An Ultra Modern Jerome Gambit

I have referred to variations of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that don't include (after 4...Kxf7) the move 5.Nxe5+ as "modern" variations, as examples are recent, not from the time or play of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome.

The following game provides an example of what must be considered an ultra Modern variation.

metalwarrior1969 - DREWBEAR
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.a3

One basic tenet of the Modern Jerome Gambit lines is that White has sacrificed enough material with 5.Bxf7, and he shouldn't show any more generosity. He should non-committally construct a safe and solid position, and hope that his ability to out-play Black and take advantage of Black's displaced King will eventually be enough compensation.

5...Nf6 6.h3 TN

Don't smirk: psychology is as much a part of Jerome Gambit play as anything.

6...Nxe4 7.0-0 Nd4 8.Nxe5+ Kg8 9.c3 Nf5 10.d4 Bd6

Now White has the simple 11.Qb3+ Kf8 12.Qf7 checkmate.

Unfortunately, he overlooked this line and lost in 26 moves.

It has been said that an opening novelty will lose the first and last time it is played – but that in the interim it may well capture a whole lot of points. Will we see the Ultra Modern Jerome Gambit again? Only time will tell.

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics

It is not likely that Richard Teichmann, who opined that chess was "99% tactics" ever played the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but what he said was especially true about such a dodgy opening: by and large the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three examples from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

Luke Warm - DREWBEAR 63
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Both players have attacks against their enemy King - enough so to keep the game even. Straying from this theme becomes instantly deadly.

22.Rh4 Qxf3 23.Qd2 Ref7 24.a3 Qxd5 25.Qh2 Rf1+ White resigned

Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

This game has been a hammer and tongs affair so far, but seems to have resulted in a balanced, Bishops-of-Opposite-Colors endgame, with a draw in sight. It will take some care, as each side still has a Rook, but the point should soon be split.

34.Be5 g6 35.Rh2+ Black resigned, as he will lose a Rook after 35...Kg8 36.Rh8+





stampyshortlegs - calchess10
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
Here is a messy, if balanced, game. Maybe White should consider 26.Qe2, and after 26...Nxe4 he can get a draw with 27.Qa6+ Kd7 28.Qb5+ etc?


26.Qe2 Nfd7 27.Qa6+ Kb8 28.Ba7+ Ka8 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qxc7 checkmate

Exploring

The regular Jerome Gambiteer has an interesting dilemma: play the "book" lines of the gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), all of which lead to established "refutations", hoping that his opponents will fall apart along the way; or go exploring in the side-lines of the opening – which, supposedly if they were any good, would be the main lines, after all, wouldn't they...?

DREWBEAR 63 - Haroldlee123

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.c3

A relatively new idea, first played in 2006 as far as I can tell. White looks to support a d2-d4 thrust.

8...Bb6

DREWBEAR 63 has experience on both sides of these lines, especially in the current tournament: 8...Qf6 9.d4 ( 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.d4 Nxe4 11.dxc5+ Nxc5 12.0-0 Ned3 13.Nd2 Ne5 14.f4 Ned3 15.Nc4+ Kc6 16.Ne5+ Nxe5 17.fxe5 Nd3 18.Rf7 Nxe5 19.Rxg7 Nd3 20.b4 Nxc1 21.Rxc1 d6 22.a4 b5 23.axb5+ Kxb5 24.Rxc7 Ba6 25.Rd7 Kc6 26.Rf7 Kb6 27.Rb1 Raf8 28.Rxf8 Rxf8 29.Rc1 Bc4 30.h3 Rg8 31.Kh2 Bd5 32.Rc2 Be4 33.Re2 d5 34.c4 Rxg2+ 35.Rxg2 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 dxc4 37.Kf2 Kb5 White resigned, mediax - drewbear, JG4 thematic Chessworld, 2008) 9...Nd3+ 10.Kd2 Qxf5 11.exf5 Nxc1 ( 11...Nxf2 12.dxc5+ Kxc5 13.Re1 Ng4 14.h3 N4f6 15.b4+ Kc6 16.c4 b6 17.Na3 Nh6 18.g4 Nf7 19.Re7 Rf8 20.Bb2 Ne8 21.Rae1 Nfd6 22.Bxg7 Rg8 23.f6 Bb7 24.b5+ Kc5 25.R7e5+ Kb4 26.Nc2+ Ka5 27.Kc3 Nxg7 28.fxg7 Bg2 29.Rb1 c6 30.Rb3 Ka4 31.Ra3 checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - GladtoMateYou, JGTourney4 Chessworld 2009) 12.dxc5+ Kxc5 13.Rxc1 d6 14.b4+ Kc6 15.Na3 Bxf5 16.b5+ Kc5 17.f3 Nf6 18.g4 Bd7 19.c4 a6 20.Rab1 axb5 21.cxb5+ Kd5 22.Rxc7 Bc8 23.Rxg7 Nd7 24.Re1 Rxa3 25.Ree7 Rxa2+ 26.Kc1 Rd8 27.Rg5+ Kc4 28.Kb1 Rxh2 29.Re4+ Kb3 30.Kc1 Nc5 31.Re3+ Kb4 32.b6 Rh8 33.Rf5 Bxf5 White resigned, DREWBEAR 63 - metalwarrior1969,JGTourney4 Chessworld 2009;

