Jerome Gambit Secrets #2

As mentioned in the first "Jerome Gambit Secrets"

If you play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you know that the best source of information on the opening is this blog. 

If you face the Jerome Gambit, however, the best source of information on defending against the opening is - this blog.
Across the 10 years that I have shared history, games and analysis, I have done my best to give the lines that give White the greatest opportunities to snatch victory from the jaws of this defeated - er, "refuted" - opening. 

I have also not shied away from presenting the various refutations, as well. 

Sometimes players have used my suggestions. Sometimes they have not. The "Jerome Gambit Secrets" posts will re-visit suggestions that appear to remain unplayed.

 Take for example, the following line of play. 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian opening. Black is being careful, but the possible waste of a move and the possible weakening of the Kingside can get White thinking Jerome Gambit thoughts.

4.0-0

This is different than the 4.Nc3 seen in MIG - jfer, 3 0 blitz, FICS, 2001 (1-0, 11), the subject of Jerome Gambit Secrets #1. But - is it a difference that makes a difference?

4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 

Here we have a position from perrypawnpusher - islanderchess, 10 0 blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 46). In fact, there are 10 games with this position in The Database - all played by me - and White has won every time.

However, if you play this line with White, it is important that you not become overconfident. As far back as December 2, 2008 on this blog, I recommended that Black play the retrograde 8...Bf8!?, as then the Rook in the corner is off limits: 9.Qxh8? Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6 and the White Queen is lost.

If The Database is any indication, 8...Bf8 has not yet been tried in this position in any game.

For the record, Stockfish 9 recommends the line 8...Bf8 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qg3 Ne7 11.d4 Bg7 12.Ne2 (it also considers 12.d5, 12.Qd3 and 12.Be3) with Black having the traditional advantage of a piece for two pawns, and White having play with his central "Jerome pawns" against Black's somewhat exposed King.

Analysis diagram

Jerome Gambit Secrets #1

If you play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you know that the best source of information on the opening is this blog.

If you face the Jerome Gambit, however, the best source of information on defending against the opening is - this blog.

Across the 10 years that I have shared history, games and analysis, I have done my best to give the lines that give White the greatest opportunities to snatch victory from the jaws of this defeated - er, "refuted" - opening.

I have also not shied away from presenting the various refutations, as well.

Sometimes players have used my suggestions. Sometimes they have not. The "Jerome Gambit Secrets" posts will re-visit suggestions that appear to remain unplayed. Occasionally, they will introduce new suggestions. Take for example, the following game. 

MIG - jfer
3 0 blitz, FICS, 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian opening. Black is careful to prevent Ng5 by White.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bd6

Perhaps Black remembered ...g6 from the Blackburne defense, and felt comfortable giving up the Rook on h8. If so, this game is not the best example of analysis by analogy. Maybe the 3-minute blitz game was going so fast...

9.Qxh8 Nf6 10.Qxd8 Be7 11.Qxc7 Black resigned

Okay, no disrespect to the players, but the game did not show either at the top of their skill level. Again, perhaps the time control was a major factor.

Still, Black could have offered the Rook with a different 8th move: 8...Bf8!?. White would take his Queen's life in his hands if he continued 9.Qxh8? Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6 and Her Majesty is a goner.

The Database has a half-dozen games with the same position after 8.Qxe5 - all wins for White. In none of the games did Black find the dangerous Bishop retreat. (The Database needs some updating, but, when it is, I am confident that 8...Bf8 will not show up there.)

Stockfish 9 suggests a complicated line that leaves White with 3 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but still gives Black the advantage: 8...Bf8!? 9.Nd5 Nf6 10.Nxc7 d6 11.Qc3 Rb8 12.d3 Bg7 13.Qb3+ Ke7 14.Nb5 a6 15.Nd4 Nxe4 16.Qb4 a5 17.Nc6+ Kf8 18.Nxa5 Nf6 19.0–0 Nd5 20.Qb5 Be6 21.Re1 Bf7 22.c4 Nc7 23.Qb4 Na6 24.Qd2.  I like Black's Bishop pair.

    


Analysis diagram

Jerome Gambit Pawns: Inaction, In Action

In the Jerome Gambit, White's "extra" pawns can be part of the attack, or part of a fortress of protection. In the following game, they take both roles, as part of the first player's success.

Queenpunisher - parviz1340
12 8, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3  Bc5 4.Bc4 h6 5.Bxf7+

Transposing to the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 

The same position would be reached after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7.

6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qh5 Nf6 10.Qf3 Bg4 

Black has the right idea: his team of minor pieces should harass the White Queen, even if his own King is not yet castled-by-hand. Perhaps Queenpunisher's Queen should have been harassed by 10...Nh4!? instead.

