Jerome Gambit Tournaments

As mentioned in the earlier "But – Is this stuff playable?? (Part II)" there are currently three Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments happening at ChessWorld, with a fourth one recently having been completed.

ChessWorld members and regular visitors may have forgotten that there was an even earlier Jerome tournament at the site. Here is the crosstable:

If you look closely, you'll see that the points scored don't quite add up. Of course not – this is a Jerome Gambit tournament: two of the games are double forfeits!

Here is one of the more interesting games:

jelgava - breaker
www.ChessWorld.net Tournament 2005

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 c6 9.dxe5 h6 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.0-0 d6 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.exd6 Qe6 14.Qg3 g5 15.e5 1-0

The Horror! The Horror!!

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – truly a Shakespearean Gambit: full of sound and fury; signifying nothing...






But, like the thunder, it can catch players unawares, and cause a startle reflex.
Here is the game perrypawnpusher - PREMK, FICS 2005, a blitz game played at 6 12. White gives the illusion of being able to play 15.Nxb4 on his next move, regaining his piece and remaining a pawn ahead.
Black resigned.

In reality, of course, 15.Nxb4 is simply met by 15...Qd4+ and then 16.Be3 Qxb5 – when it will take some tricky play by White to keep the game even, if that: 17.c3 Qe7 18.e5 Qxe5 19.Rae1 Kd8 20.Bh6 Qxe1+ 21.Rxe1 gxh6 22.Qf4.
Better than that for White is 15.Bf4 Nxd5 16.Bxe5 Rxf3 17.Rxf3 Nf6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Rxf6 when his Rook and two pawns will balance out Black's two Bishops.

nerdfish compliments Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory!

Find something new in the Ruy Lopez or the Petroff Defense, and you may be talking about a wrinkle at the 20th or 25th move. Innovate in the Jerome Gambit – and you can make your mark much, much sooner.

Here is a small example, wrapped around some background.

Blackstone - Dommeyer
skittles game, California, USA 1960

John Blackstone was 15 or 16 at the time of this game (as was his opponent, I suppose). A few years later, he was a USCF master.

"Skittles game"? Why, Anderssen - Kiesertitzky, London 1851, "The Immortal Game," was a casual affair, too.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+
So far, standard fare. White is, of course, quite lost.

5...Ke8

Now, this is interesting!

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome – not to mention analysts from Sorensen (1877) to Schiller (2003) – seems neither to have brought up this move nor faced it in his games. (Please Note: I've been researching the Jerome Gambit for years, but all such "definitive" statements are, of course, open to revision based on future discoveries. )

The most discussed, recommended and played alternative to the main line 5...Nxe5 is 5...Kf8, going back to Jerome's first published analysis in the Dubuque Chess Journal, April 1874.

Of course, if you opponent springs the "Theoretical Novelty" 5...Ke6 on you, you'll be prepared with 6.Qg4+ Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 Nxd8 (or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Nd2 – a mess, but Black's uncertain King gives White the edge) and although the position is roughly even Black may not recover from "losing" his Queen.

6.Qh5+

Certainly tempting.

Correct (if such a word can be used in discussions of the Jerome Gambit, as opposed to, say, "5.Resigns!") is 6.Nxc6. White needs nothing more than to wait for Black to recapture, whereupon 7.Qh5+ will lead to the win of the Bishop on c5 and much the better game.

Black's best after 6.Nxc6, however, is the counter-attacking 6...Qh4 when 7.d4 leads to an even game after either 7...Bb6 or 7...Qxe4+.

6...g6 7.Nxg6 Bxf2+

A nifty move, although the simple 7...Nf6 8.Qxc5 hxg6 also gives Black the advantage.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+

Understandable: Check the King, protect the Rook at h8, prepare for 9...hxg6 – oh, and lose the game. The way to stay on top was 8...Nf6.

White now consolidates and is better.

