Jerome Gambit: Unfinished Symphony (Part 1)

The following game, my most recent Jerome Gambit from an ongoing Chess.com tournament, was an adventure from start to finish. The adventure was shorter than I expected, however. It is filled out with related games played at a number of different online sites, all from The Database.

perrypawnpusher - Nivaethan2000
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.f4

This is a popular line, but it is the first time that I have played it. I have preferred 7.Qf5+, and am something like 59 - 10 with the move. That's a score of almost 86% - why take the risk of something new? As I mentioned in a previous post, I need to keep learning about the Jerome Gambit.

White's King is going to be insecure for a while, and if he castles, it will be Queenside.

7...Qf6 8.Rf1 g6

This pawn kick is understandable, but Knight moves also have been played.

For example, 8... Ne7 was seen in Wall,B - Asterisk engine, Palm Bay, FL, 2015 (1-0, 39).

Also 8...Nh6 9.Nc3 c6 10.fxe5 Qxe5 11.Qh4 Rf8 12.Rxf8 Bxf8 13.d3 Bb4 14.Bd2 Qf6 15.Qh5 d6 16.Qe8+ Qe7 17.Qh8 g5 18.h4 g4 19.Bxh6 Bxc3+ 20.bxc3 Qxh4+ 21.Ke2 Kd7 22.Rf1 Kc7 23.Rf7+ Kb6 24.Qd4+ Ka6 25.Qa4+ Kb6 26.Be3+ c5 27.Qb3+ Kc6 28.Qd5+ Kb5 29.Rxb7+ Black resigned, tapirus - mrdenetop, Chess.com, 2011.

There was the creative 8...Nd3+ as in MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club 2011 (1-0, 29). 

9.Qh3+ Ke7

Again, this is not the only move (although it foreshadows the theme of play along the dark squares).

Examples of games with the novel way of returning the piece, 9...Ng4, are mrjoker - jmt, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (1-0, 29);  Wall,B - Guest3164644, PlayChess.com 2013 (1-0, 20); and Wall,B - Betarsolta, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 12). 

The imprudent 9...Kf7 was seen in Wall,B - Guest1690223, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 12).

The alternative 9...Kd6 has been met several ways: 

10.fxe5+ Qxe5 11.d3 (11.Nc3!?) Kc6 12.Nc3 d6 13.Qf3 Be6 14.Bf4 Qh5 15.g4 Bxg4 16.Qh1 Bb4 17.e5+ Kb6 18.Qg1+ Ka6 19.Qd4 Bxc3+ 20.bxc3 Nh6 21.Qa4+ Kb6 22.Rb1+ Black disconnected and forfeited, MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club, 2011; 

10.Qg3 Nf7 (best is 10...Nd3+) 11.e5+ Nxe5 12.Nc3 Ke6 13.Ne4 Nf3+ 14.Qxf3 Qh4+ 15.g3 Qe7 16.f5+ Kd5 17.Kd1 Qxe4 18.c4+ Ke5 19.Re1 d5 20.Rxe4+ dxe4 21.d4+ Bxd4 22.Qf4+ Kf6 23.fxg6+ Kxg6 24.Qg5+ Kf7 25.Qd5+ Be6 26.Qxd4 Nf6 27.Ke1 Rhf8 28.Qe5 Rac8 29.Bg5 Kg6 30.Bd2 Bf5 31.Qf4 e3 32.Bxe3 Rce8 33.Ke2 Bg4+ 34.Kd3 Rd8+ 35.Kc2 Bf5+ 36.Kb3 Rd3+ 37.Kb4 a5+ 38.Kxa5 b6+ 39.Kb4 c5+ 40.Kb5 Bd7+ 41.Kxb6 Nd5+ 42.cxd5 Rxf4 43.Bxf4 Rxd5 44.Rc1 Be6 45.b3 Kf5 46.Kc6 Kf6 47.Rc2 Rf5 48.Bc1 Bd5+ 49.Kd6 Ba8 50.Bb2+ Kg6 51.Be5 Rf8 52.Rxc5 Rf2 53.a4 Rxh2 54.b4 Ra2 55.a5 Bh1 56.Bc3 Rg2 57.b5 Rxg3 58.b6 Rd3+ 59.Kc7 Re3 60.a6 Re7+ 61.Kd6 Rf7 62.Rc6 Black resigned, Zappa 1.1 - Deep Fritz 8, Blitz:5, 2006.

