Saturday, July 5, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Experience Counts



Been there, done that.

When it comes to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Bill Wall can say that.

Here is another example.


Wall, Bill - Stranger

parkchess, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

According to The Database, Bill has played 6.d4 673 times, scoring 95%.

Compare this with 6.Qh5+, which he has played 451 times, scoring 91%.

6...Bb6 7.dxe5 Ne7 8.Qf3+ Kg8 


Bill has faced other defenses.

8...Ke8 9.O-O (9.Qg3 Ng6 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bd2 Rf8 13.O-O-O Rf7 14.e6 Rf6 15.Qxg7 Rxf2 16.Bxh6 d6 17.Qh8+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest2896104, playchess.com, 2019) 9...Ng6 (9...Rf8 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qxh7 g5 (11...d6 12.Bh6 Rg8 13.Bg5 Be6 14.Nc3 Qd7 15.exd6 cxd6 16.Rfd1 Kd8 17.e5 Bc5 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Ne4 Kc8 20.Rxd6 Qe8 21.Rxe6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest11863268, playchess.com, 2018) 12.Qh5+ Rf7 13.Bxg5 c6 14.Nd2 Qc7 15.Nc4 a5 16.Nd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - WGMS, FICS, 2017) 10.Nc3 Rf8 (10...d6 11.Nd5 Nxe5 12.Qg3 Ng6 13.Bg5 Qd7 14.a4 Rf8 15.a5 Bc5 16.b4 Bd4 17.Rad1 Be5 18.f4 Bf6 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qc3 c6 21.Nxf6+ Rxf6 22.Qxf6 Qe7 23.Rxd6 Qxf6 24.Rxf6 Ke7 25.e5 Bd7 26.Rd1 Be6 27.f5 Nxe5 28.Rxe6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, Florida, 2019) 11.Qe2 Nxe5 12.Qh5+ Rf7 13.Bg5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest5463336, playchess.com, 2018

9.Qb3+ Kf8 

Black does not gain anything by first playing 9...d5, i.e. 10.exd6+ Kf8 11.dxe7+ Qxe7 12.Qf3+ Ke8 13.O-O Rf8 14.Qd3 Bd7 15.Nc3 c6 16.Be3 Bc7 17.Rfd1 Rf7 18.Qc4 Be6 19.Qd4 Bb6 20.Qd2 Rd8 21.Qe2 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Bxe3 23.Qxe3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Ahmad, sparkchess, 2025

10.O-O Ng6 

Or 10...d5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Bg5 c6 13.Rad1 Qd7 14.Bxe7+ Qxe7 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Nxd5 Qf7 17.Qa3+ 18.Nxb6 Black resigned, Wall, B - Guest6791785, playchess.com 2018

11.Kh1 Nxe5 12.Qg3 d6 13.f4 Ng6 14.Nc3 Qh4


As White builds his attack, Black offers to exchange Queens, even at the cost of a piece, to settle things down: 15.Qxh4 Nxh5 16.f5 Kf7 17.Bg5 Nxf5 18.exf5 Re8.

15.Qd3 Kf7 16.Nd5 Re8 17.Qc4 

17...Be6 

This pin looks effective, but it energizes White's next move. Black would have done better with 17...Kf8, even if his King was staying on the dangerous f-file. 

18.f5 Bxd5 

Unleashing the danger. There was still safety - and equality - in giving up the piece with 18...Kg8 19.fxe6 c6 20.Ne3 Ne5 21.Qb3 Qxe4

19.Qxd5+ 

The capture with check makes a difference.

19...Ke7 20.fxg6 Rf8 21.Bg5+ Black resigned




Friday, July 4, 2025

Happy Independence Day!

 


Happy Fourth of July!

Please celebrate the holiday safely.


(If you have a few extra minutes, you can check out this bit of creativity from 247games.com. Of course, 247 is all about games)


Thursday, July 3, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Not Going As Planned



Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, a 19th-century German military strategist, pointed out that "no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force." 

That goes for defense, as well as offense.

