Jerome Gambit: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

Baseball player Yogi Berra once said "It ain't over 'til it's over." He could have been talking about the following game, or any bullet game with a time control of one minute, no increment. White makes an uncharacteristic tactical oversight, but he keeps playing, and Black returns the favor, and his position crashes just before his time runs out. 

angelcamina - PUIG-98
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 d6 

10...d5 was seen in angelcamina - mustapha1996, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 32).

11.O-O Bg4

Black's Bishop kind of floats here; if it is provoking White's next move, then it is successful.

Stockfish 10's suggestion now is a bit odd: 12.f4 (thematic) Re8 13.d3 c5 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Kg8 (castling-by-hand) and now 16.Qg3 Nh5 17.Qf3 Nf6, with a repetition of position and a draw to follow. I guess the irrational Jerome Gambit can sometimes be a challenge for the rational computer.

12.f3 Bd7 13.d4 Kf7 14.f4 Rhe8 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Kg8

17.exf6 

A slip. White is not winning a piece, just exchanging.

17...Qxe3+ 18.Bxe3 Rxe3 19.fxg7 Kxg7 

20.Nd5 Re2 21.Nf6 Bc6 22.d5 Bb5 23.Rac1 Ne5 24.b3 c6 25.c4 Ba6 26.dxc6 Nxc6 

27.Nh5+ Kg6

Probably a clock error: he had 7 seconds left. The clock continued to punish.

28.Nf4+ Kg7 29.Nxe2 Nd4 30.Nxd4 Rd8 31.Ne6+ Black resigned

At the end, White had a whole 21 seconds left.

Jerome Gambit: How Much Do You See?

In a game with a time limit of 1 minute, no increment, you have to rely on a quick assessment of the board. It helps if you have had similar positions in past games, if you are familiar with relevant strategic and tactical themes, and if you have confidence in your ability to make your way through a complicated game.

angelcamina demonstrates.

angelcamina - danyielmagicianul
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6

angelcamina has also faced 8...N8e7 in  angelcamina- southerngumbo, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 40)  and angelcamina - Claim1, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 31).

He met 8...Qe7 in angelcamina - mustapha1996, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 32).

9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O 

A small improvement over 10.Nc3, which he played in angelcamina - JsFlexWay, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018 (1-0, 19) 

10...Qe8 

On the other hand, this is not quite as strong as 10...Ng4  that angelcamina faced in angelcamina -Kvngmicky, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 38) and angelcamina-Cubigami, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019(1-0, 27).

11.Nc3 c6

Designed to keep White's Knight of d5, but he would have been more prudent to castle-by-hand.

12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg3 h5 

14.h3 Bd7

A bold idea, and somewhat of an explanation why he did not castle-by-hand - he wants to use his Rook on a hopefully opened h-file. Will it succeed? Will White defend adequately? In bullet games, anything can happen.

15.hxg4 

Taking the piece, trusting in his attack on the enemy King.

15...hxg4 16.d4 Qe7

17.e5

White judges that it is time to break in the center. His preparations also would allow for 17.f5!?, which is sharp, if complicated, winning another piece.

17...d5

Stockfish 10 recommends, instead, that Black continue with pressure on the Kingside, i.e. 17...Nh4 18.f5 Nxf5 19.Qxg4 Kg8 20.Bg5 Qf7 21.Rae1 Qh5 22.Qxh5 Rxh5 23.Bf4 Nxd4 24.exd6 Ne6, when it is not very concerned about White's extra, passed pawn.

18.f5 Nh4 19.Qxg4 Ke8 

He could have tried, instead, to hold on by giving up two pieces for a Rook and a pawn, with 19...Nxf5 20.Rxf5+ Bxf5 21.Qxf5+ Kg8. White would still be better, but it would be a complicated win to achieve.

White now wins the offside Knight, and concludes the game quickly.

