Jerome Gambit Secrets #4

One of my favorite Jerome Gambit "secrets" has actually been solved, but the story is always a good one to tell. And tell again.

Let's look at a line.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

About 4 1/2 years ago I posted about this move

As early as his first article with analysis (Dubuque Chess Journal 4/1874), Alonzo Wheeler Jerome considered the possibility that Black might refuse to capture the second piece, and play for King safety instead with 5...Kf8.  

This was, in fact, the defense that Jerome, himself, credited to G. J. Dougherty, ("a strong amateur, against whom I first played the opening") of Mineola, New York, in a yet unfound game; that O.A. Brownson, editor of the Dubuque Chess Journal, played against Jerome in an 1875 game (Dubuque Chess Journal3/1875); that magazine editor William Hallock used against D.P. Norton in an 1876 correspondence game played “by special request” to test the gambit (American Chess Journal 2/1877); that William Carrington tried in his 1876 match vs Mexican Champion Andres Clemente Vazquez (Algunas Partidas de Ajedrez Jugadas en Mexico, 1879); and which Lt. Soren Anton Sorensen recommended as “more solid and easier to manage” in his seminal Jerome Gambit essay (Nordisk Skaktidende 5/1877). 

It is interesting that early in Jerome's Gambit's life, there were players willing to accept one "gift" but who were skeptical of accepting two "gifts".

6.Qh5

This move shows up in 38 games in The Database, with White scoring 49%.

As I noted

White also has the option of playing 6.Qh5, the Banks Variation, as in Banks - Rees, Halesowen, 2003, when Black can transpose with 6…Nxe5  as recommended by the American Chess Journal, (3/1877) - "The continuation adopted by Jerome, Qh5 looks promising." 

Pete Banks ("blackburne" online), a stalwart member of the Jerome GambitGemeinde (and still the strongest player I know who has played the Jerome regularly over-the-board in rated contests), brought international attention to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's invention by writing to International Master Gary Lane, who commented at length on the opening, and on a couple of Banks' games, in his March ("The Good Old Days") and April ("Chess Made Easy") 2008 "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.com. IM Lane also mentioned one of Banks' games in his The Greatest Ever chess tricks and traps (2008), which reprised some of the earlier material. 

It is humorous to note that in his "Opening Lanes" column Lane wrote, after 5.Nxe5+, "I think anyone with good manners playing Black would now kindly ask their opponent if they wanted to take their move back" while in his book he changed this to "I think anyone with good manners playing Black would now go to another room to carry on laughing." 

Apropos the Banks Variation itself (i.e. playing 6.Qh5 in response to 5...Kf8), IM Lane noted in "The Good Old Days" that "6...Qe7 is a good alternative [to 6...Qf6 of Banks - Rees], because it stops the checkmate and protects the bishop on c5." 

A few months later, 6...Qe7 was tested successfully in a GameKnot.com game, splott - mika76, 2008: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.Ng6+ hxg6 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Qd4 10.Ke1 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.h3 Qxg2 13.Re1 Qf3+ 14.Re2 Bf2 15.d3 Nd4 16.Nc3 Qh1+ 17.Kd2 Nf3 checkmate. Clearly White, the very-slightly-higher rated player, was taken aback by the move. I asked mika76 if he had been influenced by IM Lane's recommendation, but he said he had come up with the move himself.

Jerome Gambit: White Beware

Not all of the traps and surprises are for Black in the Jerome Gambit. The following game has a nasty snare that White steps in; and it is doubly dangerous in a blitz game. Be aware: chessmanjeff is no stranger to the Jerome Gambit, either; The Database has 239 of his games.

chessmanjeff - hugore
5 0 blitz, FICS, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

This very early defense to the Jerome could come as a surprise to an unprepared White. For some history of the line, see the post "Merry Christmas! A Hysterical/Historical Jerome Gambit Part 1".

6.Qh5

The Banks variation, most recently covered in the post "Jerome Gambit: Battle of Wits" where 6.Nxc6 was given as best - and then Black has the surprise 6...Qh4!?. Mayhem ensues. 

6...Qe7

Another surprise. Black offers the exchange. White should not accept!

