Jerome Gambit: Amusement

From the pages of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, June 18, 1881

A letter received from Mr. A. W. Jerome calls attention to the fact that he does not claim the Jerome Gambit to be analytically sound, but only that over the board it is sound enough to afforda vast amount of amusement.

Sometimes, White is amused. Sometimes, Black is.

There is a lesson there, somewhere.


DeathStroke97 - lunareclipse777
15 10 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

Black's move is strong - if he knows some of the refutations of the Jerome.

Black's move is weak - if he is merely trying to hold onto all of the sacrificed material.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 

Often Black plays 8...Qf6. Is the text move, instead, just an annoying check before the Queen moves to f6? Or - is there something more?

9.g3 Nf3+

Wow.

This move goes back to a fictional game presented in the American Chess Magazine, June, 1899, which lampooned the recent introduction of chess-by-telephone.

Such a move is also a strong indication the Black knows something about the Jerome Gambit, and has decided to launch a strong counter-attack. The line is complicated - The Database shows White winning 29 games, losing 21, and drawing 3 - but "objectively" dangerous for the first player.

10.Ke2 

White needed to play 10.Kf1, or at least 10.Kd1. It is not enough to rely upon his first impression that the Queens will be exchanged.

10...Nd4+

White resigned


After 11.Kd1 Nxf5 12.gxh4 Nxh4 it is true that the Queens have come off of the board - but Black remains 2 pieces ahead.

And then, what?

In the following game, Bill Wall's opponent plays one of the I-don't-know-how-many refutations of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Then, it is as if he looked up in surprise, wondering What? Are you still here?

Wall,B - Marani,G
Chess.com, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

This check is the start of a rather nasty refutation of the Jerome, involving a Queen sacrifice and all sorts of tactics. Luckily for the Gemeinde, it is largely unknown outside of this blog.

The earliest example I have seen was in a humorously annotated game of "telephone chess" in the American Chess Magazine of June, 1899.

It should be noted that ...Qf6, without the check on White's King, was suggested by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in his first article on the gambit, "New Chess Opening" in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal.

9.g3 Qf6

Continuing in the funny vein, the first example I have seen of this Queen retreat was in a game played by a computer against Jack Young (of "Bozo's Chess Emporium" fame), mentioned in his "Meet Jerome" article in Randspringer #6, 1990 - 1991. It "defused the attack."

10.Qh5 g6

I can imagine Black looking up and saying, to White and his Queen, "Are you still here? Begone!" 

11.Qe2

The Queen retreats, properly admonished.

It turns out that Black must lose a piece, anyhow. He decides to do so by tip-toeing his King away.

11...Ke7 12.fxe5 Qxe5 13.c3 Qe6 14.d4 Bb6

White has only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, but he has some compensation in Black's unsafe King and lagging development, as well as in White's pawn center.

If Black is feeling annoyed, that would be compensation, too.

15.Bg5+ Ke8 16.0-0 h6 17.Qf2

Here is another indication that things are not going as Black has planned. The Bishop does not have to retreat, as White is threatening 18.Qf8 mate.

17...Ne7 18.Bxh6 d5

The Bishop can not be captured for the same reason.

19.Nd2 dxe4

Of course, 19...Rxh6 loses the Rook to 20.Qf8+ Kd7 21.Qxh6.

It turns out that Black's only chance to hold onto his edge in the game was 19...Qg8, not the easiest move to find.

20.Nxe4!

It is great to be able to play this kind of move.

20.Qxe4?? 21.Qf7+ Kd7 22.Rae1 Qd5 23.Rxe7+ Kc6 24.Rf6+ Kb5 25.Qxd5+ Ka6 26.Qc4+ Ka5 27.Qb4+ Ka6 28.Qa4 checkmate

Repairing a Variation (Part 2)

It is helpful to look at some early play in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) to develop a feel for the line that needs repairing (see "Repairing a Variation (Part 1)" ). The first example in my database of a game with 8...Qh4+ is an imaginary game presented in the June 1899 issue of the American Chess Magazine. In an article titled "A CHESS SCRAP" by "R.F." it is supposedly an early example of chess-by-telephone – filled with all of the difficulties that came from using a then new and unproven technology. "R.F." - "Nibs" telephone chess, 1899 "HULLO! Is this Nibs? I move 1.e4 --yes, I get you - 1...e5 now 2.Nf3 Black 2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 NOW 4.Bxf7+

