Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") is organizing another Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld (Tournament #175671 named: Jerome Gambit 6).

In the past, these ChessWorld thematics have been a great place for Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) supporters and skeptics to try out their ideas. Many interesting games have been generated as practice and theory have taken steps forward.

I plan on presenting some of the top games here, as they are completed.

Here are just a few glimpses back at earlier tournaments:

"Daves111 Tops ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic"


"Final: JGTourney4 ChessWorld 2009"


"Carlos Azcarate Wins Tourney"


"Overrated!"


"Rail2Rail Nails It"


"Jerome Gambit Tournaments"

Why not stop by ChessWorld? If you are a member there, why not join in the mayhem of the Thematic?

Upcoming ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament!?

Word is that Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") may be organizing another ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament!

There has been plenty of coverage of previous tournaments on this blog – see "Jerome Gambit Tournaments," "Rail2Rail Nails It," "Overrated!" "Carlos Azcarate Wins Tourney," "Sole Survivor" and "Prized Players" for a taste – and if this new tournament should take off, it will be closely watched here as well.

Stay tuned for details, or check things out at the ChessWorld site.

Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up

Time to clean up a few things in this blog...

"In The Beginning..." refers to the first appearance in print of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) as being in the Dubuque Chess Journal, April 1874, Vol. VI, No. 50, p. 358-9.

This is a correction to the reference in the Oxford Companion to Chess, Whyld and Hooper, first (1984) and second editions (1992), noting "It appeared first in American Chess Journal, 1876." The authors are correct in that the June, September, November and December issues of the ACJ had Jerome Gambit content -- the Dubuque Chess Journal simply had prior coverage.
I have not been able to find an earlier reference than April 1874.

"To Infinity... And Beyond! (Part II)" and "Breaking News" indicated that at some time in the future Stefan Bücker's quarterly chess magazine, Kaissiber, would carry my article on the Jerome Gambit. Current speculation is there may be a short article in the October 2008 issue.

In "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!" I mentioned that Blackburne, in Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899) referred to the Jerome Gambit as "the Kentucky Opening." I have yet to discover how it is that the British master came up with that name.

"Is This Blog About YOU??" and "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory" both have been well-answered by games from ongoing Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments, and the occasional Comment to this blog or email to its Editor (richardfkennedy@hotmail.com). Of course, fresh games and analysis are always appreciated.

In "The Man, The Myth, The Legend..." I mentioned placing a classified ad with the online Paxton, Illinois (home of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome) website, http://www.paxtonil.com/, seeking information about the originator of the Jerome Gambit. While I have received no reply, and the ad has expired (and no longer appears), I can report that if you have an unwanted Paxtonopoly game, please contact the PRIDE office at 379-3388 or email pride@paxtonil.com.
I am no further enlightened on the things that puzzled me in " 'Tis A Puzzlement..."

After some progress on learning about the Jerome Gambit game Harris,W.A. Sgt. - Quayle,Ernest H.Los Angeles, California, USA 1944, as given in "The Joy of Discovery" Parts I, II, and III, the trail has gone cold.

"We are not alone..." heralded HANGING PAWN:: Tip's Chess Blog's coverage of the Jerome Gambit, and the offer therein of not just the computer vs computer Jerome Gambit games where White won (via download), but all of the games (contact the blogmaster). To date I have not received the larger stash.

With Rail2Rail winning his Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at ChessWorld, (see "Rail2Rail by a length" and "Rail2Rail Nails It") I had hoped for an annotated game or two from the winner; but nothing, yet.

"My head is spinning" Truly. Rybka 3.0 – or, in my case, Deep Rybka 3.0 Aquarium – is the real deal. It has got to be the tool for the serious (and very serious) chess player. Like having a "Grandmaster In A Box". A rather intimidating Grandmaster, at times – but: Wow!

After "The Salvio Gambit??" and "The Salvio Gambit?? (More)" I have not heard back from my friends at Chess.com, so I will tentatively suggest that I got my analysis correct.

Having fun with "Jerome Gambit and Vlad Tepes..." and "Jerome Gambit, Vlad Tepes and... Garlic!" I've started a couple of games at GameKnot with he-of-the-garlic, mika76.

