Jerome Gambit: Too Fast, Too Furious (Part 1)

I was playing my last game in the first round of the "Let's Play The Italian Game" tournament at Chess.com when, suddenly, two opponents made their moves against me in new games. Apparently, the computer scheduler had decided that I would progress to the second round of play, even if I lost the first round game (I didn't; I won it) - so, there I was, with two second round games.

Somewhat disconcerting, each of my opponents was playing quickly - in fact, one of my games ended after a day of play, rather fast given that the time control was one move per day.

Still, I was willing to move with speed, too, as we were contesting a Jerome Gambit - in a line that I had visited several times before. (Alas, I lost the other 3 games, so no more "next" round for more Jeromes.)

perrypawnpusher - TobiasBrunner
"Let's Play The Italian Game" tournament
Chess.com, 2018 

 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ 

Years ago, I labeled this finesse "a nudge". It is as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, US, 1875 (1-0, 28). In a blitz game, it can get Black wondering what White is up to - using up precious time.

7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 

After the game, I put Stockfish 9 in "blunder check" mode to look at the game. Initially, it liked 9.Qc3 Qg5 10.Qg3 Qxg3 11.hxg3, with Black's advantage less than a pawn. That seems a bit silly to me, White moving his Queen 5 times, only to let it be exchanged.

According to The Database, I have reached the diagrammed position 83 times in my games. I must have learned something about the line.

9...Nf6 10.O-O Kf7 

Black sensibly prepares to mobilize his Rook, and possibly castle-by-hand.

A major alternative is 10...Ng4.The proper response is 11.Qg3!,and this is reminiscent of the series of posts I did a while back on "Jerome Gambit Secrets". A strong and experienced Jerome Gambiteer tried 11.Qe2, instead, and perished quickly: mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008 (0-1, 14). Another played 11.Qc3 and needed all of his Houdini-like powers to escape and turn the tables: Wall,B - Guest1660564, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 32). 

I have played 11.Qg3 with mixed results: perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 14), perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 49), perrypawnpusher - FiNLiP, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 59). For a couple of more modern examples, from stronger players, see Sheldrick,K - Bhat,V, Australian Open, 2017 (1-0, 20) and Morin,L - Weston,P, Quebec Open, 2018 (1-0, 54)

11.f4 Re8 12.f5 

I have been pretty successful with this thematic move (10 - 4 - 1), chasing the Knight, so I was surprised to see, after the game, that Stockfish 9 recommended 12.Qb3+!? instead. The Database has only one game with that move, a win by Black in 25 moves.

12...Ne5 13.d4 

Here, again, the computer prefers 13.Qb3+, followed by 14.d3, which seems to lock the Queen on the Queenside. (There are no game examples in The Database.) As we will see, Stockfish's preference is based on disliking Black's next move.

13...Neg4 

[to be continued]

Beware the Jerome Gambit!

Well, Okay, maybe that title is a bit over-done...


How about: Do Not Underestimate the Jerome Gambit ?


Or: Laugh At Your Own Risk.


perrypawnpusher (1798) - narvi (1957)
Italian Game - Round 1, Chess.com, 2012


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

I am generally happy when my opponent plays this line, as it usually means that he is working things out over-the-board. It also gives me the opportunity to grab his annoying dark-squared Bishop, and set up play with the 2 "Jerome pawns" against his extra piece.


7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

10.0-0 Ng4


This move indicates more than a wish to harass the Queen. Black plans to exchange Queens, stifling any of White's ideas for a quick attack. This is one downside of the 6...Ng6 line.


11.Qg3


As we have seen before, 11.Qe2 is a surprisingly quick route to trouble for White, as in mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008.


11...Qh4


I have faced 11...h6 in perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 14); 11...h5 in perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18); and 11...Rf8 in perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 49); and only the last move gave me trouble.


12.Qxh4 Nxh4 

13.f4


This may be a tiny bit better than 13.d4. For that matter, 13.Nc3 may be just as good as the text. Of course, transpositions can occur, to.


13...Rf8


This looks like the beginning of castling-by-hand, but Black eventually opts to move his King toward the Queenside.


Bill Wall, who has played the Jerome Gambit many times, successfully, has reminded me on more than one occasion that although Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's creation has its refutations, not many of the people who defend against it actually know them. At the very least, it costs time on the clock to suss them out.


14.d3


It is probably a tossup as to whether 14.f5 or 14.Nc3 are better.


14...Ng6 15.Nc3 c6 

White's plan is to advance his "Jerome pawns" and make some kind of mischief. At the same time, he has to be aware that one of Black's defensive ideas is to return the extra piece for two pawns.


Black seems unsure about taking a decisive step, and puts his moves together as necessary. 


16.Bd2 Kd8 17.f5 Ne7 18.h3 Ne5 19.g4 

White feints at the Kingside, but I mostly wanted to secure the pawn at f5 before advancing the e-pawn.


19...Kc7 20.Bg5 Kd8


Complications. Black wants his Rook on the f-file to restrain White's f-pawn. At the same time, he needs to protect his Knight at e7; and putting the Rook at f7 would allow White to drive the Knight at e5 to the Queenside with d4. Still, events that follow suggest that 20...Ng8 might have been more in line with what Black hoped for.


21.d4 Nf7 22.Bf4 

22...a5 


Black plans to put his Bishop at a6, and kick White's Knight with b7-b5-b4. This struck me as a bit odd, but my opponent was rated a good bit more than me, so what did I know? 


Rybka's suggestion after the game isn't any more dynamic: 22...g6 23.Rae1 b6 24.Rf3 h5 25.f6 Ng8 26.g5 Re8 27.Rfe3 Bd7 28.Kg2 with an even position. 


23.e5 dxe5 24.dxe5 b5 


After the game Rybka suggested that Black could keep White's advantage small by sacrificing the exchange: 24...Nxf5 25.gxf5 Bxf5 26.e6 Bxe6 27.Rad1+ Ke7 28.Be3 Ke8 29.Bc5 b6 30.Bxf8 Kxf8.


I'm pretty sure that neither my opponent nor I were thinking along those lines!


25.e6 Nh8 

White's advantage in development has to be decisive here. It is almost as if he sacrificed a piece to get to this position. Oh, wait - he did!


26.Rad1+ Ke8 27.Bc7 Ba6


Black should be thinking about returning a piece for a couple of pawns, but the risk is that White's remaining "extra" pawn is liable to be advanced and dangerous.


28.Rd6 

I had looked at the stronger 28.Rd7 Nd5 29.Nxd5 cxd5 but had only considered the mundane follow-up, 30.Rxd5, whereas 30.Rxg7 would have created serious threats from the advancing e- and f-pawns. 


28...Nd5 29.Nxd5 cxd5 30.Rxd5 b4 31.Rfd1 g6 

Black has chased away White's Rook from f1, and has pressure on the white pawn at f5, but White's development decides the game.


32.Rd8+ Rxd8


White sets his e-pawn up to Queen after 32...Ke7 33.R1d7+ Kf6 34.g5+!? (34.e7 mops up after 34...Re8 35.Rxa8 Rxa8 36.Rd8 Kxe7 37.Rxa8 Nf7 38.Rxa6 but without the pawn Queening) 34...Kxg5 35.e7


33.Rxd8+ Ke7 34.Bd6+  After this shot, Black resigned

I was really happy to find the Bishop move, the Rook "sacrifice" is a sham: 34...Kxd8 35.e7+ and the pawn will both capture the Rook and promote to a Queen.

Deep Thinks

Although the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game was played at blitz speed (2 12), it contained two relatively long "deep thinks". With mine, I accidentally avoided an immediate destruction; with my opponent's, he immediately percipitated one.

perrypawnpusher - lorecai
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.0-0 Ng4

This is a multi-purpose move: attacking the Queen, preparing to attack the King (if White castles Kingside) and arranging to exchange Queens, if need be.

Our earlier game went 10...Rf8 11.f4 Ng4, perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47).

11.Qg3

This was my move choice after a pretty deep think, at least for a blitz time control. It seems like a prety obvious move, and I would bet that my opponent was wondering what was taking me so long to find it. What could I possibly be seeing in the position??

In part, I didn't like 11...Qh4 as a response, forcing the exchange of Queens, although things worked out well for tedhorst and Ghandy in their games with that move: tedhort - popasile, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 30) and Ghandy - julianaajedrez, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 26, a loss on time in an even game).

