Jerome Gambit: Blazer?!

 ?????

A search on the internet for "Jerome Gambit", today, came up with a suggestion of a "Jerome Gambit blazer."

Huh?

I checked it out, and here is what I found.

 
I am used to the Jerome Gambit surprising me, but this time I was left slack-jawed.

Jerome Gambit: You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

In the following game, White's King easily finds safety (even if it takes a while) while Black's King crosses the board, only to find that his safety is short-lived. 

White's sacrifice to finish things is pretty.

angelcamina - MarechalBlitz

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 

You could get the impression that MarechalBlitz has experience with the Jerome Gambit, but I can not find another game of his in The Database.

8.f4 Kc6 9.Qxe5

Or 9.fxe5

9...d6 

Possibly better was 9...Nf6 10.d3 b6 or 10...d5. 

10.Qd5+ Kb6 

The King is usually at greater risk in front of the pawns, instead of behind them - for example, 10...Kd7 11.d4 Bb6 12.O-O c6 13.Qc4 d5 and Black would be better.

11.d4

The "Jerome pawns" in action!

This is a 1-minute game. At a slower speed, White would probably have found 11.Qb3+ Kc6 12.d4 Bxd4 13.Qd5+ Kd7 14.Qxd4 Nf6 with advantage.

The text leads to an even game.

11...c6 

Black had to find 11...Bb4+ 12.c3 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qh3 14.cxb4 Qg2 15.Rf1 Bh3 16.Qa5+ Kc6 17.Nd2 Qxh2 18.Nf3 Qxg3+ 19.Rf2 Nf6 Egads - this is a 1-minute game. That would be a bit much for a 1900 rated player.

12.Qb3+ Kc7 13.dxc5 dxc5 14.O-O Nf6 

Although White is only up a pawn, it is interesting that Stockfish 16.1 evaluates the postion as more than 4 pawns better for him.

15.e5 Nd5 16.c4 Ne7 17.Nc3 Bf5 18.Be3 Rc8 19.Bxc5 Kb8 

Black has completed castling-by-hand but his King still has to be careful.

20.Bd6+ Ka8 21.Na4 Ng6 22.Rad1

White is on his way to a win. Later, when he plays over the game, he will chuckle at missing 22.Nb6+ Qxb6+ 23.Qxb6 axb6 24.Rf3 Bd3 25.Rxd3 Rc7 26.Bxc7 b5 27.Ra3# 

Happily, his opponent gives him a chance to end the game with a bang.

22...Qe8 23.Nb6+ axb6 24.Qa3 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: More Impatience

About two and a half years ago (see "From a Multi-step Synthesis Concept in Theoretical Chemistry to the New Record-holder of Logical Reconstructions in Chess? (Part 1)"), chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev and I were reviewing a video on Twitch titled "Alessia tries Jerome gambit" which showed the end of a game (with a fun threatened checkmate) by WFM Alessia Santeramo.

Unfortunately, the whole game score - including the Jerome Gambit opening moves - was not available to us.

Recently, though, Yury found the full game, and sent it to me.

While it is more of an "impatient Jerome Gambit" (see "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights (Part 2)" for a lot of information on the line), it is still interesting and fun and worth sharing.

AlessiaSanteramo - ChessToG0

3 2 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ 

The opening goes back at least as far as the correspondence game Draper - Child, Belfast - Dublin match, 1891-92 (0-1, 20).

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Ke8 9.Qxd5 d6

White's plan is the same as it sometimes is with the Jerome Gambit: gather small gains where they can be found, and be ready to strike a deadly blow.

10.e6 Qe7 11.O-O Bxe6 

Or 11...Qxe6. In either case, Black is better. 

12.Qb5 Rb8 13.d5

13...Kd8 

Unpinning the Knight and offering the Bishop.

Black overlooks the patzer-like harassment of the Queen, 13...a6 - which is actually the strongest move here. 

White now has the upper hand.

14.dxc6 Kc8 

Ready to play 14...bxc6.