9.Nf4+ Kd8 10.d3 d6 11.Rf1 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Qf6

One last hurrah would be 12...Qxb2 13.Nd2 (now 13...Qxc3 falls to 14.Ng6) but the first player still has advantages in material, development and King safety.

13.c3 1-0

International Master Gary Lane

International Master Gary Lane's "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe is a constant source of information and merriment for club players looking to add lines that are a bit unusual (or more than a bit) to their opening play.
In two recent columns, IM Lane took a look at the Jerome Gambit, with the encouragement of Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks, who provided an introduction via several games. In fact, he began coverage in the second column with the note

Finally, last month’s feature on the bizarre Jerome Gambit prompted a flood of e-mails; the majority of which were delighted to see this wacky opening.

Surprisingly, the Jerome Gambit can have that effect on people.
Go figure.

I was intrigued because this gambit was unknown to me, but after some research I think it is has an interesting history. The opening is named after the American player Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (1834-1902) of Paxton, Illinois, which was analysed in the American Chess Journal 1874.
It has to be remembered that over 100 years ago people liked to attack and never defend, but even so his gambit is extraordinary.

IM Lane then annotates a game (given in "My Jerome Gambit Database" as "blackburne - karmmark") and it's hard not to at least give his jumping-off points...

Let us first look at the perfect example: Pete Banks-Karmmark Internet 2007 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 Bxf7+? The starting point of the Jerome Gambit. The great benefit of playing this on the Internet is that it is the last move your opponent is expecting. 4…Kxf7 5 Nxe5+ Yes, this really is an established line. I think anyone with good manners playing Black would now kindly ask their opponent if they wanted to take their move back.

When White wraps the game up quickly and in good style, the annotator wryly comments

Yes, the Jerome Gambit does look like a forced win, but Black has one or two defences at his disposal. I think Mr. Banks benefits from being stronger than his opponent, but it is a fun way to test the opening.

That is some of what makes International Master Gary Lane such a hit with the average player: he's willing to consider ideas off of the beaten path, and he rarely overlooks the critical ingredient, "fun," which makes chess such a tasty dish!
graphic compliments Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

And Now For Something Completely Different...

This post will touch on the Jerome Gambit, then wander off. I hope everyone will stay with me.

Chessville readers may be familiar with my series "The Kennedy Kids" (loosely based on the chess exploits of Jon, Mary and Matt) especially the one titled "Birthdays With My Friend Jerome" which contains some interesting Jerome Gambit games allegedly played by my youngest.

Anyhow, Jon -- now a senior at the University of Notre Dame -- is spending the summer in Uganda, near Jinja. His blog is worth checking out: http://jbkuganda.blogspot.com/.

I was surprised at the amount of chess going on in Uganda, but have been trying to come up to speed quickly. A good starting place is at Dr. Daaim Shabazz's site, The Chess Drum, where there is a 2002 interview of Daniel Nsibambi, president (at that time) of the Uganda Chess Federation. There is also a profile of the Uganda National Team.

ChessBase has a 2005 story about a chess-playing trip the Uganda team made to Germany.

FIDE has some news on the 2008 East African Chess Championship, and of course there is a website for the Uganda Chess Federation itself.

To date I have not found any Jerome Gambit games or analysis from Uganda -- but, rest assured, I am looking!

A Few Words With... Micah Fisher-Kirshner

Seeing my interest in the Jerome Gambit, people often send me games from the Micah Fisher-Kirshner vs KnightStalker match.

Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, USA, June, 1993: the computer wins the match, but the human scores (at least) 3 victories.

For a time I thought that we had discovered the first "human beats computer with the Jerome Gambit" game, but it turns out, according to Randspringer #6, 1990-91, that the irrepressible Jack Young – "Bozo," of "Bozo's Chess Emporium" – defeated Fidelity's Chess Challenger 10 (rated about 1300) in 1979.

So who was this Jerome Gambiteer, this silicon giant-killer? The USCF had KnightStalker rated in the mid 2200s!

In 1989 Michah won the California primary school K-3 individual championship, and in 1992 and 1994 he won California's elementary K-6 individual championship. In 2000 he was the state's high school individual champ.

I recently caught up with Micah Fisher-Kirshner, via the internet.

I was around 11 or 12 at the time... but yeah, it definitely brings back some hilarious memories of playing against Knight Stalker (or what later became Fritz I believe).

I can actually recall the situation of the games… I would play them on my dad’s 386

(I think that was the name of the HP computer) as part of my chess homework for the day or two.
Essentially during the summer my dad set up a schedule for myself and my brother and part of it was having to play against the computer for maybe an hour or so. You can imagine how tiresome that could theoretically get for a young kid.

I’m pretty sure I learned about the opening from one of my former chess teachers, Richard Shorman, whereupon I used it to really help develop some of my tactical skills in the game at the young age – what better way to learn how to fight in chess than by being down by so much?
I’m pretty sure at some point I put these games on one of my earlier versions of my website (probably v1 or v2 which I unfortunately never saved) and may have been copied from there to the rest of the Internet during those early days.

[According to ChessDryad.com's "California Chess History Hall of Fame" page Richard Shorman "has added more games to the CalGames Chess Database than anybody else" so he also may be a possibility - RK]

I should search around my place to see what I still have in terms of recorded games and put them all back up online – I doubt I have any more of those Jerome Gambit games than what you already have, but you never know.

As for myself, I graduated from UCSD in 2006 (my current website is way out of date – but my blog www.micahfk.com/blog is current) with a Master’s in Pacific International Affairs from the IR/PS graduate school (undergraduate Bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University in International Affairs).

I am currently on the board for Success Chess, but mainly I’m working as a Search Strategist in San Francisco at Red Bricks Media doing a lot of SEO and Analytics aspects for the company and clients.

So, there you go!

Following the student theme, if chess can be thought of as "a gymnasium of the mind" (Pratt) and the Blackmar Diemer Gambit referred to as a "high school for tactics" (Diemer), I suppose that the Jerome Gambit can be seen as a brawl behind the gym after school lets out...

If so, here's Round One:

Fisher-Kirshner,M - Knight Stalker
Mission San Jose, Fremont, CA: June, 1993

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Bd4 9.fxe5+ Kc6 10.b4 Nh6 11.Qh5 Bxa1 12.b5+ Kxb5 13.e6+ Ka4 14.Nc3+ Bxc3 15.dxc3 Qf6 16.Qc5 Qh4+ 17.g3 Qxe4+ 18.Be3 Qxh1+ 19.Kd2 Qg2+ 20.Bf2 Qxf2+ 21.Qxf2 dxe6 22.Qc5 Rd8+ 23.Kc1 Rd4 24.cxd4 b5 25.c4 a6 26.cxb5 c6 27.a3 a5 28.Qc4+ Kxa3 29.Kc2 a4 30.Qc3+ Ka2 31.Qb2# 1-0


(Artwork compliments of Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws")

Let's give this thingie a try...

Well, if it actually works you'll be able to play over my first Jerome Gambit, a 2 12 blitz game played at the Internet Chess Club a few years back.
Nifty little thing from Chess Publisher.


[Readers - it worked, for a while, giving readers the ability to play over games on this blog - but when the Chess Publisher site expired, it was necessary to remove the link.]

perrypawnpusher - WHITE-KING
blitz 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 N8e7 8.0-0 Rf8 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd5+ Ke8 11.d3 Nge7 12.Qg5 Rf7 13.Nc3 h6 14.Qh5 Kf8 15.f5 Ne5 16.d4 N5c6 17.d5 Ne5 18.f6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6+ gxf6 20.Qxh6+ Kf7 21.Qh7+ Kf8 22.Bh6+ Ke8 23.Qh8+ Kf7 24.Qg7+ Ke8 25.Qf8# 1-0


(Artwork compliments of Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws")