Jerome Gambit: Delayed "His Nibs"

 

Yesterday I took a look at the Norton Defense to the Jerome Gambit. Today I was looking to see if there was anything new with the related "Nibs" defense, and discovered the "delayed His Nibs" variation.

Curious.

I thought it deserved a look.

John_Koss - obrigachka

5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.Nc3

White develops, bypassing the more dynamic 8.f4. The text shows up in 147 games in The Database, with White scoring 27%. 

8...a6 

I was surprised that this was not a novelty, because it seems to be a quiet move in what could become a very noisy position. Is the idea to stop White from playing Nb5+? In fact, 8...a6 shows up in The Database 17 times. Even more interestingly, Black scored 13 - 4.

9.f4 

Three alternatives have not been successful

9.d4 Bxd4 10.Nd5 c6 11.Bd2 cxd5 12.Bb4+ Kc6 13.exd5+ Kxd5 14.c4+ Kxc4 15.a3 Qf6 16.Rc1+ Kb3 17.Qc2+ Ka2 18.Ra1+ Kxa1 19.O-O+ Ka2 20.b3+ Bb2 21.Bc3 Nf3+ 22.gxf3 Qxc3 23.Qb1+ Kxb3 White left the game, Azerbaijan12385 - Hans1955, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021;

9.O-O Qf6 10.Qh3 c6 11.a3 Kc7 12.b4 Ba7 13.d3 d5 14.exd5 Bxh3, White resigned, dierv - Raklado, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2021; and

9.d3 Qf6 10.Bf4 (10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.Bf4 Ke6 12.O-O d6 13.a3 Rf8 14.Bg3 Nh5 15.Bh4 c6 16.Ne2 Nf4 17.Nxf4+ Rxf4 18.g3 Nf3+ 19.Kg2 Nxh4+ 20.gxh4 Bd7 21.Rad1 Raf8 22.Rd2 Ba7 23.b4 Rxh4 24.c4 Bd4 25.Kg3 Rhf4 26.f3 Ke5 27.h4 h5 28.a4 R8f6 29.b5 axb5 30.axb5 cxb5 31.cxb5 Bxb5 32.Rc2 Bxd3 33.Rc7 Bxf1 White resigned, ZahariSokolov - PeterKlo, 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2017) 10...Qxf5 11.exf5 Nf6 12.Ne4+ Nxe4 13.dxe4 g6 14.O-O-O+ Kc6 15.Bxe5 Re8 16.Bc3 Rxe4 17.Rd3 gxf5 18.Rhd1 Bxf2 19.b4 Be3+ 20.Kb2 f4 21.a4 Kb6 22.a5+ Ka7 23.g3 d6 24.gxf4 Bxf4 25.Bd4+ b6 26.axb6+ cxb6 27.Ra1 Be5 28.Bxe5 dxe5 29.b5 a5 30.Rg3 Bb7 31.Rg7 Rb4+ 32.Kc3 Rxb5 33.Rxh7 Rc8+ 34.Kd3 Rbc5 35.Ra2 Rc3+ 36.Kd2 e4 37.h4 e3+ 38.Ke2 Ka6 39.Re7 Rxc2+ 40.Rxc2 Rxc2+ 41.Kxe3 Rc5 42.Kd4 Rh5 43.Kc3 Rxh4 44.Re5 Bc6 White resigned, soraneptune - dhanraj1234, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020.

9...Qh4+ 

Black strikes with something new. The computer prefers 9...Kc6 - a delayed Sillycon Defense.

10.g3 Nf3+ 

Compare this with the original "His Nibs" defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+

11.Kd1 Qf6 

Black has to retreat his Queen, and Stockfish 14 recommends he play 11...Qh6.

Play according to the "His Nibs" variation does not work: 11...Ne7 12.e5+ Kc6 13.Qe4+ d5 14.exd6+ and now the thematic 14...Nd5 would lose to 15.Qxd5+ because of White's developed Queenside Knight. So, in this "delayed" variation, ...a6 does not appear to help Black, while ...Nc3 is a plus for White.

