A Dangerous Place

In a chess game, like when on a long walk, if you're not paying attention to where you're going, you could wind up in a dangerous place. If you happen to be playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you are almost certain to find some danger.
I think that my opponent, electrahan, knew something about the Jerome Gambit. Our game quickly travelled to a very complicated line of defense – nothing like the Najdorf Sicilian, but Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter XVI and Jerome Gambit: Fools walk in... are almost "required reading" to appreciate what follows.

perrypawnpusher - electrahan
blitz 9 5, FICS, 2009

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

Welcome, Mr. Electrahan, shall we go for a walk?
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+
As far as you are willing to go, Mr. Pawnpusher...

Sometimes referred to as "His Nib's Defense," (see "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter II") this line has caused me no small amount of headaches. And excitement. And wonder. There's a Queen sacrifice hidden somewhere, and even if it doesn't come off, the game becomes very unclear.

9.g3 Nf3+
Before this game I had losses to Temmo (0-1, 43) and James042665 (0-1, 18) in this line.

10.Kd1
This is the line that "R.F." originally played against "His Nib's", but in my earlier games I had preferred 10.Kf1, which was the better choice.

Now Black can sacrifice his Queen (as in abhailey - peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008, 0-1, 20) with 10...Ne7 11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Nd5 14.gxh4 Bg4 and win – but you really have to know the line, as it would be difficult to suss out over-the-board in blitz.

10...Qh6
This retreat – which is similar to Temmo's Queen retreat (with my King on f1) and Kevin the fruitbat's Queen retreat to f6 in a comparable position (perrypawnpusher - Kevin the fruitbat, chessworld, 2008, 1-0, 38) – still leaves Black with a slight advantage.

11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ Qd6 13.Qxd6+ cxd6
The same dilemma that I faced against Temmo: if the advanced Black Knight stands, the second player is better; but if it falls, I am even, and may have the advantage.

My one advantage against electrahan was that I was more familiar with the positions and play, and so was significantly ahead on the clock.
14.c3

To keep the Knight put.

After the game Rybka 3 recommended 14.b3 Nf6 15.Bb2 d5 (working to free the Bishop) with complications and a rather unclear game after either 15.exd5 or 15.e5.

14...Nf6
A sensible move, although Fritz8's 14...d5 and Temmo's 14...g5 were more likely to keep Black's edge.

15.d3

Stronger was the immediate 15.Ke2

15...b6
Black has settled upon his defensive plan: it involves ceding the Knight.

16.Ke2 d5 17.Kxf3 dxe4+ 18.dxe4 Bb7
19.Re1 Kf7 20.Nd2 Rhe8 Black has some compensation for his two pawns in the congestion of White's Queenside.

21.g4 d5

Instead, 21...Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxe4 Re8 24.Be3 Bxe4+ 25.Kf2 d5+ held chances of a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.

22.e5 d4+ 23.Kg3 dxc3 24.bxc3 Nd5
25.Bb2 Rad8 26.Ne4 Nf6 This does not work out, and is likely the result of time issues.

27.Nd6+

Good enough, but 27.Ng5+ Kg8 28.exf6 was stronger.

27...Kf8 28.Nxb7
Again, 28.exf6 was stronger, but the text works. Black's game unravels.

28...Rd7 29.Ba3+ Kf7 30.Nd6+ Rxd6 31.exd6
31...Ne4+ 32.Rxe4 Rxe4 33.Kf3 Rc4 34.d7 Rxc3+ 35.Ke4 Black forfeited on time

Let's Play Two...

Like in my 4-game set with Joejox – see "Dropping A Half-Point (Part 1) and (Part 2)" – I was reeling off a series of games with tejeshwar when the "real world" intruded and I had to sign off. Too bad: I was able to get in a couple of Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and if we had gone on to a 5th game, well, you know what I would have played... 

  perrypawnpusher - tejeshwar blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.d3 d6 10.Qe3 Kf7 It is only here that Black varies from my game against steelrfan44 (see "Pleasant..."). Black will castle-by-hand and maintain his advantage. White will have to do something with his extra pawns. 

11.0-0 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.Nc3 d5 14.Qg3 

A bit stronger was 14.f5 

14...d4 15.Ne2 

Ditto. 

15...Nh5 16.Qf3 Qd6 A simple blitz oversight: with all eyes on f4, who's watching h5? Now my opponent gets rattled, and his game suffers. 

17.Qxh5 Nxf4 18.Bxf4 Qf6 19.Be5 Qg6 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Rf1+ Kg8 22.Qxg6 hxg6 The smoke has cleared somewhat, and it is now White with the extra piece. 

