Jerome Gambit: The "Debate" Again

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a collection of "debates", starting with Is a "refuted" opening playable?

The following game gives an example of another ongoing "debate", dating back 20 years.

Wall, Bill - Gilex

internet, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+ Be6 9.Qxb7 

This position illustrates a Jerome Gambit "debate". 

Is capturing the b-pawn worth the spent tempo for White? Does Black get compensation in developing his Bishop? Will Black have to give back the tempo after White plays f4? 

The Database has 234 game examples. White scores 49%.

The earliest example in The Database is Toromic - Shred, blitz, FICS, 2000 (0-1, 25).

9...N8e7 

Better was 9...Nh4, e.g. 10.O-O Qg5 11.Qxc7+ Ne7 12.g3 Nf3+ 13.Kh1 Qh6 14.h4 Bh3 15.Rd1 Qe6 16.Qa5 Bf1 17.Qh5+ Ng6 18.Qxf3+ Kg8 19.Rxf1 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 Ne5 21.Qb3+ d5 22.Qxd5+ Nf7 23.Qxa8+ Black resigned, Wall,B - CheckMe, Chess.com, 2010 

Slightly better was 9...Ne5, e.g. 10.f4 Nd7 11.O-O Nc5 12.Qb4 a5 13.Qd4 Nf6 14.f5 Bd7 15.e5 Nfe4 16.e6+ Ke8 17.exd7+ Qxd7 18.d3 Nf6 19.Nc3 Kd8 20.Bg5 Kc8 21.Rae1 Re8 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Qxf6 Qe3+ 25.Kh1 Kb7 26.Nd5 Qe2 27.Kg1 Qxc2 28.Qe7 Nxd3 29.Qe4 Qc5+ 30.Ne3+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest249301, PlayChess.com 2013 

10.f4

Also 10.O-O Re8 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qb3+ Kf8 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nf7 15.f6 gxf6 16.Rxf6 d5 17.Bh6+ Kg8 18.Qg3+ Ng6 19.Rxg6+ Kh8 20.Bg7+ Kg8 21.Bf6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1352598, PlayChess.com, 2021 

10...Nxf4 

Black has three minor pieces developed, as opposed to White's Queen (which is somewhat offside), so he decides that he can grab a pawn, as well.

11.O-O Neg6 12.d3 

12...Rf8 

Bill prefers 12...Qg5. 

13.Bxf4 Nxf4 

Black had prepared 13...Kg8, which was a stronger choice. 

14.Rxf4+ Kg8 15. Rxf8+ Qxf8 

Black does not have enough compensation for his two missing pawns.

16.Nc3 Rb8 17.Qxc7 Rxb2 18.Ne2 Kh8 

Black would have done better to challenge the enemy Queen immediately with 18...Qb8.

19.Nd4 Bg8 20.Rf1 Qa8 21.Nf5 Black resigned

The checkmate threat will allow White to grab the d-pawn, leaving him with three connected passed pawns.

Jerome Gambit: GPS

Bill Wall knows his way around the Jerome Gambit. The Database has him playing in 972 Jerome or Jerome-related games.

Yet, the following game seems to wander a bit, before Bill scores the full point. A good lesson about finding your way and using tactics to unsettle your opponent.

Wall, Bill - VQR

internet, 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 d6 9.Qc3 

Bill has played this Queen retreat before.

Littleplayerparis, playing at lichess.org, has over 100 games with this position in The Database.

9...Qf6 

Bill has faced 

9...Nf6 10.d3 (10.f3 d5 11.O-O dxe4 12.fxe4 Nxe4 13.Re1 Bf5 14.d3 Kf7 15.dxe4 Bg4 16.Qb3+ Ke8 17.Be3 Qf6 18.Qxb7 Kd7 19.Nc3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Jaar,J, Chesshess.com, 2010; 10.O-O c6 (10...Kf7 11.d3 Re8 12.Be3 Kg8 13.f4 c6 14.Nd2 Qe7 15.Rae1 Ng4 16.d4 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Bd7 18.f5 Nf8 19.g4 h6 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Qg5 22.Qxg5 hxg5 23.Nf3 Rad8 24.Nxg5 Bc8 25.e6 Re7 26.h4 Rd4 27.Ne4 Nxe6 28.fxe6 Bxe6 29.c3 Ra4 30.a3 Bxg4 31.Nf6+ gxf6 32.Rxe7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Attia,M, internet, 2021) 11.Re1 Kf7 12.d3 Re8 13.Nd2 b5 14.Qxc6 Be6 15.Qxb5 Bg4 16.f3 Be6 17.a4 Qc7 18.Nc4 Bxc4 19.Qxc4+ Qxc4 20.dxc4 Ne5 21.b3 a5 22.Be3 Nfd7 23.Kf2 h6 24.Bd4 Ke6 25.Rad1 g5 26.Ke3 Ra6 27.h4 Nc6 28.Bc3 Nb4  29.Bxb4 axb4 30.hxg5 hxg5 31.Rd5 Ne5 32.Rh1 Kd7 33.Rh7+ Kc6 34.c5 Re6 35.cxd6 Ra8 36.Rc7+ Kb6 37.Rb5+ Ka6 38.Rcc5 Rae8 39.Rxe5 Rxe5 40.Rxe5 Rd8 41.Re6 Kb7 42.Re7+ Kc6 43.e5 Kd5 44.d7 Kc6 45.e6 Kd6 46.Re8 Kc7 47.Rxd8 Kxd8 48.a5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Varitt, FICS, 2020) 10...c6 11.O-O Kd7 12.f4 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 Kc7 14.Qe1 Re8 15.b3 Nd5 16.Qg3 Nb4 17.Na3 Bd7 18.c3 Nxa2 19.f5 Ne5 20.d4 Qxb3 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Rb1 Qxc3 23.Be3 a6 24.Qxg7 b5 25.Rf3 Kc8 26.Rd1 Rd8 27.Bb6 Kb7 28.Bxd8 and wins Jerome,A - Brownson,O, Iowa 1875; 

9...Qh4 10.O-O Qe7 11.d3 Be6 12.f4 Nf8 13.f5 Bf7  14.Qxg7 Qf6 15.Qxf6 Nxf6 16.Bg5 Ke7 17.Nc3 Re8 18.d4 h6 19.Bh4 h5 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Bc4 22.Bxf6+ Kd7 23.Rf4 Kc8 24.Bxh8 Bf7 25.Bg7 Nd7 26.Re1 Bg8 27.e6 Nf8 28.Bxf8 Rxf8 29.Nd5 Rd8 30.Ne7+ Kb8 31.Nxg8 Rxg8 32.f6 h4 33.f7 Rc8 34.f8=Q a6 35.Qxc8+ Kxc8 36.Rf8 checkmate, billwall - NFTM, FICS, 2010. 

10.Qxc7 

A risky pawn grab, accepting Black's challenge.

10...Nf4 11.Rg1 Qg6 

White's position looks messy. It will get messier.

12.f3 Nh3 13.Rf1 Qxg2 14.d3 Qxh2 

15.Qxg7 Qe5 16.Qxe5+ dxe5 17.Bd2 

Beginning to pull things together.

17...Bd7 18.Bc3 Nf6 

19.Bxe5 Rf8 20.Nc3 Be6 

White has three pawns for his sacrificed piece, and is at least even. 

21.Nb5 

Attacking the dark squares. Black flinches.

21...Kf7 22.Nd6+ Ke7 23.Nxb7 

Another pawn - and a threat that his opponent overlooks.

23...Nd7 24.Bd6+ Kf6 25.Bxf8 Rxf8 26.f4 Black resigned

Once again: Beware the Jerome Gambit, but, especially, Beware the Jerome Gambit player.

Jerome Gambit Declined: What Happens Next?

Having recently taken a look at the Jerome Gambit Declined (see "Jerome Gambit: Ignore Me, Stay Aware") I think I had the right perspective in the following game.

By declining the Jerome, Black avoids a wild attack - at the cost of a pawn and the ability to castle. But, what happens next?

perrypawnpusher - grammers123

3 day/move, "Giuoco Piano Game" tournament, Chess.com, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kf8 

The Jerome Gambit Declined. Before this game, I had faced it 4 times, successfully, once with 4...Kf8 (perrypawnpusher  - ibeje, blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 46]), three times with 4...Ke7 (perrypawnpusher - walkinthespirit, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2009 [1-0, 24]; perrypawnpusher - walkinthespirit, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 34]; perrypawnpusher - PrestonRFD, "Italian Game Classic", Chess.com, 2019 [1-0, 10]).