12.Qd5+ 

White is better with this move - which initiates a familiar series - but it is quite likely that the time control - 5 3 blitz - kept him from finding the better 12.e5+, where White unprotects his Queen, but with check. Black's best would then be to return one of the sacrificed pieces with 12...Nxe5 13. fxe5+ Qxe5. White's Queen would still be attacked but unprotected, but now would come 14.Ne4+. Black gives up his Queen, or soon is checkmated.

12...Ke7 13.Qxc5+ d6 14.Nd5+ 

14...Kf7 

Another one of the move choices that would benefit from more thinking time, to come up with 14...Kf8 15.Qe3 Qd4 16.Qxf3 Bg4 17.Qxg4 Qxe4 18.Rf1 Qxd5 19.Qf3 Qxf3+ 20.Rxf3 and about an even game.

15.Qxc7+ Black resigned

White's Queen is safe, but Black's is not.

Jerome Gambit: Updating the Norton Defense

Here is an update of a Jerome Gambit variation, the Norton Defense, which is creative and interesting - even if it is not the strongest line available to Black.

I have covered the line extensively in earlier posts; however, there are three new games from last year and this, worth mentioning.

From a historical perspective, it is worth starting with "A sparkling variation to the tiresome Piano game".

For a serious examination, it is best to work through "Jerome Gambit: Deep Dive (Part 1 and Part 2)"

iammahgoat - Lalrindikachhangte

10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nf3+ 

First seen in Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 42).

The computer at lichess.org, rates the move a blunder, which is a bit harsh. It is true that the game is now about even, at least in an "objective" sense; but the psychological impact of the move on White should not be underrated.

Over 20 years after the Norton game, the even more complicated "Nibs" variation, 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ was a significant improvement.

9.gxf3 Ne7 

This attack on the Queen is more significant after Black's ...Qh4+. In fact, one has to wonder if Black has simply mixed up the order of his moves. 

At this point in the game, the Knight move is more of a lost opportunity.

Two recent games continued: 9...Qh4+ (the right idea) 10.Kd1 Ne7 (10...Qf2 11.Qe5+ Kc6 12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.e5 c6 14.Qb3+ Kc7 15.Na3 b5 16.c4 a5 17.cxb5 a4 18.Qc3 Bxa3 19.bxa3 c5 20.Rb1 Kb6 21.Bb2 Bb7 22.Re1 Bxf3+ 23.Kc1 Qxe1+ 24.Kc2 Be4+ 25.d3 Qe2+ 26.Kc1 Bxd3 White resigned, SensGuy - Hassan313, lichess.org, 2020) 11.e5  (better was 11.Qe5+ Kc6 12.b4 Bxb4 13.Nc3 b6 14.Nd5 Bd6 15.Nxe7+ Kb7 16.Qd5+ Kb8 17.Nxc8 Qxf4) 11...Kc6 12.Qe4+ Nd5 (better 12...d5) 13.Nc3 b5 14.Qxd5+ Kb6 15.Qxa8 Bb7 16.Nd5+ Ka6 17.Nxc7+ Kb6 18.Nd5+ Kc6 (better 18...Ka6 19.Qxh8)  19.Qxh8 Kxd5 20.Qxg7 Ke6 21.Qg3 (bettr 21.f5+ Kxf5 22.Qxd7+ Kxe5 23.Qxb7 Kd6 24.Qxb5 Qh5 25.Qd3+ Kc7 26.Qe4 Bd6 27.d3 Be5) 21...Qh5 (better 21...Qxg3 22.hxg3 Bxf3+ 23.Ke1 Bxh1 24.Ke2 Bc6 25.d3 Bd4 26.c3 Bxe5 27.fxe5 Kxe5 28.Bh6) 22.Qg4+ Qxg4 23.fxg4 Bxh1 24.d3 Bf3+ 25.Ke1 Bxg4 26.Kf1 Bh3+ 27.Ke2 Bg1 28.Be3 Bxh2 29.Rh1 Bg4+ 30.Kf2 Black resigned, Deuslevult - Lavrenteva, lichess.org, 2021)  

Stockfish 14 winds its way through the line: 9...Qh4+ 10.Kd1 Nf6 11.e5+ Kc6 12.exf6 Qxf6 13.Qd3 Qd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd4 15.Nc3 Re8 16.Ne2 Bf6 17.h4 d5 18.a4 Bd7 19.Ng3 b6 20.d3 Kb7 21.a5 Rg8 22.h5 c5 23.axb6 axb6 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 with an edge to Black

10.Qe5+ Kc6 11.Qc3 a5 

Black's Bishop is going to fall due to the pin.

