Jerome Gambit: Doggone

 

As Readers of this blog know, I play my slower-time-control Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games at Chess.com.

I stopped by the site today and discovered a new feature - "Hide Your Homework! The New Dog Bots Are Here".

Players have the opportunity to match their chess skills against dog bots (computer programs) Benji, Wishboy, Buddy Buckets, Pinky, and Ponchik, ranging in rating from 300 to 2600.

I decided to challenge Wishboy, in part because he is described as "the bookish host of a public-access TV show."

(Side note: That pairing of "dog" and "bookish" reminds me of an old Groucho Marx comment, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”)

Here is our game. It is a light-hearted encounter. Wishboy was a "good boy" and let me win.

perrypawnpusher - Wishboy

casual game, Chess.com, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

Not for the last time did Wishboy comment, "Dog as my witness, I will never read another book. Chess is way more dramatic!"

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qf6

Apparently Wishboy is out of his "book" when it comes to the Jerome Gambit. This move blocks White's Queen from capturing the Rook at h8, but it leaves the Bishop hanging. The Database has 201 games with this move, and White scores 75%.

Whistler's (insert canine joke here) defense 7...Qe7 was stronger.

 8.Qxc5 d6 

Losing the trail of the opening. Some suggestions are 8...Qb6 or 8...c6 or even 8...Qe7 

8...c6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - Saveurking, 3 12 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 34)

 9.Qe3 

Was I afraid of being bitten? Or was I not paying attention? With Black's Queen at f6, his pawn at c7 was unprotected.

The consistent 9.Qxc7+ was certainly playable: the Database has 47 games, with White scoring 79%.

I was surprised to see that I have shied away before, playing 9.Qc3 in perrypawnpusher - Raankh, 3 12 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2 - 1/2, 54). 

9...Kg7 

9...Ne7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - frencheng, 7 5 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 23) 

10.Nc3 Be6 11.O-O Qe5 

I am not sure of the idea behind this move, or if there even was one. It does pose for me the eternal JeromeGambit question: d-pawn or f-pawn?

12.d4 

Of course the computers prefer 12.f4. 

12...Qh5 13.f4 Re8 14.Qd3 Ne7 

The "Jerome pawns" were ready for 14...Nf6 as well, i.e. 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.c4 Be6 18.d5 Bf5 19.Qd4.

15.d5 Bg4 16.Qd4+ Kh6 

Black's King is in danger wherever it goes, but relatively "safer" was 16...Kg8. 

17.f5+ g5 18.Qf6+ Ng6 19.fxg6 hxg6 

I was fine with the possibility of 19...Rhf8 20.Qxf8+ Rxf8 21.Rxf8 with two Rooks for my Queen.

20.Qd4 

No hurry.

20...Rhf8 21.Bd2 a6 

This tempo loss makes my central pawn push look good.

Of couse, lots of things look good when you are a piece ahead.

 22.Rxf8 Rxf8 23.e5 

23...Qh4 24.e6 Kh5 

The royal couple edges away from home, but there is no safety elsewhere.

25.h3 Qg3 26.Qxg4+ 

I recently re-read my first chess book ever, Chess the Easy Way by Reuben Fine. I am certain that he did not say such a thing, but I came away (again) with the idea that a chess game could be reduced to winning a pawn, then exchanging everything else off, finishing with promoting that pawn to a Queen...

Of course, in this case I have more than an extra pawn.

26...Qxg4 27.hxg4+ Kxg4 

I do not know if Wishboy has the option of resigning, or if the program has to play things out to the bitter end.

28.Rf1 Rc8 29.e7 b6 30.Rf8 Kh5 31.Rxc8 c5 32.dxc6 g4 33.e8=Q Kh4 34.Qe7+ Kg3 35.Rh8 b5 36.Qe3 checkmate

When asked what he thought about the game, Wishboy would probably respond "Ruff".

 

I suspect that the Buddy Buckets is out there waiting for me...