Sometimes you do not need to attack maniacally with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), you need only press ahead steadily, leaving the window open to allow an opponent's error in...
billwall (2488) - DeDrijver (1438)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8
An interesting line, as old as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's earliest published analysis of his gambit, which showed up not much later in Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1/2-1/2, 29) and Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd match, Mexico, 1876 (1-0, 43).
The move 6.Qh5!?, looking to transpose into more main lines, is known as the Banks Attack (Banks - Rees, Wolverhampton, 2003) although 6...Qe7! (splott - Mika76, GameKnot, 2008) is a dangerous response.
Bill tries something different – again. A couple of year ago he tried the interesting 6.Nd3 in Wall,B - Tim93612, Chess.com 2010, (1-0, 36).
6.0-0 Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6
Stronger and simpler is 7...Bxd4.
8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd4+
This move is difficult to understand, and might be mistaken for a "mouse slip" were not the game's time control 3 days per move.
10.Qxd4 Qf6 11.e5 Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6
Happy to be a pawn up, with easier development, a safer King, and potential for his "Jerome pawns", White has plenty of patient hope for his game.
13.Nc3 Ne7 14.Nb5 c6 15.Nd6 g6
Waving a red cape in front of a bull.
16.f5
As I watched this game develop at Chess.com, I thought that it might be time now for 16.g4, followed by 17.f5, which, after an exchange of pawns, would have the "Jerome pawns" looking advanced and mighty good. Bill shows that the f-pawn does not have to wait.
16...gxf5
Although the position looks quiet, this move allows mate. Sadly, something like 16...g5 followed by 17...h6 was necessary to keep the White Bishop off of h6.
17.Bh6+ Kg8 18.Nxf5 Nxf5 19.Rxf5 d5 20.Rf8 checkmate
At the end of last month I posted the famous Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4Bxf7+) game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, which had been published in The Newcastle Courant of Saturday, December 3, 1898, with the admonition that Students would do well to commit it to memory, as strong players have a peculiarity of springing the opening upon the unwary.
"Students" who have not chosen to "commit it to memory" but who have, instead, relied on retaining a general idea of Blackburne's plan, have repeatedly learned, however, that often "half a defense is worse than no defense at all."
The newest example is from the ongoing "Play The Jerome Gambit Quad" at Chess.com.
ubluk (1864) - bfcace (1572)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
Black's "generous" counter-offer of material.
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Qxe4
A key move in Blackburne's Defense is 9...Nf6, working on trapping White's Queen. If she escapes, as in this game, Black will regret his counter-sacrifice of a Rook.
10.Qxh7+
Or 10.d3 Qe5 11.Qxh7+ as in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0,17)
10...Kf8 11.d3
A bit better than 11.Nc3 as in perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12) and DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 16).
11...Qe6
Previously seen was 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 (1-0, 20).
12.Qxc7 Bb6 13.Qc3 Nf6
Black is down three pawns and the exchange (plus an unsafe King). This should tell as soon as White completes his development.
14.Bh6+ Kf7 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.Rae1 Qf5 17.Ne4 Rh8 18.Nxd6+
A final slip. Black resigned
Continuing my search through The Database's 8-move games, chasing clues to the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, (or at least an insight into how it "works"), I came across a lesson (again) for White, written in a handful of games.
After all, 7...Qf6 could simply be an example of Black placing a strong piece on a strong square. Or – he could be planning something...
ainafets - Papaflesas
blitz, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.f4 Nf3+ White resigned
stemplarv - KIAUA
blitz, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.f4 Nf3+ White resigned
stretto - terma
blitz, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.0-0 Nf3+ White resigned
stretto - haquitraveis
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.0-0 Nf3+ White resigned
It is very common for a chessplayer to look at White's first few moves in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and ask himself, "What is White thinking??" Sometimes the first player has a head full of fever dreams like the following games, which I turned up while looking through The Database for 8-move contests containing the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit, or at least an insight into how it "works".
decent - fulldecent
lightning, FICS, 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Kf8 7.Qf3+ Ke8 8.Qf7#
soulman - tobinskov
standard, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.Qf3 h6 8.Qf7#
drumme - jherman
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.Qf3 h6 8.Qf7#
Odizzel - narciso
blitz, FICS, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 d6 6.Ng5+ Kf8 7.Qh5 Nf6 8.Qf7#
braken - klonka59
2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 5.Bd5 Nf6 6.Ng5 Nxe4 7.Nxe4 Ne7 8.Qf3+ Black resigned
Yes, indeed, things frequently go differently, if Black defends properly; but these games reinforce the lesson Tartakower liked to pronounce about some opening ideas, that is "dubious, therefore playable". Black relaxed and told himself that he would get around to defending, any time now – to his misfortune.
