No Way A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit! (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

It's true: Sad to say, you are not going to see a Grandmaster play the Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, in a serious, competitive game, any time soon.

However - what about a couple of 2700 players contesting a line of play that might have inspired Alonzo Wheeler Jerome to create his fantastical gambit?

It is quite reasonable to suspect that American chess players back in the mid- to late-1800s were familiar with the Sarratt Attack, if only because of the games Meek - Morphy, Alabama, 1855 (0-1, 21) and Kennicott - Morphy, New York, 1857 (0-1, 24). They also had access to Staunton's The Chess-Player's Handbook (1847) and Chess Praxis (1860), along with various chess magazines and newspaper chess columns.

But - modern Grandmasters?

Grischuk, A. - Karjakin, Sergey
St. Louis Blitz, St. Louis, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 

The Scotch Opening.

3...exd4 4.Bc4 

The Scotch Gambit.

4...Bc5 5.Ng5 

The Sarratt Attack. It has received a number of posts on this blog. For coverage, check out "Capt. Evans Faces the Sarratt Attack".

Grischuk plays it against the previous challenger in the world chess championship!

5...Nh6 6.Nxf7 

Of course, 6.Bxf7+ was also possible.

6...Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ 

Look familiar?

8...g6 9.Qxc5 d5 

The proper, "scientific" response, going back to at least Mongredien, Augustus - Williams, Elijah, London Chess Club, 1853 (0-1, 23). The game is about even, but, surely, White has the element of surprise on his side.

10.O-O dxe4 11.c3 Be6 12.Bf4 Qd5 13.cxd4 Qxd4 14.Qc1

Grischuk does not want to exchange Queens. The difference in King safety is probably compensation enough for Karjakin's extra pawn.

14...Bc4 15.Re1 Bd3 16.Nc3 Rhe8 17.Bxc7 Rac8 18.Bg3 Kg8 

19.Qg5 Rf8 20.Rad1 Rf5 21.Qg4 Re8 22.Kh1 Re6 23.f3 Ne5

Quite a complicated position - and at blitz speed, too.

Instead of the text, the computer suggests exchanging pieces with 23...exf3 24.Qxd4 Nxd4 25.Rxd3 Rxe1+ 26.Bxe1 f2 27.Bxf2 Rxf2 28.Kg1 Rf4 and an even game.

Now, White gains a pawn - temporarily.

24.Bxe5 Rfxe5 25.Nxe4 Kg7 26.b3 Qb4 27.h3 Bxe4 28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.fxe4 Rxe4 

The game is less than 1/2 over, move-wise, but it is effectively "over" - barring a blunder, which 2700s don't do very often, even at blitz.

30.Qg3 Qe7 31.Kh2 Kh6 32.Rd5 a6 33.Qd3 Qc7+ 34.Qg3 Qxg3+ 35.Kxg3 

35...Re2 36.Rd7 b5 37.a4 Re3+ 38.Kf4 Rxb3 39.axb5 Rb4+ 40.Kf3 axb5 41.Rb7 Rb1 42.Kf4 g5+ 43.Kg4 b4 44.Rb6+ Kg7 45.Kxg5 Rc1 46.Rb7+ Kg8 47.Rxb4 

The Rook + 2 pawns vs Rook + 1 pawn, pawns on the same side of the board, is a known draw. Twenty or so more moves, perhaps with a nod to the clock, do not change things.

47...Rc5+ 48.Kf6 Rc6+ 49.Ke5 Rc5+ 50.Kd6 Rc2 51.Rg4+ Kf7 52.Ke5 Rc5+ 53.Kd4 Ra5 54.Ke3 Ra3+ 55.Kf4 Ra5 56.Rg5 Ra3 57.Rg3 Ra5 58.Rf3 Kg6 59.Rb3 Ra4+ 60.Kf3 Rc4 61.g4 Ra4 62.Kg3 h6 63.Kh4 Ra5 64.Rb6+ Kg7 65.Rc6 Rb5 66.Rc3 Ra5 67.Kg3 h5 68.Rc7+ Kg6 69.Rc6+ Kg7 drawn

Wow. That was fun. White uncorked an ancient opening and managed to "lose" only half a point.

