Jerome Gambit: Wandering (Part 1)

Sometimes it can be fun to just take a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game and wander through it.

There are many sights to see in the following affair.

This is a 1-minute game, so the players have to balance moving quickly with analyzing deeply. It takes a certain level of skill to do both well at the same time - hence the value of playing unusual or unexpected moves which might objectively be second (or third) best, but which are worth the risk in terms of the amount of clock time the opponent must burn in order to respond to them. 

Yasin_SUST - BabyAma

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5  4.Nxe5 

Say, what? White is the first to bring the strangeness.

As I pointed out a few years ago in "Jerome Gambit: Follow the Yellow Brick Road"

This reminds me of Chicago Gambit, (also known as the Irish Gambit or the Razzle Dazzle Gambit) - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 -  and the Halloween Gambit (also known as the Müller–Schulze Gambit or the Leipzig Gambit) - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5.

The only "book" reference that I have been able to find for this unnamed opening is as a "related zap" in Bruce Pandolfini's More Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps 2 (1993): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nx6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nxc4 (Giuoco Piano).

Pandolfini's line might well be called the "Overlook Gambit", as he clearly shows that White has overlooked the fact that his Bishop on c4 is hanging.

Stockfish 15.1, at 36 ply, suggests the refinement 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nx6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Bb4+ 6.c3 Nxc4 7.cxb4 where White captures the Bishop with his c-pawn instead of the d-pawn (i.e. 6.dxc5 in Pandolfini's line), assessing it as almost a pawn and a half improvement, but I am not sure why. 

Checking The Database, I note a surprising 234 games with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5  4.Nxe5 with White scoring 38%. This result is comparable to lichess.org's database that shows 211,835 games with the line (!), with White also scoring 38%.

Of note, however, is that Yasin_SUST is 6 - 3 - 0 with 5.Nxe5. Once again, familiarity breeds content. 

4...Nxe5

Black also has a surprise in the alternative 4...Bxf2+, although the only game that I have found where Yasin_SUST faced it was a win for him,  5.Kxf2 Nxe5 6.Bb3 d6 7.Rf1 Nf6 8.d3 h6 9.Kg1 O-O 10.d4 Nc6 11.d5 Na5 12.c4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Nxe4 14.Bf4 f5 15.Nd2 Qh4 16.g3 Qh3 17.Nxe4 fxe4 18.Qd2 Bg4 19.Qg2 Qh5 20.Qd2 Bf3 21.Rf2 Rae8 22.Re1 g5 23.Be3 Qh3 24.b4 a6 25.b3 h5 26.b5 axb5 27.cxb5 g4 28.Qc3 Kh7 29.Qxc7+ Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - Ric-leo, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023. 

By comparison, The Database has 17 games with the counter-sacrifice, where White scores an unimpressive 3 - 11 - 3 (26%). Once again, the lichess.org database has 25,980 relevant games, with White also scoring 26%.

For the record, Yasin_SUST - frastornante, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023 continued 4...Qf6 5.Nxf7 Qxf2 checkmate. That's bullet chess for you.

5.Bxf7+ 

More gambling by White.

He has also played 5.d4 Nxc4 (5...Nf3+ 6.Qxf3 d5 7.Bxd5 Bb4+ 8.c3 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.O-O Be7 11.e5 Nh6 12.Qxb7 O-O 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Qc6 Rb8 15.Qxe6+ Kh8 16.b3 Rb6 17.Qh3 Rg6 18.Nd2 Rfg8 19.g3 Qd5 20.Qg2 Qe6 21.Nf3 h5 22.h4 Qg4 23.Kh2 Rf8 24.Nd2 Rfg8 25.Qh3 Qe2 26.Nc4 Rxg3 27.Qxg3 Rxg3 28.Kxg3 Qg4+ 29.Kh2 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Qg4+ 31.Kh2 h4 32.Rg1 Qf4+ 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kf1 Qd3+ 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kf1 Qd3+ 37.Kg2 h3+ 38.Kh2 Bh4 39.Raf1 Qxc3 40.Ne3 Bxf2 41.Rxf2 Qxe3 42.Rff1 Qxd4 43.Kxh3 Qxe5 44.Re1 Qf5+ 45.Kh2 Qf2+ 46.Kh3 Qf3+ 47.Rg3 Qh5+ 48.Kg2 Qd5+ 49.Kh3 Qf5+ 50.Kg2 Qd5+ 51.Kh2 Qd2+ 52.Kh3 Qxe1 53.Kg4 Qd1+ 54.Kh3 Qc2 55.Rg2 Qd3+ 56.Rg3 Qf1+ 57.Rg2 Qf5+ 58.Rg4 Qa5 59.Rg2 c5 60.Rg5 Qb4 61.Rg2 c4 62.bxc4 Qxc4 63.Kh2 a5 64.Kh3 a4 65.Kh2 a3 66.Kh3 Qc3+ 67.Kh2 Qb2 68.Kh3 Qc3+ 69.Kh2 Qe5+ 70.Kh3 h5 71.Kh4 Qf6+ 72.Kh3 Qf5+ 73.Kh2 Kh7 74.Rg3 Qe5 75.Kh3 Kh6 76.Kh2 h4 77.Kh3 Qxg3 checkmate, Yasin_SUST - bhlebeau, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022) 6.dxc5 Ne5 (6...Qe7 7.Qd4 Ne5 8.O-O f6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qc3 d6 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.e5 fxe5 13.fxe5 Qd4+ 14.Be3 Qxc3 15.Nxc3 Be6 16.Rad1 Nge7 17.Bg5 Rf8 18.Rxf8+ Kxf8 19.Nb5 Rc8 20.Rf1+ Ke8 21.b3 h6 22.Bh4 g5 23.Bf2 a6 24.Nd4 Nxd4 25.Bxd4 Nc6 26.Bb2 Ke7 27.Rf6 Rh8 28.Ba3+ Kd7 29.Bb2 b5 30.a3 Ne7 31.Bd4 Nd5 32.Rg6 Nf4 33.Rg7+ Kc6 34.Be3 Nd5 35.Bd4 Kb7 36.Rg6 Bf5 37.Rg7 Bxc2 38.Rd7 Nb6 39.Re7 Bxb3 40.e6 Rf8 41.Bg7 Rf4 42.Bxh6 Re4 43.Bxg5 Rxe6 44.Rxe6 Bxe6 45.Bf4 c5 46.Bd2 c4 47.h4 Kc6 48.Kf1 Kd7 49.g3 Ke7 50.Kf2 Kf6 51.Kf3 Kf5 52.g4+ Kg6 53.h5+ Kh7 54.g5 Nd7 55.Ke4 Nc5+ 56.Ke5 Bg4 57.h6 Kg6 58.Bb4 Na4 59.Be7 c3 60.Bf6 c2 61.h7 Kxh7 62.Kf4 c1=Q+ 63.Kxg4 Kg6 64.Kh4 Qh1+ 65.Kg4 Qe4+ 66.Kg3 Qd3+ 67.Kg4 Qxa3 68.Kf4 Qb4+ 69.Ke5 Qc5+ 70.Ke6 Qe3+ 71.Kd5 b4 72.Kc4 b3 73.Kb4 Nb6 74.Ka5 Qd2+ 75.Kxb6 b2 76.Bxb2 Qxb2+ 77.Kxa6 Qe5 78.Kb7 Qxg5 White resigned, Yasin_SUST - milcastl, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022) 7.O-O Ng6 8.Nc3 N8e7 9.Bg5 O-O 10.Nd5 Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Bh4 Nxh4 13.Qg4 Nhg6 14.h4 Nxd5 15.exd5 Rxe1+ 16.Rxe1 d6 17.Qa4 dxc5 18.Re8+ Qxe8 19.Qxe8+ Nf8 20.Qe7 b6 21.Qxc7 Ba6 22.b3 Ng6 23.g3 f6 24.c4 Ne5 25.Kg2 Kh7 26.a4 Kg6 27.a5 b5 28.cxb5 Bxb5 29.Qxc5 Bd7 30.Qc7 a6 31.f4 Rc8 32.Qd6 Ng4 33.Qxd7 Rc2+ 34.Kf3 Nh2+ 35.Ke3 Rc3+ 36.Kd4 Rxb3 37.Qc6 Rb4+ 38.Kc5 Rb5+ 39.Kc4 Rxa5 40.Qb6 Ra4+ 41.Kd3 Nf3 42.Qc6 Rd4+ 43.Ke3 Nh2 44.Kxd4 Ng4 45.Qxa6 Nf2 46.d6 Black resigned,Yasin_SUST - Induistas, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 

5...Kxf7 

Black moves quickly. Bishop captures pawn, King captures Bishop - like in the Jerome Gambit, right?

Except in this position Black has a stronger alternative, although it did not trouble Yasin_SUST the one time he faced it.

5...Nxf7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 Bb4 8.e5 Qe7 9.O-O Bxc3 10.exf6 Bxb2 11.fxe7 Bxa1 12.Ba3 Bc3 13.Qf3 d6 14.Qxc3 Be6 15.Qxc7 Rc8 16.Qxb7 a6 17.Qxa6 Bc4 18.Qa4+ Kxe7 19.Re1+ Kf6 20.Qd7 Rhe8 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Qxe8 d5 23.Qe7+ Kg6 24.Bc5 Ng5 25.a4 Ne4 26.a5 h5 27.a6 Bxa6 28.Qe6+ Kg5 29.Qxa6 Kf4 30.Qa3 g5 31.Be7 Kf5 32.Qe3 g4 33.f3 gxf3 34.gxf3 Nf6 35.Qe5+ Kg6 36.Qxf6+ Kh7 37.Bd6 Kg8 38.Qg5+ Kf7 39.Qxh5+ Ke6 40.Be5 Kd7 41.f4 Ke6 42.f5+ Ke7 43.f6+ Kf8 44.Qh6+ Kf7 45.Qg7+ Ke6 46.Qe7+ Kf5 47.f7 Kg4 48.f8=Q Kh5 Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - HorridTactix, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

And so we have arrived, after some wandering, at the Jerome Gambit.

[to be continued]