The last game of the quartet of selected Jerome Gambits, by CasualGames4ever
Last but not least and techinqually first! My first clash with this opponent set the tone for the rest of our match, we reach the middle game with him still being better, yet I can easily continue whereas he struggles to find decent moves. This quickly leads to a beautiful checkmate, although I would say the first game had the best check mate
A standard Jerome Gambit position, where White has pawns to advance - and Black needs a plan. 10.O-O Bd7 11.Nc3 Bc6 12.d4 Qe8 13.d5 Bd7 14.f4 c6
So far, Black is doing fine, and has a small edge. The game is not over yet. 15.f5 Ne5 16.b3 cxd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Qf7
Attacking White's d-pawn. Black must always be careful, however, when his King and Queen are lined up on the f-file, facing White's Rook. 19.Bb2 Giving the pawn up, as bait. Thematic was 19...f6, as played later. 19...Qxd5 20.Rad1 Qb5 21.Rxd6 Nf7
The kind of double-threat move (defends, attacks) that comes obviously, in a 3 minute game, but is often insufficient. 22.f6 g6 Black can't take the Rook, but he can't escape checkmate, either. 23.Qe7+ Kg8 24.Rxd7 Rf8 25.Qxf7+ A Queen sac finishes the game off. 25...Rxf7 26.Rd8+ Rf8 27.f7checkmate
As I mentioned previously, I received an email and some games from CasualGames4ever
So recently, just now, I played a nineteen game match against a similarly rated opponent in 3+0 blitz. As white in all but one game I played the jerome gambit, linking them all would make this email ridiculously long, so I will only link the ones I thought are the best.
Unlike the other two this one demonstrates the attacking potential of this opening rather than the positional ideas. I quickly launch the d, e, and f pawns in a brutal assault towards my opponent's king. This proved immediately fatal.
Here is another Jerome Gambit game by CasualGames4ever. As he mentioned in a recent email
So recently, just now, I played a nineteen game match against a similarly rated opponent in 3+0 blitz. As white in all but one game I played the jerome gambit, linking them all would make this email ridiculously long, so I will only link the ones I thought are the best
My opponent managed to get a very strong position out of the opening seemingly with a piece for two pawns, yet despite the lack of queens his king proved very unsafe, an aspect I quickly exploited and soon I won material and quickly converted.
Like the game in the previous post. The move is as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29). 6.O-O Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Qf6
The same threat to win White's Queen as we have seen. 9.Qc5+ Qd6 10.Qxd6+ cxd6 11.f4 Nc4 11...Nf7, as we have seen earlier, but which was actually played later, is safer. 12.b3 Nb6
13.Ba3 Kf7 14.Bxd6 Nf6 15.Nc3 Re8
Black has an extra piece (for two pawns) but White's Bishop block's his pawn, which blocks his Bishop, which hems in his Rook... 16.Rae1 a5 One way to activate the Rook. 17.e5 Nfd5 18.Ne4 h6 19.f5 a4 20. Bc5 axb3 21.Nd6+ Kf8
22.Nxc8+ This works. 22...f6 was even more explosive. 22...Kg8 23.Nxb6 Nxb6 24.Bxb6 Rxa2
Black misses his chance to make things a bit muddy with 24...bxc2. 25. cxb3 Rb2 26.Re3 d6 27.Bd4 Rd2 28.Bc3 Rc2 29.e6 d5 30.Rd1 b5 31.Rxd5 Rc1+ 32.Kf2 Ra8
I want to share some more games and overviews that have arrived in the email. (The notes in the game are mine.) As they used to say, in the heydays of snail mail, "Thanks, and keep those cards and letters coming!"
Hello Rick! So recently, just now, I played a nineteen game match against a similarly rated opponent in 3+0 blitz. As white in all but one game I played the jerome gambit, linking them all would make this email ridiculously long, so I will only link the ones I thought are the best, but If you wish to view them all, CasualGames4ever is my username.
