Jerome Gambit: On the Way to Victory

Here is another fine win from the top player in the recent RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament.

SeinfeldFan91 - junnujannu
Jerome Gambit Tournament, RedHotPawn.com, 2016

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 Nf6 10.O-O Qe7 

11.Nc3 c6 12.d4

Also seen in this position:

12.d3 Ng4 13.Qe2 Qh4 14.h3 N4e5 15.f4 Nf7 16.Bd2 Qe7 17.Rae1 Kd8 18.Qh5 Qh4 19.Qa5+ b6 20.Qb4 Kc7 21.d4 a5 22.Qc4 Qe7 23.Nd5+ Kd7 24.Nxe7 Kxe7 25.Qxc6 Bd7 26.Qxb6 Rab8 27.Qxa5 Rxb2 28.f5 Nh4 29.e5 dxe5 30.Qc5+ Kf6 31.dxe5+ Black resigned, shugart - volki, FICS, 2013; and

12.f4 Kd8 13.d4 Kc7 14.f5 Nf8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Ng4 17.Qd4 Nh6 18.f6 gxf6 19.Bf4 Black resigned, Wall,B - HeHe, Chess.com, 2010.

12...Be6

Development (with a subtle flaw).

Black has also attacked the Queen, as a prelude to a push on the Kingside: 12...Ng4 13.Qg3 h5 14.h3 h4 15.Qd3 Nh6 16.f4 Kd8 17.Bd2 Bd7 18.Rae1 Kc7 19.f5 Nf8 20.Qc4 Kb8 21.Bf4 b5 22.Qc5 Nf7 23.a4 Kb7 24.Qa3 a5 25.axb5 cxb5 26.Nd5 Qd8 27.Bxd6 b4 28.Bxb4 axb4 29.Qxb4+ Kc8 30.Nb6+ Kc7 31.Nxa8+ Qxa8 32.Rf3 Rh6 33.Rc3+ Rc6 34.Rxc6+ Bxc6 35.Qe7+ Nd7 36.Qxf7 Qa5 37.c3 Qa2 38.Qxg7 Qxb2 39.d5 Qxc3 Black resigned, mrjoker - Mandragora, Internet Chess Club, 2009.

13.b3

To deny c4 to the Black Bishop. Also possible was 10.f4. 

13...b6 14.f4 Nf8 

Black has to do something about the threatened fork of his two pieces. Probably he should return the piece with 14...Bf5 15.exf5 Qxe3+ 16. Bxe3 Ne7 getting the Queens off of the board.

15.Qg3

White's threat is e4-e5, and he should probably enforce it directly with 15.Ba3!? and 16.Rae1. He eventually does this, but first he has to address Black harassing his Queen.

15...Nh5 16.Qf3 Nf6 17.e5 Nd5 18.Ba3

The text is okay, although White could have worked to blow things up right away with 18.f5!? Again, he finds the move later.

18...Nxc3 19.Qxc6+ Qd7 20.Qxa8+ Kf7 

White has 3 pawns and a Rook for 2 pieces (one of which he will recover immediately) - as well as an attack on the enemy King. 

21.f5 Ne2+ 22.Kh1 Bxf5 23.Qe4 Ng3+

One of the pieces has to go. Black returns the Knight with a spite check.

24. hxg3 Kg6 25.Qa8

Black resigned

Black's position is a mess, and the closer you look, the worse it appears. The Knight is pinned to the Rook, for example, and the Bishop is pinned to the Knight. The Queen's best move is 25...Qc8, to exchange Queens and get some air, but 26.Qxc8 Bxc8 27.Bxd6 has all the appeal of a root canal.

What Hole?

Ah! Another unsound attack with the Jerome Gambit by Yours Truly! At first glance, it looks powerful - but, there is a hole in it. (Or maybe more than one...) Lucky for me, my opponent missed his escape, and perished in rolling thunder.

perrypawnpusher - kenkenaitya
blitz, FICS, 2014

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

The Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

I like facing this defense, as it allows White to get rid of the annoying Black dark-squared Bishop and to get his "Jerome pawns" rolling.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

Or 11.f3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009 (1-0,35).

11...Kf7

Alternatives:

11...Qe7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 20),  perrypawnpusher - obturator, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - fogab, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 27);

11...Ng4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47), perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 58) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2011 (24); and

11...Rf7 was seen in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 49) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qd3 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand, but White already has a small edge.