Like the following Jerome Gambit game.

Wall, Bill - Alwi

sparkchess. 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 

Another example of Black refusing (temporarily) to capture the pawn.

Bill castles (a good move to insert here) and waits.

6.O-O Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 

We have looked at this line before. See "Jerome Gambit: Trod These Roads Before".

9.Nc3 Be6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Qh4 


Black has an extra piece for a pawn, and is feeling aggressive.

12.Bd2 Nge7 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 Nd8 


Okay, things are not going as planned for the defender/counterattacker, but surely he is still better?

Stockfish 16.1 says no

15.Rae1 Nf7 16.Qb5 

The Queen is up to mischief.

16...b6 17.Bc3 a6 18.Qc4 Ra7 


It's a little thing, but does the Rook really belong there?

Black could have continued, instead, with 18...Nf5 19.Qxc7 Qd8 without worry.

19.Qe2 Nh6 20.g3 Black resigned


While you and I and Black were focused on the Queenside, Bill shows that the enemy Queen can no longer guard it's Knight on e7 and remain safe, at the same time.



 



Wednesday, July 2, 2025

How to Get an Advantage or to Win with JG (4.Bxf7+) against Maestri: the Collection of Practice (Part 6)

 


 How to Get an Advantage or to Win with

  JG (4.Bxf7+) against Maestri: 

 the Collection of Practice (Part 6)


                                          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. David - GM Andrew Tang (Checkmater47 - penguingim1, 1/4+0 ultra-bullet, Lichess.org, 2021, 0:1),

where after 

4...Kxf7 5.d4 Bxd4 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Ng5+ Kg6 8.c3 h6 9.cxd4 hxg5 10.f4 exf4 11.e5 d5 12.Qc2+ Ne4 13.Nd2 Bf5 14.Nxe4 Nxd4 15.Qd1 Bxe4 16.Bxf4 Qd7 17.Bg3 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qh3+ 19.Kf2 Rhf8+ 20.Ke1


White didn't resign and used his excellent chance in this terrible position to get a large advantage after Black's 20...Nf3+  - how annoying for Black! I think, GM Andrew Tang had, probably, enough strong idea (20...Rxf1+! 21.Kd2 Nf3+!?), but forgot about absence of moves 20...Rxf1+ 21.Kd2 on the board when playing ...Nd4-f3+. Thus, after 21.Rxf3 White had not only the advantage on the board, but also the time advantage and the psychological advantage.

Further, let's consider the key opening position from the game

Gergo Csikos - IM Andrew Tang (AncientAlien - penguingim1, 1/2+0 hyperbullet, Lichess.org, 2017, 0:1),

where after 

4...Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c3 Rf8 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Be7 9.d5 Kg8


White had here an equality (!) on the board, the large psychological advantage and not only it. Thus, it was much easier to find further strongest attacking moves for White, than strongest defensive responses for Black here: 10.dxc6! dxc6! 11.Qc2!. Thus, Black could find here the equality (11...Qe8! 12.Re1! Bg4!), but it was too difficult - almost impossible - for Black, in my opinion, to make it in a hyperbullet time control game without a time catastrophe.

                                            (to be continued)

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Not the Gutter, Again


Should White take time to grab the enemy b-pawn? Is the material worth the time or distraction?

It depends. In the following game, angelcamina says "No, thank you" and continues to work on winning the enemy King, instead.


angelcamina - bemol4ik

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qc4 Nf6 

Or 9...Qe7 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Qb4 as in angelcamina - adrenalin87, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023 (1-0, 52)

Stockfish 16.1's recommendation is the more aggressive 9...Qg5 10.Rg1 Nh4.