5.Bb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.d3 

I decided to flip the script - Black is the gambiteer, let him attack, I am going to defend and be as boring as possible.

7...Nd4 

A new idea. To be considered as well was 7...Bg4.

8.Nxd4 exd4 9.Ne2 h6 10.Nf4 

The opportunity to attack the light squares in Black's position brought me out of my slumber.

10...Qe8

Providing some protection. 

11.O-O Bg4 

An interesting idea. White's f-pawn goes to f3, not f4. Black is willing to exchange off his Bishop that protects light squares for White's Knight that attacks them.

12.f3 Bh5 

Despite the plan, 12...Bd7 was probably a better choice. Unfortunately, the square e6 is now insufficiently protected.

13.Ne6+ 

It would have been a waste of a promising piece to try to gain the "minor exchange" with 13.Nxh5 Qxh5.

13...Ke7 14.Nxc7 Qg6 15.Nxa8 Rxa8 

White is now up the exchange and two pawns.

It was still not time to become exciting.

I was under the influence of the second chess book I ever owned, Reuben Fine's Chess the Easy Way (1968) - somehow I thought that his guidance was As soon as you have a material edge, do not do anything exciting, just exchange down to a won endgame. With such a misunderstanding, how I ever wound up championing the Jerome Gambit is beyond me.

16.Qe1 Rc8 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.hxg3 a6 19. g4 Bf7 20. Bxf7 Kxf7 21. g5 hxg5 22. Bxg5 Bb6 23. Rac1 

The Queens are off the board. White has created and exchanged a doubled g-pawn. The goal is to slowly make progress.

23...Rh8 24.Kf2 Bd8 25.Bf4 Be7 26.Rh1 Rxh1 27.Rxh1 Ke6 

28.Rh8 b6 29.c4 dxc3 30.bxc3 b5 31.Ra8 

The Rook shows its power. Pawn-grabbing is not exciting.

31...d5 32.Rxa6+ Kf7 33.e5 Nh5 34.Be3 Bh4+ 35. Ke2 Ng3 

Black's minor pieces strike back.

36.Kd1 Nf5 37.Bg1 Bg3 38.d4 g6 

Despite Black's piece activity, the main action is White's Rook's collection of pawns.

39.Rb6 Kg7 40.Rxb5 Kh6 

Black's King heads for g2. The computer does not have any helpful suggestions.

White's boring play has yielded results.

41.a4 Kg5 42.a5 Ne7 43.a6 Nc8 44. Rxd5 Bh4 

Perhaps my opponent was aware that I tend to become careless when ahead - there will always be the chance of stalemate.

Actually, this move allows checkmate in 8, according to Komodo 12.1.1, after the game - 45.Be3+ Kf5 46.a7 Ke6 47.a8/Q Kf7 48.Qxc8 Be7 49.Bh6 Ba3 50.Rd8 g5 51.Qf5+ Ke7 52.Bxg5# - but, of course, I was too lazy to even have looked for it at the time.

45.Rd8 Na7 46.d5 Kf4 47. Re8 Kg3 48.Bxa7 Kxg2 

49.Ke2 Bg5 50.Rg8 Kg3 51.Rxg6 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Chessable Blog

The Chessable blog now has "The Jerome Gambit Opening Guide for White and Black", which is worth reviewing. 

It certainly has the right perspective

The Jerome Gambit - what is there to say about this crazy opening? It is quite possible that you have never heard of it. That is because it is a completely refuted opening, and has never been in fashion among top players. Does that mean you should not play it?

Very nice. 

Jerome Gambit: The Elusive Corner (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Cuilleanain

Giuoco Piano Game tournament, 3 d/move, Chess.com, 2022

I was pretty sure that I could take advantage of Black's advanced King. I was wrong.

12.O-O 

Securing my King, activating my Rook, attacking the Bishop. How could this not be a great move? Maybe next time, though, I will try 12.Bb2+ or 12.Nc3.

12...Nf6 13.d4+ Ke6 

Black's King could probably survive capturing the d- or e-pawns, according to the computer, but he prudently retreats from the center of the board.

