I know, I know, it baffles me, too, but some players continue to underestimate the Jerome Gambit - to their own discomfort and demise. While some people would never play the Jerome Gambit, they can be at risk against someone who plays it, and plays it, and plays it...
Wall,B - Guest1872464
PlayChess.com, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, which can also be reached from the regular Jerome move order: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6.
6.Qe2
A favorite move of Bill, and an idea as old as Ruy Lopez, who proposed it in the Bishop's Opening - 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2 - in 1561.
Black overlooks the move's intention, and suddenly White is OK.
6...Rf8?!
More solid for Black was 6...d6 7.Qc4+ (7.0-0, Wall,B - Darkmoonstone, Chess.com, 2011, [1-0, 29]) as in Wall,B - Guest1459913, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 38); or
6...h6 7.Qc4+ as in Wall,B - DarkKnight, Cocoa Beach, FL 2012 (1-0, 23); or the direct
6...d5 as in Wall,B - Samvazpr, Chess.com, 2010 (0-1, 25).
7.Qc4+ d5
Black tried 7...Ke8 in Wall,B - Roberts,C, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0,17) and Wall,B - Hamilton,E, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).
8.Qxc5 dxe4
Or 8...d4 as in Wall,B - NFNZ, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15).
9.Nxe5+ Nxe5 10.Qxe5 Re8 11.Qf4 Kg8 12.0-0 c6
13.b3 Bg4
An aggressive and thought-out move, but Bill suggests instead 13...Be6.
14.Bb2 Bh5 15.Rae1
Threatening 16.Nxe4.
15...Bg6 16.Qg5 Nd5 17.Qg3 Rc8?
Alternatives: 17...Nb4 18.Nxe4 Nxc2 19.Qc3 Qd4; or 17...Qd7.
18.Nxe4 Qd7
Not 18...Bxe4?? 19.Qxg7#.
19.Nd6 Rxe1 20.Rxe1 Rf8 21.d3 Nb4 22.a3 Nxc2?
Black cuts his material imbalance to one pawn, at the risk of trapping his Knight. More solid was 22...Nd5.
23.Re2 Bxd3?
Black might have tried 23...Rd8 as after 24.Rxc2? (correct would be 24.Qe5) 24...Qxd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.Rd2 Rxd3 the game would be even.
24.Qxd3 Rd8 25.Qc4+ Kh8 26.Rd2
An alternative was 26.Qf7 Qxf7 27.Nxf7+ Kg8 28.Nxd8.
26...Qe7 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Rxd8+ Qxd8 29.Nxd8+ Kh8 30.Qf7 Black resigned
Mate is unavoidable.
As a therapist in my "day job" I often have the opportunity to help my clients expand their understanding of consequences of behaviors by asking them to look further: "And then what...?"
In the following game Black does a good job of defusing the primar threat behind White's 6th move, but he then becomes lax at just about the time he should have asked himself "And then what...?"
Wall,B - Guest1459913
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
5...Kxf7 6.Qe2
A quiet move that you can find in a number of Bill's Jerome Gambit games.
6...d6
Dodging the misfortunes of 6...h6 7.Qc4+ in Wall,B - DarkKnight, Cocoa Beach, FL 2012 (1-0, 23); 6...Rf8 7.Qc4+ in Wall,B - Roberts,C, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 17), Wall,B - Hamilton,E, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22) and Wall,B - NFNZ, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15).
An alternate was 6...d5 as in the rare Wall,B - Samvazpr, Chess.com, 2010 (0-1, 25)
7.Qc4+ Be6?
You can almost read Black's mind: I took care of that move with 6...d6. Now I strike back by attacking the Queen with my Bishop!
8.Ng5+
Oh, well, yes, there is that...
8...Kg6 9.Nxe6 Qd7
10.f4
Threatening 11.f5+ Kf7 12.Nxc5+, winning the Queen.
10...h6 11.fxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxc5 Nxc4 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.d3 Nce5 15.0-0 c6
Players like myself (and perhaps Guest1459913) are often relieved, if not downright hopeful, when we find ourselves facing a strong player like Bill, being "only" a pawn down - with Queens off of the board, to boot.
This is usually an error in thinking: strong players can wield that extra pawn the way ordinary players wield an extra piece.
16.h4 Rhf8 17.Bd2 Kh5 18.Ne2 Kxh4 19.Nd4 g5 20.Nf5+ Kh5 21.Nxd6 b6
In case anyone is paying attention, White now has a protected passed pawn.
22.d4 Ng4 23.Nf5 Kg6? 24.Ne7+ Kh5
25.Nxc6
This wins another pawn, although Bill points out that 25.Rf3! was stronger.
25...Ndf6 26.Bb4 Rfc8 27.Ne7 Rxc2? 28.Rf3
Threatening 29.Rh3 mate
28...Ne3 29.Rxe3 Rxb2 30.Rh3+ Kg4 31.Rf1 Nxe4 32.Nd5 Re2 33.Ne3+ Rxe3 34.Rxe3 Ng3 35.Rff3 Nh5 36.Bd6 Rd8 37.Re4+ Nf4 38.Bxf4 Black resigned
Here is another short Jerome Gambit game from Bill Wall. It contains a motif that has showed up in recent posts – that of Ng5+ with an attack on Black's King as well as on a piece at e6 (see "Sunday Tournament Update" and "Ng5+") – and comes with a reminder that snap defensive moves can have long term consequences.
Bill has utilized the Qe2 attack before ("No Getting Around This Wall" is particularly interesting), so, for study purposes, I have included earlier games of his, even when he has played the move sooner than in the text. I have also included a number of games by hinders, of FICS, who played the line (with mixed success) a while back.
Wall,B - DDRM
FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5
The Italian Four Knights Game.
5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.0-0
Instead: 6.Qe2 d6
a) 6...Rf8 7.Qc4+ d5 (7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Be6 10.d3 Kf7 11.Ng5+ Ke7 12.Bd2 Qd7 13.0-0 h6 14.Nxe6 Qxe6 15.f4 Ng4 16.Qg3 h5 17.h3 Nf6 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Nd5+ Nxd5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Qxg7+ Kd6 22.Rxf8 Black resigned, Wall, B-Hamilton, E, FICS, 2011) 8.Qxc5 d4 9.Nb5 Nxe4 10.Nxe5+ Nxe5 11.Qxe5 Ng3 12.fxg3 Re8 13.0-0+ Kg8 14.Qxc7 Qg5 15.Qf7+ Black resigned, Wall, B-NFNZ, FICS, 2011;
b) 6...d5 7.Nxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc4 Qd6 9.exd5 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.0-0 b5 12.Qb3 Re8 13.Qf3+ Kg8 14.d3 Bb7 15.a4 b4 16.Qg4 Qxd5 17.Bf4 Re2 18.Bh6 Qxg2+ 19.Qxg2 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 gxh6 21.Rac1 Rf8 22.b3 Bd6 23.h3 Kg7 24.a5 Rf5 25.a6 Bf4 White resigned, Wall,B-Samvazpr, Chess.com, 2010;
7.0-0 h6 8.h3 Rf8 9.d3 Nd4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Nb5 Bd7 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.f4 Kg8 14.Qe1 Qe7 15.Qb4 Bc6 16.Qxd4 Qf7 17.Bd2 Qg6 18.f5 Qe8 19.Bc3 Rf7 20.Rf3 Nd7 21.Rg3 Ne5 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Qe3 Kh8 24.f6 Rxf6 25.Rxf6 Qxf6 26.d4 Nc4 27.d5 Qh4 28.Bxg7+ Kh7 29.Qd3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Darkmoonstone, FICS, 2011.
6...d6 7.Qe2
7...Bg4
Or 7...Ke8 8.Qc4 Rf8 9.d3 Qd7 10.d4 exd4 11.Nb5 Bb6 12.Na3 Qe6 13.Qd3 Bd7 14.c3 Ne5 15.Ng5 Nxd3 16.Nxe6 Bxe6 17.Bd2 Nxb2 18.cxd4 Bxd4 19.Nb5 Bb6 20.a4 a5 21.Nc3 Nc4 22.Rab1 Nxd2 23.e5 dxe5 24.Nb5 Nxf1 25.Rxf1 Ng4 26.h3 Bc4 27.Nc3 Bxf1 White resigned, hinders - Lukino, FICS, 2001;
Or 7...Rf8 8.Qc4+ Be6 9.Ng5+ Ke7 (9...Kg6 10.Qxe6 Kxg5 11.d4+ Kg6 12.dxc5 Nd4 13.Qh3 dxc5 14.Qg3+ Kf7 15.Qxe5 Re8 16.Nb5 b6 17.Qg3 Ne2+ White resigned, hinders-Lader, FICS, 2000) 10.Qxe6 checkmate, hinders - Devotion, FICS, 2001;
Or 7...Nd4 8.Qc4+ Be6 9.Ng5+ Ke7 10.Na4 Bxc4 11.d3 Nxc2 12.Rb1 Bxd3 13.Nc3 Nd4 14.Ra1 Bxf1 15.Be3 Nc2 16.Rc1 Bd3 17.Nd5+ Nxd5 18.exd5 Bxe3 19.fxe3 Nxe3 20.Re1 Nxd5 21.Rd1 Bc4 22.b3 Nc3 23.Re1 Bb5 24.a4 Ba6 25.b4 Nxa4 26.Ra1 Nb6 27.Rb1 Kd7 28.Ne4 Nc4 29.b5 Bxb5 30.Rxb5 Qh4 31.h3 Qxe4 32.Rxb7 Qe1+ 33.Kh2 Ne3 34.Rb3 Rhf8 35.Rc3 Rf5 36.Ra3 Rg5 37.Rxe3 Qxe3 38.Kh1 Qg3 39.Kg1 Qxg2 checkmate, hinders - putoamo, FICS, 2001;
Or 7...Be6 8.Ng5+ Ke7 9.a3 h6 10.b4 Bd4 11.Nf3 Rf8 12.Nb5 Bxa1 13.Nh4 Bd4 14.Ng6+ Ke8 15.Nxf8 Kxf8 16.c3 Bb6 17.a4 a6 18.Na3 Kg8 19.a5 Ba7 20.b5 axb5 21.Qxb5 Bc5 22.Qxb7 Nxa5 23.Qb1 Nc4 24.Nb5 Qb8 25.d4 Bb6 26.Qd3 Bf7 27.Qg3 Nxe4 28.Qg4 Ng5 29.h4 Ne6 30.Bxh6 Qe8 31.dxe5 Bh5 32.Qf5 gxh6 33.exd6 Qg6 34.Qd5 Nxd6 35.Qxa8+ Black resigned, hinders - kimk, FICS, 2001.
8.Qc4+ Be6
Moving his Bishop a second time, to block the check, of course, but also to harass the White Queen. Risky business.
Or 8...Ke7 9.Ng5 Qg8 10.Qd3 h6 11.Kh1 hxg5 12.Qb5 a6 13.Qxb7 Nd4 14.Qxc7+ Bd7 15.Rb1 Nxc2 16.d3 g4 17.Bd2 g3 18.fxg3 Ng4 19.Bg5+ Black ran out of time, hinders - HoChiMin, FICS, 2001
9.Ng5+
9...Ke7
Or 9...Kg6 10.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 11.Rxf2 Qe7 12.Ng5 Nd4 13.d3 b5 14.Qb4 c5 15.Qa5 a6 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Qa3 b4 18.Qb3 Nd4 19.Qa4 Rhb8 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.c3 bxc3 22.Nxc3 Rb4 23.Qd1 Rab8 24.b3 h6 25.Nh3 Qd7 26.Rf1 a5 27.Qe1 Kh7 28.Qg3 Nc2 29.Bxh6 Nxa1 30.Rxa1 Nh5 31.Qh4 Qf7 32.Nd5 gxh6 33.Ne3 Rd4 34.Ng4 Rxd3 35.Rc1 Rd2 36.Re1 Black ran out of time, hinders - bambaladam, FICS, 2001
10.Qxe6+ Kf8 11.Qf7 checkmate
graphic by Jeff Buccino, The Wizard of Draws
