Beware: The Sneak!

Black's biggest dangers in playing against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) are overconfidence, a dismissive attitude and inattention. If any of these plague the second player in the early moves of the game, an otherwise blatant maneuver called The Sneak might arise.

In its starkest form, The Sneak looks like this:

I know what you're thinking: nobody would fall for that, letting the Bishop get trapped.

It is true, not everybody does fall for it. Here are some warnings, though:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3

2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.d3 Nc6 5.c3 Bc5 6.a4 d6 7.Nf3 Ng4 8.0-0 Rf8 9.b4 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Nxf2 11.Kxf2, Viejoasquerosos - BigJase, redhotpawn, 2006 (1-0, 40)

2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

4...Kf8 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.c3 Qf6 7.d3 d6 8.a4 Ke8 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Qe6 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2, SIRMO - AAlekhine, chessworld, 2007 (1-0, 47)

5.d3

5.c3 d6 ( 5...Nf6 6.d3 h6 7.0-0 g5 8.Qb3+ Ke8 9.Kh1 g4 10.Ng1 h5 11.Bg5 Rh7 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qg8+ Qf8 14.Qxh7 g3 15.Qg6+ Qf7 16.Qxg3 d6 17.a4 Be6 18.b4 Nxb4 19.cxb4 Bxb4 Piratepaul - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 26)) 6.d3 Nf6 ( 6...Bg4 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.Qxg4 Qe7 9.Ne6+ Ke8 10.Nxg7+ Kf7 11.Nf5 Qf6 12.Bg5 Qe6 13.a4 Nf6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.b4 Bb6 16.a5 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2, Piratepaul - metalwarrior1969, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 36)) 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Bh4 Qd7 12.a4 h5 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Bxf2, Piratepaul - blackburne, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 22);

5.0-0 Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Nc3 Kg8 8.Ne2 d6 9.a4 Be6 10.c3 h6 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Ng4 13.Rf1 Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0,35)

5...Nf6

[ 5...h6 6.c3 ( 6.0-0 g5 7.h3 Nf6 8.a4 d6 9.c3 g4 10.hxg4 Bxg4 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Black Puma - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 21)) 6...d6 7.0-0 ( 7.a4 Bg4 ( 7...Qf6 8.b4 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2, SIRMO - Ratscales, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 36)) 8.b4 Bxf3 9.Qxf3+ Qf6 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.bxc5 dxc5, braken - willitfw, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 51)) 7...Nf6 8.a4 Na5 ( 8...Bg4 9.b4 Nxb4 ( 9...Bxb4 10.cxb4, Piratepaul - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 44)) 10.cxb4 Bd4 11.Ra2 a6 ( 11...Nh5 Piratepaul - TWODOGS, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (1-0, 32)) 12.Nbd2 Nh5, Piratepaul - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 56)) 9.b4 Bb6 10.bxa5 Bxa5, braken - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 23)

6.Bg5

6.a4 Rf8 7.c3 d6 8.0-0 Kg8 9.Ng5 ( 9.b4 Nxb4 10.cxb4 Bxb4 11.Qb3+ Kh8 12.Qxb4 0-1 Black Puma - stampyshortlegs, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (0-1, 24)) 9...Bg4 10.Qe1 Nh5 11.h3 Bxh3 12.Nxh3 Ng3 13.b4 Nxb4 14.cxb4 Bd4 15.Ra2 Nxf1 16.Kxf1, SIRMO - manago, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 18)

6...Rf8 7.0-0 Kg8 8.c3 Qe8 9.Kh1 d6 10.a4 Bg4 11.b4 Qh5 12.Bd2 d5 13.bxc5 dxe4 14.dxe4 Nxe4 Piratepaul - delboy138, chessworld, 2008 (1-0,17)

SIRMO

While preparing "Jerome Gambit for Dummies (5)" I realized that I had published only two games of the Jerome Gambit thematic tournament winner, SIRMO: plummy - SIRMO, chessworld.net, 2007 (0-1, 49) and Bullit52 - SIRMO, chessworld.net, 2007 (0-1, 12).

I think I may have unfairly shied away from his games because SIRMO prefers the "modern" Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) variations – not playing 5.Nxe5+ after 4...Kxf7 – and because a number of his wins feature a certain amount of wizardry...

Here are SIRMO's Jerome Gambit wins with white.

