Jerome Gambit: First Blood

The Jerome Gambit has drawn first blood in the third round of the Chess.com Giuoco Piano thematic tournament. The game is not very exciting, however, and so games have been added in the notes to compensate.

perryawnpusher - AWARDCHESS
Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2017

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf6

Black's King usually retreats to the 8th rank.

8.Qxc5

Or 8.d4 Bxd4 (8...Bb4+ 9.c3 c6 10.Qg5+ Ke6 11.Qxd8 Nf6 12.Qc7 Bd6 13.Qa5 Kf7 14.e5 Re8 15.O-O Nxe5 16.dxe5 Rxe5 17.Qa4 b5 18.Qd4 Rd5 19.Qe3 Bb7 20.Nd2 c5 21.Nf3 Ng4 22.Qe1 Re8 23.Be3 Rh5 24.h3 Ne5 25.Nxe5+ Rexe5 26.Rd1 Bc7 27.Rxd7+ Re7 28.Rxe7+ Kxe7 29.Bxc5+ Kd7 30.Qe7+ Kc8 31.Qe8+ Bd8 32.Qxh5 Ba6 33.Rd1 Bc7 34.Qe8+ Kb7 35.b4 g5 36.Rd7 h5 37.Qf7 Kc8 38.Rxc7+ Kb8 39.Bxa7+ Ka8 40.Qe8+ Bc8 41.Qxc8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, FICS, 2008; 8...h6 9.Qxc5 N8e7 10.e5+ Kf7 11.Qc4+ Kf8 12.O-O b6 13.f4 a5 14.f5 Ba6 15.fxg6+ Ke8 16.Qf7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, FICS, 2013; 8...d6 9.Bg5 checkmate, mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club, 2009) 9.Qg5+ Ke6 10.Qxd8 N8e7 11.Qxc7 Ne5 12.Qa5 b6 13.Qd2 Bc5 14.Nc3 Ba6 15.Nd5 Rac8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.Qg5+ Ke6 18.Qf5+ Kd6 19.Bf4 Rce8 20.O-O-O+ Kc6 21.Bxe5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, FICS, 2014

8...d6

Not 8...Qe7 9.Qf5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - zsilber, FICS, 2010.

9.Qe3

Or 9.Qc3+ Ne5 10.f4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest4240618, PlayChess.com, 2015.

9...Nh6

The Knight can go elsewhere:

9...Ne5 10.d4 Ng4 (10...Nc4 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 b5 13.Qxc7+ Ne7 14.a4 b4 15.Qxc4+ d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5+ Be6 18.Qf3+ Ke7 19.Bg5+ Kd6 20.Nd2 Rhe8 21.Ne4+ Kd7 22.Nc5+ Kd6 23.Qf4+ Kc6 24.O-O-O Bd5 25.Na6 Kb6 26.Qd6+ Bc6 27.Nxb4 Rac8 28.d5 Red8 29.Bxd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Kc5 31.Nxc6 a5 32.Qxa5+ Kc4 33.Qb4 checkmate, MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011) 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 Black resigned MrJoker - vicwill, Internet Chess Club, 2011;

9...N8e7 10.d4 Kf7 (10...c5 11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 13.Qf3+ Ke6 14.O-O Ne5 15.Qh3+ Kf7 16.Qh5+ N7g6 17.Be3 Qb4 18.f4 Nc4 19.f5 Nxe3 20.fxg6+ Kg8 21.gxh7+ Rxh7 22.Qe8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - useche, FICS, 2010) 11.O-O Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nh8 14.Nc3 c6 15.Qg3 d5 16.f6 Neg6 17.fxg7 Kxg7 18.Be3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Nf7 20.Qf3 Ng5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Nxd5 Bg4 25.Nf4 Rf8 26.Qxb7 Rxf4 27.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf4+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, FICS, 2011.

10.f4 Re8 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Nd5+ Black resigned

Ouch. This kind of thing can happen, even in a slow game. Maybe the real world intruded. Maybe White's opening looked too innocuous to worry about in the early stages.

Winning Fast or Losing Fast?

Knowing your chess opening and what you and others have played previously is a powerful weapon in a contest.

Bill Wall's games show up over 365 times in The Database; he has a lot of experience with the Jerome Gambit - usually a whole lot more than his opponents. (As a reference, The Database's  over 51,500 games is useful, too.)