23.Bxd4 Be6 24.Nf4 Bxa2 25.b3 Rd8 

Black resigned

When it came my turn again to play the White pieces, I replayed:

perrypawnpusher - tejeshwar

blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

Known as Blackburne's (or Whistler's) move: a good idea.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Black resigned

I guess my opponent was unfamiliar with the defense (see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!", "Flaws (Part I)" and "Flaws (Part II)"), after all, or had just plain had his fill of the Jerome Gambit!

Pleasant

Some games are just pleasant.

In the following game my opponent faces the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with sangfroid, using a relatively unusual defensive idea (castle-queenside-by-hand) and topping it off with a blockading piece sacrifice.

The developing storm clouds over the center and Kingside convinced me that it was a good time to split the point.
perrypawnpusher - steelrfan44
GameKnot.com, 2009

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

Steelrfan44 agreed beforehand to allow the Jerome.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.d3 d6 10.Qe3 Bd7
White has his two central pawns vs Black's piece and centralized King – but Steelrfan44 has his own plans.

11.f4 Qe7 12.Nc3 Bc6 13.0-0 Kd7

14.b4

I considered this almost a positional move. A center pawn break did not look promising, and I was not ready to compromise my Kingside, as a counter-attack could come there with little risk to Black's King. There was some space to be grabbed on the Queenside, however; and perhaps my Bishop belonged on b2.

An alternative from a game by Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Louis Morin: 14.Qh3+ Kd8 15.Bd2 Bd7 16.Qf3 c6 17.Rae1 Kc7 18.e5 dxe5 19.fxe5 Ng4 20.Qg3 Be6 21.d4 Rad8 22.Re4 Kb8 23.Rxg4 Bxg4 24.Qxg4 Qe8 25.Be3 Ka8 26.Ne4 h5 27.Qe2 h4 28.Nd6 Qe6 29.Bg5 Rdf8 30.Rxf8+ Rxf8 31.c4 h3 32.g3 Qf7 33.Nxf7 Rxf7 34.Qg4 Kb8 35.Qe6 Rf3 36.Qe8+ Kc7 37.Qd8 checkmate, guest1989 - guest883, ICC 2002

14...a6 15.a4 b6 16.Bb2 Rae8

17.Qd4 Kc8

In retrospect, 17...Bb7 18.b5 a5 – which anticipates Steelrfan44's defensive plan – would have been safer.

18.b5 Bxb5 19.axb5 a5

I had a difficult time figuring out what was going to happen next – proof of the effectiveness of my opponent's idea.
In the meantime, I noticed that the e-, f-, g- and h-files were full of Black's pieces, and few of mine – except my King and Rook.
20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Qxd5 Rhf8

Definitely time to sue for peace.

22.Qa8+ Kd7 23.Qc6+ Kd8

I was later dumbfounded to see that Rybka assessed White as being almost 2 1/2 pawns better, but I could hardly have expected to have analyzed as it had: 24.g3 Qf7 25.Bd4 Ne7 26.Qb7 Nc8 27.f5 Qd7 28.c4 Qe7 29.Ra2 g6 30.f6 Qe6

24.Qa8+ Kd7 25.Qc6+ draw

Double-Perpetual

In a recent "Chess Explorations" by Edward Winter at ChessBase, a game with the opening highlighted in our last post, "A Kind of Jerome Gambit That Wins", progressed 14 moves before a draw was reached, in a rather unusual manner:


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7 4.Bc4 h6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Kf6 8.Qf3+ Kxe5 9.Qf7 Ngf6 10.Nd2 Qe8 11.Nc4+ Kxe4 12.f3+ Kf5+ 13.Ne3+ Ke5 14.Nc4+ Kf5+ draw

(For those who are counting, this is daily post #300 to this blog.)

A Kind of Jerome Gambit That Wins

From a recent email from Francesco Recchia of Italy:

Hi,

Let me first congratulate on your great blog, which I enjoy very much.

Now into the story: I was playing the last round in a 2h tournament, with the white pieces.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 h6

Weird move. Maybe my opponent was afraid of an f7 attack?

4. d4 Nd7 5. dxe5 dxe5

Here I spent 8 minutes thinking about 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe5+. In the end, I didn't play the line, because I couldn't see an answer after 8. ...Kf6 (I have to defend the knight, and if I move my queen from the d-file my knight becomes attacked twice)

So in the game I played 0-0, and eventually lost the game due to a serious blunder later in the game. But that's another story...

Later I analised the position and the soundness of this "jerome gambit". It amazingly turned out not only to be sound, but to be winning!

