Latest UON - With Jerome Gambit

I recently heard from Gary K. Gifford, editor, that the latest issue of the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter - #35, September, 2018 - is now available for download, online at Yahoo! Groups (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Chess-Unorthodox-UON/files/UON%2035_Sept_2018_merged.pdf?guccounter=1)

I have mentioned UON on this blog a number of times, for its coverage of a large number of unorthodox openings - including, of course, the Jerome Gambit.

It's like welcoming back and old friend who hasn't been by in a while.

Here's a peek at Issue #35

1. 2 King’s Gambits and a Latvian, by Gary K. Gifford
2. Jerome Gambit Game #1, Rick Kennedy
3. Jerome Gambit Game # 2, Bill Wall
4. Combats homériques à partir des gambits, Dany Sénéchaud
(Homeric* Fights from the Gambits)
5. Diemer-Duhm Gambit, Bob Jansen

Check it out.

On the Other Hand...

When I wander over to the ChessCafe website, I like to read the monthly column by Abby Marshall (USCF Candidate Master, currently rated 2192) "The Openings Explained". She's a hard worker, she's not afraid of playing gambits (the King's Gambit is her specialty) – and she used to be from my home town.

This week's topic is "The Two Knights Defense, Center Fork Trick" [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5], something that has been discussed on this blog a number of times before (like when you play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 looking for a Jerome, and your opponent plays 3...Nf6; can your 4.Nc3 get him to cough up 4...Bc5, so you can play 5.Bxf7+ ?). For just a sample of posts, try "Jerome Gambit vs Two Knights Defense (Part 3)" and "Further Explorations (Part 1 and Part 2)"

Don't forget to review Yury V. Bukayev's analysis as well, which I will be sending to Abby.

Powerful Like a Storm

When the creative and indomitable Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen wrote "A Personal Approach to the Openings" for the wonderful How To Open A Chess Game, he began the chapter by recalling that when he was 9 he found a chess book that inspired him, even if, he admitted, the text was 20 years old and the chess ideas of the author at least three times that aged. Larsen remembered an inspiring quote  

The Jerome Gambit is powerful like a storm; nobody can tame it. Nothing shows more clearly the lack of greatness in the chess professions of today than the fact that none of them have the courage to play the Jerome Gambit...

Oh, no, wait a minute, I got that wrong: the author was writing about the King's Gambit, not the Jerome...

perrypawnpusher  - badhorsey
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6

Shades of my game against Navarrra (see "Over").

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf8

Staying out of further trouble.

9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Nf6

White is two pawns up, with the safer King.

11.0-0 Qe7 12.Nc3 c5 13.d3 Kf7 14.b3

My opponent was using up a lot of thinking time on each move, so I decided to develop conservatively (using a formation that I borrowed from the b3 Sicilian) – to stay away from something bright, sharp, brilliant and wrong.

14...Rf8 15.Bb2 Kg8 16.Rae1 b6 17.f4 Ng4

Black has castled-by-hand, and with the exception of his Bishop (which I had expected to go to b7) his developement has progressed as well. The text move shows the irresistible temptation (which should, nonetheless, be resisted) to harass the Queen.

18.Qg3 Bd7 19.Nd5

From this point on, White's game becomes scarier and scarier (for Black).

19...Qd8 20.h3 Nf6 21.Nxf6+ Rxf6 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.e5 Qe6 24.f5 Qd5 25.e6 Bc6 26.f6

Those "Jerome pawns"!

26...g6 27.f7+ Kf8 28.e7+ Kg7 29.f8Q+ Rxf8 30.exf8Q checkmate

Did he jump, or was he pushed?

My guess is that the first chessplayer to follow 1.e4 with Bc4 (either right away, as in the Bishop's Opening, or later, as in the Italian Game or the King's Gambit) already had the move Bxf7+ in mind. That seminal moment would have been long before the birth of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – and who knows which of those early attacks might have inspired Alonzo Wheeler Jerome to create his "Double Gambit"?

In the following game, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member blackburne is playing the venerable King's Gambit Accepted, until the game takes a Bxf7+ swerve. Was blackburne's hand forced by the ghost of Lolli, Salvio, or Muzio, or of A.W. Jerome himself?

blackburne - notverydeepblue
ChessWorld, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 a6

I have found only 3 or 4 game examples of this move, all from amateur play. Black is either experimenting wildly, or he is essaying the weak psychological gambit: do you know your opening as White well enough to play it without any help from me??

Either way, knowing blackburne, this signals a short game.

4.Bc4 b5 5.Bxf7+

Of course, there was nothing preventing White from playing 5.Bb3 followed by 6.d4, instead – except, perhaps, his sense of adventure.

