A couple of pawns among friends...

In a game between equally-rated players, it would be odd for one to offer the other odds of two pieces, or even of two pawns. However, in the following game White offers "Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) odds" and when his opponent realizes that his defense is the same as offering two-pawn odds, he turns over his King... 

perrypawnpusher - Leontes blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009 

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

What's a couple of pieces among friends? It's the Jerome Gambit way. 

6.Qh5+ Kf6 No, no, I insist: what's a couple of pawns among friends? Black had many options, just not this one – giving back both of the pieces (see "Jerome Gambit and The Perfesser (Part I)" ) 

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qd5+ Ke8 

Or 9...Kg6 10.Qf5+ Kh6 11.d4+ g5 12.h4 d6 13.Bxg5+ Kg7 14.Qd5 Qe8 15.dxc5 dxc5 16.Nc3 Bg4 17.f3 c6 18.Qxc5 Bd7 19.0-0-0 Qe6 20.Qd4+ Nf6 21.Bxf6+ Qxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kxf6 23.Rxd7 Black resigns, guest1088 - guest567, ICC 2002

10.Qxc5 Qe7 11.Qxe7+ Black resigns

White will simply be up two pawns in a Queenless middle game. Likely my opponent had better things to do than play that out.

Kersplat!

Readers may be skeptical about my enthusiasm for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), as this blog features many of my wins (with and against) and few losses.

The fact is that my Jerome and Jerome-ized games database includes 49 wins, 4 draws, and 6 losses by perrypawnpusher.

The following battle, my most recent, is one of those losses – my opponent out-played me with ease and grace; and my game, which never really got started, came to a swift and unhappy end.

Hats off to my opponent, Raankh, for the stern lesson.

perrypawnpusher - Raankh
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8


As old as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's third episode of analysis from the Dubuque Chess Journal, July 1874; and good enough to last that long. Black is better.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qc3

Jerome recommended, instead, 8.Qf4+, which I'll try to remember next time.

8...Qf6 9.0-0 Qxc3 10.Nxc3 a6

11.Nd5

Better was 11.Ne2. The Knight eventually gets there...

11...c6 12.Nf4 Nf6 13.d3 g6 14.Bd2 Kf7 15.Ne2 Rf8 16.Bc3 Nh5 17.Kh1 Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand, and White has gotten nothing started to speak of.

18.g3

Thoughtless and easily punished.

18...Bh3 19.d4 Bxf1 20.Rxf1 Bb6



White's two extra pawns do not offset his missing Rook

21.f4 Rae8 22.g4 Nf6 White resigned

I hope he's not holding his breath...

From the Unorthodox Chess Openings news group on the internet, a number of years ago:

20.07.2002
[Internet - Unorthodox Openings - Nakamura]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ -- In UnorthodoxChessOpenings@y..., "richardfkennedy" wrote: Until the time that there is a "Dumb Chess Openings" group, I guess that a discussion of the discredited Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5) will have to show up in UnorthodoxChessOpenings... :-)

Actually, I am researching the Jerome, especially its early years, which go back to the 1870s and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome. (Some of what I have discovered is at www.chesshistory.com.) I would be interested in anyone's experiences or games with the line.

Many thanks!

From: "hawgambit"
Date: Sat Jul 20, 2002 2:39 pm
Subject: Re: Jerome Gambit

Greetings from Hawaii, Richard F. Kennedy.

You are a new member who just joined our Unorthodox Chess Openings Newsgroups recently. I do welcome you as a new member.

I will post 15 Jerome Gambit Games (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) in the files section.

I have played the Jerome Gambit before in blitz games and have analyzed this gambit. Currently I do not believe that this gambit is sound.

It seems that once white trades queens he is lost in the endgame. White has to avoid trading queens.

I recently did some further analysis of the Jerome Gambit and came to the same conclusion.

If you do find some good lines for white, I wlll be first to congratulate you.

Best Regards
Clyde Nakamura

Best Lines

From the upcoming post on Jerome Gambit [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+] for Dummies comes the question:

What if I don't know how to play against the best lines in the opening, and my opponent avoids them, anyhow?

perrypawnpusher - ViennaMike

blitz 8 5, FICS, 2009

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

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 One of the many winning defenses against the Jerome Gambit. 

 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3 So far, following in the footsteps of BronxBoyII, but instead of repeating his error at this point – ViennaMike comes up with one of his own.