15.Bg5 Qf7 16.Nc3 

Looking ahead, 16.Re1 would have been more prudent.

Or, was the master setting a trap?

16...Bc4 

The opportunity to fork the enemy Queen and Rook is too much to ignore. With more time, Black might have analyzed deeper.

17.Qb4 

White anticipates her next move, but she should have played the Queen to a4. Tick, tick, tick...

17...Bxf1 

As expected.

Unexpected would have been 17...bxc6, uncovering the Black Rook's attack on the White Queen, transferring the edge back to Black. 

18.Qg4+ Black resigned

White's Queen swoops over to the other side of the board, planning to win the enemy Queen while delivering checkmate.

Jerome Gambit: What Did Both Black and White Miss?

Familiarity with tactical ideas in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can lead to advantage - or victory.

Next time, the players will see the threat.

vagel - Hamdankhan29

5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 

This is more of a trick than a trap. Or, it should be.

My warning came a couple dozen years ago, in "Something to Watch Out For".

8.O-O 

Uh oh. What did White miss?

8...d6 

Uh oh. What did Black miss?

9.f4 c5 

Uh oh. What did both White and Black miss?

Black could have won White's Queen after 8...Nf3+ or 9...Nf3+.

10.Qd5+ Be6 11.Qxb7+ Nd7 Black resigned

White is up the exchange and a couple of pawns. Time does not seem to have been an issue.

Checking With Chat GPT

 

Computers are in the news, again, so I thought I would check with our friend Chat GPT, which has held forth previously (at my request) on the Jerome Gambit (see "Jerome Gambit: Chat GPT").

This time I asked Chat GPT for some Jerome Gambit [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+] Games.

First, it gave me the game N.N. vs. Blackburne, London, 1884.

Then, it gave me the last 5 moves of Louis Morin vs. Justin Piché, Montreal, 2008.

Thirdly, it mentioned "Online Blitz Games (2021)"

In modern online play, the Jerome Gambit has been used in high-speed formats. For instance, in a 3+0 blitz game on Lichess, White played the Jerome Gambit against a higher-rated opponent. Despite the material sacrifice, White's aggressive play led to a surprising resignation by Black. The game concluded with:?

The players were not named, and the game is curious. I added diagrams.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+ 

The computer gives White's move without comment.

The is the Face Palm Variation, which I first warned against in "Public Service Announcement" over a dozen years ago.

lichess.org has 37,189 (!) game examples with this position with White scoring 31% ?! (Black only captured the Knight in 61% of the games. Ouch.)

5...Kf8 

Of course, capturing the Knight with 5...Qxg5 is perfectly playable.

6.Qh5 g6 7.Nxh7+ 

The Database actually has 2 games with this position - a win for Black and a win for White.

7...Kf7

Convenient for White.

With 7...Kg7 Black can look forward to capturing the unfortunate Knight with a winning advantage. 

The text allows the piece to escape with check.

8.Ng5+ Kf6 

It is important to remind Readers that this is a game that Chat GPT gathered from the internet, not a game it played itself.

9.Qxh8+ Kxg5 10.d4+ Kg4 11.f3 checkmate

Nice checkmate.

I looked the game up on lichess.org. It was a 3-minute game between a 2770+ rated player playing White (Chat GPT was in error on this) and an almost 2300 rated player playing Black.

As Mr. Spock said in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", 

Logic is the beginning of wisdom... Not the end.

 

Blackburne Shilling Gambit: Counter-Surprise

Although we do not have any game examples, it is said that Joseph Henry Blackburne played his Shilling Gambit to quickly win wagers placed upon his casual games.

When Black plays the Shilling Gambit, hoping to surprise his opponent, he is often not ready for a counter-surprise, if the opening becomes Jeromed.

feritTurkey - SviRep

5 0 blitz, lichess.org

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 

Black does best now to give up the exchange with 7...hxg6 8.Qxh8, still with the advantage after 8...Nxc2+.

