Jerome Gambit: A Real Battle (Part 1)

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) win might - or might not - be enough for me to advance to the 5th round of the current "Giuoco Piano Game" tournament at Chess.com.

When the game was completed, I submitted it for a "Game Review" by the computer-based "Coach" at Chess.com. It's first assessment was supportive

Sharp - That was a real battle - but you earned the win!

At the end of the Review, the Coach was even more energetic

You really outplayed your opponent in that one. Both of you played an amazing opening. The middlegame battle was fairly even. You outmaneuvered your opponent in the endgame.

Thanks, Coach.

I suppose I did "outplay" my opponent, if that means I made a lot of mistakes, but he made a few more than me. (I do not know if graintrader69 has ever played or faced the Jerome before.)

Of course, the opening was "amazing" - it was a Jerome Gambit.

I am not sure how "even" the middlegame battle actually was. (Time for a closer examination)

The endgame was kind of cool, though.

Let's take a look.

perrypawnpusher - graintrader69

3 days/move, "Giuoco Piano Game", Chess.com, 2022 - 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

The Coach's comment on this sacrifice was surprising.

Interesting move. Not the best but it has some good ideas.

Looking at an earlier game, the Coach had been more direct

You are losing material this way.

Well, yes. And there was more to come - or go.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ 

Again, the Coach was surprisingly supportive.

Nice! Definitely the right move.

Okay. 

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

This move earned an "excellent" from the Coach, although 6...Ke6 was seen as "best".

Not surprisingly, after the game Stockfish 15.1 (a relative of the Coach) at 30 ply evaluated 6...Ke6 about 2/3 of a pawn better than 6...Kf8.

Interestingly enough, a peek at The Database does not support this judgement, however. In the 2,100 games where Black played 6...Kf8, he scored 51%; while in the 3,232 games where Black played 6...Ke6, he scored 45%.

(Personally, with White I have scored 76% in 41 games against 6...Kf8, and 85% in 95 games against 6...Ke6. YMMV.)

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ 

Before I finish with the Coach's post-game comments, I want to point out that it preferred exchanging Queens on e7. That seems contrary to the attacking ideas of the Jerome Gambit. (For what it's worth, I have never played the exchange.) However, Stockfish 15.1 (at 53 ply) agreed that 8.Qxe7+ was best.

I was surprised to see that The Database agreed, somewhat: 8.Qxe7+ scored 57%, compared to 8.Qf4+ which scored 53%.

8...Nf6 9.Nc3 

Some players new to the Jerome Gambit have early successes, but are puzzled when they turn their games over to computer analysis, only to discover that the silicon beasts do not like the opening.

The idea is to make better use of the attacking opportunities that the Gambit offers than the defender makes use of his opportunities.

[to be continued]