While waiting to start the last round of the Chess.com Italian Game thematic tournament - and its possible last three chances to play the so-far rather successful Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - I logged on to FICS to try my hand at a number of blitz games.
It seemed like everyone wanted to play me when I had the Black pieces, but when I had the White pieces - well, take a look at the following "Accelerated Jerome Gambit Declined".
perrypawnpusher - NN
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 Black resigned.
Sigh.
Same.
Looking for precedents in the play of Wall - Guest2507113, PlayChess.com, 2013 (see "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"), I found the game Sir Osis of the Liver - Piratepaul, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2009, in The Database.
The play began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.h3 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb6 9.c4 Rf8 10.Nc3 Kg8 reaching an identical position to Wall - Guest 2507113.
This is not surprising: Bill is always the first to get the updated versions of The Database, and he likes to mine the nearly 29,000 games for inspiration for future play.
Different.
As play continued, however, Sir Osis (love that name!) had greater difficulties in the game, fell behind, and found himself in dire straits, as can be seen in the following position, where he is down a piece and a couple of passed pawns.
Play continued
30.Qxe5
When, instead of exchanging Rooks, Black pressed his attack with
30...Nf4?
White quickly noted the difference, and offered the swap himself with
31.Rxf6
Not wanting to drop a piece with 31...gxf6 and slide into what would most likely be a drawn ending, Black now played
31...Nxd3
Same.
Allowing the enjoyable win
32.Rxh6 checkmate
I recently received an email from Bill Wall, noting "I looked at your last two articles on 'not Nxe5' and since you had one of my c3 games, that now left d3 and O-O to try. So I tried them both in one game..."
Wall,B - Guest2507113
PlayChess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.0-0 d6 6.d3 h6 7.h3 Nf6
Some contemporary Jerome Gambit players, perhaps aided by computer evaluations, have opted not to make the second sacrifice, 5.Nxe5, in what was once called "Jerome's Double Gambit."
These "modern" Jerome Gambit variations leave White "objectively" better off than do the "classical" lines, but, to my mind (Rick) their lack of utter chaos makes playing the attack more challenging. Black says "hit me with your best shot."
As if that ever stopped Bill Wall.
8.c4 Rf8 9.Nc3 Kg8 10.Be3 Bb6 11.Rc1 Bd7
12.Nd5 Bxe3 13.fxe3 Be6 14.Qb3 Rb8 15.Rf2 Qd7 16.Nh4 Kh7 17.Qa4 a6 18.Qc2 Ne7
White's pieces have been probing the enemy position. Now he sees a chance to weaken the Kingside a bit.
19.Nxf6+ Rxf6 20.Rxf6 gxf6 21.Rf1
Threatening 22.Rxf6
21...f5?
Better 21...Ng6 22.Nxg6 Kxg6
22.exf5 Nxf5 23.d4
The Knight is now pinned and White threatens Nxf5
23...Rf8?
Black keeps playing reasonable moves, and they keep not working out. Bill recommends 23...Qf7 24.dxe5 dxe5 25.Qe4 Rf8 26.g4 while Houdini 3 suggests giving up the piece directly with 23...Kh8 24.Nxf5 In either case, White would still be better.
24.d5 Bf7 25.Rxf5
Threatening 26.Rxf7+, winning the Queen
25...Kg7
Threatening 26...Bg6, pinning Rook and Queen. If 27. Nxg6, then 27...Qxf5 and Black is winning.
26.Qf2 Qe7? 27.Rf3
Threatening 28. Nf5+, forking Queen and King
27...Qg5 28.Rg3 Black resigned
In the following key game, between the tournament's second place finisher and the champion, Black's slip allowed White to equalize in a 5.c3 Jerome Gambit - only to see the favor returned at the end.
CheckmateKingTwo - Daves111
ChessWorld, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.c3 d5 6.d4
This is a more energetic reply to 5...d5.
6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 dxe4
Black stays active, not bothered by his King's supposedly exposed position.
9.Ng5+ Kf8 10.Be3 Bf5 11.d5
A bit better might be 11.0-0.
11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3
Black is doing very well, but for some reason he now decides to return a piece, pretty much leveling the game.
12...Nf6 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.f3 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 exf3
In this tricky position, if White now castles (pinning the Black f-pawn), he keeps things in balance.
16.Nxf3 Re8
This is the problem with White's 16th move.
17.Kd2 Ne4+ 18.Kc1 Nxc3 19.Bc5+ Kf7 Black won on time, in a somewhat better position (if he can make something out of his two isolated, passed c-pawns).
The last two posts have shown the dangers that can befall Black if he does not react properly to 5.c3 in the Jerome Gambit. (For an oddly related game, see "Radioactive". Ouch!)
However, as others and I have shown - for an example, see one of my games in the 2008 ChessWorld.net Jerome Gambit thematic tournament - Black certainly has adequate resources.
(Ah, that was a tourney to remember! Although my success was "Overrated!" I was happy to take first place, three points ahead of the field, with a score of 16-2-0, winning 7 out of 9 games with White - and 9 out of 9 games with Black.)
The following game shows Black taking advantage of one downside of 5.c3 - Black can play 5...d5, and after 6.exd5 Qxd5 White does not have the natural hit at the Queen, Nc3.
Knight32 - AsceticKingK9
ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.c3 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.O-O Nf6 8.d3 Bf5
White needs some ideas here, and what he comes up with is not enough to steer the game in his direction.
9.Ng5+ Ke8 10.Nd2 Bxd3 11.Re1 h6 12.Ngf3 Kd7
13.b4 Bd6 14.Nb3 Rae8 15.Be3 e4 16.Nfd4 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 b6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qg4+ Kc6 20.Nd2 Rhg8 21.Qd1
The position looks ripe for a concluding sacrificial attack that ends in checkmate.
21...Bxh2+ 22.Kxh2 Rxg2+ 23.Kxg2 Rg8+ 24.Kh2 Qg5
White resigned
The defender who plays timidly against the Jerome Gambit is likely to face some annoying, advancing "Jerome pawns". This is especially the case in the 5.c3 "modern" variation of the opening, as seen in the game below.
GmCooper - ddp
blitz, FICS, 2000
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.c3 h6
One can't be too careful, I guess.
6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Be7
8.d5 Nb8
This is too much timidity, as White quickly shows.
9.Ne5+ Kf8 10.Ng6+ Kf7 11.Nxh8+ Kf8 12.Ng6+ Kf7 13.Qh5
White is ahead the exchange and a pawn, and has the initiative.
13...Nf6 14.Ne5+ Kg8 15.Qf7+ Kh7 16.Qg6+ Kg8 17.Bxh6 d6
Black could have mobilized a defense of his King with 17...Qf8 18.Nc3 d6 19.Nd3 Bd7 20.0-0 Be8 21.Qg3 Nbd7 22.Be3 when he would simply be behind in material.
Instead, he ends the pain.
18.Qxg7 checkmate
When Alonzo Wheeler Jerome played his gambit in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he aways followed up 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 with 5.Nxe5+, the move that I use to mark the "classical" side of the opening.
More recently, we have seen a selection of 5th move alternatives for White - 5.c3, 5.d3, 5.0-0, to give a few examples - so I have referred to the "not-5.Nxe5+" lines as those leading to the "modern" Jerome Gambit.
In "Ask Houdini" I indicated that it was time to take a closer look at the "modern" 5.c3. The earliest examples that I have of the move in the nearly 29,000 games of The Database are some blitz and lightning games played online at FICS by JeffreyOM from 1999 and 2000. Admittedly, this finding is of only slight historical interest, as my games collection is overwhelmingly drawn from FICS games, starting in 1999; although it can be pointed out that I have yet to find an over-the-board game with 5.c3, from any year.
In any event, here is a modern game with the modern line by a couple of modern players.
Wall,B - Zois
Chess.com, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3
Here we go. White decides to limit his generosity and not sacrifice a second piece. He prepares for a large pawn center, and, in some cases, he can bring his Queen to that a2-g8 diagonal.
5...d6
A reasonable response, although Houdini 3 prefers 5...d5. Interestingly enough, The Database has 162 games with 5...d6 (White wins 44%) and only 38 with 5...d5 (White wins 20%). This is reminiscent of Bill's reflection: why worry about a refutation if no one plays it?
6.d4 Bb6
7.dxe5 dxe5
A couple of alternative moves:
7...Nxe5?! 8.Nxe5+ dxe5? (8...Kf8 9.Qf3+ Nf6 10.Nc4 Bc5 11.e5 dxe5 12.Nxe5 Qe7 13.Bf4 h6 14.0-0 Kg8 15.Ng6 Black resigned, thmavz - miomatteo, FICS, 2011) 9.Qxd8 Black resigned, thmavz - Richad, FICS, 2012; and
7...Bg4?! 8.Ng5+? Kf8? 9.Qxg4 Qe7 10.e6 Nf6 11.Qh3 h6 12.0-0 Ne8 White resigned (this looks like a loss on time - Rick), manago - savage13, Chessworld.net, 2008.
8.Nxe5+ Ke8 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Nxc6 gxh5 11.Nxd8 Kxd8
Objectively, Black's extra piece outweighs White's 2 extra pawns, especially if you consider that he has the two Bishops. However, this is the kind of position for White that a Jerome Gambiteer is likely to be both familiar and comfortable with.
12.a4 Nf6
That didn't take long. Black is happy with his advantage, he sees nothing to fear on the Queenside, so he confidently develops his Kingside - and drops a piece. Even when defending against the Jerome Gambit, your game will not play itself.
13.Bg5 Ke7 14.e5 Rg8 15.Bxf6+ Ke6 16.g3 c5 17.f4 Bd7
18.Rf1 Bc6 19.f5+ Kd5
Black's King should stay on the Kingside to help defend against the "Jerome pawns". He can probably keep them from Queening, but only at the cost of significant material.
20.c4+ Kxc4 21.Rf4+ Kd5 22.Nc3 checkmate