In my deliberations I eventually discarded 11.Qe2 – a move which, unbeknownst to me, quickly goes horribly wrong: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ White resigned, mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008.

So, although I did not come up with anything spectacularly good with my "deep think" at least I did not come up with something spectaularly bad, like 11.Qe2 would have been. 

11...h6

I am not sure what to think about this move. It could have been a mouse-slip for an intended 11...h5, as I faced last year in perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18).

In any event, it un-protects  the Black Knight at g6, which makes my next move easy to see (although 12.f3 might have been a tiny bit better).

12.h3 N4e5

It might have been time to try the "fishing pole" move, 12...h5!?, although the placement of White's Queen allows him to take the Knight and survive, e.g. 13.hxg4 hxg4 14.f4!? followed by developing the rest of his pieces and attention to defense (of course).

13.d4

For concrete reasons, 13.f4, which accomplishes the same thing (attacking and either winning or chasing away the defender of the Knight on g6), was better.

After the text, Black now has 13...Qh4, and 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 would only give White a small edge. If White opts to exchange Queens himself after 13...Qh4 with 14.Qxh4, Black would have the annoying 14...Nf3+ which breaks up White's pawns, 15.gxf3 before recapturing the Queen with 15...Nxh4. As White would then be due to lose another pawn, his advantage, again, would be small.

My opponent went into a deep think now.

13...Qg5

Wow.

Was this another mouse-slip for an intended 13...Qh4 ? Or was he counting on seeing 14.dxe5 Qxg3 15.fxg3 Nxe5 ?

Either way, this was an unfortunate move.

14.Bxg5 Black resigned

Knights

    Jerome Gambit vs those Knights.

perrypawnpusher - Riversider

blitz, FICS, 2010

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

A normal setup for the Jerome Gambit. Often the Black Knights like to kick the White Queen.

10.0-0 Ng4 11.Qg3

Better than the dangerous 11.Qe2 Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ White resigned, mrjoker - weiran, ICC, 2008.

11...h5

Or 11...Qh4 12.Qxh4 Nxh4 as in tedhort - popasile, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 30) and Ghandy - julianaajedrez, FICS, 2009 (0-1,26)

12.h3 h4 13.Qb3

I didn't like taking the Queen away from the Kingside – but, those Knights!

13...N4e5

Black missed a dynamic attacking line that Rybka pointed out after the game: 13...Nf4!? 14.Qf3 Rf8 15.hxg4 Qg5 16.Kh2 Bxg4 17.Qe3 Kd7 18.d3 Bd1 19.Rg1 Bxc3 and Black has an edge in the resulting messy position.

analysis diagram







14.f4 Nc6 15.Nc3 Qf6 16.d3 Qd4+ 17.Kh1 Nf8

Surprisingly, this re-deployment is fatal. The Knight needed to go to e7.

18.Nd5 Kd8

Black played his move, and then Resigned, seeing that his Queen is trapped after 19.Be3.

Out of a clear sky...

In posts like "I apologize, Jerome Gambit" and "Diagnosis: Misplaced Knight" I have fussed and fumed about the kind of bother that Black's Knights can cause, even in main-line Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), so when I saw the following game, I thought I'd share it: for those who defend the Jerome, another annoying idea; and for those who play the Jerome, something to prepare for...

mrjoker - weiran
blitz 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2008

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

I have 29 games in my database with this position – almost 2/3 by Louis Morin ("mrjoker") – so, you see, lightning can flash out of a clear sky and strike even the best of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde.

10.0-0 Ng4 A new move. Where should the Queen go?

Rybka 3.0 suggests the line: 11.Qg3 Rf8 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.d4 Nh5 14.Qe3 Nhf4 15.g3 Nh3+ 16.Kg2 Kf7 17.f4 with a small, but bearable, advantage to Black.

The move White chooses seems thematic (i.e. centralized and on the file opposite the un-castle-able King) in a harmless position.

11.Qe2 Qh4

Suddenly, things are very bad.

12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5

Annoying, yes?

White's response now loses his Queen, but Rybka 3.0 suggests that the "best" move was to give it up anyway with 14.Qxf4.

14.Qc3 Ne2+ White resigned

A lesson worth remembering.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws