How to Get an Advantage or to Win with JG (4.Bxf7+) against Maestri: the Collection of Practice (Part 5)

 

                            How to Get an Advantage or to Win with 

                                     JG (4.Bxf7+) against Maestri: 

                                the Collection of Practice (Part 5)

                                       by Yury V. Bukayev

Dear readers, let me remind you that these my new posts about White's advantage and wins in such chess games are dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's publications with 4.Bxf7+ in Giuoco Piano. Now the world chess history knows a lot of cases, where White got an advantage or won here against grandmasters and other extremely strong defenders!

We should start this new part from the game

Mr. Pak - IM Anwesh Upadhyaya (Radanya_Official - Anwesh9792, 1 min bullet, Lichess.org, 2024)

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 Be6 10.O-O Qd7 11.Bd2 Re8 12.Nc3 Ke7 13.Qxg7+ Bf7 14.Bg5 Bd4 15.Bxf6+ Bxf6 16.Nd5+ (Black resigned), 

where White used his excellent chance to get a large advantage after Black's 12...Ke7 - how annoying for Black! This game shows that Anwesh Upadhyaya had a strong plan, but forgot to protect his pawn on g7 before the move ...Kf8-e7. He had approximately 45 seconds before his 12th move and spent 1 second for this move, so he had an opportunity to spend more time for it. These facts created Black's heavy psychological blow, most probably, and after 13.Qxg7+ he tried to save his Knight on f6 mistakenly instead of ...Kd8! with ...Kc8, where Black has a not little counter-play, in spite of his large disadvantage, and the very serious fight could go on. Black couldn't overcome this psychological blow during these seconds, couldn't play further. This situation is typical for bullet games. But after 13...Bf7 even Black's calmness can't save the situation if White plays 14.Nd5+!!, because Black loses too large material here.

Further, let's mention the game 

NN - IM Andrew Tang 

(currypanang - penguingim1, 10+5 tempo, 20-board clock simultaneous exhibition, Lichess.org, 2017),

where after 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.d3 Be6 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.h3 Kf7 12.a3 Rhf8 13.b4 Bb6 14.Nc3 Bd4 15.Bd2 Rae8 16.0-0 h6 17.Rae1 g5 18.Ne2 Bb6 19.Bc3 Black lost on time. The final position is enough respectable for White for his not short play with a sacrificed material down. It is unknown, how much time did Black spend for each of his moves, because it was a simultaneous exhibition. White (like Black) could play much stronger in several cases - in opening and further, so Black's task could become much heavier there and could take more his time. One of methods of how to win such time control game with Jerome gambit is your fast play without your punished blunders. 

                                          (to be continued)

Jerome Gambit: Trying to Fit Together Two Different Lines

DutchLiLi - RoiDanton2000

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 d6 

Blackburne's defense, going back to Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14).

8.Qxh8 Qe7 

Hmmm... ...Qe7 a move earlier would have been Whistler's defense.

This combined line, however, does not work, as this game quickly shows. Such things happen in bullet games.

The Database has 38 games with this position. White scores 76%.

9.Qxh7+ 

The Jerome Gambit reminds me of Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed, but the opening can be particularly unsafe for either player when travelling like a speeding bullet, e.g. 9.d3 Nf6 10.Bh6 Bg4 11.Nc3 Rxh8 White resigned, DutchLiLi - ba2n, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021. 

9...Kf8 

Or 9...Ke8 10.Qxg6+ Kd8 11.d3 Be6 12.Bg5 Nf6 13.Bxf6 Black resigned, DutchLiLi - Aguspy, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org. 2021 

10.Qxg6 

Exchanging Queens was also good, e.g. 10.Qxe7+ Nxe7 11.c3 Nc6 12.d4 Bb6 13.O-O Bd7 14.Bh6+ Kg8 15.Nd2 Kh7 16.Bg5 Kg7 17.f4 Re8 18.Rae1 a5 19.Kh1 a4 20.a3 Na5 21.e5 Bb5 22.Rf3 Bc4 23.f5 gxf5 24.Rxf5 Be6 25.Rf6 dxe5 26.Rxe5 Bf7 27.Rxe8 Bxe8 28.Rf5 Nc6 29.Rf2 Bd7 30.Nf3 Bg4 31.Ne5 Nxe5 32.dxe5 Be6 33.Bf6+ Kg6 34.Rf4 Bc5 35.Rh4 b5 36.g4 Bf8 37.g5 Kf5 38.Rd4 c6 39.Rd8 Bc5 40.Rh8 White won on time, DutchLiLi - ege_satranc, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org. 2020 

