Jerome Gambit: Past is Prologue

Here is a game from the first round of the Jerome Gambit tournament at RedHotPawn.com. Both White and Black clearly have a grasp of the opening, and the battle is an entertaining one. The outcome is an indication of how the second round - and the tournament - will turn out. 

SeinfeldFan91 - ZorroTheFox
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

7.O-O Ng4 8.h3 Bd6 9.e5 Be7 

Recommended,but there are no other examples in The Database.

Alternatively:

9...Nxe5 Giving the piece back is "scientific" but leads to an equal game according to Stockfish 7. 10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Qd5+ (11.f4 Bd6 12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Nd2 Nf6 14.Qd3 b6 15.Ne4 Bb7 16.Nxd6 cxd6 17.Qxd6+ Kf7 18.Qd3 Rhe8 19.Bd2 Kg8 20.f5 Nh5 21.Bc3 Nf4 22.Qc4+ Kh8 23.Rxf4 Qh6 24.Rg4 Rg8 25.f6 g6 26.f7+ Rg7 27.Qb4 d5 28.f8=Q+ Rxf8 29.Qxf8 checkmate, Darthnik - aufdermaur, FICS, 2011) 11...Kf6 (11...Kf8 12.Qxe5 d6 13.Bg5 Qxf2+ 14.Rxf2+ Black resigned, ndrwgn - balahap, FICS, 2013) 12.Re1 d6 13.Rxe5 dxe5 14.Qd8+ Ne7 15.Qxh8 Qe4 16.Qf8+ Ke6 17.Bg5 Qb4 18.Qxg7 Bd7 19.Qf6+ Kd5 20.Nc3+ Kc4 21.b3+ Kxc3 22.Qxe5+ Qd4 23.Bd2+ Kxd2 24.Qxd4+ Kxc2 25.Rd1 Black resigned, Wall,B - Anonymous, lichess.org, 2016; or

9...Bxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 (10...N4h6 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.Re1 Rf8 13.Re4 Qxe4 14.Nxe4 Kg8 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Nf6+ Kh8 17.Qd3 Ng6 18.Qc3 c6 19.Nh5 Rf5 20.e6+ Ne5 21.e7 Black resigned, iconsisonline - atizzle, FICS, 2010) 11.Qd5+ Kf6 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nc3 d6 14.Be3 Ke7 15.Rae1 Kd8 16.Nb5 Nf6 17.Qc4 Ne8 18.Bf2 Qf6 19.Bd4 Qh4 20.Rxe8+ Kxe8 21.Nxc7+ Kf8 22.f5 Ne5 23.f6 gxf6 24.Qd5 Kg7 25.Qxd6 Rg8 26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Bxe5 and White won, Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888; or

9...Nxf2 10.Rxf2+ Nf6 11.Rf4 Qg3 12.Rf3 Qg6 13.exd6 cxd6 14.c3 b6 15.Qb3+ Ke7 16.Re3+ Kd8 17.Na3 Bb7 18.Re2 Nh5 19.Nb5 Ng3 20.Rf2 Ne4 21.Re2 Rf8 22.Be3 Ng3 23.Rd2 Qe4 24.Re1 Rf3 25.Bg5+ Black resigned, Darthballz - Leftang, FICS, 2011. 

10.hxg4 Nh6

Reasonable and straight-forward, especially since White's response "forces" Black to make a move he wants to make, anyhow; but 10...d6 was deeper and better. 

11.g5 Ng4  

Of course. Still, taking the g-pawn was better, as now the game has equalized - although that may not be apparent at first glance. 

12.Qf3+ Ke8 13.Qh3 Bxg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.Nc3 d5

15...h5!? was a thematic alternative. 

16.f4 Qg6

Thinking "attack" when "defense" was better attended to by 16...Qd8. 

17.Nxd5 Kd7 18.f5 Qg5 19.e6+ Kc6 

The alternative 19...Ke8 20.Rae1 is pretty bad for Black, but everything else leads to mate. 

20.Qc3+ Kxd5 21.Qc5+ Ke4 22.Rae1+ Ne3 23.Qe5 checkmate

Good Knight

I have been enjoying the games of the RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament (over 80% of the first round games have been completed). I have shared some of the games here, but only the short ones and the ones with unusual (for the Jerome Gambit!) lines - it is clear that players are putting serious effort into opening play, and I don't want to spill anyone's "secrets" in case they want to use them in later rounds.

