Jerome Gambit: Been Around A While

It can be fun to play over the games of experienced Jerome Gambit players and watch their struggles, successes and failures. The games of Petasluk show up in The Database starting in 2004 - he has been around the Jerome universe for quite some time.

The following game shows how a deadly center break-through and attack on the King can proceed when Black discontinues his defenses prematurely.

Petasluk - valli
5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

A solid defense that avoids the risks of 6...Kf6. If Black wishes to develop his Rook at h8, however, the King will need to move again.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 Kf7 

There are 19 games in The Database with this position. White scores 53%. White's Queen puts pressure on the Kingside, even as Black prepares to castle-by-hand (something he never accomplishes).

Petasluk has had significant experience with other defensive tries by Black:

9...h6 10.O-O Be6 (10...Kf7 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.Be3 Bb6 13.d4 Kg8 14.f4 Qe8 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Nd7 17.Bxh6 Rxf1+ 18.Rxf1 Qe7 19.Bg5 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 Qxe5 21.Bf4 Qf6 22.Nd5 Qa6 23.Re1 Qxa2 24.Re8+ Kf7 25.Re7+ Kg8 26.Nxc7 Rb8 27.Ne6 Qb1+ White resigned,  Petasluk - leninas, FICS, 2013) 11.Nc3 c6 12.Bd2 b5 13.a3 a5 14.Ne2 Qb6 15.c3 d5 16.e5 Ng4 17.d4 Be7 18.h3 Nxe5 19.Qxe5 Bf7 20.Ng3 Bf6 21.Qf5 Re8 22.Rae1 c5 23.Rxe8+ Kxe8 24.Qc8+ Bd8 25.Re1+ Kf8 26.Nf5 cxd4 27.Nxd4 g6 28.Nc6 Kg7 29.Nxd8 Rxd8 30.Qg4 h5 31.Qg3 Rf8 32.Be3 Qf6 33.Bd4 Qxd4 34.cxd4 b4 35.Re7 bxa3 36.bxa3 Kh6 37.Qf4+ Kg7 38.Qe5+ Kg8 39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 a4 41.f4 Kh7 42.f5 Kh6 43.fxg6 Bxg6 44.Qe3+ Rf4 45.Qxf4 checkmate, Petasluk - caryoscelus, FICS, 2016; 

9...Be6 10.Bg5 Bf7 11.c3 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.O-O Kg8 14.d4 Bb6 15.f4 Kh7 16.Nd2 Rhf8 17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Qg6 19.Nf3 Bd5 20.Nh4 Qxg3 21.hxg3 Rae8 22.Kh2 c6 23.Nf5 Be6 24.Nd6 Rxf1 25.Rxf1 Re7 26.Rf4 Bxa2 27.g4 Bb1 28.c4 Ba5 29.Rf1 Bg6 30.Rf2 Be1 31.Re2 Bh4 32.g3 Bg5 33.Rf2 a6 34.Rf3 b5 35.cxb5 axb5 36.b4 h5 37.gxh5 Bxh5 White forfeited on time, Petasluk - wsilaenchess, FICS, 2014;

9...Qd7 10.h3 Kf7 11.Nc3 c6 12.Bd2 Rf8 13.O-O Kg8 14.Kh1 Qe7 15.f4 Nh5 16.Qf3 Qf7 17.Ne2 Qg6 18.f5 Qf7 19.g4 Nf6 20.c3 h6 21.Nf4 Re8 22.b3 d5 23.Rae1 dxe4 24.dxe4 Bd7 25.e5 Nd5 26.e6 Qe7 27.exd7 Qxd7 28.Ne6 Bb6 29.c4 Nf6 30.Bc3 Qf7 31.h4 Re7 32.g5 hxg5 33.Nxg5 Qf8 34.Ne6 Qf7 35.Re2 Rae8 36.Rfe1 Qh5 37.Qxh5 Nxh5 38.Bd2 Ng3+ 39.Kg2 Nxf5 40.Nf4 Nxh4+ 41.Kg3 Nf5+ 42.Kg4 Nh6+ 43.Kg5 Rxe2 44.Rxe2 Rxe2 45.Nxe2 Bd8+ 46.Kh5 Nf7 47.Kg4 Kh7 48.Nf4 Nh6+ 49.Kf3 g5 50.Ne6 Be7 51.Bxg5 Nf7 52.Bxe7 Ne5+ 53.Ke4 Ng6 54.Ba3 Kh6 55.Nd8 Kh5 56.Nxb7 Kg4 57.Nd8 Black forfeited on time Petasluk - Vukasin, FICS, 2014;