Now that the element of surprise has evaporated, Grischuk wouldn't play the Sarratt Attack again, would he??

[to be continued]

Strangest Beast

Here is the last game of the Philidor1792 - Slayman match, testing a particular opening. With a time control of 2 0, the outcome rests on any number of things, including the "33rd piece" - the clock.

Again: a 2-minute game is almost too fast for me to breathe, let alone play interesting chess. Nice work, gentlemen.

Philidor1792 - Slayman
2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Nc6

After the first three moves we have come to expect, White tosses in 4.Nf3 and Black adds 4...Nc6, bypassing the Urusov Gambit and moving on to the Two Knights Game, although lichess.org labels the line "Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Reti Defense".

 5.Bxf7+

The Jerome-ish sacrifice.

5...Kxf7 6.e5 Ne4 7.c3 d5 

Again, White seeks to develop after 7...dxc3 8.Nxc3, and again Black does not cooperate - this time moving his other d-pawn.

8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Nbd2 Rf8 10.O-O Bxd2 11.Bxd2 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand and retains his extra piece.

White's protected passed "Jerome pawn" is not yet a factor in the game.

12.h3 Be6 

(In a slower game it would be worth pointing out 12...Rxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd2 )

13.Be3 Qe8 14.Rc1 Qh5  

15.Kh2

White sees there will be trouble on the Kingside, but might have done better to offer the exchange of Queens with 15.Ng5. 

15...Bxh3 16.Ng1 Qxd1

Black does White a favor. The Queen exchange takes the energy out of the attack - but it also makes calculation in the position a bit easier; and the second player still maintains his advantage.

17.Rfxd1 Be6 

Black has the extra piece - but the clock is ticking away.

18.f3 Rad8 19.fxe4 dxe4 20.Ne2 Nb4 21.Rxc7 

When in doubt, and time trouble, grab material.

Stockfish 8 recommends the rambling line 21.Nf4 Bg4 22.Rd2 c6 23.Kg3 Bf5 24.Rf2 Nd3 25.Nxd3 exd3 26.a4 h6 27.Rcf1 Be4 28.b4 Rxf2 29.Rxf2 Bd5 30.Rd2 Bc4 31.Rf2 g5 32.Rf1 Kg7 33.Rf2 Rf8 34.Rxf8 Kxf8 35.Kf2 Ke7 36.Bc1 Ke6 which it sees as favoring Black, but which looks pretty drawish due to Bishops-of-opposite-colors.

21...Nd3 

Not enough time to figure out 21...Nd5 22.Rc3 Bg4 23.Rd2 Bxe2 24.Rxe2 Nxc3 25.bxc3 Kf7 and the extra exchange helps Black.

22.b3 White won on time. 

To Jerome or Not Jerome

???????

Although the Jerome Gambit Declined, 1.e5 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/e7 is rare (2.5 %, about 300 examples in the roughly 12,400 Jerome Gambit games with this move order in The Database), I always respond with the ordinary 5.Bb3, callously abandoning gambit play.

This is in contrast to how I face the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4, - by sacrificing with 4.Bxf7+ instead of the perfectly normal options 4.Nxd5, 4.0-0,  4.c3 or 4.d3 - or also chancing 4.Bxf7+ against the nameless 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 when the sedate 4.Nxe5 would do fine.

Similarly, against the Semi-Italian opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6, I prefer the waiting moves 4.0-0 or 4.Nc3, giving Black the chance to come to his senses and play 4...Bc5 when I can still gambit the Bishop with 5.Bxf7+.

Yet, in the Semi-Italian opening there is also the not-waiting choice 4.d4 which is the subject of the following game, one played by Darrenshome at lichess.org that I recently discovered.

Darrenshome - Gagar1n
4 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2014

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.d4

For some background on this move, check out "A Look At the Semi-Italian Opening" Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

4...exd4

For a look at troubled alternative, 4...d6, see "The Jerome Gambit Treatment - Unbelieveable!" as well as the "Addendum" and "A Bit More".