It is no wonder that the following game ends quickly. 

Wall,B - Guest4240618
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf6 

8.Qxc5

MrJoker and I have explored 8.d4: perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 41); mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club 2009 (1-0, 9); perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 16); and perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 21).

8...d6

Not 8...Qe7 9.Qf5#  perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010. 

9.Qc3+

As opposed to the retreat 9.Qe3 seen in  perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22); perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 28); MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011 (1-0, 33); and MrJoker - vicwill, Internet Chess Club 2011 (1-0, 12).

Now Bill is on his own, as there are no other examples of this move in The Database; but his opponent immediately helps him out.

9...Ne5 10.f4 Black resigned

Another Error, Another Win

Some day, maybe, I will get caught.

Oh, wait a minute. I already did get caught.

Some day, maybe, I will learn.

Oh, wait a minute, I once did know.

Well - next time I hope to remember...

In the meantime here's another Jerome Gambit game where I made what I knew was the wrong move, because I couldn't remember why it was wrong.

And I won in a near-miniature, anyhow.

perrypawnpusher - alvarzr
2 12, FICS, 2014

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf6

Last year my game against the same opponent continued 7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6  and I was out-played in a pitched battle, (missing one chance at a saving swindle) in perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, blitz, FICS, 2013, (0-1, 59). Hmmm... Looks like I haven't posted that game yet. My bad.

8.d4

I played this move even though I knew it was not the best move.

I had forgotten 8.Qxc5 d6 (8...Qe7 9.Qf5# perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010) 9.Qe3, with an edge for Black in perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22) and perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 28).

8...Bxd4

Black doubles my error and sends it back to me...

In a game six years ago my opponent back then played the correct 8...Bb4+!?, but after  9.c3 he tried 9...c6 and after 10.Qg5+ I was on my way to sweet victory in perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 41).

A more recent game - the analysis from this blog should still have been clear in my memory - saw 8...h6 9.Qxc5 with Black a bit better, in perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 16).

9.Qg5+ 

This is fine, but 9.Bg5 would have been checkmate. (And 10.Bg5 would have been checkmate against whitepandora, too!)

9...Ke6 10.Qxd8 

These kind of positions make me verrrrrrry nervous. Sure, White has a Queen and a pawn for only two pieces, but that's the problem - what if I get overconfident and blunder it all away? (Sure, that would be almost as bad as losing to the Jerome Gambit, right?)

10...N8e7 11.Qxc7 Ne5 12.Qa5 b6 13.Qd2 Bc5 14.Nc3

I briefly looked at 14.b4!? but quickly decided that I didn't need more material, I needed to escape with what I had and to find a settled position. (Thanks, Dan Heisman.)

14...Ba6 15.Nd5!? Rac8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.Qg5+ Ke6 18.Qf5+ Kd6 19.Bf4 Rce8 20.0-0-0+ 

Hold the Xanax. I think I've got things under control now.

20...Kc6 21.Bxe5 Black resigned

Lost in the Maze; Then Just Lost

If, occasionally, both my opponent and I get lost in the maze of the Jerome Gambit, I feel reassured that it is my maze, and that I will still be able to find my way out, safely.

perrypawnpusher - tjaksi
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf6 

Alert! Possible trouble on the d8-h4 diagonal!

8.d4 

Interestingly enough, Houdini shows about a half-pawn preference for 8.Qxc5 over the text. That is not immediately obvious, although both  MrJoker and I have generally had success with that move - perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9); perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22); perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 28); MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011 (1-0, 33); and MrJoker -vicwill, Internet Chess Club, 2011 (1-0, 12).

8...h6

My opponent responds to the perceived threat. The computer prefers 8...Bb4+ 9.c3  and then 9...Ke7, allowing for the Black Knight to intervene at f6, e.g. 10.Bg5+ Nf6 when White will recover one of his two sacrificed pieces, but Black will still have the advantage.

Instead, 8...Bb4+ 9.c3 c6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 41); while 8...d6 9.Bg5 checkmate, from mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club, 2009 also has to be mentioned.

9.Qxc5 N8e7 10.e5+ Kf7 11.Qc4+ Kf8 12.0-0 b6 

Black is preparing to take advantage of White's pieces on the a6-f1 diagonal. It was probably better to play the straight-forward 12...d5. 

