Jerome Pawns Have Mercy!

I just received another bullet game (1 minute, no increment) Jerome Gambit game from Cliff Hardy that ends rather brutally. I will leave the comments up to him, and add diagrams.

This is a bullet game played on Lichess, where the Jerome pawns were rather merciless:

Cliff Hardy - NN

1 0, Lichess, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Ng6?! 

The ever popular defence.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qe3 Be6?!

The regular mistake, which leads to a slight advantage to Black, and was inferior to 10...Kf7, with a clear advantage to Black.

11.0-0?!

11.f4 would have been more direct and better

11...Qd7?!

Now things are fairly equal but 11...Nh5!? 12. d4 Rf8 would have restrained White from playing the dangerous advance f4, and still kept a very healthy advantage for Black.

12.f4 Bf7 13.f5 Ne5?!

Encouraging the Jerome pawns to go on the march and yielding White a clear advantage, whereas the defensive 13...Ne7 would still have led to equality. 

14.d4 Nc4 15.Qg3 Bg8

Black tries to prevent the fork of Black's queen and bishop via the White pawn advance e4-e5-e6, though 15...Qe7 would have been a better attempt at doing that.

16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.e6 Qc6 

19.Bg5?

Still winning, but missing that I could have now simply played the superior 19.Qxg7

19...Nxc3 20.Qxc3 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Kf8 

22.f6 g6 23.f7 Qe5

Trying to shield his rook on h8 from attack but there is no defence any more to White's overpowering pawns.

24.e7+ Kg7 and Black resigned

Jerome pawns have mercy! White would checkmate in 2 moves after 25. f8=Q+ Rxf8 26. exf8=Q

Jerome Gambit: Too Fast, Too Furious (Part 1)

I was playing my last game in the first round of the "Let's Play The Italian Game" tournament at Chess.com when, suddenly, two opponents made their moves against me in new games. Apparently, the computer scheduler had decided that I would progress to the second round of play, even if I lost the first round game (I didn't; I won it) - so, there I was, with two second round games.

Somewhat disconcerting, each of my opponents was playing quickly - in fact, one of my games ended after a day of play, rather fast given that the time control was one move per day.

Still, I was willing to move with speed, too, as we were contesting a Jerome Gambit - in a line that I had visited several times before. (Alas, I lost the other 3 games, so no more "next" round for more Jeromes.)

perrypawnpusher - TobiasBrunner
"Let's Play The Italian Game" tournament
Chess.com, 2018 

 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ 

Years ago, I labeled this finesse "a nudge". It is as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, US, 1875 (1-0, 28). In a blitz game, it can get Black wondering what White is up to - using up precious time.

7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 

After the game, I put Stockfish 9 in "blunder check" mode to look at the game. Initially, it liked 9.Qc3 Qg5 10.Qg3 Qxg3 11.hxg3, with Black's advantage less than a pawn. That seems a bit silly to me, White moving his Queen 5 times, only to let it be exchanged.

According to The Database, I have reached the diagrammed position 83 times in my games. I must have learned something about the line.

9...Nf6 10.O-O Kf7 

Black sensibly prepares to mobilize his Rook, and possibly castle-by-hand.

A major alternative is 10...Ng4.The proper response is 11.Qg3!,and this is reminiscent of the series of posts I did a while back on "Jerome Gambit Secrets". A strong and experienced Jerome Gambiteer tried 11.Qe2, instead, and perished quickly: mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008 (0-1, 14). Another played 11.Qc3 and needed all of his Houdini-like powers to escape and turn the tables: Wall,B - Guest1660564, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 32). 

I have played 11.Qg3 with mixed results: perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 14), perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 49), perrypawnpusher - FiNLiP, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 59). For a couple of more modern examples, from stronger players, see Sheldrick,K - Bhat,V, Australian Open, 2017 (1-0, 20) and Morin,L - Weston,P, Quebec Open, 2018 (1-0, 54)

11.f4 Re8 12.f5 

I have been pretty successful with this thematic move (10 - 4 - 1), chasing the Knight, so I was surprised to see, after the game, that Stockfish 9 recommended 12.Qb3+!? instead. The Database has only one game with that move, a win by Black in 25 moves.

12...Ne5 13.d4 

Here, again, the computer prefers 13.Qb3+, followed by 14.d3, which seems to lock the Queen on the Queenside. (There are no game examples in The Database.) As we will see, Stockfish's preference is based on disliking Black's next move.