10.O-O 

Or 10.Nc3 c6 (10...Qe7 11.d3 Be6 12.Qb4 b6 13.O-O a5 14.Qb5 Kf7 15.f4 Bd7 16.Qh5 Nxh5 17.f5 Ne5 18.d4 Nc4 19.b3 Qh4 20.bxc4 Rhf8 21.Nd5 Rac8 22.Rf3 Qd8 23.Rh3 Nf6 24.Bg5 Kg8 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Rf1 Kh8 27.Rf4 Bc6 28.Rfh4 Rf7 29.Nf4 Bxe4 30.Ng6+ Kg8 31.Nf4 Bxf5 32.Rg3+ Bg6 White resigned, angelcamina - aleb12000, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022) 11.d3 Qe7 12.O-O Be6 13.Qb4 Rb8 (13...a5 14.Qb6 Ra6 15.Qe3 Ng4 16.Qg3 h5 17.f4 Ke8 18.h3 Nf6 19.f5 Ne5 20.fxe6 h4 21.Qg6+ Kd8 22.Qf5 Kc7 23.Bf4 g6 24.Qg5 Rf8 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Qxe5+ Kb6 27.Na4+ Ka7 28.Qd4+ b6 29.c4 White won on time, angelcamina - Javier_Electrico, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023) 14. f4 Bd7 15. Bd2 Ke8 16. Rae1 c5 17. Qa5 a6 18. e5 dxe5 19. fxe5 Ng4 20. e6 Bc6 21. h3 N4e5 22. Bg5 Qd6 23. e7 Nxe7 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25. d4 Black resigned, angelcamina - oldmasterimmortal, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022

10...Qe7 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Qb4 

12...c6 

Alternately, 12...Kf7 13.f4 Bd7 14.f5 Ne5 15.d4 Nc6 16.Qb3+ Ke8 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Nd5 Qf7 20.Nxc7+ Kd8 21.Qxf7 Kxc7 22.Qxf6 Raf8 23.Qh4 Nxd4 24.e5 dxe5 25.c3 Nc6 26.Rad1 Kb8 27.b4 Bc8 28.a4 b6 29.a5 b5 30.Qe4 Bb7 31.Rd7 Nxa5 32.Rxb7+ Nxb7 33.Qxe5+ Ka8 34.f6 Re8 35.f7 Rhg8 White resigned, angelcamina - joshuamanlangit34, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022

13.f4 Bd7 14.b3 

Resisting the temptation of pawn-grabbing, although 14.Qxb7 was playable. Perhaps he did not want to "sleep in the gutter"?

14...Bg4 

Protecting the b-pawn, but missing White's plan.

15.Ba3 Rd8 16.Qc4 Nd7

17.h3 Bh5 18.g4 

Going after the Bishop. Also possible was further attack on the d-pawn with 18.e5

18...Bxg4 19.hxg4 Qh4


Black's Queen looks aggressive, but White attacks first.

20.Bxd6+ Ke8 21.Qe6+ Ne7 22.g5 


Cutting off the Queen from defense of e7.

Black's Queen hopes to check its way to a draw, but a slip decides things.

22...Qg3+ 23.Kh1 Qh3+ 24.Qxh3 Nf5 25.Qxf5 Black resigned




Monday, June 30, 2025

Jerome Gambit: Wikipedia



As a companion post to the previous one (see "Jerome Gambit: I Suppose That It Had to Happen Eventually"), I checked, and found that Wikipedia still has its article on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), including the reference



IM Gary Lane's articles have comments about the Jerome Gambit. His "Opening Lanes" were always worth a look.

It is important to note that the Wikipedia article is a look at early history of Jerome gambit - the end of the 19th century. Theory and practice have advanced quite a bit, this blog being one example.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Jerome Gambit: I Suppose That It Had to Happen, Eventually



I suppose that it had to happen, eventually.

To keep up with things Jerome, I set up a Google Alert for "Jerome Gambit". It has linked me to games, videos and articles.

Most recently, it has linked me to this blog.

What goes around, comes around, I guess.


Kennedy - The Jerome Gambit
The Jerome Gambit
I've been researching Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's gambit since 2001. I am always interested in receiving games and analysis: as old as 1874, when the ...

Wincor - The Jerome Gambit
The Jerome Gambit
I am always interested in receiving games and analysis: as old as 1874, when the opening first was published, or as recent as today -- casual or ...