10...Nf6 

Or 10...Be6 11.O-O Bf7 12.Qg4 Bd4 13.c3 Be5 14.d4 Be6 15.Qe2 Bxh2+ 16.Kxh2 Nf6 17.f4 Qh7+ 18.Kg1 Bg4 19.Qf2 Nxe4 20.Qc2 Re8 21.Na3 Qh4 22.f5 Ng3 23.Bg5 Qh1+ 24.Kf2 Nxf1 25.Rxf1 Qh8 26.Kg3 Re2 Black won on time, DutchLiLi - patriciobenitez, lichess.org, 2022. 

11.d3 Be6 12.Bh6+ Black resigned

Black did not need to wait for 12...Qg7 13.Qxf6+ Ke8 14.Bxg7.

Jerome Gambit: King Safety, Again

In the Jerome Gambit, one of the most reliable defenses is for Black to reply to 6.Qh5+ with 6...Kf8.

The defender must continue with solid moves, however, lest he succumb to the attack on his King, after all.

Observe the following game.

Wall, Bill - Singh

sparkchess, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Qe7 

Bill has also faced 8...Nf6, 8...Qf6, 8...h5, 8...d5, and 8...Bd7

9.d3 h6 

Also 9...Kf7 10.O-O Nf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Be3 Bb6 13.f4 Rhf8 14.Bxb6 axb6 15.e5 Nh5 16.Qf3 Qh4 17.Qxb7 Kg8 18.f5 Rab8 19.Qxc7 Qd4+ 20.Kh1 Rbc8 21.Qxd6 Qxd6 22.exd6 Rxf5 23.Rxf5 Bxf5 24.Nd5 Rd8 25.Ne7+ Kf7 26.Nxf5 g6 27.Ne3 Rxd6 28.Rf1+ Ke6 29.Nc4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Ahmad, sparkchess, 2024 

10.O-O Qf6 11.Nd2 Be6 12.Re1 Ne7 

13.e5 

A clearance sacrifice.

13...dxe5 14.Ne4 

Black can now send his own Knight on a mission of harassment: 14...Nf5 15.Qf3 Nd4 16.Qe3 Qf7 17.Nxc5 Nxc2 18.Nxe6+ Kg8 (18...Qxe6 19.Qc5+ Kf7 20.Qxc2) 19.Qxe5 Nxe1 20.Qxe1 Re8 21.Bf4 Qxe6 22.Qxe6+ Rxe6 23.Bxc7 Re2 24.Rb1 Kh7.

Instead, he seems to have miscalculated in his move choice. 

14...Bxf2+ 15.Nxf2 Nc6 16.b3 

The balance of the game has shifted to White.

16...Re8 17.Ne4 Qe7 18.Rf1+ Kg8 

A final slip, as White quickly demonstrates.

19.Nf6+ Kf8 20.Nd5+ Black resigned

Black's Queen is lost.

Jerome Gambit: Two More Videos

 

Two more Jerome Gambit videos...

	What Are Typical Pawn Structures In The Jerome Gambit? - The Board Game Xpert YouTube What Are Typical Pawn Structures In The Jerome Gambit? In this informative video, we will take a closer look at the typical pawn structures found ...
	Learn the Jerome gambit ♟️ - YouTube YouTube Learn more · @checkmate_in1. Learn the Jerome gambit

Jerome Gambit: Sidestepping the Sidestep

Black has a number of ways to sidestep the Jerome Gambit, even if he still wants to play 1...e5 and respond to 2.Nf3 with 2...Nc6.

Even in those lines, however, he has to be careful.

IDLEH2017 - Frusciante21

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Na5 

Black would like to win the "minor exchange," expecting to see 4.Bb3 Nxb3. 

White could charge him a pawn for the effort - 4.Nxe5 Nxc4 5.Nxc4 - but  he prefers to Jerome-ize the game.

4.Bxf7+ 

The earliest example I have of this in The Database is Sidran - Vong, Compuserve email, 1992 (1-0, 8), but there must be earlier ones outside of my research.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf6 

Looking for trouble, although it might be hard to see that the best move for Black is 5...Ke7, with only a slight disadvantage. 

This is Black's only game in The Database. White has almost 600.

