The Writer Could Well Have Been Thinking of the Jerome Gambit

 

The following excerpt is from the June 11, 2017 Los Angeles Times. The writer could well have been thinking of the Jerome Gambit...

Over the centuries, many practice drills and exercises have been devised to help players increase their skills.

No matter how talented at chess we may be, there will be games where our foes will have simply outplayed us. That’s when we will need to put up the tough defense, find hidden resources, or just struggle on in hopes of a miraculous salvation. Why not prepare for these inevitable times by drilling with a handicap? On the Internet Chess Club, I have seen games in which a player just gives away a piece to intentionally practice being materially down. A audaciously amusing example is: 1.Nf3 c5 2. Ne5 d6 3.Nxf7?!. For his donated piece, White partly exposes Black’s King and becomes unable to castle.

Another common one is: 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5?! This opening even sports some names: the Razzle Dazzle Gambit, Irish Gambit and Chicago Gambit. By sacrificing a knight for a pawn, White does get a full pawn center and a tempo or two. He is forced, though, to attack at all costs before Black’s extra man makes a fatal difference. An amusing story is told that the gambit was created by a player who confessed before dying that he simply did not see that the e5 pawn was defended.

A scarier version of this idea is appropriately called the Halloween Gambit. Starting off as a tame 4Knight’s Opening, White sacrifices his knight right away. Take a look at this short spectacular example, finishing with a queen give-away and a minor piece mate: [Brause-N.N., 1997] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 8.Qf3 f6 9.0–0 d5 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 N8e7 12.Qxf6 gxf6 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Bh6 mate.

Jerome Gambit: Terminal Oversight

In the following game, White - Andrew Tang, a very strong blitz and bullet player - plays the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) quickly and aggressively, stays in the game, and punishes his opponent when the opportunity presents itself. The whole thing took less than a minute.

 

penguingim1 - sutcunuri

1/2 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6

Black adopts the "annoying" or "silicon" defense. Silicon - because it is a favorite of computer chess engines. Annoying - because giving back a piece in this way takes a lot of the energy out of White's attack, while Black's King chuckles at him from e6.

To see this line in human vs human play is strongly suggestive that Black is familiar with the Jerome Gambit. Good for him - but the time control in this game is 1/2 minute, no increment, so it will take more than a good defense to win the game.

8.Nc3

The computers like 8.fxe5, but I suspect that White played the text move instantly. This is bullet chess. Develop quickly. Attack quickly. Win quickly. Write your annotations slowly.

8...Nf6 9.Qg5 Kf7 

10.fxe5 dxe5 11.Qxe5 Bd4 12.Qf4 Bxc3 13.dxc3 Re8 

14.O-O Kg8 15.e5 Nd5 16.Qf7+ Kh8 

White has castled. Black has castled-by-hand. Black has an extra piece, White has two extra pawns.

Who will blink first?

17.Bg5 Qd7 

Terminal oversight.

18.Qf8+ Black resigned

It is checkmate the next move.

Jerome Gambit: It's A Busy World

Chess players are busy. When they can, they catch a game. Often they play online, because it can be easier than travelling down to a club. Often they play blitz, because they can get in a game - or more - without consuming too much time.

There are some internet sites where players can find time limits of one move a day, or even one move every three days.

Think of what wonders someone could come up with, if he or she devoted 72 hours of thought to every move!

More likely players race around in their hectic worlds, using up most of their chess "clock" time surviving in the real world. Then, they are happy to be able to excape for a minute or two, to find a move - before disappearing back into the chaos.

That's my explanation for the following game. It's a busy world.  

onPoyntz - greatscotch7767

1 move / day, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 

This is a perfectly playable move for Black, but if this game were a scary movie, you would begin to hear violins in the background...

7.e5 Nd5 

It was safer to begin thinking about returning a piece with 7...d5 or at least hiding a Knight with 7...Ng8. Still, after the text, Black is better.

8.Qf3+ Ndf4 

Again, it was prudent to look at 8...Nf6, as Black is a couple of pieces ahead. Again, Black is still better - but he appears to not be digging into the positions.

9.Bxf4 Kg8

Instead, 9...Nxf4 10.Qxf4+ Kg8 11.d5 would be funny looking, but Black would still have a piece (and the two Bishops) for two pawns and would be just fine.

10.Qd5 checkmate

Ouch.

We have seen this kind of thing before. Take a look at "Jerome Gambit: Iconic 9-Move Checkmate", for starters.

Jerome Gambit: Not-So-Evil Twin

The "Nibs" variation of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a dangerous line - for White - based on an imaginary game presented in the June 1899 issue of the American Chess Magazine. It involves a complicated Queen sacrifice by Black, and although nowadays both Stockfish 11 and Komodo 11 prefer a slightly different line (see below) it still is necessary for the first player to keeps his wits about himself in order to survive.