"HULLO! Centr-r-r--what's up? YOU'RE not referee! -- pre-ee-kwu-ror-bing!!! "YES, I get you - Black 4...Kxf7 now 5.Nxe5+ --yes, I mean it --What opening? you'll see -- it's the END I'm after -- a variation on the Spanish -- fire away! 5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 all right -- "You want 1/3 OFF! Who are YOU?--Hullo--I'm not talking to Drex-irrwhixzyvilling--SAY, CENT, you've cut us off; what ails you?--Give me 725 38-- "Now, Nibs - 7.Qf5+ Kd6 I thought so -- this game adjourned till we check, Central. 8.f4 "NO, O-O -- WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET!! Hold the wire, what, your 8th? 8...Qh4+ ? Regular El Caney move -- "SPELL-ELL it - groorumbrkyxgz -- HBLLULLOOA YOU mind your biz! Send your manager to the wire - whyer-er-ert-r-roontoonmuling--Is this Central? Well, I've sent to a pay station to ring up your manager -- WHO HAS? I, I, myself, have, give me 725 38 -- You, Nibs? 9.g3 Nf3+ "Hang this-- match--You'll hang it up very soon now! 10.Kd1 Ne7 yes, not quite through- 11.e5+ Kd5 that can't draw you out, see? 12.Qd3+ check--your 8th move cooked your defence--goodbye, Central, you've mated him."

A few comments:

Fortunately, telephone service is far improved today, especially with the absence of an interrupting Central operator.

The American Chess Magazine article did not say if this "game" was based on a real game or someone's analysis.

The "El Caney" reference was to a July 1898 battle during the Spanish-American War, when 500 Spanish soldiers withstood the attack of 8,000 American soldiers for 12 hours. It is odd that the author attributes this to a Black move, as it is clear from diagram three that the second player in the game had more "troops" in the field.

The final comment – "you've mated him" – was incorrect. However, after 12...Nd4 White can play 13.gxh4, winning the enemy Queen, with a significant advantage.

Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter II

When the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit thematic tournament started, I was faced with 18 games to be played at the same time.

I'll present them in the order they finished -- some ended much earlier than others.

Realize, too, that playing over these games may cause serious injury to your funny bone. You may laugh until your sides ache, or snicker until your family and friends begin to worry about you.

That's ok -- we did, too. Remember: these are amateurs vs. amateurs. This is Edward Lasker's Chess for Fun (with the occasional Chess for Blood thrown in). 

perrypawnpusher - drewbear JG3 thematic www.chessworld.net, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 

An interesting line that I refer to as "Nib's Defense," which made its first appearance in the American Chess Magazine of June 1899 in a comical article lampooning a new pastime, chess by phone. 

In a constructed game the author, "R.F.," overcame continued line noises and interruptions to use the Jerome Gambit to defeat "Nibs" in a dozen moves -- erroneously claiming checkmate, by the way. 

It was not until the internet game abhailey - peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008, that it was realized that Black had a Queen sacrifice that won brutally: 9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Ne7 11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Nd5 14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4+ b5 16.Qa6+ Nb6 17.c4 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Rhe8+ 19.Kf2 Nf5+ 20.Kf1 Bh3 mate

9.Kd1

I had prepared this "Theoretical Novelty" based on my study of the game Jerome - D.P. Norton, correspondence, 1876, a line of analysis of which our game would transpose to after 9...Nf3+ 10.gf Qf2. The annotator of that game suggested that now "black has the better position" – but I knew different.

9...Qg4+

Yeow! That was no TN – that was a "TL", a "Theoretical Lemon"!

10.Ke1 Qxf5

And White will be now down two pieces for two pawns, with Queens off of the board and no counterplay.

11.Resigns

What a start to the tournament!
Congratulations to drewbear for driving a large truck through the hole in my analysis.
By the way, I must publicly apologize to blackburne, who copied my TL in the same tournament – against drewbear, as well – and went down in flames. True to his fighting spirit, though, he stayed at the board longer than I did: 10.Qxg4 Nxg4 11.e5+ Ke6 12.Rf1 Nxh2 13.f5+ Kxe5 14.d4+ Bxd4 15.Bf4+ Kxf5 16.Bxh2+ Ke6 17.Bxc7 Bxb2 18.Re1+ Kf7 19.Be5 Bxa1 20.Bxa1 Nf6 21.Rf1 Re8 22.Nc3 Kg8 23.Nb5 Rb8 24.Nd6 Re6 25.Nf5 d5 26.g4 Re4 27.g5 Bxf5 28.gxf6 Bg4+ 29.Kd2 g6 30.f7+ Kf8 31.Rh1 h5 32.Rf1 Be6 33.Bc3 Bxf7 34.Kd3 Rbe8 35.Kd2 d4 36.Bb4+ Kg8 37.a3 Bc4 38.Rg1 Kh7 39.Rg3 Rg4 40.Rf3 Re2+ 41.Kc1 Rgg2 42.Rf7+ Bxf7 0–1
Two other players followed up against me (and against nobody else, except blackburne, above) with His Nib's Defense, perhaps hoping to repeat drewbear's success. Those games will be covered in later chapters.