Jerome Gambit: History in Play

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.

The Classics I (a first look)

In recent posts I have suggested that those who play, and those who face, the Jerome Gambit, would benefit from becoming familiar with "the classics" of that line.

That got me thinking: What would those classics be?

I have come up with a preliminary sketch. I think all of the games (except one) have appeared on this blog.

0. Jerome - Dougherty

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome has written that his first Jerome Gambit was played against George Dougherty. Although I have not yet been able to find the game, it most likely occurred before the April, 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, where the first analysis of the Jerome Gambit was presented. Of Dougherty I know little, but the following notice occurred in the Dubuque Chess Journal, May 1875

Our Portfolio
Chess Challenge
George J. Dougherty, of Mineola, Queen's County, New York, hereby respectfully invites John G. Belden, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., to play him two games of chess by Postal Card, at his convenience, Mr. Belden taking the attack in one game and Mr. Dougherty in the other; the object being to test the soundness of Jerome's Double Opening, published in the April No. (50) of this Chess Journal.


1. Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1874

The first published Jerome Gambit played by Jerome that I have been able to uncover (in the July issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal) was a loss by White.

2. Jerome - Whistler, correspondence, 1876

Largely lost to the chess-playing public, the correspondence match between Jerome and Lt. G.N. Whistler (one game survives) tested the latter's defense to the Jerome Gambit. Alas, a crushing defeat for White - who rarely, if ever, seemed to remember to mention the line thereafter.

3. Vazquez - Giraudy, exhibition, Mexico, 1876

In perhaps the most outrageous Jerome Gambit played, the Mexican champion, giving Rook odds, checkmated his opponent in 18 moves.

4. Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd Match, Mexico, 1876

This is actually a "composite" listing, as the Mexican champion played the Jerome Gambit three times (games 1, 5 and 9) in his match with William Carrington, winning them all.

5.  D'Aumiller - A. P., Livorno, 1878


This miniature played in Livorno, Italy - lasting 19 moves, at which point White announced a mate in 4 - was published in the May 1878 issue of Nuova Rivista degli Scacchi, showing that the Jerome Gambit had already hurdled the ocean.

[to be continued]

Some History of the Jerome Gambit (Part 1)

I was a bit surprised how much I had to hunt in the posts of this blog for examples of the line that we have been discussing, at the behest of Филидор1792, 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.Na3 – see "An Intriguing Letter" Parts 1, 2 and 3 – especially since the line has a long and interesting history in the story of the Jerome Gambit.

The Database has only 3 games with the line – or 5, if you count the pair recently contributed by Филидор1792. One, Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1887, was presented with light commentary; another, perrypawnpusher - BronxBoyII, blitz, FICS, 2008, appeared without notes as an aside in another game; and the third, alechinez - marcinho, standard, FICS, 2009, has yet to appear.

Even if we back up a move, leaving off White's 9th, The Database has less than a couple dozen game examples, only two (excluding the ones named above) appearing in this blog: Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (without notes) and Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876 (without notes and without White's Queen Rook).

Clearly, I have some work to do!

George J. Dougherty Club Members (Early Years)

"The George J. Dougherty Club" was recently established, along the lines of the "Vera Menchik Club" – the latter reserved for male chess players who, despite their airs of superiority, lost to the women's World Champion, between the World Wars  – to acknowledge those who have lost to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), starting with Mr. Dougherty, who Alonzo Wheeler Jerome named as his first victim.

OG (Original Gamester) members include Dougherty (1874?), O.A. Brownson (1875), Morton B. Pane (1878), Daniel Jaeger (1879), J.K. Zimmerman (1880) and numerous unnamed Amateurs, all who had the notoriety of losing to Jerome, himself, and his Gambit.

As my researches continue, I will add further names.

Special mention must be made of William Carrington, who, in his second match against the Mexican Champion, Andres Clemente Vazquez, in 1876, faced and surrendered to the Jerome Gambit three times.

