Playing the Jerome Gambit...

Playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with White, Gemeinde members wish for the kind of exciting, attacking game that follows...



blackburne - gwyn1
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.f4 Nf6 The kind of move that is appealing at first glance, as it promotes Black's development, ignores White's threat and plans to return material to slow down the attack. When followed up properly, it leaves White with only a small edge.

Whether this is the best strategy for combatting the Jerome Gambit is another question; but it is important to point out that blackburne has seen this move before.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3

In the past blackburne played 10.Qg5 Re8 11.d3 Kg8 12.0-0 Ng4 13.f5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 h6 15.Bd2 h5 16.Nc3 b6 17.Nd5 c6 18.Nc7 Ba6 19.Nxa6 Kf7 20.Nc7 h4 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Rf4 Nf6 23.Rxh4 c5 24.Rf1 Rc8 25.Rf3 c4 26.Bc3 Ne8 27.Rg3 a5 28.Rh7 Kg8 29.Rh4 a4 30.Rhg4 Rc7 31.h4 Ra7 32.Bd4 a3 33.b3 cxb3 34.cxb3 Rc7 35.f6 g6 36.Rxg6+ Kf7 37.Rg7+ Ke6 38.Rxc7 Nxc7 39.Rg7 Ne8 40.Re7 checkmate, blackburne - plummy, Chessworld, 2007

Now, against gwyn1, Black has the thematic 10...Nxe4, as the Knight is safe from capture: 11.Qxe4 Re8.

10...Ng4 11.Qg3 Re8 12.Nc3 c6 13.d4 h5

Several times ...h7-h5 has appeared in games in this tournament, sometimes when the Black Rook was still on h8.

14.0-0 b5 15.f5 b4 Undermining White's center before the pawns begin to roll.

16.Ne2 Bxf5

This looks like an oversight, as if Black were expecting 17.exf5 Rxe2. Now his game goes up in flames.

17.Rxf5+ Kg6 18.Nf4+ Kh7 19.Rxh5+ Kg8 20.Qxg4 Rxe4

It is probably time to begin to look for forced checkmates, although different players will prefer different ideas.

21.Qg6 Qf6 22.Qh7+

Of course, 22.Qxe4 was also okay, and led to a mate in ten.

22...Kf7 23.Rf5 Ke7 24.Rxf6 Kxf6 25.Qxe4 Kf7 26.Qg6+ Kg8 27.Ne6 Re8 28.Qxg7 checkmate

SIRMO

While preparing "Jerome Gambit for Dummies (5)" I realized that I had published only two games of the Jerome Gambit thematic tournament winner, SIRMO: plummy - SIRMO, chessworld.net, 2007 (0-1, 49) and Bullit52 - SIRMO, chessworld.net, 2007 (0-1, 12).

I think I may have unfairly shied away from his games because SIRMO prefers the "modern" Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) variations – not playing 5.Nxe5+ after 4...Kxf7 – and because a number of his wins feature a certain amount of wizardry...

Here are SIRMO's Jerome Gambit wins with white.

SIRMO - AAlekhine

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 [Hardly the way to refute the Jerome Gambit! - Rick] 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.c3 Qf6 7.d3 d6 8.a4 Ke8 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Qe6 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Rf8 15.Rh3 Ke7 16.Be3 Rae8 17.b5 Na5 18.Nbd2 Kd8 19.Ke2 Kc8 20.c4 g5 21.Nh2 Qf6 22.Rf3 Qe6 23.Qf1 g4 24.Rxf8 g3 25.Rxe8+ Bxe8 26.Nhf3 Bxh5 27.Qh1 Qf7 28.Qh3+ Kb8 29.Qxg3 b6 30.Bxh6 Nb7 31.Qg7 Qxg7 32.Bxg7 Nc5 33.a5 Ne6 34.Bf6 Nf4+ 35.Kf1 Nxd3 36.axb6 cxb6 37.Be7 Kc8 38.Bxd6 Kd7 39.Nxe5+ Nxe5 40.Bxe5 Ke6 41.Bc7 Kd7 42.Rxa7 Kc8 43.Bxb6 Kb8 44.c5 Bd1 45.Nc4 Bb3 46.Nd6 Bc2 47.Rd7 1-0

