The following quick game shows the risks of playing "thematically" instead of "concretely" - as in, not what your opening suggests, but what is actually on the board.
Wall, Bill - Guest3846778
PlayChess.com, 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 Qg5
I can imagine Bill thinking: "I'm playing the Jerome Gambit. What are you playing??" His opponent makes the thematic attacking move in the BSG, but he should have stayed in the main lines with 6...Kxe5.
I was surprised to find 52 games in The Database with this position, with White scoring 61%. Only 39 games feature White's next move, which bumps the scoring up to 65%. Sadly, 37 games feature Black's terminal response - and White still scores only 64%.
This game shows the way to a full 100%.
7.cxd4 Qxg2
As intended, but allowing checkmate.
8.Qb3+ Kd6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nc4+ Kc6 12.Qd5 checkmate
I have been away from the Jerome Gambit (see"Reliable") long enough that Bill Wall questioned if I had given it up. Not so, not so. That doesn't mean that all of my new games are gems - although the following one brought a smilt to my face.
perrypawnpusher - grosshirn
2 19 blitz, FICS, 2016
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 Nf6
10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.f5
This position appeared as early as Vazquez,A - Carrington,W, Mexico, 2nd match (1), 1876 (1-0, 34).
This is my 14th game with this position, having won 9, drawn 1, and lost 4 to date (68%).
From here, four times my opponents made it easy for me, as in this game - and, sadly, I only won 3 of those games.
12...Rxe4
I have previously mentioned FIDE Master Dennis Monokroussos' thoughtful website, The Chess Mind, and his down-to-earth query,
Is there even a single trap for Black to fall into in the Jerome Gambit?
If Black believes that White is making it up as he goes along, the defender is not likely to pay attention close enough to avoid stepping in a small trap.
13.fxg6+
Black resigned.
I think my opponent was unhappy at having slipped. His position isn't "objectively" all that bad after 13...Kg8 14.gxh7+ Kh8! (14...Kxh7 15.Qd3 will win the exchange) 15.Qf2!? (15.Qd3 Bd7! 16.Rxf6? Qxf6 17.Qxe4 Re8!) and White will have to be happy to be just a pawn up (the White pawn at h7 is doomed) while lagging in development.
In the following game, Black defends well against the initial gambit, and then a further couple of sacrifices. Things are not easy for him, but he is well on his way to a full point when he makes a small slip...
LeAlv96 - HydraxDev
3 2 blitz, 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.Qg4+ Kxe5 7.f4+ Kd6
White's extra offer of a piece, 6.Qg4+, offers additional risk to both players. Black can take the Knight and live, but he must be careful. So far he is defending well in an uncomfortable position.
8.e5+ Ke7 9.f5 Nxc2+
Not as effective is 9...Nc6, which appeared in the up-and-down game JordanKwiatek - FrankBono, FICS, 2007: 10.d4 h6 11.O-O d6 12.Nc3 dxe5 13.Qh4+ Ke8 14.Bg5 Qxg5 15.Qxg5 hxg5 16.dxe5 Bc5+ White resigned.
10.Kd1 Nxa1 11.d4
White would improve with 11.Qh4+!? Nf6 12.exf6+ gxf6 13.Re1+ Kd6 although the position would still be better for Black.
11...Ke8
Black also struggled after 11...d5, i.e. 12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.exf6+ gxf6 14.Re1+ Kd6 15.Bf4+ Kc6 16.Re3 Bd6 17.Rc3+ Kd7 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Nd2 Qg8 20.Qh3 Qg5 21.Nf3 Qf4 22.Qh5 Qe4 23.Qf7+ Qe7 24.Rc7+ Kxc7 25.Qxe7+ Kb6 26.Qxd6+ Kb5 27.Qxd5+ Kb6 28.Qc5+ Ka6 29.b4 b6 30.b5+ Kb7 31.Qc6+ Kb8 32.d5 Bxf5 33.d6 Rc8 34.Qd5 Rc5 35.Qg8+ Kb7 36.Qxh7+ Kc8 37.Qg8+ Kb7 38.Qf7+ Kc8 39.Qe8+ Kb7 40.Qe7+ Kb8 41.Nd4 Bc2+ 42.Ke1 Bf5 43.Nc6+ Kc8 44.Qd8+ Kb7 45.Qc7 checkmate, GOH - boggus, FICS, 2004.