Likewise, M. Giraudy must be singled out for recognition as the first known player to face the Jerome Gambit in an odds game (odds of Queen Rook) in 1876, again played by Andres Clemente Vazquez, only to lose in under 20 moves. 

Jerome Gambit Odds

I've mentioned a number of times how the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be played as a way of giving odds to a weaker player.

White's plan should be to strike quickly, before his opponent gets his bearings.

perrypawnpusher  - Dogyou
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qe8

This move was new to me. It has some of the characteristics of the more usual 8...Qf6, although it doesn't immediately threaten the exchange of Queens.

Sharpest was 8...Qh4+, entering the malestrom of the Nibs Defense. 

9.fxe5+

More precise might be 9.d3, as Rybka suggests that the top two responses are 9...Kc6 and 9...Nxd3, not necessarily a club player's choices. (Rybka's third choice is 9...Nh6, which is what I would go with.)

9...Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6

I've had this position six times before (6-0) and played 11.d3 each time. For some reason, in this game I varied here.

11.Nc3 a6

Again, one of the interesting (and advantageous) things about the Jerome Gambit is how often a defensive move by the Black King is the best choice, despite the adage about not moving a piece too many times.

Here, Dogyou prevents Nc3-b5+, but three of the top four moves that Rybka likes are King moves, the best being 11...Kc6, maintaining a clear advantage for Black.

12.d3

Better here was 12.d4, throwing White's pieces against the enemy Queen and King, e.g. 12...Qxd4 13.Bf4+ Kc6 14.Rd1 Qc4 15.e5+, and Black has only a small advantage. 

There is something about this kind of set-up that makes my opponents prone to an optical illusion. I don't understand it and i can't explain it. There is a blatant threat – is it that hard to see?

12...c6 13.Bf4

This is the sixth time I've gotten away with this, but the trick is 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

13...Bd4 14.0-0-0

Not bad, but the simple 14.Bxe5+ followed by 15.d4 was stronger.

14...Bxc3

Black's game goes to pieces.

15.bxc3 g5 16.Bxe5+ Kxe5

17.Qf5+ Kd6 18.Qxf6+ Kc7 19.Qxh8 b5 20.Qe5+ Kb6 21.Qd6 Black resigned

Alas, it was not meant to be...

The March 1891 issue of The International Chess Magazine carried news of a 6-game match in Havana, Cuba between Joseph Henry Blackburne and Andres Clemente Vazquez, from March 5 to March 11.


Vazquez, current Mexican Consul General in Cuba, was an early advocate of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). The past and future Mexican Chess Champion's handicap game in 1876 against Giraudy was introduced in the November 1876 issue of the American Chess Journal with some fanfare

Odds givers will also find the Jerome Gambit a summary method for disposing of the neophyte. And by the way, we observe that this new opening has found its way to Mexico – An American idea in the halls of the Montezumas. Signor Andres Clemente Vazquez, the Mexican Champion and editor of La Estrategia Mexicane, has been trying the "Double" [Jerome's Double Gambit] on an amateur at the odds of Queen's Rook, and that, too, with brilliant success, as will be seen by the following game, which we copy from La Estrategia.

In 1876 Vazquez was 3-0 with the Jerome Gambit in his second match against William Harrington, games he included in his book of that year, Algunas Partidas de Ajedrez.


Of note is that in his third edition of Analisis del juego de ajedres (1889) Vazquez included (along with the Giraudy game and a Harrington game) analysis of Blackburne's 1885 crushing defeat of the Jerome Gambit played by an amateur (for the game, see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!", "Flaws (Part I)" and "Flaws (Part II)").

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 in the Blackburne game, Vazquez suggested that instead of 10.c3 White should have played 10.Qd8, and after 10...Bb6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qd3 White would have had the better game. (This is the earliest incidence of this analysis that I have seen; Munoz and Munoz, in reporting the Anonymous - Blackburne game in the August 1885 Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, had simply suggested 10.Qd8)

So, in the 4th game of the Blackburne - Vazquez match, with The Black Death leading two games to one, Vazquez had the White pieces and played: 1.e4 e5

In the second game of the match Blackburne had dodged with 1...c6, a Caro-Kann.