SIRMO - Bullit52

thematic www.chessworld.net, 11.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 [The use of c3 + a4 with the threat against the Bishop of a4-a5 in the Jerome Gambit could well be called the "SIRMO maneuver" - Rick] a5 7.Qb3+ Ke8 8.Ng5 Rf8 9.Qc4 Bd6 10.Qe2 Ne7 Here, Black lost on time. 1-0

SIRMO - Ratscales

thematic www.chessworld.net, 01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 h6 6.c3 d6 7.a4 Qf6 8.b4 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2 g5 10.h3 Ke8 11.Be3 Be6 12.Ke2 d5 13.Rf1 Qe7 14.a5 Nf6 15.Nh2 Nh5 16.Rf3 Kd8 17.Na3 a6 18.Kd2 Qd7 19.Kc2 d4 20.Bd2 Nxa5 21.bxa5 Qa4+ 22.Kc1 Bb3 23.Qe1 Nf4 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.c4 Re8 26.Ng4 Re6 27.Kb2 b6 28.Nb5 Rxe4 29.dxe4 Qxc4 30.Na3 Qc5 31.Rxb3 b5 32.e5 h5 33.Nf6 Ra7 34.e6 c6 35.Ng8 Ke8 36.e7 Qd5 1-0

SIRMO - plummy

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c3 Nxe4 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bd6 9.dxe5 Bxe5 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Qxe4 d6 12.Na3 Qf6 13.f4 Bf5 14.Qf3 Ke8 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.Qxf5 Qxf5 17.Rxf5 Kd7 18.Rxe5 c6 19.Bg5 Kc7 20.Re7+ Kb6 21.Rxg7 h5 22.Nc4+ Ka6 23.Nd6 b5 24.b4 h4 25.a4 c5 26.axb5+ Kb6 27.Ra6 checkmate 1-0

SIRMO - BrainFreeze

thematic www.chessworld.net, 02.2008 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 Nxe4 7.d4 exd4 8.0-0 dxc3 9.Qd5+ Kf8 10.Qxe4 cxb2 11.Bxb2 d6 [A "Danish - Jerome Gambit"?? White can now draw with 12.Qf4+ - Rick] 12.Nbd2 Qe7 13.Qf4+ Qf7 14.Qg3 Rg8 15.Rfe1 Bf5 16.Ng5 Qg6 17.Re2 h6 18.Nge4 Qxg3 19.Nxg3 Bd3 20.Ree1 Bb4 21.Bc1 Nd4 22.a5 Nc2 23.Ra4 Nxe1 24.Rxb4 Rb8 25.Bb2 Nc2 26.Rb3 Bg6 27.Kf1 c5 28.Nde4 Bxe4 29.Nxe4 Re8 30.f3 Re6 31.Rxb7 a6 32.Bc1 g5 33.h3 Rg7 34.Rb8+ Ke7 35.Rb6 d5 36.Nxc5 Rxb6 37.axb6 Rg8 38.Nxa6 Nd4 39.b7 Nc6 40.f4 Rf8 41.Ba3+ Kf7 42.Bxf8 Kxf8 43.f5 Kf7 44.g4 d4 45.Ke2 Kf6 46.b8Q Nxb8 47.Nxb8 Ke5 48.Kd3 Kf4 49.f6 Kg3 50.f7 Kxh3 51.f8Q Kxg4 52.Nc6 Kh4 53.Nxd4 g4 54.Qxh6+ Kg3 55.Ke3 Kg2 56.Ne2 1-0

