In the particular Jerome Gambit line in the following game, Black is faced with returning one of the two pieces that White sacrificed. He has two general ways to respond - choose a piece to withdraw from danger, or ignore the attack and develop another piece. Either option could work. However, trying both leads to great danger. Wall, Bill - Shookspear, William lichess,org, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+
I like to imagine that Black is feeling clever here, knowing that he has to give back either the Knight or the Bishop, and deciding to have the Bishop capture on c3, taking a pawn, before saving the Knight. There are 255 game examples in The Database. 7.c3 Nf6
Black reverts to option number two: focus on development and let White mess up his pawn structure by capturing a piece. The move ...Nf6 would be better played while leaving the Bishop on c5, however. 8.dxe5 Bxc3+ According to plan, but it is not going to be successful. 9.Nxc3 Ne8
I was surprised to find a related game in The Database, with 9...Ng8, and the outcome - a win for Black - was a bit of a shock, but play could be improved for both sides: 10.Qd5+ Ke8 11.O-O Ne7 12.Qc4 c6 13.Bg5 d5 14.exd5 cxd5 15.Nxd5? (15.Qb5+) Be6? (15...Qxd5) 16.Nxe7 (16.Nc7+) Bxc4 White resigned, Idealist - HarryPaul, FICS, 2002. 10.O-O Rf8 11.Qh5+ Kg8
Feeling good. White has helped Black castle-by-hand. 12.Bg5 g6 13.Qh4 Black resigned
Oh, dear. Black can try 13...Nf6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 (if 14...Qe8 then 15.Nd5) 15.exf6 but that would leave him down a Rook and a pawn.
As a follow-up to the last post, let me point out that the presenter has many interesting videos online - including the game Nelson vs Sugar, which is another interesting Jerome Gambit. Since I have not shared that game on this blog, let me do so, now. Nelson, Lamoni - Sugar, Zoltan Jamaica, Queens, USA, 2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
In an earlier post, "Jerome Gambit Doctor", the direct 6...Be7 was examined, as in HauntedKnight - Josue, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 29). 7.dxe5 Be7 Black wants no part of 7...Bxe5 8.Qd5+. See the recent "Borrowed As Good As Own". 8.O-O d6 9.f4 The computers prefer 9.Qf3+, as seen in Idealist - throwback, FICS, 2000: 9... Nf6 10.exf6 Bxf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rd1 Rf8 13.e5 Kg8 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Qg3 Qf8 16.Ne4 Rg6 17.Qc3 Qf5 18.Ng3 Qf7 19.Be3 Rf8 20.Rf1 c6 21.Rad1 d5 22.Qb4 b6 23.Qd6 Bg4 24.Rd2 Rxd6 25.Ne4 Rg6 26.Ng5 Qf5 27.h4 h6 28.c4 hxg5 29.Bxg5 Rxg5 30.hxg5 Qxg5 31.Rd3 Rf6 32.Rg3 Rh6 33.f3 Qe3+ 34.Rf2 Qe1+ 35.Rf1 Qxg3 36.fxg4 Rh2 37.Rf2 Rh1+ 38.Kxh1 Qxf2 39.Kh2 d4 40.Kh3 d3 41.g3 d2 42.Kh4 d1=Q 43.Kg5 Qdd2+ 44.Kh5 Qh6 checkmate 9... g6 10. e6+
"Ain't that a kick in the head?" as Dean Martin once asked. Black can, and maybe should, take the pawn, but things will remain complicated, thanks to those annoying "Jerome pawns". 10...Kg7 11.f5 Nf6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Bg5 Instead, Stockfish suggests the wild, but it sees as balanced, 13.g4 h5!? 14.g5 Ng4 15.Qd4+ Kh7 16.f6. 13...Qb6+
14.Kh1 Qc7 15.fxg6 This gives Black a saving chance. Better was 15.Qf3. 15... hxg6 The computer gives 15...Bxe6, and while the rest of the recommendation is no walk in the park for Black's King, it turns out better than the text: 16.Qd4 Raf8 17.gxh7 Rxh7 18.Rad1 Qa5 19.Bf4 Qb6 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.e5 dxe5 22.Bxe5 Kg6 23.Bd6 Bf5 24.Rfe1 Bxd6 25.Rxd6 Bxc2 26.h3 Kg7 27.Ree6. Now White finishes up neatly. 16.Bxf6+ Bxf6 17.Rxf6 Kxf6 18.Qd4+ Kxe6 19.Qxh8 Rb8 20.Rf1 Qe7 Black resigned
Black's Bishop and Rook will stand around, helpless, while his King is chased and checkmated.
Periodically in this new year we will be looking at different lines in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and be providing ideas (and study material) which may deliver "first aid" or heavier "fixes" in situations where White's play has been injured.
Here is a game by HauntedKnight, a regular player of things Jerome. He has 144 games in The Database, scoring an over-all 49%, which is the over-all average for White in those 27,400 games. With the Jerome Gambit proper he scores 42%, which is comparable to the 43% of all Jerome Gambit games in The Database. HauntedKnight - Josue standard game, FICS, 2012 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Ever since, the JeromeGambitGemeinde has seen the Blackburne Defense – or parts of it, at least.
perrypawnpusher - Saveurking blitz FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The good old Jerome Gambit. "Sound as a cracked bell," as Geoff Chandler has written.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
7.Qxe5
Now 7...Qe7, Whistler's Defense, is very strong, but not well known, while 7...d6, Blackburne's Defense, is not as strong, but much better known. Sort of.
Actually, I frequently run into opponents who play 6...g6 quickly and confidently... and then go into a long think.
This looks like an invitation for me to put my "Jerome pawns" into motion.
13.h3 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.b3 Na5
16.Be3
Protecting the pawn at d4, but it is interesting to note that this was not necessary: if White played 16.Bg5 instead, and Black responded 16...Qxd4, 17.Qf4+ would have won a piece (17...Bf5 18.exf5) or allowed a sacrificial attack, say 17...Ke6 18.Nd5.
analysis diagram
Some day I would like to find this kind of move during a game, not after it. If 18...cxd5 19.exd5+ Qxd5 White's position is crushing afte 20.Rad1 and 21.Rfe1.
16...h5
Saveurking is not going to give up easily.
17.f4h4 18.Qf3 Bb7
19.e5 dxe520.fxe5 Qxf3 21.Rxf3+ Ke6
My opponent was happy to exchange Queens, but there is more to this position than just attacking the King: I still have two extra pawns, one of them passed; plus better development and open lines.
22.Rf6+ Ke7 23.Raf1 Raf8 24.Rxf8Rxf8 25.Rxf8 Kxf8
Again, piece exchanges have snuffed out any danger to Black's King, but this is not all that is going on.
My first chess book was Reuben Fine's Chess the Easy Way – available in paperback these days, used, for under $5.00 – and it gave me the idea (rightly or wrongly) that much of chess can be boiled down to: win a pawn, exchange everything else, win the K + P vs K endgame...
I have missed a lot of exciting chess by following this imagined "guideline," and I have been "bought off" with material too many times to mention; but I am almost always ready to cooperate with my opponents' wishes to "simplify" the position and stifle my attack – if it brings me closer to that fabled winning K + P endgame.
26.Bg5 c5
This move hastens the end. Black could try 26...Bc8 instead, with the idea of pulling his Knight back to b7 and then putting it back into the game via d8 and e6.
27.d5
The pawns will now decide the game.
27...Bc8 28.e6 Nb7 29.Ne4 Ke8 30.Kf2 b5
31.c4 bxc4 32.bxc4 Na5
33.Nd6+ Kf8 34.e7+ Kg7 Black resigned
White will Queen his pawn and deliver mate in a few move moves.