As always, I'm "Looking for a few Jerome Gambit games..."
"Hey Wiki, it's me, Ricky!" So far the link to this blog from the Wikipedia article on the Jerome Gambit has been intact - and people are following it. Gotta love that.















Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Rail2Rail Nails It

As predicted, Rail2Rail has won his double round robin Jerome Gambit tournament at ChessWorld.

He was followed by dandoo, who lost a vital step on the leader by dropping a game on time to tailender calchess10.

On the other hand, the runner-up played a snappy game that helped distance himself from the middle of the pack:

dandoo - Piratepaul
JG2 thematic www.chessworld.net, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Kg6 7.h4 d6 8.h5+ Kf6 9.Qf3+ Ke5 10.Nf7+ 1–0

"Stay alert!" would be a good title for the following game, won by the third place finisher.


blackburne - eddie43
JG2 thematic www.chessworld.net, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Bd4



A novel way to return a piece with hopes of breaking the attack, although it turns out to be more of a "TL" than "TN".

8.fxe5 Bxe5 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.0–0

White, in turn, takes the position a bit too casually. With 10.d4 he could have shown an advantage in the game. Instead, he "castles into it."

10...Qh4

Stronger was 10...Qf6. Even so, Black is now clearly better.

11.h3 Qg3 12.Rf2 Nf6

Black looks like he has a killer position, and he would have, if his Knight had gone to either e7 or h6 instead. As it is, he gives White a chance.

13.d4 Bxd4 14.Bf4+ Kc6 15.Bxg3 Bxf2+ 16.Bxf2 d6

The smoke has cleared, and White has the winning advantage of a Queen for a Rook.

17.Qa5 Nxe4 18.Qa4+ Kd5 19.Nc3+ Nxc3 20.bxc3 Ke6 21.Re1+ Kf6 22.Qf4+ Kg6 23.Re3 Bf5 24.Rg3+ Kf6 25.Bd4+ Ke6 26.Re3+ Kd7 27.Qxf5+ Kd8 28.Bxg7 Rg8 29.Bf6 checkmate

Rail2Rail by a length

Rail2Rail is poised to win his Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at ChessWorld.
I hope to get him to annotate a game or two. In the meantime I thought I'd present one that illustrates (for me, anyway) some of the attractions of the Jerome Gambit.
Rail2Rail - drewbear JG2 thematic www.chessworld.net, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3
Modern variation.
5...h6 6.Nc3 Nge7
A new idea in a position he's played before. Is drewbear purposefully playing provocatively?
7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Qh5+ Ke6
It certainly looks that way! A calmer alternative, trading Queens and returning material, was 8...N7g6 9.f4 Qh4+ 10.Qxh4 Nxh4.
9.Bf4
Going for development, but 9.f4 immediately was probably stronger.
9...Bd6
Black's King is away from home, but he certainly isn't lonely! Still, he should have preferred the straight-forward 9...d6
10.d4 N5g6 11.Bxd6 cxd6


Tactical maniacs everywhere should be drooling!
Yet it seems that Black can put his tried-and-true plan of castling-by-hand into place to counter White's aggression: 12.f4 Kf7 13.f5 Rf8 14.0-0 Kg8 15.fxg6 and the second player is at worst even.
12.0–0 Kf7 13.f4 Kg8 14.f5 Nf8

15.Rf3
An aggressive try would be 15.f6 to undermine Black's fortress.
15...b6
Inaccurate, in that it misses the chance to solidify defenses with 15...Nh7, while creating a potential weakness on the a8-h1 diagonal.
16.Rg3 Rh7 17.f6 g6
White's pawn advance is better late than never, and Black slips in his response.
A difficulty in consulting computer programs like Rybka is that it will argue that after 17...Nc6 18.Rf1 g5 19.h4 Black is simply winning. No wonder computer tend to annihilate the Jerome Gambit!
Things now go from bad to worse in short order for the second player.

18.fxe7 Qxe7 19.Qd5+ Ne6 20.Qxa8 Qd8 21.Qd5 Kh8 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Qa8 Qd8 24.Nb5 Nc7 25.Nxc7 Qxc7 26.Rf8+ Kg7 1–0