SIRMO - karmmark

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c3 d6 7.h3 Rf8 8.d4 Kg8 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Bg5 Rd6 12.Nbd2 b5 13.Rad1 h6 14.Bh4 Be6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Rfe1 a5 17.Nh4 Rad8 18.Nhf3 Ne7 19.b3 Ng6 20.Re2 Nf4 21.Re3 Kh7 22.Kh2 Rg8 23.Nh4 Rd3 24.Rxd3 Nxd3 25.f3 Nf2 [The game is even here, but the endgame proves to be a nail-biter - Rick] 26.Rf1 Nd3 27.g4 Nf4 28.Nf5 h5 29.Ne7 Re8 30.Nc6 Ra8 31.Nb1 c4 32.Nd2 Ne2 33.bxc4 bxc4 34.Nb1 Ra6 35.Ne7 Nf4 36.Na3 Rd6 37.Nb5 Rd2+ 38.Kg3 Rg2+ 39.Kh4 Kg7 40.Nxc7 Bd7 41.Ncd5 Rxa2 42.Nxf4 exf4 43.Kxh5 Rh2 44.Kh4 Rc2 45.Nd5 a4 46.Ra1 Rf2 47.Rb1 Rxf3 48.Nb6 Be8 49.Nxc4 Rxc3 50.Nd2 Bg6 51.Rb7+ Kh6 52.e5 fxe5 53.g5 checkmate 1-0

SIRMO - manago

thematic www.chessworld.net, 01.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Nf6 6.a4 Rf8 7.c3 d6 8.0-0 [ The thematic 8.b4!? led to about an even game: 8...Nxb4 9.Qb3+ Be6 10.Ng5+ Kg6 11.Nxe6 Nxd3+ 12.Kd2 Nxc1 13.Kxc1 Qe7 14.Nxf8+ Rxf8 - Rick] 8...Kg8 9.Ng5 [ I'm for 9.b4 again - Rick] 9...Bg4 10.Qe1 Nh5 11.h3 Bxh3 ["All according to plan", but the stronger plan was 11...Nf4!? 12.hxg4 Nxd3 - Rick] 12.Nxh3 Ng3 13.b4 Nxb4 14.cxb4 Bd4 15.Ra2 Nxf1 16.Kxf1 Qh4 17.Be3 Rf6 18.Bxd4, White has an advantage, but Black lost on time 1-0

SIRMO - NMTIGER

thematic www.chessworld.net, 12.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.a4 Nxe4 7.d4 exd4 8.0-0 Qf6 9.Qd3 Qg6 10.cxd4 Nb4 11.Qc4+ Qe6 12.Qxe6+ dxe6 13.dxc5 Nc2 14.Ra2 Nb4 15.Ra1 Nxc5 16.Bf4 Nc2 17.Ra2 b5 18.axb5 Nb4 19.Ra5 Ncd3 20.Ne5+ Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Nc2 22.Bxc7 Nd4 23.h3 Ne2+ 24.Kh2 Rf8 25.b6 a6 26.Nc3 Nxc3 27.bxc3 Bb7 28.Re1 Ke7 29.Rae5 Rxf2 30.Rxe6+ Kf7 31.R1e2 Rf5 32.Re7+ Kg6 33.R2e6+ Rf6 34.Rxf6+ Kxf6 35.Bd6 Bc6 36.b7 Bxb7 37.Rxb7 a5 38.Rb3 Ke6 39.Bc5 Kd5 40.Bd4 g6 41.Rb5+ Kc4 42.Rc5+ Kb3 43.Rb5+ Kc4 44.Rc5+ Kd3 45.Rb5 a4 46.Rb2 a3 47.Ra2 Kc4 48.Bf6 Kb3 49.Ra1 a2 50.g4 Rc8 51.g5 Ka3 [Here or on the next move, ...Rc4 looks like a save for Black - Rick] 52.Kg3 Rb8 53.c4 Rb1 54.Kf2 Kb3 55.c5 Rxa1 56.Bxa1 Kc2 57.c6 Kb1 58.Bf6 h5 59.gxh6 g5 60.c7 a1Q 61.Bxa1 Kxa1 62.c8Q g4 63.Qb8 gxh3 64.h7 h2 65.h8Q+ Ka2 66.Qhb2 checkmate 1-0

Back at me

Sometimes I defend the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – and sometimes I defend against it.

bushytail - perrypawnpusher

blitz game 4 0 FICS 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

Although my favorite defense is the French, I have recently been answering 1.e4 with 1...e5, in the hopes that someone might play the evil Jerome Gambit against me...

4.d3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7

Ta - dah! We have now transposed into a "modern" Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Nf6 -- of which I have 75 examples in my database. Did I feel pressure to "throw" the game? No way! Especially not against a "modern" variation!