10.b4!? Nf3+ (if 10...Bxb4 11.Qb3; best is 10...Bd4) 11.Qxf3 Qxa1 12.bxc5+ Ke7 13.Qb3 Nf6 14.Bb2 Qxb1+ 15.Ke2 Qxf1+ 16.Kxf1 Rf8 17.Qg3 Ke8 18.f5 Rf7 19.Qe5+ Kf8 20.Qxc7 Ne8 21.Qe5 gxf5 22.exf5 b6 23.Ba3 d6 24.Qh8+ Ke7 25.cxd6+ Kd8 26.g4 Be6 27.Ke1 Bxa2 28.Qa1 Bd5 29.Qd4 Bh1 30.Qc4 Rd7 31.Qg8 a6 32.g5 a5 33.c4 Rg7 34.Qe6 Raa7 35.d7 Raxd7 36.Qxb6+ Kc8 37.f6 Rgf7 38.Qxa5 Nc7 39.Qe5 Bb7 40.d4 Bg2 41.Kf2 Bc6 42.d5 Bxd5 43.cxd5 Rxd5 44.Qf4 Rdd7 45.Bb4 Kb7 46.Qc4 Nd5 47.Qb5+ Kc7 48.Bc5 Kc8 49.Qa6+ Kb8 50.Bd6+ Nc7 51.h3 Rd8 52.Qb5+ Kc8 53.Bxc7 Rxc7 54.Qf5+ Kb7 55.f7 Rcc8 56.Qxh7 Kc6 57.Qe4+ Kd6 58.Qd4+ Kc7 59.Qf4+ Black resigned, Junior 7 - Fritz 7, Utrecht, 2002; 

10.Nc3 (best) Kc6 11.Nd5 d6 12.Qg3 Qe6 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.Qxe5 dxe5 15.b4 Bd6 16.Bb2 Ne7 17.c4 b6 18.Rc1 Nxd5 19.exd5+ Kd7 20.c5 bxc5 21.bxc5 Be7 22.Bxe5 Rf8 23.c6+ Kd8 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Rc3 Be7 26.Re3 h5 27.Bxc7+ Kxc7 28.Rxe7+ Kd6 29.Re8 Kxd5 30.Rg8 Bb7 31.Rxg6 Re8+ 32.Kf2 Bxc6 33.Rh6 Re5 34.d4 Rf5+ 35.Ke3 Rg5 36.g3 a5 37.a3 Bb5 38.Rh7 Kc4 39.Rf7 Kb3 40.Kf4 Rd5 41.Ke4 Be8 42.Kxd5 Bxf7+ 43.Ke5 Kxa3 44.d5 a4 45.d6 Be8 46.Kf6 Kb4 47.Ke7 Bb5 48.d7 Bxd7 49.Kxd7 a3 50.Ke6 a2 51.Kf5 a1=Q 52.Kg5 Qe5+ 53.Kh4 White resigned, DrunkenMaster 1.2 - Comet B48, Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009

10.Nc3 

A little bit better might be 10.fxe5 Qxe5 although it did not make a difference in GeniusPawn - jmchess, FICS, 2000 which continued with 11.Nc3, anyway: 11...Nf6 12.d4 Bxd4 13.Bf4 Bxc3+ 14.bxc3 Qxe4+ 15.Kd1 d6 16.Qh4 Kf7 17.Kc1 Bf5 18.Qf2 Qc4 19.Rb1 Ne4 20.Qe3 Qxf1+ 21.Kb2 Qxg2 22.Bh6 Qxh2 23.Ka1 Qxc2 24.Rc1 Qa4 25.Qd3 Rae8 26.Qd5+ Be6 27.Rf1+ Ke7 28.Bg5+ Kd7 29.Rf7+ Kc8 White resigned.

The question is, can Black respond to 10.Nc3 by making the White capture of the Knight on e5 more difficult, if not impossible? The answer, as we shall see, is both yes and no

[to be continued]

Irrational

The idea of playing the Jerome Gambit against a computer chess engine seems almost as irrational as the Jerome Gambit itself. How is it possible to give the silicon beast a couple of pieces and expect to survive? One doesn't give the computer "Jerome Gambit odds"!

