Danger

In this particular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), White's Queen and Black's King each do a lot of running around the board, into and out of danger. It is only when the Queen evades a trap that she can help drive the King into one.

perrypawnpusher - useche
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf6

8.Qxc5

A couple of years ago I tried 8.d4 instead, and after 8...Bb4+ 9.c3 c6 was able to win Black's Queen with 10.Qg5+ Ke6 11.Qxd8, perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz FICS, 2008 (1-0, 41).

The line isn't that strong.

Black's defensive strategy should be similar to that of the recent Wall-SavenRain, Chess.com, 2010 (see "Falling off the Wall") – moving the King, even if it seems like the monarch has moved too many times already. So: 8.d4 Bb4+ 9.c3 Ke7 – to make room for the Knight at f6, to block the anticipated check at g5.

analysis diagram






White now would have 10.Bg5+ Nf6 11.cxb4, when Black would still better.

8...d6 9.Qe3 N8e7

Black's King gets in the way of his pieces, and it will have a longer walk than usual if he wants to castle-by-hand.

10.d4 c5

11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 13.Qf3+ Ke6

So far, Black's King has lived a charmed life.

14.0-0 Ne5 15.Qh3+ Kf7

16.Qh5+ N7g6 17.Be3

The position is still somewhat better for Black, but only if he realizes what is going on.

Can you see Black's best move?

17...Qb4

White's Queen is hemmed in, so Black should have tried either 17...Bg4 as a counter-attack, or the inventive 17...Qxc3 18.bxc3 Bg4.

The text move gives White the tempo he needs to press his attack and relieve his Queen.

18.f4

18...Nc4

Better was 18...Re8 19.fxe5+ Kg8, although Black would be down two pawns.

19.f5 Nxe3 20.fxg6+

Black's best now is 20...Ke8, although this is well met by 21.Qxh7.

20...Kg8 21.gxh7+ Rxh7 22.Qe8 mate

Falling off the Wall

Bill Wall likes his opponents scrambled, Humpty Dumpty style.

Sometimes they need a push.

Sometimes they jump.

Wall,B - SavenRain
chess.com, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nb4

4.Bxf7+

Adding the Jerome treatment. Of course, ordinary moves like 4.0-0, 4.d4 and 4.Nc3 were playable, too.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

5...Kf6

Safer seems 5...Ke8, when either 6.0-0 or 6.d4 would give Black the edge he would have in some Blackburne Shilling Gambit Jerome-ish lines.

6.d4

This position requires some care for Black to hold.

First, he must acknowledge that lining his King and Queen up on the same diagonal is too much of a risk: however psychologically uncomfortable it is, Black must move his King again, to e7, to allow his Knight to block any attempt at skewering the royal couple (i.e. Bc1-g5).

Second, he has to stay away from routine moves, such as 6...Ke7 7.a3 Nc6 (the Knight should go to a6) when 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Nc3 (heading for d5) is more trouble than it first appears.

analysis diagram






6...Qe7

As is often the case with the Jerome Gambit, the annotations are about subtlety while the moves themselves are lummoxes.

7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.d5+

Taking the Knight now leads to mate.

8...Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.Nba3 Black resigned

10...Nxc2+ will hold off checkmate, but not for long.