Still, it is possible to look at a few fun endings, each making use of a Knight or Knights.

For example, here LittleDonkey uses three pieces to achieve a checkmate.

Jean TylerGabriel - LittleDonkey

He didn't need a Queen, you say? He could have used a pawn to do the same job (cover the g2 square)? Here is another checkmate that uses a hearty, helpful pawn -

RODbr - SeinfeldFan91

As a matter of fact, Black's last move was 29...Ra2-g2#. For fun, he also could have played 29...h2# - thanks, in part, to the stalwart Knight.

Here are a couple more Knights at work:

rigidwithfear - procyk

And a single Knight:

RODbr - ZorroTheFox

And a Knight with a lot of helpers:

BigD00 - kristjan

In this last position, Black and White are roughly equal in material, but White has a move that should win the exchange. Black is not willing to give up the material, and so faces a Queen sacrifice and then suffers death by suffication...

rigidwithfear - golddog2

33.Ne5+ Kg8 34.Qe6+ Kh8 35.Nf7+ Kg8 36.Nh6+ Kh8 37.Qg8+ Rxg8 38.Nf7 checkmate

Good Knight!

New Jerome Gambit Tournament

I will be following the progress of the upcoming (to start this month) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn.

The list of players signed up so far includes SeinfeldFan91, who won last year's Jerome Gambit tournament. Playing as well will be rigidwithfear, who played in one RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014 as well as last year's; and ZorroTheFox, deriver69, and BigD00, who played in another RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014.

The tournament is open to subscribers, not just RedHotPawn members, so I will not be joining in the fun.

Another RHP Jerome Gambit Tournament - Game 1

The following game, from a Jerome Gambit thematic tournament at RedHotPawn.com played last year, shows that complicated postions can arise that can challenge both players. In turn, the Queens, then the Kings, face grave danger.

musirapha (1874) - ZorroTheFox (1447)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit tournament, RedHotPawn, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qc3 

More frequently played is 8.Qe3.

8...Be6 9.d4 Bd7 10.Qb3+ Kf8 11.f4

11.0-0 was safer. If White was looking for trouble, he could always have played 11.Qxb7!? but he would have risked having his Queen offside for a while.

11...Qh4+ 12.g3 Qh3 13.Qxb7 Rc8

The Rook is probably better placed on the e-file, after which Black should continue his infiltration of the Kingside, as Houdini suggests, 13...Re8 14.Nc3 Qg2 15.Rf1 Bh3 16.Qb5 Qxh2 17.Qe2 Qxe2+ 18.Kxe2 Bxf1+ 19.Kxf1. 

14.e5 N8e7 15.Qf3 h6 

With 5 pieces developed to White's 1, Black does not need to play such a timid move, especially when he had available the useful 15...Bc6. Sometimes the Jerome Gambit can intimidate, however.

16.Nc3 d5 17.Be3 Nf5 18.Kf2

An alternative to consider was 18.0-0-0. 

18...c6 19.Na4 Nxe3 20.Kxe3 Bg4 21.Qf2 Ke7

22.Nc5 Rhe8

Here both players overlook that 22...Nxf4 23.Qxf4 Rhf8 would trap the White Queen. 

23.Raf1 Kf8 24.f5 Ne7

25.f6

This move is okay but, instead, 25.Ne6+ Kg8 26.Nf4 would trap the Black Queen. 

25...Nf5+ 26.Kd2 gxf6 27.Qf4 Qg2+ 

Black is thinking about the wrong King, as his own monarch requires attention (protection).

28.Kc3

This escape works in the game, but Houdini points out that the strongest idea was to sacrifice the exchange with 28.Rf2 Qxh1 29.Qxg4 when White's attack will be the one to crash through, e.g. 29...Ng7 30.Nd7+ Kf7 31.Nxf6. A Rook up, Black is helpless. 

28...Qe2 29.b3 Ne3

It is hard to believe at first (or second) glance, but the computer suggests that Black can survive with the cheeky 29...fxe5, giving the following hearty battle: 30.Qxh6+ Kg8 31.Qg6+ Ng7 32.Rf7 exd4+ 33.Kb2 Qe5 34.Re1 Bh5 35.Qh6 Bxf7 36.Rxe5 Rxe5 when it assesses that White's pawns help his Queen balance out play against Black's Rook, Bishop and Knight, e.g. 37.Nd7 Re2 38.Nf6+ Kf8 39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.Qxc8 Kxf6 41.Qxc6+ Ne6 42.Qxd5 Rxh2 43.g4 Rf2 44.b4. 