Referring to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ as "The Jerome Gamble", Gary K. Gifford put his finger on the uncertainty and the risk of loss vs risk of gain in this particular opening.
Quite possibly Gifford would refer to the subsequent line 4...Kxf7 5.d4 as the "Jerome Gamble Gamble".
Once again looking for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit, or at least an insight into how it "works" (as I have been doing in the "Return" series), I ran into an 8-move game that utilized that gambling center pawn sacrifice.
EstonianBear - Lesic
blitz, FICS, 2002
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4
White's second "gamble" in the classical "Jerome Gamble" line comes when he plays 5.Nxe5+. In this modern "Jerome Gamble" line, White's second "gamble", instead, is 5.d4.
This move has several points (starting with not sacrificing a second piece), not the least of which is making the move Nf3-g5 possible without risking the Knight's capture – see "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies (Part 2)".
This position shows up about 1,540 times in The Database (scoring 38%), the most recent time being in the game Bill Wall - Guest1366999, Playchess.com, 2011 (1-0).
5...Nxd4
Of Black's 3 possible captures of the d-pawn, taking with the Knight seems least strong. Currently, The Database shows White scoring 27% against 5...Bxd4, 36% against 5...exd4, and 45% against 5...Nxd4.
6.Nxe5+ Kf8 7.Qh5
Continuing to go for the jugular. Robots might recommend the pedestrian 7.Be3, instead.
7...g6 8.Nxg6+ Black resigned
For some reason this got me thinking about the old song Little Ole' Man, sung by Bill Cosby, which I heard about 45 years ago.
A little ole' man was sittin' on a step
And a tear trickled own his cheek.
I said "What's the matter?"
He said "A train just ran over me."
I said "Hmm. How often does this happen?"
He said "Everyday about this time."
I said "Well, why do you just sit out here then?"
He said "Cause I cannot believe that this happened."
I said "Reach out, take my hand, you'll understand."
Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight. Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight.
Little ole' man was sittin' on the step, same ole' man.
And a tear trickled down his cheek.
I said "What's the matter?"
He said "A herd of elephants just stampeded over me."
I said "Hmm" same "Hmm."
I said "How often does this happen?"
He said "Everyday, a half hour after the train runs over me."
I said "Reach out, take my hand, you'll understand."
Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight. Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight.
Little ole' man sittin' on a step, same ole' man.
A tear trickled down his cheek.
I said "Hey, how ya doin' after that train ran over ya?"
He said "WHAT train?"
I said "The train that ran over ya a half hour before the elephants stampeded over ya."
He said "What elephants?"
I said "Hmm" same "Hmm."
He says "You're a young boy."
Says "Ya got a lot to learn."
He says "Reach out, take my hand, you'll understand."
Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight. Baby, everything is alright, uptight, outta sight
Erik Knutson (USCF 2080) has recently posted a couple of videos at YouTube, introducing the Jerome Gambit. They are well-produced and give a good introduction to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.
Video 1, (3 minutes), March 15, 2012
Video 2, (9 minutes 30 seconds), March 20, 2012
Erik promises a third video soon, with a couple of illustrative games. Watch for it!
