Sometimes a player will find a path through the forest that is the Jerome Gambit. Later, others will clarify the way. In the following game, Bill Wall makes the way a bit clearer.
Wall, Bill - Nikelin
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
7.dxe5 Bxe5
The best response was 7...Bb4+.
8.Qh5+ Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Na3
This is right, the Knight should go to a3, not c3, as we shall see.
10...Qf6
In HauntedKnight - VSRajput, FCIS, 2015, White had the right idea in responsing to 10...Bf6, but then lost his way: 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bf4 d6 13.Qb5 Qe8 14.O-O-O Qxb5 15.b3 Be6 16.Ne3 Qb4 17.g4 Qa3+ 18.Kd2 g5 19.Bg3 h5 20.h4 gxh4 21.Bxh4 hxg4 22.Bxf6+ Nxf6 23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.f4 gxf3 25.Rf1 Nxe4+ 26.Kd3 Ng5 27.c4 Qxa2 28.Re1 Qxb3+ 29.Kd2 Ne4+ 30.Kc1 Qc3+ 31.Nc2 Nf2 32.Kb1 Kf6 33.Rf1 Rh1 34.Rxh1 Nxh1 White resigned
11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bg5
White missed his chance after 12.Qxe5+ Qxe5 13.Nxe5 d6 14.Bg5+ Ke6 15.Nc4 b5 16.Ne3 h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Nf6 19.f3 b4 20.b3 Ba6 21.O-O-O Bb5 22.h4 Nh5 23.Be1 Nf4 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxh8 Rxh8 26.Bxb4 Rh2 27.Rg1 Ne2+ 28.Kd2 Nxg1 29.Bc3 Nxf3+ 30.Kc1 Rh1+ 31.Kb2 Nh4 32.g3 Ng6 33.Nd5 c6 34.Ne3 Rh3 35.Nf5 Ne5 36.a4 Be2 37.Nd4+ Kd7 38.Nxe2 Rh2 39.Nd4 c5 40.Nf5 Nd3+ 41.Ka3 Nb4 42.Bxb4 cxb4+ 43.Kxb4 Rxc2 44.Nd4 Rg2 45.e5 dxe5 46.Nf3 Rxg3 47.Nxe5+ Ke6 48.Nc4 Rg4 when White forfeited on time, noatun - Papaflesas, FICS, 2008.
12...d6 13.Bxf6+ gxf6 14.Qf3 Black resigned
The following game shows the benefit of going further off the beaten path in an already unusual opening. Bill Wall varies from previous experience, and continues to find success. The notes suggest that Black could have found chances by varying his play, too. The game ends with a bit of psychological mind-reading.
Wall, Bill - NN
lichess.org, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
This strategy is not unusual and seems reasonable, although it does have a tactical flaw. The Database shows that it has been faced by Jerome Gambit regulars such as chessmanjeff, HauntedKnight, frizerkaHR, jfhumphrey, stretto, Teterow and yorgos.
Oh, and of course, Bill Wall.
7.dxe5 Bxe5
Better is 7...Bb4+ (no game examples in The Database), 7...Bf8 (no game examples in The Database) or 7...Be7 (20 game examples in The Database, White scores 45%); each moving the Bishop out of danger of a Queen check/fork.
8.Qh5+
Bill tries something new, deviating from his previous 8.Qd5+:
Ke8 (8...Kf6 9.f4 c6 [9...Bd6 10.Qg5+ Kf7 11.Qxd8 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016] 10.Qxe5+ Kf7 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 d6 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Qb5 dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg7 19.Qxd5 Re8 20.c3 Qxe5 21.Qf7+ Kh8 22.Bg5 Qxg5 23.Qxe8+ Kg7 24.Qf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Neilson,C, Melbourne, FL 2016; or 8...Kf8 9.Qxe5 d6 [9...Qe7 10.Qf4+ Nf6 11.Nc3 d6 12.O-O Qe5 13.Qxe5 dxe5 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 Ne8 16.Bd6+ Kg8 17.Rf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest539122, PlayChess.com, 2015] 10.Qd4 [10.Qb5 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.Qd3 Be6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Ke7 16.O-O-O Ne8 17.f4 g4 18.Bh4+ Nf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qg6 Qf8 21.fxe5 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016] 10...Nf6 11.O-O c5 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.Bf4 a6 14.Bxd6+ Kf7 15.e5 Bb5 16.c4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest5856753, PlayChess.com, 2016) 9.Qxe5+ Qe7 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.Nc3 d5 13.Bg5 Qe5 14.f4 Qd4 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.O-O-O Qxf4+ 17.Kb1 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Bf5 19.Ng5+ Kf8 20.Ne6+ Kf7 21.Nxf4 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016
8...g6
An interesting alternative is 8...Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Na3!?, which may have seemed riskier to Black, but which would put White more on his own resources. There are two examples of the line in The Database: 10...Qf6 (10... Bf6 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bf4 d6 13.Qb5 Qe8 14.O-O-O Qxb5 15.b3 Be6 16.Ne3 Qb4 17.g4 Qa3+ 18.Kd2 g5 19.Bg3 h5 20.h4 gxh4 21.Bxh4 hxg4 22.Bxf6+ Nxf6 23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.f4 gxf3 25.Rf1 Nxe4+ 26.Kd3 Ng5 27.c4 Qxa2 28.Re1 Qxb3+ 29.Kd2 Ne4+ 30.Kc1 Qc3+ 31.Nc2 Nf2 32.Kb1 Kf6 33.Rf1 Rh1 34.Rxh1 Nxh1 White resigned, HauntedKnight - VSRajput, FICS, 2015) 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Qxe5+ Qxe5 13.Nxe5 d6 14.Bg5+ Ke6 15.Nc4 b5 16.Ne3 h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Nf6 19.f3 b4 20.b3 Ba6 21.O-O-O Bb5 22.h4 Nh5 23.Be1 Nf4 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxh8 Rxh8 26.Bxb4 Rh2 27.Rg1 Ne2+ 28.Kd2 Nxg1 29.Bc3 Nxf3+ 30.Kc1 Rh1+ 31.Kb2 Nh4 32.g3 Ng6 33.Nd5 c6 34.Ne3 Rh3 35.Nf5 Ne5 36.a4 Be2 37.Nd4+ Kd7 38.Nxe2 Rh2 39.Nd4 c5 40.Nf5 Nd3+ 41.Ka3 Nb4 42.Bxb4 cxb4+ 43.Kxb4 Rxc2 44.Nd4 Rg2 45.e5 dxe5 46.Nf3 Rxg3 47.Nxe5+ Ke6 48.Nc4 Rg4 White forfeited on time, noatun - Papaflesas, blitz, FICS, 2008
9.Qxe5 Nf6 10.Bg5
Putting pressure on the Knight at f6, a regular strategy for White in the Jerome Gambit.
10...Re8 11.Qf4
White could have played the prosaic exchanging 11.Bxf6+ Qxf6 12.Qxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nc3 with a pawn advantage. I think he realized that his opponent saw the White e-pawn as pinned by the Black Rook to the White King, and played for the win of a piece.
11...b6 12.e5 Black resigned
The threat by White's advanced pawn is real. One possibility: 12...d6 13.Bxf6 dxe5 14.Bxe5+. It is worth taking time to explore other lines, too.
I have been watching the early movies of the Marx Brothers, and I have to say that they are pretty serious about their silliness. In a similar way (except for my glaring lack of talent) I can be rather serious about the silliness that is the Jerome Gambit (and its relatives).
Fortunately, not everyone is.
HauntedKnight - sarahdaniel
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The good old Jerome Gambit. I've researched its history, analyzed its lines, annotated games and gathered a large database.
As Chico might say, "Why a duck?"
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
This unusual defense seems to be borrowed from the "fork trick".
The Database has 41 games with this line. White scores 61%.
7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Qh5+
This is the strongest line for White. It is interesting to note, however, that in the 24 games with 8.Qh5+ in The Database, White has scored 54%.
Yes, that's right: the best move scored worse than the lesser alternatives.
8...Ke6 9.Qf5+
Again, this is the strongest continuation of the attack for White; yet it appeared in less than 1/4 of the games in the 6...Bd6 line: 10. In those, White scored only 50%, a result less succesful than that of the worse alternative moves combined.
Happily for HauntedKnight his opponent now responded with
9...Resigns.
Other games from The Database continued. We will look at them, too.
9...Kd6
10.Na3
This is White's strongest move, planning a Knight fork to the enemy King and Bishop, with check, winning a piece. It is not easily met, but after 10...Bf6 11.e5+ Ke7 12.exf6+ Nxf6 13.Bg5 d5 14.Bxf6+ gxf6 15.Qf3 followed by 0-0 or 0-0-0 White will have equalized in material while having the better pawn structure and safer King.
analysis diagram
Instead of the text, 10.f4 is very Jerome-ish. With 10...Bf6 Black can return the piece (i.e. 11.e5+) for an even game. The contest wzeller - bourgas, FICS, 2005 instead entered the world of "optical illusions" with 10...Qf6 11.fxe5+ Qxe5+ 12.Bf4 and White won (1-0, 62).
10.Nc3 is not dangerous enough, although White won against 10...a6 in jfhumphrey - jrhicksdotnet, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 14). The better defense 10...Qf6 brought Black victory in jfhumphrey-biryuk, FICS, 2010 (0-1,65) and duanezz - pawelek, FICS, 2005 (0-1, 38).
Likewise, 10.0-0 also falls to 10...Qf6 but not as often as expected. White's plan is to continue his attack on the King with 11.Rd1+, and after 11...Ke7 12.Bg5 he was successful ("optical illusions" again!) twice: EvanJunior - BeNumberOne, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 22) and AGRPlayer - trebbor, FIC, 2010 (1-0, 19). However, Black's King should escape the Rook check to fresh air with 11...Kc6 instead and then White cannot conjure up either an attack or a recovery of material, as seen in carlkrull - bodensee, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 28).
10.b3 contains a great little trap – if Black now takes the Rook with 10...Bxa1 he is checkmated after 11.Ba3+ c5 12.Qxc5+ Ke6 13.Qf5# – but the proper response, 10...Qf6 White could not escape in ljar - Castled, FICS, 2006 (0-1, 39)
10...Qf6
Not the strongest response, as indicated in the note to 10.Na3, but certainly one that White can expect to see.
11.Nc4+ Ke7
Falling in with his opponent's plan too quickly. He should have at least tried 11...Kc5, since after 12.Nxe5 Qxf5 13.exf5 White's advantage is only a doubled pawn. After the better 12.Qxe5+, however, Black needs to cooperate with 12...Qxe5 13.Nxe5, as the obstreperous 12...Kxc4 – which may have been Black's intent – falls to chekmate after 13.b3+ Kb4 14.c3#.
12.Qxe5+ Qxe5 13.Nxe5 d6
White is a safe pawn up in a quiet position.
However, in the Jerome Gambit "safe" and "quiet" are relative terms, and Black eventually won in noatun - Papaflesas, FICS, 2008 (0-1, 48)...
(By the way, all of the games mentioned here are available in The Database – just email me and ask.)
graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the WizardofDraws
