Sometimes the Jerome Gambit (and its relatives) can have a frightening impact on those who face it, causing them to make decisions that they might not make during calmer times... Here are three recent example.
jollygood - kremba
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5 Nf6 7.Qg5 h6 8.Qf4 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.d4 d5 11.Re1 Nxe4 12.f3 Bb4 13.Re2 g5 14.Qg4+ Kd6 15.Nf7+ Kc6 Black resigned
It is true that Black's Queen is threatened, and that White will win it with check, 16.Nxd8+. After 16...Rxd8, though, Black will have a Rook, a Knight and a Bishop for his Queen; and after, for example, 17.Qh5 Nd6 18.Qxh6 Bf5 he has already begun to consolidate his position.Verdict: complicated, but too soon to resign.
fianchettosstorm - fwenkey
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.c3 h6 8.Nf3 Nxe4 9.d4 exd4 10.cxd4 Bd6 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Re1 Black resigned
It is true that White will now win back a piece, but this will still leave Black up a pawn, and he can add a couple more with 13...Bxh2+ 14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Qxf2+ (when he still has a draw in hand via repeated Queen checks).
Declining the Bishop with 13...Bxh2+ 14.Kf1 (14.Kh1? Nxf2+ winning the Queen) still leaves Black up three pawns after 14...Nf6 15.g3 d5 16.Kg2 Bxg3 17.fxg3 Bf5. Verdict: complicated, but too soon to resign.
Petasluk - mihck
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Black resigned
Verdict: complicated, but too soon to resign.
There is a line in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit where the Black King wanders far in search of adventure (and material). In the following recent game a capture seems to lead to an "Instant Victory", but things are not as simple as they appear.
kukkfive - Krait
standard game, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6
6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4
This looks even more dangerous for the King than 7...Kxd4. Best was the retreat 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 Kf7 when Black maintains an edge.
8.Qg4+
Is this the killer move? At one point (in one game), I thought so. Certainly a number of moves have been tried successfully, but that's not the complete story.
8.0-0 Qf6 (8...Nf6 was a better test, although White can continue with 9.Qf3+ with hopes for an advantage) 9.Qc2+ Kxd4 10.b4 Kd5 11.Bb2 Qg6 12.Qb3+ Kd6 13.Re1 b6 14.Be5+ Kc6 15.Rc1+ Kb7 16.Rxc7+ Kb8 17.Rc6+ Black resigned, fidotopdog - Krait, FICS, 2009;
8.d3+ Kxd4 (better was 8...Kd5 and after 9.Qb3+ Kc6 10.Qc4+ Kb6 White can do little more than continue checking and arrange a draw) 9.Be3+ Kd5 10.Nc3+ Ke6 11.Qg4+ Kf7 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Nd5+ Ke6 14.Nf4+ Kd6 15.Bc5+ Kc6 16.Rc1 Nf6 17.Be7+ Kb6 18.Qc5+ Ka6 19.Qa3+ Black resigned, Jeopar - Krait, FICS, 2009;
8.Nc3+ Kxd4 9.Qg4+ (9.Qf3 transposing to 8.Qf3 is the right idea, but White gets away with his move) 9...Ke5 (9...Kc5 was the way out) 10.d4+ Kd6 11.Bf4+ Ke7 12.0-0 Kf7 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qd5+ Kg7 15.Ne4 Nf6 16.Nxf6 Kxf6 17.Bg5+ Black resigned, kingpro - Krait, FICS, 2009;
8.Qh5 Kxd4 (8...g5 is the right move for Black, forcing 9.Qf3+ Kxd4 10.Nc3 transposing to 8.Qf3) 9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3 12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate, Melao Jr.,H - Danilo, Centro Cultural, 1996;
8.Qf3+ (the best move for White) Kxd4 9.0-0 (instead, 9.Nc3 c6 10.Qe3+ Kc4 11.a4 and the mating net closing around Black's King will force him to give up his Queen one way or another) 9...Qf6 (after 9...Kc5 Black's King may be able to walk away from the battle, giving White only the opportunity to draw through repetition of Queen checks) 10.Qg4+(necessary was 10.Qe3+, winning) Kc5 11.Nc3 d5 12.Qa4 a6 13.b4+ Kd6 14.Bb2 c6 (moving the Queen to g6 avoids the now possible 15.Ne4+ although Black may still hold on with three pieces for his Queen after 15...dxe4 16.Bxf6 Nxf6) 15.Nd1 (this should lose) Qf4 16.Re1 Qe4 (a mouse slip, perhaps??) 17.Rxe4 Black resigned, GOH - kremba, FICS, 2009.
