Jerome Gambit: It Is Easier To Attack Than Defend

The following game is a good example of how defense - especially defending against an attack on the King - is more difficult than attack. Black has ways for his King to escape punishment, but he is not able to find them, and the game ends as many gambits end, successfully for the attacker.

Ponce, Justin - NN
internet, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3 Nh6 

An interesting idea: attacking the Queen and leaving the f-file open for the Rook.

Recently, we have also seen 8...Qf6 9.d4 (9.Qh3 Qxf2+ 10.Kd1 Nf6 11.d3 Kc6 12.Bg5 d6 13.Qg3 Nfg4 14.Ne2 Qf7 15.d4 Nf2+ 16.Kd2 Nxe4+ 17.Kc1 Nxg3 18.hxg3 Qf2 19.Kd1 Bg4 20.Re1 Nc4 21.dxc5 Qd4+ 22.Kc1 Qxb2+ White resigned, noory - emranhamidm, FICS, 2020) 9...Qxf5 (9...Bxd4 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 Kxd4 12.Be3+ Kc4 13.Qh5 Kb4 14.Qe2 Qc6 15.c3+ Ka4 16.b3+ Ka5 17.b4+ Ka4 18.Qd1+ Kb5 19.a4+ Kc4 20.Qd4+ Kb3 21.Rb1+ Kxa4 22.b5+ Qc4 23.Rb4+ Black resigned,  NN - NN, lichess.org, 2020) 10.dxc5+ Kxc5 11.Be3+ Kc6 12.exf5 Nf6 13.O-O-O d5 14.Bd4 Re8 15.f3 Bxf5 16.b4 a6 17.a4 b5 18.Rhe1 Nc4 19.Rxe8 Rxe8 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Nxd5 Re2 22.Rd4 Rxc2+ 23.Kd1 Rd2+ 24.Rxd2 Nxd2 25.Ne7+ Kd7 26.Nxf5 Nc4 27.axb5 axb5 28.Nd4 c6 29.Ke2 Nd6 30.Nb3 Ke6 31.Kd3 Kd5 32.Nd2 Nc4 33.Ne4 Ne5+ 34.Kc3 f5 35.Nf6+ Ke6 36.Nxh7 Ng6 37.Ng5+ Kf6 38.Nh3 Ke5 39.g3 f4 40.Nxf4 Nxf4 41.gxf4+ Kxf4 42.Kd4 Kf5 43.Kc5 Kf4 44.Kxc6 Kxf3 45.Kxb5 Kg4 46.Kc6 Kh3 47.b5 Kxh2 48.b6 Kg3 49.b7 Kg4 50.b8=Q Kf5 51.Qb5+ Ke4 52.Qd5+ Kf4 53.Kc5 Ke3 54.Qd4+ Kf3 55.Kd5 Kg3 56.Qc3+ Kf4 57.Qd3 Kg4 58.Kd4 Kf4 59.Qe4+ Kg5 60.Qe5+ Kg6 61.Ke4 Kf7 62.Qf5+ White won on time, penguingim1 - sutcunuri, lichess.org, 2020) 

9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.Qxe5 Kxb5 

Black can capture the Knight, but it would be safer to play something like 10...d6 or 10...Qe7.

11.a4+ Kc6 

Maybe now Black thinks he can get in ...d6, but it is too late for that. He needs another plan. He could have tried 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5 b6!? and his King can escape to b7.

12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.a5+ Kb5 

Again, Black would have helped himself more with 13...Ka6, this time answering 14.Qxc5 with 14...d5 (14...b6 is not as effective) 15.b4 Qd7 16.0-0 and White has an edge, although a checkmate isn't available.

However, after the text, it is.

14.c4+ Kb4 15.O-O 

Good enough.

You might want to work out the alternative: 15.b3 Qf6 16.Ba3+ Kxb3 17.Qd3+ Ka4 18.Bb2+ Kb4 19.Bc3+ Kb3 20.Bxf6+ Kb4 21.Qc3#. 

15...c6 

16.Qd3 Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 d6 18.Qc3+ Kc5 19.d4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Ghosts of Moves Unplayed

Playing a 3-minute game often requires both players to put aside any thoughts of what moves they could have played, or should have mande, but didn't. With more time to reflect, such musings might help in forming future plans, but in blitz, they can haunt ongoing play.

BoomBoomTNT-YT - tyronev1
3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

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

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

Now, Black can choose Blackburne's Defense, 7...d6, or Whistler's Defense, 7...Qe7 - both are complicated and dangerous - or amongst a handful of lesser lines, e.g. 7...Bd6.

7...Qe7 

8.Qd5+

We have recently taken a look at this infrequently- played move. See "Jerome Gambit: Largely Overlooked by History".

Recent alternatives:

8.Qxe7+ Kxe7 9.b3 a6 10.Bb2 Nf6 11.O-O Kf7 12.Nc3 Bd4 13.Rae1 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 d6 15.e5 dxe5 16.Bxe5 Rg8 17.Bxc7 Bg4 18.f3 Bh5 19.Bd6 Rad8 20.Bb4 g5 21.Re7+ Kg6 22.Rxb7 Rg7 23.Rb6 Rd4 24.Bc3 Rd8 25.Rxf6 checkmate, Ghigi,N - NN, 5 1 blitz, 2020;

8.Qxh8 Ke6 (8...Qxe4+ 9.Kd1 Qxg2 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.c3 Qxh1+ 12.Kc2 Qe4+ 13.d3 Qa4+ 14.b3 Qg4 15.Bh6+ Nxh6 16.Qxh6+ Kf7 17.Qh7+ Kf6 18.Nd2 Bxf2 19.Ne4+ Kf5 20.Qf7+ Ke5 21.Qf6+ Kd5 22.c4 checkmate, tomkoolen1996 - ThomasBovenkerk, 10 5 blitz, lichess.org, .com, 2020; or 8...Nf6 9.d3 b6 10.Bg5 Bd4 11.c3 Bb7 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qxh7+ Kf8 14.Qxe7+ Black resigned, Anonymous -Anonymous, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020) 9.Qxg8+ Kd6 10.Qd5 checkmate, decidueyemainbtw -MarcosEngenheiro, Chess.com 2020; and

8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.Qg3 Bd6 10.f4 Bxf4 11.Qb3+ Qe6 12.O-O Qxb3 13.Rxf4+ Kg7 14.axb3 d6 15.d4 Ne7 16.Nc3 Bd7 17.Be3 a6 18.Raf1 Rhe8 19.Rf7+ Kh8 20.Bg5 Nc6 21.Bf6+ Kg8 22.Rxd7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest744598, PlayChess.com, 2020.

8...Kg7

The text move looks a little bit better than 8...Kf8, which might place the King in the way of a Rook that wants to be developed, e.g. eronald - ayushsankar1006, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020 (0-1, 23). 

9.d4 Bb4+

Not quite as strong as 9...Bb6, levigun - obviously, 5d + 2d GameKnot.com, 2004, (0-1, 11) 

10.c3 Nf6 11.Qe5 

White has to be careful, with only one piece developed vs three, even with his strong pawn center. Fortunately, Black helps him out.

11...Qxe5 

Exchanging Queens in the Jerome Gambit if often a help to the defender. In this case - a 3-minute blitz game - Black has not looked deeply enough, however.

12.dxe5 Nxe4 13.cxb4 Re8 

14.Nc3 

A bit stronger was 14.0-0 Rxe5 15.Bf4 Re6 16.Bxc7. This possibility seems to haunt both player's thoughts during the next few moves, perhaps unconsciously.

14...Rxe5 15.O-O 

Of course, White can not now play 15.Bf4 Re6 16.Bxc7 because of 16...Nxc3+.

15...d5 16.Be3 

This is a solid move, although, again, 16.Bf4 was on.

16...c6

Black suddenly realizes that the 16.Bf4 skewer could win a pawn, so he moves that pawn to safety. But he overlooks something.

17.Bd4 

Black resigned

The Rook is a goner.

Jerome Gambit: Impatience Wins Again

What do you do, if you are excited by the Jerome Gambit, but don't want to wait for the whole opening to unfold? Well, perhaps, like in the following game, you sacrifice your bishop a bit ahead of schedule...

Of course, when you checkmate your opponent in a dozen moves, you might very well have proven your point.

JovieBoi - NN
5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Bxf7+ 

This is one of the opening lines that I have classified as "impatient Jerome Gambits" in that White does not wait for ...Bc5 before sacrificing his Bishop.

If Black is not prepared the shock may shorten the game considerably.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 

Black is holding on, but he has to keep his King safe, even at the cost of returning some material.

8...Qf6 9.dxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxf8+ 

This works, but 10.Bf4 was even stronger.

10...Qe7 

11.Bf4+ Ke6

Stumbling into it.

12.Qf5 checkmate

Okay!


graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

Jerome Gambit: Danger!

In the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Black's King is drawn into the wilderness, where he has a slim path to safety - but he misses it. White demonstrates the danger. 

NN - NN
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3 Qf6

Black's Queen joins the defense, but the King is going to be drawn into danger, anyhow.

9.d4 Bxd4 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 Kxd4 12.Be3+ Kc4 13.Qh5 Kb4 

The King is all alone and at risk.

He needed to play 13...Kb5, instead, and focus on returning home. For example, if White then tried 14.f4, there was the helpful 14...d6, giving a way off the battlefield, via c6 and d7. He shouldn't worry about 15.fxe5 Qxe5, as he can afford to return the piece and remain a piece ahead. 

14.Qe2 

Cutting off retreat. White now focuses on checkmate. It is well worth playing through the following moves, to see what choices the attacker had, and what chances the defender did not.

14...Qc6 15.c3+ Ka4 16.b3+ Ka5 17.b4+ Ka4 18.Qd1+ Kb5 19.a4+ Kc4 20.Qd4+ Kb3 21.Rb1+ Kxa4 22.b5+ Qc4 23.Rb4+ Black resigned

Black will lose his Queen, and then his King.

Jerome Gambit: More Mysteries

Jerome Gambit games keep pouring in...

Another mystery (see "Jerome Gambit: Ghosts in the Defense") arrived the other day, followed, a few days later, by, yet, another. I want to share the games, and some perspective. I have made the name of the players of the Black pieces anonymous.

Eelco_Niermeijer - NN
10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ 

Black resigned

Okay...  How about

Eelco_Niermeijer - NN,
10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 

Black resigned

What was going on??

Three things, about the world of the Jerome Gambit.

I wanted to share something from GM Nigel Davies' fantastic book, Gambiteer I.

“Having examined literally thousands of club players’ games over the years, I have noticed several things: 

1) The player with the more active pieces tends to win. 

2) A pawn or even several pawns is rarely a decisive advantage. 

3) Nobody knows much theory. 

4) When faced with aggressive play, the usual reaction is to cower.”

That might explain the defender's behavior.  Meanwhile, to explain the attacker's attack, some input from Geoff Chandler, chess player, coach, and raconteur. I quote from one of his posts

Here is a one-move blunder table showing how severe the blunder needs to be in a game between two players of the same grade.

All players should be able to spot their opponent leaving a mate in one on. 

A 1200 player should win if an opponent blunders a Queen or a Rook. But not necessarily if they pick up a Bishop or Knight. 

1500 players often convert piece-up games into a win, but this is not the case if a pawn or two up. 

An 1800 player usually wins if they are two pawns up. 

In a game between two 2000+ players a blundered pawn is usually enough to win.

I think that Chandler's blunder table can be applied to time limits, as well. In correspondence play, a little material means a lot. In blitz or bullet play, though - sacrifice away!

Finally, an assessment from the Jerome Gambit player, himself, concerning the first game, although it could apply to the second as well.

The game started off with a normal Jerome Gambit. After ...Nxe5 I decided to go for the Queen check variation rather than the theoretically more solid d4 move forking the bishop and knight, mainly because I consider it to be a more active way to attack the king and eventually gain compensation for the sacrificed pieces. As soon as I checked the king with my queen, black started burning some serious time which suggests that this gambit might have caught him by surprise which is in my opinion the biggest advantage of the Jerome Gambit together with its fierce attack on the king side. As you can see in the game I sent you he eventually burned approximately 1 minute and 25 seconds, only in his sixth and final move. Which shows that the spontaneous nature of the gambit is its main advantage, as if this had been a quick 3 minute blitz game where this gambit is originally intended to be played, he would have already used half of his time in his first six moves. My opponent was probably considering the best way in which he could get out of check. He eventually decided to block the queen's check with his knight going for ...Ng6 probably because he was scared of playing something like ...g6 which would run into Qxe5 delivering a fork on the bishop and rook, or protecting his knight with a move like ...Ke6 which would expose his king in a very dangerous way. After my opponent played ...Ng6 both protecting his knight and blocking the check I decided to play Qd5+! which is as you already know the theoretical novelty that GM Aman Hambleton introduced in his video about the Jerome Gambit which has the idea of inviting black to play either Kf8 or Ke7 which allows white to capture the bishop with another check to continue his attack and to stop black from developing. Surprisingly enough, shortly after I played this move my opponent resigned because despite being objectively better, as he was two pieces up, he thought that he was losing because of the speed in which I played my moves which suggested that the Jerome Gambit was either some kind of tactic which he had blundered into or a very strong attack which I had brought prepared from home. The moral of the story is that he resigned a six move game being two pieces up and with plenty of time on the clock solely because of the speed of my moves and the position of his king...

Jerome Gambit: Return to the Literary Digest

In mid-1900, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome convinced the chess columnist for the Literary Digest to start a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) consultation game involving the magazine's readers. The tale of this match was told on this blog in "A Jerome Discovery (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)".

I found myself returning to the last of Jerome's suggestions, which I had reported without comment.

The game had proceeded this far -

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.0-0 Ng4 8.h3 Bd6 

This position was seen as far back as Sorensen - NN, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27).

9.f4 h5

At this point, the Literary Digest continued (descriptive notation changed to algebraic)

Mr. Jerome suggests White's 9th move instead of e5, and writes: "This looks like a sure move for White." Black has, in reply, two moves: ...Nh6, saving the piece, or ...h5. We prefer the latter, as it is evident that Black [sic: it should read White] can not play hxg4.

I have to admit that Jerome was not at his sharpest in "improving" upon Sorensen's play. (According to The Database, 9.f4 is a novelty.)

For starters, the chess columnist at the Literary Digest was correct, that 10.hxg4 was unplayable, as, after 10...hxg4, Black would be threatening 11...g3 with checkmating threats that would cost White his Queen, unless he played the best (but still inadequate) 11.Re1 - the immediate 11...g3 would be strong, while developing moves such as 11...Nf6 or 11...b6 (preparing ...Ba6, covering the escape square f1) would be even stronger.

White would have to answer 9...h5 with 10.Qd3 (keeping the enemy Queen out of g3) when some caution by Black, such as 10...Bf8 or 10...N4h6 should allow him to eventually take advantage of his two-pieces-for-two-pawns material imbalance.

Of course, Black's alternative line of play, 9...N4h6, also allows him to hang onto material, and as long as he avoids opening lines for White's Rook, his advantage should tell.

Kicking the enemy Bishop with 9.e5, as in the Sorensen game, seems best for White, although Black should retreat his Bishop with 9...Be7 (a novelty, according to The Database) - not return it for pawns, as Sorensen's opponent did, with 9...Bxe5. White can then grab the Knight with 10.hxg4, and side-step the thematic 10...h5 with 11.g5, but his game will still be worse after 11...Qg4 (not 11...Bxg5, because of 12.g3!?, which will cost Black the Bishop.

Jerome Gambit: Risk Upon risk

If it is risky to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), it is even more so to play it at the time control of one minute, no increment. And, to do so - blindfold?

If risky, also exciting, as the latest game from private eye Cliff Hardy shows us. He even shares one of his "secret weapons" in bullet play. Enjoy! [I have added diagrams, but the commentary is by Cliff. - Rick]

Hi Rick!

OK, I'm sorry to inflict this on you again but I like to try playing the Jerome Gambit under different conditions and against different opponents and have included a blindfold bullet Jerome Gambit game I played. Naturally, my opponent would not have played the game blindfolded (well, actually, I guess you never know, but there aren't many of us who are crazy enough to do it, so I rather doubt it 😉). 

Cliff Hardy - NN
1 0 bullet, Lichess, 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 Qf6 

10.0-0 N8e7?! =+

Stockfish gives best as 10...Nf4! 11.d3 g5, grabbing space, with a clear advantage for Black, but I admit that it doesn't seem quite so clear an advantage to me.

11.Nc3?! -++

And better here would have been 11.d3!, to stop the ...Nf4! move from being playable again.

11...c6? +=

11...Nf4!

12.d4 Kf7 13.f4 Rf8 14.f5 Nh4?! +-

14...Kg8! += would have left the knight on g6 immune from capture, due to mate on f1.

15.Qd3 

I missed that I could have trapped the knight here with 15.g3?, though Stockfish says that after that, Black could then have given back the piece advantageously with 15...Nhxf5! 16.exf5 Nxf5, upon which he then would have had a slight edge.

15...Kg8 16.g3? -+

Surprisingly a mistake, for reasons along the line of those given on the previous move. Better would have been to have grabbed space with 16.g4! +-.

16...Nhxf5! 17.exf5 Nxf5? =

17...Bxf5! -++ would have been a more forcing and better way to capture here, as it would have attacked the queen and forced White to have wasted a tempo to save it.

18.Ne4 Qg6?! =

18...Qxd4+! 19.Qxd4 Nxd4 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Nxd6 Nxc2 -++ was a bit too hard to see under the conditions of a bullet game.

19.Be3 d5 20.Nf2? 

20.Ng5 =+ would have been less defensive.

20...h5?! =+

20...Nxe3 21.Qxe3 Qxc2 -++ would have won a pawn.

21.Rae1 h4 22.Bf4 hxg3 23.Bxg3 

23...Nxg3?? 24.hxg3??

Oops? OK, taking the free queen with 24.Qxg6 would have been rather better. Hopefully if I'd been playing sighted I might have seen that! But hey, at least missing it made it more of an even game! 😉

24...Qxd3? = 

24...Bf5! 25.Qc3 Bxc2 -++ would have won another pawn.

25. cxd3?! =+ 

25.Nxd3 = would have kept a better pawn structure.

25...Bh3?? ++- 

Another oops!

26.Nxh3 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Rf8 28.Rf2 Rxf2 29.Kxf2 Kf7 

30.Ke2 g6 31.Kd2 Kf6 32.Kc1 

I admit that my blindfold bullet games often deteriorate into this sort of thing. I'd forgotten where the pieces were and was just shuffling my king back and forth, aiming for the win on time! Sorry, but that's the advantage of having no shame!

32...Kf5 33.Kd1 Kg4 34.Kd2?? Kxh3 -++

Black's position was now totally winning as his g-pawn was unstoppable, though he now had less than 0.1 of a second left on his clock.

35.Ke1 Kxg3 36.Kd2 Kg2 37.Ke2 and White won on time, still with a good 22.1 seconds left on the clock 😉.

Bye,

Me