5.c3

So far we have been following the blindfold simultaneous game Morphy - Bousserolles, Paris, 1859, according to the ChessBase Big Database 2016, which continued 5...Nge7 6.Qb3 d5 7.exd5 Nb8 8.d6 Qxd6 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 10.cxd4 Nbc6 11.Nc3 Na5 12.Qa4 Nac6 13.O-O Bd7 14.Be3 Qf6 15.Bc4 Kc8 16.Rfe1 Nd8 17.Qb3 a6 18.Ne5 b5 19.Bd5 c6 20.Ne4 Qh4 21.g3 Qh5 22.Nd6+ Kc7 23.Bf3 Qh3 24.Rac1 Kxd6 25.Bf4 Be6 26.Nd3+ Kd7 27.Rxe6 Nxe6 28.Bg4 Qxg4 29.Ne5+ Ke8 30.Nxg4 Nxd4 31.Qe3 Black resigned

5...dxc3 6.Nxc3

Here we have a Scotch Gambit or Goring Gambit-style position where Black's ...h6 puts him further at risk. One example I have found is Levy - Bouaziz, Oerebro, 1966, which continued 6...Bb47.O-O Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6 9.Qb3 Qf6 10.Nd4 Bd7 11.f4 Na5 12.Qb4 Nc6 13.Qb2 Nge7 14.e5 Qg6 15.Qxb7 Rb8 16.Qxc7 Rc8 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.exd6 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Rxc4 20.Re1 Be6 21.dxe7 Rxd4 22.Rb1 Kd7 23.Rb7+ Kc6 24.Rxa7 Rd5 25.Be3 Rb8 26.Rc1+ Kd6 27.Rb7 Re8 28.Rcb1 Rd3 29.R1b6+ Kd5 30.Rb5+ Kc6 31.Kf2 Ra3 32.R5b6+ Kd5 33.Rb2 Raa8 34.Rd2+ Kc6 35.Rb6+ Kc7 36.Rc2+ Kd7 37.Rb7+ Kd6 38.Bc5+ Kc6 39.Rbb2 Kd5 40.Bb4 Rac8 41.Rxc8 Bxc8 42.Rd2+ Kc6 43.Rd8 Bd7 Black resigned

Part of what got me interested in presenting Darrenshome's game was the opportunity to look at the alternative, outrageous Jerome-ish move, 6.Bxf7+, the subject of posts on Chess.com in 2010 by metallictaste - see "My own chess opening: rebuking the anti-fried liver!" [The name "anti-fried liver" refers to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6, what I call here, after Euwe, the Semi-Italian Opening - Rick]

metallictaste's idea can be seen in 6...Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Ke8 (if 7...Ke7 8.e5 d6 9.Ng5 hxg5 10.Bxg5+ Nf6 11.exf6+ gxf6 12.Bxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nxc3) 8.Nxc3 (8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Ng5 Nf6 [9...Qe8! was suggested by PrawnEatsPrawn at Chess.com] 10.Qh4 Nf6 11.Nxc3 Kd8 12.O-O Be7 13.Nf3) 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nxc3 Ne5 12.Nb5+ Kc6 13.Be3 Kxb5 14.Qb3+ Kc6 15. Qc3+ Kd6 16.Qc5 checkmate, metallictaste - anon, chess.com, 2010.

Some opening lines - and the Jerome Gambit is a perfect example - continue to be invented and re-invented, so it is fun to delve into The Database and discover:

7.Nxc3 Ke8 8.O-O Bb4 9.Nd5 Nge7 10.Qd4 Nxd5 11.Qxg7 Rf8 12.exd5 Ne7 13.Bxh6 Nf5 14.Qxf8+ Bxf8 15.Bxf8 Kxf8 16.Rfe1 d6 17.Re2 b6 18.Rae1 Ng7 19.Nd4 Ba6 20.Nc6 Qh4 21.Re7 Nf5 22.Rxc7 Nd4 23.Ree7 Nxc6 24.Rf7+ Kg8 25.Rh7 Qc4 26.Rhg7+ Kf8 27.Rgf7+ Ke8 28.Rxc6 Qf1 checkmate, Darrenshome - raykou, FICS, 2007;