Still, four years ago, I noted on this blog

It was not long after I began looking into the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that I noticed one chess match kept turning up in the databases: in 1993, between the human Micah Fischer-Kirshner and the chess-playing program KnightStalker, an early version of Fritz. As luck would have it, I was able to interview Micah about his experience for this blog. 

The Jerome Gambit seemed a natural for matches, especially ones involving computers. Jeroen_61 of the Netherlands ran one with Hiarcs, Junior 7, Shredder Paderdorn (6.02) and Fritz 7. 

I tried a few myself, notably a Fritz8 vs Fritz5 encounter and a Delphi vs Wealk Delphi contest. Each attempt had its shortcomings. (Perhaps you read about them here.) 

The mysterious "perfesser" played an introductory 4-game match with the Talking LCD Chess Gadget. Like the Jerome Gambit itself, it was good for some chuckles. 

Topping all efforts so far, "RevvedUp" and his trusted companions Hiarcs 8, Shredder 8, Yace Paderborn, Crafty 19.19 and Fritz 8 explored the Jerome Gambit in a 30-game encounter. It was simply war.

There is also the earlier summary of Randy Tipton's computer vs computer games, and the more recent adventures of "Ionman vs the Bots".

So, when I noticed that the new group of Bill Wall games had some of him playing the Jerome Gambit against some engines, I had to check them out.

The following game is very interesting. The human's flurry of tactics to finish off the game is impressive. 

Wall, Bill - Abrok chess engine
Palm Bay, Florida, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6

A mild surprise. Computers tend to delight in "the annoying defense" 7...d6.

8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+

Bill has a couple of cautions here: 9.fxe5? Qxf1+ 10.Kxf1 gxh5 and 9.Qd1? Qh4+ 10.g3 Qxh2 11.fxe5 Qxg3+ 12.Rf2 Qxf2 checkmate.

9...Ke7

Bill has been here before:

9...Ng4 10.Qxg4+ Ke7 11.Nc3 d5 (11...d6 12.Nd5+ Kd8 13.Nxf6 Bxg4 14.Nxg4 h5 15.Nf2 Kd7 16.Nh3 Re8 17.d3 Nf6 18.Ng5 Ng4 19.h3 Nh2 20.Rh1 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest3164644, PlayChess.com, 2013) 12.Nxd5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Betarsolta, PlayChess.com, 2015; also

9...Kf7 10.fxe5 Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d6 12.Qc3 Black resigned, Wall,B  - Guest1690223, PlayChess.com, 2012; and

9...Ke7 10.Nc3 c6 d6 (10...c6 11.fxe5 Qxe5 12.d3 Nf6 13.Qh4 Bd4 14.Bg5 Bxc3+ 15.bxc3 Qxc3+ 16.Ke2 Qxc2+ 17.Bd2 Qb2 18.Rxf6 Qxf6 19.Bg5 Rf8 20.Bxf6+ Rxf6 21.e5 Black resigned, Wall,B - XCCY, FICS, 2011) 11.Nd5+ Kd8 12.Qg3 Qe6 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.d4 Ne7 15.dxc5 Nxd5 16.Bg5+ Ke8 17.exd5 Qxd5 18.Rf2 Be6 19.Rd2 Qxc5 20.0-0-0 Rf8 21.Qh4 h5 22.Bh6 Rf5 23.Rd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8+ Kf7 25.Rf8+ Qxf8 26.Bxf8 Kxf8 27.Qd8+ Kg7 28.Qxc7+ Kh6 29.h4 Rf1+ 30.Kd2 Rf2+ 31.Ke3 Rf5 32.Qd8 a6 33.Qh8 checkmate, Wall,B - Aburasian, Chess.com, 2010. 

10.Nc3 Kd8 

This is a small slip.