My thanks to Edward Winter, of Chess Notes, for sending me a copy of the Jerome Gambit analysis from Henri Delaire's Les échecs modernes; histoire, théorie complète, 1914
"Jerome Gambit"
Imagined in 1871 by an American player, A.-W. Jerome, of Paxton, this gambit can surprise by the brusqueness of its attack; but an attentive defense is rightly without great difficulties. Also it is seldom tried.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The essential blow
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5
5...Kf8! this second defense is also good and less dangerous 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qf3 (8.d4 Bg4 9.Qe1 Qxd4 etc) 8...Qd4 9.d3 Bg4 10.Qg3 Bd6 11.Bf4 g5 12.Bxd6+ cxd6 13.h3 Be6 14.Qxg5 Rg8 better
6.Qh5+
6.d4 is less agressive 6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 (7...Qf6 8.Qd1 d6 9.0-0 g6 10.f4 Nc6 better) 8.0-0 Nf6 9.f4 Nc6 (9...c5 10.Qc3 Neg4 11.Nd2 b5 12.h3 h5! etc) 10.Qd3 Re8 11.Nc3 Be6 better]
6...Ke6
6...Kf8! 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ Ke8 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qg3 Qf7 better; 6...Ng6? undergoing an awkward attack 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qc3 Nf6 10.d3 c6 11.0-0 Kd7 12.f4 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 Kc7 14.Qe1 Re8 even;
6...g6? a vain attempt to block the white Queen 7.Qxe5 d6! 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8 Bb6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qd3 better
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4
8.f4 does not lead to a better offensive result 8...Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3 Kc6 12.Nc3 d6 better
8...Bxd4 9.Na3 c6
9...Ne7? incorrect defense 10.Qh3 Qf8 11.Nb5+ Kc5 12.Nxd4 Kxd4 13.Bg5 better;
9...Qf6? worse 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 Qxf5 12.Nxf5 g6 13.Be3+ Kc6 14.Nd4+ Kd6 15.0-0-0 Ke7 16.Nb5 and wins
10.c3 Qf6 11.cxd4 Qxf5 12.exf5 Nf7 13.Bf4+ Ke7
Black, free from danger, has the advantage of a piece for a pawn.
One theory of chess play is that each person has a set of imaginary "blunder bombs" inside of himself or herself that explode rarely if the player is very strong, but explode frequently, if the player is not so strong. Under this model, a stronger player can expect to win if he or she plays simple, safe moves, waiting for the weaker player's "blunder bomb" to go off first. Of course, if the stronger player introduces an unusual and tricky opening such as the Jerome Gambit, the opponent's bomb might go off even sooner...
DeDrijver (1401) - billwall (2488)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.h4
Preparing for a Knight's excursion to g5. See "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies (Part 2)".
5...Bb6 6.c3 d5 7.Ng5+
7...Ke7 8.Qf3 Nf6 9.exd5 Bg4
10.Qd3 e4 11.Nxe4 Ne5 12.Nxf6
Boom.
12...Nxd3+ White resigned
White has not only lost his Queen, he also faces checkmate in 8.
Around the corner, as it were, to the "1st Jerome Gambit Race" at Chess.com, mentioned in yesterday's post, is Chess.com's Play the Jerome Gambit Quad,
which includes long-time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Bill Wall.
I'd like to share some of the rock 'em sock 'em games, starting with the first one finished.
bfcace (1619) - DeDrijver (1388)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Nc3
There are only 8 examples of this gambling move (Will Black withdraw his Knight? Will he capture the pawn on f4?) in The Database, with the oldest being from a game between Hiarcs8 and Fritz7 in 2002 (0-1, 59), and the most recent from a game between Yigor and mrdenetop (1-0, 10) from the Kentucky Opening /Jerome Gambit tournament played at Chess.com last year (see "My Old Kentucky... Opening" and "Sunday Tournament Update").
8...g6 9.Qh3+ Kf7 10.Nd5 Qc6
Allowing White to capture at e5, which opens the floodgates.
11.fxe5 d6 12.Rf1+ Kg7 13.e6 Bxe6
Black is in trouble, but this move leads to mate.
14.Qc3+ Kh6 15.d4+ Kg7 16.dxc5+ Nf6 17.Qxf6+ Kg8 18.Ne7 checkmate
I noticed that Chess.com recently held its 1st Jerome Gambit Race.
The players, how they finished, and their scores
#1 calcot (1448) 4-2-0
#2 Merlin-Pendragon (1393) 3-3-0
#3 Jordi-I (1430) 3-3-0
#4 couchpotatoe (1345) 2-4-0
Sadly, there was only one win by White (against what could have become a Blackburne or Whistler Defense).