14.d5+ 

Probably the other pawn needed to move forward, e.g. 14.e5 Ne8 15.c4 c6 16.a3 Be7 17.Ra2 Rf8 18.Rxf8 Bxf8 19.Rf2 Be7 20.Nc3 d5 21.exd6 Kxd6 22.d5 Kd7 23.Rf7 Kd8, as suggested by Stockfish 14.1

14...Ke7 15.c4 d6 16.Bb2 Rg8 

17.Nd2 Bd7 18.b5 

This was designed to prevent ...c6. More to the point might have been 18.Rae1.

18...Re8 19.e5 dxe5 20.Rae1 Kd2 21.Bxe5 Bc5+ 

Black's King is safe and wishes to counter attack.

22.Kh1 Ng4 23.Bg3 Rxe1 24.Bxe1 Re8 25.h3 Rxe1+ 26.Bxe1 Ne5

White's chances are thin, without a Queen or Rooks. Can his King enter the fray and use his extra pawn against the extra piece?

27.Bh4+ Be7 28.Bg3 Nd3 29.Nb3 b6 30.Nd2

Black wins by eliminating White's defender at d2, then using his Bishop to collect White's Queenside pawns.

I shuffled pieces and hoped for a mistake by my opponent.

30...Bf5 31.Nf3 Bf6 32.d6 cxd6 33.Bxd6 Be6 34.Nd2 Be5 35.Bf8 Nc5 36.Kg1 Ke8 37.Bxc5 bxc5 

I could have safely resigned here.

38.Kf2 Bc3 39.Ne4 Bd4+ 40.Ke1 Ke7 41.Nd2 Bc3 White resigned

Wow. Splendid defense and counter attack. From an opponent, mind you, who was rated about 300 points below me.

Powerful work, Cuilleanain!

And back to the drawing board for me...

Jerome Gambit: The Elusive Corner (Part 1)

My recently completed Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game from the second round of the ongoing "Giuoco Piano Game" tournament at Chess.com was a loss, as I was steadily outplayed by my opponent, Cuilleanain.

The game was a continual attempt by me to turn the corner from a worse game to a better game - and it turns out there was no corner to turn, I was effectively going around in circles.

perrypawnpusher - Cuilleanain

Giuoco Piano Game tournament, 3 d/move, Chess.com, 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 Qf6

This move was recommended by FM Eric Schiller in his Unorthodox Chess Openings (1998). It had first appeared in analysis by Jerome in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, and first played, according to The Database, in Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1874 (0-1, 21)

9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+ Kxe5 11.b4 

We have gotten this far into the game - the first really critical position (after 4.Bxf7+ and 5.Nxe5+, of course) - and usually by now I would have filled this post with lots of comments.

Even a difficult loss hasn't dampened my interest in playing the Jerome Gambit.

Checking The Database, and looking at the mainline Jerome, the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit and the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit - almost 600 games - I have still scored 82%.

Now, it does seem a bit foolish to play the Jerome at a time control of 1 move every 3 days, although Alonzo Wheeler Jerome himself tested his opening in correspondence play.

Back to the text move, above...

The earliest example that I have of 11.b4 is from the computer vs computer game Matacz CCT7 - Imp 0.74b, 2005 (0-1, 54), mentioned in " 'Jerome pawns' - Clowning Around" (Matacz is a Winboard engine by Maciej Pestka.)

I have played 11.b4 several times (vs djdave28, twice; vs Altotemmi), but I think that it is more interesting that American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has played the move twice, and faced the move twice - albeit, in 3-minute blitz games. See

GMHikaruOnTwitch - Mrkooshaj, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021 (1-0, 27);

GMHikaruOnTwitch - Thechesskid2021, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021 (1-0, 37);

Damwon - GMHikaruOnTwitch, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com 2021 (0-1, 26);

simonsah2004 - GMHikaruOnTwitch, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021 (0-1, 34).

11...Bf8 

A couple of years ago, in "Jerome Gambit: Beautiful", I mentioned that the first time that I had seen 11.b4 Bf8 in a game, was in BoomBoomTNT-YT - 123456789010chess, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 (1-0, 21). The Database has seen only one other game, since (also a win for White).

From a practical point of view, the alternative of capturing the pawn with 11...Bxb4 has not been successful, as White has scored 4 - 0 in the relevant games. Komodo12.1.1 assesses White as almost 2 pawns better after 12.Bb2+. As I posted

As Yury Bukayev notes, move 11...Bxb4 creates a position of the bona fide master attack, which later became known to everyone after several GM Nakamura's videos.