5...Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke6 7.d4

Does any reader care to wager that the next time blackburne reaches this position, he will offer a further piece with 7.O-O ?

7...c6 8.Qg4+ Kd6 9.Nf7+ Black resigned

Not Worth the Time

The Jerome Gambit is not a "cool" opening.

Once upon a time, the King's Gambit was cool. The Evans Gambit was cool (and maybe is cool again). Even the Benko Gambit had a time when it was very, very cool.

For some, apparently the Jerome Gambit isn't worth their time.

perrypawnpusher  - obmanovichhh
blitz 14 0, FICS, 2011

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

The Italian Four Knights Game, transposing from the Petroff Defense.

5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+

Last year, duraysteeus played 6.Ng5+ against my opponent, not very successfully (0-1, 49)

6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4

This is the most popular response in The Database, occuring in 34% of the games.

Previously, my opponent had tried 7...Bb4, which certainly has its positive attributes.

The strongest response, 7...Bd6, appears only 6% of the time. (Perhaps that is one reason that people play the Jerome Gambit.)

8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Be6

This move prevents a possible Qd3-c4+ in response to a careless ...Nc6-b4 – a tactic that has won more points for me than it should have.

It is likely that 10...d5 is stronger than the text, however, something that has me thinking about changing my opening move order, perhaps back to 10.0-0 as I played against jomme.

11.0-0 Re8

This is a bit stronger than 11...Rf8, where White had the annoying 12.f5 Bd7 13.Qc4+, as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18) although Black was still  a bit better.

12.b3 Nb4 13.Qe2 c5 14.Bb2 Bg4 15.Qc4+ Be6

Was my opponent thinking of repeating the position, for a draw? I would have been okay with that, as I was getting nothing out of this game. 

16.Qe2 Qb6

No, this does not look like a peaceful move.

17.Na4 Qc6 18.a3

My Knight move weakened the pawn at e4, so 18.Bxf6, taking some pressure off of the center, was appropriate, now and/or later. As it is, my opponent overlooked chances for counterplay.

18...Bg4

Instead, 18...Nxc2 19.Qxc2 Qxe4 was a creative way to return Black's extra piece, as his backward d-pawn would have a bright future to advance as a protected passer.

19.Qc4+ Kf8 20.axb4

After the game Rybka 3 showed me what was really going on in the game: 20.Bxf6 Rxe4 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qc3+ Kf7 23.axb4 Rae8 24.b5 Qd5 25.Qd3 Qxd3, about even.

20...cxb4 21.Qxc6 bxc6

22.Bxf6

Finally thinking to get rid of the Knight, although later Rybka 3 corrected me:  22.e5 Nd7 23.exd6 Re2 24.f5 Rd2 25.Rae1 Rxd6 26.h3 Bh5 27.Re6 Rd5 28.Rxc6 Re8 29.Rf2 a5 30.Rc7 Bf7 with an advantage for White.

22...gxf6 23.Rae1 Rac8 24.Nb2 c5 25.Nc4 Be6

My Knight has returned to play, and Black's Bishop has returned to its favorite square, e6. Unfortunately, the latter was an error (25...Rcd8 would have kept the game balanced).

26.Nxd6 Bg4

On revient toujours à ses premiers amours.

27.Nxc8 Rxc8 28.e5 f5 29.Ra1

White is up the exchange and a protected passed pawn and will now add another pawn and a strongly placed Rook to his list of small advantages.

29...Rc7 30.Ra6 Kf7 31.Rfa1 Be2 32.Rxa7 Rxa7 33.Rxa7+ Kg6 34.Rc7

At this point my opponent still had over half of his time left on the clock. Still, he let all 7 plus minutes run out, and lost on time, rather than resign. I guess finishing the game, again, was not worth his time.

Kaissiber!

I've spoken quite positively of Stefan Bücker's awesome quarterly magazine Kaissiber, which focuses on games, analysis and history (see "To Infinity... And Beyond!", "Breaking News...", "My head is spinning" and "Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up") -- especially unorthodox openings.

Kaissiber 33 is due out today (unless you are a subscriber; in which case you have already received your issue, lucky person) and is well worth tracking down. (Word is that it has some killer King's Gambit analysis...)

If you are interested in collecting back issues of Kaissiber, it is important to know that they are available in bound editions, with the fourth volume due out this coming January (or late December).

Finally, for those of you who have interest in such things, Stefan also has copies for sale of my (with Riley Sheffield; Introduction by Hugh Myers) Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses which focuses upon 1.e4 e6 2.d5 d5 3.Nc3 c5!? and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 d5!? (and which is much, much sounder than the Jerome Gambit!)