Platinum Mind Tricks". ), and whatever advantages it has are slight and purely psychological.

Like with the Jerome Gambit Declined, White can now go for complications with 5.Nxe5, withdraw his Bishop with 5.Bc4 or 5.Bb3, or he can settle for a solid game with a clear advantage by exchanging the piece off.

5.Bxg8 Nxf3+ 

This temporarily saves the e-pawn, i.e. 5...Rxg8 6.Nxe5 Qe8 7.d3 Kd8 8.Nc4.

Capturing the Bishop was seen in "Just Look Ahead and Move"

6.Qxf3 Rxg8 

7.d4 d6 

This kind of thing happens in blitz games. Black had to move his King, or play 7...h6. After either move White can play 8.dxe5, with two extra pawns and a safer King (after 0-0).

8.Bg5+ Kd7 9.Bxd8 Black resigned

The Delayed Jerome Gambit Video

 

A recent YouTube video short from Offbeat Gambits titled "The Delayed Jerome Gambit" features a quick crush by Canadian Grandmaster Aman Hambleton in a line of the Two Knights Defenst that is also called the Jerome-Knight Gambit or the Impatient Jerome Gambit.

The game appears to be ChessBrah - kevvvvvvv, 5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 (1-0, 9), which was also touched on here in "Jerome Gambit: Quick Finishes".

I have mentioned before that Pedrosf1 at lichess.org, has reached this checkmate 8 times - but the ChessBrah got there first.

GM Hambleton's enthusiasm - For Jerome! - is infectious.

Check it out.

Jerome Gambit Declined: Puzzled

If you read about the Jerome Gambit Declined (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 / e7) in the recent "Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 3)" you may have puzzled a bit at

White can part with his Bishop, instead, with 5.Bxg8, scoring 63% against 4...Kf8 and 91% against 4...Ke7. 

Does it really matter where the enemy King goes, once he decides not to capture the piece? Why such a difference in scoring  percentage for White?

The following game provides an answer. Again, risks abound in blitz games.

ImantsP - S-D-R

5 5 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Ke7 

The Jerome Gambit Declined. Black is feeling either suspicious or contrarian.

5.Bxg8 Rxg8

The proper recapture is with the Queen, but that may not be immediately apparent in a blitz game. I mean, why develop Her Majesty to an unpromising square and keep the Rook locked in?

In all fairness, 5...Qxg8 was found in only 3 of the previous 11 games with this line. Ouch.

6.d4 

Oh. But things can get worse. Only in the early drewbear - AAlekhine, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2007 (1-0, 33) did the defender find the best, but insufficient response, 6...h6.

6...exd4 7.Bg5+ Kf7 8.Bxd8 Black resigned

Happy Easter!