By the way, my opponent was rated about 250 points above me – for whatever that is worth – and so probably felt completely justified in offering me "Jerome Gambit odds."

6.Ng5+

Not a very popular (or successful) choice, although it showed up 5 times in the 2007 ChessWorld.net Jerome Gambit tournament, and more recently in a 2008 one (Sir Osis of the Liver - Blackburne, ChessWorld.net, 2008, 0-1, 33)

An alternative: 6.0-0 d6 7.Nbd2 h5 8.Nb3 h4 9.c3 Nh5 10.d4 Bb6 11.Bg5 Qd7 12.Bxh4 Nf4 13.dxe5 Qg4 14.Bg3 Nxg2 15.Kxg2 Qh3+ 16.Kg1 Rh5 17.exd6 Bg4 18.dxc7 Kg8 19.Nbd4 Nxd4 20.cxd4 Rf8 21.Qb3+ Kh7 22.Ne5 Bxc7 23.Nxg4 Qxg4 24.Qxb7 Bb6 25.Rad1 Rf6 26.Rd3 Rfh6 27.f3 Qg5 28.e5 Rxh2 29.Qe4+ Kh8 30.Qg4 Rh1+ 31.Kg2 R1h5 32.Qxg5 Rxg5 33.f4 Rg4 34.d5 Kg8 35.Re1 g5 36.e6 Kf8 37.e7+ Ke8 38.Rc3 Bd8 39.Rc8 gxf4 40.exd8Q+ Kf7 41.Qd7+ Kg6 42.Rg8+ Kh5 43.Qxg4 checkmate, Johnstone - Egan, IECG email 1999

6...Kg8

6...Kf8 7.c3 d5 8.h3 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.dxe4 Qf6 11.0-0 Be6 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 Qxf1+ 14.Qxf1+ Ke7 15.Nd2 Na5 16.b3 Rhf8 17.Nf3 Rf6 18.Qb5 b6 19.Qxe5 Nc6 20.Qxc7+ Black resigned, tmitchell - islanderfan, net-chess.com 2006

7.Be3 TN

7.c3 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.c4 Qd4 10.0-0 Ng4 11.Qf3 Qd7 12.Re1 h6 13.Ne4 Bb4 14.Nbc3 Nd4 15.Qd1 Qf5 16.f3 Nf6 17.a3 Bd7 18.axb4 Qg6 19.Ng3 Nf5 20.Rxe5 Kh7 21.Nxf5 Bxf5 22.Nd5 Nxd5 23.cxd5 Rhf8 24.d4 Bh3 25.g3 Qf6 26.Bf4 Rf7 27.Re4 b5 28.g4 Qh4 29.Qe2 a6 30.d6 cxd6 31.Bxd6 Raa7 32.g5 Qxg5+ 33.Bg3 h5 34.Kh1 Qg6 35.Rc1 Rad7 36.Rc8 Rxd4 37.Rxd4 Bxc8 38.Rd8 Bb7 39.Rd3 Qg4 40.Kg2 h4 41.Re3 hxg3 42.hxg3 Qxb4 43.Qd3+ g6 44.Re6 Bxf3+ 45.Kg1 Qc5+ 46.Kh2 Qh5+ 47.Kg1 Qh1+ 48.Kf2 Be4+ 49.Ke3 Qf3+ White resigns, plummy - SIRMO, www.chessworld.net 2007

7...Bxe3 8.fxe3 h6 9.Nf3 Kh7 10.0-0 Rf8 11.Nc3 d6

Standard defensive technique against a modern Jerome Gambit variation: castle by hand, develop, exchange pieces when appropriate.

12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 14.e4 Bg4

This move allows White the possibility of 15.Ng5+ hxg5 16.Qxg4, weakening my King position a bit, so it is probably not the most accurate move.

15...Ng6 16.Rf2 Bxf3 17.Rxf3 Rxf3 18.gxf3 Qg5+ 19.Qg2

"Chopping wood" brings me ever closer to a piece-up endgame, but my opponent would have done better here to bust up my pawn structure a bit with 19.Qxg5.