8...Kd5 9.Nc3+
Now, after 9...Kc6, as implausible as it seems, Black's King is secure. Even after 10.d5+ Kd6 the game is complicated, but even.
9...Kd6
What a difference a square makes!
10.Qf4+
After 10.0-0 I needed cooperation from my opponent to win in perrypawnpusher - MNUNP, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 18).
The strongest move here, tightening the net, is 10.Qe4.
10...Ke7
A slip. Better for Black (the move, the game) was 10...Ke6. Now things turn simply horrible for him.
11.Nd5+ Ke8 12.Nxc7+ Ke7 13.Nxa8 d6 14.0-0 Kd7 15.Qf7+ Kc6 16.d5+ Kc5 17.d4+ Kxd4 18.Be3+ Kc4 19.Rac1+ Kb5 20.Nc7+ Ka5 21.Qf4 Black resigned
The updated New Year's Database holds 2,375 examples of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+) but the opening remains clearly unclear in many lines.
What is clear is the bare-knuckled brawling that can show up in game after game. (Please note the efforts of GOH, as well as SotoG.)
SotoG - njkiller
blitz FICS, 2001
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The so-called Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The choice of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde because it avoids the trappy 4.Nxe5?! Qg5!? and gives Black more to think about. Of course, 4.Nxd4, 4.0-0 and 4.c3 were good replies as well.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6
A spirited reply. The other main response is 5...Ke8.
6.c3
Best.
6...Nc6
Serious complications follow 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxd4, so this alternative, which appears simpler, makes a lot of sense.
There are only 50 games (2% of the BSG total) in the New Year's Database with 6...Nc6.
7.Qg4+
Here SotoG keeps the play very sharp, offering a second piece to keep Black's King in danger.
A calmer follow-up (although the game had its explosive moments) is 7.d4, which SotoG had played a year earlier: 7...Nxe5 8.dxe5 d5 9.Qg4+ Kf7 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qf3+ Kg7 12.exd5 Bc5 13.Bf4 Ne7 14.c4 Rf8 15.Qg3 Nf5 16.Qd3 Qh4 17.g3 Bxf2+ 18.Kxf2 Nxg3 19.hxg3 Qxh1 20.e6 b6 21.Qf3 Kg8 22.Qxh1 Black resigned, SotoG - Ludek, blitz FICS, 2000
Rybka (blunder check, 5 minutes per move) suggests: 7.d4 Nxe5 8.dxe5 as well, continuing 8...Kf7 9.e6+ Ke8 10.Qh5+ g6 11.exd7+ Qxd7 12.Qe5+ Kf7 13.Qxh8 Nf6 14.Nd2 Bg7 15.Nf3 Bxh8 16.Ne5+ Ke6 17.Nxd7 Nxd7 18.Be3 b6 19.0-0-0 – absolutely out-of-this-world play for both Black and White...
7...Kxe5
Taking the bait.
A couple of responses by Black are just plain bad: 7...Kd6 (8.Nf7+ Ke7 9.Nxd8) and 7...Kf6 (8.Qf5+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc5 11.Qd5 checkmate).