15.h3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Nc3 a6 18.Qe3 Kg7

Rybka 3 gives a very complicated defense starting with 18...Ne8, and including ...Qe7 and ...Qf6 to exchange (or drive) off White's Queen.

19.Qg3+

Here, and for the next few moves, Rybka 3 prefers e4-e5. Then, when I finally play the move, it prefers something different. The reason? See the note to Black's 23nd move.

19...Kf7 20.Qh4 Rg8 21.Qxh6 Rg7

22.e5?

First White should play 22.Rae1.

22...dxe5 23.dxe5 Ng8

Instead, 23...Qd4+ 24.Rf2 Qxe5 gives Black the edge. White must always be wary of the Black Queen check and capture, if he plays the e4-e5 break.

24.e6+ Kf8 25.Qf4 b5

Here Rybka 3 suggests that Black try his luck in a Rooks and pawns endgame (where he is still worse): 25...Nf6 26.Rad1 Qe7 27.Nd5 Qc5+ 28.Ne3 Qe7 29.Ng4 Nxg4 30.hxg4 Bxe6 31.fxe6+ Kg8 32.Qc4 Rg6 33.Rfe1 b5 34.Rd7 bxc4 35.Rxe7 Rg7 36.Rd7 c3 37.bxc3 Re8 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.e7 Kf6.

Now White finishes off the game in sparkling style.

26.Rad1 Qe8 27.f6 Rg6 28.f7 Qe7 29.fxg8Q+ Kxg8 30.Qf7+ Qxf7 31.exf7+ Kf8 32.Rd8+ Ke7 33.f8Q+ Ke6 
Black resigned as I played 34.Re1

(The list of top ten countries with visitors to this blog in the last 30 days is: Russia, Poland, United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, China, Argentina, Turkey and Ukraine. Welcome - and please come back! - Rick)

Almost

Sometimes the person playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) gets just enough assistance from the defender that the opening can almost look like it really does lead to a powerful attack...

perrypawnpusher - obturator
blitz, FICS, 2012

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 Nf6

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

Equally strong was 11.d4, as in fehim - cybernoid, FICS, 2006: 11...Be6 12.e5 dxe5 13.dxe5 Ne7 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.b3 Nd5 16.Qe4 Qd6 17.Bb2 Rh6 18.g3 Kd7 19.Rd1 Re8 20.c4 Bg4 21.Qxg4+ Black resigned.

Instead, 11.f3 was the introduction to an ultimate "Jerome pawn" game, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009 (1-0, 35).

11...Qe7

I have also faced 11...Rf7 in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30) as has Louis Marin, in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 49);

as well as 11...Ng4 in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24), perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47), and perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (½-½, 58).

12.Nc3

Also possible was 12.f5 Ne5 13.Nc3 b6 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qg5 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Qxe4 17.Qxg7 Bxf5 18.Bh6 Rf7 19.Qg5 Kd7 20.Rae1 Qxd4+ 21.Kh1 Nd2 22.Rxf5 Rxf5 23.Qxf5+ Kc6 24.Bxd2 Qxd2 25.Rf1 Re8 26.Qf3+ Kc5 27.Qa3+ Kc6 28.Qa4+ b5 29.Qa6+ Kd7 30.Qxb5+ c6 31.Rf7+ Re7 32.Qb7+ Kd8 Black resigned, holofernes - kdosch, FICS, 2001.

12...Ng4

Also seen is 12...c6 as in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 20), although 12...Kf7 with plans to continuing castling-by-hand may be best.

13.Qg3 Bd7 14.f5 N6e5 15.d4 d5

Black returns a piece and undermines White's pawn at f5, but this might be less painfully accomplished (at least the first step) by 15...Nf6 16.dxe5 dxe5.

Now White's game takes a step forward.

16.Nxd5 Qd6 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Bf4 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Nf7 20.Nxc7+ Ke7


21.Nxa8

I was pleased to be the exchange and a few pawns ahead, but 21.Qh4+, continuing the attack on the King, was stronger.

21...Rxa8 22.Bg5+

This was a nervous, short-of-time move. Better was the straight-forward 22.Qxg7.