Jordi-I (1497) - couchpotatoe (1539)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Rf1 Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7#
In addition, in the following games White had commanding advantages until move 17 (first game) and move 24 (second game)
Jordi-I (1489) - calcot (1490)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 c6 11.d3 Qf6 12.Qg3+ Qe5 13.Bf4 Bd4 14.Bxe5+ Bxe5 15.Qe3 Bxb2 16.d4 Bxa1 17.e5+ Kc7 18.Qg3 g6 19.0-0 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 Ne7 21.Qf4 Bc5 22.e6+ d6 23.Qf7 d5 24.Qg7 Bxe6 25.Nc3 b5 26.Re1 Raf8 27.g3 Kd7 28.Ne2 Rhg8 29.Qxh7 Rf7 30.Qh6 d4 31.Rd1 Bd5+ 32.Kg1 d3+ 33.Nd4 Bxd4+ 34.Qe3 Bxe3#
couchpotatoe (1352) - Merlin-Pendragon (1386)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 g5 6.d3 h6 7.h3 Be7 8.d4 Bf6 9.d5 Nce7 10.Nc3 d6 11.Be3 Ng6 12.a4 h5 13.Qd2 h4 14.Nxg5+ Ke7 15.a5 Rh5 16.Nf3 Kf7 17.Qe2 Rh7 18.b4 Rg7 19.Qd2 Bxh3 20.gxh3 Nf4+ 21.Kh2 Qd7 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Qxf4 Rf8 24.Ng5+ Rxg5 25.Rae1 Ne7 26.Re3 Ng6 27.Qf3 Ke8 28.Qe2 Be5+ 29.Kh1 Nf4 30.Qb5 Bxc3 0-1
All of the games from the 1st Jerome Gambit Race have been added to The Database.
It is time to take a break from "Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies" to take a look at a recent blitz game from FICS. Black seems to be settling into his chair, becoming comfortable with his position (after all, it's only the Jerome Gambit), when things "suddenly" go wrong.
perrypawnpusher - Odeon
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5
6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Re8
10.f4 Nc6
I have had a habit of playing 11.Qd3 (most recently perrypawnpusher - kholthaus, blitz, FICS, 2011) in this and in similar positions, naively hoping for ...Nb4, which would drop the Knight to Qc4+.
My choice in this game was based on the idea that Black would be less likely to make that slip than to choose the move that he actually does make.
11.Qc4+ Kf8
This move is not an error (although 11...d5 is a bit stronger) but it does allow White to get a tighter grip on the center.
12.e5 Ng4
This looks like a "That's okay, I'll take care of it later" kind of play, in that Black sees no problem with moving his piece to a more aggressive position. Retreating to g8 or h7 was the prudent choice.
13.h3 Ngxe5
Played relatively quickly, as if "Hey, no problem, I'll return the piece for two pawns and active play." White would have an edge after 13...d6 14.hxg4 Bxg4
14.fxe5+
The check makes a big difference.
14...Ke7 15.Qf7 checkmate
Following the theme of "short Jerome Gambit games" that has run through the recent "Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies" series of postings, I recently found three chess games from a 2010 tournament at the online site Little Golem (where you can play many different board games). I'm not sure what to make of the games, however...
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 0-1
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 0-1
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 0-
1
Continuing my search for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works", I discovered that 7-move wins by Black were not so much improvements in defense (after all, after accepting two sacrificed pieces Black needs merely to "hold on") as they were instances of White throwing away a Knight (see "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies Part 2") , a Queen, or a King. Some examples of the last case are given as a warning for White to "pay attention".
richsilver - Leprichaunt
standard, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Qxg5 6.g3 Qf6 7.Nc3 Qxf2#
BillieBob - SuperCanuck
blitz, FICS, 2000
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Qf8 6.Ng5+ Kg6 7.h4 Qxf2#
ytrom - yelloman
lightning, FICS, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Kf8 6.d3 Qf6 7.Nc3 Qxf2#
ChonnyQ - eggert
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 h6 6.Nh4 Qxh4 7.Nd2 Qxf2#
stretto - DjinnKahn
blitz, FICS, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.dxe5 Qxf2# (The Database has 5 game examples.)
As I continued looking for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works", I discovered that some of the 7-move games in The Database began to "predict" some of the regular main lines.
