Fool me once...

Here I am again, playing a 3 0 blitz quickie with Black. No way my opponent – rated higher than me – is going to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), right? Right?? Sigh. Having forgotten the lesson of "I don't have time for this stuff..." I get to learn it all over again. Serves me right.

madmadmal - perrypawnpusher blitz 3 0, FICS, 2009 

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 Transposing to a modern variation of the Jerome Gambit. I have 77 examples of this position in my database, including bushytail - perrypawnpusher, blitz FICS 2008 (1/2-1/2, 50); drewbear - perrypawnpusher, chessworld 2008 (0-1, 22); and Mika76 - perrypawnpusher, GameKnot.com 2008 (1-0, 32). 

 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 A bit unusual, but it's shown up four times before, including NMTIGER - blackburne, Chessworld 2007: 8...Nxd5 9.exd5 Ne7 10.c4 Ng6 11.Qf3 Qf6 12.Ne6 Bxe6 13.dxe6 Rf8 14.0-0 Qxf3 15.gxf3 Rxf3 16.Be3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Rf6 18.Rxf6 gxf6 19.Rf1 Ke7 20.d4 Kxe6 21.d5+ Ke7 22.e4 Rg8 23.b4 Nf4+ 24.Kh1 Rg2 25.Rxf4 Rxa2 26.Rh4 Re2 27.Rxh7+ Kd8 28.Rf7 b6 29.Rxf6 Kc8 30.Rf8+ Kb7 31.b5 Rxe4 32.Kg2 Rxc4 33.Kg3 Rc1 34.h4 Rh1 35.Rh8 e4 36.Kg2 Rd1 37.Re8 Rxd5 38.Rxe4 Rxb5 39.Rg4 Rh5 40.Kg3 b5 41.Rg5 Rh8 42.Rxb5+ Kc6 43.Rb1 a5 44.Rc1+ Kb6 45.Rb1+ Ka6 46.Kg4 a4 47.h5 Ka5 48.Kg5 a3 49.h6 Ka4 50.Kg6 a2 51.Ra1 Ka3 52.Kg7 Rxh6 53.Kxh6 Kb2 54.Rh1 a1Q 55.Rxa1 Kxa1 56.Kg5 c5 57.Kf4 c4 58.Ke3 c3 59.Kd3 Kb2 60.Kd4 c2 61.Kd5 c1R 62.Kxd6 Rc4 63.Kd5 Kc3 64.Ke5 Rd4 65.Kf5 Kc4 66.Ke5 Kc5 67.Kf5 Kd6 White resigned 

  8...h6 9.Nf3 Kf7 10.0-0 Rf8 Black is up a piece for a pawn, and is soon to castle-by-hand. What's the problem?

Tick, tick, tick... 

11.Nh4 Kg8 12.Ng6 Rf7 13.a3

My opponent begins to feel the clock, too. 

13...Be6 14.c4 Bxd5 

Chopping wood, a good idea when a piece up – but this game is going to end with either a flag or a mate, so perhaps not the best. 

15.cxd5 Ne7 16.Nh4 Qd7 17.b4 Bd4 18.Rb1 Qg4 See the above note. 

19.Qxg4 Nxg4 20.Kh1 Simply returning the Knight to f3 was best. Now Black can win the exchange with 20...Nxf2+ 21.Rxf2 ( if 21.Kg1 Nh3+ 22.Kh1 Rxf1#) 21...Rxf2 and then go for more, as in 22.g4 Rf1+ 23.Kg2 Rg1+ 24.Kh3 Be3 winning a piece. 

20...Rxf2 21.Rxf2 Nxf2+ 22.Kg1 Nxd3+ 23.Kf1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Rf8+ It's all clickin', but the clock's still tickin'. 

25.Ke2 g5 26.Nf3 Bb6 27.a4 a6 28.a5 Ba7 29.h4 We're pretty much just throwing moves at each other now. 

29...Bb8 30.hxg5 hxg5 31.g4 Kg7 32.Nxg5 Kg6 33.Ne6 Rh8 34.Kd3 Rh3+ 35.Kc2 Rg3 36.Kb2 Rxg4 37.Nxc7 Rxe4 38.Ne6 Rxb4+ 39.Ka3 Rb5 40.Nf8+ Kf7 41.Nh7 Rxa5+ 42.Kb3 Rxd5 43.Ng5+ Kf6 44.Ne4+ Ke6 45.Ng5+ Kf5 46.Nf3 Kf4 47.Rf1 Ke3 48.Ng5 Rb5+ 49.Kc2 d5 50.Rf3+ Kd4 51.Ne6+ Kc4 52.Rc3+ Kb4 53.Rb3+ Black forfeits on time

Oh, well.

Three cheers for madmadmal and the Jerome Gambit!!!

London Calling... Eleven Months of Blog

Dear Jerome Gemeinde,

As we move into the final month before this blog's first birthday (admittedly, a small step in the land of blogs), we can mark 336 consecutive daily posts on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related topics.

The blog has hosted visitors from 80 countries (including Cape Verde Islands, Saint Lucia and Malta; while North Korea is still a hold-out). For the record, the Top Ten Visitor sources were: United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil.

There is still much more to discover and explore.

Best wishes,

Rick Kennedy ("perrypawnpusher")

Jerome Gambit Blog: Still More Tidying Up

Time to review, update, and clarify a few more things in this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Bxf7+) blog. For earlier efforts, see "Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up" and "Jerome Gambit Blog: More Tidying Up"

First on my mind is a quote from the second " Tidying Up"

By the way, as for the Kaissiber saga, see

"To Infinity... And Beyond! (Part II)", "Breaking News..." and "Jerome Gambit Blog: Tidying Up ". I'm still hopeful.

