Why, indeed? Today jeromegambit.blogspot.com hits 2,000 posts. That's a lot of focus on "Jerome's Double Gambit" and related subjects. Many, many thanks for those who have contributed - and continue to contribute - games and analysis. With my focus on completing All or Nothing! The Jerome Gambit, I still have plenty of time for the blog that started it all, and the chess friends who have kept me company along the way. I have tried a new layout, simpler and more direct. As the Grateful Dead have noted, in another context, of course, What a long, strange trip it's been!
In the following game, HauntedKnight, a long-time Jerome Gambiteer who has almost 350 games in The Database, going back to 2004, runs into a player who wants to go all Joseph Henry Blackburne all over him. True, yerupula gets his Queen sacrifice and nifty checkmate -- but, well, that's only part of the story. HauntedKnight - yerupula standard, FICS, 2014 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
White has grabbed Black's b-pawn, at the risk of being under-developed and having his Queen offside. 10.O-O Nfg4 Black gets about moving his pieces into attacking position. Previously HauntedKnight faced 10...Qc8, with play on the Queenside, HauntedKnight - ByTheCliff, FICS, 2012 (0-1,26)
11.Nc3 It is time for White to look toward defense, as things are already turning tactical. For example, kicking the advanced Knight with 11.h3 is a good idea, although he needs to be ready for 11...Bc4!?(11...Nf6 12.f4 Ned7 has too much "retreat" in it). White should hold steady, and after 12.hxg4 Qd7 13.Qb4 Bxf1 14.Kxf1 Qxg4 15.f3 he has slowed down his opponent's harsh ideas, at least for the moment. 11...Qh4
This move is scary, but 11...Bc4!? is even scarier. 12.h3 The truth is that Black's bold Queen advance leaves his own King at risk, allowing White to balance the situation with 12.Qxc7+ followed by the defending Bf4, exchanging Queens if possible (i.e. 12...Qe7 13.Qxe7+). White's move in the game says "Hit me!" - and Black does. 12...Nf3+! 13.Kh1 Qxf2
The promised Queen sacrifice -- but does it work?? Can you see why not? (Instead, 13...Nxf2+ wins without question.) 14.Rxf2 Our chessfriend will be haunted by this position for a while, once he realizes that 14.Be3! turns the tables, defending completely and giving White the better game. Check it out. 14...Nxf2 checkmate
ZahariSokolov has played some very interesting Jerome Gambits at FICS lately. The following games shows off one of the aspects of the Jerome - that even the "winning" lines for Black are tricky for the second player, as are the "losing" lines for White. So much of the complexity this time is in the notes. ZahariSokolov - GhengusFungus standard, FICS, 2014 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
This rogue knight move marks the "Norton Variation", as opposed to one move later - 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+!? - which would lead to a very sharp and complicated Queen sacrifice that wins for Black. Nonetheless, The Database has 9 games with the Norton line, and White wins 8 of them. There are 44 games with the Queen check line, and White wins half of them. Perhaps GhengusFungus was unfamiliar with the Queen sac, or he found the Knight move to be disturbing enough. 9. gxf3 I was able to get away with the erroronious 9.Kf1? twice, in blitz games, perrypawnpusher - igormsp, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13) and perrypawnpusher - rheapennata, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 12); but long ago, at a slower pace, the Gambit's creator was not Jerome,A - Norton,D, Correspondence 1876 (0-1, 42). 9... Qh4+ 10.Kd1 Again, this is the correct square for the King, although two games in The Database show White winning after 10.Ke2?Young,J - "Chess Challenger 10" Computer, 1979 (1-0,18) and gibonacci - jschulte, GameKnot.com ,5d/move, 2007 (1-0, 48). 10... Qe7 In "Vortex" I wrote White's best chance is 11.Qe5+ Kc6 12.b4!? when White can probably eke out a draw, whether or not the pawn is captured, but the play is very difficult.
I have updated The Database with games from FICS (Free Internet Chess Server) through 2014. It now contains over 39,000 games. The basic Jerome Gambit position, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, appears in about 11,600 games. White scores 45% The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+, appears 2,300 times. White scores 38%. Interestingly, the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxf7+, appears only120 times, but White scores 65%. Note the "power" (or lack of) ...h6. This is reflected in the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+, appearing in about 160 games, where White scores 66%. Interestingly, with 4.Nc3, in about 130 games, White scores only 54%. The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+, appears in about 5,000 games, with White scoring 56%. Recent examples of the Abrahams Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+, have been added. There are a little over 2,500 examples, and White scores 50%. Because the line continues to show up, and is worth knowing, the nameless 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ appears in The Database 2150 times, with White scoring 72%. There is also a large selection of Jerome-ish lines, featuring, for example, an early Bxf7+ by White. Some Reversed Jerome Gambit games have been included, as well.
In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, a couple of kinds of players need to be mentioned: those who join because the opening looks new and interesting or challenging or fun; and those who join because they have some knowledge of the opening, and want to test their understanding against others. Although SeinfeldFan91 does not appear to have experience in the Jerome Gambit, according to The Database, he again shows an understanding of the opening beyond that of his experienced opponent, winning his mini-match with rigidwithfear, 2-0.
It is worth mentioning that Bill Wall has played this move with success on a number of occasions. 8...Be6 9.Qxb7 Nf6 10.d3 Qd7 11.Nc3 Rhb8 12.Qa6 Kg8
Finally departing from Siggus - metalshredder, standard, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 39) which had the equally playable 12...Rb6. In both cases, Black has the advantage. 13.O-O Nh4 This move and Black's next are not the best way to start the Kingside attack, as it allows the "Jerome pawns" to come to White's rescue. 14.f4 Bg4 15.f5 Nxf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qa3Bg6
Black has returned his extra piece, and now White has a pawn edge. Now SeinfeldFan91 proceeds to outplay his opponent. 18.Bg5 Rf8 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Nd5 f5 21.Qc3 Qf7 22.Qc6 Rae8 23.Rf2 Rec8 24.Re1 Qg7 25.Ne7 Black resigned
Swiss Toni, Marko Krale, jecidi (Group 1), and Red House and SeinfeldFan91 (Group 2) have advanced to Round 2.
In the ongoing RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit thematic tournament , a couple of kinds of players need to be mentioned: those who join because the opening looks new and interesting or challenging or fun; and those who join because they have some knowledge of the opening, and want to test their understanding against others.
The following game features a player who has Jerome Gambit experience - but it was not enough to prevent his opponent from evening their mini-match (see jecidi - Red House, Giuoco Piano Jerome gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2014). Red House - jecidi Giuoco Piano Jerome gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d3 A "modern" Jerome Gambit - no 5.Nxe5+. It must be said, though, that the move would be increasingly playable on White's next two moves. 5...h6 6.O-O a6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Na4 Ba7 9.c3 Rf8
Planning to castle-by-hand, but 9...b5 is stronger. 10.Re1 d6 11.b4 Kg8 Mission accomplished. 12.Be3 Bd7 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Bd4 Bxd4 16.cxd4 Re8
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