Jerome Gambit: Education in Defense

I recently received an email and a game from Chris Torres, who occasionally shares his experiences with the Jerome Gambit. (See "More Musings", "More Useful Junk", "Always Be Ready to Deliver Checkmate" and "Jerome Gambit: Advance in the Center, Attack on the Kingside, Checkmate on the Queenside".)

In the game below, Chris shows that the Jerome Gambit can be an educational tool for students to practice their defensive skills. I have added diagrams and a final comment.

Rick,
I thought you might enjoy this Jerome Gambit miniature played against a young student in our regular Monday night school chess team meeting. Keep up the good work on your blog!
Sincerely,Chris www.chessmusings.wordpress.com

Chris Torres - Student

MSJE Chess Team, Fremont, Ca, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ N8e7 

9.f4 Kg8 10.O-O h6 11.f5 Nf8 12.d4 d6 

13.Qc4+ Kh7 14.f6 gxf6 15.Qf7 checkmate

A very educational game! Black wisely takes care to move his King to a safer place on the wing. He later falls victim to avoiding an "automatic" move (13...d5, even after having played 12...d6, would have better met the Queen check) and then playing an "automatic" one (14...gxf6 lets in the enemy Queen). I suspect, like The Who, he "won't get fooled again!" - Rick

Jerome Gambit: Advance in the Center, Attack on the Kingside, Checkmate on the Queenside

Chris Torres (see "Always Be Ready to Deliver Checkmate", "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!", "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", "More Musings" and "More Useful Junk") of the blog site Chess Musings, always sends exciting Jerome Gambit games.

His game below clearly illustrates why many club players still find a way to play the "refuted" opening.

chessmusings - snoopy2
Internet, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+  Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

Here we have a fairly representative position from the "classical" Jerome Gambit (5.Nxe5+), 6...Ng6 variation, including the "nudge" 7.Qd5+ (giving Black something more to think about).

10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.Nc3 Qe7 

White has castled and begun to move his central pawns forward. Black is near castling-by-hand and has chosen the e-pawn as a target.

13.d3 Ng4 

Was it Oscar Wilde who said "I can resist anything except temptation"?

Black suddenly decides that harassing the White Queen is a good idea.

14.Qf3 Kg8 

Safe and sound.

15.f5 N6e5 16.Qg3 h6 

A risky waste of time, creating a weakness - all disguised as defensive preparation against Bg5. 

17.d4 Nxh2 

Things are becoming complicated, and Black decides that, since he has an extra piece, the simplest path would be to return one, grabbing a pawn in the process. However, even if more pieces on the board means more things to calculate, 17...Nf6 was the proper move.

It is ironic that the Knight sac lures White's King to an exposed square where, in a few moves, Black will be able to check and win back a piece - thereby sealing his fate.

18.Kxh2 Nc6 19.f6 

Oh, those "Jerome pawns"!

19...Qf7 20.Bxh6 

See the note to move 16.

20...Qh5+ 

Black is in a very difficult position, as even the boring 20...Nxd4 21.Qxg7+ Qxg7 22.Bxf7 shows - White's extra, passed pawns will give the win.

Black is happy to win the Bishop at h6, but in the process he overlooks White's f-pawn. Time problems? Over-confidence? Despair?

 21.Kg1 Qxh6 22.f7+

22...Kf8 23.fxe8/Q+ Kxe8 24.Nd5 Nxd4

Black can afford to allow the Knight fork at c7, attacking a Rook, because he has his own Knight fork at e2, attacking a Queen.

25. Nc7+ Kd7 26.Rf7+ 

But, here is the thing: the game is no longer just about material advantage (as 26...Kd8 27.Qd3 would show) but also about King safety - and checkmate. 

26...Kc6 27.Qc3+ Kb6 28.Nd5+ Ka6 29.Nb4+ Kb5 30.a4+ Kb6 31.Qc7 checkmate

Very nice.

More Useful Junk

Readers of this blog probably remember Chris Torres. He hosts the Chess Musings blog.

He presented the Jerome gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London  as "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!"

He followed up with "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", giving one of his own games.

He shared another game with the delightfully-titled post "Useful Junk: The Jerome Gambit".

Now he has sent me an FIDE-rated Jerome Gambit of his from the FIDE Online Arena.

Torres, Chris (chessmusings) - abhinam2
FIDE Online Arena, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 

Now Black has the choice of playing 7...d6, the Blackburne Defense, or 7...Qe7, the Whistler Defense. Instead, he opts for a "backatcha" move that at least gains him a pawn for his "doomed" dark-squared Bishop.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qf4

I thought I would share a few other ideas for this position, from games from The Database:

9.Rf1 Re8 (9...c6 10.Kg1 Rf8 11.d4 Kg8 12.Bg5 Kg7 13.Nc3 d6 14.Qf4 Nh5 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Qxf8+ Qxf8 17.Rxf8 checkmate, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9...Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Qf7+ [12. Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7 checkmate, Jordi-I - couchpotatoe, Chess.com, 2011] 12... Kh6 13. d4+ Kh5 14. h3 Black resigned, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9... d6 10. Qf4 Rf8 11. Kg1 Kg7 12. d3 Ng4 13. Qg5 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Qf8+ 15. Qf4 Nxh2+ 16. Kg1 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Ng4 18. Nc3 Be6 19. Rf1 h6 20. d4 g5 21. Bd2 c6 22.a3 b5 23. Ne2 Bc4 24. Re1 Rf8 25. b3 Bf7 26. Ng3 Bg6 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Kf6 29. c4 a6 30. Ke2 h5 31. Be1 h4 32. Nf5 Bxf5 33. exf5 Kxf5 34. Kf3 c5 35. d5 Ne5+ 36. Ke3 bxc4 37. bxc4 Nxc4+ 38. Kd3 Nxa3 39. Bd2 g4 White resigned, Petasluk - nikorast, FICS, 2011) 10.Qc3 Rxe4 11.Kg1 c6 12.d3 Re6 13.Bg5 d5 14.d4 Qd6 15.Nd2 Kg7 16.Bf4 Qd7 17.Be5 b5 18.Nf3 Ba6 19.Ng5 Rxe5 20.dxe5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.e6+ Black resigned,  arunothr - givemeabreak, FICS, 2014;

9.Qd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4+ 11.Kf3 c5 12.Qa4 Qh4 13.g3 Ng5+ White resigned, shugart - mattzig, FICS, 2013;

9.d3 d6 (9...Re8 as in guest232 - BoardChairman, Internet Chess Club, 2002, [1-0, 22]) 10.Qc3 Rf8 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Kg1 h6 13.Be3 Kh7 14.Qd2 g5 15.Nc3 Ng4 16.Rxf8 Qxf8 17.Rf1 Qg7 18.Nd5 Nxe3 19.Nxe3 Bd7 20.d4 Rf8 21.Rxf8 Qxf8 22.c4 c6 23.b3 Qg7 24.Qd3 c5 25.dxc5 dxc5 26.e5+ Kh8 27.Nd5 Qxe5 28.h3 Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Qe5+ 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Bc6 32.Ne7 Be4 33.a3 Kg7 34.b4 Kf7 35.Nd5 Bxd5 36.cxd5 cxb4 37.axb4 Ke7 38.Kf3 Kd6 39.Ke4 b6 40.g4 a5 41.bxa5 bxa5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Kc4 a3 44.Kb3 a2 45.Kxa2 Kxd5 46.Kb2 Ke4 47.Kc2 Kf3 48.Kd2 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh3 50.Kf3 Kh4 51.Kg2 Kxg4 52.Kh2 h5 53.Kg2 Kh4 54.Kh2 g4 55.Kg2 g3 56.Kh1 Kg4 57.Kg2 h4 58.Kf1 Kf3 59.Kg1 h3 60.Kh1 g2+ 61.Kh2 Kf2 62.Kxh3 g1=Q 63.Kh4 Qg3+ 64.Kh5 Kg2 65.Kh6 Kh3 66.Kh7 Kh4 67.Kh8 Kh5 White resigned, Petasluk - timoxx, FICS, 2007

9... d6 

Perhaps not the risky 9...g5 10.Qf3 g4 as in instantcrow - KingEfraim, ChessWorld.net, 2005, (1-0, 25).

10.Nc3

Or 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1 Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5 c6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+ Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned, blackburne - Haroldlee123, ChessWorld, JG6, 2011. 

10...Kg7 11.d4 Rf8

Black is a pawn down, but he has castled-by-hand and his King is relatively safe. However, one of the "vital signs" that observers of all Jerome Gambits must note is the status of Black's light-squared Bishop, and its related Rook, as their under-development always are unhealthy symptoms. (See "A Lesson Learned From The Jerome Gambit" for one related "illness".)

12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.Kg1 Ng4 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Nf2 16.Nd5 Nxh1 17.Nxc7 Rb8 18.Kxh1 Bd7

White has two pawns for the exchange. Black can be happy that the Queens are off the board, but he cannot affort to be complacent. (He can be happy, for the moment, that his light-squared Bishop has moved and that his Rooks are linked, even if one is mysteriously developed.)

19.Nd5 Be6 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.d5 Bc8

See the previous note.

22.Rf1 h6 23.Nh5+ gxh5 24.Bxh6+ Kxh6 25.Rxf8 

Materially, White has 3 extra pawns while Black has the extra piece.

More importantly, positionally, look at Black's Queenside: Code Blue! His weakness allows a "Jerome pawn" infection...

25...Kg7 26. Rd8 b6 27.Kg1 Ra8 28.e5 dxe5 29.d6 Bb7 30.Rxa8
Bxa8 31.d7 Kf7 32.d8=Q Black resigned

Very nicely done!

More Musings

There is a nifty game over at Chris Torres' Chess Musings website (mentioned here earlier at "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!" and "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit"). The post is titled "Useful Junk: The Jerome Gambit" which has the correct take on the opening:

Below is another interesting game where I played the Jerome Gambit against my student, Iddo Zohar. The Jerome Gambit is an unsound specialty of mine which I like to categorize as “useful junk.” Iddo Zohar is a very talented junior chess player who you will definitely here more about in future posts.

Check it out!

The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!

You have to give the Chess Musings blog credit for enthusiasm in naming the Amateur - Blackburne, London 1880 [sic] Jerome Gambit game "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!"

Hats off to Chris Torres, blogmeister, for the recognition. When you're a fan of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), every little bit of attention or notoriety helps.