11...Bb4+

Unaware of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analysis and advice. See "In The Beginning..."

12.c3 Ba5

Sad to say, the proper line was to give up the Bishop with 12...Ke7 13.cxb4. White then would only have a small advantage after 13...d6 14.0-0 Be6 15.Nc3 Kd7.

13.Bf4 Rf8 14.d4

Being cute. Simply 14.Bxe5+ Kxe5 15.Qf5+ Kd6 16.Qxa5 was enough to reach an overwhelming position.

14...Qxf4 15.Qxf4+ Kc6 16.d5+ Kb5 Avoiding the loss of his Bishop, after all, after 16...Kb6 17.b4.

17.Na3+ Ka4 18.b3+ Kxa3 19.Qc1 checkmate

Chess Publisher

I have been using the Chess Publisher software to present games in a play-through-each-move format at the end of my posts at jeromegambit.blogspot.com at Blogger.

Today, "This Account Has Been Suspended" messages have been appearing on my blog (and likely on other sites that use Chess Publisher) in place of the chess boards and moves. This seems to be an issue between Chess Publisher staff and their website host.

The problem has nothing to do with this website and our host, Blogger. It is hoped that things will return to normal for Chess Publisher in a day or two.

If not, I will seek out other software to present games. -- Rick

Endgame Skillz

Having spent time preparing the posts "To belabor a point..." and "Reeling Sequel", you would think that I (with the White pieces) would have been ready for the following endgame position:

Something "neutral" like 34.g3 g6 35.f4 gxf4 36.gxf4 Rf7 would have kept the game in balance and led to the "inevitable" draw.

Instead, I moved my f-pawn.

34.f3 Rf4+ 35.Rxf4 gxf4

You don't actually have to be able to see 14 moves ahead to know that this is going to result in an unfortunate, un-draw-able Queen-vs-advanced-f-pawn endgame:

36.Kd4 Kb5 37.Ke4 Kc4 38.Kxf4 c5 39.Ke3 Kxc3 40.g4 c4 41.f4 Kc2 42.f5 c3 43.g5 Kd1 44.f6 gxf6 45.gxf6 c2 46.f7 c1Q+ 47.Ke4 Qc8 48.Ke5 Qf8 49.Kf6 Kd2

With the White pawn blocked, Black marches his King up to help collect it – standard strategy.

50.Ke6 Ke3 51.Kf6 Kf4 52.Kg6 Ke5 White resigned

Only after the game did I realize that there was still a draw after Black's Rook check – provided that I didn't enter the endgame that I thought I "knew". Simply 35.Kd3 Rxg4 36.fxg4 Kd5 was enough to split the point!

[analysis diagram]

Reeling Sequel

A few days after the previous game (see "Opening Disaster") I matched up against TheProducer again. This time, the shoe was on the other foot, and my opponent mostly ran roughshod over me.


The only thing "positive" that can be said about this sequel is that "Winning Ugly" is better than "Losing Ugly".



perrypawnpusher - TheProducer
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+

So far, a rerun of a previous episode, "The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit."

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6

The recommended line for Black. My opponent had obviously gone over our first game, and improved his early opening play.

6.c3

6...Qg5

The idea behind my 6th move can be seen in : 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxd4 8.0-0 Qf6 9.f4 b5 10.Qc2 c6 11.b3 Black resigns, vierifan - neeeng, GameKnot.com, 2006

My opponent, though, preferred a move that is thematic in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

7.cxd4 Qxg2 8.Qg4+

When I played this move, I felt pretty good about it, having come up (over-the-board) with a way to stop Black's counter-attack and leave White with a slight advantage – an extra, doubled pawn.

Imagine my embarassment when Fritz 8 later showed me the checkmate that I could have found had I played more aggressively: 8.Qb3+ d5 9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kg5 11.h4+ Kh6 12.d3+ Qg5 13.hxg5 checkmate.

8...Qxg4 9.Nxg4 d5 10.d3 dxe4 11.dxe4 Nf6 12.Nc3

Wow! No way!

If that looks like I just left a piece hanging, that's right: even in the Jerome Gambit you get something for your sacrificed material. (The "something" is usually "inadequate compensation", but let's not quibble here.)

Well, at least as a Jerome Gambiteer I was used to playing a piece down...

12...Nxg4 13.Bf4 Bb4 14.f3
Still feeling a case of "nerves" after my 12th move, or I might have grabbed the pawn at c7 - this move or next.

14...Nf6 15.0-0-0 c6
16.d5+ cxd5 17.exd5+ Kf5 18.Bg3 Kg6 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.Rxe8 Nxe8 21.d6 Bd7

The passer wasn't much, but it was all that I had to play with.

22.Rd4 a5 23.a3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Rc8 25.Kd2 b5
On top of it all, I was behind on the clock – although this turned out eventually to have its advantages.

26.Kd3 Nf6 27.Kd2 Re8 28.c4 b4 29.axb4 axb4 30.c5 b3
Anyone who has ever lost to the Jerome Gambit or lost to perrypawnpusher can commence laughing. My game is about to go from "pitiful" to "dead lost."

31.Kc3 Rb8 32.Kb2 Kf7 33.Rc4 Nd5

More accurate was 33...Bc6, but it's no loss in the larger scheme of things: White now had a chance to even the game and hope for a draw, but his time was dwindling.

34.c6 Ne3 35.Rf4+ Ke6 36.Re4+ Kd5 37.cxd7


Wrong capture! 37.Rxe3 Kxc6 38.Re7 g5 39.Rxh7 Rf8 40.Kxb3 Rxf3+ 41.Kc4 looks like a balanced game.

Now Black is back to his crushing position.

37...Nd1+ 38.Ka3

Not completely hopeless was 38.Kb1 Nc3+ 39.Kb2 Nxe4 40.fxe4+ Ke6 41.d8Q Rxd8 42.Kxb3.
38...b2 39.d8Q Rxd8 40.Rb4 Ra8+
Okay, it's time to start counting how many checkmates my opponent missed.

To be fair, he probably was sure that all he needed to do was keep the pressure on me with decent moves, and that I would either blunder or run out of time. Still, he had a minute or two to spare, and it would have been a decent investment to work out the mate.

41.Ra4 Rxa4+

Of course, this wins, but so does 41...b1Q 42.Rxa8 Qb2+ 43.Ka4 Nc3+ 44.Ka5 Qb5 checkmate.

42.Kxa4 b1Q 43.d7 Qa1+

Likewise there was 43...Nc3+ 44.Ka3 Kc4 45.d8Q Qa2.

I'll stop nit-picking. My opponent was merely choosing the manner of my demise, as was his complete right.

As for why I didn't resign – well, the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde is a hopeful lot, is it not?

44.Kb5 Nc3+ 45.Kb6 Qb1+ 46.Kc7 Nb5+ 47.Kd8 Nd6 48.Ke7
I began to feel about my e-pawn the way Gollum (in "The Lord of the Rings") felt about the Ring: My precious!

All silliness, of course: I was still totally busted.

48...Nf5+ 49.Ke8 Qb8+ 50.d8Q+

Yes, Dear Readers, that is how much my dwindling time was controlling the "thinking" in the game: my opponent placed his Queen en prise, and just like in my game against Cibola (see "Ooops!"), I overlooked the capture!

50...Nd6+ 51.Ke7 Qxd8+ 52.Kxd8 Nf5

White could now draw (!) with 53.Bb8, but I could only think about getting my King to his pawns.
53.Ke8 Nxg3 54.hxg3 g5 55.Kf7 h5 56.Kg6

Ooops!

As shown similarly in a previous post "To belabor a point..." the drawing idea was 56.f4 gxf4 57.gxf4 h4 58.f5 h3 59.Kg7 h2 60.f6 h1Q 61.f7 and White will have no more luck against the f-pawn than my unnamed opponent had against the a-pawn.

56...Ke5

Double ooops! With 56...h4 57.gxh4 gxh4 first, and then ..Ke5 (to get in front of the White passer) the win would be secure.

Here we see the ultimate "reward" for "playing on the opponent's time."

57.Kxg5 Kd4 58.g4 Ke3 59.gxh5 Kxf3 60.h6 Kg3 61.h7 Kf2 62.h8Q

Now all I have to do is Beat the Clock with the less than 30 seconds that I have left.
62...Ke1 63.Qb2 Kf1 64.Kf4 Ke1 65.Ke3 Kf1 66.Qf2 checkmate

That was a seriously ugly win. Afterward, I messaged my opponent "good game" but I should have sent "I'm sorry."

My apologies to the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, as well, for representing you so poorly.

I'll hassle TheProducer no more.