SIRMO - AAlekhine

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 [Hardly the way to refute the Jerome Gambit! - Rick] 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.c3 Qf6 7.d3 d6 8.a4 Ke8 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Qe6 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Rf8 15.Rh3 Ke7 16.Be3 Rae8 17.b5 Na5 18.Nbd2 Kd8 19.Ke2 Kc8 20.c4 g5 21.Nh2 Qf6 22.Rf3 Qe6 23.Qf1 g4 24.Rxf8 g3 25.Rxe8+ Bxe8 26.Nhf3 Bxh5 27.Qh1 Qf7 28.Qh3+ Kb8 29.Qxg3 b6 30.Bxh6 Nb7 31.Qg7 Qxg7 32.Bxg7 Nc5 33.a5 Ne6 34.Bf6 Nf4+ 35.Kf1 Nxd3 36.axb6 cxb6 37.Be7 Kc8 38.Bxd6 Kd7 39.Nxe5+ Nxe5 40.Bxe5 Ke6 41.Bc7 Kd7 42.Rxa7 Kc8 43.Bxb6 Kb8 44.c5 Bd1 45.Nc4 Bb3 46.Nd6 Bc2 47.Rd7 1-0

SIRMO - Bullit52

thematic www.chessworld.net, 11.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 [The use of c3 + a4 with the threat against the Bishop of a4-a5 in the Jerome Gambit could well be called the "SIRMO maneuver" - Rick] a5 7.Qb3+ Ke8 8.Ng5 Rf8 9.Qc4 Bd6 10.Qe2 Ne7 Here, Black lost on time. 1-0

SIRMO - Ratscales

thematic www.chessworld.net, 01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 h6 6.c3 d6 7.a4 Qf6 8.b4 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2 g5 10.h3 Ke8 11.Be3 Be6 12.Ke2 d5 13.Rf1 Qe7 14.a5 Nf6 15.Nh2 Nh5 16.Rf3 Kd8 17.Na3 a6 18.Kd2 Qd7 19.Kc2 d4 20.Bd2 Nxa5 21.bxa5 Qa4+ 22.Kc1 Bb3 23.Qe1 Nf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.c4 Re8 26.Ng4 Re6 27.Kb2 b6 28.Nb5 Rxe4 29.dxe4 Qxc4 30.Na3 Qc5 31.Rxb3 b5 32.e5 h5 33.Nf6 Ra7 34.e6 c6 35.Ng8 Ke8 36.e7 Qd5 1-0

SIRMO - plummy

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c3 Nxe4 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bd6 9.dxe5 Bxe5 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Qxe4 d6 12.Na3 Qf6 13.f4 Bf5 14.Qf3 Ke8 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.Qxf5 Qxf5 17.Rxf5 Kd7 18.Rxe5 c6 19.Bg5 Kc7 20.Re7+ Kb6 21.Rxg7 h5 22.Nc4+ Ka6 23.Nd6 b5 24.b4 h4 25.a4 c5 26.axb5+ Kb6 27.Ra6 checkmate 1-0

SIRMO - BrainFreeze

thematic www.chessworld.net, 02.2008 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 Nxe4 7.d4 exd4 8.0-0 dxc3 9.Qd5+ Kf8 10.Qxe4 cxb2 11.Bxb2 d6 [A "Danish - Jerome Gambit"?? White can now draw with 12.Qf4+ - Rick] 12.Nbd2 Qe7 13.Qf4+ Qf7 14.Qg3 Rg8 15.Rfe1 Bf5 16.Ng5 Qg6 17.Re2 h6 18.Nge4 Qxg3 19.Nxg3 Bd3 20.Ree1 Bb4 21.Bc1 Nd4 22.a5 Nc2 23.Ra4 Nxe1 24.Rxb4 Rb8 25.Bb2 Nc2 26.Rb3 Bg6 27.Kf1 c5 28.Nde4 Bxe4 29.Nxe4 Re8 30.f3 Re6 31.Rxb7 a6 32.Bc1 g5 33.h3 Rg7 34.Rb8+ Ke7 35.Rb6 d5 36.Nxc5 Rxb6 37.axb6 Rg8 38.Nxa6 Nd4 39.b7 Nc6 40.f4 Rf8 41.Ba3+ Kf7 42.Bxf8 Kxf8 43.f5 Kf7 44.g4 d4 45.Ke2 Kf6 46.b8Q Nxb8 47.Nxb8 Ke5 48.Kd3 Kf4 49.f6 Kg3 50.f7 Kxh3 51.f8Q Kxg4 52.Nc6 Kh4 53.Nxd4 g4 54.Qxh6+ Kg3 55.Ke3 Kg2 56.Ne2 1-0

SIRMO - karmmark

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c3 d6 7.h3 Rf8 8.d4 Kg8 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Bg5 Rd6 12.Nbd2 b5 13.Rad1 h6 14.Bh4 Be6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rfe1 a5 17.Nh4 Rad8 18.Nhf3 Ne7 19.b3 Ng6 20.Re2 Nf4 21.Re3 Kh7 22.Kh2 Rg8 23.Nh4 Rd3 24.Rxd3 Nxd3 25.f3 Nf2 [The game is even here, but the endgame proves to be a nail-biter - Rick] 26.Rf1 Nd3 27.g4 Nf4 28.Nf5 h5 29.Ne7 Re8 30.Nc6 Ra8 31.Nb1 c4 32.Nd2 Ne2 33.bxc4 bxc4 34.Nb1 Ra6 35.Ne7 Nf4 36.Na3 Rd6 37.Nb5 Rd2+ 38.Kg3 Rg2+ 39.Kh4 Kg7 40.Nxc7 Bd7 41.Ncd5 Rxa2 42.Nxf4 exf4 43.Kxh5 Rh2 44.Kh4 Rc2 45.Nd5 a4 46.Ra1 Rf2 47.Rb1 Rxf3 48.Nb6 Be8 49.Nxc4 Rxc3 50.Nd2 Bg6 51.Rb7+ Kh6 52.e5 fxe5 53.g5 checkmate 1-0

