Jerome Gambit: Early Joker

Not too long ago, François Crépault, a French Canadian chessplayer who has tried the Jerome Gambit, sent me three Jerome games played by Louis Morin.

I was quite excited. Playing mostly under the handle "MrJoker", largely blitz games at the Internet Chess Club (ICC), Morin has about 350 Jerome Gambit games in The Database. His communications, games and analysis show up in many places in this blog.

Still, one of the games M. Crépault sent me was one that I had never seen before - an over-the-board Jerome Gambit (he has played at least a half-dozen) in a serious tournament. I think it was his first.

The following game was played a couple of months before this blog began.

Morin, Louis - Piche, Justin
Montreal, Canada, 2008

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 Nf6

10.d3 

Ten years later, Morin played 10.0-0 against Weston, a move that may be ever so slightly better, born of experience. In most lines of Jerome Gambit play, White will want to castle, while it is not clear if he will play d2-d3 or d2-d4; and if he wants to play f2-f4, that, too, is done more safely after 0-0.

10...Ng4 

It's never too early to harass White's Queen. The move is not a mistake, but more relevant would be 10...Kf7, planning to castle-by-hand. 

11.Qg5

White is rated significantly above his opponent, and so makes the choice Jerome Gambiteers sometimes do: simplify, and take the pawns against the piece, because in club/amateur games, that can be a lot easier to play.

11...Qxg5 12.Bxg5 h6 13.Bd2 Rf8 14.O-O

White doesn't have much, yet - in fact, Black has a small advantage - but his plan is simple: develop and advance the "Jerome pawns".

14...Nf4 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Rae1

Komodo 10 prefers 16.d4 Bc4 17.Rfd1 Ng6 18.f3 Ng6

16...Kd7 17.b3 

Preparing for d3-d4 without letting an enemy Bishop or Knight come to c4.

17...c5 18.Bxf4 Rxf4 19.Ne2 Rf6 20.h3 Ne5

I think I hear someone in the back seat of the car asking "Are we there yet?"

21.f4 Nc6 22.c3 b5 23.g4 

Aggressive, but 23.d4 cxd4 24.cxd4 might have been better. 

23...a5 

24.Ng3 g6 25.e5 dxe5 26.Ne4

A nice intermezzo move. Probably it is time for d3-d4 next move.

26...Rf7 27.Nxc5+ Ke7 28.Nxe6 Kxe6 29.d4 Raf8

30.Rd1

Letting the tension out of the position. White should have tried 30.c4 bxc4 31.bxc4 Kd7 32.d5 Nb4 33.Rxe5, when he would have 3 pawns for the piece.

30...exd4 31.cxd4 Kd5 32.f5 gxf5 33.Rf4 fxg4 34.Rxg4 Rf4 

35.Rg6 R8f6 36.Rg8 Rxd4 37.Rxd4+ Kxd4 38.Rg3 Rf5 39.Rg6 Rg5+ 40.Rxg5 White resigned

Not many strong players risk ratings and reputation to play the Jerome Gambit over-the-board. Hats off to Louis Morin.

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: Speeding It Up Again

After a close look at a couple of "slow" over-the-board tournament games - where there is time for assessment and planning - it is time to switch to checking out another lightning game, where confidence, intuition and blink-fast decision-making are key.

Welcome back, Cliff Hardy.

Notes are primarily by Hardy [I have added a few comments in blue - Rick] 

Cliff Hardy (2176) - NN (1842), 

1 0, Lichess, 2018

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

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Kf8 

[The Jerome Variation of the Jerome Gambit, played by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome against David Jaeger in correspondence, 1880. - Rick]

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be6 10.0-0 Ke7?

[The King does not belong on the e-file, and White needs to find a way to demonstrate this. In a slow game, that would be not much of a challenge. When you have 1 or 2 seconds per move - now that's a challenge - Rick]

Stockfish found that White could take the g-pawn here with the very strong 11.d4!! Bxd4 12.Qxg7+ Bf7 13.Bg5 c6 (or 13...Rg8 14.Bxf6+ Bxf6 15.Nd5+! Ke6 16.Qxh7 ++-, when Black's king would be perilously placed on e6) 14.e5!! Bxe5 15.Rae1 ++-, when White would be threatening to take the knight for free on f6 or to attack the pinned bishop with 16.f4, but I would never have been able to find this line in 1 0 chess (nor in a full-length game 😉).

11.d3? Rf8?! 12.Be3?

Rather than go for Morin's c3, d4 approach [see Morin - Guipi Bopala, Quebec Open, 2018 - Rick] to blunting Black's dark-squared bishop, I chose to blunt it with my own bishop, in an attempt to advance my pinned f-pawn. But since Black has still left his g-pawn vulnerable, Stockfish prefers 12.Na4 Bb6 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.Qxg7+, though Black would then have had a slight advantage after 14...Rf7.

12...Bb6?

12...Bxe3 would not have lost time in retreating and would have yielded Black a winning advantage here.

13.d4 

By now the time for White to capture the g-pawn had well and truly past, since from here on it would just lose time with the queen for White and open the g-file for Black to use in attacking the white king.

