Jerome Gambit: Creativity Abounds

It is fun to see the creativity that attackers bring to the already unusual Jerome Gambit.

Overlooked sometimes is the creativity that defenders provide, as well. There is risk involved, for sure, but imagination can sometimes bring success as well as danger.

Wall, Bill - Guest700210
PlayChess.com, 2017

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's original choice in his gambit, although he later preferred 6.Qh5+. I think the Queen move is more forceful, but also moves Black into lines that are playable, if uncomfortable. The center pawn thrust provides less guidance to the defender.

6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Nf3+

A very interesting way of returning the second sacrificed piece, breaking up the pawns on White's Kingside in the process. That said, it was probably not necessary to be so clever; 7...d6 was a strong alternative.

There is only one other example in The Database - a computer vs computer game.

8.gxf3 Nf6

Also: 8...Qf6 9.Qc4+ Ke7 10.Qc5+ Ke8 11.Nd2 Qd6 12.Qxd6 cxd6 13.Rg1 g6 14.b3 Nh6 15.Nc4 Nf7 16.Bb2 Rf8 17.O-O-O b5 18.Na3 b4 19.Nb5 Ba6 20.Nc7+ Ke7 21.Nxa6 Ne5 22.Nxb4 Nxf3 23.Rg2 Nh4 24.Rg4 Nf3 25.Bg7 Rfb8 26.Nd5+ Kf7 27.Bd4 Nxh2 28.Rh4 Nf3 29.Rf4+ Kg8 30.Ne7 checkmate, Delphi - WeakDelphi, Sherbrooke, 2008.

9.Nc3 Kf8 10.Bg5 Qe7

Black is in no hurry to develop his pieces, and apparently sees his King as safe. No need to create weakenesses by moving pawns!

This strategy is not going to work against a skilled Jerome Gambiteer like Bill Wall.

11.Nd5

Hitting the Queen at e7 as well as the pinned Knight at f6. If you are familiar with the Jerome Gambit you likely could find this thematic move in your sleep.

11...Qd6 12.Bf4 c5

Striking out, but overlooking that White will capture with check.

13.Bxd6+ Black resigned

Got A Match?

It was not long after I began looking into the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that I noticed one chess match kept turning up in the databases: in 1993, between the human Micah Fischer-Kirshner and the chess-playing program KnightStalker, an early version of Fritz. As luck would have it, I was able to interview Micah about his experience for this blog.

The Jerome Gambit seemed a natural for matches, especially ones involving computers. Jeroen_61 of the Netherlands ran one with Hiarcs, Junior 7, Shredder Paderdorn (6.02) and Fritz 7.

I tried a few myself, notably a Fritz8 vs Fritz5 encounter and a Delphi vs Wealk Delphi contest. Each attempt had its shortcomings. (Perhaps you read about them here.)

The mysterious "perfesser" played an introductory 4-game match with the Talking LCD Chess Gadget. Like the Jerome Gambit itself, it was good for some chuckles.

Topping all efforts so far, "RevvedUp" and his trusted companions Hiarcs 8, Shredder 8, Yace Paderborn, Crafty 19.19 and Fritz 8 explored the Jerome Gambit in a 30-game encounter. It was simply war.

And then there is that as yet untold tale of two expert-to-master-level American players who played a Jerome Gambit match 5 years ago, but the games remain hidden from public view, pending the players' release of a monograph on the opening...

Perhaps that will show up on this blog one of these days.






























http://jeromegambit.blogspot.com/2008/11/jerome-gambit-and-perfesser-part-i.html


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