Revisit: Alonzo Wheeler Jerome: How Strong?

A number of years back I asked the question "Alonzo Wheeler Jerome: How Strong?"

There was not a lot of information available, and Jerome did not appear on the players list at the "EDO Historical Chess Ratings" website.

My conclusion was that

...Alonzo Wheeler Jerome probably was of average club player strength for his time period - the kind of guy, after all, who would play the Jerome Gambit.

I recently ran across a short note in the Columbia Chess Chronicle, Volume 5, 1880

Prof. M. L. Deyo has made a score at Albany of 14 to 1 in a match with Mr. Jerome, of Gambit fame.

Ouch!

A little research put me in touch with the Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Rutgers College (originally Queens College) in New Brunswick, N. J. (1766 to 1916) which indicated that Deyo had received an honorary degree from the college in 1874, and further added

Martin Lewis Deyo

Born at Ghent, N. Y. Dec. 28, 1845 State Normal School

Brockport, N. Y. 1870  LLB (Albany Law School, 1877)

Prof. Mathematics, Albany Academy, 1870-98

Further, another check at the EDO Historical Chess Ratings, this time for Martin Deyo, showed that his rating in 1886 was estimated to be 2050, improving to 2081 in 1895.

If Deyo's playing strength when he met Jerome in 1880 was similar to that of a half dozen years later, Jerome was likely playing like someone rated 1620 or so.

In other words, club player strength.

Jerome Gambit: One Reason I Will Never Play Bullet Chess

I am in awe of those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - or any other chess opening, for that matter - at bullet speed, with 1 minute to complete their game. 

Never played it, never will. I simply can't think that fast. As American social commentator Will Rogers once said, We can't all be heroes, because somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by.

I recently ran across the following position, which only reinforced my anxieties about chess at that time control, as each player used slightly more than a second per move.

msc87-mikemandont, 1 0 bullet, Lichess.org, 2024

White is ahead by 2 Queens, and has the possibility of promoting 5 more pawns to Queens. Mind you, White has over 3,430 games in The Database and is hardly stranger to the Jerome gambit.

What is the problem?

It is stalemate. A draw.

Ouch.

The computer gripes that White had a forced checkmate before the game reached a couple dozen moves, well before it was half over - which shows how off-base computers can be sometimes. 

Sure, the computer can make such calculations, but when it comes to understanding human competition - well, you might as well race a Ferrari sf90 against Hicham El Guerrouj and consider that relevant.

Jerome Gambit: A Not-So Piano Giuoco

Not all Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) players open with the Jerome every game. Some add variety to their play, even venturing the "Quiet Game", as can be seen below.

However, when challenged, they can quickly become Jerome-ish.

FlyingInsect762 - Filou1962

10 0, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 

White - who has 3 dozen games in The Database - is looking for a standard Giuoco Piano this time.

Black tries to cross this up, however.

4...Na5 

Looking to win the "minor exchange", trading his Knight for his opponent's Bishop.

The database has 51 games with this move. White scores 75%. 

The earliest example of 4...Na5 that I have been able to find is Najdorf - Avino, blindfold simul, San Pablo, 1947 (1-0, 13).

White can now retreat his Bishop, or he can protect it with 5.Nxe5, although the latter move reduces his advantage to about 2/3 of a pawn, after 5...Nxc4 6.Nxc4 d5.

5.Bxf7+ 

You know that you are in trouble when this is Stockfish's choice, too.

The earliest example of Bxf7+ that I have been able to find in this position is Ubeda - Lopez, Santiago, 1992 (1-0, 32).

However, the Scotch Gambit has seen the ...Na5 plus Bxf7+ pairing much earlier, e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Na5 5.Bxf7+ in Schnitzler - Thieler, Duesseldorf, 1866 (1-0, 10).

5...Kxf7 

It is interesting to compare the current position with the one that arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3, when 5...Na5 would be a useless continuation. White's advantage in this game is due, in part, to Black's lost tempo.

6.Nxe5+

Continuing Jerome style.

Instead, White could take advantage of Black' awkwardly placed pieces with 6.b4!?

Stockfish 16.1's first response (38 ply) is 6...Nc6 7.bxc5 d5 8.cxd6 cxd6 9.d4 and White is better.

A different approach (since his is going to lose a piece, anyhow) is 6...Nf6 7.Nxe5+ Kf8 8.bxa5 Nxe4 9.d4 which is again better for the first player.

Finally, if Black meets 6.b4!? with 6...Bxf2+, then 7.Kxf2 Nc6 8.b5 Nce7 9.Nxe5+ will again keep White on top.

6...Ke6 

Black's King advances boldly, but he would do better to retreat to f8, when White would have to mobilize his "Jerome pawns" to keep things even, i.e. 6...Kf8 7.b4 Bd6 8.bxa5 Bxd5 9.d4 Bf6 10.e5 Be7 11.0-0.

7.d4 Bd6 

It is amusing to consider the stronger 7...Nf6, ignoring the attack on his Bishop and, instead, attacking White's e-pawn. The you-take-my-piece-I-take-your-piece would still play out after 8.dxc5 Kxe5 with 9.0-0, when Black's King is too exposed.

Instead, after 7...Nf6, the pawn fork 8.b4 would again cause problems for the defender. Then 8...d6 8.Nd3 Nc6 9.bxc5 Kf7 leads to a position that looks like it is becoming solid for the defender, but which Stockfish - appreciating the "Jerome pawns" - assesses as about 3 1/2 pawns better for White, whether he plays 10.cxd6 or 10.Nd2 or 10.f3.

The text allows White to quickly end the game.

