After my last game with Philidor1792 (see "A Flurry of Punches"), of course we had to have another, and, of course, he had to play the Jerome Gambit... My experience was something like being flattened by a steam roller. Philidor1792 - perrypawnpusher Chess.com, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
9.d5Ne7 10.d6 An excellent idea - the pawn is well invested. 10...cxd6 11.Nc3 Ng6 It was probably better to complete "castling" with 11...Kg8 - if not on this move, then the next one. 12.Qb3+ d5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5+ Ke8
Not only is Black's King back in the center - look at his locked-in light-squared Bishop, a clear sign of danger in the Jerome. 15.Bg5 Ne7 16.Qd6 Bc7 17.Qa3 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Bg3 Bxg3 20.hxg3 Qb6 21.Rad1 Rf6
I was not making much progress. Philidor1792 calmly continued. 22.e5 Rc6 23.Nd4 Qc5 24.Qd3 Qxe5 Silly. Black doesn't need material (or open lines against himself). He should pursue exchanging Queens with 24...Qc4. 25.Rfe1 Qf6 26.Nxc6 bxc6
Black's position is wretched, despite some returned material. 27.Qa3 d5 28.Re3 Kd7 29.Rde1 Nf5 30.Rf3 Qd6 31.Rxf5 Qxa3 32.bxa3 Kc7
The Queens are finally off the board, but Black is down the exchange, and only his King is developed. 33.Rf6 Bd7 34.f4 gxf4 35.gxf4 h5 36.Rf7 Re8
This silly blunder ends the suffering. Even the more appropriate 36...Kd6 would have led to a complicated endgame where White could be expected to continue to outplay his opponent. Black resigned
As we have seen in recent posts, the "simple" job for the defender against the Jerome Gambit is to remain steady, play good moves, not panic, pay attention - maintain a "steady as she goes" focus. Wandering from this path, however, can have immediate negative consequences, as the following game demonstrates. Philidor 1792 - NN 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
A little bit better might have been 8.dxe5. 8...Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nxe4 Black's King is a bit drafty, but otherwise he is doing well. 10.Nd2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Re8 12.Qf4+ Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand, and his light-squared Bishop can be developed. 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 c6 15.b3 Bf5 16.Rad1 Qb6 17.Rd4 Re6 18.f3 Rae8 19.f4 Rg6
White remains calm, as well. If Black has an advantage, let him show it. 20.Rf2 Rf8 21.g3 h5 22.h4 Be6 23.Qd3 Rf5 Black has established blockades at e6 and f5, but it is not clear where he will be going with that. 24.Kh2 Qc7 25.c4 Qf7 26.cxd5 Bxd5
Black keeps improving the position of his pieces. 32.R2d3 Qc5 33.Rd2 Rg4 34.Qd3 g6 35.bxa6 bxa6 36.Re2 Qb6 37.Qc3
White's patience helps Black envision a reasonable, but flawed idea: to develop his last piece, his King, to e6 to blockade White's passed e-pawn. However, the monarch steps into danger. 37...Kf7 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.e6+ Ke8 "Best" for Black was to give up his Queen with 39...Qxe6 but after 40.Rxe6 Kxe6 41.Qc6+ Kf7 42.Qxa6 it is clear that White's passed a-pawn will rule the day. 40.e7 Black resigned
One significant benefit of the "modern" Jerome Gambit lines is that they do not have readily identified "refutations". True, Black can feel comfortable being one piece ahead (instead of two), but he still has to work out a plan of defense before White imposes his plan of offense. Philidor1792 - Chicken_Monster 1100 KINGS vs Team Russia - Board 12 Chess.com, 2014 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.0-0 A "modern" (lacking 5.Nxe5+) variation of the Jerome Gambit. 5...Nf6 6.c3
There are 389 games in The Database with this position. 6...Re8 7.d4 Bb6 It is difficult to see where Black loses control of the game, but, move by move, things seem to drift toward equality - despite Black wisely castling-by-hand, pursuing his development and attacking the White pawn center. 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nxe5+ Kg8 10.Nd2 d6 11.Nec4 Bg4 12.Qc2 Be2 13.Re1 Bxc4 14.Nxc4 c6
19...h6 20.Bxf6 Rxf6 21.exd5 cxd5 In order to keep things about even, Black's best bet was21...Kh8. Now White has a shot that wins a piece. 22.Rxe7 Qxe7 23.Qxd5+ Kh7 24.Qxa8 Re6
White's extra pawns point the way to a win. 25.Qa6 Re1+ 26.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 27.Qf1 Qe6
