Shared Difficulty

I have always found the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit to be one of the more difficult variations in the Jerome. This is probably due to the additional development which, among other things, restricts my Queen from making wild advances.

Even Bill Wall has experienced relative "difficulty", scoring only 91% in his games with the line. The following game is quite a rarity.

Wall, Bill - Guest343560
PlayChess.com, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

5...Kxf7 6.Qe2

Also seen are 6.d4 and 6.Nxe5+.

6...d5

Other moves have allowed Bill to utilize his Queen on a different diagonal, e.g. 6...Rf8, which led to 7.Qc4+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qc4 Qe7 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nxe4 12.Nxc6 Qh4 13.O-O Rxf2 14.Nxe4 Rxg2+ 15.Kxg2 Bh3+ 16.Kh1 Qg4 17.Qf7 checkmate Wall,B - Roberts,C, Chess.com, 2010. See also Wall,B - Hamilton,E, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22); Wall, Bill - NFNZ, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15); and Wall,B - Guest1872464, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 30).

Or 6...d6 7.Qc4+ as in Wall,B - Guest1459913, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 38).

Or 6...h6 7.Qc4+ d5 8.Qxc5 as in Wall,B - DarkKnight, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 23),

7.exd5

Better was 7.Nxd5, as in Wall, Bill - Samvazpr, Chess.com, 2010 (0-1, 25) 

7...Nd4 

This is an improvement over 7...Nxd5 8.Qc4 Nce7 9.Nxe5+ Ke6 10.Qxc5 Kxe5 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.c4 b6 13.d4+ Ke4 14.Qc6 Be6 15.Qxe6+ Kxd4 16.cxd5 Qxd5 17.Be3+ Kc4 18.Rc1+ Kb5 19.Qxd5+ c5 20.O-O Rhd8 21.Qc4+ Kc6 22.b4 Kb7 23.Qd5+ Ka6 24.Qc6 Rac8 25.Qa4+ Kb7 26.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 cxb4 28.Qxb4 Rc7 29.Qb5 h6 30.Rd7 Rxd7 31.Qxd7+ Ka6 32.Bd2 g5 33.a4 g4 34.Qb5+ Kb7 35.Bxh6 a6 36.Qd7+ Kb8 37.Bf4+ Ka8 38.Qc7 b5 39.Qb8 checkmate, papernoose - jsit, FICS, 2004. 

8.Nxe5+ Kg8 9.Qc4 Qd6 10.O-O a6 11.Nd3 Ba7 12.Rb1 Bf5

Black is developing, while White struggles to get his pieces coordinated. An attack on White's King combined with an attack on his Queen brings the game to a quick conclusion.

13.a3 Ng4 14.g3 Nxh2 15.Kxh2 b5 White resigned

Ya Gotta Have Heart

Philidor1792 sends a game with the heart of the Jerome Gambit, if not the moves...

NN - Philidor1792
2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 

The Busch-Gass Gambit. In some cases it envisions a reversed Jerome Gambit. See "Worth a Second Look... "Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 and "The Busch-Gass Gambit".

3.Nxe5 Nc6 

Chiodini's Gambit. Black wishes to play a reversed Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit.

4.Nxf7 

White sacrifices first!

4...Qh4 

I referred to this move in an earlier post as "a light-hearted alternative" to 4...Qf6. For that move, see Ake - Evilone, ICC, 1998 (0-1, 24) and hitorkoal - Philidor1792, Chess.com, 2015 (0-1, 71). 

5.d4 

Not 5.Bc4 Qxf2 checkmate, Nguyen Bao Do - Dich Tai Khuu, VIE-ch, U07, 2014. 

5...Qxe4+ 6.Be3 Nxd4 7.Nxh8 Nxc2+ 8.Kd2 Nxa1 9.Qh5+ 

Is this strange enough for you?

9...g6 10.Qxh7 

White would do better to capture Black's Bishop at c5 rather than protect his Knight at h8. Bad things now happen.

10...Qc2+ 11.Ke1 Qxb1+ 12.Ke2 Qc2+ 13.Ke1 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Qxd2 checkmate

Small Smiles

I have been enjoying sharing with Readers the new pile of Bill Wall games that I have recently uncovered. There are still a good number to present.

To add to the fun, I just received a baker's dozen of games from Philidor1792 - Jerome Gambits and Jerome-inspired play.

On the internet chess circuit, as expected, Rebecca_Wiebe has won the Chess.com "Italian Game" tournament with an overwhelming score of 19-0-3. I was pleased to score 2 of those draws against her. I finished in 4th place (out of 35) with 10-6-2.

Meanwhile, the tumult continues in the Chess.com "Giuoco Piano" tournament, and when the smoke clears I may yet find myself on the top of my section and advance to the next round - by a hair's breadth.

One more game remains to be completed in the first round of another "Italian Game" tournament at Chess.com. I am the last of three from my section to move on to the second round, when it begins.  

Of Such Little Things...

Of such little things, it seems, victories are made.

In the following game the players quickly reach a Queenless middle game, with Black holding the extra piece while White has two extra pawns. Both have to decide their strategies - but, in the meantime, a small tactical "pothole" crashes the second player in short order.

Wall, Bill - Guest2651667
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5
d6 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.d3 Qxf4 10.Bxf4 Nf6 

Bill Wall, like Philidor 1792 (to name another in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde) is comfortable playing without Her Majesty.

11.Nc3 

Other games in The Database have seen 11.h3, 11.c3, 11.O-O, and 11.Be3.

11...a6 12.f3 

Bill is not in a hurry - yet. He can afford to see what else his opponent has on his mind.

12...Be6 13.Bg3 g5 14.e5 

Breaking in the center makes sense now that Black has further weakened his King with another pawn move (11...a6, 13...g5). The move also contains a trap that the second player immediately falls into.

14...dxe5

Better was 14...Nd5. 

15.Bxe5 Kf7

It all looks so routine and uneventful, but 15...Be7 was the proper defense. White could then snatch a pawn with 16.Ne4 (i.e. 16...Kg7 17.Nxg5) but Black might still have a small edge.

Now a simple combination decides.

16.Bxf6 Kxf6 17.Ne4+ Black resigned

After 18.Nxc5 White will have recovered his sacrificed piece and be a couple of pawns up; not something Black wanted to continue against.

What's The Problem?

This blog has not been shy about sharing the various "refutations" of the Jerome Gambit. White losses have been presented with Black losses.

The following game features Bill Wall, who has scored 95% with various Jerome variations - facing the Gambit.

Black wins so easily, one has to ask "What's the problem?"


Guest4027007 - Wall,B
PlayChess.com, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+

White transposes into one of the "modern" Jerome Gambit variations which does not feature Nxe5+. Recent blog posts have shown Bill winning in this manner.

5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+

This is not the preferred way to continue the attack.

A check of The Database shows that Bill has scored:

8-0 with 6.0-0;
3-0 with 6.Nc3; 
2-0 with 6.Be3; and
0-1 with 6.c3 (looks like a fluke).

6...Kg8 7.0-0

For the record, Guest1053350 - Wall,B, PlayChess.com, 2014 continued 7.c3 h6 8.Qb3+ d5 9.exd5 Na5 10.Qb5 Qxd5 White resigned. 

7...h6 

Black has a piece for a pawn. All he has to do is swap pieces and enjoy a winning endgame. Bill makes it look easy.

8.Nf3 d5 9.Nc3 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.dxe4 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Bg4 13.c3 Rf8 14.Rd3 Bxf3 15.Rxf3 Rxf3 16.gxf3 Kf7 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Rd8

See?

19.Rc1 Rd2 20.Rb1 Na5 21.h3 Nc4 22.f4 Rxb2 23.Rxb2 Nxb2 24.f5 Nd1 White resigned

All Over But the Annotations

The following Jerome Gambit game was over so quickly, it only seems fair to continue with some "what if?" annotations - from earlier Bill Wall games.

Wall,B - Guest2892618
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6

Black needed to either move his King to a safer square - 6...Ke6 - or block the check with 6...Ng6 or 6...g6. 

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Black resigned

Of course, Black could have continued with 8...Kf8 

(Instead, Wall, B - Guest1468523, PlayChess.com, 2013, continued: 8...Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.0-0 Nf6 12.Qg5 h6 13.Qxg7+ Ke6 14.d4 Black resigned.)

9.Qxc5+ d6 

(Or 9...Ne7 10.0-0 d6 11.Qe3 Be6 12.f4 Qd7 13.f5 Bf7 14.g4 Re8 15.d4 Bc4 16.Rf2 g6 17.Qc3 b5 18.b3 Bf7 19.Bh6+ Kg8 20.d5 Nxf5 21.gxf5 Re5 22.Nd2 gxf5 23.Qg3+ Bg6 24.exf5 Rxf5 25.Rxf5 Qxf5 26.Rf1 Qxc2 27.Rf8 checkmate,  Wall,B - SMNN, FICS, 2013.) 

10.Qb5 c6 

(Or 10...Nf6 11.d3 Bd7 12.Qxb7 h5 13.Nc3 h4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 h3 16.gxh3 Rxh3 17.Bg5 Qe8 18.f4 Rb8 19.0-0-0 Be6 20.Qd4 Bxa2 21.Qxa7 Be6 22.Qxc7 g6 23.f5 Black resigned, Wall,B - KSPF, FICS, 2011) 

11.Qc4 Nf6 12.0-0 b5 13.Qxc6 Be6 14.Qxb5 Rc8 15.d3 Rxc2 16.Nc3 Ng4 17.Qa4 Qh4 18.h3 Rxf2 19.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 20.Kxf1 Qf2+ 21.Qxf2+  Black resigned, Wall, Bill - Guest733407, PlayChess.com, 2014.

Never Send A Pawn to Do A Job...

I don't know if anyone ever opined "Never send a pawn to do a job a piece could do..." but the exact opposite is true in the following game. Bill Wall's 11th move improvement over an earlier game he played leads to an even faster win.

Wall,B - FJBS
FICS, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+

As befits the wackiness of the Jerome Gambit, this idea was seen in a game played 10 years earlier in a Jerome Gambit thematic tournament featuring two double-forfeits.

7.c3 Bxc3+

Bill has also faced 7...Be7 8.dxe5 Nh6 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qf5 checkmate, Wall,B - ChrSav, FICS, 2010.

An interesting idea: 7...Qh4 instead.

8.Nxc3

Stronger than 8.bxc3, as in HauntedKnight - OneNoTrump
blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 10) and shugart - chingching
blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 25).


8...Ng6 

Or 8...Nc6 9.d5 (9.0-0 Qf6 10.e5 Qg6 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Nb5 Kd8 13.Qf8+ Qe8 14.Qxe8+ Kxe8 15.Nxc7+ Ke7 16.Nxa8 Nxd4 17.Bg5+ Ke6 18.Nc7+ Kxe5 19.Rae1+ Kd6 20.Bf4+ Kc6 21.Rc1+ Kb6 22.Nd5+ Kb5 23.Rxc8 Ne6 24.a4+ Kxa4 25.Ra1+ Kb3 26.Be5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011) 9...Ne5 10.f4 Ng6 11.h4 Nxh4 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qxh4 Qxh4+ 14.Rxh4 Nf6 15.e5 Ne8 16.Be3 c6 17.0-0-0 d6 18.e6+ Ke7 19.g4 Nf6 20.f5 gxf5 21.gxf5 cxd5 22.Bg5 a6 23.Nxd5+ Kf8 24.Bxf6 Rg8 25.Rxh7 b5 26.Be7+ Ke8 27.Nf6 checkmate, Wall,B - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012. 

9.0-0 Nf6

9...d6 was AsceticKingK9 - Luke Warm, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011 (1-0, 16). Beware the "Jerome pawns"!

10.e5 Ne8 11.f4

This addition to the pawn chain is an improvement over 11.Qf3+ (but still: 11...Kg8 12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Be3 a6 14.Rae1 c6 15.Qb3 d5 16.f4 Kg8 17.f5 Nh4 18.Qc2 g6 19.f6 Be6? (19...Kf7 20.Na4) 20.Bg5 Qb6 21.Bxh4 Qxd4+ 22.Bf2 Qf4 23.Ne2 Qc4 24.Qd2 Qxa2 25.Nd4 Bf5 26.Nxf5 gxf5 27.Qg5+ Kf7 28.e6+ Kf8 29.Bc5+ Nd6 30.Bxd6+ Ke8 31.f7 checkmate, Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com 2012) 

11...Rf8

Planning to castle-by-hand.

12.f5 Ne7

For better or worse Black had to continue with 12...Kg8, returning the piece.

13.Qb3+ d5 14.exd6+ Black resigned

White will deliver checkmate in a couple of moves.