Many players question the value of the Jerome Gambit. Their task is to play one of the refutations, follow through, and claim the point. One risk, however, is that of being so dismissive of the attack that the defender becomes inaccurate in his play. Again, observe the motto: In the Jerome Gambit, Black wins by force, White wins by farce.
perrypawnpusher - strandskatan
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8 8.dxc5 Kg8
Black's play is solid and scientific. He has castled-by-hand and is ready to counter-attack.
Alternately, 8...Nc6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13); while 8...Nc4 9.Qd5+?? Nxd5 was one of my personal nightmares, perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1,9).
9.0-0 d6 10.cxd6 Qxd6 11.Qe2
After the game, Houdini recommended 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Nb5. I wasn't ready to trade Queens.
11...Bg4
Instead, 11...Be6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) while 11...Neg4 was Houdini's post-game recommendation. (Often, harassing White's Queen with a Knight proves to be a time-waster, but not in this case.)
12.f3 Bh5 13.Bf4 Qe6 14.Qf2 c6 15.g4
Objectively, not the best move, but I was pretty sure that my opponent liked his 2-piece advantage on the Kingside, and would figure that he had an extra piece to invest in an attack - if he were properly provoked.
15...Nfxg4?!
Ah, so many of us can resist anything but temptation. The boring 15...Bf7! was probably better, keeping Black's advantage.
16.fxg4 Nxg4 17.Qh4 Bg6 18.Rae1 Rad8 19.h3 Nf6 20.Bg5 Rd4
Despite Black's huffing and puffing, the game is even - which is not the expected outcome of the sacrifice.
Worse, it is time to recall the ironic aphorism inspired by many of Bill Wall's games: Often in the Jerome Gambit, when the game is equal, White is better. In this case, Black has invested (and continues to invest) too much time in his calculations, and his clock soon will become an issue.
21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Rxf6 Qe5 23.Rf4 Rd2 24.Rf2 Qd4 25.Kg2 Rxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Kf7 28.Ke3 Ke6 29.Rd1 Ke5
White's extra pawn doesn't give him much more than a slight edge, but time is now on his side.
30.Rd7 Rb8 31.a4 a6 32.a5 b5 33.axb6
Better was 33.Ra7
33...Rxb6 34.b3 Rb5
A time-pressure mistake that I missed. I wonder how much precious time my opponent spent trying to figure out why I didn't simply capture the Rook.
35.Rd4 Rc5 36.Rd3 a5 37.Na4
Almost coming to Black's rescue by dropping material - my clock was ticking too. After the game Houdini suggested the patient 37.h4 Ke6 38.Kd4 Rh5 39.Rh3 Kd6 40.Ne2.
37...Rxc2 38.Nb6
Another error.
Here, Black is better, and can now win a pawn with 38...Bxe4, but, unfortunately, he forfeited on time.
In the following game Bill Wall changes up his Jerome Gambit attack, playing 6.d4, the favorite move, at first, of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome. Can his opponent follow him through the maze?
Wall,B - Guest4060198
PlayChess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
6...Qf6
The more straight-forward 6...Bxd4 was seen in Wall,B - berserkergang, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 21) and Wall,B - Guest903719, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 47), as well as the seminal Jerome,A - Shinkman,W, 1876, (½-½, 42).
The trickier 6...Bb4+ was seen in Wall,B - ChrSav, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 11); Wall,B - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26); Wall,B - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (27); and Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31).
The questionable 6...Nf3+ was seen in Wall,B - Guest151963, PlayChess.com, 2011 (1-0,17).
6...Qh4, probably Black's strongest reply, was seen in Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 33); Wall,B - Gorodetsky,D, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 18); and Wall,B - felineMMXI, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0,18).
7.dxc5 Ne7 8.0-0 Rf8 9.Nc3 c6
Black would do better to follow through on his plan to castle-by-hand: 9...Kg8 10.f4 Nf7. The problem seems to be that he is trying to do too many good things at once - play ...Qf6, safeguard his King, hit back in the center with ...d5.
10.f4 N5g6 11.Be3 d5? 12.cxd6 Ng8
The "Jerome Pawns" are a scary sight.
13.d7 Rd8
A bit better (but not much) was 13...Bxd7 14.Qxd7+ N6e7.
14.dxc8/Q Raxc8 15.Qh5
Threatening 16.f5. White is up two pawns, with the initiative.
15...Kf8 16.e5 Qf7 17.f5 Nxe5 18.Bc5+ Ne7 19.Qxh7 Qf6 20.Ne4 Qh6 21.Qxh6 gxh6 22.f6 Black resigned
No matter how he struggles, Black is going to lose a piece and a Rook. Amazing.
The game Pete Banks ("blackburne") referred to in the last post packs a lot of interesting chess in less than a dozen moves. It blew my mind.
Clark (Halesowen),M - Lloyd (Greenlands),J
Worcester County League D2, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bd7
A bit unusual for a Philidor Defense. When I first saw it I figured that Black was planning on answering 4.d4 with 4...exd4 and then 5...Nc6.
4.d4 b5
This is Black's idea, quite unexpected. Now Houdini, analyzing, goes to town, showing White working over the Queenside and then winning a pawn: 5.Bd5 c6 6.Bb3 exd4 7.Qxd4 Na6 8.a4 Nc5 9.axb5 Nxb3 10.cxb3 cxb5 11.0-0 Nf6 12.Bf4 Be7 13.Bxd6.
5.Bxf7+
I am not going to call this a "Jerome" anything - but I like the move. The meanest thing Houdini has to say about it is that it leads to an even game.
