I checked - fehim's games in The Database go back to 2005. Over time, he has learned a few things about how to play the Jerome Gambit. The following game shows White's attack following Black's King across the board. fehim - Tomalak 3 0 blitz, FICS, 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 Be6
This position can be found in 23 games in The Database, with White scoring 78%. Black's move is not bad, but it certainly encourages f2-f4, with the threat of f4-f5, which had to have been encouraging to the first player. 10.O-O N8e7 11.f4 This is an improvement over fehim's previous game with the line: 11.d4 Kd7 12.f4 Bc4 13.Re1 Kc8 14.b3 Ba6 15.a4 Rf8 16.f5 Nh8 17.b4 b6 18.a5 Bb7 19.c4 Nf7 20.Bb2 Re8 21.Nc3 Nxf5 22.Qh3 g6 23.exf5 gxf5 24.Qxf5+ Qd7 25.Rxe8+ Nd8 26.Qxd7+ Kxd7 27.Rg8 Ne6 28.Rxa8 Bxa8 29.d5 Nd4 30.Ne4 c6 31.Bxd4Black resigned, fehim - ReyanshiKhatrim, FICS, 2018. 11...Bf7 12.d4 Kd7
Black's attempt to castle-by-hand on the Queenside is an unorthodox response to White's growing pawn center. 13.f5 Nf8 14.Qh3 Kc6
Black's King is uneasy about the possibility of a discovered check from f4-f5, but this move is risky. Better was to skulk back to the center with 14...Ke8. 15.Nc3 This is a reasonable move, although 15.d5+ would have been sharper. Komodo 10 opines that Black would have to return a piece, then, with 15...Bxd5, when White would clearly be better. The game now drifts toward equality. 15...b6 16.Qf3Kb7 17.e5+ c6
18.e6 Be8 19.Be3 Rc8
Black's move gives White ideas. Better was the consistent 19...d5. 20.a4 Kb8 21.a5 c5 This allows some opening of lines. Instead, hoping to clog things up with 21...b5 was a better choice. 22. axb6 Qxb6 23.dxc5 dxc524.b4
Besides being used to annotate Jerome Gambit games of interest, computer programs have served as proponents or opponents in Jerome and Jerome-related games. The program below, GriffyJr, has visited this blog on several occasions - for starters, check out "Bots on Our Side" Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 as well as "Ionman vs the Bots". In today's game we examine the most recent example of a computer - generated move. There is still a lot of game to play afterward, however. Petasluk - GriffyJr 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4
Bd4
An interesting and somewhat unusual idea. The earliest example of it in The Database was played in 2002 by the computer program BigBook at the online site FICS. 8.Qf5+ Instead, 8.c3 was seen in the oldest and most recent games with the line in The Database: 8...Nd3+ 9.Kd1 (9.Kf1 Nxc1 10.cxd4 a6 11.Qe5+ Kf7 12.Nc3 Nd3 13.Qf5+ Qf6 14.Qxf6+ Nxf6 15.e5 Ne8 16.f5 Nxb2 17.Rb1 Nd3 18.g3
a5 19.a3 b6 20.Ke2 Ba6 21.Ke3 Bc4 22.Nb5 a4 23.Rhc1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Bxb5 25.h4 c6 26.g4 d6 27.g5 dxe5 28.dxe5 c5 29.d4 cxd4+ 30.Kxd4 Be2 31.e6+ Ke7
32.Rc6 b5 33.Rb6 Nd6 34.Rc6 Nxf5+ 35.Ke5 Nxh4 36.Rc7+ Kf8 37.e7+ Ke8 38.Ke6 Ng6 39.Rc2 Bf1 40.Rf2 Bd3 White forfeited on time, megagurka - BigBook, FICS, 2002) 9...Nf2+ 10.Ke2 Nf6 11.Qf5+ Kf7 12.cxd4 Nxh1 13.d3 d5 14.e5 Bxf5 White resigned, Petasluk - GriffyJr, FICS, 2017. And there was also another computer-with-black game: 8.f5+ Kd6 9.d3
g6 10.Qe2 gxf5 11.c3 Qh4+ 12.g3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Qg4 14.d4 Nf3+ 15.Kf1 Qh3+
16.Kf2 Nxh2 17.Bf4+ Ke7 18.exf5+ Kf8 19.Nd2 Nh6 20.Bxh6+ Qxh6 21.Kg2 Qg5
