The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) was created for the attack on the enemy King. Along the way, there may be unusual postions on the board, but when the final one is a checkmate - beautiful!
BoomBoomTNT-YT - 123456789010chess
3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
Analysis of this position first published
Dubuque Chess Journal
April 1874, Vol. VI, No. 50, p. 358-9
"New Chess Opening"We have received from A.W. Jerome of Paxton, Ford county, Illinois, some analyses of a new move in the Giuoco Piano, first played by him, which we offer our readers as: Jerome's Double Opening...
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6
9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+
A recent example of avoiding the exchange of Queens: 10.Qf8+ Kc6 11.Qf3 d6 12.c3 Bb6 13.d4 Qe7 14.O-O Nf6 15.e5+ Nd5 16.Re1 h5 17.Kh1 Bg4 18.Qe4 dxe5 19.c4 Rad8 20.cxd5+ Rxd5 21.Nc3 Bxd4 22. Qxd5+ Black resigned, SurgeonOfDeath27 - ajirin, 15 10 blitz, Chess.com 2020)
10...Kxe5 11.b4 Bf8
According to The Database, this is a new position.
Here is a look at alternatives.
In the meantime, such a position should get a Jerome Gambit player's heart beating rapidly. Komodo 10 says everything is okay for Black - but this is a human vs human 3-minute game.
12.O-O Nf6 13.d4+ Kxe4
This is playable, but it is the first step on a slippery slope.
14.Nc3+ Kxd4
15.Nb5+ Kc4 16.Nxc7 Rb8
Saving the Rook. What could be more natural?
However, White now has a forced checkmate!
17.Rf4+ Kc3 18.Nb5+ Kxc2 19.Rc4+ Kd3 20.Rd4+ Ke2 21.Bd2
Black resigned
It is checkmate the next move. Bravo!
Having taken a look at what I called the "Face Palm Variation" of the Jerome Gambit, I wondered if there was an "improved" variation, where White played an early d2-d4, so that his Knight could safely move to g5 with the support of his dark square Bishop.
I quickly recalled the game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas,1874, played about a half year after Alonzo Wheeler Jerome published his first analysis of his gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.Bxf7+.
The line was referred to as The Macbeth Attack on the Italian language website Sacchi64. It has a relationship to the Italian Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4) as explored by Jude Acers and George S. Laven in their book The Italian Gambit and A Guiding Repertoire for White - 1.e4, (although they were not interested in Bxf7+) as well as to the Lewis Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4) and the Von der Lasa Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5).
The Database has 1,413 game examples, with White scoring 37%.
Here is a recent game. Beware: the tactics get out of hand, quickly. White (who has almost 700 games in The Database) shows a number of practical choices to keep the clock at bay.
drumme - RikTheKing
4 0 blitz, FICS, 2020.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4 exd4
A bit stronger, according to Komodo 10, is 5...Bxd4, although the result for White of the 645 games in The Database was only 26%.
6.Ng5+
By playing an early Bxf7+, White has avoided the Sarratt or Vitzthum Attack, although that's not necessarily a good thing.
6...Ke8 7.O-O h6
Facing a gambit can be scary, and it's natural to want to kick at the attacking piece - but this dismantles Black's defense, rather than helping it.
8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6
Black is now at risk for losing a lot of material.
10.Qd5+
White is not feeling very greedy, or perhaps in a 4-minute blitz game there wasn't the time (or need) to dig deeper: 10.Bf4+ Ne5 11.Bxe5+ Kxe5 12.Qxg7+ Nf6 (12...Qf6 13.f4+ Kd6 14.e5+) 13.f4+ Kd6 14.Nf7+ Kc6 15.Nxd8+ would have been painful for Black.
10...Ke7 11.Qxc5+
Grabbing the enemy Bishop, but it was stronger to play 11.Qf7+ Kd6 to return to the line given in the note above, 12.Bf4+ etc.
11...d6
Do I have to do this all over again?
Didn't I do it right the first time?
Do I have to do this all over again?
How many times do I have to make this climb?
from Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?
12.Qc4 Ne5
Black could have grabbed the Knight, and hung on: 12...hxg5 13.Bxg5+ Nf6 14.f4 Qg8 15.Qxg8 Rxg8 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Re1 Ke6 19.Bf4 Nfg4
13.Qxd4 Nf6 14.f4 Nc6 15.Qc3 hxg5 16.fxg5 Nxe4
Well...
At first glance, Black seems to have played himself out of difficulty. Alas, it is actually a checkmate in 9, for White.
17.Qxg7+ Ke6 18.Qg6+
Now, interposing a piece will cost Black a piece. There wasn't time to suss out 18.Qf7+ Ke5 19.Nc3 Qg8 20.Bf4+ Kd4 21.Rfd1+ Kc5 22.Be3+ Kb4 23.a3+ Ka5 24.b4+ Ka6 25.Qf1+ Qc4 26.Qxc4+ b5 27.Qxc6 checkmate
18...Kd5
19.Nc3+
Again, development makes the most sense when time is short. Instead 19.c4+ Kc5 20. Be3+ Nd4 21.Qxe4 Kb6 22.Bxd4+ c5 23.Bxh8 was crushing.
19...Nxc3 20.Qd3+ Ke6
This might have seemed the safest choice, but it was not.
21.Qxc3
I am sure that after the game drumme found 21.Qf5+ Ke7 22.Qf7 checkmate
21...Ne5 22.Qb3+ Kd7
Black's uncomfortable King and extra piece is slightly outweighed by White's better development and 2 extra pawns. Although the players' fortunes now go up and down, White keeps the pressure on.
23.Bf4 Qe8 24.Rae1 Kd8 25.Qd5 Qc6 26.Qb3 Re8
Note, for the umpteenth time, Black's light-squared Bishop at home, blocking his Rook. Typical defense-to-the-Jerome-Gambit "sin".
27.g6 Nxg6 28.Bg5+ Ne7 29.Rxe7 Rxe7 30.Bxe7+ Kxe7 31.Qf7+ Kd8 32.Qf6+ Ke8 33.Re1+ Kd7 34.Qe7 checkmate
One of my favorite chess writers is GM Andy Soltis. With over 100 books to his name, and almost 50 years as a chess columnist for the New York Post, he continues to write the longest-running column in the United States Chess Federation's magazine, Chess Life. "Chess to Enjoy" reflects Soltis' ongoing appreciation of both the weird and the wonderful in the Royal Game.
So, it is not surprising to run across "GM Follies", his August, 1997 Chess Life column. After acknowledging that Chess Informant had 57 symbols used in its annotations, he noted
Among them is "N" for "Novelty" - formerly known as "TN" for "Theoretical Novelty" - to designate some new and wonderful addition to opening theory.
However, GM Soltis has a caution, and a suggestion
Of course, not every good move is new - and not every new move is good. In fact, the last few years have seen a remarkable plague of HIs - Horrible Innovations...
After giving a couple of modern HIs, by a National Master and by a Grandmaster, he added
Those innovations are not likely to be repeated. But some really bad, yet not immediately refutable, novelties were tried more than once - and became famous enough to be recognized with their own name...
Why was I not surprised to read
THE JEROME GAMBIT
1. P-K4 P-K4 2. N-KB3 N-QB3 3. B-B4 B-B4 4. BxPch?? KxB 5. NxPch NxN 6. P-Q4 which gets it[sic] name because someone named Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, of Paxton, Illinois, recommended it in the American Chess Journal in 1876. Its only discernable value is showing how to sack two pieces as quickly as possible.
The reference to the American Chess Journal of 1876 is worth noting. As we have seen in earlier posts, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's first recommendation of his gambit came in the Dubuque Chess Journal, April 1874, Vol. VI, No. 50, p. 358-9.
In pointing out that earlier recommendation by AWJ, I mean no disrespect to GM Soltis; he appears to have relied on The Oxford Companion to Chess (1984, 1992) by Kenneth Whyld and David Hooper as his source - and there were several Jerome Gambit references in the 1876 American Chess Journal. (Add to that a curious series of naming and re-naming of chess magazines reference...)
It has been a while since I took a deep dive into a Jerome Gambit game, so I decided to inspect a 2019 game played by ZahariSokolov, online at FICS. He has 410 games in The Database, scoring 50%. Many of his games explore important lines, and can be quite complicated.
ZahariSokolov - GizmoClass
FICS, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
What could be more understandable than wanting to hold on to your extra 2 pieces? It is too early in the game to assess whether GizmoClass is naive or knowledgeable in making this move choice. (The Database has 1,121 games with this position; White scores 54%.)
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nf3+
Aha! The player of the Black pieces knows a bit about the Jerome Gambit, or he has a solid creative streak about him.
This Norton Defense, which first appeared in Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 42), was referred to as "a new departure" in the September, 1876 issue of the American Chess Journal. "[...Qf6] is the usual play. The text move prevents White from castling."
The "usual play" appeared in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analysis of the Jerome Gambit that appeared in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal; as well as in the games Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1874 (0-1, 21) and Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1-0, 43).
The text move, 8...Nf3+, can be found in 14 games in The Database, with White scoring a deceiving 71% (Komodo 10 assesses the position as even). It can be contrasted with 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ , the "Nibs" defense, which dates back at least as far as 1899. (The Database has 54 games; White scores 54%.)
Interestingly enough, despite Black's apparent knowledge of the Jerome Gambit, only one other game by GizmoClass appears in The Database - a 83-move draw (6...Kf8) played against ZahariSokolov, 6 months earlier. Did somebody "book up", afterwards?
9.gxf3
Capturing the Knight is best, but even the Gambit's creator slipped and chose 9.Kf1 in a game, instead: 9...c6 10.gxf3 Qe7 11.b4 Bb6 12.Bb2 Kc7 13.Qe5+ Qxe5 14.Bxe5+ d6 15.Bxg7 Bh3+ 16.Ke2 Bg2 17.Rd1 Ne7 18.Bxh8 Ng6 19.d4 Rxh8 20.Kf2 Nxf4 21.c3 Rg8 22.Nd2 Kd7 23.Ke3 Rf8 24.Rg1 Bd8 25.Kf2 Rg8 26.Ke3 Nh3 27.f4 Nxg1 28.Rxg1 Rg4 29.Nf1 Bh3 30.Ng3 Rh4 31.Nf5 Bxf5 32.exf5 Bf6 33.Rg3 Rxh2 34.a4 Rh1 35.a5 Re1+ 36.Kf3 Re7 37.Rh3 c5 38.bxc5 dxc5 39.Rh6 cxd4 40.cxd4 Bxd4 41.f6 Rf7 42.Ke4 Bxf6 and Black won, Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876.
To be fair, I should mention that I have played 9.Kf1 a couple of times, too - perrypawnpusher - igormsp, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13), and perrypawnpusher - rheapennata, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0,12) - and ZahariSokolov has gotten away with 9.Kd1, as well in ZahariSokolov - LAVAL, FICS, 2015 (1-0, 32). I have already argued, elsewhere, that "Good luck is better than a license to steal."
9...Qh4+ 10.Kd1
An earlier mistake that he shied away from was 10.Ke2, as in ZahariSokolov - Quarte, FICS, 2015 (0-1, 17); but it is hard not to enjoy the follies of an early computer against Jack Young: 10.Ke2 Qf2+ 11.Kd3 Qxf3+ 12.Kc4 b5+ 13.Kxb5 Rb8+ 14.Ka5 Bb4+?! 15.Ka4 Qxh1?? 16.Qe5+ Kc6 17.Qd5+ Kb6 18.Qxb5 checkmate
How should Black proceed?
Of course, 10...Qe7 11.Qd5 checkmate, is not optimal, at least for the defender, ZahariSokolov - GhengusFungus, FICS, 2014.
Instead, 10...Qf2 allows White to sue for peace by initiating repeated checks, e.g. 11.Qe5+ Kc6 12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.Qb3+ Ka6 14.Qa4+ Kb6 15.Qb3+ Kc6 16.Qd5+, etc. Actually, the American Chess Journal editor William Hallock, commenting on Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 (see above) wrote that after 10...Qf2 "Black has the better position". I challenged this notion in perrypawnpusher - Sir Osis of the Liver, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2008, and, when my opponent was unwilling to split the point, I went on to win (1-0, 19).
ZahariSokolov had already faced 10...Nf6, which led to an edge for White, but he lost after an unusual and unfortunate oversight: 11.e5+ Kc6 12.exf6 d6 13.Nc3? Bxf5 14.d3 gxf6 15.a3 Qf2 16.Bd2 Qxf3+ 17.Kc1 Be3 18.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 19.Kb1 Qxf4 20.Ka2 Be6+ 21.b3 Qd2 22.Kb2 Rhg8 23.Ne4 Qe3 24.Rae1 Qd4+ 25.Ka2 Bxb3+ 26.Kxb3 Rg2 27.Rd1 Qb6+ 28.Kc3 Rag8 29.Nxf6 Qa5+ 30.Kb3 Qb5+ 31.Kc3 Qe5+ 32.d4 Qxf6 resigned, ZahariSokolov - panpanOneTwo, FICS, 2018.
Best is probably 10...Ne7, but that is not what GizmoClass played.
[to be continued]
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 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.
My first win with the Jerome Gambit, in the second round of the "Italian Game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, was a bit of a journey through the opening's history.
An unfortunate slip by my opponent allowed me a tactical shot that brought the game to an early conclusion.
perrypawnpusher - PDX84
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
Black courageously thinks of holding onto both sacrificed pieces. The compter chess analysis at Chess.com, after the game, identified the move as "best".
7.Qf5+
Alonzo Wheeler Jerome first suggested this move in the April 4, 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal. He also played 7.f4 and 7.O-O in correspondence games against S.A. Charles, and suggested 7.b4 "for analysis"; this was covered in the October, 1881 issue of Brentano's Chess Monthly.
A check of The Database shows 507 games with 7.Qf5+, with White scoring 48%, as opposed to 517 games with 7.f4, with White scoring 61%. There are no games with 7.b4.
7...Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3
Not 10.Qxe5+ this time. That move has given me mixed results, and a loss most recently: perrypawnpusher - djdave28, Italian Game Tournament, Chess.com, 2014, (1-0, 22); perrypawnpusher - djdave28, Italian Game Tournament, Chess.com 2015, (1-0, 32); and perrypawnpusher - Altotemmi, Giuoco Piano Tournament, Chess.com, 2016, (0-1, 51).
The Queen exchange is at least as old as Jerome, A - Jaeger, D, correspondence, 1878 (0-1, 68).
10...Nf6
This move makes a lot of sense.
Jerome faced 10...Ne7 in a correspondence game against Jaeger in 1878 (0-1, 68).
Lowe,E - Cudmore,D, correspondence, 1881, continued 10...b5 (½-½, 48).
Keeble,J - Cubitt,J, Norwich 1886, continued 10...c6 (1-0, 17).
11.d3 Ke7
Black dodges the crudest of threats - 12.Bf4, pinning his Queen to his King. The idea is at least as old as Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876 (remove White's Queen Rook) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 Bxd4 9.c3 Bb6 10.f4 Qf6 11.fxe5+ Qxe5 12.Bf4 Qxf4 13.Qxf4+ Ke7 14.Rf1 Nh6 15.Qe5+ Kd8 16.Qxg7 Re8 17.Qg5+ Re7 18.Rf8 checkmate. Still, I've scored points from this "Optical Illusion" variation of the Jerome Gambit - see "Optical Illusion (1)", "Optical Illusion (2)" and "Disdainful Defender Defense".
Instead, 11...Kc6 was seen in Jerome, A - Colburn, correspondence 1879 (0-1, 34) and Jerome, A - Charles, S.A., correspondence, 1881 (unfinished).
12.Nc3 Bb4
Pinning the White Knight to keep it off of d5.
Instead:
12...g5 was seen in Jerome, A - Shinkman, W, Iowa, 1874 (0-1, 21);
12...d6 was seen in Jerome, A - Brownson, O, Iowa, 1875 (1-0, 43);
12...c6 was seen in Jerome, A - Amateur, off hand game, 1876 (1-0, 20); and
12...d5 was seen in Jerome, A - Pane, M, correspondence, 1878 (1-0, 41).
13.Bd2
I was amused to see that I had played 13.O-O here, years ago, in perrypawnpusher - PREMK, blitz, FICS, 2005. The idea was that 13...Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qxc3 15.Qg3!? would give White good play for the sacrificed pawn.
13...Rf8 14.O-O d6
Instead, in the post mortem, Komodo 10 recommended the brutal 14...Bd6, with the idea of forcing exchanges to eliminate White's attacking chances and highlight Black's piece-for-a-pawn advantage, e.g. 15.g3 c6 16.Bf4 Bc5+ 17.Kg2 Qh5 18.Na4 Qxf3+ 19.Rxf3 d6 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.Raf1 Bg4 22.R3f2 Be6
15.Nd5+ Black resigned
White will recover his sacrificed piece. He will be a pawn up, with better development and King safety. Black decided not to play on.
