I am used to playing over 1-minute (no increment) Jerome Gambit games by angelcamina. Occasionally I have wondered, what would happen if he had more time to work his magic?
Recently I found out - he sent me a 5-minute game that got weird, fast, and that's saying something for a Jerome Gambit.
For some enlightenment, I did what I usually do: turning to The Database I looked at some of the games with that line that had been played previously. There were only 5, I'm not sure how many of those games had a grip on the line, either.
So, I turned to my trusted Komodo 10 for insight - you can probably guess how that turned out.
Finally, I reviewed my blog, and, although I had peeked at the line, before - see "Boris isn't so hot..." and ''Jerome Gambit Hammer" - there was still more to be said.
Here's how it all came down...
angelcamina - nanangtisna
5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5
Here's a position you don't see very often. What is it all about? What is Black getting at?
It is possible to get a hint by looking at a Bill Wall game that continued 8.fxe5 Qf8, as if Black were offering a counter-gambit followed by a threatened Queen check at f2. Bill wasn't impressed, however, and quickly found a solution after 9.Rf1 Qe7 10.Qg4+ Kxe5 11.Qf5+, Black resigned, facing a mate in 1, Wall,B - Lisandru, Chess.com, 2012. The defender's Queen should have gone to g7 instead of e7, but 10.d4 would have then cemented White's avantage.
8.fxe5 Kxe5
After a long think (26 ply), Komodo 10 passes up this move, as well as 8...d5 and 8...Ne7, and chooses Stockfish 7's suggestion from 4 years ago, 8...Nf6 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.Rf1 Qg6 11.Qe2 Ke7, with White up about a pawn and a half.
But nanangtisna's choice of move is reasonable.
9.Qf7
Setting up a mating net.
Previously, 9.Rf1 was seen in GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26), Wall,B - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 16) and Vlastous - PornobeshKumar , internet, 2016 (1-0, 13).
Also successful was 9.c3 Be7 10.d4+ in Black,D - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 18).
Probably best is Komodo 10's (and Stockfish 7's!) 9.d4+, as 9...Bxd4 10.Bxg5 Nf6 11.Bxf6+ Kxf6 12.Rf1+ Kg7 13.Rf7+ Kg8 14.Rf3 Bf6 15.Nc3 Kg7 remains, as I noted
a line worth looking at in detail as an example of building an attack.
9...d5
Often this strike at the center, opening up lines for development, serves Black well in the Jerome Gambit. Here, though, 9...Nf6 might have been better, although White could meet it with 10.d4+, with play similar to that in Vlastous - PornobeshKumar, Internet, 2016.
It is worth pointing out, again, that this is a 5-minute blitz game, and it is always easier to come up with improvements after the fact.
10.Qg7+
Out of the blue, Komodo 10 prefers 10.b4. It takes a moment to realize that it has not just found a way for White to castle - 10...Bxb4 11.0-0 - as it further recommends that Black answer with 10...Nf6, giving up a piece to 11.bxc5. No, the b-pawn advances to allow White to subsequently fianchetto his dark squared Bishop.
The idea 10.b4 Bd4 11.c3 Bb6 12.d4 reminds me of a suggestion that Stefan Bücker made to me in a similar line, back in 2004, when I still hoped to have my Jerome Gambit article published in his fantastic chess magazine, Kaissiber. See, fittingly, "Delusions of Grandeur".
[to be continued]
Sometimes defenders will believe that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is such a dubious opening that just about any defense will be good enough to defeat it. When that happens, the attacker should double his efforts to finish the game off quickly.
The following Internet game is from chessfriend Vlasta Fejfar of the Czech Republic. He makes fast work of his opponent.
Vlastous - PornobeshKumar
Internet, 2016
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5
Quite an odd move. I was surprised to find several examples in The Database, including two games where it was played by the "Boris" computer personality at Sparkchess.com.
8.fxe5 Kxe5
Stockfish 7 suggests 8...Nf6 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.Rf1 Qg6 11.Qe2 Ke7 12.Nc3 Kd8 when White is better.
Wall, B - Lisandru, Chess.com, 2012, continued 8...Qf8 9.Rf1 Qe7 10.Qg4+ Kxe5 11.Qf5+ Black resigned
9.Rf1
White played 9.c3 and then 10.d4+ successfully in Black,D - Boris, Sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 18).
Stockfish 7 argues that White can hit the center immediately: 9.d4+ Bxd4 10.Bxg5 Nf6 11.Bxf6+ Kxf6 and Black's Bishop, Queen, and King remain in danger, e.g. 12.Rf1+ Kg7 13.Rf7+ Kg8 14.Rf3 Bf6 15.Nc3 Kg7 16.Nd5 Rf8 17.Rh3 Rf7 18.e5 - a line worth looking at in detail as an example of building an attack.
9...d5
Or 9...Be7 10.d4+ Kxd4 11.Be3+ Kxe3 12.Qf3+ Kd4 13.Qc3+ Kxe4 14.Qd3+ Ke5 15.Rf5+ Ke6 16.Qd5 checkmate, Wall,B - Boris, Chess.com, 2012.
10.d4+ Bxd4 11.Bxg5 Qd7
Black was doomed after 11...Kd6 12.Bxd8 in GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26).
12.Bh4+ Kd6 13. Qxd5 checkmate
Bill Wall sent me a collection of his games played in 2010, and I was especially interested in those with Jerome Gambit and Jerome-ish openings. The following contest has a certain level of strangeness...
Wall,B - GuestDLNJ,
FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 a6
I'm sure that this kind of thing shows up in "respectable" games, but it seems a bit provocative against a member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0
Sang-froide.
5...h6
Black does not want a Knight to check from g5. (Perhaps he is not yet ready to play ...Bc5 yet, either.) These "safety moves" have a certain amount of danger in them.
6.Nc3 Nd4
Another diagram is indicated.
This looks for all the world like a delayed Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit that Black has prepared for with ...a6 and ...h6 and that White has prepared for with 0-0 and Nc3.
Doesn't seem fair, does it?
7.Nxe5+ Ke8
And that is that.
Black's only chance to prolong the game was with 7...Kf6, which is not the most frequently chosen (but certainly playable) move in the "normal" Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. White follows this with 8.Qh5 and Black's defense is very difficult.
For example, 8...Ne7 looks reasonable, but it does not prevent the intended 9.Nd5+ since after 9...Nxd5 (instead 9...Ke6 10.Nf7 and the Queen goes) 10.exd5 and Black's Knight at d4 is a goner (even 10...Nxc2 is a horror, as it leads to a delicious problem-mate: 11.Re1 Nxe1 12.d4 Qe8 13.Qxe8 Nf3+ 14.gxf3 d6 15.Qf7#).
Maddeningly, the alternate 8...c6 is met by the placid 9.d3 – what can Black do? Look at the mesmerizing line as White's d-pawn advances like an unstoppable zombie: 9...Ne6 10.d4 g6 11.Qxg6+ Ke7 12.d5. Instead, 9...g5 10.f4 opens deadly lines to the King.
None of this is any longer a worry for GuestDLNJ.
8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Qd5 checkmate