Other games continued 7...Ke7 8.d4 (8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Qh4 d6 10.d4 h6 11.0-0 Bg4 12.e5 Bxf3 13.exf6+ gxf6 14.Re1+ Kf7 15.gxf3 Qd7 16.Qh5+ Kg7 17.Kh1 Rh7 18.Rg1+ Kh8 19.Nd2 Re8 20.Ne4 Bg7 21.Be3 Ne7 22.Qf7 Rf8 23.Qh5 Nf5 24.Rae1 Qf7 25.Qxf5 Black resigned, GOH - XePa, FICS 2006) 8...Nxe5 9.dxe5 (9.Bg5+ Ke8 10.dxe5 Be7 11.f4 Bxg5 12.fxg5 Qe7 13.0-0 Qxe5 14.g6 Nf6 15.Rxf6 Qxf6 16.gxh7 Rxh7 17.Nd2 Qh4 18.Qg6+ Kd8 19.Nf3 Black resigned, DaniMP - ahdtjs, FICS, 2009) 9...d6 10.Bg5+ Ke8 11.Bxd8 Bxg4 12.Bxc7 dxe5 13.Bxe5 Nf6 14.0-0 Kf7 15.Nd2 Bc5 16.Kh1 Rhe8 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.f4 Be3 19.Nc4 Rxe4 20.Nd6+ Kg6 21.Nxe4 f5 22.h3 Bxh3 23.gxh3 fxe4 24.Rfe1 Kf5 25.Rxe3 Kxf4 26.Rae1 Re8 27.Kh2 h5 28.h4 b6 29.Kh3 a5 30.b3 b5 31.a3 Re7 32.c4 bxc4 33.bxc4 Re5 34.c5 Rxc5 35.Rxe4+ Kf5 36.R1e3 Rd5 37.a4 Rc5 38.Re7 Kf4 39.R7e4+ Kf5 40.Kg3 Rd5 41.Rf4+ Kg6 42.Re6+ Kg7 43.Rfe4 Kf7 44.Re7+ Kf6 45.R7e6+ Kf5 46.Kf3 Rd3+ 47.Re3 Rd5 48.R6e4 Kg6 49.Rf4 Kh7 50.Re7+ Kg6 51.Re6+ Kg7 52.Rfe4 Kf7 53.Ke3 Rd1 54.Re7+ Kf6 55.R4e6+ Kf5 56.Re5+ Kf6 57.Rxh5 Kxe7 58.Re5+ Kd6 59.Re4 Ra1 60.Kf4 Kc5 61.Rd4 Kxd4 62.Kf5 Rxa4 63.h5 Ke3 64.Kg6 Rh4 65.h6 Rxh6+ 66.Kxh6 a4 67.Kg5 a3 68.Kf5 a2 69.Ke6 a1Q 70.Kd5 Qb2 71.Kd6 Kd4 72.Ke6 Qb4 73.Kf5 Draw, GOH - Mazetov, FICS, 2003.
Clearly fortune favors the bold.
8.d4+
In GOH - kremba, FICS 2006, White needed some assistance after the less accurate 8.f4+, since 8...Kd6 9.Na3 Nf6 10.e5+ was still good for Black. Luckily for GOH, the second player decided to return a piece (a typical anti-Jerome strategy) with 10...Nxe5 (10...Ke7 was stronger) 11.fxe5+ when 12.Nc4+ would have been equal. Instead, after 12.Qd4+ Ke6 13.0-0 d5 14.d3 c5 15.Re1+ White needed a bit more help 15...Kd6 (15...Kf7 was much better)16.Bf4+ Kc6 17.Qa4+ and Black resigned.
8...Kd6
Of course, 8...Kf6 was punished immediately by 9.Bg5+ in another GOH - kremba, FICS 2006.
9.Bf4+
This looks like a very reasonable development of a piece with tempo, but probably stronger was 9.e5+ Ke7 10.Bg5+. Black would still be better, but in such a wild position, the more comfortable player would likely survive.
9...Ke7
Black chose to return a piece with 9...Ne5 10.Bxe5+ Kc6 in stretto - kremba, FICS 2007, leading to an even game in which both players later faltered, White more decisively: 11.d5+ Kb6 12.Na3 Bxa3 13.bxa3 a6 14.Rb1+ Ka7 15.Bd4+ b6 16.0-0 Nf6 17.c4 Nxg4 18.c5 Rb8 19.a4 a5 20.Rb5 d6 21.c6 Ba6 22.Rxa5 Ne5 23.Rb1 Nc4 24.Rxa6+ Kxa6 25.Rc1 Na5 26.Rb1 h5 27.Rb5 h4 28.h3 g5 29.e5 dxe5 30.Bxe5 Re8 31.Bc3 Qd6 32.Bb2 Re1 checkmate
10.Bg5+
This is sharper than a couple of alternatives: 10.Qh4+ Nf6 11.e5 h6 12.exf6+ gxf6 13.0-0 d6 14.Re1+ Kf7 15.Qh5+ Kg7 16.Re3 Ne7 17.Rg3+ Kh7 18.Qf7+ Black resigned, GOH - brigante, FICS, 2001; and
10.e5 d6 11.exd6+ cxd6 12.Qe2+ Kf7 13.0-0 Nf6 14.Nd2 Be7 15.Rfe1 Re8 16.Qc4+ d5 17.Qd3 Kg8 18.Nf3 Bg4 19.Ng5 h6 20.Ne6 Bxe6 21.Rxe6 Bf8 22.Rae1 Qd7 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Be3 Ng4 25.h3 Nxe3 26.fxe3 Qe6 27.a3 a6 28.b4 Qe4 29.Qd2 Bd6 30.a4 Rf8 31.b5 axb5 32.axb5 Na5 33.Qa2 b6 34.Re2 Qh4 35.Qxd5+ Kh8 36.Qxd6 Qf6 37.Qxf6 Rxf6 38.e4 Kg8 39.Rc2 Nc4 40.Re2 Kf8 41.g4 Ke7 42.Kg2 Ke6 43.Rf2 Ne3+ 44.Kg3 Rxf2 45.Kxf2 Nd1+ 46.Kf3 Nxc3 47.d5+ Ke5 48.Ke3 Nxb5 49.h4 Nd6 50.g5 hxg5 51.hxg5 g6 52.Kd3 Nxe4 53.Kc4 Nxg5 White resigned, tyrelcorp - Mazetov, FICS, 2004.