11.Qg3

The text is a little bit better than 11.Qe3 Re8 12.d3 d5 13.f3 d4 14.Qf2 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 dxc3 16.bxc3 c6 17.O-O Kg8 18.Be3 Qd6 19.Rab1 b6 20.Bd4 Qd7 21.Bxf6 Rf8 22.Qg3 gxf6 23.Qxg6+ Qg7 24.Qf5 Qg5 25.Qe6+ Kh8 26.Qxc6 Rac8 27.Qd6 Rcd8 28.Qf4 Qxf4 29.Rxf4 Rg8 Black resigned, MIG - leshiy, FICS, 2001.

11...Re8 12.d3

Or 12.f3 Bd7 13.d4 Nh5 14.Qf2 Kg8 15.Be3 b6 16.f4 Rf8 17.f5 Ne7 18.g4 Nf6 19.g5 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Bc6 21.f6 Ng6 22.Qf5 Qe8 23.d5 Bd7 24.Qf3 hxg5 25.Bxg5 Qe5 26.O-O-O Qe8 27.Rde1 Ne5 28.Qg3 Qg6 29.fxg7 Kxg7 30.Rhg1 Qf5 31.Bh6+ Black resigned, youjoin - molesto, GameKnot.com, 2007. 

12...Qd7 13.f3 Be6 14.O-O Nh5 15.Qf2 Kg8

For now the "Jerome pawns" provide a shield for White, but that will soon change!

16.Ne2 Rf8 17.b3 Rf7 18.f4 Bg4 

This second visit to g4 is ill-advised and will cost a piece. Better 18...Raf8. 

19.f5 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Ne5 21Qxh5 Raf8 22.Bb2 Qc6

White now has attacking prospects.

23.Rf2 Kh7 24.Raf1 Qb6 25.Kh1 Nd7 26.Qg6+

He also could have tried the consistent 26.g4. 

26...Kh8 27.Qxh6+ Kg8 28.Qg5 Ne5 29.Rf4

White attacks successfully. He also could have tried the thematic 29.f6. 


29...c5 30.Rh4 Rf6 31.Bxe5 dxe5 32.Rg4 Rg6 33.Qxg6 Black resigned

Brave Play

Using the opening explorer at lichess.org mentioned in "New Resource" in the previous post, I came across the following very exciting game. The Jerome Gambit player may well be familiar with this opening, in which case I feel I owe him some attention, some support, some encouragement and some assistance for his brave play. The games in the notes are well worth playing over, as they contain relevant themes of attack and defense.

killer23111953 - slava55
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Game.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

Here we have a very unbalanced position. White has sacrificed 2 (!) pieces to drag the enemy King into the middle of the board.

The Database has 9 games with this position, with White scoring 56% (5 wins, 4 losses). It is useful to share some of these games and some related analysis.

9.Nb5+

About equal in strength to the text is Stockfish 7's suggestion 9.b4, i.e. 9...Bd4 10.Nb5+ Ke7 11.Nxd4 d6 12.Qf4 Nf6 13.O-O when White also recovers one of his sacrificed pieces.

Aggressive, but not enough is 9.d4, i.e. 9...Bxd4 10.Bf4 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qf6 12.O-O-O+ Kc5 13.Rd5+ Kc6 14.Rxe5 Qxf5 15.exf5 d6 16.Re8 b6 17.Rd1 Bb7 18.Re4 Kd7 19.Re3 Nf6 20.Rg3 Rhg8 21.Rg6 Ne4 22.Re1 Rge8 23.Rxg7+ Kc6 24.c4 Nxf2 25.Rge7 Rxe7 26.Rxe7 Ba6 27.Bxh6 Bxc4 28.f6 Ng4 29.Bg7 Ne5 30.h3 Bxa2 31.g4 a5 32.g5 Ng6 33.Re2 Nf4 34.Rh2 a4 35.h4 Nh5 36.Kb2 Bd5 37.Rd2 a3+ 38.Ka1 a2 39.Rxd5 Kxd5 40.f7 Nxg7 41.g6 Ke6 42.h5 Nxh5 43.f8=Q Rxf8 44.Kxa2 Kf6 White resigned, swamishashi - wdiedrich, 8 0 blitz, lichess.com, 2015.

9...Kc6

Not 9...Ke7 10.Qxe5+ Kf8 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxc7 Black resigned, morphyavatar - noobtwokey, FICS, 2013. 