After 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe5+ Black has 7... Ke8 8. Qh5+ g6 (8... Ke7 9. Qf7+ Kd6 10. Nc4+ Kc5 11. Qd5+ Kb4 12. Bd2+Ka4 13. b3#) 9. Qxg6+ Ke7 10. Qf7+ Kd6 11. Nc4+ Kc5 12. Qd5+ Kb4 13. a3+ Ka414. Nc3# or

7... Ke6 8. Qd5+ Ke7 (8... Kf6 9. Qf7+ Kxe5 10. Bf4+ Kxe4 11. Nd2+Kd4 12. Qc4#) 9. Qf7+ Kd6 10. Nc4+ Kc5 11. Qd5+ Kb4 12. c3+ Ka4 13. b3# or

7...Ke7 8. Ng6+ Ke8 9. Nxh8 Ngf6 10. Ng6 Bb4+ 11. Nc3 Kf7 +-

Black's best answer is Kf6, the one I could not find an adeguate response in-game. 7. ...Kf6 8. Nc3 !!

Of course. Jerome style gambit requires two piece sacrifice!

8... Kxe5 9. Qd5+ Kf6 10. Qf5+ Ke7 11. Nd5+ Kd6 (11... Ke812. Qg6#) 12. Bf4+ Kc6 13. Qe6+ Had I seen up to here, I would have played the gambit.

But going on, black has to give up the queen to try to save the game. 13. ... Bd6 14. Nb4+ Kb6 15. Bxd6 Ndf6 (15... cxd6 16. Qxd6+ Ka5 17. Nd5 b6 18. c4 Nc5 19. Qxd8 Nf6 20. b4+ Ka6 21. Qxh8 Nxd5 22. exd5 Nd3+ 23. Kd2 Ne5 24. b5+ Kb7 25. Qxg7+ Bd7 26. Qxe5 Rd8 27. Qe7) 16. Bc5+ Kxc5 17. Nd3+Time to regain material. 17. ...Qxd3 (17... Kd4 18. Qe5+ Kc4 19. Qc5#; 17... Kb5 18. a4+ Ka5 19. b4#) 18. Qe5+ Kb6 19. cxd3 +-

Hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers

Francesco Recchia

And from a later email:

I believe the main difference against the classic jerome gambit position is not the h6 pawn, but the open d-file and the pinned knight at d7 – something which should occur pretty often (as a way to avoid queen exchange and castle denial). I forgot to say, after 8. Nc3 !! black can't really refuse the offer. If the knight is not taken the threat is 9. Qd4 and 10. Kxd7++ with dangerous complications.

The Jerome Gambit is Viable -- NOT!

Steve Farmer posted this Jerome Gambit video

April 1, 2009:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4839

I don't have time for this stuff...

I admit that these days I stop by FICS mostly to take the White pieces and play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

When I take my turn with the Black pieces, I sometimes play a blitz 3 0 game, to speed things up (win, lose, draw – it's not as important) and get me back to the other side of the board...

As I've bemoaned before (see "Where are all these Jeromes coming from??" and "Be careful what you wish for...") this sometimes causes me to face the Jerome Gambit – and with not much thinking time on my hands, either. Because, when it concerns the Jerome Gambit, things turn suddenly serious for me...

ecimsa - perrypawnpusher

blitz 3 0, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+

Transposing from the Giuoco Piano into a "modern" Jerome Gambit variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3.

5...Kxf7

I have 39 game examples of this position in my database, including the double-time-forfeit Piratepaul - TJay2465 2008 at Chessworld.

6.d3 Rf8 7.0-0 Kg8

There: I've castled-by-hand

8.a4

Ah, the old sneak up on the Bishop trick... Luckily, I've seen that idea in some other modern Jerome Gambits.

8...d5 9.b4 Be7 Black: comfortable, and a piece to the good.

10.Nbd2 dxe4 11.dxe4 Bg4 Active piece play, no blunders, exchanges... Words to live by!

12.Qb3+ Kh8 13.b5 Na5 14.Qc2 Bxf3 15.Nxf3 Bd6 16.Bd2 Nc4

17.Bc1 Qe8 18.Ng5 Qh5 19.Qa2 Nb6 20.a5 Nbd7

White has achieved nothing on the Queenside; the action is going to be across the board.

21.Be3 Ng4 22.Nh3 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 Rf8

Slow but steady progress. But time is fleeting, and things are about to get uglier.

25.Rd1 Qf7

Yes, you saw that right: pitiful, is it not?

26.Qc2 Nf6 27.c4 Ng4 28.c5

Not enough of a threat.

28...Nxe3 29.Qe2 Nxd1 30.Qxd1 Bxc5+ 31.Kh1 Qf1+ 32.Qxf1 Rxf1+

White resigned