Black's best defense is 11...Kf7. The difference between the two retreat squares (i.e. at f7 the Black King can protect a pawn at g6) quickly becomes apparent.
12.Qh5+g6 13.fxg6 hxg6
14.Qxg6+ Ke7 15.Bg5+ Nf6 16.Qxf6+ Ke8 17.Qg6 checkmate
I found the following Jerome Gambit game on a Reddit sub, with a heading about playing drunk or stoned. Whether that would help White's play or not, I do not know; perhaps it would ease the pain of losing?
Readers can decide. The game certainly is exciting, regardless.
ohhiwrigley - anonymous
posted on reddit, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6
Returning the two sacrificed pieces.
7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qd4
White continues to play creatively. This position is not in The Database.
10...Qg5 11.O-O
This offers Black the opportunity of 11...Bh3, which he overlooks, tossing away a pawn, instead. Was this a high-speed blitz game?
11...c5 12.Qxd6+ Ne7 13.d3 Qh5 14.Qf4+ Ke8 15.Qg3 Rf8
Unwittingly setting up a trap that White falls into.
16.Qxg7 Ng6
Instead, Black had 16...Rg8 which could be followed up by 17...Bh3, with an attack that wins material.
17.Bh6 Bg4 18.Qxb7 Be2 19.Qc6+
Certainly playable was 19.Qxa8+.
19...Kf7 20.Bxf8 Bxf1 21.Bxc5 Nf4 22.Qxa8 Bxg2
White can now win another piece with 23.Qf8+ followed by 24.Qxf4, but he makes the very prudent decision - given Black's pieces clustered around his King - to be happy to have an extra exchange (after 23...Qxc5) and 5 more pawns, and to focus on development.
23.Nc3 Nh3+
This looks scary at first glance, but is actually just a fancy way to lose more material. (Again, time trouble suggests itself.) Still, what choice does Black have, other than to complicate things and hope?
24.Kxg2 Qg4+ 25.Kf1 Qg1+ 26.Ke2 Nf4+ 27.Ke3 Qg5
Give Black credit, he keeps on fighting, looking for chances.
28.Qxa7+ Kg6 29.Bd4 Nd5+ 30.Ke2 Qg4+ 31.f3 Qg2+
32.Kd1 Qxf3+
33.Kc1 Ne3 34.Qg7+
The move that White has been angling for. Now it is all over for Black.
34...Kh5 35.Qxh7+ Kg4 36.h3+ Kg3 37.Be5+ Kf2
38.Qh4+ Kf1 39.Kd2+ Kg2 40.Qg5+ Kf2 41.Nd1+ Kf1 42.Nxe3+ Kf2 43.Rf1 checkmate
Nice.
We have been here before: see "'Tis A Puzzlement" and "The Blackmar-Jerome Gambit?!".
I was reading GM Boris Alterman's The Alterman Gambit Guide Black Gambits 2 - in particular, the chapter on The Traxler Counterattack - when I noticed
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5!?
Traxler gave the following comments about his invention "An original combination that is better than it looks. A small mistake by White can give Black a decisive attack. It is not easy to find the best defense against it in a practical game and it is probably theoretically correct."
He also stated that "it somewhat resembles the Blackmar-Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc3 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7?! Kxf7 5.Nxe5+?" although fortunately he was referring to its optical appearance rather than its correctness.
Clearly the author was quoting from Karel Traxler's chess column of October 11, 1892, in Golden Prague. But what else, if anything, did GM Alterman know about the "Blackmar-Jerome gambit"?
I emailed him, and quickly received a friendly response, including
I tried to find any info on the web and even in Russian sites, but not much info on Blackmar-Jerome Gambit has been found.
Too bad.
The American Supplement to the "Synopsis": Containing American Inventions in the Chess Openings; Together with Fresh Analyses in the Openings, Since 1882, edited by J.W. Miller (1884), gives two gambits by Blackmar (neither related to the Jerome)
Mr A E Blackmar, of New Orleans, sends to the editor the following analysis of winning positions in two interesting Gambits invented by him, and which he has been playing for four years. The second Gambit [1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.f3] is not played much, because few make use of the Hollandish Defense, Black 1 P-KB4 [1...f5].