The following game presents the not-quite-twin of Nibs. How much of a difference does one move make? Quite a lot, it turns out.

John_Koss - obrigachka

5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3 a6 

Instead of hitting the enemy Knight with f2-f4, White first develops a piece - and Black takes immediate steps to keep it out of b5, where it could check the King.

9.f4 Qh4+ 10.g3 Nf3+ 

Wow. What's going on here?

The His Nibs variation arises after 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+, and has been seen as recently as Wall - Guest1692544, PlayChess.com, 2020 (which continued 10.Kd1 Qe7?? 11.Qd5#) and SanitationEngineer  - GM_dmitrij, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 28.08.2020 (1-0, 28) & SanitationEngineer - GM_dmitrij, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020 (1-0, 19). Its continuation, with some analysis, can be seen in "Sailing Off the Edge of the World" - but the title of that post gives you some indication of the risks involved, e.g. 10.Kd1 Ne7 11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Nd5 and it goes on... 

To be honest, The Database has 57 games with the position after 9...Nf3+, and White wins 59% of the time, which goes to show that players who know the Jerome Gambit benefit from that knowledge, even in dangerous lines. But: be careful!

Meanwhile: in the current game, how are things changed by the insertion of  8.Nc3 and 8...a6 ? Because of White's pressure (with the Knight) on d5, Black's tactics surrounding ...d5 no longer work, so his Queen sacrifice on h4 no longer works, so he has to find a decent retreat for Her Majesty...

11.Kd1 Qf6 

Stockfish 11 (34 ply) prefers 11...Qh6, and even suggests that Black's King can scamper to safety after 12.Qe5+ Ke7 13.Qxc5+ d6 14.Qxc7+ Bd7 with a seriously unclear position.

There are many times when ...Qf6 is part of a solid defense, but, in this case, it is a blunder.

12.Qd5+ 

White decides to win the Bishop, instead of the Knight (which gives up a couple of pawns), but stronger was 12.e5+ Nxe5 13.fxe5+ Qxe5 because of 14.Ne4+!? which he must have overlooked. Black's best is then to get something for his Queen with 14...Qxe4 15.Qxe4. My guess is that White saw 14...Kd5 as a way out for Black, and it takes a bit of work to show that White still wins - 15.c4+ Kd4 (to keep protecting the Queen) 16.Qf3 Kxc4 (other moves lead to checkmates) 17.Qb3+ Kd4 18.Qc3+ Kd5 19.Qxc5+ Ke6 20.Ng5+ Qxg5 21.Qxg5 and Black has dropped his Queen, anyhow.

It is important to remember 2 things:

1) this is a blitz game, and such analysis is more fitting of play at classical time controls; and

2) White's move leads to advantage, as well.

12...Ke7 13.Qxc5+ d6 

14.Nd5+ Kf7 

A mistake. White's Queen excapes the attack on her, Black's does not. Instead, 14...Kf8 15.Qxc7 Qd4 16.Qxd6+ Kf7 17.Qc7+ Ke8 18.Ne3 Qd7 would have allowed him to play on. 

15.Qxc7+ Black resigned

JG: The New (Part 3)

JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 3)

 

 (by Yury V. Bukayev) 

 If you play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qh3+ against the opponent who isn’t too cautious, then he’ll probably prefer to fight in a position that is unknown to him (7…Ke7 or 7…Kd6) instead of the cautious move 7…Kf7, although he understands that 7.Qh3+ is probably a theoretical novelty and a good move for Jerome Gambit (JG) theory. The move 7…Ke7 was considered particularly in Part 2. Now I start to look at the complicated variation 7…Kd6. I think, 8.Nc3! is theoretically the best move here. Black has a lot of possible responses here: 8…Qf6, 8…Ke7, 8…Kc6, 8…c6, 8…Qf8 etc., and Black should defend very exactly even after the strongest of these moves. Let’s consider some of White’s traps (your opponent has shown by his 7th move that he is enough brave chess player):  

8…Qf6 9.d4 Bxd4!? 10.Nb5+ Kc5? [10…Ke7! (Black returns one piece – the dark-squared Bishop, so it makes the position slightly similar to the position after 7…Ke7 8.Qc3!?)] 11.Nxd4 Kxd4? 12.Qe3! Kc4 13.a4 +- ; 

8…Qf6 9.f4 Qxf4? [9…Bf2+ 10.Ke2! Qxf4?! 11.d4! Qg4+ (11…Qh4 12.dxe5+ (with the idea Qh3-f5 or Qh3-d3), and White stands better) 12.Kxf2 Qxh3 13.dxe5+ Kxe5 14.gxh3, and the formation of a material equality gives a chance to White; after 9…Kc6 the moves 10.Ne2!? and 10.b4!? give a chance to White.] 10.d4! Qf6 11.dxe5+ Qxe5 12.Rf1! Black has an extra Bishop, but White stands better.

Jerome Gambit: I Don't Know What To Say...

I continue to be amazed by chess players who can play at bullet speed - 1 minute, no increment - and not only use the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) but also play an interesting game - and win! The following game - with 78 moves, which means less than a second per move - left me speechless.

Anonymous - Anonymous

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

A position familiar to many Jerome Gambit players has arisen. White has two pawns for his sacrificed piece. He continues to develop, while safe-guarding his King and grabbing a second pawn. He is not distressed to see the Queens leave the board.

10.d3 Qe7 11.Nc3 d5 12.exd5 Qxe3+ 13.Bxe3 Ng4 14.O-O-O Nxe3 15.fxe3 Bg4 16.Rhf1+ Ke7 17.Rde1 Rhf8 

Like Mr. Rogers would say, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The computer rates Black a little bit better, but in a club game - and a bullet one at that - White has plenty of chances to use his "Jerome pawns".

18.e4 Rxf1 19.Rxf1 Rf8 20.Rxf8 Kxf8 21.g3 Ke7 22.Kd2 c6 23.dxc6 bxc6 24.Ke3 Kd6 

Readers, please don't leave. I promise you, things will become interesting.

25.d4 Be6 26.e5+ Ke7 27.Ne4 Nf8 28.b3 h6 29.c4 a5 30.Nc3 Nd7 31.d5 cxd5 32.cxd5 Bg8 33.Kd4 g5 

If it looks like White's pawns give him the advantage - you are right. Things are going to get even more interesting.

34.Ne4 Kf7 

A slip.

35.e6+ Ke7 36.exd7 Kxd7 37.Nf6+ Ke7 38.Nxg8+ Kf7 39.Nxh6+ Kg6 40.Ng4 Kf5 41.Ne5 g4 

Okay, White has outplayed his opponent, and is up a piece and 3 pawns. BUT - this is a bullet game, and the clock can easily determine the winner. So, Black plays on. It is not clear if White is amused or not.

42.d6 Kf6 43.Nxg4+ Ke6 44.d7 Kd6 

Could be a mouse slip, could be a hope to reach a stalemate position in a deadly time scramble.

45.d8=N 

Interesting.

45...Kd7 46.Nf7 Kc6 47.Nfe5+ Kb5 48.Ne3 Kb4 49.N3c4 a4 50.bxa4 Kxa4 

51.g4 Kb4 52.h4 Ka4 53.h5 Kb5 54.g5 Kb4 55.h6 Ka4 56.h7 Kb4 57.g6 Ka4 58.g7 Kb4 59.h8=N Ka4 60.g8=N 

Okay...

60...Kb4 61.Nhf7 Ka4 62.Kc3 Kb5 63.Nf6 Ka4 64.Ng5 Kb5 65.Neg4 Ka4 66.Nh5 Kb5 67.Nf4 Ka4 68.Nce5 Kb5 69.Neg6 Ka4 

The Knights consult.

70.Kc4 Ka3 71.N6e5 Ka4 72.Ne4 Ka3 73.Ne3 Ka4 74.Ned3 Ka3 75.Ndc5 Kxa2 76.Nfd3 Ka1 77.Nc2+ Ka2 78.Nc3 checkmate

Um... yeah... right. Amazing as well as amusing.

Jerome Gambit: Relax at Your Own Peril

By now, Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)

players are familiar with the "Halo Effect" and the "Negative Halo Effect". If there is something positive about you, many people may figure that there are a lot of positive things about you. In the other direction, if there is something negative about you, many people may figure that there are a lot of negaative things about you.

So, if you start the game with a wild and wacky refuted opening, your opponent may well relax, because he figures the rest of your play will be equally sketchy.

The following game shows that this kind of relaxation is not good for one's chessic health.

PearsonHardman - BozGoord

2 1 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 

Also recently seen: 10...Qf6 11.Qg3+ Ke7 12.Nc3 c6 13.d4 Bb6 14.Bg5 Black resigned, Wall,B - RRGP, FICS, 2020.

11.d3 

This move protects the e-pawn - but, what else does it do?

11...b5 

Uh, it lets Black fianchetto his light-square Bishop??

12.Bf4 

Oh... yeah... that.

The Database shows 18 games with this pin & win of the Queen. 

12...Bb7 13.Bxe5+ Kxe5 

Black has two pieces for his Queen, but he will soon lose another. He plays on, perhaps rooting for the clock to take out his opponent.

14.Nc3 Raf8 15.O-O-O a6 16.Qf5+ Kd6 17.e5+ Kc6 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Qd5+ Kb6 20.Qxd7 Black resigned

White's King is safe, Black's King is not. Defending a position where you are down a Queen and a pawn, with only a piece compensation, is not all relaxing.