?????
Here we have another Jerome Gambit game by Bill Wall, where he experiments and stretches the boundaries of the opening even further.
What to say of his 5th move? Well, in his notes he gives it a "?" - but that may be because he scored only a draw with it.
Still, that is another argument that in the Jerome Gambit, "having said A, one must say B", that is, having played 4.Bxf7+, one must play 5.Nxe5+.
On the other hand, so many players still essay the "modern" Jerome Gambit variations...
Wall, Bill - Guest709058
PlayChess.com, 2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Qe2
The culprit.
5...d6
Bill has also faced 5...Nf6 6.Qc4+ d5 7.Qxc5 Qd6 (7...dxe4 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Re8 10.Qb5 Qd4 11.O-O c6 12.Qb3+ Nd5 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Qxb7+ Ne7 15.Re1 Bd5 16.b3 Kg8 17.Bb2 Rf8 18.Qxe7 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.Qg5 e3 21.Nxd5 exd2 22.Qxg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Asesino, Chess.com, 2010) 8.Qxd6 cxd6 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d3 Bg4 11.Ng5+ Kg6 12.Ne4 Rad8 13.f3 Bf5 14.Bd2 Rhe8 15.h4 Bxe4 16.dxe4 Ndb4 17.Kd1 Rc8 18.Nc3 Nd4 19.Rc1 Nbc6 20.h5+ Kf6 21.Be3 Red8 22.Kd2 d5 23.Nxd5+ Ke6 24.h6 g6 25.c3 Nb5 26.c4 Nbd4 27.b4 a6 28.Rhd1 Ne7 29.Bg5 Rd7 30.Nxe7 Rxe7 31.Bxe7 Kxe7 32.Ke3 Rd8 33.c5 Nc6 34.Rxd8 Kxd8 35.Rd1+ Ke7 36.Rd6 Nxb4 37.Rb6 Nxa2 38.Rxb7+ Ke6 39.Rxh7 Nb4 40.Ra7 Kf6 41.h7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest933324, PlayChess.com, 2018.
6.O-O Nd4 7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.d3 Nf6 9.h3 Rf8 10.Nd2 Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand and his position looks rock solid. White will have to work hard to get the game back in his favor.
11. c3 Bb6 12. a4 a6 13. b4 Be6 14. a5 Ba7 15.Nf3 Qd7
16.Ng5 h6 17.Nxe6 Qxe6 18.Bd2 Rf7 19.c4 Bd4 20.Rab1 Raf8
Black is ready to attack.
White defends - but he also distracts. His resources will draw upon the psychological.
21.Be1 g5 22.Kh2 Ne8 23.f3 Ng7 24.Bf2 Bxf2 25.Qxf2 Nh5 26.b5 Nf4 27.Qa7 axb5 28.Qxb7 bxc4 29.dxc4 Qxc4 30.Rg1 c5
White fights on.
31.Qc6 Qe6 32.Rb6 Nxh3
Somewhat impatient (but playable) - why won't White give up??
33.gxh3 Rxf3 34.Qd5 Qxd5
Exchanging Queens should take the starch out of White's resistance, Black figures. Bill points out that 34...Rxh3 was stronger - but he wasn't under the pressure to "win a won game", as his opponent was; he was simply "losing a lost game", and that is easier (sometimes).
35.exd5
35...R8f6
And, suddenly, weirdly, the game is drawn, as both players realize. It's not just the "all Rook endings are drawn" situation, White's passed a-pawn is a danger, and it will cost too much to sideline it.
36.Ra1 Rf2+ 37.Kg1 R2f3 38.a6 Rg3+ 39.Kh2 Rff3 40.Rb8+ Kg7 41.Rb7+ Kg6 42.a7 Rxh3+ 43.Kg2 drawn
A major shortfall of declining the Jerome Gambit is that Black passes up a "won" game for one in which he has a clear disadvantage - a pawn down, a King who cannot castle.
A minor shortfall, as the following game illustrates, is that White can play his game, move-after-move, without having to take a lot of chances, or even having to put a lot of thought into his move choices.
Wall, Bill - Guest1064582
PlayChess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+
4...Kf8
The Database has 278 games, with this position. Curiously enough, despite his advantage, White scores only 55%. Still, this is better than the 45% that White scores in the Jerome Gambit accepted line. (Please remember that The Database largely reflects the actions of online club players.)