7.Ng6+

An alternative, hoping to return to "normal" lines, was not successful: 7.Nxc6 dxc6 8.O-O Nf6 9.Qf3 Qxe4 10.Qc3 Bd4 11.Qb4+ c5 12.Qb5 c6 13.Qa5 b6 14.Qa3 Qxc2 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Ne2 Be5 17.d4 Bd6 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Qf3 Bd5 20.Qh3 Qxe2 21.Bg5 Qg4 22.Bxf6 Qxh3 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.gxh3 Rhg8 White resigned, HooahMan - elidede, FICS, 2015.

Play should continue, instead, 7.Qf3+ Nf6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.d3 d5 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Qg3 dxe4 12.O-O exd3 13.cxd3 h5 according to Stockfish 8.

7...hxg6 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+

Checkmate is now forced.

This point was overlooked in an earlier game, which is given with light notes: 8...Qf6?! 9.O-O d6 10.d4? (10.c3!?) 10...Nxd4 11.Nc3 Nxc2 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.b4 Bd4 14.Rb1 c6 15.Bb2? (15.Nf4!?) 15...Bxb2 (15...cxd5) 16.Rxb2 Nd4 17.Rd1 Nb5 18.a4 cxd5 19.axb5 Qf6 20.Rb3 dxe4 21.f3 Be6 22.Ra3 d5 23.fxe4 Ke7 24.exd5 (24.Rf3!? Qe5 25.exd5) 24...Bg4 25.d6+ Kd7 26.Rf1 Qd4+ 27.Kh1 Qxb4? 28.Qxg7+ Ke6 29.Qxg6+ Kd5 30.Rd3+ Kc4 31.Qxg4+ Kxb5 32.Rf5+ Ka4 33.Qxb4+ (33.Qd1+ Qb3 34.Qxb3#) 33...Kxb4 34.Rf4+ Kc5 35.d7 Rd8 36.Rc4+?! Black forfeited on time, HooahMan - elidede, FICS, 2015.

9.Kd1

Another earlier cautionary tale: 9.Kf1 Qd4 10.Ke1 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.h3 Qxg2 13.Re1 Qf3+ 14.Re2 Bf2 15.d3 Nd4 16.Nc3 Qh1+ 17.Kd2 Nf3 checkmate, splott - mika76, GameKnot.com, 2008.

9...d6 10.Re1 Qg4+ 11.f3 Qxg2 12.Re8+ Kxe8 13.Qxg8+ Kd7 14.Qxg7+ Ne7

The "only move" to preserve the win, actually. Take a look at 14...Ke6 15.Qg8+ Ke5 16.Qg7+ Kf4 17.d4+ Kxf3 18.Qf7+ Bf5 19.Qd5+ Be4 20.Qf7+ Kg4 21.Qf4+ Kh5 22.Qh6+ Kg4 23.Qg5+ Kh3 24.Qh6+, drawn by repetition. Amazing!

15.c3 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qe4+ 17.d3 Qe2+ 18.Bd2 b6 19.d4 Ba6 20.dxc5 Bd3+ 21.Kb3 bxc5 22.Bg5 Rb8+

Missing 22...Bc2+ 23.Ka3 Qa6 but it doesn't matter at all.

23.Ka4 Bc2+ 24.b3 Bxb3+

Or 24...Qa6 checkmate.

25.axb3 Qb5+ 26.Ka3 Qxb3 checkmate

Wow! Let's not do that again, shall we?

Merry Christmas! (A Hysterical/Historical Jerome Gambit, Part 1)

Season's Greetings to the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, and readers everywhere! 

Below is my latest Jerome Gambit game, which includes the "gift" of annotations from the article submitted (and revised, and revised, and revised, and revised, and reassessed) to Stefan Bucker for his magazine Kaissiber. [There is a ton of interesting reading to be found in the above links - and the links below, as well - although I still have not been able to definatively link Alonzo Wheeler Jerome to Winston Churchill.]

perrypawnpusher  - spince

blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

I have faced this defense 16 times, scoring 12 points - 75%, which is still a bit short of my overall Jerome Gambit score of 82% (regular Jerome Gambit 83%, Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit 90%, Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit 74%, Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit 77%).

As early as his first article with analysis (Dubuque Chess Journal 4/1874), Alonzo Wheeler Jerome considered the possibility that Black might refuse to capture the second piece, and play for King safety instead with 5...Kf8. 