In the first Gambit [1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3] the general opinion is that Black should not capture the second Pawn, but play 3 P-K3 [3...e6] or 3 P-K4 [3...e5], as suggested by Mr Chas. A. Maurian.
Mr Blackmar has a manuscript book of over 300 games played at the Gambits, and his conclusion is that both lead to most interesting positions, giving White an immense variety of brilliant attacks to repay for the Pawn sacrificed.
The second Gambit resembles From's Gambit at White's fourth move except that White is a move ahead.
Additionally, the Supplement has analysis of the Jerome Gambit.
This leaves me with my original possible explanation
My current hypothesis - complete speculation at this point - is that Traxler, writing in the October 11, 1892, chess column of Golden Prague, recalled the infamous Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 Jerome Gambit game and wanted to credit the successful master; but, in drawing up his note for Reinisch - Traxler, he erroniously attached "Blackmar" - instead of "Blackburne" - to "Jerome Gambit".
Readers who know anything more about the "Blackmar-Jerome Gambit" are asked to enlighten me.
[Readers: this is blog post #2,200. I will keep writing if you keep reading. - Rick]
It had been months since I had played the Jerome Gambit at blitz speed, and I worried that I might have forgotten too much. The following game, however, shows that the opening was as reliable as ever for me.
perrypawnpusher - grosshirn
2 19 blitz, FICS, 2016
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
Somewhat inexact. See the note (below) to White's 11th move.
9.Qd5+ Ke7 10. Qxc5+ d6
Better than 10...Ke8 as seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22).
11.Qe3
After 11 moves we have reached a position in which White has an extra move (f2-f4) in comparison to the line 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. So, if Black wants to give up his King's Bishop and post his Knight at g6, 6...Ng6 might have been a better choice.
Interestingly, Stockfish 7 recommends the alternate retreat 11.Qc3 (no example in The Database), suggesting that Black meet that with 11...Kf8 (11...Nxf4?12.Qxg7+ Ke8 13.O-O Qf6 14.Qxf6 Ne2+ 15.Kf2 Nxf6 16.Kxe2 Nxe4 with advantage to White) 12.O-O Nf6 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc6 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Qd4+ 17.Qxd4 Nxd4 18.Na3 Ne8) with an equal game.
11...Nf6
The text is about equal to 11...Kf8 (perrypawnpusher - Valseg, blitz, FICS, 2011 [1-0, 39]), better than 11...Bd7 (perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS, 2009 [1-0, 29]), and much better than 11...Be6 (perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 12]).
12.O-O
Or 12.d4 as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).
12...Rf8
This seems reasonable at first glance, as Black is considering castling-by-hand. However, 12...Re8 was probably better, as in perrypawnpusher - spydersweb, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 24) and perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 18).
13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Nb6 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 Nbd7
Black has covered up with his pieces, and still has his piece-for-two-pawns material advantage, but White's "Jerome pawns" and freer development give him the advantage.
18.Nc3 c6 19.Rae1 Qb6 20.Kh1 Ke8
Breaking the pin on his Knight, but White is ready to crash through, anyhow.
21.e5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Ng8 23.f6
Even better, according to Stockfish 7 after the game, was 23.Ne4 Ne7 24.Qd6 Rf7 25.e6 with a forced checkmate.
23...gxf6 24.exf6+ Kd8 Black resigned
Checkmate will be coming soon after 25.f7+.
In the previous post (see "Faster Than A Speeding Neuron") we saw a lightning fast game where White blundered his Queen just before Black lost on time. Whew!
In the following Jerome Gambit game, Black returns two sacrificed pieces and then resigns when he realizes that he will lose another - or will he?? It is a pretty good example of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in chess.
Masterking80 - beasst
6 8 blitz, lichess.org, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6
Not the strongest of defenses, as we have seen, as it returns too much material.
8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 Nxe4
In 12 previous games in The Database, White scored 75% from this position. White was 8-0 when he found the correct move 10.Qd5+ forking the enemy King and Knight - if we ignore one game where White played the right move but both players timed out and lost. By comparison, in two games White played the innacurate 10.Qf5+ and lost.
10.Qc4+ Black resigned
Wait a minute... Can't Black reply 10...d5 and protect his Knight? In fact, after 11.Qb3 Nc4 12.Qf3 Re8+ 13.Kd1 Qh4 doesn't Black develop a pretty strong initative for his pawn minus?
An interesting example of chess "shock and awe.".
