Jerome Gambit: What Am I Doing Here?

The following game is a good example of choosing to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My opponent played well, but he had some help. From me.

perrypawnpusher - Guluphatep

"Italian Game", Chess.com, 2024

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

5...Kxf7 

I was pretty sure that I had reached this position before.

Checking The Database, I discovered that I had scored 8 - 2 - 2 -- as Black. Uh oh.

I was 1 - 1 as White. 

6.Nxe5+ 

I have faced a number of different lines:

6.Nc3 as in leobrazer - perrypawnpusher, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 48); 

6.d3 as in ecimsa - perrypawnpusher, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 32) ; xulian - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024.  (0-1, 19); cool64chess-perrypawnpusher, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 8); cool64chess - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024 (1/2-1/2, 31); sinipete - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit Classic #1, Chess.com 2024 (1/2-1/2, 104); drewbear - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic ChessWorld.net 2008 (0-1, 22); Capt.Mandrake - perrypawnpusher, JG3 thematic, Chessworld.net, 2008 (0-1, 8); 

Or 6.c3 as in Philidor1792 - perrypawnpusher, internet, 2015 (1-0, 36); 

Or 6.Ng5+ as in 123456789qeeed - perrypawnpusher, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 19); 

Or 6.d4 as in yoyokskr - perrypawnpusher, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 27);

Or 6.Re1 as in Hvakkimaruru - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 28). 

6...Nxe5 7.d4 

I am not sure what I am doing playing this line. A peek at The Database shows that White scores 1 - 12 - 1 against 7...d5. Fortunately my opponent was not aware of this.

7...Bxd4 

7...Bd6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - Freddy1201, Play The Italian Game III, Chess.com 2023 (0-1, 23)

7...Nc6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - vityas81, Chess.com, 2023 (1-0, 16).

8.Qxd4 d6 9.f4 Nc6 

10.Qd3 Re8 11.Nc3 Kg8 

Black's King plans to step off of the a2-g8 digonal, where he can be checked.

12.Be3 Kh8 

13.a3 

To keep Black's Knight from coming to b4, but it costs an important tempo.

13...Nxe4 

Well played. Now, if 14.Nxe4 then 14...Bf5.

14.Rae1 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 Bf5 

It is hard to find compensation for White's sacrificed material.

16.h3 Qf6 17.Qb3 b6 18.c3 Na5 19.Qd1 Nc4 

20.Bd4 Qg6 21.Kh2 c5 

White resigned

There is not a lot in 22.g4 cxd4 23.gxf5 Qxf5 24.Qxd4. I could have kept playing, but it would have required an unforced blunder by my opponent to keep him from grinding me down. There were other games to play. 

Jerome Gambit: Wisdom of the Stockfish - Huh??

The previous blog post looked at the different move choices that show up early in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), and their popularity.

It is an interesting, but shorter, (and somewhat depressing) excursion, to see how a computer engine - in this case, Stockfish 16.1 - evaluates things.

The question is: Is it helpful?

(I use a computer to evaluate my play in a game, post mortem, looking for my errors. I am far more likely to choose opening lines based on popularity - see the previous post.)

For the following, Stockfish's assessments are based on looks that are 30 ply deep.  

Be warned: the computer sees White's chances in the Jerome Gambit as being rated from bad to worse.

Starting with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ the computer has no interest in any response by Black other than 4...Kxf7, which it evaluates as -2.67 for White. It evaluates 4...Kf8 as +2.11 for White, and 4...Ke7 as +2.54 for White. (Not surprisingly, the strongest response, as we have seen, is the most popular among players.)

How should White respond after 4...Kxf7?

The computer prefers 5.Nxe5+, which it assesses as -2.87 for White, as this is better than 5.O-O (-3.18), 5.d4 (-3.39) 5.Nc3 (-3.40) an 5.c3 (-3.54) - but not by a lot. (Again, Stockfish's top choice is the move that is also the most popular. It is interesting, though, that the second highest-rated move is neither the second most popular nor the second most successful; perhaps 5.O-O needs to be explored further.)