13...Neg4 

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: King of the Hill

Experienced Jerome Gambit players may well tell themselves "I have seen everything" when it comes to our favorite opening. The following game, however, recently played by "Cliff Hardy" may test that point of view.

I mean, have you ever used the Jerome in a blitz speed "King of the Hill" game? Enjoy. But maybe after a cup of coffee.

Notes are (mostly) by Cliff.

This Jerome Gambit game was played in a Lichess "King of the Hill" tournament ("King of the Hill" is a chess variant where a player wins either with checkmate or by getting their king to one of the 4 central squares - e4, d4, d5 or e5).

Cliff Hardy - NN

King of the Hill, 3 0, Lichess.org, 2018

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

Unfortunately, Stockfish dislikes this move more in "King of the Hill" than in a normal game as it helps Black to get his king towards the centre and it rates this as -3.7 pawn advantage for Black. (Lichess has a function where Stockfish can actually annotate the game, even though it is a "King of the Hill" game)!

4...Kxf7 5.Nxf7+ Nxf7+ 6.Qh5+ g6!

A good defence, though 6...Ke6!, getting the king towards the centre squares, is also strong. Both moves give Black around a -6 advantage, so 6.d4 (avoiding this) was a technically better move.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8?

In a normal chess game, White would have a winning advantage in this particular position. Conversely though, this line is actually very strong for Black in King of the Hill (-11) as Black has good chances of getting his king to the centre, so retreating the queen with 8.Qg3 was a much better attempt for White.

8...Qf6

OK (-3.5), but the Blackburnesque 8...Qh4! (-11) was much stronger.

9.Qxh7+??

In a normal chess game, this move would be fine in this position but actually Black has a forced win in 5 moves in "King of the Hill".

9...Ke6!

Black now threatens to win the game on the spot by getting his king to one of the central squares with 10..Ke5!

10.d4 Bxd4??

Black had a forced win in 3 moves, using a brilliant "King of the Hill" tactic here with 10...Qxf2+!! 11.Kxf2 (11.Kd1 Qxd4+! 12. any Ke5 0-1!, as black's king has reached one of the 4 central squares) 11...Bxd4+ 12. any Ke5 0-1!

11.f4

To stop black winning immediately with ...Ke5.

11...d5??

Black should have thought of normal chess and just saved his knight with 11...Ne7 +-.

12.Qxg8+ Kd6 13.Nd2??

We keep being confused by this variant and missing simple moves that work just as well as in a normal chess game - 13.Qxd5+ kept a winning advantage for white here.

13...Qxf4??

14.Nc4+! dxc4 15.Bxf4+ Kc5 16.Qd5+ Kb4 17.a3+ Ka4 18.b3+ cxb3 19.cxb3 mate

(Wow. The game reminds me of a heavyweight boxing match, where one pugilist is behing on points and has only one chance for success - a knockout. In this case - a checkmate. Like I have said before, you can't take "Uncle Jerome" anywhere - even a King of the Hill game - without him causing a disturbance. - Rick)

Jerome Gambit Secrets #5

Time to look at a couple more "secrets".

Ten years ago I played a Jerome Gambit game that started off

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 

Black then played a relatively weak move that had showed up only once before in The Database.

8...Ne7

When I posted the game on this blog, back then, I recommended, instead, 8...Qh4!?, which had been played a number of times before - as early as a supposed 1899 telephone game - and which continued to be played, year after year. (So: 8...Qh4 isn't much of a "secret".)

9.Qxe5+ Kc6

As a measure of the imbalance of the position, in one of my games, Black resigned at this point.

10.d4

In my blog notes I recommended as better 10.Qc3!?. Curiously, of the 5 subsequent games with that move in The Database, 4 were played by me - and only once did I remember my improvement, but not the proper followup.

The idea, of course, is 10.Qc3 b6 11.b4 and White wins back his piece after either 11...d6 or 11...d5.

So, 10.Qc3 is still enough of a "secret" that private eye "Cliff Hardy" overlooked it in a Jerome Gambit game of his this year - although, since he was playing "blindfold", perhaps "overlook" isn't the right word...

After 10.d4, however, only 2 games in The Database have Black's proper response, 10...d6!? - an almost "secret" move that caught me by surprise, although I was still able to deliver checkmate in 20 moves. The Jerome Gambit is like that, folks.

Stockfish 9 suggests my game should have gone 10.d4 d6 11.Qxg7 Nf5!? 12.exf5 Rg8 13.Qxh7 Bd4 with Black for choice - despite being down material, and despite having his King on c6.