7.Nxc3 Bc5 8.Qd5+ Kg6 9.Qxc5 Nf6 10.e5 Ne4 11.Qe3 d5 12.Nxc3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Be6 14.Nd2 Rf8 15.f4 Kh7 16.f5 Bxf5 17.Nf3 Qe7 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Nh4 Be6 20.Qd3+ Kg7 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Qh7 23.Ng6+ Kg8 24.Qxh7+ Kxh7 25.Nxf8+ Kg8 26.Nxe6 Nxe5 27.Nxc7 Rc8 28.Ne6 Re8 29.Nd4 Nd3 30.Nb5 a6 31.Nd6 Re6 32.Nf5 Nxb2 33.Rab1 Rb6 34.Rf2 Nc4 35.Rxb6 Nxb6 36.Nd6 d4 37.Nxb7 d3 38.Rd2 a5 39.Nc5 Nc4 40.Rxd3 Nb2 41.Rd8+ Kf7 42.Ra8 Nc4 43.Ne4 Ke6 44.Nc5+ Kd5 45.Nb7 a4 46.Rxa4 Kc6 47.Rxc4+ White ran out of time and Black had no material to mate, draw, Darrenshome - arkascha, FICS, 2007; and

7.O-O Nf6 8.e5 Ne4 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxe4 d6 11.Nxc3 Be6 12.Qh4+ g5 13.Bxg5+ hxg5 14.Qxh8 Kd7 15.exd6 Kxd6 16.Rad1+ Ke7 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Nxg5 Nd4 19.Nxe6 Nxe6 20.Re1 Kd6 21.Rd1+ Ke7 22.Rxd8 Nxd8 23.Nd5+ Kd6 24.Qd4 Ne6 25.Qb4+ Nc5 26.Qf4+ Kxd5 27.Qxf8 c6 28.h4 Kc4 29.h5 Na4 30. 3+ Kc3 31.bxa4 Black resigned, Darrenshome - arkascha, FICS, 2007.

6...Bc5 7.Bxf7+ 

The Jerome-like tactical response to Black's last move.

7...Kxf7 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qh5+ 

Varying from his earlier 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qh5+ Kf8 11.O-O Nf6 12.Qb5 a6 13.Qe2 Bg4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Ne5 16.Be3 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 Bh3 18.Rfe1 Qe8 19.Bf4 Qg6+ 20.Bg3 Kg8 21.Qe7 Kh7 22.Qxc7 Rhe8 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Qxb7 Qc2 25.Bxd6 Qd2 26.Bg3 Re1+ 27. Rxe1 Qxe1 checkmate, Darrenshome - soacgyngo, FICS, 2007

9...Kf8 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qe3 Nf6 

White has a comfortable edge after less than a dozen moves, a pleasant outcome in either the Jerome Gambit or the Scotch/Goring Gambit.

12.O-O Bg4 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Qe7

Black has a defensive plan: exchange pieces and utilize the Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame to draw. However, a moment of distraction while dealing with the advancing "Jerome pawns" leads to disaster.

15.Be3 Qe5 16.Qb4 b6 17.f4 Qe6 18.e5 Nd5 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 20.f5 Qxe5 21.Qxg4 Qxe3+ 22.Kh1

Black's extra pawn is offset by his King's uneasy placement. White should be able to push and hold the draw. Instead, Black, feeling the danger along the f-file, slips.

22...Ke7 23.Rae1 Black resigned

His Queen is pinned and lost.

The Element of Surprise

For a very nice, instructive video by MatoJelic that combines themes from both the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and a no-name opening we have occasionally looked at (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+), check out the Scotch Gambit game Dominguez - Keballos, Mexico, 1880. 

A Bridge To... Somewhere?

Yesterday's game, Byrne [Bryne] - Farwell, San Francisco, 1859, serves as a curious bridge between two pieces of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) history. On the one hand, as we have seen, the opening moves transpose to what later will become known as the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit. On the other hand, it introduces to this blog a player, Willard B. Farwell, who has a couple of other games in the historical California chess database — one of which approaches the question of what games might have influenced Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in the creation of his gambit (see "A Distant Relative?").