2.Bc4 Nc6

Best authorites recommend here 2...Nf6 wrote Steinitz.

3.Nf3 Bc5

The Italian Game! And now... and now... the Jerome Gambit???

And now Vazquez moved 4.0-0 and played a delayed Evans Gambit after 4...Nf6 with 5.b4.... He was checkmated in 40 moves.

The position after the third move again arose in the 6th game, with Blackburne leading the match 4-1, and Vazquez transposed to the pacific Four Knights Game with 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3, losing in 33 moves.

Alas, a Jerome Gambit game was not to be.


(It is interesting to note that Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess, published in 1899, has the more straight-forward move order for the 4th match game: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5, etc. On the other hand, P. Anderson Graham, in his summary of "Mr. Blackburne's Successes" in the same book, refers to Vazquez as the champion of Brazil!)

Firsts

An exchange of emails with Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne"):

Hi Rick,

Not sure if I mentioned this, but one of my Internet wins with the Jerome is in Gary Lane's book The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps .

I wonder if this is the first publication of a complete Jerome game in book form?

Pete

Hi Pete,

I've got dibs on the review copy of Gary's book when it shows up at Chessville, so I'll be able to see your game in print with my own eyes. Congratulations all over again!

As for the first publication of a complete Jerome Gambit game in book form, I think your game is a rare item, but not the first.

Andres Clemente Vazquez included three Jerome Gambits from his second match with William Carrington in his book Algunas Partidas de Ajedrez (1876); and he shared his game against L. Giraudy in the 2nd & 3rd editions of his Analisis del juego de ajedres: libro a propositio para que pueda aprender dicho juego, el que lo ignore del todo, in necesidad de maestro (1885, 1889). (Not in the 1st edition, mind you: it was published in 1874, the first year that the Jerome Gambit saw print.)

Of course, the infamous game Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885, appeared in Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899), and thereafter in numerous books, including Handbuch des Schachspiels - 8th ed (1916); Du Mont's 200 Miniature Games of Chess (1942); Chernev and Harkness' An Invitation to Chess A Picture Guide to the Royal Game (1945); and Wenman's Master Chess Play (1951).

More recently, Eric Schiller has included Amateur -Blackburne in his Unorthodox Chess Openings (1998, 2002) and Gambit Chess Openings (2002); and, with John Watson, his Survive and Beat Annoying Chess Openings (2003).

Hope that isn't rain on your parade -- your game appears to be the first game from this century and the past one to appear in book form, as far as I know. Good enough?

Best wishes,

Rick

But – Is this stuff playable?? (Part I)

Of course not.

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has many refutations.

I'm glad that's settled.

Maybe a more useful question would be --
Under what conditions might the Jerome Gambit be playable?

In casual or blitz games among "average" players , perhaps -- when Grandmaster Nigel Davies' words from his Gambiteer I (2007) are relevant:

Having examined literally thousands of club players’ games over the years, I have noticed several things:
1) The player with the more active pieces tends to win.
2) A pawn or even several pawns is rarely a decisive advantage.
3) Nobody knows much theory.
4) When faced with aggressive play, the usual reaction is to cower.

I like the sound of that.

Also, what do you make of the following position?

White, down two pieces without compensation, is lost, right?

Actually, the game is Morphy - T. Knight, New Orleans 1856, which ended in the first player announcing checkmate in 17 moves.

And this position?

Morphy - Maurian, New Orleans, 1858, a win for White in 15 moves..

Ok, you're catching on. It's possible for a stronger player to give a weaker player odds of a piece or more and still have a fighting chance.

Just like someone could give "Jerome Gambit odds" in the right situation..

One more position: White is lost, right??

This is a trick position.

Vazquez - Giraudy
Mexico, 1876
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 mate

Andres Clemente Vazquez, the Mexican Champion and editor of La Estrategia Mexicane gave both Knight's and Jerome Gambit odds -- and still managed a checkmate in under 20 moves!