Now White can defend his King (with an exchange sacrifice) and get back to his attack.

30.Rf2 Nd1+ 31.Rxd1 Qxd1 32.Qxf6+ Kg8 33.Qg6+ Kh8 34.Rf7 Qa1+ 35.Kb4 Qxd4+ 36.c4 Qd2+ 37.Ka3 Qa5+ 38.Na4 Black resigned

Another RHP Jerome Gambit Tournament (Round 2)

Here is the second round of the second Jerome Gambit thematic tournament that I encountered at RedHotPawn.com from 2013 (won by jankrb), starting from the Jerome Gambit position:

musirapha (1874) - ZorroTheFox (1447)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit tournament, RedHotPawn, 2013

(1-0) This game will be covered in a subsequent post.


ZorroTheFox (1447) - musirapha (1874)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit tournament, RedHotPawn, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.d3 h6 4.c3 d6 5.Be3 Bb6 6.Bxb6 axb6 7.Nbd2 Bd7 8.a4 Qe7 9.b4 Rhf8 10.Nc4 Kg8 11.Qb3 Kh8 12.Nh4 Qf7 13.Nd2 Qxb3 14.Nxb3 Rf7 15.Rfe1 g5 16.Nf3 Kg7 17.Ra2 Nh5 18.Rd1 Bg4 19.Nbd2 Nf4 20.d4 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Nxc3 22.Raa1 Nxd1 23.Rxd1 Nxd4 24.Ra1 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Nxf3 26.Nc4 Nd4 27.Kg2 Raf8 28.Ra2 Rf4 29.a5 b5 30.Na3 Rxe4 31.Rb2 c6 32.Nb1 Re2 White resigned


jankrb (2055) - Red House (1588)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit tournament, RedHotPawn, 2013

(1-0) This game will be covered in a subsequent post.


Red House (1588) - jankrb (2055)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit tournament, RedHotPawn, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.Nc3 Rf8 4.d3 h6 5.h3 Kg8 6.Kh1 Nd4 7.Be3 d6 8.Na4 Nxf3 9.Nxc5 Nh5 10.Nb3 Qh4 11.gxf3 Qxh3+ 12.Kg1 Rf6 White resigned

Another RHP Jerome Gambit Tournament (Round 1)

As I mentioned earlier, while wandering around the RedHotPawn.com website I ran into a couple of Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments from 2013. Since it has been a while since this blog covered a thematic tourney, I thought it would be nice to present all the games. (I have selected a few for individual attention.)

Here is the first round of the second tournament (won by ), starting from the Jerome Gambit position:

ZorroTheFox (1447) - BigD00 (973)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nd4 3.Nxd4 exd4 4.d3 a6 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxc5 b6 7.Qxd4 Nf6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Bh6 d6 10.exd6 c5 11.Qd5+ Be6 12.Qf3+ Nf6 13.Qb7+ Bd7 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.Qxa6 Ng4 16.Be3 Qh4 17.h3 Ne5 18.f4 Nc6 19.Ne4 Nb4 20.Qc4+ Be6 21.Qc3 Rhc8 22.Ng5+ Ke8 23.Nxe6 Nd5 24.Qd2 Rc6 25.Nc7+ Nxc7 26.dxc7 Rxc7 27.Rae1 Rd8 28.Bxc5+ Kf7 29.Bxb6 Rcd7 30.Bxd8 Rxd8 31.Rf3 Qf6 32.c3 Kg7 33.Qe3 Qf7 34.Qe5+ Kh6 35.Qg5+ Kg7 36.Re7 Rf8 37.Rxf7+ Rxf7 38.f5 Kf8 39.fxg6 hxg6 40.Qxg6 Black resigned


