The following game has a line of play that brings together "old friends" along the way to White's victory.
Wall, Bill - Guest901255
PlayChess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening. Black wants to keep a knight off of g5, even at the cost of a tempo and the possible weakening of his Kingside.
4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. (Welcome, Knights.)
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6
I think I have been in this position almost 20 times. More to the point, Bill has been here several times as well.
10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Rf8 12.Bd2 Kg8 13.Rae1 Bd7 14.Rf3
"Jerome pawns"? Check.
Backed by White's two Rooks? Check.
Black castles-by-hand? Check.
14...Nb4
Impetuous attack on the White Queen? Check. (Oh, how we have missed you.)
15.Qc4+ d5 16.Qxb4 dxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Qxe4
White is a pawn ahead. The opposite-colored Bishops hint at a possible drawn endgame - but in the current middle game they will benefit the attacker.
18...Bc6 19.Qe6+ Kh8 20.Rd3 Qf6 21.Qxf6 Rxf6 22.Re7
22...Rc8
Black does not want to give up another pawn, but this move allows White to put deadly pressure on g7.
23.Rg3 Bd5 24.Rgxg7 Be4 25.Bc3 Black resigned
Defending against the Jerome Gambit is more than finding the right move or the right line, it is also finding the right path out of a maze of complications. It is a given that Black has a "won" game after 4 moves, but, as always, he has to go on and win that game.
In the following game the defender quickly overestimates his chances and embarks on Quixotic attack that only looks scary.
Wall, Bill - Guest842895
PlayChess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening. Black wants to play it safe by keeping White's Knight off of g5.
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, leading to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 h6, etc.
I was a bit surprised to see Stockfish 8 recommend 5.Na4, leading to an equal game.
5...Kxf7
Bypassing the piece leads nowhere: 5...Kf8 6.Bb3 Nf6 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Bb4 9.dxe5 Nxe4 10.Qd5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest2310139, PlayChess.com, 2014.
6.Nxe5+ Nxe5
It is always possible for Black to go weird in the line, but not necessarily successfully: 6...Ke6?! 7.Ng6 Rh7 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nf4+ Kf7 10.Qh5+ Kf8 11.Ng6+ Kf7 12.Ne5+ Ke6 13.Qf7+ Kd6 14.Nc4+ Kc6 15.Qd5 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest638374, PlayChess.com, 2017.
7.Qh5+ Kf8
An improvement over 7...Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.b4 Bd4 10.Nb5+ Kc6 11.Nxd4+ Kd6 12.Nb5+ Kc6 13.Qxe5 d6 14.Nd4+ Kd7 15.Qe6 checkmate, Wall,B - My10, PlayChess.com, 2017 and
7...Ng6 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 Qe7 (9...d6 10.Qa3 N8e7 11.O-O Nh4 12.d4 Neg6 13.f4 Rf8 14.Be3 Bg4 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.f5 Ne7 17.Bf2 Nexf5 18.exf5 Nxf5 19.Rae1+ Kd7 20.Qe6+ Kc6 21.d5 checkmate, Wall,Bill - Mbgmx, Chess.com, 2010) 10.Qxc7 Nf6 11.O-O Kf7 12.Qc4+ Qe6 13.Qd4 Re8 14.f4 Qb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.e5 Nh5 17.g4 Nhxf4 18.d4 d6 19.exd6 Bxg4 20.Bxf4 Kg8 21.Bg3 Bh3 22.Rfe1 Rf8 23.Nd5 Rad8 24.Ne7+ Kh7 25.Nxg6 Kxg6 26.Re3 Rf6 27.Be5 Rfxd6 28.Bxd6 Rxd6 29.Rxh3 Rxd4 30.Rb3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest6602130, PlayChess, 2014.
8.Qxe5 Qe7
Putting Black's Queen on e7 or f6 is a standard defensive setup. The question is always: what to do next?
9.Qxc7 Nf6 10.d3 Ng4
Attack! More reasonable, if less exciting, was 10...d6 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 when the second player might have an edge. But, who wants an "edge" against a refuted opening? I mean, White has to be busted, right?
11.Nd5 Bxf2+
According to plan, even though Black should bail with 11...Bd6 12.Nxe7 Bxc7 13.Ng6+ Kg8 14.Nxh8 Kxh8 when White would have the advantage of a Rook and 3 pawns against a Bishop and Knight.
Things begin to look scary for White's King, but he will find his way to safety.
12.Kd2 Qg5+
13.Kc3 Qe5+
I don't know if Black overlooked the fact that this allowed the exchange of Queens, but he had a better move in 13...Qg6, even if it still left him worse off.
14.Qxe5 Nxe5 15.Rf1 Ng4
16.h3 Black resigned
Black will lose a piece after all.
I have been sharing some recently uncovered games by Ukranian player Vladymyr Yurev, online at InstantChess.com. It is clear that he and his opponents are playing for fun, as evidenced by the nasty, brutish and short wins by White.
Here is a game where Vladymyr took it seriously on the chin. I suspect he chuckled and set the pieces up again.
Vladymyr Yurev - GN ITA
15 0, InstantChess, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening, generally played as a safety first line. Not so, if White wants to get all Jerome-ish.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 Qf6 7.Nf5 d6
Uh, oh.. Things don't seem to be going smoothly for White.
8.Qd5+ Be6 9.Nxd6+
The start of an irrational streak, the kind of thing that you see when your opponent's clock is almost expired, and you are willing to try anything to get him to use up those last precious seconds thinking...
9...Bxd6 10.Qxe6+ Qxe6 11.e5
Okay, so White is going to blow everything up and start all over, next game.
11...Qxe5+ 12.Kd2 Qd4+ 13.Ke2 Re8+ 14.Kf3 Ne5+
Or 14...Qe4#.
15.Kg3 Nd3+
Or 15...Qg4#.
16.Kh3 Nxf2 checkmate
Oh, well, as the song goes, "Two out of three ain't bad."
As mentioned in the previous post, recently I was exploring the internet and ran across a number of fun games by Vladymyr Yurev, of Ukraine, at InstantChess.com. Some were Jerome Gambits, some were Jerome-ish.
Clearly some of his opponents did not know what to make of his openings, and succumbed quickly.
Here is another example.
Vladymyr Yurev - Elsid
15 0, Instant Chess, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening. Safety first.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Nf6 6.dxe5 Nxe4 7.Qd5+ Ke8 Black resigned
Black will drop his Knight on e4, remaining a pawn down, but it is clear that his resignation had to do with not knowing what hit him.
I was exploring the internet the other day, and ran across a number of fun games by Vladymyr Yurev, of Ukraine, at InstantChess.com. Some games were Jerome Gambits, some were Jerome-ish.
Clearly some of his opponents did not know what to make of his openings, and succumbed quickly.
Here is one example.
Vladymyr Yurev - MELVYN20
Instant Chess, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening. Black pursues safety by keeping the enemy Knight off of g5.
4.Bxf7+
Not everyone waits for ...Bc5 before sacrificing.
4...Kxf7 5.d4 Ke8 6.d5 Nb8 7.Nxe5 d6 8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Qf7 checkmate
Ouch!
Nice work, Mr. Yurev!
The following game got me thinking about the title of Willy Hendriks' book, Move First, Think Later: Sense and Nonsense in Improving Your Chess. It's a silly affair (the game, not the book, which is quite serious) that has a couple of howlers when it comes to moves, but it's the kind of thing that happens sometimes in 3-minute blitz games, and I hope it gives you a chuckle or two.
Bingoman - noorinut
3 0 blitz, FICS, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening. For some background, see here and here.
4.Bxf7+
In a hurry to go all-Jerome all over his opponent. I prefer 4.0-0, and after 4...Bc5, then 5.Bxf7+; but everyone has their own ideas about excitement.
4...Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4
The enjoyable thing about playing chess "for fun" is that it often doesn't make demands upon you - no heavy cognition, just think of a move and play it. Here Black plays a "sure, why not?" move (instead of 5...exd4) and then has fewer than 10 more moves to regret it.
To go from a "won" game at move 4 to a "lost" game at move 5 is not unheard of in a 3 0 blitz game - but before the end of the game he will have a chance to get that "won"game back again, if he keeps his wits about himself...
6. Nxe5+ Ke8
Alarm bells should be going off in the heads of Jerome Gambiteers everywhere!
Black should have given up the Rook with 6...Ke7 7.Ng6+ Ke8 8.Nxh8 (White's cornered Knight will escape), remaining an exchange and a couple of pawns down. Instead, he faces checkmate*.
7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Qe6+
It's good to remember White's plan of Queen checks followed by the shepherding Knight check, followed by the Queen check - but not this Queen check.
11...d6
Overwhelmed by the shock and awe of the attack? Distracted by the clock? Guessing that his opponent made a mouse-slip and giving him a second chance? I dunno.
12.Qd5+ Kd7 13.Ne5+ Ke8 14.Qf7 checkmate
White's Queen and Knight "undo" their last moves and finish the game.
*There's always an asterisk in 3 0 games.
I recently consulted The Database.
There are 315 games where I played the Jerome Gambit with its regular move order, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. I scored 82%.
There are 59 games with the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit position, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+. I scored 74%.
There are 58 games with the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+. I scored 88%.
There are 58 games with the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+. I scored 78%.
Not bad, for a refuted opening.
However, there are worse things than losing to the Jerome Gambit. For example, what if White, on top of playing his "busted" opening, suddenly blunders? His only chance is if... if...?
I should blush.
perrypawnpusher - Leoleon
2 12 blitz, FICS, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6
10.f4 c5
This is a novelty according to The Database. I have faced the alternative 10...Nc6 18 times, going 10-5-3. That's 64%, which is decent - but below my total score against the line.
11.Qe3 Nc6 12.b3
Instead, 12.e5 looked premature.
12...Rg8
I racked my brain trying to figure this out. Was my opponent actually considering ...g7-g5 ? Actually, in light of his next move, this looks like a mouse slip.
13.Bb2 Re8
A better placement. See the note above.
14.Rad1
Better might have been 14.Qd3 followed by 15.Rae1.
14...Kg8 15.Qf3
Simply a blunder. I know we were playing a fast blitz game, but this is not due to the "33rd piece".
15...Bg4
Of course. There are worse things than sacrificing two pieces in a dubious opening, and then going down to ignominous defeat - like sacrificing two pieces in the opening and then blundering away the exchange and then going down to ignominious defeat.
16.Qg3
Of course.
16...Bf3
Oh, no! The "34th piece" strikes again!
17.gxf3 Black resigned
Yes, there are worse things than losing to the Jerome Gambit - like White further blundering away the exchange, only to be "rescued" by a piece-dropping mouse slip by Black... My opponent could have played on, but I think he was no longer in the mood. I could sympathize mightily.
BOOM!
After the previous post I received an email from chessfriend Yury Bukayev who suggested that in the Semi-Italian opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6, after 4.0-0 Bc5, along with the Jerome Gambit-ish 5.Bxf7+ White also has the Evans Gambit-ish 5.b4.
He reminded me of two articles that he had written on similar opening lines (see c50 and c51) - well worth a first (or second) look for readers who want to punish the timid 3...h6. Look closely and you will find a number of opportunities for a well-timed Bxf7+, as well!
Thank you, Yury.
In my most recent Jerome Gambit game, in a line that I was familiar with, I nonetheless ran out of ideas. Lucky for me, I was able to keep making scary moves - enough for my opponent to overstep his clock (we were playing 2 12).
perrypawnpusher - RcSm
2 12 blitz, FICS, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.O-O Bc5
After the game I was surprised to discover that I had played three games previously against RcSm. Interestingly enough, none were Jerome Gambits. One game continued 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 - perrypawnpusher - RcSm, 2 12 blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 30) - and two continued 4...d6 - perrypawnpusher - RcSm, 2 12 blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 30) and perrypawnpusher - RcSm, 2 12 blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 41).
5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
Before this game I was 19 - 2 - 2 in games with this position, according to The Database. That's 87% - and one of those losses came after the mouse slip 8.Qe5??