19...Qxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Rf8

Black is clearly winning. He has only one small problem.

21.Rf1 Nf4+ 22.Kf2 g5 23.Ke3 Kg6 24.c4 Kf6 25.b4 Ke7 26.a4 Kd7 27.Rh1 c6 28.Rc1 Ng6 29.h3 Nh4 30.Rf1 Rf4 31.a5 b6 32.dxc6+ Kxc6 33.axb6 axb6 34.b5+

This is weaker than 34.Rf2, but White still has high hopes.

34...Kc5 35.Rf2 Kb4 36.Rf1 Kc3 37.Rf2 Ng6

Good enough, but consistent with the King march was 37...Rxf3+

38.Rf1 Ne7 39.Rc1+ Kb2 40.Rf1 Kc2 41.Rf2+ Kb3 42.Rf1 Ng6 43.Rb1+ Ka2 44.Rf1 Nh4 45.Rf2+ Kb3 46.Rf1 Ng2+ 47.Kf2 Nh4 48.Ke3 Ng2+ 49.Kf2 Nh4 50.Ke3 Ng2+ Draw

Oh, yes, that "small problem": the time control was game in 4 minutes, so at the end, even in a winning position, I was so short of time that I had to force the draw and lose a half-point.

A Jerome Gambit Brawl

Although there are plenty of refutations of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) adventurous people keep playing it, and many times, instead of a "simple" win for Black, those games become out-and-out brawls.

For example, here's a battle from the latest Jerome Gambit tournament -

bobbob78 - panga74

www.gameknot.com 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6

An unusual defensive idea, but he gets away with it.

8.Qf5+

The way to proceed: 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qg5 Re8 11.d3 Kg8 12.0-0 Ng4 13.f5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 h6 15.Bd2 h5 16.Nc3 b6 17.Nd5 c6 18.Nc7 Ba6 19.Nxa6 Kf7 20.Nc7 h4 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Rf4 Nf6 23.Rxh4 c5 24.Rf1 Rc8 25.Rf3 c4 26.Bc3 Ne8 27.Rg3 a5 28.Rh7 Kg8 29.Rh4 a4 30.Rhg4 Rc7 31.h4 Ra7 32.Bd4 a3 33.b3 cxb3 34.cxb3 Rc7 35.f6 g6 36.Rxg6+ Kf7 37.Rg7+ Ke6 38.Rxc7 Nxc7 39.Rg7 Ne8 40.Re7 checkmate, blackburne - plummy, www.chessworld.net 2007

8...Kf7 9.fxe5 d6 10.Qf3 dxe5

White has now, instead, a regular Jerome Gambit position: two pawns for a piece and he has his work cut out for him.

11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 Bb4 13.0-0 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Rf8 15.Bg5 Kg8

16.d4 Qb6

Black is not sitting still: his King has castled by hand, and White's center is under attack.

17.Kh1 Nd7 18.Qg3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 exd4

The position looks simple, but it is not. Black's move asks to be checkmated in 4.

20.Bh6 g6 21.Qd6

This still mates, but White had two pleasant Queen offers: 21.Qe5 Nf6 22.Qe8+ Nxe8 23.Rf8 checkmate.

21...Qd8 22.Qxd4

White is still winning, and there still is a mate (in 12) but surely 22.Qe6+ Kh8 23.Rf7 Qg8 24.Bf4 Qg7 25.Qe8+ Qg8 26.Be5+ Nxe5 27.Qxe5+ Qg7 28.Qxg7 was simpler.

22...Qe7 23.h3

But this is not nice: Black is now winning.

23...b5 24.e5 Bb7

It was time for some consolidation with a move like 24...Qe6, when Black has stopped all the mate threats and is still up a piece.

25.e6 c5

Giving the piece back, trading Queens, and possibly looking toward a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame -- but White's advanced pawn gives him a big edge.

26.Qxd7 Qxd7 27.exd7 Bc6 28.Rf8+

A miscalculation: White is looking for the endgame, too; and probably the draw. With the Rook on d1, instead, White can win.
28...Rxf8 29.Bxf8 Bxd7 30.Bxc5 a6 31.Kg1 draw

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"