And 8...g6 9.Qf4 Nf6 10.d4 Ke6 11.Qxe5+ Kf7 12.Qxc5 d6 13.Qc4+ d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.0-0 Re8 16.Na3 Be6 17.Qd3 Bf5 18.Qf3 Kg7 19.Nc4 c6 20.g4 Be4 21.Qh3 g5 22.Qh5 h6 23.Ne5 Nf6 24.Qf7+ Kh8 25.Ng6+ Bxg6 26.Qxg6 Ng8 27.h4 Re7 28.hxg5 Rg7 29.Qh5 Qd6 30.gxh6 Rh7 31.g5 Qd5 32.Qe2 Ne7 33.Qe5+ Qxe5 34.dxe5 Rg8 35.f4 Nf5 36.b4 Rg6 37.Bb2 Ne3 38.Rf2 Kg8 39.Rd2 Nc4 40.Rd8+ Kf7 41.Rd7+ Kg8 42.Rxh7 Kxh7 43.Bc1 b6 44.f5 Rg8 45.g6+ Kh8 46.Bg5 Re8 47.Bf6+ Kg8 48.h7+ Kf8 49.h8Q checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - gwyn1, JGTourney4 Chessworld 2009;

Or 8...Nh6 9.Qf4 Rf8 10.Qxe5+ Kxe5 11.d4+ Bxd4 12.cxd4+ Kxe4 13.Nc3+ Kxd4 14.Be3+ Ke5 15.0-0 Nf5 16.Rfe1 Kf6 17.Nd5+ Kf7 18.Rad1 d6 19.Nf4 Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Qf6 21.Nd5 Qd8 22.Re7+ Kg8 23.Rxc7 Qh4 24.g3 Qe4 25.Ne7+ Kh8 26.Rxd6 Bh3 White resigned, mediax - eddie43, Chessworld 2008

9.d4 Nd3+

An interesting and novel way to return one of the extra pieces.

10.Kd2 Qf6

10...Nxc1 would preserve the material status quo and would be a good choice – if it didn't lead to a mate-in-two.

11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Kxd3 h6 13.f4

You have to wonder, if Wilhelm Steinitz ("the Austrian Morphy") ever played the Jerome Gambit (giving "Jerome Gambit odds," of course, to a much weaker player) if he might one day have reached this kind of position. The King is a strong piece!

13...Qd6

The position has gotten strange enough that Haroldlee123 would prefer an exchange of Queens. DREWBEAR 63, on the other hand, would prefer not.

14.Qh5 g6 15.Qh4+ Qf6 16.Qf2 c5

Hitting the center at its apparently weakest point, although 16...d5 was probably better. Now White can get an interesting and relatively equal game with 17.dxc5, but he wants to hold onto his pawn center. It turns out that this goal is unreachable, however.

17.e5 Qf5+ 18.Ke2 cxd4 19.cxd4 Qe4+ 20.Kf1

Or 20.Be3 Bxd4 21.Nc3 Qc2+ 22.Kf3 Qxf2+ 23.Kxf2 Bxc3 24.bxc3 h5 when White has one pawn for his piece, and Black's positional cramp and delay in development are not adequate compensation.

20...Qd3+ 21.Kg1

White played this move – and then resigned. He can lose his Queen to 21...Bxd4, or his King to 21...Qd1+ 22.Qf1 Bxg4+ 23.Be3 Bxe3 checkmate

Aarrgghhhh!

With over two-thirds (144 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, White has scored 34%.

It looks like a change in leadership is immenent.

DREWBEAR 63 is the leader, with 16 points out of 26 games completed, but he is followed closely by the surging Piratepaul (15 points out of 18 games completed) and Sir Osis of the Liver (15 points out of 24 games completed).

Fourth place is held by eddie43 (12.5 points out of 24 games), followed closely by GladtoMateU (12 points out of 22 games,) blackburne (11.5 points out of 22 games) and Black Puma (11 points out of 25 games).

Those players with with the best winning percentages are stampyshortlegs (a blistering 9 points out of 10 games) and Piratepaul.