As might be expected, 5...Nxe5 (-3.02 for White) is Black's strongest response to White's capture by the Knight - and there is only one rival move, 5...Kf8 (-1.56). Other moves are evaluated as good for White: 5...Ke8 (+.55), 5...Ke6 (+.98), 5...Kf6 (+1.59) and 5...Ke7 (+2.83).

White does best to follow the Knight capture with 6.Qh5+ (-3.01 for White), as the computer considers it the least worse move, followed by 6.d4 (-3.35), 6.O-O (-3.91), and 6.c3 (-6.75).

In turn, Black's best response to the Queen check, 6...Ke6, is evaluated as three pawns better for him (-3.00), with 6...Kf8, at -2.71 not too far behind, followed by 6...g6 (-2.24)...

And so it goes.

I hope that is enough computer "wisdom" for Readers.

Until artificial intelligence can inject surprise and being intimidated and casual dismissal and just-for-fun (and a host of other reactions), computers like Stockfish will only evaluate part of the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit: Wisdom of The Database

 

Sometimes I choose a line of play in the Jerome Gambit simply because I like it. 

Sometimes I choose a line that is evaluated by the computer as best.

Sometimes I choose a line because it is the most popular.

Let’s see what The Database has to say.

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

Accepting the Bishop makes the most sense for Black, and The Database concurs. 

There are 38,714 games with 4…Kxf7, with White scoring 52%.

This compares favorably (for the defender) with 4...Kf8, which is seen in 795 games where White scores 82%; and with 4...Ke7 which appears in 103 games, when White scores 87%.

After 4...Kxf7, then, how does White follow up?

The clear choice of players represented in The Database is 5.Nxe5+, with 27,290 games, with White scoring 58%.

The second most popular move is 5.d4, with 2,789 games, scoring 38%.

The second highest scoring line is 5.Qe2, with 155 games, scoring 49%; followed by 5.c3, with 2,345 games, scoring 46%.

Interestingly, concerning what White should prepare for, and what he should expect, after 5.Nxe5+, he is most likely to encounter 5...Nxe5, with 25,929 games, scoring 58%. Only against 5...Kf8, seen in 798 games, does White score worse than that - 53%.

Minor responses are 5...Ke6, found in 143 games, with White scoring 62%; 5...Ke8 in 394 games, with White scoring 70%; 5...Ke7 in 31 games, with White scoring 71%; and 5...Kf6, 7 games, with White scoring 71%.

After 5...Nxe5, White's most popular and best response is 6.Qh5+, seen in 21,533 games, scoring 57%; followed by 6.d4, in 4,313 games, scoring 55%. Only 6.f4, seen in 14 games, comes close to these two in scoring, at 50%.

Black's most popular response to the Queen check is 6...Ng6, appearing in 10,024 games, with White scoring 56%. Black does a bit better with 6...Ke6, appearing in 4,765, with White scoring 55%; and better yet with 6...Kf8, seen in 3,383 games, with White scoring 47%.

After Black's Knight blocks at g6, White can capture the bishop directly, 7.Qxc5, as seen in 4,971 games, scoring 50%, or toss in the "nudge" 7.Qd5+ first - seen in 4,930 games, with White scoring 62%.

After the Queen captures the Bishop, Black's overwhelming choice has been 7...d6, where White scores only 51%.

However, he has two stronger, little-played responses, in 7...Nf4, appearing in 10 games, with White scoring 50%; and 7...d5, appearing in  22 games, with White scoring 41%.

Finally, after the White Queen is kicked by Black's d-pawn, it can move to a number of different squares. Most popular has been 8.Qe3, seen in 916 games, scoring 49%. Best scoring has been 8.Qb4, appearing in 639 games, scoring 56%.

Jerome Gambit: Impatience

Impatience.

Some people would like to be granted the gift of patience - right now!