Bill has also faced 4...Ke7 in the eyeblink 5...Bxg8 Rxg8 6.d4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest2877685, PlayChess.com, 2015. (The Database 42 games with this form of declining, with White scoring 73%)
5.Bd5
Bill has also played:
5.Bxg8 Kxg8 6.O-O Qf6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.d4 exd4 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.Bxe7 Bxe7 11.Nd5 Bd6 12.e5 c6 13.exd6 cxd5 14.Re1 Qxd6 15.Re8+ Kf7 16.Rxh8 Black resigned,Wall,B - Guest558953, PlayChess.com, 2017;
5.Bc4 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Qf3+ Qf6 9.Rf1 Qxf3+ 10.Kxf3 Nf6 11.d3 Ke7 12.e5 Nh5 13.Bg5+ Nf6 14.exf6+ gxf6 15.Re1+ Kd6 16.Bf4+ Kc6 17.a4 d5 18.Bb5+ Kc5 19.Bxc7 a6 20.b4+ Kxb4 21.c3+ Kc5 22.cxd4+ Kb4 23.Bd6+ Ka5 24.Nc3 axb5 25.axb5+ Kb6 26.Bc5+ Kc7 27.Nxd5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1393049, PlayChess.com, 2013;
and 5.Qe2 (Bill has also played this move in the Jerome Gambit accepted: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qe2 Nf6 6.Qc4+ d5 7.Qxc5 dxe4 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Re8 10.Qb5 Qd4 11.O-O c6 12.Qb3+ Nd5 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Qxb7+ Ne7 15.Re1 Bd5 16.b3 Kg8 17.Bb2 Rf8 18.Qxe7 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.Qg5 e3 21.Nxd5 exd2 22.Qxg7 checkmate, Wall, Bill - Asesino, Chess.com, 2010) 5...Qf6 6.Bb3 Nd4 7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.O-O d6 9.c3 Bb6 10.d3 Ke7 11.d4 Nh6 12.dxe5 Qxe5 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Nd2 h5 15.Nc4 Bg4 16.Qd3 Qc5 17.e5 Raf8 18.exd6+ cxd6 19.Rae1+ Kd8 20.Nxd6 Kc7 21.Re7+ Kb8 22.Rxb7+ Ka8 23.Qe4 Rxf2 24.Rxb6+ Black resigned,Wall,B - Buster, Chess.com, 2011.
5...d6 6.Nc3 Bg4 7.d3 Qf6
8.Nb5 Rc8 9.Bg5 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qxf3 11.gxf3 h6 12.Be3 Nd4 13.Bxd4 exd4
14.Be6 Re8 15.Bxg8 Rxg8 16.Nxc7
White is now up two pawns. He doesn't have an attack on the enemy King, but he doesn't need one.
16...Re7 17.Nd5 Re6 18.f4
Even here, the "Jerome pawns" can be of help.
18...Rg6
Black goes after the open g-file, but it does not amount to anything.
19.Ke2 Kf7 20.f5 Rg4 21.Kf3 h5 22.h3 Rg5 23.h4 Rg4 24.Nf4
Black's advanced Rook is in danger after all that pawn dancing: if now 24...Rh8 to protect the h-pawn, then 25.Nxh5, anyway.
24...g6
Nothing is going to shore up the Kingside.
25.fxg6+ Ke7 26.Rag1 Rxf4+ 27.Kxf4 Rf8+ 28.Kg5 Black resigned
Readers of this blog may remember that in the 2009 ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, GladToMateYou played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qe2 fourteen times, winning eight of those games (see "Home Cooking").
Five of those games (GladToMateYou won four of them) continued with 5...Nf6, transposing to a Jerome Gambit / Two Knights Defense line that can arise from the play mentioned in yesterday's post: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qe2, which can be followed by 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Qc4+ and 7.Qxc5.
The earliest game that I have in my database with 4.Qe2 meeting the Two Knights is Bird - Chigorin, Sixth American Chess Congress, New York, 1889 (although the related 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2 probably goes all the way back to Ruy Lopez), about which Wilhelm Steinitz briefly wrote, in the tournament book, "Not as strong as the authorized move Ng5".
The earliest game in my database with 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ as mentioned previously (see "Adolf Albin Plays the Jerome Gambit (Part 1)" and "(Part 2)"), is Albin - Schlechter, Trebitsch Memorial Tournament, Vienna, 1914.
The line has surprise value, and, as NiceToMateYou showed, some practical use in club play, but Black has resources (if he can find them) in 6...Kxf7 7.Qc4+ d5! 8.Qxc5 Nxe4! when after 9.Qe3 Re8 Black is somewhat better, and White is scrambling for playable ideas.
Still, none of this dissuaded Bill Wall from playing and winning with the opening this year:
Wall,B - Asesino
Chess.com, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Qe2 Nf6 6.Qc4+ d5 7.Qxc5 dxe4
8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.Qxe5 Re8 10.Qb5 Qd4 11.0-0 c6 12.Qb3+ Nd5
White has already achieved an edge in the game.
13.Nc3 Be6 14.Qxb7+ Ne7 15.Re1 Bd5 16.b3 Kg8 17.Bb2 Rf8
For the illusion of an attack, Black surrenders a piece.
18.Qxe7 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Rae8 20.Qg5 e3 21.Nxd5 exd2 22.Qxg7 checkmate