Battle Fatigue (3)

Slam-bang chess battles can be exhausting, especially when they involve off-beat openings like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Picking a good move, time after time, builds pressure, and sometimes the result is picking a not-so-good move, simply out of battle fatigue. See "Battle Fatigue (1)" and "Battle Fatigue (2)".

Here is another example. White had his Jerome Gambit mojo working in this game, from the Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, and reached a very strong position – only to have the lights go out in his game.

DREWBEAR 63 - Luke Warm
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6

8.Qc4+ Be6 9.Qd3 Nf6 10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

11...Nd7 12.f5 Nge5 13.fxe6+ Ke7 14.Qh3 Rxf1+ 15.Kxf1 Qf8+ 16.Kg1 Nc5 17.d4 Nxe4

White, with some help (oh, those Knights!) has the better game, despite his lack of development.

18.Qh4+ Qf6 19.Qxe4 Rf8 20.Qe1 Ng4

21.h4

Guarding against the back-rank mate, but ushering in trouble. Taking time out from the rough-and-tumb.e for the simple 21.c3 was essential.

21...Qxd4+ 22.Kh1 Nf2+ 23.Kh2 Qxh4+ 24.Kg1 Qh1 checkmate

It's getting interesting...

With over half (112 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, White has so far scored a gloomy 33%, lagging behind other Jerome Gambit Tournaments.

DREWBEAR 63 remains the leader, with 16 points out of 26 games completed. He is still followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (12 points out of 17 games completed) and blackburne (10.5 points out of 20 games completed).

eddie43 (9.5 points out of 19 games) and Black Puma (9.5 points out of 20 games) have been surging lately, putting them ahead of Piratepaul (9 points out of 12 games completed) – but not by much.

Players to watch in the long run are those with the best winning percentages: stampyshortlegs (6 points out of 7 games), Piratepaul and TWO DOGS (5 points out of 7 games).

Not to be counted out are players like Haroldlee123 (5.5 points out of 10 games) and metalwarrior1969 (6 points out of 10 games) – and even Crusader Rabbit (1 point out of 5 games) – because they have so many more games to complete, and possibly win.

The Fog of War (Part 1)

It's a strange thing, but playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can have unusual effects upon those who play it or who play against it. The following game is as good an example as any...


DREWBEAR 63 - Crusader Rabbit
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

A solid defense as old as 1874, when Alonzo Wheeler Jerome suggested it.

7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ An unusual, likely premature, return of material, as in perrypawnpusher - Lindal, FICS 2007.

8.Ke2

Surprising. Perhaps he did not want to play the pawn-up Queenless-middlegame after 8.Kxf2 Qf6+.

8...Qf6

Equally surprising, considering that the Bishop, having done its damage, could retire with 8...Bb6.

9.Qxc7

There was not a lot of excitment in 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Kxf2 Nxe4+, but it was probably best.

9...Qa6+ 10.d3

10...Bb6

Finally.

11.Rf1+ Nf6 12.Qf4

That's okay: White hopes to win the Knight, anyhow.

12...Bd4 13.c3 Be5

Aha! It is the Bishop, after all!

14.Qxe5 Qe6 15.Qc5+

See what I mean about the impact of the Jerome Gambit. Mind you, each player had several days to consider each move. More helpful would have been 15.Qxe6 dxe6 16.e5, when White has nabbed both the Bishop and Knight.

15...d6 16.Qc7 Bd7 17.h3 Ke7 18.Bg5 Rhf8

19.Nd2 Kf7 20.Nc4 Kg8

21.Nxd6 Nxe4

Oversight or miscalculation? Black's game begins to shudder.

22.dxe4 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Rf8 24.Rxf8+ Kxf8 25.Qd8+ Be8 26.Nxe8 Qxe8 27.Be7+ Kf7 28.Qxe8+ Kxe8

The exchanges have left White with a won endgame.

29.Ba3 a6 30.b4 Kd7 31.c4 Ke6 32.Kd3 g6 33.Bc1 Kf7 34.a4 Ke6 35.Kd4 b6 36.c5 b5 37.axb5 axb5 38.e5 h5 39.Bh6 Kd7 40.Kd5 Kc7 41.e6 Kd8 42.Kc6 Ke7 43.Kxb5 Black resigned

The Modern Jerome Gambit

I have been using the games of the current Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) thematic tournament at Chessworld to gain a better understanding of the "modern" (non-5.Nxe5) variations, especially since they make up about 80% of the games there.

