Pawn-ful Lessons

A pawn advance seems to sew up the game for White, but it turns out upon further inspection that not as many were needed, only the proper amount of support from the pieces...

perrypawnpusher  - nmuffjgp
blitz FICS, 2010

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

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

This is one of the recognized refutations of the Jerome Gambit, but one reason I am pleased to face it is that White gets to eliminate Black's dark-squared Bishop which would otherwise hold up f2-f4.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Be6

10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4

An interesting alternative: 11.d3 Qd7 12.b3 Kf7 13.Bb2 Rhf8 14.Nd2 Kg8 15.f4 Ng4 16.Qg3 Bf7 17.h3 Nf6 18.f5 Ne5 19.Bxe5 dxe5 20.Qxe5 Rfe8 21.Qg3 Rad8 22.Nf3 Qc6 23.Rf2 Qc5 24.Raf1 a5 25.a4 b5 26.axb5 Qxb5 27.Kh1 c5 28.Ne5 a4 29.bxa4 Qxa4 30.Nxf7 Kxf7 31.Qc7+ Rd7 32.Qxc5 Kg8 33.e5 Nd5 34.f6 gxf6 35.exf6 Qa8 36.f7+ Kh8 37.f8Q+ Black resigned, fehim - BoardStupid, FICS, 2009.

11...Ne7

Alternatives: 11...Bc4 12.d3 Bb5 13.c4 Bc6 14.f5 Ne5 15.Nc3 Qd7 16.b3 Qf7 17.d4 Neg4 18.Qe2 Qe7 19.Bg5 h6 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 21.Rae1 h5 22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Ng4 24.h3 Nh6 25.Qf2 Kd7 26.Qd4+ Ke8 27.f6 Qe6 28.fxg7 Rg8 29.Rf6 Qd7 30.Qxd7+ Kxd7 31.e6+ Kd6 32.e7+ Kc5 33.Rxh6 Rxg7 34.Rxh5+ Kd4 35.Nb5+ Kd3 36.g4 Rag8 37.Rhe5 Rh7 38.e8Q Bxe8 39.Rxe8 Rgg7 40.Rd8+ Kc2 41.Re2+ Kc1 42.Na3 Rxh3 43.Rc2 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - avgur, blitz, FICS 2009;

11...Bf7 12.d4 Kf8 13.b3 h5 14.f5 Ng4 15.Qg3 Ne7 16.Bg5 Nf6 17.Nd2 Qd7 18.Rae1 Re8 19.c4 c5 20.d5 Ng4 21.Nf3 b5 22.h3 Nf6 23.Nh4 bxc4 24.bxc4 Qa4 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Ng6+ Bxg6 27.fxg6 Kg7 28.Qxd6 Rhf8 29.Qxc5 Qxa2 30.d6 Ng8 31.Ra1 Qe2 32.Rxa7+ Kxg6 33.Qf5+ Kh6 34.Rh7 checkmate, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009; and

11...Kd7 12.f5 Bxf5 13.exf5 Re8 14.Qg5 Ne7 15.Qxg7 c6 16.Qxf6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - dirceu, blitz, FICS, 2010.

12.d4

A dynamic alternative was 12.f5, as in 12...Bf7 13.d3 c6 14.h3 Qb6 15.g4 Qxe3+ 16.Bxe3 Kd7 17.Nd2 b6 18.Kg2 g6 19.g5 Nh5 20.f6 Nc8 21.d4 b5 22.b3 Nb6 23.Rac1 a5 24.c4 bxc4 25.Nxc4 Rhb8 26.Kf3 Nxc4 27.bxc4 Rb2 28.Rf2 Rab8 29.d5 c5 30.Rcc2 Rxc2 31.Rxc2 a4 32.Rc3 Kc7 33.Ra3 Be8 34.e5 dxe5 35.Bxc5 Rb2 36.Ke4 Re2+ 37.Be3 Bd7 38.f7 Black resigned, mrjoker - Melbourne, ICC, 2008.

12...d5 13.e5

Falling in with Black's plan. After the game Rybka suggested that White give up a Rook and a pawn for a couple of pieces: 13.f5 Bd7 14.e5 Nxf5 15.Rxf5 Ng4 16.Qf4 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 when Black has a small edge. 

13...Ne4

14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Bxd2 Nc6

This move lets White's pawns run free. Instead, 15...Qd7 covers the f5 square.

16.f5 Bf7 17.e6 Bh5

18.h3

Preparing for the advance of more pawns. After the game Rybka showed that this was unnecessary. Instead, 18.Qh3 was strong, and after 18...Be2 White could afford 19.Rae1!? as 19...Bxf1 would be well met by 20.Qh5+.

Indeed, no further pawns need advance, if White's pieces are active.

18...Kf8

Better 18...Qf6 to answer 19.g4 with 19...Qxd4 although the Bishop is still lost after 20.gxh5.

19.g4

Here 19.f6 gxf6 20.Qh6+ Kg8 21.Qxh5 is stronger. 

19...Be8 20.g5

Again, this works, but stronger was 20.f6 gxf6 21.Qh6+

20...Ne7 21.f6

Here, 21.Bb4 would have tightened the screws before the pawn advance.

Black's resistance crumbles.

21...Ng6 22.e7+ Qxe7 Black resigned

MrJoker

One of the joys of hosting this jeromegambit.blogspot.com blog is the contact that I have with adventurous chess players from all over the world.

I recently received an email from a modern Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Gemeinde member. Of course, he sent along a file of games that included almost 100 Jerome Gambit games!

Hello Richard,

I don't know if you remember me. We exchanged Jerome Gambit games some time ago, but we lost contact, and I just happened to find your blog today. Since last time I played many more games on ICC (time control 2 12) under the nickname mrjoker.

My current blitz rating is 1703, with a peak of 1885. My recent result is 57-25-5 [68%] with this gambit, slightly better than my overall result 1695-853-289 [65%] with all openings.

Surprise value is not the only factor, as shown by my 12-3 result against Phlebas, who virtually tried everything against the Jerome Gambit, without finding anything good...

Your blog is very interesting. I have only a minor criticism: perhaps you insist too much on the "unsound" character of the opening. I consider myself as a serious player, and would never play anything unsound. Even though 4.Bxf7+ may not be the very best move in the Italian, it seems to me that White gets reasonable compensation and a more or less playable game in all variations. I still have to try the opening in tournament games with slow time controls against 1700-2100 players (my usual opponents), but it will come when I feel ready.

I tried to find pgn files on your blog. Are there any? If so please let me know.

I hope you will enjoy the games.

All the best,

Louis Morin
Of course, I sent him the file of all of the games given here in the blog's first year of existence.
And I'm working my way through the 100 games, too...