Jerome Gambit: Pawns and Tactics

As I mentioned previously, I received an email and some games from CasualGames4ever

So recently, just now, I played a nineteen game match against a similarly rated opponent in 3+0 blitz. As white in all but one game I played the jerome gambit, linking them all would make this email ridiculously long, so I will only link the ones I thought are the best. 

Unlike the other two this one demonstrates the attacking potential of this opening rather than the positional ideas. I quickly launch the d, e, and f pawns in a brutal assault towards my opponent's king. This proved immediately fatal. 

CasualGames4ever - Alanvarela10
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.O-O d6 

Varying from the 2 earlier games we have seen, where Black captured the Knight at e5.

7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.d4 Bb6 

9.f4 Ne7 10.f5 Ng8 

I was surprised to see that Komodo 10 agreed with this move.

11.Nc3 Qf6 12.Be3 Ne7 13.Qd3 h5 

Hoping to let the Rook work from home.

14.e5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Qxe5 

The pawn was off limits, as White shows.

16.Bxb6 axb6 17.Qd8+ Kf7 18.Qxh8 

19...c5 19.Qxh5+ Kg8 20.Qe8+ Kh7 21.Rf3 Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Nxf5 23.Rh3+ Nh6 

24.Rxh6+ Kxh6 25.Qc6+ Qd6 26.Qxa8 Bf5 

27.Qh8+ Kg6 28.Qe8+ Kh7 29.Rf1 Bxc2 30.Rf8 Kh6 31.Rh8+ Bh7 

Different Rook check, different piece block, same result.

32.Qe4 g6 33.Qh4+ Kg7 34.Rxh7+ Kg8 35.Rh8+ Kf7 36.Qh7+ Kf6 37.Ne4+ Ke5 38.Nxd6 cxd6 39.Re8+ Kd4 40.Qxg6 d5 41.Qg4+ Kd3 42.Qf3+ Kc2 43.Qc3+ Kb1 44.Re1+ Kxa2 45.Qa3 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Finish Quickly

There are so many ways for those who defend against the Jerome Gambit to wander off of the main lines. In the following game, the attacker strikes quickly, before his opponent has any more ideas.

Wall, Bill - Guest2021162
PlayChess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Ke7 

Ah, yes. As I noted in the game ZahariSokolov - mmamaju
standard, FICS, 2015 (0-1, 44) - See"Jerome Gambit: Chaos Rules")

Here we have the "Jerome Gambit, Paulsen Variation", otherwise known as "An Odd Line in an Odd Line". It is more of a psychological ploy than a solid defense...

It is a rare line - there are only 13 examples in The Database, with White scoring 77 percent - but it is worth knowing the best response, if only, like in the current game, you want to finish quickly.

6.Qh5

Brute threat.

6...Nf6

Okay, it turns out that Black is not messing with his opponent's head, he's lost in an opening that he was not prepared for.

Komodo 10 suggests that the defender's only hope is 6...Bxf2+ 7.Kxf2 Qf8+ when White can settle for a somewhat boring pawn-up Queenless middlegame: 8.Kg1 Nd4 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ (if 9...Nxc2, then 10.Qc5+ will win the Knight) 10.Qxf3 Qxf3 11.gxf3 Nf6.

On the other hand, perhaps a Jerome Gambiteer, seeking a wild attacking game, would be upset by a boring, pawn-up Queenless middlegame? Perhaps, with the right opponent, at the right time, Black might do well to try...

7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4 checkmate

Provocation

The chess player, graviton, at the online site FICS, is not a Jerome Gambit afficionado, but he can turn Jerome-ish when he is provoked. He will take offense at the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. He will also react sharply to an ill-advised ...Na5. The following game is anexample.

graviton - porttela
10 0 blitz, FICS, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O

Black can be excused if he believed that his opponent was planning on a quiet game. Why not go along with the first player, and simply work to gain the "minor advantage"?

4...Na5

Ill advised. Expecting 5.Bb3, to be met with 5...Nxb3, he overlooked the straight-forward 5.Nxe5, which would have been a fine reply. He also overlooked White's actual response.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6 

The King would have been safer at f8.

7.d4

The next time around, graviton might try the still-unplayed (according to The Database) 7.Qg4+ which would have been even more punishing: 7...Kxe5 (7...Kd6 or 7...Ke7 would lose the Queen, while 7...Kf6 would lead to mate) 8.d4+ Kd6 (other moves would lead to loss of Queen or mate) 9.dxc5+ Kc6 10.e5, when the Knight at a5 will soon fall and Black's King is still unsafe.

7...Bd6

Allows checkmate. Black had to play 7...Nf6 and try to hang on.

8.Qg4+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ 

White has figured out his way to a win. It would be a bit academic to point out 9.Qxg7+ Ke6 10.d5#.

9...Nf6 10.Bxf6+ gxf6 11.Qg7+ Ke6 12.Qf7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Making It Look Easy

The following bullet game makes the Jerome Gambit look so easy... like a pleasant day in the sunshine. It is easy to see why angelcamina keeps coming back to the Jerome...

angelcamina - PMLJ
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Qe7 

10.O-O Nf6 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.f4 Bc6 13.d4 

Think quick: as Black, do you want to grab a pawn, or do you want to edge your King out of the line of fire?

13...Kg8 14.e5 Nd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.b3 h6 17.c4 Bf7 18.f5 

Those pawns!

18...Nf8 19.Bb2 dxe5 20.dxe5 Re8 21.Qg3 Nd7 22.Rae1 

22...Kh7 23.e6 Bxe6 

Hoping that returning some material will help. It won't.

24.fxe6 

This is fine, and winning. More cruel was 24.Qg6+ Kg8 25.Rxe6.

24...Nf6 25.Qd3+ Kg8 26.Qg6 Rd8 27.Bxf6
Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Another Round in the Italian Game Classic

The second round of the Italian Game Classic tournament at chess.com has started. I am in Group 5, along with FedeMamut, stur_lindberg and PDX84.

To start, I have White against FedeMamut and PDX84 - and have been fortunate to be able to play 2 Jerome Gambits.

As always, I will keep you informed of my progress, win, lose or draw.

Trying To Escape The Inevitable

The following game reminds me of Douglas Adam's comment, above. I am not exactly sure why.

Wall, Bill - Guest2901729

PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 6.c3 Ne6 

It is already possible to see where danger might strike Black: along the d8-h4 diagonal, where his King and Queen are lined up; or in the center, where White's "Jerome pawns" can cause mischief.

7.d4 d6 8.Nd3 Nf6 9.d5

Best according to Stockfish 7. 

Interesting was 9.Qe2 as in Philidor 1792 - g-chessman1518, GameKnot.com, 2015(1-0, 22).

9...Nc5 10.Nxc5 dxc5 11.e5

An improvement over the older 11.f3 Ke8 12.O-O Be7 13.c4 Kf7 14.e5 Nd7 15.e6+ Ke8 Black resigned, AMITAF - UofM, FICS, 2010.

11...Nxd5

Trying to escape the inevitable. He should have given up the Knight directly.

12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.exf6+ gxf6

Or 13...Ke8 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.fxg7+ Kd7 16.gxh8=Q Be7 17.Qxh7 Kc6 18.Qxe7 Bd7 19.b4 Re8 20.Qxe8 Bxe8 21.bxc5 Kxc5 22.Nd2 b6 Black resigned, EdoTK - Jorma, FICS, 2006.

14.Bxf6+ Black resigned

Ouch! The Queen is lost.

Steady As She Goes

As we have seen in recent posts, the "simple" job for the defender against the Jerome Gambit is to remain steady, play good moves, not panic, pay attention - maintain a "steady as she goes" focus. Wandering from this path, however, can have immediate negative consequences, as the following game demonstrates.

Philidor 1792 - NN
2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nf6 6.c3 

Another idea for White: 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qe2 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qd4 10.Nb5 Qh4 11.Nxc7 Rb8 12.Nf3 Qe4 13.Qxe4 Nxe4 14.d3 Nf6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 e4 17.Nd2 exd3 18.cxd3 Ne5 19.d4 Neg4 20.e4 Bd7 21.e5 Rc8 22.Rac1 Ne8 23.Nd5 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Kf7 25.Rf1+ Kg6 26.h3 Nh6 27.Ne7+ Kh5 28.g4+ Kg5 29.Kg2 Nxg4 30.Ne4+ Kh5 31.hxg4+ Bxg4 32.Rh1+ Bh3+ 33.Rxh3+ Kg4 34.Rf3 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest143, Peshka.me 2014. 

6...d5

Instead, 6...Nxe4 was seen in Philidor 1792  -guest826, Peshka.me, 2015 (1-0, 29) and Philidor 1792 - guest826, Peshka.me, 2015 (0-1, 33).

6...Re8 was seen in Philidor1792-Chicken_Monster, 1100 KINGS vs Team Russia - Board 12, Chess.com 2014 (1-0, 38). 

7.d4 Bb6 8.Nxe5+ 

A little bit better might have been 8.dxe5.

8...Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nxe4

Black's King is a bit drafty, but otherwise he is doing well.

10.Nd2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Re8 12.Qf4+ Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand, and his light-squared Bishop can be developed.

13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 c6 15.b3 Bf5 16.Rad1 Qb6 17.Rd4 Re6 18.f3 Rae8 19.f4 Rg6 

White remains calm, as well. If Black has an advantage, let him show it.

20.Rf2 Rf8 21.g3 h5 22.h4 Be6 23.Qd3 Rf5 

Black has established blockades at e6 and f5, but it is not clear where he will be going with that.

24.Kh2 Qc7 25.c4 Qf7 26.cxd5 Bxd5 

27.Rd2 Rg4 28.Qe2 Qe7 29.b4 a6 30.a4 Rg6 31.b5 Qa3 

Black keeps improving the position of his pieces.

32.R2d3 Qc5 33.Rd2 Rg4 34.Qd3 g6 35.bxa6 bxa6 36.Re2 Qb6 37.Qc3 

White's patience helps Black envision a reasonable, but flawed idea: to develop his last piece, his King, to e6 to blockade White's passed e-pawn. However, the monarch steps into danger.

37...Kf7 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.e6+ Ke8

"Best" for Black was to give up his Queen with 39...Qxe6 but after 40.Rxe6 Kxe6 41.Qc6+ Kf7 42.Qxa6 it is clear that White's passed a-pawn will rule the day. 

40.e7 Black resigned

Games! We got games!

Along with the game Bill Wall sent (see "Strike First!") recently came the (somewhat abridged) note

Oh, I have all my games up to a few weeks ago on my chess page at http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/ which may have more Jerome Gambits in it that you may not have seen... It is under the collections column called Bill Wall 1969-2015... Something like 43,800 games so far.

Chess players who enjoy unorthodox chess openings, take note!

In addition, here is a short win by Bill, from about 60 new-to-me games I found in his collection.

Wall, Bill - Kaefer
PlayChess.com, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Qe2 

An favorite line of Bill's, We took a look at this in "Cat-and-Mouse", "Waiting... Pouncing!",  "Something Had to Happen" and "The What?".

6...d6 7.O-O Rf8 8.Qc4+ Be6 

The kind of quick reaction that occurs in blitz, and gets punished, appropriately.

9.Ng5+

Discussed in "Recurring Theme". No doubt played in a nano-second by Bill.

9...Kg6

Or 9...Ke7 10.Qxe6 checkmate, hinders - Devotion, FICS, 2001. hinders played over 30 6.Qe2 games on FICS in 2000 - 2002.

10.Nxe6 

Thinking back upon the post "Wrong Piece - Oh, Never Mind!"  I had to chuckle at the other piece capture, 10.Qxe6. Black should respond with ...Nd4, but, instead played 10...Kxg5 in linders - Lader, FICS, 2000, when the following unfolded 11.d4+ (instead, he had 11.Qf5+ Kh6 12.d4+ g5 13.Qxg5#) 11...Kg6 12.dxc5 Nd4 13. Qh3 dxc5 14. Qg3+ Kf7 15. Qxe5 Re8 16.Nb5? b6? 17.Qg3? Ne2+ White resigned 

10...Bxf2+

Black throws in the towel (and a few pieces). He could have continued to fight, as in an earlier game: 10...Qe7 11.d3 Rfe8 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nf3 Kh7 14.Nh4 Qe6 15.Qb5 Bb6 16.Na4 Nd4 17.Qb4 Nxc2 18.Qd2 Nxa1 19.Qe2 Bd4 20.Qf3 Qg4 21.Qd1 Qxh4 22.g3 Qh3 23.Qf3 Nc2 24.Bd2 Bb6 25.Nc3 Nd4 26.Qd1 Ng4 27.Qxg4 Qxg4 28.h3 Qxh3 29.Nd5 Ne2 checkmate, hinders - Matheusaum, FICS, 2001.

11.Rxf2 Nxe4 12.Nxf8+ Qxf8 13.Qxe4+ Black resigned