Jerome Gambit: Searching for A Few Answers (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

We are following a Jerome Gambit game by angelcamina, who has allowed himself the "luxury" of a full 5 minutes to play his game, instead of his usual 1 minute bullet (no increment in either case).

Some of the tactics that follow are both beautiful and mind-boggling.

angelcamina - nanangtisna

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

Black's Rook is attacked, and there are two moves that allow his Queen to protect it.

In the meantime, White's Queen is menacing the enemy King, but the defense has adequate resources.

10...Qf6 

Often f6 is the square for Black's Queen, and in some lines (in the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit) even White finds the need to protect his Rook by putting his Queen on f3 - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Qg5 7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qf3 - but not here. In the game, after 10...Nf6 11.Qxg5+ Ke6, Black's King would be shaky, but he would be better.


11.Qxc7+ Bd6

One of the funniest things about computer chess programs, including Komodo 10, is that they seem to have a reasonable, innate distrust of the Jerome Gambit, and, therefore, consider a draw to be an acceptable, even desirable, outcome. So, instead of the text, the recommendation is 11...Qd6 12.Qg7+ Qf6 13.Qc7+ Qd6, etc. with a draw by repetition.

Again, nanangtisna makes a reasonable move - but it is met by an unreasonable response.

12.d4+ 

When you sharpen your tactics in bullet play, this kind of a shot comes naturally.

12...Kxe4 

The best reply. It is fascinating to look at 12...Kxd4, which is met by the unassuming 13.Qa5. The more you look at White's move, the scarier it gets. Sure, White remains under-developed and a piece down, but he is threatening checkmate, and the enemy King is under fire, such as 13...Kxe4 14.Nc3+ Kf5 (sad, but all others are worse) 15.0-0+ Kg6 (15...Bf4 16.Nxd5) 16.Rxf6+ Nxf6 when White's Queen and pawn outweigh Black's Rook and Bishop.

13.Nc3+

But the clock still ticks! With 13.Qc3, White would have forced  13...Kf5, giving him 14.O-O+ again, when 14...Kg6 would lose the Queen, as in the above note, and 14...Bf4 would be met by the wonderful 15.Qg3 Qxd4+ 16.Be3.

13...Kxd4  

Incredibly, Stockfish 11 recommends, instead, 13...Kf5 14.O-O+ Kg4!? and exchanging Queens with 15.Rxf6 Bxc7 seems to lead to an edge for Black. Bumping Black's King first, with 15.h3+, and then exchanging Queens is supposed to lead to an even position - but I do not know how to reconcile these two evaluations.

I can't imagine working out these lines while avoiding a time forfeit.

14.Qa5 

A solid move. If angelcamina had started out with, say, 10 minutes on his clock, he might have found the creative 14.Be3+ which continues the tactics fest: 14...Ke5 (14...Kxe3 15.Nxd5+ Kd4 16.0-0-0+ Ke5 17.Qc3+ and Black will lose his Queen) 15.Qa5 (again threatening mate as in the note, above, to Black's 12th move) Kf5 16.O-O+ and again the Black Queen is a goner.

14...Bg4  

The clock ticks for Black, too.

Instead, 14...Qe7+ 15.Ne2+ Ke5 seems to give Black (a piece up) hope, but the skewer with 16.Qc3+ would then win a Rook. White would also have the safer 16.Bd2 Bg4 17.0-0-0 - of course, offering a piece that cannot be taken, i.e. 17...Bxe2 18.Bc3+ Kf4 19.Qxd5 - when, after 17...Kf5 18.Qxd5+ Kg6 19.Rhf1 White still offers that piece on e2, and with 19...Bxe2 20.Qf5+ Kh5 21.Qh3+, etc., the game would settle into a draw by repetition of position.

As once Geoff Chandler wryly suggested, maybe the Jerome Gambit is a draw, after all.

15.Qxd5 checkmate

Once again, fortune has favored the bold.

Now, please give me a few minutes to catch my breath...

Jerome Gambit: Searching for A Few Answers (Part 1)

I am used to playing over 1-minute (no increment) Jerome Gambit games by angelcamina. Occasionally I have wondered, what would happen if he had more time to work his magic?

Recently I found out - he sent me a 5-minute game that got weird, fast, and that's saying something for a Jerome Gambit.

For some enlightenment, I did what I usually do: turning to The Database I looked at some of the games with that line that had been played previously. There were only 5, I'm not sure how many of those games had a grip on the line, either.

So, I turned to my trusted Komodo 10 for insight - you can probably guess how that turned out.

Finally, I reviewed my blog, and, although I had peeked at the line, before - see "Boris isn't so hot..." and ''Jerome Gambit Hammer" - there was still more to be said.

Here's how it all came down...

angelcamina - nanangtisna
5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 g5 

Here's a position you don't see very often. What is it all about? What is Black getting at?

It is possible to get a hint by looking at a Bill Wall game that continued 8.fxe5 Qf8, as if Black were offering a counter-gambit followed by a threatened Queen check at f2. Bill wasn't impressed, however, and quickly found a solution after 9.Rf1 Qe7 10.Qg4+ Kxe5 11.Qf5+, Black resigned, facing a mate in 1, Wall,B - Lisandru, Chess.com, 2012. The defender's Queen should have gone to g7 instead of e7, but 10.d4 would have then cemented White's avantage. 

8.fxe5 Kxe5 

After a long think (26 ply), Komodo 10 passes up this move, as well as 8...d5 and 8...Ne7, and chooses Stockfish 7's suggestion from 4 years ago, 8...Nf6 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.Rf1 Qg6 11.Qe2 Ke7, with White up about a pawn and a half.

But nanangtisna's choice of move is reasonable.

9.Qf7 

Setting up a mating net.

Previously, 9.Rf1 was seen in GuestCRJQ - Despistado, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 26),  Wall,B - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 16) and Vlastous - PornobeshKumar , internet, 2016 (1-0, 13).

Also successful was 9.c3 Be7 10.d4+ in Black,D - Boris, sparkchess.com, 2012 (1-0, 18). 

Probably best is Komodo 10's (and Stockfish 7's!) 9.d4+, as 9...Bxd4 10.Bxg5 Nf6 11.Bxf6+ Kxf6 12.Rf1+ Kg7 13.Rf7+ Kg8 14.Rf3 Bf6 15.Nc3 Kg7 remains, as I noted

a line worth looking at in detail as an example of building an attack.

9...d5

Often this strike at the center, opening up lines for development, serves Black well in the Jerome Gambit. Here, though, 9...Nf6 might have been better, although White could meet it with 10.d4+, with play similar to that in Vlastous - PornobeshKumar, Internet, 2016.

It is worth pointing out, again, that this is a 5-minute blitz game, and it is always easier to come up with improvements after the fact.

10.Qg7+

Out of the blue, Komodo 10 prefers 10.b4. It takes a moment to realize that it has not just found a way for White to castle - 10...Bxb4 11.0-0 - as it further recommends that Black answer with 10...Nf6, giving up a piece to 11.bxc5. No, the b-pawn advances to allow White to subsequently fianchetto his dark squared Bishop.

The idea 10.b4 Bd4 11.c3 Bb6 12.d4 reminds me of a suggestion that Stefan Bücker made to me in a similar line, back in 2004, when I still hoped to have my Jerome Gambit article published in his fantastic chess magazine, Kaissiber. See, fittingly, "Delusions of Grandeur".

[to be continued]