5...Kxf7
Of course, Black has to take the sacrifice, as the oppositional 5...Ke7 is met by 6.Bxg8 h6 7.dxe5 Rxg8 8.Qd5.
6.Ng5+
This has the feel of an ad hoc attack, but there are some interesting aspects to the position, starting with the fact that Black is still weak on the light squares, even after White has sacrificed his light-squared Bishop.
6...Ke8 7.dxe5 dxe5
Played too quickly. Houdini suggests 7...Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 (8...Qxe5 9.Nd5 Na6 10.f4) 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.Qe2 h6 = (10...Qg6 11.f4) 11.Nf3 Bg4 12.0-0 Qg6 13.Re1 Qh5 14.e5 Ne7 15.Bf4 Kf7 =.
8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Qxa8 Qb4+ 10.c3 Black resigned.
I will have to keep my eyes open to see if 4...b5 ever shows its face in the Worcester County League again.
In a comment to "Curse You, Red Baron!" Pete Banks ("blackburne") wrote
Hi Rick, you seem to class anything with an early Bxf7 as some kind of Jerome these days. A member of my club recently won an OTB game in 10 moves after saccing on move 5. I would class it as a Philidor, but if you're interested, it's here:
http://www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/mcvjl.htm
My response -
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the game reference. I'll share the line with Readers in a few posts. (I'm always disappointed when my opponent plays 2...d6.)
I've expanded coverage in this blog from Jerome Gambit games to Jerome-like, Jerome-ish, and Jerome-inspired lines, as many of those who play the "standard" Jerome also like to toss in Bxf7+ elsewhere.
Best wishes,
Rick
Here we have the last of Philidor 1792's adventures with Evans Gambit / Jerome Gambit hybrids - for now. Again, Bxf7+ brings the heat.
Philidor 1792 - guest1899
blitz 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4
4...Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5
This time the Bishop goes to c5, not a5.
6.0-0 d6 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6
9.Nc3 Na5 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Bxf7+
11...Kxf7 12.Nd5 Nac6 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Ng5+ Ke8 15.Qh5+ Ng6 16.Nxh7 Kf7 17.Ng5+ Black resigned
White will pick up the Knight at g6.
As Philidor 1792 continues to expand his creativity in developing the Evans Gambit / Jerome Gambit hybrid, I struggle to keep up with names for the lines...
Here's another 3 0 smasher.
Philidor 1792 - guest2019 [C50]
3-minutes blitz www.bereg.ru (1), 20.10.2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6
Declining the pawn.
5.b5 Na5 6.Bxf7+
White will have his gambit, anyway!
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf8 8.d3
White's attack began to run down after 8.Qf3+ Qf6 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 in Castled - perrypawnpusher, blitz 3 0, FICS, 2008 (0-1, 42).
In the current game, 8.Bb2 was probably best.
8...Qf6
Here and on the next move Black misses a chance to cause mischief with ...Bd4.
9.Qf3 d6 10.Qxf6+ gxf6 11.Nf3 Ne7
Black has a piece for two pawns, but he is in unfamiliar territory, and soon loses that advantage in a Queenside skirmish.
12.Bh6+ Kf7 13.Nc3 a6 14.a4 Bd7 15.Ke2 axb5 16.axb5 c6 17.Na4 Bc5 18.b6 Nc8 19.Nxc5 dxc5 20.Bd2 Nxb6 21.Bxa5
21...Ra6 22.Rhb1 Nc8 23.Rxb7 Ke6 24.Bc3 Rxa1 25.Bxa1 Nd6 26.Rb3 Ra8 27.Bc3 Ra2
As time winds down, Black's harassing Rook will trap itself.
28.Rb2 Ra1 29.Nd2 Rh1 30.h3 Rh2 31.Kf3 Nf7 32.Rb1 Ng5+ 33.Kg3 Black resigned
While I enjoyed the earlier examples of the wild Delayed Evans Jerome Gambit, part of me was thinking "Needs more cowbell" - a phrase rather hard to explain - so I was delighted when Philidor 1792 added a Nxe5+ to the already-Jerome-ish Bxf7+ in the following game.
Philidor 1792 - guest343
blitz 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.O-O d6 7.d4 Bb6 8.dxe5
Something new.
8...dxe5 9.Bxf7+
The Delayed Evans Jerome Gambit.
9...Kxf7 10.Nxe5+
This is funny. Of course, if Black now blindly plays the Jerome-ish 10...Nxe5 he loses his Queen to 11.Qxd8.
10...Ke8 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Nxc6 gxh5 13.Nxd8 Kxd8
White's "Jerome pawns," Black's uneasy King, and the ever-ticking clock are what Philidor 1792 will count on.
14.Nd2 Nf6 15.e5 Ng4 16.Nc4 Be6 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.Bg5+ Kd7 19.a3 Ra5 20.f4 Rha8
21.f5 Bc4 22.e6+ Ke8 23.Rf4 Bd3 24.h3 Ne3 25.Rf3 Bxf5 26.Rxe3 Rxa3 27.Rxa3 Rxa3
28.e7 b5 29.Re5 Bd7 30.Re4 Ra1+ 31.Kf2 Ra2+ 32.Kg3 Bc6 33.Rf4 Rxg2+ 34.Kh4 Re2
Going after the advanced "Jerome pawn" but a better way was 34...Rxg5 35.Kxg5 Kxe7 36.Kxh5 Be8 37.Kh6 Bg6 when Black still has chances to hold on.
35.Rf8+ Kd7 36.Rd8+ Ke6 37.e8=Q+ Black resigned
Black has to give up his Bishop with 37...Bxe8, only to drop his Rook, as well, after 38.Rxe8+. Ouch.
