Sometimes Black is a bit too creative on defense. In the following game, he brings the Jerome Gambit down upon his head, and has only himself to blame.
Leicand - 9ersfan
1 day / move, ChessTime, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
The Petroff Defense.
3.Bc4 Ng8
Odd. I wonder if he plays the Brooklyn Variation of Alekhine's Defense: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8!?
I have seen something similar played by White, but it's not something that I would recommend.
White's response in this game is tentative, at first, but then becomes Jerome-ish.
4.d3 Nc6 5.O-O Bc5 6.Bxf7+
So, we have a Jerome Gambit with two additional moves (d2-d3 and 0-0) for White.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Qh5+ Ng6 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxc5 N8e7
11.Bg5 d6 12.Qd4 Ne5 13.f4 Rf8
Returning the sacrificed piece, to no avail.
14.fxe5 Rxf1+ 15.Kxf1 c5 16.Qc3 Qb6 17.exd6 Qxd6 18.Qxg7 Ng6
19.Nc3 Be6 20.Nb5 Qc6
A final slip.
21.Nc7+ Qxc7 Black resigned
While looking for "secrets" in the Jerome Gambit - moves or lines of play that have been discovered or recommended, but rarely, if ever, used - I occasionally run across some ideas that deserve to remain secret, because they're not really all that good.
Let me share a couple, to show you what I mean.
What do you make of this line from weenar - Quixote, blitz, FICS, 2000 (0-1, 8)?
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Ng1
Wow.
White sacrifices his Bishop at f7 to disturb Black's King, and then decides that that is enough generosity for one day. Ah, but his King's Knight is in the way of his rampaging Queen - one of the benefits, he begrudgingly admits, of 5.Nxe5+ is that it opens the d1-h5 diagonal, admittedly at the cost of another piece.
So, the solution presents itself - move the Knight home!
A similar idea (admittedly, not after a piece sacrifice) comes to mind in such lines as 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8!?, the Brooklyn variation of Alekhine's Defense; 1.d4 Nc6 2.d5 Nb8!?; and Stefan Bucker's 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.exf5 e4 4.Ng1!? against the Latvian Gambit.
Not surprisingly, the 1 win that White has out of the 5 games with the position in The Database - is a time forfeit, when Black had a winning position. One plan for Black is 5...Qh4!? 6.Qe2 Nd4 7.Nf3!? Nxe2 8.Nxh4 Nxc1, and the Queens will be off the board as White tries to find compensation for his sacrificed piece (no worry, Black's Knight at c1 will fall, but White will still only have a doubled pawn as compensation).
But, let us not laugh too loudly. What do you think of the following line?
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+
Move that Knight!
This time: not so funny. There are 515 games in The Database with 5.Ng5+. Is it surprising, or not surprising, that White scores 24%?
One "idea" behind this un-blocking Knight move is that White simply didn't notice that his piece would hang - on the average, White's rating is about 100 points below his opponent. On the other hand, there are a significant number of games where Black does not take the Knight - an indication that we are probing the depths of club and blitz play, not grandmaster praxis.
Another idea is the pair of threats - should Black capture the Knight with 5...Qxg5 - embodied in 6.d4!?, attacking both the Queen and the Bishop at c5. It is a hallucination, however, as Black has the crushing 6...Qxg2 and White is in great misery, e.g. 7.Rf1 Qxe4+ 8.Be3 Nxd4 - two pieces down, behind in development, King in danger...
Why do Jerome Gambiteers play this kind of stuff? Because it's fun, I guess.
