Jerome Gambit: Wrong Square

Move the King, protect the piece. The following Jerome Gambit is rather ordinary, with Black even following "scientific" principles and returning the sacrificed piece. Suddenly, Black's monarch has to rush in to help, and he chooses an inaccurate square - and the game finishes shortly thereafter. Very Jerome-ish. 

Wall, Bill - Guest701131
PlayChess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Qe7 

10.d3 

Bill has also tried 10.Nc3, e.g. 10...Nf6 11.O-O Be6 12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg3 Bc4 14.d3 Qh4 15.Qxh4 Nxh4 16.dxc4 Kd7 17.f5 Ne5 18.Bg5 Nxc4 19.Bxh4 Nxb2 20.f6 g6 21.Rab1 Nc4 22.Rxb7 Ne3 23.Rfb1 Nxc2 24.Nd5 Nd4 25.Rxc7+ Ke6 26.Re7 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest3312852, PlayChess.com, 2012. 

10...Nf6 11.O-O Ng4 12.Qe2 Nh4 

  13.Nc3 Be6 

To prevent White from planting a Knight at d5, but it sets the Bishop up as a target for the "Jerome pawns".

14.f4 g6 15.h3 Nh6 16.f5 N6xf5 17.exf5 gxf5 

Black has returned the sacrificed piece for a couple of pawns. If only he could castle Queenside now, the game would be quite interesting.

18.Re1 Kf7 

Protecting the pinned Bishop, but White shows immediately why Black should have played 18...Kd7 instead. 

19.Nd5 Qd7 20.Nxc7 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Complications Favor the Strong

The story of the following game is straight-forward: after a few chuckles in the opening, complications ensue. In complicated positions, stronger players are more likely to find their way, while more average players are more likely to get lost. And so it goes...

Wall, Bill - Guest2910393
PlayChess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 

I always get a chuckle out of this move. Black simply threatens to play ...Nf3+, winning the - currently - unprotected White Queen. Maybe. The move is as old as Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (unfinished).

7...Qf6 is a good move, Stockfish 10's second choice, behind 7...d6. 

Furthermore, The Database - a reasonably representative sample of online club chess play - has 180 games with 7...Qf6, with White scoring only 40%.

Interestingly enough, The Datbase has 21 games where White does not move or protect his Queen, and Black executes the King-and-Queen-fork. However, there are 40 games where White does not move or protect his Queen, and Black overlooks the King-and-Queen-fork. Ooooops.

This split is illustrated in the experience of a long-time Jerome Gambit player who has 187 games in The Database, and who has been forked 3 times from this position. However, 8 other times his opponent was presented with the opportunity, but missed the Knight check.

Chaos runs deep in the Jerome Gambit. Club play is not a simple thing.

8.Qc5 

This move is Bill's favorite, although he has also tried 8.Nd2, 8.Be3, 8.Qc3, 8.Qd2 and 8.Qe3.

8...Ne7 9.Nc3 

In an earlier game Bill grabbed a pawn, and then slowly ground down his opponent: 9.Qxc7 b6 10.Qc3 Ba6 11.Qa3 Qg6 12.Qxa6 Qxe4+ 13.Kf1 Qxc2 14.Nc3 Nd3 15.Be3 Rac8 16.Qa3 Qxb2 17.Qxb2 Nxb2 18.Bd2 Nf5 19.Re1 Nd6 20.Re2 Ndc4 21.Be1 Rce8 22.Nb5 Nd3 23.Bc3 a6 24.Nc7 Rc8 25.Nxa6 Nce5 26.Bd2 Rc4 27.g3 Ra8 28.Nb4 d6 29.Nxd3 Nxd3 30.Re3 Ne5 31.a3 Rd4 32.Bb4 Nc6 33.Kg2 Ra6 34.Rf3+ Ke6 35.Re1+ Kd5 36.Rf5+ Ne5 37.Bxd6 Kxd6 38.Rfxe5 Rxa3 39.Re6+ Kd7 40.Rxb6 Ra7 41.Rbe6 Rda4 42.h4 R4a5 43.f4 Ra1 44.Rxa1 Rxa1 45.Re5 Ra7 46.Kf3 Kd6 47.Kg4 Ra3 48.h5 Ra1 49.Re8 Rb1 50.f5 Rb7 51.Kg5 Rb4 52.Rg8 Rb7 53.g4 Rc7 54.Rh8 h6+ 55.Kg6 Ra7 56.Rg8 Ra4 57.Kh7 Ke5 58.Rxg7 Kf4 59.Kxh6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Computer-13, Chess.com, 2017.

9...Ng4 

10.f3 Ne5 11.Qxc7 

Grabbing the pawn, after all.

11...N7c6 12.O-O 

A complicated position. Black has an extra piece for two pawns, and is slightly better developed, although he has the standard problem often facing those who defend against Jerome Gambit: his pawn blocks his Bishop which blocks his Rook... A significant factor is that White's Queen is a bit trapped in the enemy position, and Stockfish 10 suggests White work towards b2-b3, Ba3, and then Qd6, exchanging the Queen. If Black could then focus on untangling his pieces, he would maintain an edge. 

12...Kg6

The first of two puzzling moves that end the game.

My guess is that Black was unpinning his d-pawn so that it could advance, but the King move is too risky.

13.Nd5

White now has the advantage in a tricky position, but Black is not finished with his surprises.

13...Qe6 14.Nf4+ 

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Tumblr?

I recently discovered "A  Jerome  Gambit  miniature" on tumblr.com, of all places, at "Coach Tortise's Adventures in Chess". Apparently the game was played via iPhone, at the Chess.com website. 

The Jerome Gambit. It's everywhere you want to play chess - apparently.

CoachTortise - kiwikiwi4
Chess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6 7.f4 Qe7 8.Qf5 checkmate

And that's that... Nice work, Coach.

(I was surprised that, according to The Database, there is only one anticipation, a 5-minute game, Petasluk - givemeabreak, blitz, FICS, 2017.)

Jerome Gambit: When White Equalizes...

Given enough time, and the lack of distractions, some problems can be solved effectively. Facing the Jerome Gambit in a 1-minute bullet game doesn't allow for much time, and the Jerome, itself, can be quite a distraction.

angelcamina - Master1615
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

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

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Qe7 9.O-O d6

10.f4 Nc6 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qe2 Rhf8 

An earlier game saw the Rook move to the e-file, i.e. 12...Rhe8 in angelcamina - pippol7, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 30).

13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Qxe5 Kg8 

Black has returned the sacrificed piece for a pawn, and has an even game. He should remember the warning, however: When White equalizes in the Jerome Gambit, he has the advantage.

16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 

Black might have considered 17...Rxf6 18.Rxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxf6 gxf6, when he would have the same pawn weaknesses as in the game, but White would have fewer pieces to attack them. Black's Bishop vs White's Knight would probably keep the game even.  

18.Qg3+ Kh7 19.Rae1 Qc5+ 20.Qe3 Qxe3+ 21.Rxe3

Black follows the same general idea as given in the above note, but, as his time winds down, he now makes an unforced error.

21...Bf5

White now only has to make "safe" moves in order to make progress.

22.Rxf5 Rg8 23.Re7+ Kg6 24.Rf2 Rad8 25.Re6 Rgf8 26.h4 Kh5 27.g3 Kg4 28.Kg2 f5 29.Rf4+ Kh5 30.Re5 Rd6 31.Rexf5+ White won on time. 

White's extra piece and pawn were bound to win, anyhow.

Jerome Gambit: Quick Disappointment

In the following 1-minute game, it is clear that things did not go as planned, for Black.

angelcamina - Master1615
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

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

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. Black was looking for a balanced, quiet game, but this changed things.

4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bb4 

Black has two extra pieces that he can return. He leads in development. Surely he is better? No, actually the game is about even. Nobody ever said that the Jerome Gambit made sense.

8.dxe5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nxe4

Sad. Best for Black was 9...Re8 10.exf6 Rxe4+ 11.Be3 Qxf6 12.0-0 d6, with an even game.

10.Qd5+ 

An improvement over 10.Qf3+, which still won, in angelcamina - puffy04, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 20) 

10...Kf8 11.Qxe4 d6 12.Ba3 Qg5 

Lashing out. Black tried 12...Be6 in angelcamina - apropes, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 21).

Black's King is at risk, and his defense fails. 

13.exd6 cxd6 14.Bxd6+ Kg8 15.O-O Bf5 16.Qd5+ Be6 17.Qxe6 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: More GMs? (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

Next, I decided to check out the 19 Jerome Gambit games (all from online play) in The Database where the player of the black pieces was rated 2500+, looking, again, for another GM "in real life".

I quickly tossed Hera, MaxBot, GriffySr, Sly, Dampfwalze, wkw, birdcostello, Singularity, BlackDemon, and AnderssenA at FICS, as they were all computers. They were strong - Singularity and BlackDemon were rated over 2700 on the site - but they were not human.

That left me with Topper76, at at redhotpawn.com, who I had already tried to track down (see "Jerome Gambit: More GMs? Part 1"). There were also psv2398 (account closed), amaidel (St. Petersburg, Russia, FIDE 2347), RL12 (San Juan de los Morros, Cuba, FIDE 2333), Sveti14 (FIDE 2428 with the note "This player uses chess computer assistance"), Enialios (an open account but no FIDE rating listed) and PArnaudov, at lichess.org (the last one had already been looked at by Cliff).

Whew!

So, my search to find another human grandmaster who had faced the Jerome Gambit, even in online play, did not progress beyond the original investigation by "Cliff Hardy". No surprise there; after all, he is the private investigator, not me.

But I will still keep my (private) eyes open!