I borrowed part of the title of this blog post from Tim Burton's animated film, but it seemed to be about right in describing the following game. Those who play the Jerome Gambit need to constantly remind themselves that it is, technically, a refuted opening, and that there are a number of winning defenses that Black can play. True, there are many circumstances which lead to the defender not making use of his advantages, and White wins - sometimes quite impressively. Learning to take advantage of any slip or error is critical. However, sometimes there are games like the following. SeinfeldFan91 won the RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament by succeeding in all of his games - and that means wins with Black, as well as wins with White. kristjan - SeinfeldFan91 Jerome Gambit Tournament, RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 At first Alonzo Wheeler Jerome favored this move over 6.Qh5+, and it has much going for it - including winning back one of White's two sacrificed pieces. A quick look at The Database (which is a good measure of club player success, not necessarily "theoretical" or computer success) shows 1,499 games with 6.d4, with White scoring 52%. This can be compared with 3,793 games with 6.Qh5+, with White scoring 55%. 6...Qh4
This is the strongest theoretical response to 6.d4, and it appears in 230 games in The Database. However, as a measure of how chaotic the game becomes in this double-edged variation - White scores 67%! This is another indication that familiarity and understanding of the Jerome Gambit is very important: Play what you know, and know what you play.
7.dxc5 Here the Database statistics line up with the recommendations of the computers. The text move appears in 67 games with White scoring 28% - not bad when considering that the line is "lost" for the attacker, but not best. There are 154 Database games with the also "lost" (but better) move 7.0-0, and White scores 87% - it is always good to understand your practical chances in a wild line!
7...Qxe4+ 8.Kf1 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qb4
Some alternatives: 9...Qh4 10.Be3 b6 11.Ne2 bxc5 12.Ng3 d6 13.c3 Ba6+ 14.Kg1 Rhe8 15.Qb3+ c4 16.Qd1 g6 17.Kf1 Neg4 18.Bd4 Nxh2+ 19.Kg1 Nfg4 20.Qd2 Bb7 21.Qf4+ Kg8 22.Rxh2 Qxh2+ White resigned, HauntedKnight - blocbloc, FICS, 2016; 9...Qc4+ 10.Kg1 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qe7 12.g3 d6 13.Kg2 Bg4 14.Qd2 Bf3+ 15.Kg1 Bc6 16.f4 Nf3+ White resigned, HauntedKnight - truuf, FICS, 2014; and 9...Qc6 10.Bg5 Re8 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nd5 Qf5 13.Nxc7 Ng4 14.Qd5+ Qxd5 15.Nxd5 Re5 16.c4 b6 17.cxb6 Ba6 18.b3 axb6 19.Nxb6 d5 20.Nxa8 dxc4 21.Nc7 Rf5 22.Nxa6 Nxf2 23.Kg1 c3 24.Rc1 Ne4 25.Nb4 Rf2 26.Rxc3 Rb2 27.Rf3+ Ke6 28.h3 g5 29.Kh2 h5 30.Re1 Ke5 31.Nd3+ Black resigned, PasChat - plamb, FICS, 2014 10.g3 At this point something like 10.Be3 to focuse on development was probably better. Still, the situation is grim. 10...d5 11.Kg2 Bg4 12.Qe1Rhe8 White resigned
Playing on a piece down, with the loss of more material imminent, was not appealing.
It feels somewhat strange to urge caution in a chess opening that is known to be refuted - if the "best" lines still lose, what can be said of the "lesser lines"? Much seems to turn on "psychology", where the "best" move might be the most obscure or unclear or unsettling move - regardless of its "objective" worth - one that gives the opponent the greatest chance to go wrong. So many times, the opponent takes that chance. It is worth examining the play of HauntedKnight's games (as we have done before; see "Familiar Territory"), below, for ideas on how to pursue the attack. HauntedKnight - blocbloc FICS, 2016 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
This move was, at first, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's favorite response, although he later turned to 6.Qh5+. 6...Qh4 This is Black's sharpest response. 7.dxc5 HauntedKnight has over 400 games in The Database, and he has scored 50%+ in them, so it feels a bit presumptious to suggest that he play the "better" move, 7.0-0, like he did previously: 7.O-O Ng4 8.h3 Bb6 9.hxg4 Nf6 10.g5 Ng4 11.Qf3+ Kg8 12.Qh3 Qxh3 13.gxh3 Bxd4 14.hxg4 d6 15.c3 Bb6 16.Kg2 Bxg4 17.f3 Bh5 18.Nd2 h6 19.Nc4 Bf7 20.Nxb6 axb6 21.gxh6 gxh6 22.Kf2 Kh7 23.Rh1 h5 24.Be3 Rhg8 25.b3 Rg7 26.Ke2 Rg2+ 27.Kd3 Raxa2 28.Rab1 Rh2 29.Rhg1 h4 30.Rg4 h3 31.Rh4+ Kg8 32.Bd4 Kf8 33.Rh8+ Ke7 34.Rh7 c5 35.Bh8 Ke8 36.Bf6 Rhd2+ 37.Ke3 h2 38.Rh1 Rg2 39.b4 cxb4 40.cxb4 Rae2+ 41.Kf4 d5 42.Rh8+ Kd7 43.exd5 Bxd5 44.Rh7+ Kc6 45.Bd4 Rd2 46.Rh6+ Kb5 47.Rxb6+ Kc4 48.Bc5 Rg1 49.Rxh2 Rxh2 50.Rxb7 Rh4+ 51.Ke5 Rh5+ 52.Kd6 Rg6+ 53.Kc7 Rh7+ 54.Kb8 Rxb7+ 55.Kc8 Rg8+ 56.Bf8 Rxf8 checkmate, HauntedKnight - scarlattibach, FICS, 2012. 7...Qxe4+ 8.Kf1
This is an odd idea, instead of continuing the attack with 18...Bb7. Perhaps Black miscalculated something. This is the kind of opportunity many Jerome Gambit players expect and enjoy. 19.Kg1 Nfg4 20.Qd2 White should have continued to recover the piece with 20.Nf1 Qg5 21.Nxh2 Nxh2 22.Rxh2 20...Bb7 21.Qf4+ Still available was 21.Nf1. 21...Kg8 22.Rxh2 A final oversight. 22...Qxh2+ White resigned
