Jerome Gambit: If You Stop and Think About It

If you stop and think about it, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a pretty weak opening.

But - what if you didn't have time to stop and think about it?

Or, even better, what if your opponent didn't have time?

Well, then, you might find yourself playing the Jerome in a bullet game, 1 minute / no increment time control.

And, if you were "Cliff Hardy", playing online, you might find yourself defeating an IM.

Just saying.

[Notes by Cliff; diagrams and occasional comments by me - Rick] 

This was a bullet game (1 minute each, no increment) I played against IM Nichita Morozov from Moldova on Lichess. He held a strong position for quite a while but my Jerome pawns maintained great potential and eventually Nichita's desire to eliminate them proved to be a little too strong to resist, leading to his downfall.

Cliff Hardy (2205) - IM Nichita Morozov (2456), Lichess, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6?! -+

The same inferior defence that IM Rosen played against me long ago - 6...Kf8 -++ or 6...Ke6!? -++ were better choices.

7.Qd5+ 

I had a recent ten minute each game on Lichess where my opponent, rated in the 1700's, resigned at this point as black, for whatever reason!

7...Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qe7 

 It helps that Cliff has already seen this position, in Hardy - Sevostianov, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018 (0-1, 56) and Hardy - NN, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018 (1-0, 20 ) - Rick

9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 d5!

This liberating move is Stockfish's top choice (though only after it has a long think!) I'm not sure what the stats are on how often this excellent sacrifice is found by players in this position, but I would imagine the overwhelming majority would play the much simpler 10...d6 here.

(The Database has 12 games with the position after White's 10th move; 3 of them, including this one, continue with 10...d5. Three games continue with 10...d6; five continue with 10...c6; one continues with 10...Kf7. - Rick)

11.exd5 Qxe3+?

Here Stockfish likes the deep 11...Kf7!, with the idea of eventually getting the pawn back on d5 e.g. 12.0-0 Rd8 13.Qf3 (or 13.Qd4 c6) 13...Qe5 -+, when White's doomed d5-pawn is surrounded.

12.dxe3?

After 12.fxe3! Bf5 13.d3 +=, White could then have defended his pawn on d5 with the push e3-e4, if found to be necessary.

12...Bf5 

13.Bd2

White couldn't have defended his c-pawn as 13.Kd1? Rd8 would have been too dangerous.

13...Rd8 14.f3 Bxc2 15.Rc1 Bd3 16.e4 Kf7

17.Bg5? -+

17.Na4 =+, threatening Rxc7 or Nc5, would have reduced black's advantage to a minimum.

17...Rhe8 18.Kf2 c6 19.dxc6 bxc6 20.Rhe1 Rd7?!

20...Ne5 -+ would have been better.

21.g4? 

21.Na4, threatening Nc5 again, would have equalised.

21...Rb8? 

21...h6 -++

22.b3?

22.e5!, threatening exf6 or the fork e6+, would have led to a slight advantage for White. Over the next few moves, both players kept missing that this e-pawn push was advantageous for White.

22...c5? 23.h4? 

23.e5! +-

23...c4? 24. bxc4? 

24.e5! =

24...Rb2+?

Simply recapturing with 24...Bxc4 would have been good, since if 24...Bxc4 25.e5 =+, Black's bishop would have prevented White from safely playing the fork e5-e6+.

25.Kg3 Ne5 26.Bxf6? -+

Retaining the bishop with 26.Bf4 += would have been much better, when the passed e-pawn would have created good chances for White.

26...gxf6 27.f4 Nxc4 28.Nd5 Rxa2 29.g5 Ra3 30.Kg4 

30...fxg5? -++

Fine, but 30...f5! would have been a nice sacrifice, when 30.Kh5 (30. Kxf5? Rxd5! -++) 30...fxe4 -++ would have been overwhelming for Black.

31.hxg5 Bxe4??

Black's patience for restraining the potential energy of White's passed Jerome e-pawn ran out and so he eliminated it, but attacking it instead with 31...Nd6 or 31...Nd2, would have retained Black's winning advantage.

32.Rxe4 ++-

Presumably, when Black played 31...Bxe4??, he missed the fact that 32...Rxd5 would be met by a rook capturing on c4. Despite the fact that material was now equal, White's greater central presence and passed Jerome f-pawn surprisingly yielded a winning advantage.

32...Nd6 33.Re5 Rb7 34.Rc6 Ne8 35.Rce6 Ng7 36.Rf6+ Kg8 37.Ne7+

White's advantage now becomes obvious, since 37...Kh8 would have allowed 38.Rf8 checkmate.

37...Rxe7 38.Rxe7 h5+ 39.Kh4?!

39.gxh6 would have been even better.

39...Ra4 40.Rd7 Rb4 41.g6?!

41.Rd8+ Kh7 42.Rh6 mate would have finished off the win neatly.

41...Rb8 42.Rff7 Rf8??

Blundering into a mate, though Black was clearly lost anyway.

43.Rxg7+ Kh8 44.Rh7+

and Black lost on time, before 44...Kg8 45.Rdg7 mate were to happen.