Cliff Hardy noted in assessing his own game that after 10.d4 d6 11.Qxg7 Nf5 12.exf5 Qe8+ 13.Kd1 Bxf5 "...if anything, Black has an edge, despite his two-pawn deficit. Note that 14.dxc5? now would be crushed by ...Qh5+. Instead White should try the sharp 14.d5+!? when Black would be prudent to reply 14...Kb6, with in an unclear position where White's King is in more danger than his counterpart, and Black's 2 Bishops and better Rooks give him the more threatening prospects."

There you go: 10.Qc3!? and 10.d4 d6!?, two secrets for the price of one.

Jerome Gambit: Jerome Pawns Run Riot

Often White gets "only" 2 pawns for a sacrificed piece in the Jerome Gambit. Yet, if the defender is not careful, those "Jerome pawns" can run riot all over his position.

This latest game from "Cliff Hardy" is a brutal example of such pawns.

By the way, it is also another lightning game - 1 minute to complete the game, no increment. In such situations, a quick appraisal of the position in front of you is essential, and experience in what to look for and value is an advantage. Cliff takes a critical look at his - and his opponent's - moves, but it is all in the service of sharpening his eye for his next Jerome Gambit encounter.

The following notes are his. I have added diagrams. - Rick 

Happy birthday yet again, now you've reached the age of ten! 

I liked the following game as the Jerome pawns were quite successful in it. If only you could force opponents to defend against the Jerome Gambit like you can in a Giuoco Piano themed tournament, like the one in which I played this game, where the first 3 moves for White and Black were obligatory.

I know I am a little critical of the moves sometimes, but when you are looking at the game afterwards with the help of the Stockfish chess engine, it can be easy to be critical 😉. 

Cliff Hardy (2184) - NN (2041), 
1 0 Giuoco Piano tournament, 2018

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 Be6?! =+ 

It appears my opponent is not used to defending against the Jerome Gambit as this bishop is running headlong into the pawn fork f2-f4-f5 - 9...Nf6 instead would have kept a clear advantage for Black.

10.0-0 N8e7?! +=

Surprisingly, this defensive move was a big error that allowed my Jerome pawns a bit too much latitude - 10...Nf6 11.f4 Ne7! would have restrained the white pawns and kept a slight advantage for Black.

11.f4 Bd7 12.d4 Rf8 13.f5 Nh8 

13...Nh4 moves in Jerome Gambit games often run into the pawn move g3, trapping the knight, so my opponent chose to retreat to the corner instead.

14.Nc3 Nf7!

Restraining the Jerome pawns.

15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Bf4?! +=

Even though it could be captured there by a knight, putting the bishop to g5 would have been much more incisive, with a clear advantage for White.

16...Nc6 17.Rad1 Qe7?

Black struggled to find a liberating move under the strain of the Jerome pawns - 17...g5!? would have been an interesting attempt to free himself.

18.Nd5 Qd8 19.c3 Ne7 20.Nxe7?! 

20. Ne3! would have kept Black cramped and left White with a clear advantage. 

 20...Qxe7 

21.e5

The Jerome pawns start going on a rampage.

21...dxe5 22.dxe5?

Too much rampaging! 23.Rde1!, keeping open the options of taking on e5 with either the pawn or bishop, would have kept a clear advantage for White.

22...Bc6?

Black missed a chance here - 22...Bxf5 would have turned the tables and left black with a slight advantage.

23.e6 Nd6 24.Bg5??

I was staggered to find out after the game that this was a big blunder - 24.Bxd6 cxd6 25.f6! ++- (intending fxe7 or f7+) would have been a fitting triumph for the Jerome pawns.

24...Qf8?? ++-

24...Ne4! 25.Bxe7 Nxg3 26.hxg3 Kxe7 -++ would have been much better, when the extra bishop for Black would likely have proven to have been decisive.

25.Qe5 g6

Now the Jerome pawns run riot completely though Black was totally lost anyway - he can hardly move a piece.

26.f6 h6 27.f7+ Nxf7 28.exf7 checkmate

Suitably, a Jerome pawn got to complete the mate.

Jerome Gambit: Think About It - When You Can

Here is the latest "Cliff Hardy" Jerome Gambit game, another 1-minute wonder.

Notes are by "Cliff" (with diagrams and an occasional addition by me - Rick).