10...Nf6 11.e5
Less effective (but White pushed on to victory, anyhow) was: 11.Bxf6+ gxf6 12.e5 Kf7 13.f4 d6 14.Qh5+ Kg8 15.0-0 Bg7 16.Nd2 Be6 17.Ne4 Qe8 18.Qh4 d5 19.exf6 dxe4 20.fxg7 Kxg7 21.f5 Bc4 22.f6+ Kf8 23.Qh6+ Kf7 24.Qg7+ Ke6 25.Rfe1 Bd5 26.c4 Qf7 27.cxd5+ Black resigned, GOH - Sali, FICS, 2005.
11...Kf7
Black's King steps aside and gives the piece back. Remember, Black is two pieces up, so he can afford to do this, if, in the process, he safeguards his monarch.
Another way was 11...d5 12.exf6+ (12.Qh5 was necessary) gxf6 13.0-0 Bxg4 14.Re1+ Kf7 White resigns. 0-1 GOH - Jorma, FICS 2007
12.exf6 gxf6 13.Qf3
Keeping the pin.
More challenging was 13.Qh5+ as after 13...Ke6 (13...Kg8 kept Black's advantage) the game was equal, although White lost after a struggle: 14.Bf4 d6 15.0-0 Ne7 16.Na3 a6 17.Rae1+ Kd7 18.Nc4 b5 19.Na5 c6 20.b4 Nd5 21.Bd2 Be7 22.c4 bxc4 23.Nxc4 Qe8 24.Qh3+ Kc7 25.Qa3 Kb8 26.b5 axb5 27.Na5 Qd7 28.Qc1 Bb7 29.Nxb7 Kxb7 30.Rxe7 Qxe7 31.Qb2 Rhe8 32.Re1 Qd7 33.Rxe8 Qxe8 34.g3 Qe2 35.Be3 Qxb2 36.Kg2 Nxe3+ 37.Kf3 White resigned, GOH - Sali, FICS, 2005.
13...Qe7+ 14.Kd1
Feisty! Of course White wants to add his Rook to the attack, although 14.Be3 was safer. Jerome Gambit players don't always go for "safer".
14...Bg7 15.Re1 Qd6
This breaks one of the pins on the f-pawn, but makes Black vulnerable to an attack on the 8th rank: 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Re8+ winning the Queen.
Safer was the patient 15...Qd8.
16.Na3
Developing, but missing the opportunity mentioned above.
16...Kg6
Black definitely wants out of that pin, but Rybka shows that patience was still needed: 16...Ne7 17.Nc4 Qa6 18.Ne5+ Kf8 19.Ng4 Qc6 20.Qe2 Qe6 21.Nxf6 Qxe2+ 22.Rxe2 Kf7 23.Nxd7 Ng6 24.Nc5 b6 25.Ne4 Ba6 26.Rd2 h6 27.Be3 when Black is still better – although the position is still playable for the Jerome Gambiteer.
analysis diagram
17.Bf4 Qf8
Things remain murky to the end.
Again, Rybka tries to give some light, and, of course, play continues to revolve around pins: 17...Ne5 18.Qe4+ f5 19.Qc2 Qd5 20.Bxe5 Re8 21.f4 d6 22.Bxg7 Rxe1+ 23.Kxe1 Kxg7 and White has a small advantage.
analysis diagram
18.Qg4+
18...Kf7 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Re8
Winning the Queen in a manner similar to that of the note to move 15. Thus, White collects the full point – the goal of the game – but given a few more minutes of thinking time I'd like to think that SotoG would have found the mate (again, based on pins) after the pretty 20.Qd5+ Qf7 21.Re8+ Bf8 22.Bh6.
analysis diagram
20...d6 21.Qd5+ Black resigned