8.Qg4+ Ke7 9.Qxg7+ Ke8 10.Qf7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit Perplexity

Travelling to the perplexity.ai website, to ask about Jerome Gambit games, was an enjoyable excursion. 

I had been warned that artificial intelligence entities can "hallucinate" occasionally - recall my encounters with ChatGPT - so I was pleased that most of the information that was given about my favorite opening was accurate, including

Evaluation: Chess experts generally consider this opening unsound, as it involves significant material sacrifice without sufficient compensation.

Then along came a puzzler

Here are some famous games involving the Jerome Gambit:

Blackburne vs. Potter, 1876: This game is perhaps the most well-known Jerome Gambit game. Joseph Henry Blackburne, a strong British player of the 19th century, demonstrated a powerful counterattack for Black. The game went: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5, and Black went on to win...

How about that?

The AI appears to be a bit confused: it should have referred to Potter vs Blackburne, if the sentence that followed is correct; i.e. Blackburne had Black.

The most well-known Jerome Gambit game has to be Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884, which contained the exact moves given to the so-called "Blackburne - Potter"  - I mean, Potter - Blackburne - game, above.

How much fun would it have been if Blackburne had had the White pieces and played the Jerome Gambit??

Sometimes Blackburne's opponent in that 1884 game is given as "NN" or "Anonymous" or "Mr. M" or "Milner". 

Can we now add "Potter" the the list of possible names of the opponent?

I suppose - althoughThe Database has no Jerome Gambit either played or defended against by Potter.

Jerome Gambit: I Feel So Misunderstood...

 

Doing a metacrawler search on the internet for "Jerome Gambit", this morning, I uncovered the following tidbit.

Learn the Jerome Gambit Italian Game | Free Opening Trainer

https://chessdrill.com/jerome-gambit
The Jerome Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qf3 Qf6. This opening is part of the larger family of Ruy Lopez openings that feature the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3. The Jerome Gambit specifically has the bishop move Bc4 as White's third move and develops the bishop actively toward the center.

Now, I can't expect everyone to be familiar with the Jerome, but the opening begins with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.

I am not familiar with "the larger family of Ruy Lopez openings", but I am pretty sure that the Spanish Game goes 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5.  That last move would preclude the Jerome Gambit.

It is true, however, that in the Jerome Gambit White's third move "develops the bishop actively toward the center." 

The biggest slip in the given line, however, is that 4.Qf3 is impossible, given that there is already a Knight on that square.

If I didn't know better, I would suspect that our friend ChatGPT had a hand in this...

Jerome Gambit: Upcoming, Round Three

 

Round Two of the massive "Giuoco Fun" tournament at Chess.com, is close to completion, with two games needing to finish.

It looks like I will be joined in Round Three by AlbertWhiskas, andresbach, argul85, Barnaby2023, benedictevans,  Dadzie498, desnoyers07, egornikol, ElpegasoAjedrecista, emrejean, Flojoflojo, Geckoodla, goodknightrest, Goteberg, HaniotakisManolis, Iceciara2006,  Jarszym, Jeff233, kertt1, KlarenceYopishki, Koyote33, lasgush, Lastraj, lion-1313, Letizwolf, Mayankurfmonti, MatthijsWestra, perangedwin1986, pices_guy226, ponomargoal, ProductiveCable, Ramirezcruzeliecer, Release419, Rozensingel, RustyTheDog, sango237, SPK_316, torbenellrby, trankiloman, vidra28, viyutshah, Wander007, xyzluc, and zengabas - likely separated into 9 groups. 

As always, I wish my future opponents good chess.               

Jerome Gambit: Seven Moves!

The other day I wandered, via YouTube, onto the site of HokieJoe17, who had a Jerome Gambit video - and so much more.

Some of his 116 videos cover different opening gambits, as he pursues his "Holy Gambit Grail".

What is that, you say? I will let him explain

The Holy Gambit Grail is a challenge by @vampirechicken that I have decided to take on myself!! All credit to Jonathan Schrantz!! 

Rules:... 

1. Games must be played on stream 

2. Games must be played in the pool (ie. not against viewers that agree to allow the gambit) against players reasonably close in rating 

3. Games can only be submitted if you're the side that gambits material 

4. Any time control acceptable 

5. Anyone can complete this epic grail quest on any website but original credit for this brilliant idea belongs to Jonathan Schrantz 

6. NO CHEATING There are 766 recognized gambits Streamed at Twitch.tv/HokieJoe17

Indeed, he has videos of himself playing

1. Elephant Gambit

2. Ross Gambit

3. Englund Gambit

4. Gibbins-Wiedenhagen Gambit

5. Wing Gambit

6. Smith-Morra Gambit

7. Latvian Gambit

8. Benko Gambit

9. Duras Gambit

10. Jerome Gambit

11. Salvio Countergambit

12. Schlecter Gambit

13. Tennison Gambit

14. Hobbs Gambit

 Ah, yes, back to the Jerome Gambit.

This is a fun gambit, but not highly recommended if you're trying to gain rating

Fair enough, but he was totally unprepared for his own Jerome Gambit experience. 

HokieJoe17 - JVenglarcik

5 0 blitz, YouTube, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6 7.Qf5+ 

Black resigned

And that was that.

HokieJoe17 was quite pleased - elated- at the quick win. Ten seconds off his clock.

 He spent some time analyzing the game, convincing himself, that the Jerome Gambit, of course, "It's the worst gambit".

But, it was too late - he had already won.

Readers should visit HokieJoe17's site, and enjoy his videos. There is a whole lot of entertainment - and education - contained.