8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Qe7
This is a reasonable move, although there are only 2 other games in The Database with it. White is going to want his Knight to come to c3, and maybe later to d5, harassing the Queen. A pawn advance to f4 (and later, further) and one to d4 also seem relevant.
11.Nc3 Be6
In analyzing the game post mortem I was intrigued by Stockfish 8's suggestion that, instead, Black should castle-by-hand on the Queenside: 11...Kd8 12.f4 Bd7 13.b3 Kc8 with an equal game.
My opponent eventually did do something like that in this game, but it did not wind up as strong.
The text encourages my next move, which I guess came as a surprise to my opponent, as he first retreated his Bishop, then later advanced it to c4 - something he could have done right away.
12.f4 Bf7
An earlier game of mine continued 12...Nf8 13.f5 Bc4 14.d3 Bb5 15.Nxb5 Qd7 16.Nc3 g6 17.Bd2 Kd8 18.d4 Nf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Nxd5 Qxd5 22.Bc3 Rg8 23.Rad1 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - Macgregr, blitz, FICS, 2010.
13.d4 Kd8
Here he goes.
14.f5 Nf8 15.e5 Bc4
A cold-blooded alternative for Black is 15...Nf6, as after 16.exf6 Qxe3+ 17.Bxe3 gxf6 White's possibilities for attack have diminished with the exchange of Queens. He would be down a pawn, although the chances of creeping toward a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame would be there.
A more refined way of implementing the Queen swap (leading to a better pawn structure) is 15...Nd7 16.e6 Nb6 17.exf7 Qxe3+ 18.Bxe3 Nf6 and White's pawn on f7 will fall.
16.Re1 Kc8
"Come and get me, Copper!" My opponent pulls a James Cagney and challenges me to show that I have compensation for the sacrificed piece.
17.Qg3 Kb8
After the game Stockfish 8 suggested that in this position I had the equivalent of a Queen advantage. Can you see that much compensation, here? During the game I was still trying to get my sacrificed piece back.
18.exd6
This much is pretty clear to figure out, even with the time on my own clock ticking away...
18...Qd7 19.dxc7+ Kc8
And now, what?
After the game, Stockfish 8 recommended 20.Ne4 (threatening the fork at d6) Bd5 21.Nc5 Qf7 22.Qd6 Nd7 23.Nxd7 Nf6 24.Nxf6 Bc6 25.Ne4, a line that I could not have imagined - White's Knight just marches in, captures two pieces, and leaves.
20.b3 Bf7
And now, what?
It is probably easier for you to see that - especially with Black's time slipping away - the idea is now for White to grab the pawn at g7, threaten the Black Rook, and let the defender do the thinking...
21.d5
During the game I figured out that now 21...Bxd5 22.Nxd5 Qxd5 23.Re8+ had to be crushing, so the pawn was safe. Also, 21...Qxc7 could be answered by 22.Bf4, and again Black would have to do the figuring.
In figuring I could simply march this pawn to d6 to protect the one at c7, I simply overlooked 21.Qxg7.
21...Nf6 22.Ba3
A tactical idea! Abandoning the idea of d5-d6, which would have been playable, e.g. 22.d6 Qc6 23.Re7 Bh5 24.Bf4 N8d7 25.Qxg7.
Still, after the game Stockfish 8 preferred 22.Qxg7 Rg8 23.Qxf6
22...Rg8
I would have been thrilled to follow the line 22...Qxc7 23.Qxc7+ Kxc7 24.Re7+ N8d7 25. Rxf7 when White's three extra pawns would be enough, in a calm and relatively simple position.
23.Re7 Nh5
Quick! I threaten his Queen, he threatens mine.
24.Qe3
Black forfeited on time
Black's Queen can only escape danger with 24...Qxf5, when I would have played 25.Re8+ Bxe8 26.Qxe8+ Kxc7 27.Qxa8 which would have satisfied me as I would have been up two pawns.
Stockfish 8 laughs at that assessment, proclaiming a checkmate in 24 moves from that position. It sees as best play 24...Nf6 25.Rxd7 N8xd7 and I can live with that, too.