22...Ke8 23.c3 Bc6 24.Rae1 h6 25.Be3 Qc4 26.Qxg7 Bxe4 27.Qg8+ Kd7 28.Qxa8

I had my clock back under control, and needed only avoid a serious blunder to bring home the point.

28...Qc6 29.Rd1+ Kc7 30.Bf4+ Kb6 31.Qg8 Black resigned

Win, Lose, Draw

Here we have another game that went bad just as it was getting good... Luckily, the Jerome Gambit has an endgame swamp that White can often disappear into. 

perrypawnpusher - jgknight
blitz, FICS, 2010

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 Nf6

So far, all pretty standard. As usual, Black is better.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4 Ng4

Ah, the harassing horsie! This is better than the bodacious 11...Kd7 of perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 38), though not as thematic as the thoughtful 11...Rf7 followed by 12...Kf8 as in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-49). Of course, 11...Kf7 followed by 12...Kg8 was a fine plan, too.

12.Qg3 Qh4

This seems a little bit better than the 12...h5 of perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47) and a bit less good than 12...Qf6, seen in perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0,  37), but all three moves, plus 12...c6 and 12...Ne7, seem very playable.

I know that the Jerome Gambiteer thinks of "attack!" but exchanging Queens is now best.

13.Qxh4 Nxh4 14.f5

This is not so much an improvement upon as an alternative to the 14.d3 of perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 47), a game which saw 15.f5, anyhow. The goal is to work toward winning one of Black's two advanced Knights.

14...Ne5

Black sees what is up and evacuates a Knight. Instead, he chould have attacked White's advance pawn with 14...g6, an idea which he comes to, shortly.

15.g3

A complete mis-reading of the position. White needed to try 15.d4, and after 15...Nc6 he had either 16.d5 or 16.c3, each of which would have helped his lagging development and would have strengthened his position, not weakened it.

15...Nhf3+

And I thought that the Knights were annoying before!

16.Kg2 g6 17.c3 gxf5 18.exf5 Rxf5 19.d4

White's position is a mess (lack of development, for starters) and all Black needs to do is find 19...Nd3 to show this. Instead, he chooses the wrong square for his Knight.

19...Ng4

I've tried for a win, I've blundered into a loss, but this move gives me a chance for a draw...

20.Rxf3 Rxf3 21.Kxf3 Nxh2+ 22.Kg2 Ng4 23.Bg5 h6 24.Bf4 Bf5 25.Nd2 Kf7 26.Re1 Re8 27.Rxe8 Kxe8 28.Nc4 b5 29.Ne3 Nxe3+ 30.Bxe3

Around here, or soon after, I offered my opponent a draw, as we've reached a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame which is quite even. jgknight declined, either out of principle or pique, or maybe he figured his "good" Bishop could out-duel my "bad" one.

As a result, we almost doubled the length of the game, but eventually, as my opponent fell behind in time, he decided to concede the half point.

30...Be4+ 31.Kh3 h5 32.Kh4 Bf3 33.Kg5 Kf7 34.a3 a5 35.Bf4 Ke6 36.Kg6 c5 37.dxc5 dxc5 38.Be3 Kd5 39.Kf5 b4 40.cxb4 axb4 41.axb4 cxb4 42.Bh6 Kc4 43.Kf4 Bg4 44.Bg7 Kd3 45.Be5 Kc2 46.Bd4 b3 47.Be5 Kd3 48.Bf6 Ke2 49.Be5 Kf2 50.Bf6 Kg2 51.Bh4 Kh3 52.Bf6 Bd1 53.Bh4 Bg4 54.Bf6 Bd1 55.Bh4 Bg4 56.Bf6 Bd1 57.Bh4 Bg4 58.Bf6 Game drawn by repetition

If you want them to stop laughing...

...first you have to stop telling jokes.

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is overly-long. That's not my opponent's fault – in fact, he thought my opening was such a joke that he rushed several "aggressive" moves that either put him at a disadvantage, or lost the chance at a serious advantage.