22.Rxh2 Qxf5 23.Rf1 d5 24.Rxf5+ Bxf5 25.Qe5 Kf7 26.Rh5 Bd7 27.Qxd5+ Kg6
28.Ne4 Rae8 29.Qg5+ Kf7 30.Qf6+ Kg8 31.Rg5 checkmate, Moller,M - Mephisto, Denmark 2008. Interestingly, Stockfish 8 suggests 8.fxe5 g6 9.Qg4+ Kf7 10.Qf4+ Kg7 11.c3 Bb6 12.a4 a5 13.d4 d6 14.O-O Qe7 15.exd6 cxd6 16.Na3 Be6 17.Kh1 h6 18.d5 Bd7 19.Nc4 Bc5 20.e5 Rf8 21.Qxf8+ Qxf8 22.Rxf8 Kxf8 23.Bf4 Ne7 with an even game because White's pawns are balancing out Black's extra piece. 8...Kd6 9.fxe5+ A clear improvement over 9.c3 Nd3+
10.Ke2 Ne7 11.e5+ Nxe5 12.fxe5+ Bxe5 13.Qd3+ Ke6 14.Qc4+ d5 15.Qg4+ Kd6
16.d4 Bxg4+ White resigned, fehim - blik, FICS, 2006. (Yes, blik is a computer.) 9...Bxe5
If it can't see a reason not to, a computer will grab material. Here GriffyJr shows some nearsightedness. 10.d4 Yes. Interestingly, two earlier several-days-per move games (all players human) missed the idea: 10.O-O Qh4 11.h3 Qg3 12.Rf2 Nf6 13.d4
Bxd4 14.Bf4+ Kc6 15.Bxg3 Bxf2+ 16.Bxf2 d6 17.Qa5 Nxe4 18.Qa4+ Kd5 19.Nc3+ Nxc3 20.bxc3 Ke6 21.Re1+ Kf6 22.Qf4+ Kg6 23.Re3 Bf5 24.Rg3+ Kf6 25.Bd4+ Ke6 26.Re3+ Kd7 27.Qxf5+ Kd8 28.Bxg7 Rg8 29.Bf6 checkmate, blackburne - eddie43, Jerome Gambit thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008; and 10.c3 Nh6 11.Qf3
c5 12.Qd3+ Kc7 13.Na3 a6 14.Nc4 d6 15.Rb1 Qh4+ 16.g3 Qh3 17.Nxe5 dxe5 18.Qe3 b6 19.b4 Rf8 20.bxc5 b5 21.Ba3 Ng4 22.Qg5 Rf7 23.Qh4 Qg2 24.Qxg4 Bxg4 White resigned, Gary_Seven - drewbear, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008. 10...Qh4+ GriffyJr decides to mix it up. 11.Kf1 Qf6
Yikes. Instead, GriffyJr gets mixed up. I have no idea how or why. Much better was 11...Kc6. 12.dxe5+ Qxe5 13.Qxe5+ Oh, dear. The crusher was, of course, 13.Bf4 winning Black's Queen. These things happen in blitz games. 13...Kxe5
Play continues in a Queenless middlegame, about balanced, despite White's pawn minus (because of his activity). 23.Be5+ Kg6 24.Rd2 d5 25.Rd4 Bc8+ 26.Kg2 Bf5
27.h3 Rhe8
By focusing on development Black has pulled ahead. Still, if White can exchange Rooks, the possibility of a drawn bishops-of-opposite-color endgames is there. Unfortunately, the computer can move lightning fast, while the human actually has to think - a disadvantage in blitz. White makes a tactical slip. 28.g4Bxc229.h4Be4+ 30.Kg3 Rxe5 White resigned
An unusual move. Checking The Database, I discovered only a dozen games with this position (White scored 79%). I noticed some of the "usual suspects" playing the Jerome: UNPREDICTABLE, chessmanjeff, fehim, Petasluk - and perrypawnpusher (a loss!). 8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qg3 Rg8
A "mysterious Rook move" that actually seems to have something to do with castling-by-hand - on the Queenside! 11.f4 Bd7 12.e5 Ne8 13.d4 c6 14.f5
The "Jerome pawns" are on the march! But, Black has a plan: return his extra piece for a couple of pawns and then continue his King's journey to safety across the board! 14...Kf7 15.e6+ Bxe6 16.fxe6+ Kxe6
