I have not had the time to play much chess on the internet these days, but I still try to get in a Jerome Gambit or two at Chess.com, where I can play at 2 or 3 days per move. The following is the most recent to finish.
perrypawnpusher - 4xel Chess.com, 2017 My opponent in the following game challenged me to a Jerome Gambit, wondering what new tricks I had in store. It turns out that I was not the one who brought new ideas to the board. I was fortunate to find a drawing line. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
I think that this is the first and only time that I have played this move, as opposed to over 280 games with 6.Qh5+. Bill Wall has had a lot of success with the line. On the other hand, Bill has had a lot of success with all Jerome Gambit lines. 6...Qh4 Uh-oh. This is what I have called the Pie-in-the-Face Variation. It is at least as old as Sorensen - X, Denmark, 1888 (see below). It is probably Black's strongest response. Figures. At one point in the game my opponent took some "vacation" time away from the board to complete exams. Just my luck to be playing a hard-working student. 7.O-O Qxe4 The alternative, 7...Ng4, was seen in a number of games, including: 8.h3 Bb6 (8...Bd6 9.e5 Bxe5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Qd5+ Kf6 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nc3 d6 14.Be3 Ke7 15.Rae1 Kd8 16.Nb5 Nf6 17.Qc4 Ne8 18.Bf2 Qf6 19.Bd4 Qh4 20.Rxe8+ Kxe8 21.Nxc7+ Kf8 22.f5 Ne5 23.f6 gxf6 24.Qd5 Kg7 25.Qxd6 Rg8 26.Rxf6 Qxf6 27.Bxe5 and won, Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888) 9.hxg4 (9.Qf3+ N4f6 10.e5 Bxd4 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.c3 Bb6 13.Nd2 Rf8 14.Ne4 Qxe4 15.Qd1 d5 16.Re1 Qf5 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.Rxe3 Bd7 19.Rf3 Qe5 20.Qd2 Rae8 21.Re3 Qd6 22.Rxe8 Rxe8 23.b3 Qe5 24.Rf1 Bc6 25.Kh1 Qe2 26.Qc1 d4 27.cxd4 Qe4 28.d5 Qxd5 29.f3 Kg8 30.Rd1 Qe6 31.Qf4 Nd5 32.Qd4 Ne3 33.Rc1 Bxf3 34.Kg1 Nxg2 35.Rxc7 Qe3+ 36.Qxe3 Nxe3 37.Kf2 Bc6 38.b4 Nd5 White resigned, Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008) 9...d6 10.f3 Be6 11.Be3 Bc4 12.Re1 Ne7 13.f4 Rhe8 14.Nd2 Ba6 15.Nf3 Qg3 16.a4 Ba5 17.c3 Kf8 18.b4 Ng6 19.f5 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Qxf4 21.Qc2 c5 22.bxa5 Qxg4 23.Rad1 cxd4 24.Rxd4 Qg3 25.Qb3 Qf4 26.Qb1 Qg3 27.e5 g6 28.Rxd6 Re7 29.f6 Ree8 30.Qb4 Bb5 31.Rd8+ Kf7 32.e6+ Kxf6 33.Qd4+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com, 2010. 8.dxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qc6
The placement of Black's Queen looks okay, although it has gone elsewhere: 9...Qc4 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bd4 d6 12.b3 Qa6 13.cxd6 Qxd6 14.Nb5 Qc6 15.Nxa7 Rxa7 16.Bxa7 b6 17.Qd4 Ba6 18.c4 Nf3+ 19.gxf3 Qxf3 20.Qd1 Re2 21.Qd8 Qg4+ 22.Kh1 Bb7+ White resigned, Wall,B - Guest6296711, PlayChess.com 2014 10.Bg5 I figured there was no sense worrying about the pawn at c5, and went right ahead with development. Two Bill Wall games: 10.Re1 d6 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.Bf4 Nf3+ 13.Qxf3 Qb6 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Bxc7+ Qf6 16.Qxd5+ Be6 17.Qxb7 Rhe8 18.Bd8+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Gorodetsky,D, Chess.com, 2010. 10.Qd4 Ng6 11.f3 Re8 12.Be3 b6 13.b4 bxc5 14.bxc5 Nf8 15.a4 Ne6 16.Qc4 d6 17.Rfd1 dxc5 18.Bg5 Black forfeited by disconnection, Wall,B - felineMMXI, blitz. FICS, 2011. 10...b5
Wow. This is a novelty, and a good one. My "safer" castled King is about to experience some heat. 11.Bxf6 Bb7 Of course. Makes you wonder who is the Jerome Gambit "expert". 12.Qh5+ Wishing I had played this 6 moves earlier. 12...Kxf6 13.f3 Qxc5+ 14.Kh1 g6 15.Qh3 Bc6
I reminded myself that I had seen better Jerome Gambit players get out of worse positions than this. I told myself to develop and keep my eyes wide open. 16.Rae1 Rae8 17.Ne4+ If we were playing blitz, I would have tried 17.Re4. I wasn't happy giving up the Knight, but I needed the tempo and the enemy Bishop had been a pain. 17...Bxe4 18.Rxe4 Re7
Black only has to swap off the heavy pieces and his Knight will then guarantee victory. Still, this move whispered to me "possible swindle" so I kept my hopes up. 19.Rfe1 Rhe8 20.Qg3 Qxc2 21.f4 Nc6
And here we go. 22.Qh4+ g5 It's no use. Instead, 22...Kf7 is met by 23.Qxh7+ and 22...Kg7 is met by 23.Rxe7+ Rxe7 24.Rxe7+ Nxe7 25.Qxe7+, in both cases leading to a draw by repetition. 23.Qxg5+ Kf7 24.Qf5+ Kg8 25.Qg5+ Kh8 26.Qf6+ Kg8 27.Qg5+ Kf8 28.Qf6+ Kg8 29.Qg5+ Drawn
After all is said and done, in the Jerome Gambit White wants to attack and checkmate Black's King. Sometimes that is goal enough. Wall, Bill - Smith, James lichess.org, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
I have given periodic updates on the Giuoco Piano thematic tournament at Chess.com that I am playing in, under the belief that I - surprisingly - was going to finish at the top of the field, thanks to a lot of teriffic battling amongst players, and to the Jerome Gambit. Much to my surprise, and some embarassment, I have learned that there is one more round to play! So, I will have black and white against IlToscano and AWARDCHESS, who finished the previous round ranked #2 and #3 respectively. (The latter moved ahead of Altotemmi on tie breaks, 93.75 to 93.5!) Apologies for prematurely claiming victory in the tournament. My successes with the Jerome Gambit in the earlier round against my current opponents came mostly due to the element of surprise. I expect to have even harder fights this time around.
