Jerome Gambit: New Year's Resolution

Looking at some of the Jerome Gambit games from 2019 that I have recently added to The Database, I noticed that 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ scored a surprising 57%, up from 52% the previous year.

I suspect that - despite my claims of "representativeness" - The Database may have been slightly skewed by all of the wins last year, scored by angelcamina and Bill Wall. Oh, well.☺

Nonetheless, I still noted over a dozen games starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5?!

It turns out that The Database has 564 such games.

Some of you are probably scratching your heads, wondering 

What is that move all about?  Was it a fast time control, and White got ahead of himself? What was his plan?

A closer examination would reveal that only about 3/4 of the time did Black play the indicated (and crushing) 5...Qxg5, which, admittely  allows White to reveal his intentions with 6.d4 - a simultaneous attack on the Black Bishop at c5 and the Queen at g5.

There's not much to White's "attack" after 6...Qxg2, though - in 147 games, White scored only 11%

I would like to argue that this line is too risky, even for a Jerome Gambit player - which is saying a lot.

Maybe a good New Year's resolution would be to stay away from 5.Ng5?!

Jerome Gambit: Don't Relax

The following game is another example of Black defending well, only to relax too early - and feel the sharpness of White's attack.

angelcamina - tbena
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 

9.O-O Bd7 10.f4 

One of the weapons in the Jerome Gambiteer's arsenal.

10...Nc6 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qe2 Re8 13.f5 

An annoying "Jerome pawn" move, another weapon.

13...Bc8 14.Qc4+ Kf8 

15.Bg5 

Ditto.

15...Ne5 16.Qb3 b6 17.Nd5 

And, again.

17...Bb7 

Black completes his development, and wonders "Have you got anything left?" White shows that he does.

18.Nxf6 gxf6 19.Bh6+ Ke7 20.Qe6 checkmate

Very pretty.

Jerome Gambit Seesaw

The following Jerome Gambit includes an enjoyable "seesaw" (or "windmill") theme that sets this game apart from other 1-minute, no increment, wins for White. It must have been great fun for angelcamina.

angelcamina - ThiccFantano
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. The Database shows that angelcamina is 23 - 0 - 1 with this line!

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Ng6 8.dxc5 Re8 9.O-O 

9...Nxe4

Risky, but he gets away with it - this time.

10.Nxe4 Rxe4 11.Qd5+ 

This is White's idea, but it comes in a better form with 11.Qf3+.

11...Re6 12.f4 Kg8 

Stepping off of the hot f-file, but staying on the uncomfortable a2-g8 diagonal. Better was 12...Ne7.

13.f5 Qf6 14.fxe6 Qxe6 15.Qxe6+ dxe6 

White is up the exchange. There is now a temporary lull in the action, as both sides renew their development.

16.Bd2 Bd7 17.Bc3 Bc6 18.Rae1 Re8 19.b3 Nh4 20.Re3 Nxg2 

Highlighting Black's Bishop along the a8-h1 diagonal. It is soon to be upstaged.

21.Rg3 Nh4 22.Rxg7+ Kh8 23.Rxc7+ 

The fun begins.

It seems unfair to point out 23.Rg3+ e5 24.Bxe5+ Rxe5 25.Rf8#.

23...Kg8 24.Rg7+ Kh8 25.Rxb7+ 

The fun continues. See the above note.

25...Kg8 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Rxa7+ 

As above.

27...Kg8 28.Rg7+ Kh8 29.Re7+ Kg8 30.Rxe8+ 

Ditto.

30...Bxe8 

White has a comfortable lead in material, and Black is running short of time (which explains some of his following moves).

31.Rf4 Bh5 32.Rxh4 Be2 33.Re4 Bb5 34.Rxe6 Bc6 35.Re7 Bd7 36.Rxd7 Kf8 37.c6 Ke8 38.b4 h5 39.b5 h4 40.b6 h3 41.b7 Black lost on time

Wonderful!

Jerome Gambit: Defending Well, Until

In the following game, Black is defending well - until. That can happen in a Jerome Gambit.

angelcamina - kamosik
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 N8e7 

10.O-O Rf8 11.f4 Nc6 12.d4 Bd7 13.f5 Nge7 

Black's pieces huddle around his King, providing protection. Suddenly, his Rook pawns undo all the work. 