13...Qe8 14.f4 Qh5 15.f5 Bc4 16.Rf4 Rae8 17.b3 Ba6 

18.Re1? 

Getting the Jerome pawns mobilised immediately with 18.Rh4 Qf7 19.e5 ++-, while Black's king is still sitting on e7, would have been much better.

18...Kd7 19.Bf2 Qf7 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Nd5?? 

The final losing move. 21...Nh5 would actually have been winning for Black, since then 22. e6+ Kc8 23. exf7?? would have been met with 23...Rxe1 mate!

22.e6+ Rxe6 23.fxe6+ and white won on time, though Black is lost in any case.

Jerome Gambit: Time For A Sobering Cup of Coffee

I hope readers enjoyed the two games by Louis Morin that I recently posted on this blog. It was exciting to see the Jerome Gambit played as a surprise weapon in an over-the-board tournament. One win and one loss is a decent outcome for a many times "refuted" opening. (It probably would have been two wins, had not the first opponent been a wunderkind whose rating did not reflect his rocketing chess progress.)

However, despite my claim that the Jerome Gambit is "playable" - and I believe it is, in the proper situation, under the proper circumstances - I feel it is only fair to post a recent email I received from Louis. It is a challenge to all those who play the Jerome. Can we meet it?

Hello Rick, 

Thanks for posting my games, though I am not so sure that the Jerome is really playable if Black finds 6...Ke6!. 7.Qf5+ Ke6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ followed by 10...Ne7. This seems completely crushing for Black. 7.f4 looks like the only chance, but after 7...d6! I also believe White is dead lost. One line goes 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5. At least White managed to win a second pawn, but he his completely underdeveloped. I just did not find any way for him to complete his development while keeping his 2 pawns. Black has a number of crushing alternatives here, but even the quiet one is deadly: 11...Qh4+ 12.g3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14.c3 Bh3 (the point of 11...Qh4+) 15.d4 Bb6. As I said, I found no way for White not to lose material from here. The threat is 16...Bg2. After 17.Nd2, Black can reply 17...c5, attacking immediately White’s pawn center, and everything seems to crumble soon. Any suggestions? I would be happy to hear about any serious ideas from anyone in this critical line. All the best Louis Morin (MrJoker)

Really, The Jerome Gambit Is Playable (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

Morin, Louis - Weston, Paul

Quebec Open, 2018

40 moves / 90 minutes, then 30 minutes

23.Rd1

White cannot easily play the wished-for e4-e5, opening up lines against the enemy King, and so he reinforces his center.

23...Rc8

Black could also consider the prophylactic 23...Ng6, as the brusque 24.Bf4 Nxf4 25.gxf4 would not bring White any closer to a center break - at the cost of the shape of his Kingside.

24.Rdd2

I sense the approach of time trouble. White reinforces some more, and lets Black play decisively.

24...b5 

And Black does, cutting his Queen off from b6 and the defense of the d6 pawn.

25.Bf4 b4 26.axb4 Qxb4 27.Qxa6 Kf7 28.Bxd6 Qc4 29.Qxc4 Rxc4 

White now has 4 pawns for his sacrificed piece, and is clearly - if not easily - better.

30.e5 Nfxd5

Giving back the piece.

31.Nxd5

A tactical slip - see the note to move 24. Instead, 31.Bxe7 first, followed by 31...Bc6 32.Nxd5 is the key, i.e. 32...Rc1+ 33.Rf1 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 Bxd5 35.Rxd5 Kxe7 clears the air, and White is too many pawns up (from Black's point of view) in a Rook and pawns endgame.

31...Rc1+

Black returns the favor. After 31...Nxd5 32.Rxd5 Rc1+ 33.Rf1 Rc2 both sides should be looking for the kind of draws that come from Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgames. Or they could simply split the point with 34.Rf2 Rc1+ 35.Rf1 Rc2, etc.

32.Rf1 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 Nxd5 34.Rxd5 Rc8 

Black is one tempo shy. White can defend against the leveling checks, and his material advantage will win.

35.Rc5 Ra8 36.Rc1 Ra5 37.Rd1 Ba4 38.b4 Bb5+ 39.Ke1 Ra2 40.Rd2 Ra1+ 41.Kf2 Rf1+ 

Black is not ready to give up, but White seems to have it all under control. I don't see how the defender can set up the necessary pawn blockades - although the play continues to be complex.

42.Ke3 g5 43.Bc5 Re1+ 44.Kd4 Ke6 45.f4 gxf4 46.gxf4 Rf1

He could have tried 46...Bc6 and hoped that the clock would take White out. A long shot.

47.Ke3 Kf5 48.Rf2 Rd1 49.Rd2 Rf1 50.Rd6 

50...Re1+ 51.Kf3 Rf1+ 52.Bf2

Threatening checkmate.

52...Rxf2+ 53.Kxf2 Kxf4 54.Rd5 Black resigned

White is not just the exchange and a couple of pawns ahead. After 54...Bc6 (best) he has 55.Rc5, and it is clear that one of his passed pawns will promote.