Doing the Enemy's Work

I like the Jerome Gambit in all its variations, and I love to show a snappy Jerome Gambit win; but sometimes it is necessary to balance the scale, and give Black a hand, too...

acuriel - DOCTOERDETROIT 
blitz, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Kf8 5.Qf5+ Nf6 6.Qxe5

Here is a position in the Abrahams Jerome Gambit that has been reached in 72 games in The Database. What is Black's best move now?

6...Bxf2+ 

Of course.

However, the move was played in only 7 of the aforementioned games, less than 10% of the time! Defenders, step up your game!

7.Kxf2 

Unwittingly going along with Black's plan.

7...Ng4+ 

Forking King and Queen.

White resigned

How Long?

I think I have shared before that one chessfriend of mine said he enjoys playing chess at a local bar and he has found that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a perfect opening to play there, as, win or lose, the game is usually over quickly...

The other day I was wondering about the other end of the time spectrum: how long can a Jerome Gambit game last, especially a blitz game? I consulted The Database, and found some interesting answers.

MAILMANUK - Buckeyeski, blitz, FICS, 2002

After149 moves, this game was drawn by the "50 move rule" (although it could have been drawn, for the same reason, over 35 moves earlier)



HIARCS 11.1 UCI - Rybka 2.3.1 32-bit, 2008

Here, the two silicon monsters battled for 147 moves. 





DOCTOERDETROIT - jpiza, blitz, FICS, 2009

Here, consistent with our topic, on move 145, Black lost on time.