My first win with the Jerome Gambit, in the second round of the "Italian Game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, was a bit of a journey through the opening's history. An unfortunate slip by my opponent allowed me a tactical shot that brought the game to an early conclusion. perrypawnpusher - PDX84 Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2019 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
Black courageously thinks of holding onto both sacrificed pieces. The compter chess analysis at Chess.com, after the game, identified the move as "best". 7.Qf5+ Alonzo Wheeler Jerome first suggested this move in the April 4, 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal. He also played 7.f4 and 7.O-O in correspondence games against S.A. Charles, and suggested 7.b4 "for analysis"; this was covered in the October, 1881 issue of Brentano's Chess Monthly. A check of The Database shows 507 games with 7.Qf5+, with White scoring 48%, as opposed to 517 games with 7.f4, with White scoring 61%. There are no games with 7.b4. 7...Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3
Instead, in the post mortem, Komodo 10 recommended the brutal 14...Bd6, with the idea of forcing exchanges to eliminate White's attacking chances and highlight Black's piece-for-a-pawn advantage, e.g. 15.g3 c6 16.Bf4 Bc5+ 17.Kg2 Qh5 18.Na4 Qxf3+ 19.Rxf3 d6 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.Raf1 Bg4 22.R3f2 Be6
15.Nd5+ Black resigned White will recover his sacrificed piece. He will be a pawn up, with better development and King safety. Black decided not to play on.
Whew. I just finished another Jerome Gambit game in the third round of the Giuoco Piano Thematic tournament at Chess.com, It was not pretty at all. You could say that I was losing - up until my opponent resigned. Of course, that is the "objective" evaluation of the Jerome, anyhow. Yeah. perrypawnpusher - IlToscano Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
12.c3 Bb6 13.Bf4 Qh5 14.Nd2 I was not pleased to see the Queens leave the board, but I didn't have a better idea. 14...Qxf3 15.Nxf3 d6
I added all of the game links above to show that I was supposed to be familiar with this line, and therefore supposed to know what I was doing against IlToscano. Yet, he has done very well, and the one pawn that I have for my sacrificed Bishop is clearly inadequate compensation. I decided that I should again do what far better players than me have done in similar Jerome Gambit situations - abandon the "attack at all costs" idea, and let my opponent, who has the advantage, do the attacking. If he was not going to slip up when defending, perhaps he might err when atacking? Psychology is always a part of Jerome play.
While I am still a bit surprised that I overlooked posting one Jerome Gambit loss from my ongoing Chess.com tournament (see the previous "Jerome Gambit: Very Serious Business") the fact that I also did not share the following game is less of a mystery: I got outplayed in a line that I really don't have a fix for. If an opponent in the tournament wanted to look up the game, that was one thing; but I was not ready to share my gloom and doom (and ideas) on this blog, as a "suggestion" of what to play. (As I have written before, I share a whole lot, but not everything here.) perrypawnpusher - Altotemmi Giuoco Piano Thematic Tournament Chess.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+ I have scored 11 -1 with the alternative 10.Qf3. Alonzo Wheeler Jerome was 3 - 2 with one incomplete game. 10...Kxe5
Prudent. The risks of 13...Kxe4were shown in perrypawnpusher - djdave28, Italian Game tourney, Chess.com, 2015(1-0, 32). White will have to work hard to make something of his position, or he will find himself missing the power of his Queen. As the game went, I was outplayed by my opponent. 14.O-O Nf6 15.Nd2 d6 16.Bb2 Bd7 17.Rae1 Be8
White has two pawns for his sacrificed piece, and perhaps that might be enough to split the point against a weaker opponent, or in a blitz game; but not in this game. 28.Kf2 Kd7 29.Ke3 Ke6 30.c4 Nd6 31.d5+ Kd7 32.Kd4 Nf5+ 33.Ke5 Ne3 34.Kd4 Nxg2
35.c5 Instead, Stockfish 7 after the game recommended 35.Bc1 Bb1 36.a4 Nh4 37.c5 Nf5+ 38.Ke5 bxc5 39.bxc5 Ne7 40.Bg5 Ba2 41.Bxe7 Kxe7 42.a5 Bc4 43.Kd4 Bf1 44.Ke5 Kd7 45.Kd4 Be2 46.Ke3 Bc4 47.Kd4 Bf1 48.Ke5 Ba6 49.Kd4 Ke7 50.Ke5 Be2 and although Black still has the advantage, it does not look like either player is making any progress. 35...b5 36.Bc1 Nh4 37.Bf4 Nf5+ 38.Ke5 Ne7 39.a3 Bf7
40.d6 After the game Stockfish 7 took issue with this, suggesting a line that is not quite so much better for Black: 40.c6+ bxc6 41.dxc6+ Kxc6 42.Ke4 Bg6+ 43.Ke5 Nc8 44.Kd4 Nd6 45.Bg5 Bb1 46.Bd8 Ne4 47.Ke3 Kd7 48.Bh4 Nd6 49.Kd2 Kc6 50.Bd8 Nf7 51.Bh4 Bg6 52.Kc3 Kd5 53.Kb3 Nd6 54.Kc3 Bf7 55.Bd8 c6 40...cxd6+ 41.cxd6 Nd5 42.Bd2 Nb6 43.Bc1 Nc4+ 44.Ke4 Kxd6 45.Kd4 Kc6 46.Ke4 Bg6+ 47.Kd4 Nd6 48.Bf4 Nc4 49.Bc1 h5 50.h4 b6 51.Kc3 Kd5 White resigned
Whew! I am reminded of the silly phrase "trampled to death by a herd of turtles." Nice work by my opponent!
Add another win - and a loss - to my score in the ongoing Chess.com Giuoco Piano tournament (see "In Search of Eine Schach-Blindenhund...") and it is clear, once again, that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a fun and effective "surprise weapon", but can be a bit of a struggle with someone who does not rattle easily. In fact, my 51-move loss to Altotemmi (he crushed me with an Evans Gambit, too, and leads the tournament at this point) will require some re-tooling of a particular opening variation... (I am already working on it.) In the meantime, another critical line in an important game has got me thinking overtime as well. Who knew that the Jerome Gambit could be as challenging as a "real" chess opening?