Here is a sampling of recent trials.

eddie43 - DREWBEAR 63 JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d3 h6 7.h3 d6 8.a3 Be6 9.Bd2 g5 10.Nh2 Rg8 11.g4 Qf8 12.Na4 b5 13.Nxc5 dxc5 14.Nf3 c4 15.Qe2 cxd3 16.Qxd3 Bc4 17.Qc3 Nxe4 18.Qe3 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 e4 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.b3 Bd5 22.Qe3 Nf3+ 23.Ke2 Nxd4+ 24.Qxd4 c6 25.b4 Kg6 26.Kd1 Qf3+ 27.Kd2 Rad8 28.Qxa7 Bc4+ 29.Kc1 Qxh1+ 30.Kb2 Qf3 31.Rc1 Ra8 0-1 gwyn1 - blackburne JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 d6 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Rf8 8.b4 Bb6 9.Qb3+ Be6 10.c4 Kg8 11.0-0 h6 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 Qd7 14.h3 Bxh3 15.Nh2 [15.gxh3 Qxh3 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.Qe2 Nxe3 terrible pins 18.Qxe3 Nd4 19.Nbd2 Rf6] 15...Be6 16.Nd2 Ng4 17.Ndf3 Nxe3 18.Rfe1 Ng4 19.Nxg4 Bxg4 20.Nd2 Nd4 21.Qc3 Be2 [21...Qf7] 22.Rf1 Bxf1 23.Rxf1 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Nxc3 25.Nf3 Qg4 26.Nh2 Rxf1+ 27.Nxf1 Rf8 28.Ne3 Qh4+ 29.Kg1 Ne2 checkmate

Black Puma - blackburne JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Nf6 6.0-0 Rf8 7.c3 Kg8 8.a4 a6 9.b4 Ba7 10.Bg5 d6 11.Nbd2 Bg4 12.Qb3+ Kh8 13.h3 Bh5 14.a5 Qd7 15.Bh4 Rf7 16.Ng5 Re7 17.Ngf3 Rf8 18.c4 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 Nd4 20.Nxd4 Bxd4 21.Ra2 Ref7 22.Kh1 Nh5 23.Qd1 Nf4 24.Bg3 Nxh3 0-1 calchess10 - gwyn1 JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.h3 Nge7 6.a3 h6 7.Nc3 a6 8.b4 Bb6 9.d3 d6 10.Ne2 Ke8 11.c3 Be6 12.0-0 Kd7 13.a4 a5 14.b5 Na7 15.Nh4 g6 16.d4 g5 17.Nf3 Ng6 18.dxe5 g4 19.hxg4 Bxg4 20.Nh2 Nxe5 21.Nxg4 Nxg4 22.Ng3 Bxf2+ 23.Rxf2 Nxf2 24.Kxf2 Rf8+ 25.Nf5 Qh4+ 26.g3 Qf6 27.Bf4 Rae8 28.c4 Rxe4 29.c5 Qxf5 30.Kg2 Rg8 31.cxd6 Qxf4 32.dxc7+ Kc8 33.b6 Rxg3+ 34.Kh2 Qh4 checkmate

Go for Broke

When playing a go-for-broke opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), it can be difficult sometimes to decide whether to play a solid, if calm, move, or continue to play wild, attacking shots. In the following game, DREWBEAR 63 takes time to play a "normal" couple of moves – and gets overtaken by eddie43.


DREWBEAR 63 - eddie43
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3

More frequently seen is 8.f4, which has its own problems, starting with 8...Qh4+.

8...c6 9.0-0

A dynamic alternative was shown by Jerome Gambit Gemeinde honorary member Geoff Chandler: 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Qf6 12.0-0-0+ Kc7 13.Qh3 d5 14.Qg3 dxe4 15.Rhf1 Qe7 16.Rf7 Qxf7 17.Qxe5+ Kb6 18.Na4+ Ka6 19.Nc5+ Kb6 20.Na4+ Ka6 21.Nc5+ Kb6 22.Na4+ Ka6 drawn, greenpawn34 - Homedepotov, redhotpawn, 2008

9...Qf6

Coming to the rescue.

10.Qh3 Kc7 11.Qg3 d6 With a safe King, Black's two extra pieces are looking large.

12.Na4 Bb4 13.c3 Ba5 14.d4 Nd7 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Qe6 17.Qxg7 Qxe5

18.Bf4

With 18.Qxe5 Nxe5 19.Bf4 White could have reclaimed one of the missing pieces, and found himself back in familiar two-pawns-for-a-piece Jerome Gambit territory. The text wins the exchange, but allows Black to develop his remaining pieces.

Further resistance becomes more difficult.

18...Qxf4 19.Qxh8 Ndf6 20.Qg7+ Bd7 21.Rad1 Qxa4 22.Rd4 Qxa2 23.Rfd1 Rd8 24.g4 h6 25.f4 Bb6 White resigned.