20.Bg5 Qb4 21.Bxh4 Qxb2 22.Qg6+ Kf8 23.f6 Qxc3 24.fxg7+ Kg8 25.gxh8=Q+ Kxh8 26.Bf6 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: It's Not Automatic

The following game has another example of an "automatic" pawn capture that would have benefitted from a bit more reflection before appearing on the board - but, playing at one minute a game, with no increment, there is a limit to the amount of reflection that is available. 

angelcamina - Cubigami
1 0 bullet, lichess.org

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 

angelcamina has seen other responses:

8...N8e7 9.0-0 d6 (9...b6 10.Qe3 d5 11.e5 Kg8 12.f4 Bf5 13.h3 h6 14.g4 Be6 15.f5 Nxf5 16.gxf5 Bxf5 17.Rxf5 Qh4 18.Rf3 Qg5+ 19.Qxg5 hxg5 20.Kg2 Nf4+ 21.Kh2 Rxh3+ 22.Rxh3 Nxh3 23.Kxh3 Kf7 24.d4 Rh8+ 25.Kg3 Rh4 26.Bxg5 Rxd4 27.Nc3 Rc4 28.Re1 b5 29.e6+ Ke8 30.e7 b4 31.Nxd5 b3 32.cxb3 Rd4 33.Nxc7+ Kd7 34.e8=Q+ Kxc7 35.Rc1+ Kd6 36.Qd8+ Ke5 37.Bf4+ Ke4 38.Re1+ Kf5 39.Qxd4 g6 40.Qe5 checkmate,  angelcamina - southerngumbo, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019) 10.Qe3 Bg4 11.f3 Be6 12.f4 Bc4 13.d3 Bb5 14.f5 Ne5 15.c4 Bc6 16.d4 Nxc4 17.Qc3 Bb5 18.a4 Nxb2 19.axb5 Na4 20.Rxa4 a6 21.bxa6 bxa6 22.f6 gxf6 23.Rxf6+ Ke8 24.Re6 Qd7 25.d5 Kd8 26.Bg5 Re8 27.Na3 Rb8 28.Rxa6 c6 29.Rxc6 Ra8 30.Rexd6 Qxd6 31.Rxd6 checkmate, angelcamina - Claim1, 1-0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019); and 

8...Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 d5 11.d3 dxe4 12.dxe4 Ng4 13.Qf3+ Ke8 14.O-O N6e5 15.Qf4 Rf8 16.Qg3 h5 17.f3 h4 18.Qe1 Nxh2 19.Kxh2 h3 20.f4 hxg2 21.Kxg2 Ng4 22.Qg3 Rh8 23.Rh1 Rxh1 24.Kxh1 Bd7 25.f5 Nf6 26.Bg5 Kf7 27.Bxf6 Qxf6 28.Qg6+ Qxg6 29.fxg6+ Kxg6 30.Rg1+ Kf7 31.Rf1+ Ke7 32.Nd5+ White won on time, angelcamina - mustapha1996, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 

9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O 

White played Nc3 first, in angelcamina - JsFlexWay, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018 (1-0, 19).

10...Ng4

"Amazing how popular this move is" - Cliff Hardy.

11.Qf3+ Qf6

A bit stronger than 11...Nf6, as in angelcamina - Kvngmicky, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019, (1-0, 38).

12.Qg3 Kf7 13.h3 N4e5 14.f4 Nc6

15.e5

Excellent bullet psychology. This is not the strongest move in the position, but if Black automatically captures the pawn, he is busted.

15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Ngxe5 17.Rxf6+ gxf6

White has a Queen and a pawn for a Rook and Knight. More importantly, Black appears to be shaken.

18.d4 Nc4 

White finishes up after this, by placing his focus on the enemy King.

19.Qb3 N6a5 20.Qf3 Nd6 21.Bg5 f5 22.b3 Rg8 23.h4 h6 24.Qh5+ Kg7 25.Qxh6+ Kf7 26.Qf6+ Ke8 27.Qe7 checkmate