Jerome Gambit: Iconic 9-move Checkmate

There has been a flurry, recently, of Jerome Gambit treatments of the Two Knights Defense. By now, the iconic 9-move checkmate from the following game has become well known.

Rawnessman - chepea2019
1 0 bullet, Chess.com 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

The Two Knights Defense. One way to avoid the Jerome Gambit.

4.Bxf7+


Or, not.

I have been calling this the "impatient Jerome Gambit" because White does not wait for ...Bc5 before sacrificing his Bishop.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

There are 2 games in The Database with 6.Qh5+? which look like White was in too much of a hurry to play Jerome Gambit moves. Impatient, indeed.

A couple of recent games:

6.O-O Bc5 7.d4 Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.Bg5 d5 10.exd5 Qxd5 11.Bxf6 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 gxf6 13.Nc3 Rg8 14.Rd3 Bh3 15.Rxh3 Bxc3 16.Rxc3 Rg5 17.Rxc7+ Kg6 18.Rxb7 Kh6 19.h4 Rag8 20.g3 Rg4 21.Rd1 Rxh4 22.Rdd7 Rc4 23.Rxh7+ Kg5 24.Rxa7 Rxc2 25.b4 Rc1+ 26.Kg2 f5 27.a4 f4 28.a5 fxg3 29.Kxg3 Rc2 30.Kf3 Rf8+ 31.Rhf7 Rc3+ 32.Kg2 Rxf7 33.Rxf7 Rb3 34.Rf3 Rxb4 35.Rg3+ Kf4 36.Rf3+ Ke4 37.Rg3 Ra4 38.Rg4+ Kf5 39.Rxa4 Ke5 40.a6 Kd6 41.Ra1 Kc7 42.a7 Kb7 43.a8=Q+ Kb6 44.Qa2 Kc5 45.Qb2 Kd6 46.Ra3 Ke6 47.Qa2+ Ke5 48.Rb3 Kd5 49.Qa4 Ke5 50.Rb5+ Kd6 51.Qa6+ Kc7 52.Rb7+ Black resigned, Uarekomodo9 - khalilmansour123, 1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2020; and

6.f4 Nc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.e6+ dxe6 9.f5 exf5 10.O-O Qf6 11.d3 Bc5+ 12.Kh1 Bd4 13.Nc3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qxc3 15.Rxf5+ Ke6 16.Bd2 Qc5 17.Qe2+ Kxf5 18.Rf1+ Kg6 19.Qe4+ Kh5 20.g4+ Kh4 21.h3 Qe7 22.Qe1+ Qxe1 23.Rxe1 Bd7 24.Rf1 Rhf8 25.Re1 Rae8 26.Rb1 Nd4 27.c4 Ne2 28.Rxb7 Ndf4 29.Rxc7 Be6 30.Rc5 Rc8 31.Re5 Bd7 32.Bxf4 Nxf4 33.d4 Nd3 34.Ra5 Rxc4 35.Kh2 Rxd4 36.Rh5 checkmate, MrBizkit - reza6666666666, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020.

6...Ng6 

Or:

6...Bd6 7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.f4 Re8 9.fxe5 Rxe5 10.O-O Rxe4 11.Nc3 Re6 12.Bg5 Qe8 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Qh5+ Kg8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nxf6+ Rxf6 17.Qg5+ Kf7 18.Rxf6+ Qxf6 19.Rf1 Qxf1+ 20.Kxf1 d6 Black resigned, KNVB - boringhard, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; 