White has several very reasonable responses to Black's third move, only one of which - 4.Bxf7+ - calls to mind the Jerome Gambit. Still, playing that last one often means a short end to hostilities. Bill Wall demonstrates in the game below. Wall, Bill - Mouhamadyamin lichess.org, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit. 4.Bxf7+ The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+Kxd4
A risky meal. 8.d3 b6
And just like that, it's Game Over. Black does not have time for this development; checkmate follows. 9.Qh5 Bb4+ 10.Ke2 g5 11.Bxg5 Kc5 12.Be7+ Kc6 13.Qd5 checkmate
When Bill Wall sent me his latest batch of Jerome Gambit games he mentioned in passing that one opponent had been irate at having to face such a horrible opening, and pointed it out in a message afterwards - clearly it was something Bill should never play, that Bill would lose with should he play it against World Champion Magnus Carlsen, etc. Bill never identified the opponent or the game to me, but if I were to guess, I would choose the following contest. Black starts off using the advantage that the defender always has against the Jerome Gambit, and develops a decent attack - until one suspicious move (which doesn't look that bad) suddenly reverses the game; and even when Black resigns, it takes some work to understand why. Wall, Bill - Youi lichess.org, 2017 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qe7
A perfectly reasonable defense. Black is going to lose a piece any way, so he focuses on development, not un-development. 7.dxc5 Qxc5 8.O-O Nf6 9.Be3 Qd6
Excellent psychology. Black offers to exchange Queens to reduce chances of attack by White. He even tosses in the attraction of giving Black doubled d-pawns, limiting the development of his light-squared Bishop. Bill has seen altarnatives: 9...Qc6 10.Nc3 d6 11.Bd4 Re8 12.f4 Ned7 13.Re1 b5 14.a4 bxa4 15.b4 a6 16.Rxa4 Bb7 17.Ra5 Nxe4 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.b5 Qc4 20.Ra4 Qf7 21.Qxf7+ Kxf7 22.Nxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxe4 Bxe4 24.Rxa6 Kg6 25.c3 Bb7 26.Rxa8 Bxa8 27.h4 Bd5 28.g4 Bc4 29.f5+ Kf7 30.Kf2 Bxb5 White resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016; and 9...Qb5 10.Nc3 Qxb2 11.Bd4 d6 12.Nd5 Qa3 13.Nxc7 Rb8 14.Nb5 Qa6 15.Bxa7 Bd7 16.Nxd6+ Ke6 17.Bxb8 Rxb8 18.Nf5 g6 19.Ne3 Bc6 20.Qd4 Bxe4 21.f3 Bc6 22.Rae1 Qa3 23.Nc4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest3992982, PlayChess.com, 2015. 10.Bd4 No, thank you. 10...Re8 11.Nc3 c5 12.Nb5 Looking to cause mischief on the d6 square. 12...Qc6 13.Bxe5 Rxe5 14.Nd6+ Kg8
Black persists in his attack. What can White do? 20.Na5 Qd5 21.Qe2 Nc7
He can continue to present Black with threats and complications until Black slips. Like here. Bill uses his x-ray vision and comes up with a solution. 22.Rd1 Qxa2 The strongest defense was 22...Qe4, but after 23.Rxd7 Qxe2 24.Rxe2 Bc8 25.Rxc7 Bxf5 White would be better. 23.Nxb7 Qxb2 24.Nxc5 Black resigned
Wow. A quick look shows that White will win the pawn at d7, but is that enough to cause resignation? A longer look will show that f5-f6 is a strong attacking threat, and that White's "Jerome pawns" are much more of a threat than Black's Queenside pawns.
I received a short email from chessfriend Yury Bukayev, regarding yesterday's blog post. I have added the relevant link:
Your latest post http://jeromegambit.blogspot.ru/2017/03/blackburne-shilling-jerome-gambit-be.html contains the final attack, that is relative to winning attacks in Evans-Bukayev gambits (for example, III.B2 of my Paragraph 2). It is pleasant to see!
In the Blackburne Shilling Gambit Black offers material and hopes for a tricky attack. In the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit White offers more material and hopes for a trickier attack. Playing over the following game, do not blink: both players are hoping for a quick ending, and they both receive their wish. Wall, Bill - Peon lichess.org, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit. 4.Bxf7+ The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Nb5
An interesting, if flawed retreat. It doesn't look that bad. There are 12 games in The Database with this move. White scores 75%. Compare this with the 56% overall that White scores against the BSJG (out of 5,307 games in The Database). 7.d4 Bd6
Looks tough, but looks can be deceiving. 8.Qb3+ Kf6 9.Qf7 checkmate
