I received another Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game from chessfriend Vlastamil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic. It appears to be a correspondence game, and is a very difficult battle, ultimately being won by his opponent. It should be of interest to Readers. Fejfar, Vlasta - Chvojka correspondence (?) Czech Republic, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
See "Philidor1792 vs The Annoying Defense" Parts 1 and 2. White has two central pawns for his sacrificed piece, and would probably hold the game in club play or online blitz play. The fact that he can make no progress against his opponent in this game strongly suggests that it was a correspondence match. 14.h3 Be6 15.d3 Rhf8 16.Ke2 Nc6 17.c3 Kg8 18.Be3 Bd6 19.g4 Ne5
In the following game the computer was meandering its way toward victory, when suddenly it made an odd move, losing half a point. Machines don't blink, do they? Wall, Bill - Bison engine Palm Bay, FL, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Black has castled-by-hand, leaving White with the insecure King. Although Bison has a piece for two pawns, Stockfish 7 sees it as only about 2/3 of a pawn ahead. Bill Wall is creeping up on the computer! 17.Bh6 Rf7 18.Nd2 Qe6 19.Rf4 Bd7 20.Nf3 Or 20...0-0-0!?. 20...Nh5 21.Rxf7 Qxf7 22.Ne5 Qe6 23.Nxd7 Qxd7 24.O-O-O Qf7
25.e5 Bill tests the computer's willingness to pawn-grab, a traditional silicon weakness: 25...Qxa2?! 26.d5!? Re8 27.Qg4!? which looks unclear. The computer declines. 25...c6 26.g4 Ng7 27.b3 Rf8 28.Kb2 Bd8 29.Qh3 Be7 30.Qg2 g5
Black's pieces are finally cooperating, and his advantage is clear. 31.Rd2 a5 32.a4 Qe6 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.h3 Rf4
White is battening down the hatches. 35. Rd3 Qf7 36.Qc2 h6 37.Rd2 Rf3 38.Rd3 Rxd3 39.Qxd3 Qf2+ 40.Kc1 Ba3+ 41.Kd1 Qg1+ 42.Ke2 Qh2+ 43.Kf1 Be7
It is not clear what, if anything, Black has gained with its checks, but it probably has not lost anything, either. 44.Qe3 Qb2 45.c4 b6 46.Kg1 Qa2 47.Kh1 Qc2 48.Kg1 Bd8
Bill refuses to crack under pressure. Can the computer find anything to make progress? 49.e6 Qd1+ 50.Kf2 Be7 51.Qe5+ Bf6
This is not Black's best defense - in fact, it leads to an equal game - and it is not clear what the computer missed. 52.Qc7+ Kh8 53.Qc8+ Kh7 54.Qd7+ Bg7 55.c5
White riskily tries for more than the draw by repetition, which he could have forced the computer to find after 55.Kg2, especially after the dangerous 55...Qxb3 56.e7. 55...Qxd4+ An accurate evaluation of the winning response 55...bxc5!? 56.dxc5 Qxd7 57.exd7 Bf6 was probably over both the computer's and the human's horizon. Now the combatants cooperate to split the point. 56.Ke2 Qe4+ 57.Kd2 Qg2+ 58.Ke1 Qg3+ 59.Ke2 Qe5+ 60.Kd1 Qa1+ 61.Ke2 Qb2+ 62.Kf1 Qxb3 63.e7 Qxh3+ 64.Kf2 Qh2+ 65.Kf3 Qf4+ 66.Kg2 Qe4+ 67.Kf1 drawn
Chessfriend Vlasta Fejfar sent a recent Jerome Gambit that he played. I am not sure if it is a correspondence game, like the previous three we have examined - see "Correspondence Play (Part 1)", "Correspondence Play (Part 2)" and "Correspondence Play (Part 3)" - but it is a long and difficult affair, showing the persistence and energy that sometimes is required of the gambiteer when his inital attack is warded off. His (expected) half-point is well-earned. I have added some game references to assist the next Jerome Gambiteer who embarks on the journey. Fejfar, Vlastimil - Goc, Pavel 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