13.f4 a5 14.f5 Ba6 

Much to my opponent's delight, I have fallen into his trap: the Black Bishop skewers my Queen. However, I've suggested in "BSJG: Don't Try To Out-Think Me", and here is another case of that. Instead, after the game Houdini recommended the related 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 Ba6 when 16.Qe4 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 d5 18.exd6 cxd6 19.Nc3 d5 would be about equal, White having a pawn for the exchange.

While Black was planning his maneuver, I used my moves to allow a discovered check.

15.fxg6+ Ke8 16.Qf7 checkmate

Pay Attention

Even when facing a refuted opening such as the Jerome Gambit, Black must pay attention and remain serious until the point has been secured. If he simply "plays moves", expecting the game to win itself, he runs the risk of taking too many chances and winding up on the wrong side of a miniature.

MrJoker  - vicwill
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf6 

This is taking a bit of an unnecessary risk.

8.Qxc5 

Or the eyeblink game: 8.d4 d6 9.Bg5 checkmate, mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club, 2009. 

8...d6 

Another quickie: 8...Qe7 9.Qf5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - zsilber, blitz, FICS, 2010. 

9.Qe3 Ne5 

Another idea is 9...N8e7, e.g. 10.d4 Kf7 (10...c5 11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 13.Qf3+ Ke6 14.0-0 Ne5 15.Qh3+ Kf7 16.Qh5+ N7g6 17.Be3 Qb4 18.f4 Nc4 19.f5 Nxe3 20.fxg6+ Kg8 21.gxh7+ Rxh7 22.Qe8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010) 11.0-0 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nh8 14.Nc3 c6 15.Qg3 d5 16.f6 Neg6 17.fxg7 Kxg7 18.Be3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Nf7 20.Qf3 Ng5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Nxd5 Bg4 25.Nf4 Rf8 26.Qxb7 Rxf4 27.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf4+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, blitz, FICS, 2011. 

Rybka suggests 9...Kf7. 

10.d4 Ng4 

Equally dismal was 10...Nc4, i.e. 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 b5 13.Qxc7+ Ne7 14.a4 b4 15.Qxc4+ d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5+ Be6 18.Qf3+ Ke7 19.Bg5+ Kd6 20.Nd2 Rhe8 21.Ne4+ Kd7 22.Nc5+ Kd6 23.Qf4+ Kc6 24.0-0-0 Bd5 25.Na6 Kb6 26.Qd6+ Bc6 27.Nxb4 Rac8 28.d5 Red8 29.Bxd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Kc5 31.Nxc6 a5 32.Qxa5+ Kc4 33.Qb4 checkmate, MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011.

Black needed to retreat the Knight to c6.

11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 Black resigned

Tactical Sloppiness

Here we have a second straight loss for me, the kind better blamed on my tactical sloppiness than on the Jerome Gambit itself, which certainly gave me chances for success.


perrypawnpusher  - wbrandl
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf6 8.Qxc5

What difference, if any, does it make that Black's King is on f6?

Before I played 8.Qxc5, I toyed with playing 8.d4, with the threat of 9.B (or Q) g5+ winning Black's Queen. I had obviously forgotten that I had played the move successfully several years ago in perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, blitz, FICS, 2008, (1-0, 41). For the same reason, 8.f4 was also playable, and also better than the text.

8...d6 9.Qe3 N8e7 10.d4 Kf7

Black tried the center/Queenside attack 10...c5 11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 in perrypawnpusher - useche, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22)

11.0-0 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nh8 14.Nc3 c6

Some of White's compensation for his sacrificed piece is Black's crowded position.

15.Qg3 d5 16.f6 Neg6 17.fxg7 Kxg7 18.Be3

A bit better was 18.Bg5

18...Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Nf7 20.Qf3 Ng5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.exd5 cxd5

After the game Rybka concluded that White had equalized.

24.Nxd5 Bg4 25.Nf4

The Knight needed to go to f6 with the possibility of continuing on to g8. The position would be complicated, but White at worst can expect to draw by repetition.

My move was made with little analysis other than thinking "this looks like a good square" and it allowed Black to bring his Rook into play, winning quickly.

25...Rf8

26.Qxb7 Rxf4 27.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf4+ White resigned