9...Ng4 10.O-O Bd4 (10...h5 11.h3 h4 12.Qf4+ Nf6 13.Nc3 c6 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Qe7 16.d4 Kg8 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Nd5 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Rad1 Be6 21.Rd2 Rf8 22.Qa4 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Qg5 24.Qe8+ Kh7 25.Qxe6 Qxe3 26.Qxd5 Rf8+ White resigned, Petasluk - UNPREDICTABLE, FICS, 2011) 11.h3 Be5 12.Qf3+ Nf6 13.c3 d5 14.Bg5 h5 15.Nd2 Bg4 16.Qe3 dxe4 17.d4 Bd6 18.Nxe4 Bf5 19.f3 h4 20.Rae1 Bg3 21.Re2 Qd7 22.Nc5 Qf7 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.b3 Bd6 25.Nxb7 Kg7 26.Nxd6 cxd6 27.Qd2 Rag8 28.Rfe1 Kh7 29.Re7 Qxe7 30.Rxe7+ Rg7 31.Rxg7+ Kxg7 32.Qf4 Black forfeited on time, Petasluk - UltraMN, FICS, 2014;

9...c6 10.O-O Qb6 11.Nc3 Kf7 12.Na4 Qa5 13.Nxc5 Qxc5 14.c3 h6 15.Be3 Qe5 16.f4 Qh5 17.Rae1 Rf8 18.e5 Nd5 19.Bd2 Qg4 20.Qf2 Bf5 21.h3 Qg6 22.g4 Bxd3 23.f5 Qh7 24.e6+ Ke7 25.Qh4+ Nf6 26.Rf3 Be4 27.Rfe3 d5 28.c4 Rh8 29.Bb4+ Ke8 30.cxd5 cxd5 31.Rc1 h5 32.g5 Qxf5 33.gxf6 gxf6 34.Rf1 Rg8+ 35.Kh2 Qxf1 36.Rg3 Qh1 checkmate, Petasluk - Reisswolf, FICS, 2011;

9...Qe7 10.O-O Kf7 (10...Bd7 11.Nc3 Re8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Nd5 Qe6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxc7 Qg8 16.Nxe8 Qxg3 17.hxg3 Kxe8 18.Kh2 h5 19.f4 h4 20.gxh4 Rxh4+ 21.Kg3 Rg4+ 22.Kf3 f5 23.Rae1 Bc6 24.c3 fxe4+ 25.dxe4 Bb5 26.Kxg4 Black resigned Petasluk - Schallopp, FICS, 2008) 11.Nc3 c6 12.Bg5 Rf8 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Kh1 Kg8 15.f4 Qg6 16.Qh4 Qg4 17.Qxg4 Bxg4 18.h3 Bd7 19.g4 h6 20.f5 Rae8 21.Rae1 Kf7 22.Ne2 Rh8 23.c3 d5 24.d4 Bb6 25.e5 g6 26.e6+ Bxe6 27.fxe6+ Kxe6 28.Nf4+ Kd6 29.Nxg6 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Rg8 31.Nf4 Rf8 32.Ng6 Rf3 33.Kg2 Rd3 34.Nf4 Rd2+ 35.Re2 Rxe2+ 36.Nxe2 c5 37.Kf3 Ke6 38.h4 Kf6 39.dxc5 Bxc5 40.Nd4 Bxd4 41.cxd4 b6 42.b4 a5 43.bxa5 bxa5 44.a4 Kg6 45.Kf4 Kf6 46.g5+ hxg5+ 47.hxg5+ Kg6 48.Kg4 Kg7 49.Kf5 Kf7 50.g6+ Kg7 51.Kg5 Black resigned, Petasluk - pavlo, FICS, 2009;

9...h5 10.Bg5 h4 11.Qf4 Qe7 12.Nc3 Bd4 13.Nd5 Qf7 14.c3 Be5 15.Qd2 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.d4 Bf6 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.O-O Re8 20.Rfe1 Kf7 21.Re3 Rxe3 22.fxe3 Qg5 23.Rf1 Kg6 24.Qf2 Re8 25.Qxf5+ Qxf5 26.Rxf5 Kxf5 27.Kf2 g5 28.h3 Ke4 29.Ke2 Rf8 30.c4 c6 31.dxc6 bxc6 32.b4 a6 33.a4 Rb8 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 axb5 36.cxb5 Rxb5 37.Kf2 Rb3 38.g3 hxg3+ 39.Kxg3 Rxe3+ 40.Kg4 Kxd4 41.Kxg5 Rxh3 42.Kf5 Re3 43.Kf4 Re8 44.Kf5 Kc4 45.Kf4 d5 White resigned, Petasluk - fluigi, FICS, 2009;

9...Nh5 10.Qf3+ Nf6 11.O-O h6 12.Qe2 Bg4 13.Qd2 Ke7 14.h3 Be6 15.Nc3 Qd7 16.Kh2 Raf8 17.f4 Kd8 18.f5 Bf7 19.a3 Kc8 20.b4 Bd4 21.Bb2 Be5+ 22.Kh1 Nh5 23.Rf3 g5 24.Rb1 g4 25.hxg4 Ng3+ 26.Kg1 h5 27.g5 Bd4+ 28.Kh2 h4 29.Nd5 Bxd5 30.Bxd4 Nxf5 31.Bxh8 Ne3 32.Rxf8+ Black resigned, Petasluk - brittaundvolker, FICS, 2009;

9...g6 10.O-O Kg7 11.Qf4 Nh5 12.Qh6+ Kf7 13.Nd2 Qf8 14.Qxf8+ Rxf8 15.Nf3 Kg7 16.d4 Bb6 17.c3 Bg4 18.Nd2 Rae8 19.f3 Bd7 20.Nc4 Rf7 21.Bd2 Bb5 22.b3 Bxc4 23.bxc4 c6 24.a4 a6 25.Rab1 Ba7 26.g3 Ref8 27.Kg2 Nf6 28.Rbe1 Nd7 29.h4 Re8 30.Bf4 d5 31.cxd5 cxd5 32.e5 Re6 33.Bd2 Rfe7 34.f4 Rc6 35.g4 Rc4 36.a5 Bb8 37.f5 gxf5 38.gxf5 Kf8 39.Bh6+ Ke8 40.f6 Rf7 41.Bg7 Nf8 42.Bxf8 Kxf8 43.e6 Rfc7 44.e7+ Kf7 45.e8=Q checkmate, Petasluk - Chaarl, FICS, 2009;

and 9...Qe8 10.O-O Qg6 11.Qf4 Bh3 (11...Qg4 12.Qd2 Ke7 13.Nc3 Be6 14.d4 Bb4 15.e5 Ne4 16.Nd5+ Bxd5 17.Qxb4 a5 18.exd6+ cxd6 19.Qe1 Kd7 20.f3 Qg6 21.fxe4 Bxe4 22.Qg3 Qxg3 23.hxg3 Rhf8 24.Bf4 h6 25.c4 g5 26.Be3 Bd3 27.Rxf8 Rxf8 28.c5 d5 29.b3 Kc6 30.Rd1 Be4 31.a3 Bc2 32.Rd2 Bxb3 33.Rb2 a4 34.Rf2 Rxf2 35.Kxf2 Bd1 36.Ke1 Bg4 37.Kd2 Kb5 38.Kc3 Bd1 39.Bf2 Be2 40.Be3 Bf1 41.Kd2 Bxg2 42.Ke2 Be4 43.Kd2 Kc4 44.Bf2 Kb3 45.Be1 Kxa3 46.Kc3 Ka2 47.Kb4 Bc2 48.Bc3 Bd3 49.Ka5 a3 50.Kb6 Kb3 51.Kxb7 Kxc3 White forfeited on time, Petasluk - juany, FICS, 2007) 12.Qf3 Bg4 13.Qf4 Re8 14.Nc3 Re7 15.Kh1 Rf7 16.f3 Bd7 17.Bd2 Nh5 18.Qh4 Nf6 19.f4 Qg4 20.Qe1 Nh5 21.f5 Ke8 22.Nd5 Kd8 23.Ne3 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Rhf8 25.Rf2 a6 26.Raf1 g6 27.fxg6 Qxg6 28.Rxf7 Rxf7 29.Rg1 Rg7 30.g3 Nf6 31.Qa7 Ng4 32.Qxb7 Bc8 33.Qd5 Qf6 34.Kg2 Ne5 35.Rf1 Qg6 36.Qb3 drawn, Petasluk - godelllll, FICS, 2009. 

10.Nc3 

Or 10.O-O, which transposes, 10...Rf8 11.Nc3 Kg8 (11...a6 12.Bg5 Kg8 13.Kh1 Qe8 14.f4 Nh5 15.Qf3 h6 16.g4 hxg5 17.gxh5 Rxf4 18.Qg2 Qxh5 19.Nd5 Bh3 20.Nxf4 gxf4 21.Qf2 Bxf1 22.Qxf1 Be3 23.d4 Rf8 24.Re1 Rf6 25.Re2 Rg6 26.Rg2 Rxg2 27.Qxg2 Qd1+ White resigned, Petasluk - mattzig, FICS, 2014) 12.Bd2 Kh8 13.Kh1 Nh5 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Rxf2 16.Nd5 Rxf1+ 17.Rxf1 Bd7 18.Nxc7 Bc6 19.Nxa8 Black resigned, Petasluk - jinhuan, FICS, 2016. 

10...c6 11.O-O Bb6 

12.Bg5 Bc7 13.f4 h6 14.Bh4 Qd7 15.h3 b5 

Black has reinforced his center and decides to expand on the Queenside, perhaps as a diversion. He is overlooking White's growing menace.

16.Rae1 a6 

This encourages White to break in the center.

17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Qd4+ 19.Kh1 Be6 

Black will have to give back his extra piece, and his King is in trouble.

20.Re4 Qd7 21.Bxf6 Kg8 22.Ne2 Rf8

Black is defending, but is handicapped by his undeveloped Rook at h8.

23.d4 Bd8 24.Ref4 Rf7 

He could have tried 24...Rh7, but 25.Bxg7 would have led to a series of exchanges that would have left White simply a handful of pawns ahead, e.g. 25...Rxf4 26.Bxh6+ Qg7 27.Qxg7+ Rxg7 28.Nxf4.

25.Bxd8 Rxf4 26.Nxf4 Qxd8 27.Nxe6 

The smoke has cleared. Whie is a piece and a couple of pawns ahead, with a deadly attack.

27...Qe7 28.Rf8+ Kh7 29.Qd3+ g6 30.Rxh8+ Kxh8 31.Qxg6 a5 32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Qg6+ Kh8 Black resigned

More Useful Junk

Readers of this blog probably remember Chris Torres. He hosts the Chess Musings blog.

He presented the Jerome gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London  as "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!"

He followed up with "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", giving one of his own games.

He shared another game with the delightfully-titled post "Useful Junk: The Jerome Gambit".

Now he has sent me an FIDE-rated Jerome Gambit of his from the FIDE Online Arena.

Torres, Chris (chessmusings) - abhinam2
FIDE Online Arena, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 

Now Black has the choice of playing 7...d6, the Blackburne Defense, or 7...Qe7, the Whistler Defense. Instead, he opts for a "backatcha" move that at least gains him a pawn for his "doomed" dark-squared Bishop.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Qf4

I thought I would share a few other ideas for this position, from games from The Database:

9.Rf1 Re8 (9...c6 10.Kg1 Rf8 11.d4 Kg8 12.Bg5 Kg7 13.Nc3 d6 14.Qf4 Nh5 15.Bh6+ Kg8 16.Qxf8+ Qxf8 17.Rxf8 checkmate, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9...Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Qf7+ [12. Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7 checkmate, Jordi-I - couchpotatoe, Chess.com, 2011] 12... Kh6 13. d4+ Kh5 14. h3 Black resigned, shugart - pianazo, FICS, 2014; 9... d6 10. Qf4 Rf8 11. Kg1 Kg7 12. d3 Ng4 13. Qg5 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Qf8+ 15. Qf4 Nxh2+ 16. Kg1 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Ng4 18. Nc3 Be6 19. Rf1 h6 20. d4 g5 21. Bd2 c6 22.a3 b5 23. Ne2 Bc4 24. Re1 Rf8 25. b3 Bf7 26. Ng3 Bg6 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Kf6 29. c4 a6 30. Ke2 h5 31. Be1 h4 32. Nf5 Bxf5 33. exf5 Kxf5 34. Kf3 c5 35. d5 Ne5+ 36. Ke3 bxc4 37. bxc4 Nxc4+ 38. Kd3 Nxa3 39. Bd2 g4 White resigned, Petasluk - nikorast, FICS, 2011) 10.Qc3 Rxe4 11.Kg1 c6 12.d3 Re6 13.Bg5 d5 14.d4 Qd6 15.Nd2 Kg7 16.Bf4 Qd7 17.Be5 b5 18.Nf3 Ba6 19.Ng5 Rxe5 20.dxe5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.e6+ Black resigned,  arunothr - givemeabreak, FICS, 2014;

9.Qd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4+ 11.Kf3 c5 12.Qa4 Qh4 13.g3 Ng5+ White resigned, shugart - mattzig, FICS, 2013;

9.d3 d6 (9...Re8 as in guest232 - BoardChairman, Internet Chess Club, 2002, [1-0, 22]) 10.Qc3 Rf8 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Kg1 h6 13.Be3 Kh7 14.Qd2 g5 15.Nc3 Ng4 16.Rxf8 Qxf8 17.Rf1 Qg7 18.Nd5 Nxe3 19.Nxe3 Bd7 20.d4 Rf8 21.Rxf8 Qxf8 22.c4 c6 23.b3 Qg7 24.Qd3 c5 25.dxc5 dxc5 26.e5+ Kh8 27.Nd5 Qxe5 28.h3 Qe1+ 29.Kh2 Qe5+ 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Bc6 32.Ne7 Be4 33.a3 Kg7 34.b4 Kf7 35.Nd5 Bxd5 36.cxd5 cxb4 37.axb4 Ke7 38.Kf3 Kd6 39.Ke4 b6 40.g4 a5 41.bxa5 bxa5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Kc4 a3 44.Kb3 a2 45.Kxa2 Kxd5 46.Kb2 Ke4 47.Kc2 Kf3 48.Kd2 Kg3 49.Ke3 Kxh3 50.Kf3 Kh4 51.Kg2 Kxg4 52.Kh2 h5 53.Kg2 Kh4 54.Kh2 g4 55.Kg2 g3 56.Kh1 Kg4 57.Kg2 h4 58.Kf1 Kf3 59.Kg1 h3 60.Kh1 g2+ 61.Kh2 Kf2 62.Kxh3 g1=Q 63.Kh4 Qg3+ 64.Kh5 Kg2 65.Kh6 Kh3 66.Kh7 Kh4 67.Kh8 Kh5 White resigned, Petasluk - timoxx, FICS, 2007

9... d6 

Perhaps not the risky 9...g5 10.Qf3 g4 as in instantcrow - KingEfraim, ChessWorld.net, 2005, (1-0, 25).

10.Nc3

Or 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1 Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5 c6 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+ Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned, blackburne - Haroldlee123, ChessWorld, JG6, 2011. 

10...Kg7 11.d4 Rf8

Black is a pawn down, but he has castled-by-hand and his King is relatively safe. However, one of the "vital signs" that observers of all Jerome Gambits must note is the status of Black's light-squared Bishop, and its related Rook, as their under-development always are unhealthy symptoms. (See "A Lesson Learned From The Jerome Gambit" for one related "illness".)

12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.Kg1 Ng4 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Bxg5 Nf2 16.Nd5 Nxh1 17.Nxc7 Rb8 18.Kxh1 Bd7

White has two pawns for the exchange. Black can be happy that the Queens are off the board, but he cannot affort to be complacent. (He can be happy, for the moment, that his light-squared Bishop has moved and that his Rooks are linked, even if one is mysteriously developed.)

19.Nd5 Be6 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.d5 Bc8

See the previous note.

22.Rf1 h6 23.Nh5+ gxh5 24.Bxh6+ Kxh6 25.Rxf8 

Materially, White has 3 extra pawns while Black has the extra piece.

More importantly, positionally, look at Black's Queenside: Code Blue! His weakness allows a "Jerome pawn" infection...

25...Kg7 26. Rd8 b6 27.Kg1 Ra8 28.e5 dxe5 29.d6 Bb7 30.Rxa8
Bxa8 31.d7 Kf7 32.d8=Q Black resigned

Very nicely done!