Retreating the Bishop with 11...Bb6 has also been shown to be not successful in games played, with White again scoring 4 - 0 - although the computer rates Black as better (by a pawn and a half), because he can now answer 12.Bb2+ with 12...Bd4. 

Black has done best with the advance-and-retreat 11...Bd4 12.c3 Bb6, scoring 4 - 3 - 1, according to The Database. The computer rates Black then about 2 1/4 pawns better.   

After the text move, I was encouraged by Black's centralized King and his lack of development. I did not know it at the time, but Komodo 12.1.1 rates the position as a bit less than plus two pawns for Black. Still, I figured that in time I could turn the corner from a losing game to a winning one...

[to be continued] 

Jerome Gambit: This Year's Longest

According to The Database, the longest Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game is stockfish_20060616_x64_modern - fruit_2.1, 2020 (1-0, 158). See "The Database: The Long And The Short Of It (Part 1)"

Recently we saw the 17th longest Jerome Gambit game, which was still quite long.

donkeykong8991 - NarekO31

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+  Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.Qd5+ Qe6 9.Bf4 Qxd5 10.exd5 Nc4 11.b3 Nb6 12.c4 d6 13.b4 Nxc4 14.O-O Nf6 15.Nc3 Bf5 16.Rac1 a6 17.Ne2 Ne5 18.Nd4 Be4 19.f3 Bxd5 20.Rxc7+ Nfd7 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.Rxd7+ Kf6 23.Rxd5 exd4 24.Rxd4 Rhe8 25.Rd6+ Re6 26.Rd7 Re7 27.Rfd1 Rc8 28.R7d6+ Re6 29.R1d2 Rc4 30.a3 Rc3 31.R6d3 Re3 32.Rxe3 Rxe3 33.Rd7 Rxa3 34.Rxb7 Ra4 35.Kf2 h5 36.Rb6+ Kf7 37.h3 g6 38.Kg3 a5 39.b5 Rb4 40.Rb7+ Kf6 41.b6 a4 42.Ra7 Rxb6 43.Rxa4 Rd6 44.Rf4+ Kg7 45.Kh4 Kh6 46.Kg3 g5 47.Re4 h4+ 48.Kg4 Rf6 49.g3 hxg3 50.Kxg3 Ra6 51.h4 gxh4+ 52.Rxh4+ Kg5 53.Rg4+ Kh5 54.f4 Ra3+ 55.Kg2 Ra2+ 56.Kh3 Ra3+ 57.Rg3 Ra1 58.f5 Rf1 59.f6 Rxf6 60.Re3 Rf4 61.Re5+ Kg6 62.Kg3 Rf1 63.Kg2 Ra1 64.Re3 Ra2+ 65.Kf3 Kf5 66.Re2 Ra3+ 67.Kg2 Kf4 68.Rf2+ Kg4 69.Kg1 Kg3 70.Rg2+ Kf3 71.Rf2+ Ke3 72.Kf1 Ra6 73.Re2+ Kd3 74.Ke1 Rh6 75.Rd2+ Kc3 76.Rf2 Rh3 77.Ke2 Kd4 78.Rf5 Ke4 79.Rf2 Re3+ 80.Kf1 Ra3 81.Re2+ Kd3 82.Kf2 Ra8 83.Re3+ Kd4 84.Kf3 Rh8 85.Re2 Kd3 86.Re3+ Kd2 87.Re4 Kd3 88.Rg4 Rf8+ 89.Rf4 Rh8 90.Rg4 Rh3+ 91.Rg3 Rh1 92.Kg2+ Ke4 93.Kxh1 Kf4 94.Kg2 Ke4 95.Rf3 Kd4 96.Kf2 Ke4 97.Ke2 Kd4 98.Re3 Kc4 99.Kf3 Kd4 100.Kf4 Kc4 101.Ke4 Kc5 102.Rd3 Kc4 103.Ke3 Kc5 104.Rd4 Kc6 105.Ke4 Kc5 106.Ke5 Kc6 107.Rd5 Kc7 108.Ke6 Kc6 109.Ke5 Kb6 110.Kd6 Kb7 111.Rc5 Kb6 112.Kd5 Kb7 113.Rc6 Ka7 114.Kd6 Kb7 115.Kd7 Kb8 116.Kd6 Kb7 117.Kc5 Kb8 118.Kb6 Ka8 119.Rc8 checkmate