6...Nc6 7.e5 Nd5 (7...Ng4 8.Qxg4 Bb4+ 9.c3 Be7 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.O-O Rf8 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qxh7 Bh4 14.Qxg6+ Ke7 15.Bh6 Bxf2+ 16.Rxf2 Rf3 17.Rxf3 Black resigned, Littleones21 - PonyoTWm, 5 3 blitz, lichess.org,  2020; 7...Qe7 8.O-O Nd5 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.Qxd5 d6 12.Qb5 dxe5 13.d5 a6 14.Qa4 b5 15.Qb3 Nd4 16.Qc3 Qb4 17.Qc6+ Nxc6 18.dxc6 Qd6 19.Be3 Qxc6 20.Na3 Bxa3 21.bxa3 Qxc2 22.Rac1 Qxa2 23.Rxc7 Qxa3 24.Bc5 Qa4 25.Re7+ Kf8 26.Ra7+ Kg8 27.Rxa8 Qg4 28.f3 Qf5 29.Rd1 Kg7 30.Ra7+ Kh6 31.Be3+ g5 32.g4 Qf6 33.h4 Qxf3 34.Bxg5+ Kg6 35.Rd6+ Qf6 36.Rxf6 checkmate, lautrec404 - pollen24, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020) 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5 checkmate, ChessBrah - kevvvvvvv, 5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; and

6...Nc4 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Ke8 9.Qxd5 Nb6 10.Qf3 d6 11.Qe4 dxe5 12.O-O Nc4 13.b3 Nd6 14.Qxe5+ Kf7 15.Bg5 Qd7 16.Re1 Nf5 17.Nc3 Qxd4 18.Qxf5+ Kg8 19.Qd5+ Qxd5 20.Nxd5 Bb4 21.Re8+ Kf7 22.Rxh8 Bc3 23.Rd1 Bg4 24.Rd3 Be5 Black resigned, mdc995 - Lukeskyrocket, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

7.e5 Nd5 

Black has also recently tried:

7...Qe8 8.O-O Bb4 (8...Nd5 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Qxd5+ Qf7 11.Nc3 Qxd5 12.Nxd5 c6 13.Nc7 Rb8 14.f4 d6 15.f5 Bxf5 16.Rxf5 Rc8 17.Ne6 dxe5 18.Be3 Ne7 19.Rf2 exd4 20.Bxd4 b6 21.Raf1 Ng6 22.Rf7 a5 23.Nxf8 Rxf8 24.Rxg7 checkmate, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020) 9.f4  d6 10.c3 Ba5 11.f5 dxe5 12.fxg6+ Kxg6 13.d5 Bb6+ 14.Kh1 Bg4 15.Qd3+ Kf7 16.Bg5 Rd8 17.Qc4 Qd7 18.Nd2 h5 19.Nf3 Qxd5 20.Nxe5+ Ke8 21.Qa4+ c6 22.Rae1 Bh3 23.Nf3+ Kf7 24.gxh3 Rhe8 25.Rd1 Qe4 26.Bxf6 Qxa4 27.Bxd8 Rxd8 28.Ng5+ Kg8 29.Rxd8+ Bxd8 30.Re1 Bxg5 31.Re8+ White resigned, TheCuriousGreg - nik11131719, 15 10 blitz, Chess.com 2020; and

7...Ne8 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qd5 checkmate,  aniketbhave - LaReinaLoca, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; but not everybody caught the checkmate right away: 9.O-O h6 10.Nc3 Kh7 11.Qh5 d6 12.f4 Rg8 13.f5 Bxf5 14.Rxf5 dxe5 15.dxe5 Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Bc5 17.Rf1 Qh4 18.Qf3 Nxe5 19.Qf5+ Ng6 20.Qxc5 b6 21.Qf5 Nf6 22.Bf4 Rgf8 23.Bg3 Qg4 24.Qd3 Nh5 25.Rxf8 Rxf8 26.Ne2 Kg8 27.h3 Qg5 28.Bxc7 Ne7 29.Bd6 Nf5 30.Qd5+ Kh8 31.Bxf8 Nfg3+ 32.Nxg3 Nxg3+ 33.Kh2 Qxd5 34.Kxg3 Black resigned, Hipernight - salissi, 5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; and 9.Qb3+ d5 10.exd6+ Be6 11.Qxe6 checkmate, gerodes - crappycovers4charity, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2020. 

