Jerome Gambit: Sacrifice/Blunder?

A Jerome Gambit win, and some handy endgame play in another game, will allow me to move on to the 3rd round of play in both the "Italian Game Classic" and "Italian Game Battlegrounds" tournaments at Chess.com. There will be a bit of a wait, however, until I can play a few more Jerome Gambits, as each tournament has a number of games to complete before the round is finished.

The turning point in the following game reminds me of the light-hearted comment about giving up material: if it succeeds, it's a "sacrifice", if it fails, it's a "blunder". I would love to say that my chess has matured to the point where I made an intuitive sacrifice, but I have to admit that it was more of a fortunate oversight.

perrypawnpusher - mallack
Italian Game Battlegrounds, Chess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Kf8

The Jerome Defense, first suggested by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in an article in the Dubuque Chess Journal of July, 1874, and seen, initially, in Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence, 1880 (1-0, 40).

The Database has 665 game examples, with White scoring 50%. My own experience is a bit better: in 36 games, I scored 79%. (That probably reflects experience with the line.)

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 

As I noted in an earlier post

I experimented with Jerome's 8.Qf4+ in perrypawnpusher - Capt. Mandrake, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.com, 2008 (1-0, 9) and perrypawnpusher - LeeBradbury, "Italian Game" Thematic, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 36).
I also tried 8.Qc3 in perrypawnpusher - Raankh, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 22).
There is not much difference in the strength between these two moves and the text, or even 8.Qh5, if Stockfish 9 is to be believed.

8...Nf6 9.Nc3 

I am not sure why I chose the text move over 9.d3. Before this game, I was 3 - 1 with 9.Nc3 and 5 - 1 with 9.d3. The two lines sometimes transpose, and 9.d3 brings White one step closer to resolving the issue of Black's annoying dark square Bishop, so, perhaps it should be played first.

9...Be6 

This was also played by Abhishek29 against me earlier this year. The move is good, and preserves Black's advantage, although it has the slight taint of placing the Bishop (possibly) in a place where an advancing White f-pawn might hit it.

10.O-O g6 

This move, a novelty, according to The Database, does several things. It resists a possible f2-f4-f5 by White; it protects the Black g-pawn from White's Queen, and it gives the Black King a place to step out of the way, to castle-by-hand and allow his Rook to get into play.

11.d3 Kg7 12.Na4 

Seriously?!

I was going to try this move, after the trials of my game against warwar, in the 3rd round of the Italian Battleground tournament (at Chess.com) earlier this year? Sure, the positions are not the same, but warwar did not meekly retreat his Bishop to b6, he brought it to d4, then e5 - and then threw in ...Nh5 for good measure. It was a messy game, even if I did weasel out a win.

Then, there was the additional anxiety related to my game against Abhishek29, when he did retreat the Bishop, and I was able to exchange it off.

Certainly, it was a time for in-depth concrete analysis - so, of course, I crossed my fingers for luck and just made the Knight move...

12...Bb6

Whew!

After the game, Stockfish 10 pointed out that 12...Bd4 13.c3 Be5 14.f4 would be hit by 14...Nh5. In fact, 13...Nh5 would have been good for Black, too. Yikes.

13.Nxb6 axb6 14.f4 Rxa2 

This took me by surprise. It should not have - in a similar position against Abhishek29, I had prevented the capture by playing a2-a3. But, is the loss of the pawn a big deal, any way? It turns out, it is not. This is the sacrifice/blunder of material that I referred to in the introduction to this game.

15.Rxa2 Bxa2 16.b3 

Black's Bishop has left his King, and is trapped. It is vulnerable to capture in a couple of moves, which explains Black's next choice.

16...Qa8 

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Black has grabbed the pawn, and now feels the need to protect the locked-in Bishop, even at the cost of removing another defender from the Kingside.

17.Bb2

This move reminded me of a booklet on the 2.b3 Sicilian that I bought in 1977, from Ron's Postal Chess Club, of all places. At the time, I was advancing the b-pawn one step against 1...c5 if I was feeling conservative, or two steps (the wing gambit) if I was feeling rowdy; and I even tried 2.b3 against the French and Caro Kann defenses. Nowadays you can find Sabotaging the Sicilian, French & Caro-Kann with 2.b3 by Jerzy Konikowski and Marek Soszynski.

Oh - back to the game. White's attack is about to come together.

17...Rf8 18.f5 

18...Qa5 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Qf4 g5 21.Bxf6+ 

After the game, Stockfish 10 preferred 21...Qg4. I wanted my piece back, right away.

21...Kg8 22.Qg4 Qd2 

Black's Queen cannot save the day.

23.Bxg5 Black resigned

You probably saw the cute checkmate, instead, with 23.Qe6+ Kh7 24.Qe7 Rf7 25.Qxf7+ Kh6 26.Qg7+ Kh5 27.Qh7+ Kg4 28.Qh3#.