BigD00 (973) - ZorroTheFox (1447)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.c3 Nh6 3.Ng5+ Kg6 4.h4 d6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Nxd4 7.Rh3 Bxh3 8.gxh3 Qe7 9.Qd3 Nhf5 10.Nd2 Nxh4 11.b4 Bb6 12.f4 Rae8 13.Bb2 h6 14.Ngf3 Nhxf3+ 15.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 Qxe4+ 17.Qxe4+ Rxe4+ 18.Kd2 Rg8 19.Rf1 Kf5 20.a4 g6 21.a5 Be3+ 22.Kd3 Bxf4 23.Ba1 Rge8 24.Bc3 Re3+ 25.Kd2 Rf3+ 26.Kc2 Rxf1 27.Kb3 Re3 28.h4 Be5 29.Kc4 Rxc3+ 30.Kb5 a6+ 31.Ka4 Ra1 checkmate


jankrb (2055) - eagleswing (1096)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.Nxe5+ Nxe5 3.Qh5+ Ng6 4.Qd5+ Ke8 5.Qxc5 N8e7 6.d4 d6 7.Qc4 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.Qxd5 Nxd5 10.c4 Nb4 11.Kd2 b6 12.Na3 a6 13.Kc3 a5 14.Nb5 Kf7 15.Nxc7 Ra7 16.Nb5 Re8 17.Nd6+ Ke7 18.Nxe8 Kxe8 19.a3 Nc6 20.Be3 Bb7 21.Rae1 Kf8 22.d5 Nce5 23.Bxb6 Ra6 24.Bd4 Ng4 25.f3 Nf6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Re3 f5 28.Rhe1 Kg7 29.g3 f4 30.Re7+ Nxe7 31.Rxe7+ Kh6 32.Rxb7 fxg3 33.hxg3 Rg6 34.c5 Rxg3 35.Rf7 Rg1 36.c6 Kg6 37.Rf4 Kg5 38.Rf8 Rf1 39.Kd4 Rd1+ 40.Kc5 a4 41.c7 Rc1+ 42.Kd6 Rc2 43.c8Q Rxc8 44.Rxc8 h5 45.Ke5 Black resigned


eagleswing (1096) - jankrb (2055)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

(0-1) This game will be covered in a subsequent post.


musirapha (1874) - deriver69 (1410)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

(1-0)This game will be covered in a subsequent post.


deriver69 (1410) - musirapha (1874)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

(0-1) This game will be covered in a subsequent post.


Red House (1588) - Marko Krale (1562)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.Nc3 Bd6 3.d3 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nxd6+ cxd6 7.c3 Rf8 8.Re1 Kg8 9.d4 Re8 10.d5 Ne7 11.h3 Ng6 12.g3 Qb6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Qd2 b5 15.Bxh6 Qd8 16.Bg5 Rf8 17.Kg2 Qe8 18.a4 Bb7 19.Qc2 Nh7 20.Be3 Qf7 21.Qe2 bxa4 22.Rxa4 Qf6 23.Rb4 Bc8 24.Ra1 Nh8 25.Rc4 Nf7 26.h4 Nd8 27.Nh2 Qe7 28.Ng4 Nb7 29.Rc7 Nc5 30.f3 Nf6 31.Bg5 Qd8 32.Rxc5 dxc5 33.Nxe5 d6 34.Nc6 Qc7 35.Qd2 Bd7 36.Na5 Qb6 37.Nc4 Qc7 38.Bf4 Ne8 39.e5 dxe5 40.Bxe5 Qd8 41.Qe3 Qe7 42.Re1 Bb5 43.Nd2 Nd6 44.c4 Nxc4 45.Nxc4 Bxc4 46.d6 Qa7 47.Qg5 Rf7 48.Qg4 Bb5 49.Rd1 Rd8 50.Qe6 Qd7 51.Qd5 c4 52.Bf4 Qc6 53.Qe6 Qd7 54.Qg6 Qf5 55.Qxf5 Rxf5 56.Bg5 Rd7 57.Be7 Kf7 58.g4 Rc5 59.Kg3 c3 60.bxc3 Rxc3 61.g5 Bc6 62.Rf1 a5 63.Kg4 a4 64.f4 a3 65.h5 a2 66.g6+ Ke6 67.h6 gxh6 68.f5+ Kd5 69.g7 h5+ 70.Kh4 Kc5 71.g8Q Rc2 72.Qg1+ Kb5 73.Rb1+ Black resigned


Marko Krale (1562) - Red House (1588)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.d3 Re8 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 Kg8 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nd5 Rf8 8.Bxf6 Rxf6 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.h3 Qg6 11.Kh2 Be6 12.c3 d5 13.Re1 Bxf2 14.Re2 Qg3+ 15.Kh1 Bxh3 16.Rxf2 Qxf2 17.gxh3 Rf8 18.Nh2 d4 19.Rb1 Ne7 20.cxd4 Qxd4 21.Qe2 Ng6 22.Rd1 Nf4 23.Qc2 c5 24.Nf3 Qe3 White resigned