It must be noted that in a Jerome Gambit computer vs computer tournament over a decade ago, Hiarcs 9 chose 10...Kd8 three times:

Junior 7 - Hiarcs 9
Jerome Gambit, The Jeroen Experience, 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.Nc3 Kd8 11.fxe5 (11.Nd5 d6 12.Qc3 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qxh2 14.fxe5 Bg4 15.Qd3 Ne7 16.Nf4 Nc6 17.Ne6+ Bxe6 18.exd6 Ne5 19.Qe2 Qxg3+ White resigned, Fritz 8 - Hiarcs 9, The Jeroen Experience, 2003) 11...Qxe5 12.d4 (12.d3 Bb4 13.Qh4+ Ne7 14.Bd2 d5 15.0-0-0 d4 16.Bf4 Qe6 17.Nd5 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Rf6 Qe5 20.Nxe7 g5 21.Qh6 Qxe7 22.Rxd6+ Bd7 23.Rxd4 Kc7 24.Rc4+ Bc6 25.Qh3 b5 26.Rc3 Kb7 27.d4 Bxe4 28.Re1 Rad8 29.Qd3 Rhe8 30.Qxb5+ Ka8 31.Rce3 Qd6 32.Rxe4 Rxe4 33.Rxe4 Qxh2 34.Qf1 h5 35.c3 g4 36.Qe2 Rc8 37.Re8 Rxe8 38.Qxe8+ Kb7 39.Qe4+ Kb6 40.c4 Qg1+ 41.Kd2 Qf2+ 42.Kc3 Qg3+ 43.Kb4 Qf2 44.Qe6+ Kc7 45.Qe7+ Kc8 46.Kc5 Qxb2 47.Qe8+ Kc7 48.Qc6+ Kb8 49.a4 Qb6+ 50.Qxb6+ axb6+ 51.Kd5 h4 52.Ke4 Kc7 53.Kf4 h3 54.gxh3 gxh3 55.Kg3 h2 56.Kxh2 Kd7 57.Kg3 Kc7 58.Kf4 Kc6 59.Ke5 Kc7 60.Ke6 Kb7 61.d5 Kc8 62.Ke7 Kc7 63.d6+ Black resigned, Fritz 5.32 - Hiarcs 9, The Jeroen Experience, 2003) 12...Bxd4 13.Rf8+ Ke7 14.Qf3 g5 15.Rf5 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qg7 17.Rxg5 Qf6 18.Bf4 d6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qe3 h6 21.Bxe5 Qxg5 22.Bf4+ Kf7 23.Bxg5 hxg5 24.Qxg5 Nf6 25.0-0-0 Rh5 26.Qf4 Rc5 27.Rf1 Rf5 28.Qxc7+ Kg6 29.Re1 b6 30.h4 Rc5 31.Qg3+ Kf7 32.Qd6 Bg4 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Qd3+ Rf5 35.c4 Rh8 36.Qg3 Rc5 37.Re6 Kg7 38.Rxf6 Kxf6 39.Qxg4 Rhc8 40.Qd4+ Ke6 41.Qe4+ Kf6 42.Qf3+ Ke6 43.g4 Rxc4 44.Qf5+ Ke7 45.g5 R4c5 46.Qe4+ Kd6 47.Kb2 b5 48.g6 Rc4 49.Qf5 R4c5 50.Qf6+ Kd7 51.g7 Rxc2+ 52.Kb3 R2c4 53.g8R Rxg8 54.Qf7+ Kd6 55.Qxg8 a6 56.Qxc4 bxc4+ 57.Kxc4 Ke5 58.Kb4 Kf4 59.a4 Kg4 60.Ka5 Kxh4 61.Kxa6 Kg3 62.Kb5 Kf4 63.a5 Ke5 64.a6 Kd6 65.a7 Ke5 66.Kc5 Ke4 67.a8Q+ Ke3 68.Qd5 Ke2 69.Kd4 Kf2 70.Qe4 Kf1 71.Ke3 Kg1 72.Kf3 Kh1 73.Qc2 Kg1 74.Qg2 checkmate

11.fxe5 Qxe5

This mistake costs the game. Black had to overprotect f8 with 11...Qg7.

12.d4 

The move that the computer either overlooked or incorrectly evaluated.

12...Bxd4 13.Rf8+ Ke7 14.Qf3 Qc5 15.Nd5+ Kd6 16.c3 Bg7 17.Be3 Qc4 

18.e5+ 

If the computer could groan, it would.

18...Bxe5 19.Rd1 Bg7 20.Nb6+ Black resigned