6.d4 

Solid. White usually goes for this move, or the more aggressive 6.Qh5 right away: 6...g6 (not 6...d6 7.Qf7+ Kxe5 8.d4+ Kxe4 9.Nc3+ Kxd4 10.Qd5#) 7.Qf3+ Ke7 (greed is a bad idea: 7...Kxe5 8.d4+ Kxd4 9.Qd3+ Ke5 10.Qd5+ Kf6 11.Bg5+) 8.Nc3 c6 9.d3 Bh6 (preventing the skewer of his King and Queen) 10.Nf7 Qf8 11.Nxh6 Qxf3 12.gxf3 Nxh6 13.Bxh6 and White ahead by two pawns.

6...d6 

Really, it was time for His Majesty to retreat to e7.

7.Qh5 

Or 7.Qf3+ Bf5 8.Qxf5+ Ke7 9.Qf7# 

7...Be7 

Too much to consider. Capture the Knight at e5? Kick the Queen with ...g6? Block the dangerous skewer d8-h4 diagonal?

8.Qf7 checkmate

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit: A Win Is A Win

It can be fun to look at a chess position and figure out the sharpest line of play. 

It is a lot easier, when the position appears in a blog post, like this one.

It is harder when the position appears on the board in a game that you are playing.

Even moreso, when the time control is 1-minute.

All that said, White survives handily in the following Jerome Gambit game.

DutchLiLi - MrJBlake

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+ 

Okay...

White's Knight is threatening a Black Rook on one side of the board, and Black's Knight is threatening a White Rook on the other side of the board.

The Database has 311 games with this position. White wins 65%, even though Stockfish 16.1 evaluates the game as completely even: 0.00.

We will soon see why.

8.Kd1 Nxa1 

The logical followup, although the computer suggests that allowing White to give perpetual check is better, e.g. 8...hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.Qg5+ Ke8 11.Qg6+ etc, draw. 

I am not sure that either player would be happy with that outcome, but with the way things go, perhaps Black should have tried 8...hxg6.

9.Nxh8+ Ke7 

10.Qf7+ 

White has a plan to round up the enemy King. That is most important.

He did have the alternative, 10.Qe5#, but that is mostly a footnote in this chess essay. 

10...Kd6 11.Qf4+ 

With this move White still has the advantage, but he will now have to work a bit more. Instead, there was another footnote, 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qe5#, which I am sure he saw just as soon as he could catch his breath.  

11... Kc6 12.Nf7 

12...Qe7 

12...Qf6 was a bit safer, with the chance to exchange Queens. 

13.Ne5+ Kb6 14.Nc4+ 

This works, although he might have added a piece to the King hunt with 14.Nc3. 

14...Ka6 15.Nba3 

The Knight keeps an eye on the c2 square, keeping its counterpart confined. Instead, 15.Nc3 was the way to keep an advantage, although White's Queen needs to be re-positioned, too.

15...Nf6 

Black is organizing his defense and thinking of eventual counter-attack.

16.d3 d6 

One or two steps? That is always the question for Black's d-pawn. In this case, the answer is two.

17.Qg5 

White wants his Queen to go Queenside.

17...h6 

Must be the clock. With 17...c5 18.Qd2 b6, Black would have limited the enemy Queen.

18.Qa5 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: The "Jerome Pawns" Strike Again

The Jerome Gambit has a way of mixing things up in a chess game. 

The following game, featuring the "Jerome pawns", is an example of how things can go from a quiet position to checkmate very quickly.

angelcamina - Krmdmn

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 h6 5.O-O a6 6.a4 Bc5 

The position is an Italian Four Knights Game, where Black has moved his Rook pawns one step forward - for safety reasons. He has reachd a calm and equal position after 1.3 seconds on his clock.

White decides to Jerome-ize the position. 

7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4

Although the computer evaluates Black as better, it quickly becomes clear that the defender is not familiar with this type of position, while White is.

10...Ng6

Keeping the Knight near his King, but this defense is not enough.

11.e5 Nh7 12.f4 Rf8 

Hoping to castle-by-hand, but White will not allow it.

13.Qd5+ Ke8 14.f5 

Those "Jerome pawns"!

14...c6 15.Qd6 Ne7 16.f6 

16...gxf6 17.Bxh6 Rf7 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 Nxf6 20.Qxf6

 20...Qb6+ 21.Kh1 Qxb2 22.Qf8 checkmate