Ah, yes, the "annoying defense". Black gives back a piece and snuffs out much of White's attacking play. Well, Vlasta has faced this before! 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7
Interesting. Fejfar,V - Pressl, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1/2-1/2, 15) and Fejfar,V - Kyzlink, corr Czech Republic, 2015 (1-0, 22) continued 9...Kd6. At 25 ply, Stockfish 6 shows the tiniest preference for 9...Ke7 over 9...Kd6, but likes 9...Kf7 best of all. 10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5 Also seen: 11.Rf1+ Nf6 12.Qxe5 Bb4 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qf3 Re8 15.c3 Bf8 16.d4 Kg7 17.Bg5 Be7 18.e5 Ng4 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.h3 Nh6 21.Qf6+ Kg8 22.Qf4 Nf7 23.Nd2 c5 24.Ne4 cxd4 25.cxd4 Bf5 26.Nc3 Qb6 27.0-0-0 Rc8 28.g4 Bd7 29.Rd2 Qe6 30.Kb1 b5 31.Ne4 Kg7 32.Re2 Bc6 33.Nc5 drawn, Philidor1792 - NN, friendly match without time control, 2012. 11...Bd4
Aha! A human being improves upon14.Qg5 of Fritz 5.32 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003 (0-1, 32). Still, White has to be careful, with his King in the middle of the board, and with Black having much better piece development. 14...Be6 15.c3 Be5 16.g3 c5 17.d3 Qd6
18.Bf4 Bg4 19.Qe3 Bh3 20.Rf3 Bg4 21.Rf1 White is willing to repeat the position and agree on a draw. 21...Re8 22.Nd2 Bxf4 23.gxf4 b5
More worry for White. He holds on to the fact that Black's second Rook is still blocked out of play. 24.e5 Nd5 25.Qg3 Qg6 26.Ne4 c4 27.Kd2 Bf5 28.Nd6 Rd8
29.dxc4 Bold. I would have chosen the more solid 29.d4, but then Black would probably play 29...b4!? 29...bxc4 30.Rae1 Qxg3 31.hxg3 Ne7 32.Ke3 Bd3 33.Rg1 Nf5+ 34.Nxf5 Bxf5
The piece exchanges have reduced the danger to White's King (who is well-placed to support the "Jerome pawns") but Black still believes he can make something out of his piece vs 2 pawns advantage. 35.Rd1 Kf7 36.Rd4 h5 37.Rgd1 Rc8 38.Rh1 g6 39.Rh2 Ke7
The game has taken on an oddly closed nature. That does not last long, however. 40.a4 Rc6 41.Rd5 Be6 42.Rb5 Rc7 43.Rd2 h4 44.gxh4 Rxh4 45.Rd4 Rh3+ 46.Kf2 Rd3 47.a5 Rxd4 48.cxd4 Bd7 49.Rb8 Ke650.Ke3 Kd5
Black continues to push his small endgame advantage. 51.a6 c3 52.bxc3 Rxc3+ 53.Kf2 Bc8 54.Ra8 Rc7 55.Ke3 Rc3+ 56.Kf2 Kxd4 57.Rxa7 Ke4 58.Rg7 Kf5
Black does not want to trade off his last pawn (i.e. 58...Bxa6 59.Rxg6) but I think he misjudges the resulting reduced endgame. 59.a7 Ra3 60.Rf7+ Kg4 61.Rf8 Bb7 62.e6 Rxa7 63.e7 Bc6 64.e8Q Bxe8 65.Rxe8 Kxf4
At this point the game was turned over to a referee for ajudication. I am pretty sure that anyone familiar with Philidor's position will see that the game is drawn. Failing that, consulting the online Nalimov tablebases will also show that the point should be split. Excelsior!
I am sure that everyone who plays the Jerome Gambit has a particular defense that is the biggest pain to play against. For chessfriend Philidor1792, my guess is the 7...d6 defense (so far unnamed, but a great candidate is "The Annoying Defense") is the one. Philidor1792 has sent another batch of games, and since a good percentage of them are against "The Annoying Defense" I thought I would aggregate them, and a few others, and show them all. Philidor1792 - NN friendly match, 5-minutes blitz, 2012 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
Black casually gives back a piece and his uncastled King (annoyingly) remains relatively safe. 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7 10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5