Bye.

Cliff Hardy

P.S. Too bad there are no known examples of world champions playing the Jerome Gambit, as far as I know. I do have copies of games in my records where Magnus Carlsen has beaten high rated opponents on Lichess with the Fred Opening (1.e4 f5) and the Tranvestite Opening (1..c6, 2...Qa5, 3...f6, 4...Qh5, 5...Kd8 and 6...Qe8) so there is some hope that one day he will play the Jerome Gambit against high class opposition.

Jerome Gambit: The Madness Continues

So, the latest game I received from Cliff Hardy, who has been specializing in tortured Jerome Gambit games, is a 1-minute (no increment) bullet game on the website lichess.org - against an International Master.

Of course.

In a game where each player had about one second per move to think, things quickly became exciting. 

Notes by Cliff. [A few by me - Rick] Diagrams by me.

Cliff Hardy - IM Pavel Sevostianov

1 0 bullet, Lichess, 2018 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ 

In another bullet game recently on Lichess, I forgot this was the move to play, got confused and played 5.Ng5+?? here instead but got justifiably destroyed in short order. I'm glad I didn't make that mistake in this rare chance to play the Jerome against an IM, where I was at least hoping to put up a half-decent game and not waste the opportunity.

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

[Interesting - is the IM unfamiliar with the various Jerome Gambit refutations, or does he figure that this will be good enough? It turns out that his "second best" moves are still pretty good. - Rick ]

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 c6 

10...d5! -+ would have been the best move here, according to Stockfish, as Black should eventually be able to get the pawn back on d5 (if White were to take it), though it may then take Black a few moves of development first before he could get into a position to win it back.

11.f4? 

Which pawn to push? 11.d4 =+ would have been much better, it turns out.

11...d6? =+ 

Pushing the d-pawn further again with 11...d5! -++ would have been more aggressive.

12.O-O Kf7

13.d3?! -+ 

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 =+ would have been a better and feistier way to play it for White. 

13...Re8 14.f5 Ne5 15.h3 Kg8 16.Bd2 d5 17.Rae1 dxe4?

Surprisingly, quite an error - 17...Qd6 -+ would have been a better move. 

18.dxe4??

18.Nxe4! +- would have been stronger, when White's threat of Nxf6+ and then attacking the pinned knight on e5 with d4 or Bc3 would have been surprisingly difficult to diffuse e.g. 18...Bd7 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 (19...gxf6 20. d4 ++-) 20.Bc3 +-.

18...Nc4 19.Qd3 Nxd2 -++ 

19...Nxb2 -++ would also have been good.

20.Qxd2 Bd7 

21.Qf4 Qc5+ 22.Kh1 Qe5 23.Qf3 Re7 -++ 

OK, I'm getting crushed like a bug - but I've still got my Jerome pawns... [And then, there's that clock thingy - Rick]

24.g4 Rae8?? 25.Re2?? 

All right, not the best move - 25.g5! += and the black knight would have been trapped. 

25...h6 26.h4 Nh7 27.Qg2 b6 28.g5 hxg5 29.hxg5 Bc8?

Black appears to be struggling for ideas, despite his material advantage - 29...g6! -++ (intending 30.fxg6 Nxg5) was a brilliant defence to White's pawn onslaught that the computer found. 

30.f6 Rc7 31.f7+

OK, now I'm back in the game, though Stockfish found another surprising resource here in 31.Rf5!?, since 31...Bxf5?? (31...Qd4 32.f7+ = would have been similar to the game) would walk into trouble on the e-file after 32.exf5 +-. 

31...Rxf7 32.Rxf7 Kxf7 33.g6+ Kg8 34. gxh7+ Kh8! 

Black can probably take the h-pawn any time he wants and, by playing this way, keeps more options open by not allowing White to play the queen swap with 34...Kxh7 35.Qh2+.

35.Qh2 Bg4? 

...Though he allows the queen swap now anyway... - keeping the queens on with 35...Qg5 -+ would have been more attacking.

36.Rg2?? 

The last straw for White - 36.Qxe5 Rxe5 37.Re3 would have been about equal.

[White still can win if he stays alive - regardless of the material disadvantage - long enough for Black's flag to fall. He almost makes it. - Rick]

36...Bf3 37.Kg1 Bxg2 38.Qxg2 Re6 39.Kf2 Rf6+ 40.Ke2 Rh6 41.a3 Rh2 42.Kf3 Rxg2 43.Kxg2 Qg5+ 44.Kf3 Qf6+ 45.Ke2 Qg6 46.Ke3 Qh5 47.Ne2 Kxh7 48.Nf4 Qh6 49.Kf3 Qh4 50.Ke3 Qg5 

Not that it matters, but better would have been 50...Qg3+! 

51.c3 Qf6 52.Kf3 Qe5 53.Ke3 g5 54.Nh3 Qh2 

Again, better would have been 54...Qg3+! 

55.Nf2 Qg3+ 56.Ke2 g4 and Black won on time. 

(White had 1.6 seconds left on his clock when Black lost on time).