This was, in fact, the defense that Jerome, himself, credited to G. J. Dougherty, ("a strong amateur, against whom I first played the opening") of Mineola, New York, in a yet unfound game; that O.A. Brownson, editor of the Dubuque Chess Journal, played against Jerome in an 1875 game (Dubuque Chess Journal 3/1875); that magazine editor William Hallock used against D.P. Norton in an 1876 correspondence game played “by special request” to test the gambit (American Chess Journal 2/1877); that William Carrington tried in his 1876 match vs Mexican Champion Andres Clemente Vazquez (Algunas Partidas de Ajedrez Jugadas en Mexico, 1879); and which Lt. Soren Anton Sorensen recommended as “more solid and easier to manage” in his seminal Jerome Gambit essay (Nordisk Skaktidende 5/1877).

It is interesting that early in Jerome's Gambit's life, there were players willing to accept one "gift" but who were skeptical of accepting two "gifts".

6.Nxc6

Bill Wall has experimented with 6.Nd3 in Wall,B - Tim93612, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 36) and 6.0-0 in billwall - DeDrijver, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 20).

White also has the option of playing 6.Qh5, the Banks Variation, as in Banks - Rees, Halesowen, 2003, when Black can transpose with 6…Nxe5  as recommended by the American Chess Journal, (3/1877) - "The continuation adopted by Jerome, Qh5 looks promising."

Pete Banks ("blackburne" online), a stalwart member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (and still the strongest player I know who has played the Jerome regularly over-the-board in rated contests), brought international attention to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's invention by writing to International Master Gary Lane, who commented at length on the opening, and on a couple of Banks' games, in his March ("The Good Old Days") and April ("Chess Made Easy") 2008 "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.com. IM Lane also mentioned one of Banks' games in his The Greatest Ever chess tricks and traps (2008), which reprised some of the earlier material.

It is humorous to note that in his "Opening Lanes" column Lane wrote, after 5.Nxe5+, "I think anyone with good manners playing Black would now kindly ask their opponent if they wanted to take their move back" while in his book he changed this to "I think anyone with good manners playing Black would now go to another room to carry on laughing."

Apropos the Banks Variation itself (i.e. playing 6.Qh5 in response to 5...Kf8), IM Lane noted in "The Good Old Days" that "6...Qe7 is a good alternative [to 6...Qf6 of Banks - Rees], because it stops the checkmate and protects the bishop on c5."

A few months later, 6...Qe7 was tested successfully in a GameKnot.com game, splott - mika76, 2008: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5 Qe7 7.Ng6+ hxg6 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Qd4 10.Ke1 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.h3 Qxg2 13.Re1 Qf3+ 14.Re2 Bf2 15.d3 Nd4 16.Nc3 Qh1+ 17.Kd2 Nf3 checkmate. Clearly White, the very-slightly-higher rated player, was taken aback by the move. I asked mika76 if he had been influenced by IM Lane's recommendation, but he said he had come up with the move himself.

6...dc

Jerome, in his 1874 analysis, gave 6…bc 7.d4 “putting Black’s KB out of play”. This was supported by, among several games, perrypawnpusher - mika76, GameKnot.com, 2008 (1-0, 18)

[To Be Continued on New Year's Day.] 

[Comments and Emails are Welcomed and Encouraged.]

Leaving the Window Open

Sometimes you do not need to attack maniacally with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), you need only press ahead steadily, leaving the window open to allow an opponent's error in...



billwall (2488) - DeDrijver (1438)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8

An interesting line, as old as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's earliest published analysis of his gambit, which showed up not much later in Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29) and Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd match, Mexico, 1876 (1-0, 43).

The move 6.Qh5!?, looking to transpose into more main lines, is known as the Banks Attack (Banks - Rees, Wolverhampton, 2003) although 6...Qe7! (splott - Mika76, GameKnot, 2008) is a dangerous response.

Bill tries something different – again. A couple of year ago he tried the interesting 6.Nd3 in Wall,B - Tim93612, Chess.com 2010, (1-0, 36).

6.0-0 Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6

Stronger and simpler is 7...Bxd4.

8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd4+

This move is difficult to understand, and might be mistaken for a "mouse slip" were not the game's time control 3 days per move.

10.Qxd4 Qf6 11.e5 Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6

Happy to be a pawn up, with easier development, a safer King, and potential for his "Jerome pawns", White has plenty of patient hope for his game.

13.Nc3 Ne7 14.Nb5 c6 15.Nd6 g6

Waving a red cape in front of a bull.

16.f5

As I watched this game develop at Chess.com, I thought that it might be time now for 16.g4, followed by 17.f5, which, after an exchange of pawns, would have the "Jerome pawns" looking advanced and mighty good. Bill shows that the f-pawn does not have to wait.

16...gxf5

Although the position looks quiet, this move allows mate. Sadly, something like 16...g5 followed by 17...h6 was necessary to keep the White Bishop off of h6.

17.Bh6+ Kg8 18.Nxf5 Nxf5 19.Rxf5 d5 20.Rf8 checkmate

Jerome Gambit, Vlad Tepes and... Garlic!

As I've mentioned (see "Jerome Gambit and Vlad Tepes..."), the GameKnot website has always been a good place to find Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games.


The Vlad-Tepes Mini-Tournament is the most recent example.
splott - mika76
vlad-tepes's mini-tournament
http://www.gameknot.com/, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5

The Banks Variation.



6...Qe7 TN

Suggested by International Master Gary Lane in his "Opening Lanes" (see "International Master Gary Lane") column at Chess Cafe. (Readers: when was the last time you heard of an IM making a substantive contribution to Jerome Gambit theory??)
Mika76, however, tells me that he came up with the move on his own.

7.Ng6+



White bites, but it is already a poisonous mistake. His King needs to take cover with something like 7.Qf3+ Nf6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Nc3 d5 10.d3 with castling one way or the other coming up.

7...hxg6 8.Qxh8

White has a Rook and two pawns against a couple of pieces, but he will not live to see sunrise.
8...Qxe4+ 9.Kf1
After this comes mate, but there was no peace in 9.Kd1, either.

9...Qd4 10.Ke1 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.h3 Qxg2 13.Re1 Qf3+ 14.Re2 Bf2 15.d3 Nd4 16.Nc3 Qh1+ 17.Kd2 Nf3 checkmate

Jerome Gambit and Vlad Tepes...

The GameKnot website has always been a good place to find Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games.

The Vlad-Tepes Mini-Tournament, a double round robin Jerome Gambit rumble, is almost done. It looks like Vlad-Tepes himself will be the top scorer.

The Jerome Gambit has been scoring a bit above 40%, as expected.

Today and tomorrow will feature a couple of interesting games. My apologies to splott, who turns up on the losing side of both encounters. They are not representative of his play – he likely will place third in the tournament.

vlad-tepes - splott
www.GameKnot.com
Vlad-Tepes Mini-Tournament, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8



This is a reasonable defense, first mentioned by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in his premier analysis in the March 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal; and first played, as far as I can tell, by William Carrington in the 9th game of his second match with Mexican Champion Andres Clemente Vazquez, two years later.

6.Qh5


The Banks Variation, named for Pete Banks ("blackburne"), modern Jerome Gambit aficianado and member of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.

"Yes, it is always nice to threaten checkmate after just six moves" wrote International Master Gary Lane in annotating the game Banks - Rees, Halesowen, 2003, for his "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe (see "International Master Gary Lane").

The move 6.Qh5 was mentioned by Brownson in the March 1875 Dubuque Chess Journal, approved by Hallock in the February 1877 American Chess Journal ("Q-KR5 looks promising"), an apparently played by the opening's creator ("The continuation adopted by Jerome") – although I have no record of any of his games with the Queen move played at move 6 .

An alternative move for White would be 6.0-0 Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Be6 11.e5 Bf7 0-1 as in easy19 - 1dumb, www.GameKnot.com, 2008

Jerome recommended instead that White trade off the advanced Knight, to disrupt Black's pawn structure: 6.Nxc6



6...dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qf3 Qd4 9.d3 Bg4 10.Qg3 Bb6 11.e5 Nh5 12.Qh4 Be2 "It seems impossible to prevent the threatened loss of a piece, and no wiser course for Black is apparent from this point than the one chosen. The position is singular, and it is curious that White in so constrained a position should be enabled to regain his lost piece" wrote Brownson in the March 1875 Dubuque Chess Journal. 13.Qxd4 Bxd4 14.Re1 Bxe5 15.Rxe2 Re8 16.g3 Kf7 17.f4 Bd4+ 18.Kf1 Nf6 19.Nd2 Rxe2 20.Kxe2 Re8+ 21.Ne4 a5 22.Kf3 h6 23.c3 Ba7 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Kxe3 Ng4+ 26.Kf3 Nxh2+ 27.Kg2 Ng4 28.Re1 b6 29.a4 Rd8 drawn by agreement, Jerome - Brownson, Iowa 1875

6...Qf6

Or 6...Nxe5 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.d3 Kf7 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.0-0 Rhf8 13.Bg5 Ng4 14.Nd5 Kg8 15.Nxc7 Rac8 16.Nd5 Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Kh8 18.Rf4 Rxf4 19.Bxf4 Rxc2 20.Bxd6 a6 21.Rf1 h6 22.h3 Rc6 23.Bf8 Kh7 24.hxg4 Bxg4 25.Rf7 Rg6 26.Rxb7 1-0 blackburne-hollandia, www.ChessWorld.net, 2004

7.Nxd7+ Bxd7 8.Qxc5+


"White now has three pawns for the piece. This is reasonable considering that White has played the Jerome Gambit" – IM Lane.

8...Nge7

International Master Lane wrote about the alternative, 8...Qd6 "Black is probably worried about his exposed king, so offers to exchange Queens. I prefer 8...Nge7, when Black relies on his greater piece activity top maintain the advantage" 9.Qxd6+ cxd6 10.c3 Nf6 11.f3 Kf7 12.0-0 Rhe8 13.d4 Kg8 14.Bf4 d5 15.e5 Nh5 16.Bg5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Rxe5 18.Bc1 Bb5 19.Rd1 Rae8 20.Bd2 Re2 21.Na3 Bd3 22.Re1 Nf4 23.Rxe2 Nxe2+ 24.Kf2 Rf8 25.b4 Nf4 26.Bxf4 Rxf4 27.Ke3 Rh4 28.Kxd3 Rxh2 29.Rg1 Kf7 30.Nb5 Rh6 31.Re1 a6 32.Nd4 g6 33.a4 Rh2 34.g4 Ra2 35.a5 Ra3 36.Re5 Ra2 37.Rxd5 Rh2 38.Rd7+ Kf6 39.Rxb7 h5 40.gxh5 gxh5 41.Rb6+ Kg5 42.Rxa6 h4 43.Ne6+ Kf5 44.Ke3 Rc2 45.Nd4+ 1-0 Banks - Rees, Halesowen v Lucas BS 2003

9.Nc3 Qg6

Another Banks/blackburne game continued instead: 9...Kf7 10.d3 Rhf8 11.0-0 Kg8 12.f4 Qd4+ 13.Qxd4 Nxd4 14.Rf2 b5 15.Be3 b4 16.Ne2? Nxc2 17.Rc1 Nxe3 18.Rxc7 Rad8 19.Rf3 Nd1 20.b3 Ng6 21.Kf1 Bg4 22.Rg3 Bxe2+ 23.Kxe2 Nc3+ 24.Ke3 Rc8 25.Rb7 a5 26.f5 Rb8 27.Ra7 Ra8 28.Rb7 Rfb8 29.Rc7 Nb5 30.Rd7 Ra7? 31.Rxa7 Nxa7 32.fxg6 Nc6 33.gxh7+ Kh8 34.Rh3 Rd8 35.g4 Ne5 36.d4 Nxg4+ 37.Kd3 Nf2+ 0-1 blackburne - Rail2Rail, JG2 thematic www.chessworld.net 2008.

10.g3 Bg4 11.f4 Bf3 12.f5 Qg4 13.0-0 Bxe4


In a relatively even game Black overlooks a tactic. He should probably have looked into the idea of using his Rook at h8 to attack the White King, by advancing the h-pawn to attack the one at g3.

14.Rf4 Qh5 15.Nxe4 Qd1+


Black's game continues to falter, and soon Vlad-Tepes is swooping in for the kill.

16.Rf1 Qe2 17.d3 Rd8 18.f6




18...gxf6 19.Bh6+ Ke8 20.Nxf6+ Kf7 21.Ng4+ Ke8 22.Qh5+ 1-0






Oh, my aching neck!