I suppose that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) could be considered an "impatient" chess opening, as White starts his sacrificial attack quite soon, without the usual build-up beforehand.

There are more "impatient" opening lines in the Jerome family.

Four years ago, in the blog post "Unasked Questions" I looked at the Two Knights line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ and commented 

This line doesn't have a name, as far as I know, but it might as well be "the impatient Jerome Gambit". The earliest game that I have with it in The Database is from 2001, but it has to be much older than that. My research is lacking here.

Subsequently (see "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights [Part 2]"), thanks to Dr. Timothy Harding's UltraCorr 3A (2010) collection of correspondence chess games, I uncovered Draper, Dr - Child, AW., Belfast - Dublin team correspondence match-2 1891-2, an earlier game with that "impatient" line.

I have also mentioned in "Accelerated Instant Victory" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Bxf7+, which prompted the comment

White does not wait for a Black Bishop to appear at c5, he sacrifices anyhow. Although the opening does not appear to have a name, it looks like an Accelerated Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

Coming out of the Bishop's Opening (see "One More Thought") there is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+

Would I dare to call it a sort of "accelerated impatient Jerome Gambit"? I hope not.

Going further, earlier this year, in "Jerome Gambit: Target f7", I covered a previous question on Reddit

Does the "gambit" 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 (any) 3.Bxf7 have a name?

Well, in "Abrahams Jerome Gambit Games" I did mention the esoteric

[1.e4 e5 2.Bc4] 2...h6 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Ke6 5.Qf5+ Kd6 6.d4 Qf6? 7.dxe5+ Qxe5 8.Bf4 Black resigned, Shakhmamedov - NN, Mail.ru, 2021. 

And in "The King of Bxf7+" (16 years ago) I noted

2...h6 3.Bxf7+ viejoasquerosos-Armil1980, redhotpawn.com, 2006

Probably my favorite line comes from one of my own games, in "Accelerated Jerome Gambit Declined"

perrypawnpusher - NN

blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit, Finding Its Place in the World

It is always good, despite my enthusiasm for the Jerome Gambit, to occasionally seek out objective evaluations. What, exactly, is its place in the world?

As one example, Michael Busse, in his German language Der Schach-Booster (Humbold, 2024) has a chart presenting an "Overview of Gambits".

He lists as "real openings": Queen's Gambit, Benko Gambit, Evans Gambit, Marshall Gambit (in Spanish game).

He gives as "playable": Albin Counter Gambit, Budapest Gambit, Cochrane Gambit, Falkbeer Counter Gambit, Morra Gambit

He suggests as a "surprise weapon": King's Gambit, Portugese Gambit, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Blumenfeld Gambit, Nordic Gambit

He identifies as "untrustworthy": Englund Gambit, Halloween Gambit, Jerome Gambit, Stafford Gambit

Well, at least the Jerome is among fun company.

Wandering Away For A Moment...

Taking a break from YouTube videos on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - Wow, there are a lot of them - I checked out another gambit opening that involves the sacrifice of two pieces, including, like the Jerome, a Bishop sacrifice on f7.

I am talking about the Nakhmanson Gambit:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.Nc3 dxc3 7.Bxf7+

After Black's King captures the Bishop, White will have sacrificed two pieces and a pawn. Stockfish 16.1 (33 ply) sees Black as being about a pawn and 1/3 better.

By comparison, it sees Black in the Jerome Gambit as being about 2 1/3 pawn better.

Maybe I will look into the history of the Nakhamanson a bit...

Jerome Gambit: Patience

Bullet chess - completing a game in a minute or less - requires a sharp opening - and patience, interestingly enough.

In the following game, Black avoids being blown off of the board in the first few moves of the Jerome Gambit, happily holding onto the advantage that can come from a solid defense.

White, in turn, plays along patiently, convinced that he will get his chance to tactically get the advantage. He does, and he wins a miniature.  

angelcamina - Kostya_N

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

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

The Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 

As long as he defends solidly, Black will keep his advantage of a piece for a pawn, even with an uneasy King.

9.Qc4+ Ke8 10.Bg5 

Best.

angelcamina has also played 10.O-O 

10...d6 0–1 angelcamina-Amo_0, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (10...Rf8 11.f4 d6 12.b3 Bd7 13.Ba3 Qe7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Bxe7 exf4 16.Bxf8 Kxf8 1–0 angelcamina - sarina86, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019) 11.f4 (11.Bg5 Qe7 (11...Ne5 12.Qb3 h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Qe7 15.f4 gxf4 16.Bxf4 Ng6 17.Bg3 Nh5 18.Nd5 Qd7 19.Rae1 Nxg3 20.Nf6+ Ke7 21.Nxd7 Kxd7 22.hxg3 c6 23.Qf7+ Kd8 24.Qxg6 Kc7 25.Rf7+ Kb8 26.Qxd6# angelcamina - DorianW, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020) 12.f4 Qe6 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Qe3+ 15.Kh1 Na5 16.Qxc7 Kf8 17.Rae1 Qb6 18.Qe7+ Kg8 19.Qe8# angelcamina - e4bout, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019) 11...Nd7 (11...Qe7 12.b3 Na5 13.Qa4+ Nc6 14.Ba3 Bd7 15.Rae1 Nd8 16.Qd4 Ne6 17.Qd2 Rf8 18.e5 Ng4 19.exd6 Qh4 20.h3 Nh6 21.dxc7 Rc8 22.Bxf8 Kxf8 23.f5 Rxc7 24.fxe6+ Ke7 25.exd7+ Qxe1 26.Rxe1+ Kf6 27.d8Q+ Re7 28.Q2d6+ Kg5 29.Q8xe7+ Kh5 30.g4+ Nxg4 31.hxg4+ Kxg4 32.Re4+ Kh3 33.Qh4# angelcamina - majorj10, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021; 11...Be6 12.Qxe6+ Qe7 13.Qb3 Kd7 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Nd4 16.Qa4+ c6 17.Qxd4 Rhf8 18.dxc6+ bxc6 19.b3 d5 20.Bb2 Rae8 21.Bc3 Qe3+ 22.Kh1 Qxd4 23.Bxd4 Re4 24.Be5 Re2 25.c4 dxc4 26.bxc4 Rc2 27.Rfd1+ Ke6 28.Rd6+ Kf5 29.Rxc6 Ke4 30.Re1+ Kd3 31.c5 Rb8 32.Rd6+ Kc4 33.Rd4+ Kb5 34.Bxb8 Ka6 35.Be5 Ka5 36.Rb1 1–0 angelcamina - vryzrtr, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024) 12.b3 Nb6 13.Qe2 Be6 14.Ba3 Kd7 15.Rad1 Qf6 16.e5 Qf7 17.exd6 cxd6 18.Bxd6 Rad8 19.Be5+ Kc8 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Ne4 Qd7 22.Nd6+ Kb8 23.Nf7+ Kc8 24.Nxd8 Bg4 25.Qe3 Nxe5 26.fxe5 Qxd8 27.Qg5 Qd4+ 0–1 angelcamina - Dome1411, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

10...d6 11.O-O-O Qe7 12.f3 Be6 

13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 Ne5 15.Qb5+ Kf7 16.f4 

Keeping the pressure on.

16...Neg4 

Black misses a chance to keep his advantage with 16...Qd7, e.g. 17.Qxb7 Neg4 18.Rhe1 a5.

17.Rhe1 Qf8 18.h3 Nf2 19.Rd2 

White could keep an edge with 19.Bxf6 Nxd1 20.Qd7+ Kg8 21.Bd4

19...h6 

Dropping a piece. And then things get worse.

20.Bxf6 Kxf6 21.Rxf2 a6 22.Qd7 Qf7 

This time, the idea of offering an exchange of Queens is not enough.

23.Re6+ Kf5 24.Qxf7 checkmate