London Calling... Eight Months of Blog

Dear Jerome Gambit Gemeinde,

As this blog continues its daily march toward post #250, I occasionally ask myself "Why bother with the Jerome Gambit? (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)"

The answers (there are many) are easy to come by.

I love chess: the play of it, its history, its games, and its analysis. Not just the well-known "stuff" but the arcane and even the "useless" stuff.

There's also the joy of the interaction with other similarly-minded chess players: face-to-face, via email, online and through the printed word.

I like receiving games and sending them out.

And the Jerome Gambit itself, in all its weirdness, notoriety and fame: there's a chance that it's improving my chess, after all... Here's a recent online blitz game of mine - not a Jerome, mind you, but a Danish - and you'd almost believe that I understood my opponent's gambit, figured out some tactical counterplay (although I missed some easier mates), and stayed in the game until he cooperatively handed it over to me.

Just like in the Jerome Gambit.

josephandrew - perrypawnpusher

rated blitz game

FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 d5 6.Bxd5 Nf6 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qxd8 Bb4+ 9.Qd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 Nc6 11.Ngf3 Bg4 12.0-0 Rae8 13.Rfe1 Bxf3 14.gxf3 (better: 14.Nxf3 since 14...Nxe4? 15.Rxe4 Rxe4 16.Ng5+ +-) 14...Rhf8 15.Rac1 Kg8 16.Kg2 Nd7 17.Rg1 Nde5 18.Kg3 Nd3 19.Rc2 (19.Rb1) 19...Nxb2 ( 19...Ncb4 20.Rxc7 Nxb2 21.Rxb7 Rd6) 20.Rxb2 b6 ( 20...Nd4 21.Re1 Re6 22.Kg2 Rg6+ 23.Kf1 b6 24.Re3 c5-/+) 21.Rc2 Re6 (21...Nd4!) 22.Nb3 Rg6+ 23.Kh3 Rxg1 24.Rxc6 Rxf3+ 25.Kh4 Rxf2 26.h3 Rf4+ 27.Kh5 g6+ 28.Kh6 Rh4 checkmate

Tic Tac Toe

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be compared, perhaps unkindly, to the childhood game of tic tac toe, a pasttime which, as most adults know, has been solved: the player who moves first can win or tie, and need never lose. The second player, however, need only know which first moves to avoid to gain the tie and avoid the loss.

Likewise, with so many refutations of the Jerome Gambit available, the player of the Black pieces need only choose one of them – and the full point arrives gift-wrapped.

Well, sometimes...
Consider the following blitz game that I recently played on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS):

perrypawnpusher - BronxBoyIIFICS rated blitz game 10 3, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4

An earlier game against the same opponent continued: 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Na3 Ne7 10.Bg5 Nxf5 11.Bxd8 Bxb2 12.Rd1+ Kc6 13.exf5 Rxd8 14.Nb5 Kxb5 15.Rb1 Nc4 16.0-0 Rf8 17.Rfe1 Rxf5 18.Re4 d5 19.Rxc4 Kxc4 20.Rxb2 Kc3 White resigns, perrypawnpusher-BronxBoyII, FICS blitz game, 2008

8...Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3
Black is playing very well. What should he be thinking about now?

As pointed out "In The Beginning...", Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's first analysis of his gambit, appearing in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, noted of White's move: "Compelling either K or Q to move as White threatens Bf4; or Black can play ...g5".
Alas, my opponent must have missed that post – and with it his chance to score a second win against me and the Jerome Gambit.
11...Rf8 12.Bf4
12...Nxe4

This move looks good – at first, rapid glance, only.
13.Bxe5+ Kc6 14.Qxe4+ d5 15.Qxh7 Re8 16.Qh5
Here 16.Qxg7 was also possible, and after 16...Bd7 then 17.Kd1 (avoiding the trap 17.Nc3 Rxe5+ 18.Qxe5 Re8 19.Qxe8 Bxe8 which allows Black to recover some of his missing material).

16...d4
Better was 16...Bd7, as in the note above.
17.Qxe8+ Bd7 18.Qxa8 Black resigns

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (28)

Shredder 8 comes up with a new move in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and while it doesn't lead to any kind of advantage, it helps complicate things – and in a computer vs human battle, that's often enough. In that regard, being able to spot every tactical opportunity in the Jerome is a great advantage.

Shredder 8 - RevvedUp
blitz 2 12, 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qe2
A new move in this position, although it was seen a move later in Fritz 8 - RevvedUp and RevvedUp - Hiarcs 8.
9...Nf6 10.Qc4+ Kd6 11.b4

A major theme in the Jerome Gambit is for White to bring pressure – psychological, if not tactical – against the Black King. Although RevvedUp's monarch isn't any more insecure on the Queenside than on the Kingside (or in the center), Shredder 8 has to play it that way.

11...Bb6 12.Nc3 Be6 13.Qe2 c6

Nothing accomplished, yet.

14.Na4 Qe7 15.Nxb6 axb6 16.0-0 Rhf8 17.a3 Kc7


18.Bb2 Bg4 19.Qe3 h6 20.d4


Looking for some kind of play.

20...exd4

A slip: better to have reinforced the center with 20...Nd7.

21.Qg3+ Kd7 22.e5


Suddenly Shredder 8 has an active (if even) game, and all for the cost of a tiny pawn... All Jerome Gambiteers should have this good fortune.

22...Be2 23.exf6 Rxf6 24.Rfe1 Raf8

Keeping things in balance was 24...c5.

25.Bxd4 Black resigns

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (27)

Again the tame 7...d6 defense holds up for Black, and the tactical wiles of the computer strike before the human can take it down.

RevvedUp - Shredder 8
blitz 2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+
A move as old as the 1993 Fisher-Kirshner - Knightstalker match (see "A Few Words With... Micah Fisher-Kirshner"). The alternative 9.Rf1 appeared in Fritz 8 - RevvedUp and RevvedUp - Hiarcs 8.

9...Kf7 10.Qh5+ g6
In 2006 I heard from Jeroen_61 of the Netherlands, who emailed me

Some time ago when Hiarcs 8 was released after receiving my copy I ran some small tournaments to see how things would go with Hiarcs. Other participants were Junior 7, Shredder Paderdorn (6.02) and Fritz 7. One of the tournaments I conducted with - the Jerome gambit as opening. They are games 40/40' + 40/40' + 40' (round robin two rounds, so 12 games in all). Only two were won by the white side.

Six of the games featured this line of play in RevvedUp - Shredder 8. (All were posted at a website that Jeroen_61 gave, although an attempt to use the url today got me the message De pagina is niet gevonden, which probably means just what it looks like.)
11.Qxe5
Oddly enough, the position is identical to that of the Blackburne line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 (see ''Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!") except that Black's d-pawn is missing. This difference is probably in the second player's favor.

11...Bd4 12.Qf4+ Nf6
One reason not to use only database statistics in evaluating a position can be seen by the fact that I have 52 wins by White from this position, all computer games from Randy Tipton at HANGING PAWN :: Tip's Chess Blog (see "We are not alone..."). Of course, he only provided me with the Jerome Gambit wins, not the whole package of games.

13.c3

A "TN", but it is a prelude to a tactical oversight by RevvedUp.
13...Re8 14.cxd4 Rxe4+ White resigns

Worth a Second Look... (Part 3)

The most recent analysis of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 (see "Worth a Second Look (Part 1)" and "Worth a Second Look (Part 2)") is by NM Clyde Nakamura, in his very creative "The Search for Dragons & Mythical Chess Openings" column at Chessville. Nakamura refers to the line, after the additional 3.Nxe5 Nc6, as "Chiodini's Gambit" apparently so-named by a chessfriend-of-a-chessfriend. He gives earlier (1998) analysis by Stefano Vezzani and by Sverre Johnsen, and then gives a host of annotated games, including one by Busch and one by Gass.

The Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3) was suggested by Lionel Kieseritzky in 1848. Samuel Boden published the first analysis of it in his Popular Introduction to Chess in 1851. Over 150 years later, will the BKG, in Chiodini form, rise again like the mythical Phoenix?

Worth a Second Look... (Part 2)

Rainer Schlenker refers to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 (see "Worth a Second Look... (Part 1)") as the "Busch - Gass Gambit" in the May/June 1985 issue (pp. 69-71) of his magazine Randspringer.

He refers to analysis by Oskar Cordel in Führer durch die Schachtheorie (1888)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 Bd6 (4...Bb6 5.Bc4!) 5.f4 f6 6.Nc4 Qxe4+ 7.Kf2 Bxf4 8.Nc3 Qf5 9.Bd3 Qg5 10.Re1+ Ne7 11.Kg1 Nbc6 12.Bxf4 Qxf4 13.Qh5+ Kf8 14.Re4 +/- / +-

and analysis included in Bilguer (1916)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 Bd6 5.Nc3! Bxe5 6.Nd5 Qd6 7.dxe5 Qxe5 8.Bf4 Qxe4+ 9.Qd2

Schlenker, however, modifies the name that Bent Larsen gave to the line ("Busch-Gambit") in Larsen's Sharp Openings (in Danish) based on the game Baird - Busch, 15. Kongresses Deutchen Schachbundes, Nuremberg 1906. Sharp Openings included a portion of the game:

Baird,D - Busch
Nuremberg, 1906
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nf3 Qe7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 Nxe4 7.Nd5 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 Nxd2+ 9.Nxe7 Nxf3+ 10.Ke2 Nfxd4+ 11.Kd3 Bxe7 12.c3 Ne6 13.Kc2 0-0 14.g3 d5 15.Bd3 Rd8 16.f4 d4 17.f5 dxc3 18.fxe6 Nb4+ 19.Kxc3 Rxd3+ 20.Qxd3 Nxd3 21.exf7+ Kf8 22.Kxd3 Bf5+ 0-1

Schlenker adds the name "Gass" to the variation after the German master who had been playing the line in the 1970s and 1980s, and gives a few examples.

Many of Gass's blitz games have gone:

NN - Gass
blitz (1970 - 1985)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Nxe4 7.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4 checkmate

and then there's

NN - Gass
blitz
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.c3 Qe7 6.f3 f5 7.d4 fxe4 8.dxc5 exf3+ 9.Kf2 Nf6 10.Bc4 Ne4+ 11.Kg1 fxg2 12.Kxg2 Bh3+ 13.Kg1 Qxc5+ 14.Qd4 Rd8!! White resigns

While Cordel (1888) and Bilguer (1916) updated the analysis of Salvio (1604) (see "Worth a Second Look... (Part 1)"), Busch and Gass have taken the opening in a different direction: that of a reversed Boden - Kieseritzky Gambit, a move down.

That, too, deserves a second look...

Worth a Second Look... (Part 1)

Continuing the discussion from "London Calling... Seven Months of Blog", "The next best thing..." and "The next worst thing..." based on my self-challenge from that first post:

I also got wondering the other day: is there another totally obscure and disreputable tactical opening line or gambit that I could go digging for information about, while I'm researching the Jerome Gambit [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+]??

Who – especially a Jerome Gambiteer – couldn 't get excited about the opening in the following game?

Kaidanov,Gregory - Martinenko,Sergey

Pioneer House Tournament, 1969

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Kg1 Qxe4 6.Qh5 Qd4 checkmate

Granted, the future Grandmaster was only 10 years old and in only his second year in the Pioneer House program when he played that game, but still...

Where did such a thing come from??

Unfortunately, the earliest example that I have in my database of the 3...Bxf2+ line is a little less optimistic for Black:

Krejcik, Josef - Baumgartner

Troppau, 1914

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxe4 6.Qe2 Qxh1 7.Bg2 Black resigns

Oh, well. But, still... The thing surely is worth a second look.

The opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 actually has a long pedigree. When J.H. Sarratt published his The Works of Damiano, Ruy-Lopez and Salvio on the Game of Chess in 1813, he noted Salvio's analysis of the line (from Il Puttino, altramente detto, il Cavaliero Errante, del Salvio, sopra el gioco de Scacchi, 1604), including the following (translated into modern algebraic notation)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 Bb4+ (4...Bd6 5.f4 f7 6.Nc4 Qxe4+ 7.Kf2 Bxf4 8.Nc3 Qf5 9.Bd3 Qg5 10.Re1+; 4...d6 5.dxc4 Qxe5 6.cxd5 Qxe4+ 7.Be3 cxd6 8.Qxd6 Qxc2) 5.c3 Ba4 6.f3 f6 7.Nc4

Note, though, that Salvio focused on 3.Nxe5 Qe7, rather than 3...Bxf7+, with the goal of capturing White's e-pawn to maintain material equality. To him, Black's 2...Bc5 didn't lose a pawn as much as it made capturing White's e-pawn, in turn, more awkward (due to 4.d4), and caused Black to fall behind in development.

That put 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 in a whole class of defenses where Black appeared indifferent to the loss of his e-pawn, as shown in these examples:

Pilkington,R - Harvey,E

Dublin Evening Mail corr, 1889

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 a5 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 h5 5.Bc4 f6 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Qd5 Black resigns

Judd,M - MacLeod,N

USA-06.Congress New York (8), 1889

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 c6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 Bg4 5.dxe5 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 dxe5 7.Bc4 Nf6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qg3 0-0 10.Qxe5 Nbd7 11.Qf5 b5 12.Bd3 Bd6 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.f4 g6 15.Qh3 Nh5 16.e5 Bc5+ 17.Kh1 Rae8 18.Ne4 Be7 19.Bh6 Ng7 20.Rad1 f5 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Bc4+ bxc4 23.Rxd7 Qc8 24.Nxf6+ Rxf6 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Qxc8 Rxc8 27.Rxa7 Rg8 28.Re1 Rd6 29.h3 Black resigns

Csipkes,A - Sutro,J

Hungary, corr, 1893

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nxc6 Qxe4+ 6.Be3 Qxc6 7.Nc3 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nf6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.Rg1 0-0 11.g4 d6 12.g5 Ne8 13.Bb5 Qc7 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Bxe8 Rxe8 16.Qf4 Rf8 17.Bd4 Be6 18.Nf6+ Kh8 19.Qh4 Bxf6 20.gxf6 g6 21.Rxg6 Rg8 22.Rdg1 Rxg6 23.Rxg6 Bf5 24.Qh6 Qf8 25.Rg7 a6 26.Bc3 Black resigns

Brody,M - Albin,A

Kolisch mem, Vienna (5), 1899

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 a6 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 d6 5.Nf3 Qxe4+ 6.Be2 Bf5 7.c4 Qc2 8.0-0 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Be7 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Bf4 0-0 12.h3 Re8 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 Bf8 15.Re3 Nbd7 16.Rae1 c6 17.Rxe8 Nxe8 18.d5 c5 19.Kf1 h6 20.g4 g5 21.Bg3 f6 22.Ke2 Kf7 23.Kd3 b5 24.b3 bxc4+ 25.bxc4 Rb8 26.Kc2 Rb4 27.Nd2 Ng7 28.a3 Rb6 29.f4 gxf4 30.Bxf4 h5 31.Nde4 hxg4 32.hxg4 Ne5 33.Bxe5 dxe5 34.Na4 Rb8 35.Kc3 Ne8 36.Naxc5 Rc8 37.Nd3 Nd6 38.Nxd6+ Bxd6 39.Rb1 e4 40.Nb4 Rb8 41.Re1 Be5+ 42.Kc2 a5 43.Nc6 Rb2+ 44.Kc1 Rb3 45.Rxe4 Rxa3 46.Nxe5+ fxe5 47.Kb2 Ra4 48.Kb3 Rb4+ 49.Kc3 Kf6 50.Re1 Rb8 51.Ra1 Rg8 52.Rf1+ Ke7 53.Rf5 Kd6 54.Rf6+ Kd7 55.Re6 Rg5 56.c5 Rxg4 57.Rxe5 Rg1 58.Rh5 Rc1+ 59.Kd4 Ke7 60.Rh6 a4 61.Ra6 Ra1 62.Ra7+ Kf6 63.c6 a3 64.Kc5 Ke5 65.Re7+ Kf5 66.Kd6 Rh1 67.c7 Rh6+ 68.Kc5 Rh8 69.d6 Kf6 70.Re2 a2 71.Rxa2 Ke6 72.Re2+ Black resigns

It's all too much to reflect on at once...