Please note the stranded Bishop on a2.

Jerome Gambit: My Opponent Knows What He Is Doing (Part 1)

While it looks like I am headed for a 3rd place finish (out of 6) in the 3rd round of the "Italian Battleground" tournament at Chess.com, I will at least have some Jerome Gambit tales to tell from the experience.

I have already shared my 3rd round game perrypawnpusher - Abhishek29, "Italian Battleground", Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 35) - my second win in this tournament against that opponent, having defeated him in in Round 1 - see perrypawnpusher - Abhishek29, "Italian Battleground", Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 19).

The current game is a rematch with an opponent that I faced in Round 2 - see perrypawnpusher - warwar, "Italian Battleground", Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 39). I was a bit concerned, the way "real" chessplayers are concerned about "real" chess openings: how much had he learned about the Jerome Gambit in the meantime?

It turned out to be an interesting battle between the "Jerome pawns" and the defender's extra piece, but, most of all, between someone who had prepared the opening and someone who had to improvise in the middlegame and endgame.

perrypawnpusher - warwar
"Italian Battleground", Chess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

When the game was over, the Chess.com site offered to do a quick computer analysis. Not surprisingly, this move was labelled a blunder.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

warwar adopts the Jerome Defense, first suggested by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in his analysis in an article in the Dubuque Chess Journal of July, 1874. It was first played in Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence, 1880 (1-0, 40).

Interestingly enough, Abhishek29 was playing the same defense against me in the same round, too. My record, at that point, against the line was 25 - 6 - 3, a decent 78% score.

7.Qxe5 d6

As I wrote in the article that I had prepared for Kaissiber (unfortunately, never published)

The defenses 6…Kf8 and 6…Ng6 have had their supporters and detractors, depending on how each evaluated the alternatives – was it better to hold onto a little material and avoid complications, or to enter them confidently, knowing that they would turn the game even more in your favor? 

Jerome (DCJ 7/1874) first suggested 6…Kf8. He followed it with 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Nf6 9.c3 Kf7 10.d4 Bb6 11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Re8 13.0-0 Kg8 14.exf6 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Bh6 “and White has a pawn ahead.” (Actually, the game is even; but Jerome missed that earlier his 11.e5 was premature, as after the pawn exchange 12…Qd3 would be crushing – Paul Keiser, personal communication. The alternative 8…Ke8 was seen in 5 games in the Yetman – Farmer 2008 match.) 

As Sorensen (NS 5/1877) did not mention 6…Kf8, it was not touched upon by other writers until Freeborough and Rankin (COAM, 1889) suggested that it led to a safe game for Black, giving the line 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf5+ Ke8 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qf3 Qf7 (or 10...Nf6!) 11.Qe2 Nh6 (or 11...Ne7 or 11...Nf6) with “a superior position or game” to Black. 

A hundred years after Jerome, Harding, in his Counter Gambits (1974), varied, after 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Nf6 with 9.d3 Kg8 10.Nc3 Qe8 11.Be3 Bb4 12.0-0 Be6 13.Ne2 Qh5 14.Nd4 Bd7 15.c3 Bc5, advantage to Black. His comment in The Italian Game (1977) was that after 7…d6, White was left “without genuine compensation for his piece.” He sagely recommended the 6…Kf8 line as “other lines would allow White to attack the exposed black king or to win back the sacrificed material.”

8.Qg3 

I experimented with Jerome's 8.Qf4+ in perrypawnpusher - Capt. Mandrake, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.com, 2008 (1-0, 9) and perrypawnpusher - LeeBradbury, "Italian Game" Thematic, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 36).

I also tried 8.Qc3 in perrypawnpusher - Raankh, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 22).

There is not much difference in the strength between these two moves and the text, or even 8.Qh5, if Stockfish 9 is to be believed.

8...Nf6 9.Nc3 Kf7 

Abhishek29 chose 9...Be6 in our Round 3 game.

Years ago, perrypawnpusher - klixar, blitz, FICS, 2007 (1-0, 33) continued 9...Ng4.

perrypawnpusher - truuf, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 32) continued with the text move.

[to be continued]

Boo!

When I play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), I would prefer that my opponent not laugh too loud.

Ideally, I would like him to to become nervous, if not downright terrified.  Sometimes that can be helpful, as the following game illustrates.

perrypawnpusher - frencheng
blitz 10 5, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

I like this move. So did Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, who played it (against his own gambit) in two correspondence games against Dan Jaeger in 1880.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3

Jerome's analysis in 1874 considered only 8.Qf4+. perrypawnpusher - Capt. Mandrake, JG3 thematic, Chessworld, 2008, continued 8...Nf6 9.0-0 Black resigned.

8...Qe7

Planning to hit back at the center immediately.

9.d3 d5 10.0-0

Quickly diving out of the way of the action in the center. 

After the game, Rybka suggested, instead: 10.Bg5 Nf6 11.Nc3 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Bd6 13.Qe3 Bf5 14.f3 Kf7 15.0-0-0 Rhe8 when it shows that Black has a smaller advantage than in the game. I'm not so sure that I agree, as Black needs only ...Kg8 to safeguard his King. Both lines look good for the second player.

10...dxe4 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Bf4 Qd4

Keeping an eye on both the a1-h8 and a7-g1 diagonals. Rybka says this gives White a small advantage, and recommends a transition to the endgame, instead, with 12...Qg6 13.Qxg6 hxg6 14.Rxe4 Bb6, keeping the edge.

13.Be5

I like this move, but, wouldn't you know it, the computer second-guessed me here, too, preferring 13.Nc3 Nf6 14.Nxe4 Be7 15.Bxc7, with an edge.

13...Qd7 14.Rxe4

White is slowly crawling out of his cave, but Black is still better. If he keeps his wits about himself, he can play some settling moves like 14...Nf6 15.Rc4 Bd6 16.Bxd6+ Qxd6 17.Rxc7 Qxg3 18.fxg3 Nd5 and he is not worse. 

14...Qf5

I am not sure what Black was intending here, other than keeping pressure on f2, but I couldn't have gotten a more favorable move if I had leaned into my computer and yelled "Boo!!"

15.Qxg7+ Ke8 16.Bg3+

This will do, but 16.Bd6+ squeezes more out of the position.

16...Qxe4

Boo!!

Understandable, even if 16...Be6 17.Qxh8 was less worse for Black.

17.dxe4 Black resigned

Overrated!

Well, it's offical: all the games of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Tournament that I was participating in at ChessWorld.net have been completed.

While I will continue to bring you my struggles, one-by-one, in more of the "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter Whatever" posts I thought I would tip my hand by sharing the fact that I scored 16-2-0, meeting my goal of going 9-0-0 against the Jerome Gambit, while racking up a defensible 7-2-0 record with the Gambit.

That result was good enough for first place, although because of my ridiculously over-inflated rating, I lost over 100 rating points with it.

Still, I finished three points ahead of Temmo, at 13-5-0.

Following quickly were Kevin the fruitbat with 12-6-0, Sir Osis of the Liver with 11-6-1, Hogmaster with 10-6-2 and Blackburne with 10-7-1.

Hogmaster had the second-best score with White with the Jerome Gambit: 6-3-0.

Temmo and Sir Osis of the Liver were equally cruel with Black to the Jerome Gambit, scoring 8-1-0 against it.

The field finished with drewbear at 8-10-0, Gary_Seven at 5-13-0, brain50 at 3-15-0 and Capt.Mandrake at 0-18-0.

Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter IV

Today's game selection is a two-fer, for reasons that will soon become obvious.




Capt. Mandrake - perrypawnpusher
JG3 thematic, www.chessworld.net, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0–0




Here we see a "modern" approach to playing the Jerome Gambit, which would include the similar 5.d3 and 5.Nc3. The earliest examples I have in my database are about a decade old.

White is of the opinion that it is a bad investment to sacrifice the second piece with 5.Nxe5 and instead focuses on development.

As Unorthodox Openings Newsletter editor Gary K. Gifford wrote in "Jerome Gambit, or Jerome Gamble?" (UON #17)

I am pretty much convinced that White has a forced loss after: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5.

I believe White is taking a big gamble.... and that "The Jerome Gamble" may be a more appropriate name.

If there is any soundness to be found in the Jerome, then I believe it involves replacing 5. Nxe5+ with a different move.

Capt. Mandrake, indeed, played 5.0-0 seven times in this tournament.

5...Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Ng5+ Kg8 8.Nf3 d5



Black has castled by hand, made a pawn break in the center – and is a piece to the good.

Here White overstepped the time limit.

That may seem a bit odd, given that players had up to 5 days to make each move. Maybe the good Captain simply lost interest.

In some ways it's refreshing to think that there are more important things in a person's life than the Jerome Gambit.

perrypawnpusher - Capt. Mandrake
JG3 thematic, www.chessworld.net, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8


This defense was first suggested by Jerome in the July 1874 Dubuque Chess Journal. It is a line he played successfully against his own gambit in two correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger in 1880.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Nf6 9.0–0


In the DCJ Jerome gave 9.c3 followed by 10.d4. White still has a lot of work to do – before he can even dream about equalizing the game.

However, here Black over-stepped the time limit again.

In fact, Capt. Mandrake in effect withdrew from the tournament by losing all but two of his games on time. The remaining pair he lost, anyhow. I didn't feel bad about receiving the gift of two points, as everyone benefited equally.




graphic from clipartheaven .com