It's my fault. Several times when it looked like it was time for Black to exit, I made jokey moves that gave him hope that there would be more pratfalls like that ahead. It's fortunate for me that he didn't hold out until the moment of checkmate!

perrypawnpusher  - lorecai

blitz FICS, 2010


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 Nf6

It is pleasant to watch my opponent take time over every move, especially when I've been here a number of times before.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

A different approach was seen in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009: 11.f3 Kf7 12.Qb3+ Be6 13.Qxb7 Kg8 14.d3 Nd7 15.d4 Bc4 16.Re1 Qb8 17.Qxb8 Raxb8 18.b3 Ba6 19.c4 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.Nc3 c6 22.Ne2 Rf6 23.f4 Rbf8 24.g4 h6 25.h4 Bc8 26.Kg2 Nb8 27.Kg3 Na6 28.a3 Nc7 29.g5 hxg5 30.hxg5 Rg6 31.d5 cxd5 32.exd5 Bf5 33.Nd4 Na6 34.Nxf5 Rxf5 35.Kg4 Black resigned 

11...Ng4

A very radical approach was taken by Pete Banks a couple of years ago: 11...Kd7 12.Nc3 b6 13.d4 c6 14.f5 Ne7 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nfd5 17.e6+ Kc7 18.Qe5+ Kb7 19.Qxg7 Nf6 20.Bg5 Nfg8 21.f6 Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Rxf6 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Qxe7+ Nd7 25.exd7 Qxd7 26.Qxd7+ Bxd7 27.Rf7 Kc7 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.Ne4 Kc8 30.Nf6 Be6 31.Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rxa7 Bf5 33.Nxh7 Bxc2 34.h4 Ke8 35.h5 Bxh7 36.Rxh7 Kf8 37.h6 Kg8 38.Rb7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic Chessworld,2008;


Wheras Louis Morin saw another defensive plan: 11...Rf7 12.Nc3 Kf8 13.d4 c6 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.f5 Ne7 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.h3 Re8 18.g4 b5 19.g5 Nfg8 20.Qg3 b4 21.Nd1 Qb6 22.Qxd6 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.exf5 Rd8 25.Qxb4 Qxd4+ 26.Qxd4 Rxd4 27.Bc3 Rf4 28.f6 gxf6 29.gxf6 Nxf6 30.Bxf6 Rxf6 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Nd5 33.a3 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kd6 35.Ne3 Nf4 36.Kg3 Ne2+ 37.Kf3 Nd4+ 38.Ke4 Ne6 39.h4 a5 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 c5 42.b5 Nd4 43.c4 h6 44.Nf5+ Ke6 45.Nxd4+ cxd4 46.b6 d3 47.Kxd3 Kf5 48.b7 Kg4 49.b8Q Kxh4 Black resigned, mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008.

12.Qg3 h5

13.d4 h4 14.Qd3 Rxf4

A surprising slip – enough so that I capture with the wrong piece. Still, White now gets the advantage.

15.Rxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qf6

17.Be3 h3 18.Nc3 hxg2 19.Kxg2 Qh4

This attack should not succeed, unless it is underestimated.

20.Bf4

This is silly: 20.h3 holds just fine – which I am sure that my opponent figured out, right after he mis-played his next move.

20...Nf2

If the Queen goes to f2, instead, Black wins a piece.

Lorecai must be convinced by now that he was playing a lucky someone who survives despite poor play. 

21.Qg3

The Queen's rush to defense makes everything okay for White.

21...Bh3+

An angry, impatient move; while the exchange of Queens would have saved the trapped Knight, at the cost of ending Black's attack.

22.Kxf2 Qxg3+ 23.hxg3

I'm up a pawn and a piece, but my play so far encourages Black to stay in the game.

23...Kd7 24.Rh1 Bg4

For the second half of the game, I focused on turning my material advantage into a win.

25.Ne2 Rf8 26.Ke3 Bxe2 27.Kxe2 Re8 28.Rh7 Rxe4+ 29.Kd3 Re7

30.c4 Rf7 31.d5 c6 32.dxc6+ bxc6 33.b4 Ke6 34.Kd4

34...Kf6 35.Bxd6 Rd7 36.Kc5 Ke6 37.Bf8 Kf6

38.Kxc6 Rd3 39.Rxg7 Rd2 40.Rxa7 Rd3

I was a little embarassed at this point that my opponent still didn't want to admit defeat – that he still thought he had a chance against me in this game.

41.Bd6 Ke6 42.c5 Rd4 43.b5 Rg4 44.b6 Rg8

45.Re7+ Kf5 46.b7 Kf6 47.Re3 Black resigned