Farwell,W - Jones,E
San Francisco, 1859


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 

This is the Scotch Gambit, but, hold on.


4...Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6


And now, a relatively familiar set of moves...*


6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 

The game is about even, although White went on to lose in a miniature (9...d5 10.e5 Re8 11.f4 Nxe5 12.fxe5 Rxe5+ 13.Kd2 Qg5+ 14.Kd3 Re3+ 0-1).


I checked the position after White's 7th move in the ChessLab online database, and discovered a line of games with a whole host of familiar names, on both sides of the board, including:


Labourdonnais - Haxo, Gilvoisin, 1837 (1/2-1/2, 33)
Shumov - Jaenisch, St. Petersburg, 1850 (1-0, 20)
NN - Harrwitz, Paris, 1852 (0-1, 13)
Meek - Morphy, Alabama, 1855 (0-1, 21)
Montgomery - Allison, New York, 1857 (0-1, 59)
Kennicott - Morphy, New York, 1857 (0-1, 24)
Steinkuhler - Blackburne, Manchester, 1861 (0-1, 24)
Ranken - Staunton, London, 1866 (0-1, 24)


Could this be the trail of another "godfather" of the Jerome Gambit? I will be digging deeper...




*-Opening analysis of the time warned against 5...Ne5, because of 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5, going back at least as far as Sarratt - NN, 1818.. Familiar?

A Trip to the Dark Side

When I'm in a Jerome Gambit mood at FICS I want to play White, so I take my turns with Black at a quicker time control like 3 0 – probably too fast for me – to get back to a chance for my favorite opening as soon as possible.

In the following game, however, I noticed that my opponent was fmarius, who I recall has a gazillion games in the updated New Years Database (okay, about 130), so I decided to see if he wanted to play the Jerome against me.

fmarius - perrypawnpusher
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4

That's right, he also likes to go into the Jerome out of the Italian-Gambit-turned-Scotch-Gambit (as well as the regular Jerome Gambit move order)...

Yes, he'll also play 4.Bxf7+ against your Blackburne Shilling Gambit, too.

In fact, he'll play it against the Semi-Italian Opening, not even waiting for ...Bc5.

4...exd4 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+

6...Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5

Oddly, Fritz8 recommends the intermediary 8.Qh5+, seeing the position after 8...g6 9.Qxc5 cxb2 10.Bxb2 as even. I am sure that fmarius would have been thrilled with that position, though, with the white pieces.

8...d6

I had no interest in 8...cxb2 9.Bxb2 Nf6 10.0-0 d6

9.Qxc3 Nf6 10.0-0 Bg4

White has an edge here, but I noticed that my opponent was going through his time even faster than I was. I figured that if I gave him a few more things to think about, that problem might only get worse. 

11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.e5 dxe5

I think he was expecting ...Nxe5, so this elicited more thought.

14.Nbd2 Rd8 15.Rae1 Kd7

Queenside castling-by-hand. Probably not best, but safest; and something to do as the clocks tick.

16.Nxe5+ Nxe5

17.Qd4+

Time pressure slip. Instead, 17.Rxe5 kept White's edge.

17...Kc8 18.Rxe5 Rxd4

In lost position, White forfeited on time

White was better most of the game. I am not sure that I am ready to face fmarius and his Jerome repertoire at a slower time control

The Mysterious kingmaple

In yesterday's post (see "King of the Hill") I mentioned that the player kingmaple had 619 entries in the updated 18,000 game New Year's Database of Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games – and yet he had not been mentioned previously in any post on this blog.

A closer examination of kingmaple's games shows why: he plays a variation of the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qd5+) which can arise, after a fashion, from a "modern" form of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.c3 dxc3 7.Qd5+).

(Of course, Black and White have alternative ways of playing in both the Scotch Gambit and the Jerome Gambit that would not lead to this position.)

In my researching, kingmaple's efforts got scooped up with the other Jerome Gambit and Jerome-ish games.

Readers who find this position interesting and who would like to follow in kingmaple's footsteps can start by checking out two "Kibitzer" columns on the Scotch Gambit (1, 2) by ICCF Senior IM Tim Harding in the Archives at ChessCafe.