10.Qxe5

Again 10.d4 is insufficient, if messy: 10...Kxb5 11.Qxe5 d6 (11... Qe7 12. a4+ Ka6 13.Qxc7 Qxe4+ 14. Be3 Qc6 15. Qxc6+ dxc6 16. dxc5 Nf6 17. O-O-O Nd5 18. c4 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Ka5 20. Kc2 Kb4 21. Ra1 Kxc4 22. Rhd1 Kxc5 23. a5 Bf5+ 24. Kc3 Rad8
25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Ra4 Rd3+ 27. Kc2 Ra3+ White resigned, coder3 - more, GameKnot.com, 2004) 12. Qd5 (12. Qxg7 Qf6 13. a4+ Kc6 14. d5+ Kb6 15. a5+ Ka6 16. Qg3 b5 17. axb6+ Kb7 18. bxc7 Kxc7 19. O-O Bd7 20. Be3 Ne7 21. Bxc5 Rhg8 22. Bxd6+ Qxd6 23. Qc3+ Kd8 24. f4 Qg6 25. g3 Qxe4 26. Qa5+ Ke8 27. Rae1 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 h5 29. Qa3 Rg7 30. d6 h4 31. Kg2 hxg3 32.
hxg3 Qd5+ 33. Kg1 Rh7 34. Rf3 Qd4+ 35. Rfe3 Black forfeited on time, MIG - Tshark, FICS, 2003) 12...Ne7 (allows mate) 13. a4+ Ka6 14. Qc4+ b5 15. Qxb5 checkmate, Manishsprasad - TimJonez, FICS, 2010. 

10...Qf6

Black avoids the tempting capture, 10...Kxb5: 11.a4+ Kb6 (better is 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5) 12.a5+ (12.d4 d6 13.dxc5+ dxc5 14.Qxg7 [14. a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5 b6 16. axb6+ Kb7 17. bxa7 Qd6 18. Qb5+ Qb6 19. Qd5+ Qc6 20. Qb3+ Qb6 21.Qf7 Qb4+ 22. c3 Qxe4+ 23. Be3 Be6 24. Qxg7 Ne7 25. Qxe7 Rhe8 26. Qc5 Qxg2 27.Qb5+ Kc8 28. Qxe8+ Kb7 29. Qb5+ Kc8 30. Qa6+ Kd8 31. O-O-O+ Black resigned, MIG - jirikb, FICS, 2000] 14... Ne7 15. Be3 Rg8 16.Qxh6+ c6 17. a5+ Kc7 18. Bxc5 Rxg2 19. Qf4+ Kd7 20. Rd1+ Black resigned, avgur - rajpal, FICS, 2009) 12... Kb5 13. c4+ Kxc4 14. Qc3+ Kb5 15. Qd3+ Kc6 16. Qd5+ Kb5 17. Qd3+ Kc6 18. Qd5+ Kb5 19. d4 c6 20. Qxc5+ Ka6 21. b4 Nf6 22. b5+ cxb5 23. Qd6+ b6 24. axb6+ Kb7 25.bxa7 Rxa7 26. Rxa7+ Kxa7 27. O-O Qb6 28. Be3 Qxd6 29. e5 Qa3 30. d5+ Kb7 31.exf6 gxf6 32. d6 Qxd6 33. Ra1 Kc7 34. g3 b4 35. Bf4 Qxf4 36. gxf4 Bb7 37. Ra7 b3 38. Ra1 Be4 39. Kf1 b2 40. Ra7+ Kb6 41. Rxd7 b1=Q+ White resigned,  Sanrink - wojowhiskey, FICS, 2012.

A couple of alternatives that transpose into each other are: 10...d6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Nf6 and 10...Nf6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 d6. 

11.Qd5+

Continuing to force the issue, but missing 11.Qxc7+!? Kxb5 12.a4+ Ka6 (other moves allow mate) 13.Qxc5 b6 14.Qa3 Qe7 15.Qd3+ Kb7 16.Qd5+ Kc7 17.d3 Bb7 18.Bf4+ d6 19.Qc4+ Kd7 when Black's King has escaped to relative safety, but it is likely that White's three extra pawns outweigh Black's extra piece.

This is a 10-minute game, and the advantages can go back and forth. 

11...Kxb5 12.O-O

Instead, Stockfish 7 suggests that with 12.a4+ Kb6 13.a5+ Ka6 14.Qxc5 Qc6 15.Qd4 Qxc2 16.d3 Ne7 17.O-O d6 18.Be3 Nc6 the game would be equal. Of course, that's easy for a computer to say. It looks like a big mess to me. 

12...Ne7 13.a4+ 

After Black's last, inaccurate move, White's attack gives him slightly better chances.

13...Kb6 14.Qb3+

Going after the King. Stronger was 14.a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5, going after the piece. 

14...Kc6 15.Qb5+ Kd6

Black's King remains uneasy, but the defender pulls his position together.

16.c3 c6 17.Qd3+ Kc7 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Bb2 Ba5 

20.e5 Qxe5 21.Rae1 Qg5 22.Re3 Nd5 23.Rg3 Nf4 24.Qe4 Qf6 25.Rf3 g5 26.Kh1 d5 

27.Qe1 Qd6 28.Kg1 Bd7 29.Qa1 Rhe8 30.Ba3 Qe6 

White continues to fight, but with Black's improved development and time a factor, the Hunter has become the Hunted.

31.Re3 Qg4 32.g3 Rxe3 33.dxe3 Nh5 34.Bb4 Bb6 35.Qe1 Qf3 36.a5 Bh3 37.axb6+ axb6 38.Qd1 Qg2 checkmate

An exciting game in a very sharp variation!