For example, in the following three games White's recovery of one of the pieces that he had sacrificed is enough for Black to surrender, even though the second player actually remained with the advantage.
mediax - TJay2465
Jerome Gambit Thematic
ChessWorld.net, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 1-0
Petasluk - mihck
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 1-0
perrypawnpusher - Aerandir
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 1-0
Some of the other short games began to highlight the attacking ideas open to White in the Jerome Gambit, if the defense faltered.
stivb_99 - spymaster
gameknot.com, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 (in The Database, White won 6 out of 8 games against this move) 6.Qh5 d6 7.Qf7#
Esistes - ClosetDoor
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 (The Database, White won 22, lost 8, and drew 1 against this move) 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qf7#
escapade - Sakebomb
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 7.Qh5+ (in 89 games in The Database that reached this position, White won 59%) 1-0
perrypawnpusher - gelgel
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke7 7.Qxe5+ 1-0
Knight32 - Haroldlee123
Jerome Gambit Thematic,
ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qb3+ (White won 2 of 5 games with this position in The Database) 1-0
Continuing my search for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works" (see Part 1 and Part 2) I examined The Database for games of a half-dozen moves in length.
For the most part, as might be expected, the footnote to most of White's 6-move wins was "White won on time". Opponents were either dazzled, shocked, bored, distracted or offended... and went on to other things. An exception was the following game
Perfesser - Talking LCD Chess (1 ply)
casual game at home, 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6 1-0
More about this game and the match between these two opponents can be found at "Jerome Gambit and The Perfesser" Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
After six moves in the game, White can recover his sacrificed pieces, playing 7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ and then either 9.Qxc5+ or 9.Qd5+ and 10.Qxc5, depending on Black's 8th move.
This looks very good for the first player, although I have to point out that White lost 8 of 32 games (after 6...Kf6) in The Database, including the very embarassing perrypawnpusher - chingching, blitz, FICS, 2011.
Although White White's main enemy in 6-move games remained the clock, about one third of those "0-1"s were the result of 5.Ng5+ (see "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies, Part 2").
There was also the first appearance of a new kind of obstacle, one that I had bemoaned a couple of years ago in "A Sneaky Way to Defeat the Jerome Gambit"
Chainbk - zdveslo
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Black wins by ajudication
Building on yesterday's initial exploration into The Database, "[l]ooking for the 'essence' of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it 'works', " I checked and found 23 games where White had won in 5 moves.
How do you win with White in the Jerome Gambit in 5 moves??
The following game held the answer
mediax - jemasc
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ White claimed a win on time
Ah, yes, the "The-Clock-Is-My-Friend" motif. (Or the "My-Opponent-Lost-Interest-In-The-Game" dynamic; or the "My-Opponent-Is-Playing-Too-Many-Games-At-Once-And-Decided-To-Give-This-One-Up" strategy.)
Admittedly, that was not very enlightening.
More interesting was the question: How does White lose in 5 moves, as he did 34 times in The Database?
Again, time was a factor in many of the games, but half of White's 5-move losses went like this
Kaarvek - LuigiBot
standard. FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+
with White resigning before or after 5...Qxg5.
This was the first non-trivial finding of my research, but it came with a serious caveat.
It turned out that when I did a search in The Database for games that had the position after White's 5th move, I found 379 of them, averaging 24 moves in length, with the longest (a win for Black) lasting 91 moves.
On top of that, White won 81 of the games, and 9 were drawn, for a score of 23% for the first player.
My conclusion (more proof that the Jerome Gambit can lead to strange chess): [theoretical] Do not play 5.Ng5+ because it loses a piece, and [practical] it cuts White's scoring percentage in half.
Looking for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works" – still pondering IM Gary Lane's challenge to identify some good, representative modern examples – I decided to turn to The Database.
Searching by position after the first 4 moves, I found about 8,780 games (admittedly missing those games that transpose later), which I then sorted by length (number of moves).
I began by examining the shorter games.
Not only did I find the elegant 1998 game between Yvonne Brescak and Stephanie Hefti, but I also found the quintessential Jerome (and four more with identical moves, but different players)
Carlos Azcarate - jemasc
Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 1-0
What could be simpler?
Unfortunately, I also found three games that went like this
flplayboy - parrot
standard, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 0-1
Worse, there were 28 games that went like this
one-eye bishop - blackburne
ChessWorld, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 0-1
Obviously I was going to have to dig deeper!
