One reason to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is that you might cause your opponent to break out laughing. Who doesn't need a good laugh these days?
In the following game, though, Black is probably not even over his giggles before he realizes that he has a worse – not winning – game.
Not funny!
jfhumphrey - sniktawiii
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
A line that we have seen that jfhumphrey likes (see "Danger? He laughs at danger!").
6...Bd6
A more active alternative touched upon recently was 6...Bb4+; and of course there were always the straight-forward 6...Bxd4 and the scary 6...Qh4.
Black, rated about a couple hundred points higher than his opponent, covers his surprise at facing the Jerome Gambit by borrowing the Bishop move from the "fork trick".
7.dxe5 Bxe5
Not the best response, but who would think up Rybka 3's suggestion of 7...Bb4+ 8.c3 Bf8 and a roughly even game?
8.Qd5+
Best.
At this point Black resigned in jfhumphrey - stefanomnn, blitz, FICS, 2010.
White has had experience with the alternative 8.Qh5+ as well, in jfhumphrey - jrhicksdotnet, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 14) and jfhumphrey - biryuk, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 65).
8...Kf6 9.f4 d6 10.fxe5+ Black resigned
Black is only down a pawn, but the fun seems to have gone out of the game.
This column was inspired by several recent Jerome Gambit games where White won, although he could have made use of a shortcut to win even faster. With a dicey opening like the Jerome, you grab what you can, when you can!
Because of lessons learned last year, as we will see, this post could also be titled "What jfhumprey learned".
Teterow - Neca
lightning, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
6...Bd6
Black does better with 6...Bxd4 and best with 6...Qh5.
7.dxe5 Bxe5
Despite my previous championing of 8.Qh5+, I think that 8.Qd5+ is simplest and strongest, winning back the piece and leaving White a pawn up, with a safer King.
The current game continued 8.0-0 and White won in 30 moves. A similar game between the same players, the same day, also continued 8.0-0 and White won in 35 moves.
By comparison, HauntedKnight - oldway, blitz, FICS, 2011 continued 8.Qh5+ (1-0, 19), as did HauntedKnight - evgehy, blitz game FICS, 2011 (1-0, 64) and HauntedKnight - sarahdaniel, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 9; hard to beat that). Again, all games were wins, but 8.Qd5+ might have led to a quicker conclusion in 67% of them.
In light of the above, it is educational to play over jfhumphrey - Cibola, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 28) and jfhumphrey - biryuk, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 65) – again, each having reached the third diagram, above – if only to appreciate the later jfhumphrey - stefanomnn, blitz, FICS, 2010 where White discovered 8.Qd5+ and was rewarded with 8...Resigns.