SIRMO - manago

thematic www.chessworld.net, 01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Nf6 6.a4 Rf8 7.c3 d6 8.0-0 [ The thematic 8.b4!? led to about an even game: 8...Nxb4 9.Qb3+ Be6 10.Ng5+ Kg6 11.Nxe6 Nxd3+ 12.Kd2 Nxc1 13.Kxc1 Qe7 14.Nxf8+ Rxf8 - Rick] 8...Kg8 9.Ng5 [ I'm for 9.b4 again - Rick] 9...Bg4 10.Qe1 Nh5 11.h3 Bxh3 ["All according to plan", but the stronger plan was 11...Nf4!? 12.hxg4 Nxd3 - Rick] 12.Nxh3 Ng3 13.b4 Nxb4 14.cxb4 Bd4 15.Ra2 Nxf1 16.Kxf1 Qh4 17.Be3 Rf6 18.Bxd4, White has an advantage, but Black lost on time 1-0

SIRMO - NMTIGER

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 Nxe4 7.d4 exd4 8.0-0 Qf6 9.Qd3 Qg6 10.cxd4 Nb4 11.Qc4+ Qe6 12.Qxe6+ dxe6 13.dxc5 Nc2 14.Ra2 Nb4 15.Ra1 Nxc5 16.Bf4 Nc2 17.Ra2 b5 18.axb5 Nb4 19.Ra5 Ncd3 20.Ne5+ Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Nc2 22.Bxc7 Nd4 23.h3 Ne2+ 24.Kh2 Rf8 25.b6 a6 26.Nc3 Nxc3 27.bxc3 Bb7 28.Re1 Ke7 29.Rae5 Rxf2 30.Rxe6+ Kf7 31.R1e2 Rf5 32.Re7+ Kg6 33.R2e6+ Rf6 34.Rxf6+ Kxf6 35.Bd6 Bc6 36.b7 Bxb7 37.Rxb7 a5 38.Rb3 Ke6 39.Bc5 Kd5 40.Bd4 g6 41.Rb5+ Kc4 42.Rc5+ Kb3 43.Rb5+ Kc4 44.Rc5+ Kd3 45.Rb5 a4 46.Rb2 a3 47.Ra2 Kc4 48.Bf6 Kb3 49.Ra1 a2 50.g4 Rc8 51.g5 Ka3 [Here or on the next move, ...Rc4 looks like a save for Black - Rick] 52.Kg3 Rb8 53.c4 Rb1 54.Kf2 Kb3 55.c5 Rxa1 56.Bxa1 Kc2 57.c6 Kb1 58.Bf6 h5 59.gxh6 g5 60.c7 a1Q 61.Bxa1 Kxa1 62.c8Q g4 63.Qb8 gxh3 64.h7 h2 65.h8Q+ Ka2 66.Qhb2 checkmate 1-0

Pass the aspirin, please!

NN - Brunhold
Kempten, 1988
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Qf6 9.0–0 Be6 10.c3 h5 11.d4 h4 12.Qd3 Bb6 13.Be3 h3 14.g3 Qf3 0–1

psittacosis - Gandalf
HCL B652 www.playchess.de, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Kf8 7.Qf3+ Nf6 8.0–0 d5 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Nd2 Qxg5 11.Nc4 Qd5 12.Qxd5 Nxd5 0–1

cnselway - boycey
net-chess.com, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 d5 6.c3 dxe4 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.Bg5 Nxd3+ 9.Kf1 Qd5 10.Bf4 Qc5 11.h3 Qxf2# 0–1

gjr - gstevenson
net-chess.com, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5 Na6 6.Qf4+ Qf6 7.Qg4 Qxf2+ 8.Kd1 Qf1# Checkmate 0–1

The Toffeeman - quag
www.ChessWorld.net , 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0–0 d6 6.d3 Nf6 7.Ng5+ Ke7 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Qd2 Nd4 10.f3 Nxf3+ 0–1

kskcolle - mandoze
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kg8 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.0–0 g6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Bg7 10.d3 Nc5 11.Bg5 Qe6 0–1

grobnic - obviously
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Nf6 10.Nc3 Qxc2 11.h4 b6 12.Qd8 Ba6+ 0–1

steelydan - raes
www.GameKnot.com, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+ Be6 9.Qxb7 Nf6 10.d3 Re8 11.f4 Bd5 12.Qb4 Bxe4 13.dxe4 Rxe4+ 0–1

Nestor250168 - Ratscales
www.chessworld.net, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6 8.Qxc5 Re8 9.Qd4 Rxe4+ 0–1

ale_xim - pascaline007
www.GameKnot.com, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf5+ Nf6 9.d3 d5 10.Qf3 dxe4 11.dxe4 Bg4 12.Qd3 Rd8 13.Qc4 0–1

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"