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.Bxd4 Black 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.Qf3 Kb7 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 dxc5 24.b4
24...Bc6 25.Qg3+ Qc7 26.Bf4 Black resigned
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
Even game.
14.Nc3 Nf6 15.g3
Nxe4 16.Bf4+ Kf5 17.Nxe4 Kxe4 18.Re1+ Kf5 19.Kg2 b6 20.Rhf1 Bb7+ 21.Kh3
Ba6 22.Rf2 c6
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.g4 Bxc2 29.h4 Be4+ 30.Kg3 Rxe5 White resigned
Chris Torres (see "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!", "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", "More Musings" and "More Useful Junk") of the blog site Chess Musings, sent a Jerome Gambit game that is a reminder that the attacker must always be ready to deliver checkmate.
chessmusings - Dumble Door
Internet, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Be7
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
Onwards to c7, c8 or b8!
17.Qh3 checkmate
Ooops.
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+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5
d6
Here we go! To capture the excitement of the play ahead, it is fun to return to Geoff Chandler's comparison of the Blackburne Defense with "Mars Attacks!"
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O Qxe4
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
An interesting and surprisingly relatively unexplored line. Others:
9...Kf7 10.O-O Rf8 (10...Re8 11.d3 Qe7 12.Bd2 Qe5 13.Bf4 Qh5 14.Rae1 Qg4 15.h3 Qxg3 16.Bxg3 Bd7 17.Kh1 b5 18.f4 b4 19.Nd1 Bc6 20.Ne3 Bxe3 21.Rxe3 Kg8 22.Bh4 Nd7 23.g4 d5 24.Rfe1 dxe4 25.dxe4 Nc5 26.Kh2 Nxe4 White resigned, mrjoker - creeredes, Internet Chess Club, 2008) 11.d3 Be6 (11...Kg8 12.Bg5 Nh5 13.Qh4 Qe8 14.Nd5 Qf7 15.c3 Be6 16.Ne3 h6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.g4 Qg6 19.Qxh5 Qxh5 20.gxh5 Bh3 21.Rfe1 Kh7 22.Kh1 Rxf2 23.d4 Bb6 24.Rab1 Raf8 25.a4 R8f3 26.b4 a6 27.a5 Ba7 28.Rbc1 Rd2 29.Nd1 c5 30.dxc5 dxc5 31.e5 cxb4 32.e6 Bg2 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - truuf, FICS, 2011) 12.Be3 Nh5 13.Qf3+ Kg6 14.Qe2 Nf4 15.Bxf4 Rxf4 16.g3 Rf7 17.e5 dxe5 18.Qxe5 Qd6 19.Qe4+ Bf5 20.Qxb7 Re8 21.Qg2 Bg4 22.Ne4 Qe5 23.Rae1 Bb6 24.b4 Qe7 25.a3 Qd7 26.h4 Bh3 27.Qh1 Ref8 28.Rc1 Qg4 29.Qh2 h6 30.c4 Bd4 31.Rcd1 Rf3 32.Rd2 R8f4 White resigned, Wall,B - Guest874250, PlayChess.com 2014;
9...Nh5 10.Qf3+ Qf6 11.d3 Qxf3 12.gxf3 Bd7 13.Ke2 Bd4 14.Be3 Bf6 15.Nd5 Bd8 16.Rhg1 Kf7 17.f4 c6 18.Nc3 g6 19.f3 Be6 20.Rad1 Rf8 21.d4 d5 22.Kd3 Bc7 23.Ne2 Ke7 24.e5 Ba5 25.c3 Bb6 26.a4 Rae8 27.Ra1 Ba5 28.b3 Kd7 29.Rg2 Kc8 30.Kc2 Ng7 31.Kb2 Kb8 32.b4 Bd8 33.a5 Bh3 34.Rg3 Bf5 35.Nc1 Ne6 36.Kb3 Be7 37.Rg1 Bh3 38.Nd3 g5 39.fxg5 Rxf3 40.Rg3 Rxg3 41.hxg3 Rg8 42.a6 Bxg5 43.Rh1 Bf5 44.Bxg5 Bxd3 45.Bh4 Bxa6 46.Kc2 Kc8 47.Rh2 Kd7 48.Rf2 Ke8 49.Rf6 Rg6 50.Rf5 b6 51.Rh5 h6 52.Bf6 Kd7 53.Rh3 Bc4 54.g4 a5 55.bxa5 bxa5 56.Rh2 a4 57.Kb2 Nf4 58.Ka3 Bb3 59.Rh4 Nd3 White resigned, Wall,B - Ahmadi,S, Chess.com, 2010; and
9...Ng4 10.O-O g6 11.d3 Kg7 12.h3 Ne5 13.Kh1 Rf8 14.f4 Kh8 15.Bd2 Nc6 16.Nd5 Be6 17.Ne3 Rg8 18.c3 d5 19.d4 Be7 20.e5 Bh4 21.Qf3 Qf8 22.g3 Be7 23.g4 Qf7 24.f5 gxf5 25.gxf5 Bc8 26.f6 Bf8 27.Nf5 Bxf5 28.Qxf5 Re8 29.Rae1 Nd8 30.Kh2 Ne6 31.Rg1 Rxg1 32.Rxg1 a5 33.Qg4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - klixar, blitz, FICS, 2007.
10.O-O c6
Also seen: 10...Qd7 11.h3 c6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Qxe5 Qd6 14.Qg5 h6 15.Qh4 Bb6 16.d3 Bc7 17.f4 Re8 18.Be3 Bb6 19.Bxb6 axb6 20.Rae1 Kf7 21.f5 Bd5 22.Nxd5 Qxd5 23.b3 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Qxf5 25.Qb4 Qc5+ 26.Qxc5 bxc5 27.a4 Re8 28.Rxe8 Kxe8 29.g4 Kd7 30.Kf2 Ke6 31.Ke3 Ke5 32.c3 Nd5+ 33.Kd2 Kf4 34.c4 Nb4 35.Kc3 Ke3 36.g5 hxg5 37.a5 g6 White resigned, fehim - bodocsmihaly, FICS, 2012.
11.Na4 Bb4 12.c3 Ba5 13.b4 Bc7 14.d3 b5 15.Nb2 d5
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