...This one was one of the last games, at which point he had stopped taking the sacrificed knight. I only salvaged a pawn for a piece, but eventually I managed to target his weak points to win more pawns, and soon gained a crushing attack.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 It is interesting that the lichess.org computer considers this move a mistake. Although it is probably not as strong as the routine 5...Nxe5, it is a reasonable move for a defender who is not wanting to be too greedy. 6.O-O Waiting for his opponent to come to his senses and take the Knight. Castling is usually helpful for the Jerome Gambiteer. 6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Qf6
Ah, yes, an attention test. Did you notice Black's threat of ...Nf3+, winning the Queen? It's always something to be aware of. 9.Qc5+ Qd6 10.Qxd6+ cxd6 11.f4 Nf7 12.b3 Ke8 13. Bb2 Nf6 14. Nd2 Rg8 15. Rae1 Kd8 16. Nc4 d5
Black wants to solve a classic Jerome Gambit problem - his pawn blocks a pawn which blocks his Bishop which confines his Rook... It looks like he has avoided castling-by-hand on the Kingside, in order to place his Rook on g8 and start a counter-attack - but that never happens. 17.e5 Ne4 18.Ne3 b6 19.Nxd5 Bb7 20.c4 Nc5
21.f5 Overlooking Black's threat? I don't think so. This is a 3 0 blitz game, and I think White had a plan to create dangerous chaos on the board, knowing that the defender would not be able to keep up.
21...Nd3 22.e6 dxe6 23.fxe6 Nd6
The simplest, safest move that first comes to mind - but 23...Ng5 was stronger. 24.Ba3 Nxe1 25.Bxd6 Nd3 What could be more sensible? But, it keeps White's attack rolling. 26.Nc7 Rc8 27.Rf7
27...Nc5 Stopping the immediate checkmate 28.Rd7# but that is not all that is in play. 27...Rxc7 was best but would still lose. 28.Rd7+ Nxd7 29.e7 checkmate
In the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+) game, White reaches a point where he has an overwhelming advantage. He figures out a win by checkmate, and pursues it, bypassing faster mates - in a blitz game, this is not unusual, and a win is what is necessary, not necessarily the fastest win. otipicni - Yusiflimunire 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+
Here we have the classic Jerome Gambit imbalance: Black has an extra piece, White has 2 extra pawns. Black's capture 6...dxc6 was designed to slow down White's possible d2-d4, but, as the game develops, the move becomes possible. Also, the capture turns White's e-pawn into a protected passer, which may be telling, much later in the game. 10.Ne2 Kf7 11.d4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Ba5 13.b4 Bb6
It is still a battle of pieces vs pawns, and Black's 2 Bishops look valuable, but the defender is lacking the usual counter-stroke, ...d7-d5. 14.O-O Bc4 15.Rf2 h5 16.e5 Ne4
A strange oversight - in a 3 0 blitz game, however. 17.fxe4+ Ke6 18.Nf4+ Kd7 19.Ng6 Qe8 Choosing to give up the exchange, rather than play the stultified 19...Rh7. 20.Nxh8 Qxh8
Hoping to build a Kingside attack, anyhow. 21.Bg5 Rf8 22.Rxf8 Qxf8 23.Qxh5 Bd3
Things are getting a litte sloppy, perhaps an indication of the impact of the clock, this being a 3 0 game. 24.Qg6 Strong enough, although sharp-eyed Readers may have spotted 24.Qg4+ leading to 24...Qf5 (ouch) 25.Qxf5+ Ke8 26.e6 Bxd4+ (what else?) 27.cxd4 Bc4 28.Qf7 checkmate. 24...a5 25.b5 Okay, but there was also the march of the terrible "Jerome pawn": 25.e6+ Kc8 26.e7. 25...cxb5 26.Rd1Bc2 27.Rd2 Ba4 28.Rf2 c5
A slip, but he was already facing a forced checkmate, so trying to clear the a7-g1 diagonal for his Bishop was as good as anything. 29.Rxf8 cxd4 30.Qxg7+ White has figured out his winning line, and that is enough. Readers, without the clock ticking, may want to find some alternatives. 30...Kc6 31.Rf6+ Kc5 32.Qxb7 dxc3 33.Qxb6+ Kb4 34.Qd4+ Ka3 35.Rf3 Kxa2 36.Qxc3 b4 37.Qd2+ Kb1 38.Rf1+ Bd1 39.Rxd1 checkmate
Opponents facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) would do well to be prepared. Even if the opening is officially "refuted", any old response will not do. The following game is a good example of how things can quickly go bad for the defender. The games in the notes provide additional proof that Black needs to be careful. Eelco_Niermeijer - CatharWitch 2 1 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Here, Black resigned recently in Martynas-S - OkKidA, 5 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2020. 8...Qe7