8.Qf3+ 

8.c4 Nb6 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.c5 Bxc5 11.dxc5 Qf8 12.Qb3+ Qf7 13.Qxf7+ Kxf7 14.cxb6 axb6 15.O-O Nxe5 16.f4 Ng4 17.Nc3 d6 18.Bd2 Be6 19.Rae1 Rhg8 20.h3 Nf6 21.g4 Bd7 22.f5 Bc6 23.g5 Nh5 24.g6+ hxg6 25.fxg6+ Kxg6 26.Re6+ Kh7 27.Ne2 White won on time, justaddblu - Czechgrinder, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020 

8...Kg8 

Ending things quickly. Instead:

8...Ke8 9.Qxd5 Nf4 10.Qe4 Qg5 11.Bxf4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Qe7 13.cxb4 Qxb4+ 14.Bd2 Qe7 15.O-O d6 16.Nc3 c6 17.d5 Bd7 18.dxc6 bxc6 19.exd6 Qxe4 20.Nxe4 Bf5 21.Nc5 Rd8 22.Rfe1+ Kf7 23.d7 h6 24.Rad1 Bxd7 25.Ba5 Rde8 26.Rxd7+ Re7 27.Rexe7+ Kf6 28.Rxg7 Re8 29.Bc3+ Kf5 30.h3 Re2 31.g4+ Kf4 32.Ne6+ Kf3 33.Rd3+ Ke4 34.Rd4+ Kf3 35.Rf7 checkmate, campani - rahulkonapur, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; or

8...Ngf4 9.Bxf4 Nxf4 10.Qxf4+ Kg8 11.d5 d6 12.e6 c6 13.Qf7 checkmate, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com,  2020; and

8... Ke6 9.c4 Nb4 10.d5+ Kxe5 11.O-O Bc5 12.Re1+ Kd6 13.Bf4+ Nxf4 14.Qxf4 checkmate, ashwin2305 - GlobalWarmingOP, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

9.Qxd5 checkmate

This was also how the game 19Kuq-Zi85 - Tibob73, 5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 went.

Jerome Gambit: Quick Finishes

I have received a number of Jerome Gambits that show clearly why players are drawn to it - the sacrifice shows up in a variety of lines, and the games feature quick finishes. Take a look.

In his first Jerome, Kylon tries what I have begun to call an "impatient Jerome Gambit" (White doesn't wait for ...Bc5) against the Hungarian Defense. In this case, impatience is rewarded, with a checkmate in 9 moves.

Kylon - PawnStar10111
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.d4 Nc4 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.Qd5#

Rawnessman applies the Jerome treatment to the Two Knights Defense, in a 1-minute bullet game. His aim is true.

Rawnessman - chepea2019
1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5#

The_Guccinator does not let his opponent hide in the Petroff Defense. A Jerome-inspired sacrificial attack brings mate in under 10 moves.

The_Guccinator - taks54321
15 10 blitz, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Rg8 8.Nh8+ Ke7 9.Qe5#

Things did not go exactly as planned for Jean_Kn's opponent in the following game. At least the suffering was short.

Jean_Kn - teozuy
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 Black resigned

Changing sides of the board, Jean_Kn plays a reversed Jerome Gambit, also know as the Busch-Gass Gambit or Chiodini's Gambit.

Amess923 - Jean_Kn
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020
1.Nf3 e5 2.e4 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Bxf2+ 7.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 8.dxe4 Qxd1 White resigned

DropBearMKJ's first Jerome Gambit turned out better than he expected, and certainly better than his opponent had hoped.

DropBearMKJ - ximikmamaj
3 2 blitz, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qf6 8.Qxc5 Black resigned

Here we have another Two Knights that gets ambushed by an impatient Jerome Gambit. I think we've seen this kind of ending position before.

ChessBrah - kevvvvvvv
5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5#

Martynas-S is ready for a full fight after 8 moves in the Jerome Gambit. His opponent, however, is ready to turn over his King.

Martynas-S - OKKidA
5 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Black resigned