Do not be distressed by "Cliff's" objective, if sometimes gloomy, appraisal of White's position. It is important to understand what he was thinking - and what he was missing.

As the time limit for a game shrinks, strong players move closer and closer to choosing their moves mostly by intuition - and then supporting them through analysis - when there is time. What follows is another lesson in the application and limits of intuition.

This was a fun game.

Cliff Hardy (2111) - NN (1988), 1 0, Lichess, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6?!

What is the popularity like of this move in your database/s again, Rick? I face it a lot in this particular position - it feels like maybe 75% of the time that I have this position, I encounter the move 6...Ng6.

(I just checked with The Database, in games starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+: 

6...Ng6 shows up in 46% of the games;
6...Ke6 appears in 25% of the games;
6...Kf8 is played in 15% of the games; and 
6...g6 is played in 12% of the games.
I guess many defenders see 6...Ng6 as a common sense move - block the check, save a piece, say goodbye to the other piece because White must know what he is doing & therefore "must" get a piece back, as no real opening lets White sac 2 pieces...-Rick)

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.0-0 Qe7

(This is a small improvement for Black over earlier defenses Cliff has faced: 10...Ke7 in Hardy - NN, Italian Game Bullet Arena, lichess.org, 2018 [1-0, 37]; and 10...Ng4 in Hardy - NN, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2017 [1-0, 19] and Hardy - Pomo12, 10 0 blindfold, lichess.org, 2018 [0-1, 67] - Rick)

11.Nc3 c6?! =+

This looks OK to me, but not to the Stockfish computer program and when I encounter real top eschelon players in the Jerome, they find stronger moves like 11...Kf7! -+ (aiming for 12...Re8, with quick pressure against the white centre) against me, even in lightning games.

12.f4 Bd7? +-

Another move which fails to pressure white's position - 11...b5 would have maintained equality.

13. f5? Ne5 =+

I have a lot of trouble in these Jerome positions figuring out whether to play f5 first or d4 first and then f5 and here again I chose the wrong way - 13. d4 +- would have been very good for White.

14. d4 Nf7!

Holds the Jerome pawns up well.

(The lesser 14...Nc4 was seen in Hardy - NN, 1 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2018 [1-0, 20] - Rick)

15.Qf3? -++

Quickly developing with 15.Bd2 Rae8 16.Rae1 =+ would've been better.

15...Re8! 16.Re1 b6? =+

Harmless - counter-attacking with 16...c5 -++ would've been better.

17.g4? -++

The less committal 17.Bf4 =+ would've been safer.

17...h618.h4 c5! 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 Nh5 21.Nd5 Qd8

22.g6? Nh6??

It was fun for me to rain the Jerome pawns down but 22...Qh4! -++ would've shown the vulnerability of the exposed white king here.

(This is one of the interesting psychological points in the Jerome Gambit. Club players have grown up playing over attacking games and solving attacking or mating puzzles. Too often, then, in their games, defenders give the attackers the benefit of the doubt concerning their aggression - if he is attacking, there must be something to it - instead of digging in and finding defensive resources. - Rick)

23.f6??

I guess we both missed the possibility of 23.Qxh5 here - oops!

(C'mon, Cliff, it was a 1-minute game with no increment. Fast. I'm surprised your opponent didn't yell "You sank my battleship!" - Rick)

23...Nxf6 24.Bg5 Ng8 25.e5 dxe5 26.dxe5 

26...Be6?? -+

I thought I had some good pressure here but 26...Bg4! -++, intending to take on d5 with the queen, would have been a crusher.

27.exf6 gxf6?? ++-

27...Qxd5 -+ unfortunately would still have refuted my position.

28.Nxf6 Qd4+

29. Re3??

29.Kg2 ++- would have been best here.

29...Nxf6??

29...Rh3! -+ (intending tricky stuff like 30.Qf2 Nxf6 31.Rxh3 Qxf2+ 32.Kxf2 Ne4+! 33.Kg1 Bxh3) was a hard-to-see win for Black.

30.Bxf6 Qxf6??

Sacrificing the queen with 30...Qxe3+ was losing, but was Black's only chance to keep the game going on for much longer.

31.Qxf6+ Kg8 32.Rxe6 Rf8 33.Re8! and Black lost on time

However, White had a checkmate coming here with Rxf8, Qxf8 or Qf7, so Black was dead anyway.

I had another couple of games against this opponent after this one. Unfortunately, the next game in which he was black, he didn't chance playing against the Jerome Gambit and played the French Defence instead.