niddrieboy - paul_kowtun
Chess.com, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
As Max said in Where the Wild Things Are, "Let the rumpus begin!"
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8
The Jerome Variation (see "Jerome Gambit Nomenclature").
7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ Nf6 9.e5
In two 1880 correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, playing the Black pieces against "his" gambit, continued 9.Nc3 c6 10.d3 d6 11.h3 h6, winning both.
It should be remembered that Jerome did not believe that the gambit won by force, only that it was
a pleasant variation of the Giuoco Piano, which may win or lose according to the skill of the players, but which is capable of affording many new positions and opportunities for heavy blows unexpectedly.9...Ke8
This looks like Black's original plan was to make room for his Rook at f8, facing off with the White Queen – an idea he subsequently discarded. He would have done well simply to have attacked and won the e-pawn with 9...d6 10.d4 dxe5 11.dxe5 Bd6 12.0-0 Bxe5 when White's pawn and Black's displaced King are not sufficient compensation for White's sacrificed piece.
The second player's judgement is being clouded by the unusual play, something that Jerome Gambiteers love to see.
10.d4 Nd5 11.Qe4 Nf6 12.Qd3 Bb6 13.0-0 Ng8
Black's Knight retires from the field out of either frustration or confusion.
14.c3
Bolstering his center. He might even have tried the aggressive 14.c4.
14...Qf7 15.Be3 d6 16.exd6 Nf6 17.dxc7 Bxc7
Black has cleared his head and decided that it was worth a pawn to get his pieces, especially the Bishop pair, more active. He still has to be careful about his King (that is why 17.Re1 was probably better than 17.dxc7) but dynamic play will give him plenty of chances.
18.Re1 Kd8 19.Bg5 Qh5 20.Bxf6+ gxf6 21.h3
White can see danger ahead, with the two Black Bishops and the White Queen pointed at his Kingside. He may have chosen the text instead of 21.g3 because he could visualize the Black Queen moving (perhaps to g6) and then the Black h-pawn advancing h7-h5-h4, opening up the h-file for the Black Rook...
Nonetheless, Rybka recommends 21.g3 to keep the game in balance.
21...Rg8 22.Re3
Instead, Rybka suggests that both players head toward the endgame, White because it is safer than the middle game and Black because the two Bishops continue to give him the advantage: 22.Kf1 Bf5 23.Qc4 Qg5 24.Qd5+ Kc8 25.Qf3 Qf4 26.Nd2 Qxf3 27.Nxf3 Kd7 28.Rad1 Rae8 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.Re1 Bd3+ 31.Kg1 Rxe1+ 32.Nxe1 Be4.
analysis diagram
By simple count, White has 3 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but both Rybka 3 and Fritz 10 value Black's position as being over a pawn ahead. Would niddrieboy have been safer to have chosen this line? Probably.
22...Bf5 23.Qe2
White might have been asking himself How did I ever get into this miserable position?
23...Qg6
As often happens in Jerome Gambit games, Black chooses a good move – and overlooks a great move.
With 23...Rxg2+ he could have smashed White's King's fortress and at the very least created a nasty cramp on White's position with 23.Kf1 Qxe2+ 24.Kxe2 Rg1. If White fell for the Rook with 23.Kxg2 he would face 23...Bxh3 and then he could give up his Queen with 24.Rxh3 Qxe2; be checkmated with 24.Kh1 Be4 25.f4 (ouch!) Rxe2+ 26.Kg1 Qg6+ 27.Rg3 Qxg3+ 28.Kf1 Qg2#; or simply suffer until death with 24.Kg1 Qg5+ 25.Rg3 Bxg3 26.fxg3 Qxg3+, etc.
24.Qf3
White opens his eyes cautiously... I'm still alive! If only I had a magic trick to keep me in the game...
24...Bxb1
Winning a piece and going two pieces up. It's not like Black overlooked 23...Rxg2+ for nothing...
25.Qd5+
When everything is going wrong in the Jerome Gambit, White can turn over his King and think about another game – or he can hang on, giving ground slowly, waiting for any kind of a chance to recover.
Like, for example, 25.Qxb7, instead of the text. After that move White has a draw through repetition by checking Black's King. Of course, the second player can escape this by giving back material (a Bishop with 25...Be4 or a Rook with 25...Qxg2+) but that gives White at least equality, and probably an edge.
25...Kc8 26.Re7
We fight! White's pieces cry. Against a computer, this would be folly, but against a human, even "objectively" won games have to be played out.
26...Bf5
A more effective way out of White's pressure was 26...Rd8 27.Qc4 Rd7 28.Qe6 first, then 28...Bf5.
27.Qf3
It might have been time for the gutsy 27.g4, although Black can give his extra piece back with 27...Bxg4 28.hxg4 Qxg4+ and it will be a battle to see who can checkmate who first.
Now White is in for a bit of suffering.
27...Bd7 28.d5 Bd6 29.Re4 b6 30.Rae1 Be5 31.R1e2 Kb7
Sanctuary!
32.c4 Raf8 33.R2e3 Bd6 34.Rb3 Bxh3 35.Re7+
No doubt this move was seen as a pesky fly that just needed to be swatted away. Clearly Black is about to crush White's Kingside like an eggshell...
35...Bxe7 36.d6+ Kc8
Shooo, fly!
It is true that with 36...Kb8 37.dxe7 Black would have to return a Bishop – but, after all, he had received a Rook for it, so that was no problem. Things can be tied up with 37...Qxg2+ 38.Qxg2 Rxg2+ 39.Kf1 Rg7+ 40.Rxh3 Rxe7 and Black sails off into the sunset with an extra Rook.
Does it make a difference that he played 36...Kc8, instead?
It turns out the answer is YES!
Surprisingly enough, White now has a forced checkmate.
37.Qa8+ Kd7 38.Qb7+
At first glance, it would hardly seem to matter if White checked from b7, or captured a pawn, checking from a7.
It turns out, though, that Black's King can now find a hole in the mating net, one that would have remained closed if White could have played Qxb6+ on his next move. That capture and check would only be reasonable if the pawn on b6 were not supported by the pawn at a7...
After 38.Qxa7+ Kxd6 39.Qxb6+ Kd7 40.Qc5+ Black's King will not escape to the Kingside, and as soon as White's Rook joins the check-fest it will be checkmate.
Alternately, after 38.Qxa7+ Ke6 White's Queen and Rook are deadly on the other side of the board: 39.Qxe7+ Kf5 40.Rf3+ Kg4 41.Qe6+ (more tap-dancing on the light squares) f5 42.Rg3+ and Black's King is doomed.
So, 35.Re7+ was part of a great swindle befitting the Jerome Gambit – but it didn't quite come off. As Maxwell Smart used to say, Missed by that much...
38...Kxd6 39.Rxh3 Qxg2+
White wound up getting the other of the two Bishops for his Rook, but Black now liquidates the situation, showing that even after giving back a Rook, he still holds the advantage.
What is it about the Jerome Gambit that makes its opponents act that way?
40.Qxg2 Rxg2+ 41.Kxg2 Kc5 42.Rxh7 Re8
43.b3
Again, niddrieboy decides to hang on.
This might seem odd to those who glance at the position and think "Up a piece in an edgame? Won for Black." However, the Jerome Gambit player asks himself "Suppose the pawns all come off the board – how hard would it be for Black to win the R + B vs R endgame? How much time does he have on the clock, anyway?"
In this regard, this Rybka-inspired line is interesting: 43.Kf3 Kxc4 44.Rh4+ Kd5 45.Re4 f5 46.Re3 Kd6 47.Kf4 Kd7 48.b3 Bd6+ 49.Kxf5 Rf8+ 50.Ke4 Rxf2 51.a4 Rf4+ 52.Kd5 Rf5+ 53.Kc4 Kc6 54.Re4 a6 55.Re3 Rf4+ 56.Kc3 Bc5 57.Rh3 Bd4+ 58.Kc4 b5+ 59.axb5 axb5+ 60.Kd3 Kc5
analysis diagram
Only a pair of pawns to go... How much time does Black have on the clock??
43...Kb4 44.Rh3 Ka3 45.Kf1 Kxa2
This is beginning to look not-so-good.
46.f4 Rd8 47.Ke2 a5 48.Re3 Bc5 49.Rf3 f5 50.Ke1 Rd4 51.Ke2 Ka3 52.Re3 Rd8 53.Rf3 Kb4 54.Rh3 Re8+ 55.Kd2 Re4 56.Rf3
56...a4 57.Kc2 a3 58.Kb1 Re2 59.Rh3 Bd4 60.Rd3 a2+ White resigned
"White had his chances" – a pretty good footnote to someone playing a "refuted" opening.