Instead, 7...Nxc2+ 8.Kd1 hxg6 allows White to play 9.Qxg6+ and draw by repetition, if he wants. Instead, 9.Qxh8 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qg5 favors Black.

This whole line is worth looking at before playing it, for either Black or White.

7...Nf6 8.Qe5+ Ne6 9.Nxh8 

9...Bd6 

The Bishop is placed with the hope that it will be part of an attack on White's King, once it castles.

Also seen was 9...Bg7 10.d3 Ng4 11.Qh5+ Kf8 12.Qf7 checkmate, feritTurkey - TurkoLoco, lichess.org, 2023 and 9...Ng4 10.Qh5+ Ke7 11.Qxg4 Bg7 12.Qh4+ Bf6 13.Qxh7+ Kd6 14.Nf7+ Black resiged, feritTurkey - queenwin_1492, lichess.org, 2024.

Now the White Queen goes on a deadly road trip.

10.Qc3 Nxe4 

Or 10...Ke7 11.O-O Qxh8 12.Na3 b6 13.Nc4 Ba6 14.Nxd6 Bxf1 15.Kxf1 cxd6 16.Qa3 Nxe4 17.d3 N4c5 White resigned, feritTurkey - Tomek_Kowalski, lichess.org, 2022. 

11.Qf3 N4g5 12.Qh5+ Ke7 

13.d3 Bb4+ 14.c3 Bd6 

Time to wrap things up.

15.Bxg5+ Nxg5 16.Qxg5+ Ke8 17.Qg8+ Ke7 18.Qf7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: No Thank You; Thank You; Quickly

In the early years of this blog, in "Lightning Strikes", I noted

As science fiction stories developed, I noticed that the top speed that a rocket could travel went from "the speed of light" to "the speed of thought" – the latter being much, much faster, I guess.

Bullet chess travels at the speed of thought. The following game packs a lot into fewer than 10 moves - pieces offered, pieces declined, advantages exchanged.

QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika

1 3 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kf8 

Declining the Bishop is not as strong as accepting it - but, in a blitz game, surprises can take time to adjust to, and that might have been Black's intention.

Checking The Database, the two players have split 10 Jerome Gambit games.

5.Bxg8 

Simple.

White has also tried the more complicated 5.Nxe5 in QangaliTakugakkit - lexx777, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 9); QangaliTakugakkit - MirayaHRMSPB, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 24); QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 19); and QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 23). 

Of course, he could have withdrawb the Bishop -  

5.Bc4  as in QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 33);  QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 16); or

5.Bd5 as in QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 15). 

5...Rxg8 

Capturing with the King 5... Kxg8 was a bit stronger, as in QangaliTakugakkit - Simiam_Laika, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 23). 

Disturbing was 5...Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Rxg8 in QangaliTakugakkit - lemehd, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 9). 

6.Nxe5 

(6. Nc3 Qf6 7. O-O Qg6 8. Nd5 Bb6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. Re1 d6 11. Nh4 Qg5 12.Qf3+ Qf4 13. Re3 Nd4 14. Qxf4+ exf4 15. Rc3 Ne2+ 16. Kf1 Nxc3 17. dxc3 Be6 18.Bxf4 Bxa2 19. e5 Bc4+ {0-1 QangaliTakugakkit-Simiam_Laika/https://lichess.org/Dbqi7Ye7 2024}) 

6...Bxf2+ 

Black returns the favor - and the Bishop.

Is the move a good one? The Database has 10 games with this position, with White winning 8 of them. Stockfish 16.1 evaluates White as 2 1/2 pawns better.

But: Tick, Tick, Tick...

7.Kf1 

Wary. Still, he should have taken the Bishop. The game is now about even.

7..Nxe5 8.d4 

See the above comment. Now 8...Qh4 would have given Black the advantage.

8...Bxd4 

Okay. After this Black had an edge.

9.c3 

Had to have been the clock. Instead, he had 9.Qxd4 Qf6+ 10.Qf2.

9...Qf6+ White resigned