12.d4 b6 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Be3 d6 15.Qxg7 Rg8 16.Qc3 Ba6 17.Nd2 Ng6 18.O-O-O Kd7 

White's attack will come. Stockfish 14 recommends 18...Qb8 and 19...Qb4, hoping to get the Queens off of the board, but White would still be better.

19.e5 Be2 20.Ne4 

White can afford to give up the exchange to keep things moving.

20...Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Ke8 

22.exd6 c6 

This hurries the end.

23.d7+ Kf7 24.Ng5+ Kf8 25.Nxh7+ Kf7 26.Ng5+ Ke7 27.Bxc5 checkmate

Impressive piece cooperation!

Jerome Gambit: Thinking Again

I have been thinking about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) again - see "Jerome Gambit: This "Refuted" Thing (Part 1, A Basic Truth)" and "Jerome Gambit: This "Refuted" Thing (Part 2, What to Do?)" - and it fits into the following game by MrJzM.

For club players, it is a practical decision in blitz play to make the opening moves quickly, saving precious seconds for the complications and tactical challenges that are likely to appear later on in the game. The Jerome Gambit interferes with this idea for the defender, who suddenly had to spend time figuring things out - starting at move 4. We have seen plenty of examples on this blog of games where White is in difficult, if not desperate, situations - when Black's time expired. Time management is an important factor in the success of the Jerome.

Another thing we often see at the club level is a defender making split-second decisions that seem to be designed to "punish" White's audacious play - but which do not fit into an effective response, and sometimes cause further deterioration of Black's game.  

MrJzM - lucci3500

10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

As I pointed out in "Jerome Gambit: What About the Rook?", Black needs to be aware that this move is not only a "punishment" of White's Queen for her annoying check, it is the start of the offer of a Rook. Black will get complicated and exciting play now, after either 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 or 7.Qe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8.

7.Qxe5 Bd6 

Once again, Black confronts the enemy Queen, but things will not go as he hopes. For the record, The Database shows 406 games with this position, with White scoring 83%.

8.Qxh8 Qe8 9.d3 Be5 

Out, out, blasted Queen!

10.Qxh7+ Kf8  Black resigned

White is ahead the exchange and three pawns. His Queen will escape, possibly via Stockfish 14's suggestion, 11.f4 Bf6 12.f5 gxf5 13.Qxf5 d6 14.Qf3.

Jerome Gambit: Good News, Bad News, Good News (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - vs33

3 d/move, "Piano Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 2021

My opponent was ready to put his Rook on h8 to use in an attack. It was clearly time for me to do something.

14.f5 N6e5 15.d4 Nc6 

Often when the Knight is kicked out of the center, it finds a home at c6. In this case, however, with Black's King at e7, retreating to f7 seems in order. The reason will immediately be obvious.

16.Bg5+ 

Taking advantage of the weakness of the dark squares in Black's position, as well as the unfortunate placement of his King and Queen.

16...Nf6 17.Bxf6+ Kxf6 

Somewhat better was 17...gxf6, but White's Queen will still invade and win the Rook. White's extra pawns will add to his advantage.  

18.Qg6+ Ke7 19.Qxg7+ Ke8 20.Qxh8+ Ke7 

Now exchanging Queens would be simple enough, as would be grabbing the h-pawn, but I had plans for my advanced, supported, passed "Jerome pawn".

21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.f6 Back resigned

White's pawn is going to promote. Black can sacrifice his Queen for the new Queen, or allow it to stay on the board, but, either way, White will be more than a Queen ahead.

A good, fighting game by vs33. Fortunately for me, the Jerome Gambit had some resources I could use to turn back the aggression.

Jerome Gambit: Good News, Bad News, Good News (Part 1)

As always, there is "good news" and "bad news".

The "good news" is that I won a second Jerome Gambit game in the second round of the "Piano Piano" tournament at Chess.com, giving me a record of 2 wins and 2 losses with the opening.

The "bad news" is that both wins were on time, in 4 moves.

But, then, finally, I was able to win in the regular way - as much as wins with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) are "regular" in any way.

perrypawnpusher - vs33

3 d/move, "Piano Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6 

The plan behind this move is clear: Black saves his Knight; his Bishop is already protected. It is not the best plan, however, as illustrated by the 61 games in The Database with 8...Ng6; White scores 70%. (My own record before this game was 7 - 1.)

Like many defenders, Black appears to be unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit. Otherwise, he might have abandoned his Knight with 8...Kc6, instead, which is the best move.

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 

Black played 10...Ke8 in perrypawnpusher - parlance, 5 10 blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22). In that game, I was doing okay until I allowed my Queen to become trapped.

11.Qe3 Nf6 

The position is about even. Compared to the 6...Ng6 variation, in this game White is a tempo ahead, as it is his move, not Black's: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.f4.

I have faced other moves:

11...Kf8 in perrypawnpusher - Valseg, 5 12 blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 39);

11...Be6 in perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12); and

11...Bd7 in perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 29)

12.O-O 

I have also tried 12.d4, as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31) 

12...Ng4 

Black has aggressive intentions.

I have also seen 12...Re8 in perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, 10 3 blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 18) and 12...Rf8 in perrypawnpusher - grosshirn, 2 19 blitz, FICS, 2016 (1-0, 24) 

13.Qg3 h5 

Wow. He isn't kidding.

After the game Stockfish 14 had the odd suggestion 13...Ke8 14.f5 Qh4 15.Qxh4 Nxh4 16.Nc3 Nf6 17.d3 Kf7 18.Bg5 Nxf5 19.exf5 Bd7 with the advantage to White, so maybe my opponent was right to attack.

I also had a thematic attack available.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Once Again, Be Careful, Look Both Ways

 

One risk of the "annoying defense" to the Jerome Gambit can be a touch of boredom for White. Black's King can look to be at risk, but he is not, and White has a number of ideas, all of which seem to lead nowhere...

Still, this is another case where White needs to be careful and look both ways - lest troubles befall him.

Sekci - wintoo1

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6 

Black willingly returns a piece, as he is 2 ahead. It can be annoying to see his King sitting out near the middle of the board, but have no established easy way to attack him.

8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qf7 

This is a 3 2 blitz game, but White figures he has time enough to box in Black's King and then look for checkmate.

It turns out that his own time - how long his King will last - is running short. (10.Qf3 was a better choice.)

10...Qh4+ 11.g3 Qxe4+ 12.Kf1 Bh3 checkmate

Annoying, right?

Jerome Gambit: Nightmares

I like to think that some of the victims of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) have nightmares about being over-run by "Jerome pawns". (Perhaps in the guise of "Killer Shrews"?) Certainly the following bullet game - where pieces come at you quickly - had a scary feeling about it that might linger after the final move.

linganno - mirolim

2 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 

If you are playing quickly and your opponent is unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit, you might very well encounter this strike-back-at-the-Queen-quickly-oops move. There are 110 examples in The Database.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 

And, just like that, White has his sacrficed material back, with interest.

9...d6 10.Qe3 Re8 11.d3 d5 12.e5 Ng4 13.Qg3 d4 14.h3 

The beginning...

14...Nh6 15.O-O Nf5 16.Qf2 Be6 17.Nd2 Bd5 18.b3 Nh4 19.g3 Ng2

This move is a bit of a surprise, but surprises in bullet can cause the opponent to invest time in thought - seconds that are not available, later on in the game. White deals with it easily, though.

20.Ne4 Ne3 21.Bxe3 dxe3 22.Qxe3 c6 23.c4 Be6 24.Ng5+ Ke7 25.Nxe6 Kxe6 

Black's King takes the lead in defending against the pawns, but perhaps he should not. It could give His Majesty some dangerous ideas...

26.d4  g6 27.Rad1 Qc7 28.d5+ cxd5 29.cxd5+ Kf5 30.g4 checkmate