The most famous Jerome Gambit game is the one by Blackburne, where he sacrificed material as Black to build a counter attack that led to a Queen sacrifice and checkmate. Never mind that subsequent analysis and play has shown that, "objectively", the best Black should be able to hope for is a draw. The fact is, the Blackburne Defense leads to sharp and complicated play, and it is important to have a concrete knowledge of the line - if either Black or White wishes to survive. As we have seen, and will see in the game below, "half a defense is worse than no defense at all..." Better to "Commit It To Memory". fehim - KramMan blitz, FICS, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Wait a minute... Sure, Black flashes out his Queen to h4, all big and bad and scary. But - then what? Certainly not to pawn-grab. What did he miss? What did he miss?? Hint: 9...Nf6! Black wants to trap White's Queen and make threats against her (as well as the King), eventually offering his other Rook as well. 10.Qxh7+ This is not going to go well for Black. 10.d3 worked in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 17) 10...Kf8 11.Nc3 Or 11.d3 Qe2 (or 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004[1-0, 20]; or 11...Qe6 in ubluk - bfcace, Chess.com, 2012[1-0, 18]) 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Kf6 15.Qxc7 Bf5 16.Nc3 Qxc2 17.Nd5+ Kg5 18.Qe7+ Kh6 19.h4 Rh8 20.Qg5+ Kg7 21.Rae1 Rf8 22.h5 Bxd3 23.h6+ Kg8 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.Nh7 Kg8 26.Nxf8 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Bxf2+ 28.Rxf2 Qc1+ 29.Qxc1 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - pedroregistro, FICS, 2015 11...Qf5 Or 11...Qxc2 12.Qh4 Black resigned,perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010; or 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009. 12.d3 Nf6 13.Qh4
This move is okay, as White is up the exchange plus a couple of pawns, so he can consolidate. He could continue his attack, however, with 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rae1+ Be6 15.Qg7. 13...Kg7 14.Be3 Be6 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Qf6
The next few moves bring some excitement, but the game is pretty much over. Black's slip at move 23 just ends things 18.c3 Rh8 19.f4 c6 20.c4 Qh4 21.Qxe6 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 Qxf4+ 23.Ke2 Qg4+ 24.Qxg4 Black resigned
The third of the recently-supplied games by shugart, at FICS, shows White confronting a difficult defense - and prevailing. You need only look in the notes and see others who lost in those lines - fehim, MrJoker, perrypawnpusher, wall - to appreciate the challenge. It is as if his attack sneaks up on his opponent. shugart - Invited FICS, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8
The Jerome Variation of the Jerome Gambit, played by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome against David Jaeger in correspondence, 1880. 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be6
Black wants an open line for his Bishop, but this move actually allows White to keep things closed. White needs the time to work on his development. 16.e5 Nd7 17.d4 Qe7 18.f4 Kg8 Overlooking the potential of the "Jerome pawns". 19.f5 Bf7
Usually the out-of-play Rook for Black is the one on a8. This time it is the one on h8. 20.f6 Even stronger is Bh6!?, now or the next move. 20...Qf8 Black underestimates the attack. Stockfish 7 suggests, instead, returning the extra piece:20...Nxf6 21.exf6 Bxg3 22.fxe7 Bd6 23.a4 Bxe7 24.Nd3 when White would have a small advantage (Knight goes to e5, pawn weakness at c6) despite Black having the two Bishops.
21.fxg7 Qxg7 22.Qh3 h5 23.Qxd7 Kh7
24.Qxc7 Good enough. (Crushing was 24.Rxf7!?) 24...Rhg8 25.Rxf7 Black resigned