14.Nc3 h6 15.Qf3 a6 

16.Qh5+ Rf7 17.f6 g6 18.Qxh6 Ng8 19.Qh8 Kf8 20.Bh6+ Black resigned

Checkmate is coming.

BSJG Bullet: Too Fast To Figure Out

Sometimes you can meet an expected offbeat opening (e.g. the Jerome Gambit) with another offbeat opening (e.g. the Blackburne Shilling Gambit) and morph into an offbeat line (e.g. the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit) - all of which can be rationally calculated, if the clock allows you.

Alas, for Black, in the following game, that does not happen.

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. According to The Database, angelcamina is 9-0 with this line in bullet chess.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ 

6...g6 

Otherwise, White can checkmate, e.g. 6...Ke7 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc6 9.Qd5 checkmate, angelcamina - umutkaraca09, lichess.org, 2019. 

7.Nxg6 hxg6 

The alternative, 7...Nxc2+, should only lead to an even game, although angelcamina wrestled a win, e.g. 8.Kd1 Nxa1? 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ [10.Qe5#] Kd6 11.d4 [11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qe5#] Kc6 12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.Nc3 c6 14.Qb3+? Kc7? 15.Bf4+ d6 16.Qf7+ Ne7 17.e5 d5 18.e6+ Kb6 19.Na4+ Ka5 20.b3 b5 21.Bd2+ Ka6 22.Nc5+ Kb6 23.Qf4 Ng6 24.Qe3 Nxh8 25.Qc3 Bxc5 26.Qa5+ Kb7 27.Qxd8 Bb6 28.Qe7+ Ka6 29.Qxh7 Bb7 30.e7 Black resigned, angelcamina - eloali, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

Likewise, 7...Nf6 led to trouble, 8.Qe5+ Ne6 9.Nxh8 Bg7 10.Qf5 Bxh8 11.e5 Nd5 12.Qxh7 Bxe5 13.Qg8+ Nf8 14.f4 Nxf4 15.O-O Ne2+ 16.Kh1 Qe7 17.d4 Bxd4 18.Bg5 Ng3+ 19.hxg3 White won on time, angelcamina - Skhokho1507, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

And 7...Qf6 fared no better, e.g. 8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.e5 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Qxf2 11.Qf7+ Kd8 12.Qxf2 Black resigned, angelcamina - felix_paton, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019. 

8.Qxh8 Nf6 

Not 8...Ke7 9.Qxd4 Ke8 10.O-O Be7 11.f4 Nf6 12.e5 Ng4 13.f5 b6 14.Qxg4 gxf5 15.Qg6+ Kf8 16.Rxf5+ Bf6 17.Rxf6+ Ke7 18.Rf7+ Ke8 19.Qg8 checkmate, angelcamina - aldiardiansyah, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019.

Now was the time for 8...Nxc2+, with advantage to Black. In the BSJG it can be hard to tell if the Rook on a1 is poisoned or not.

9.Kd1 d5 10.e5 

This is a slip, and in bullet games with a time control of one minute, no increment, they can be expected. Black now also misses the fact that 10...Ne4 would be crushing.

10...Nd7 11.c3 Nc6 

12.e6 Nf6 13.Re1 Qe7 14.d3 b6 

It would have been okay to grab the pawn with 14...Bxe6, but that would have taken some thinking time, and bullet games are notoriously short of that. Now White closes in.

15.Bg5 Bb7 16.Bxf6 Qd6 17.e7 

Those pesky "Jerome pawns"!

17...Nxe7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Rxe7+ Kxe7 

20.Qe5+ Kd7 21.Kc2 Bd6 22.Qg7+ Kc6 23.Nd2 d4 24.cxd4 Rf8 25.f3 Rf5 26.Ne4 Rd5 27.Nxd6 Rxd6 28.Rc1 Ba6 29.Kd2+ Kb7 30.Qxc7+ White won on time

BSJG: Sacrifice and More Sacrifice

In the "good old days" of chess, it was considered valiant to offer sacrifices, and craven to refuse them. These attitudes produced some very entertaining games - and a plethora of virtual tut tuts from the computers that came after, and supplied skeptical analysis.

The world of "bullet chess" - in this case, a time limit of one minute with no increment - has brought back wild play, and, a person can win the game, even if he loses the annotations. The following game is an enjoyable example.

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit - a practical choice in bullet chess. It is one of those openings that an opponent can be expected to disarm and defeat, if he has enough time; of course there often is not enough time in bullet chess.

4.Bxf7+ 

However, angelcamina has come prepared! This is the infamous Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 

(You are right, Reader: there are no game examples of Joseph Henry Blackburne ever playing 3...Nd4. And, you are right again: there are no game examples of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome playing 4.Bxf7+ as a response. However, the opening calls out for the name, and I have supplied it.)  

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5 

White's "strongest" move is 6.c3, leading to an even game, but angelcamina is planning to sacrifice his way to victory.

 6...Nf6 7.Qf7+ Kxe5 8.f4+ Kxe4 9.Nc3+ Kxf4 

What if Black plays 9...Kf5 instead? It turns out that White has already answered that question (more sacrifice), in angelcamina - rabirabi, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13).

10.d3+ 

Warning: if you follow this line of play in the future, angelcamina will improve with 10.0-0+.

10...Ke5 11.O-O Nxc2 

One last grab of material.

12.Bf4+ Kd4 13.Qc4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Tempo Waste

One way for Black to make the Jerome Gambit "playable" is to give up tempos without gaining much in return. Bit by bit, White gets more compensation for his sacrificed material, until he has the better game.  

angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

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

 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8

Stronger than the superficially attractive 11...Ng4, as in angelcamina - frn000,1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 23) 

12.Nc3 

angelcamina has also played 12.d3, in  angelcamina - Danielpia, 1-0, bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 28) 

12...Kg8 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3 Nf6 

15.f5 Ne7 16.Bg5 Nc6 17.Bh6 

This works, but more solid was 17.Rd1.

17...Nh5

This will not turn out well.

18.Qg4 Qf6 19.Qxh5 gxh6 20.Qxe8+ Qf8 21.Qxf8+ Kxf8 

White is up the exchange and a couple of pawns. He has only to be careful about the clock.

22.Rad1 Nb4 23.Rd2 Nc6 24.a3 Bd7 25.Nd5 Rc8 26.Re1 a5 27.g4 a4 

28.e5 dxe5 29.dxe5 Na5 30.Nf6 Be8 31.Nxh7+ Kg7 32.Nf6 Bf7 33.Rd7 Rf8 34.Nh5+ Kg8 35.e6 White won on time

White's "Jerome pawns" would win the day, in any case. 

Jerome Gambit: When White Equalizes...

Given enough time, and the lack of distractions, some problems can be solved effectively. Facing the Jerome Gambit in a 1-minute bullet game doesn't allow for much time, and the Jerome, itself, can be quite a distraction.

angelcamina - Master1615
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Qe7 9.O-O d6

10.f4 Nc6 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qe2 Rhf8 

An earlier game saw the Rook move to the e-file, i.e. 12...Rhe8 in angelcamina - pippol7, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 30).

13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Qxe5 Kg8 

Black has returned the sacrificed piece for a pawn, and has an even game. He should remember the warning, however: When White equalizes in the Jerome Gambit, he has the advantage.

16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 

Black might have considered 17...Rxf6 18.Rxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxf6 gxf6, when he would have the same pawn weaknesses as in the game, but White would have fewer pieces to attack them. Black's Bishop vs White's Knight would probably keep the game even.  

18.Qg3+ Kh7 19.Rae1 Qc5+ 20.Qe3 Qxe3+ 21.Rxe3

Black follows the same general idea as given in the above note, but, as his time winds down, he now makes an unforced error.

21...Bf5

White now only has to make "safe" moves in order to make progress.

22.Rxf5 Rg8 23.Re7+ Kg6 24.Rf2 Rad8 25.Re6 Rgf8 26.h4 Kh5 27.g3 Kg4 28.Kg2 f5 29.Rf4+ Kh5 30.Re5 Rd6 31.Rexf5+ White won on time. 

White's extra piece and pawn were bound to win, anyhow.