I'm not hopeful any more. It's unlikely that my history of the Jerome Gambit will appear in the pages of Stefan Bücker's amazing chess magazine, Kaissiber. While the audacity of such an opening appealed to the editor, the story of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's creation is a history of questionable analysis and even more questionable play. Although Kaissiber does not shy away from creative chess notions, its focus on an accurate assessment of things would require massive corrections and/or footnoting – to start.

For more about the Jerome Gambit game Harris,W.A. Sgt. - Quayle,Ernest H.Los Angeles, California, USA 1944, as given in "The Joy of Discovery" Parts I, II, and III, there was a little update in "I love a great used book store". And then the trail went cold, again. (On another hunt, "History Mystery" was fun, though; and I look forward to more discoveries about A F Reed, as first set forth in "A Small Clue to Follow..." and "The Game is Afoot!" )


Unusual as it's supposed to be, the Wikipedia article on the Jerome Gambit continues to contain its link to this blog (see "Hey Wiki, it's me, Ricky!").


While the following remains accurate:

"Is it September already

" requires a number of updates. To date there has been no Jerome Gambit tournament in Jerome, Arizona, as far as I know. I still have an observer near the scene, though I'll have my say about it. One of the main figures in the possible Jerome, Arizona "Jerome Gambit Tournament" is the creator of "The Jerome Gambit is Viable - NOT!" video, which I recomment. (Too, my son Matt, of "Driving Distance" has permanently relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, and will be able to drive up and keep an eye on anything that might occur.)


An update to "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)" would have to include chessfriend Geoff Chandler (of Chandler Cornered) whose contributions here (see "Queened! and Rooked!" "Whodunnit??" and "Blunder Table" ) have been hilarious.

I would also like to add the name of Dr. Paulsen

In light of this it certainly seems reasonable (at least until historical precedents are uncovered) to give 5...Ke7 the title of "Paulsen variation" and award the good doctor (PhD) membership in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (see "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (early)" and "The Jerome Gambit Gemeinde (modern)") – even though there is one earlier example of the line in my database (presented in an earlier post, as well: see "An Odd Line in an Odd Line")."Jerome Gambit, Paulsen Variation"

and that of Francesco Recchia, who contributed the very forward-looking "A Kind of Jerome Gambit that Wins".


The possible connection betwen Winston Churchill and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (see "From the Email Bag...") has been traced a bit further, to the U.S. northeast; but has not yet been tied together..


Connections betwen IM Gary Lane and the Jerome Gambit continue. Not only is it true that "A check of the Everyman Chess website shows that Gary Lane's The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps is available" further information exists in "Firsts" and "An International Master Refutes the Jerome Gambit".

The "Jerome Gambit and the Perfesser series" Part I, Part II, Part III and PartIV, was, of course, followed by another instructive, exploratory "human vs computers" match involving, "RevvedUp" and a handful of silicon monsters, starting with "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (1)"

"Doesn't anybody read this blog?", regarding perrypawnpusher - Sgrunterundt, blitz 2 18, FICS, 2008 was a needless lament, being followed by a host of responses: "Back at me", "Hoist by my own petard...", "Where are all these Jeromes coming from?", "Perhaps not every opening should be Jerome-ized...", "Be careful what you wish for...", "If I write all this, and someone reads it...", and "I don't have time for this stuff..."

Readers who were interested in "Hip' Kat" should check out a couple of other hippo sources: hippo_chess@abv.bg and hippo_chess@abv.bg.


Another Pandora's box was opened with "London Calling...Seven Months of Blog"

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??

from which came forth "The next best thing...", "The next worse thing...", "Worth a Second Look (Part 1)", "Worth a Second Look (Part 2)", "Worth a Second Look (Part 3)", "Wild!", "Wilder!", "Wildest!", "And Yet Wilder Still...", "More of The Next Best Thing...", "Busch-Gass Gambit" and "Obscure and Disreputable Enough?"


Alas, I have not yet uncovered "The rest of the story...?" concerning the game Wall - Guest4395, Microsoft Internet Gaming Zone, 2001.


For that matter, in "The Westminster Papers" the refererence to the chess player "H.W.P" of Vermont is also still a mystery to me.

Further chapters of "Jerome Gambit for Dummies (1)" "(2)" "(3)" are being prepared.

I have switched from one version of "Chess Publisher" to another to present the games in posts. The earlier one is responsible for the annoying account messages.

What does it profit a man...?

From An Invitation to Chess A Picture Guide to the Royal Game, Irving Chernev and Kenneth Harkness, New York, Simon and Schuster (1945) (descriptive notation changed to algebraic notation)

Mistakes in the Opening

Much can be learned from a clear understanding of the things one should NOT do. Therefore, let us examine some of the common mistakes made in the opening and demonstrate how and why they lose.

We are not referring now to blunders which cost material or expose you to checkmate. At all stages of the game you must anticipate and answer your opponent's material-winning or mating thrests.

The mistakes we are now considering are strategical errors. They can be defined in one sentence: Any opening moves which give your opponent an opportunity to gain an advantage in development are strategical mistakes. Specifically, mistakes of this nature may be classified as follows: Premature attacks: Some players are too aggressive for their own good. They start out with the idea of annihilating their opponents in the first ten moves.

If an attack is pursued with good developing moves, there can be no criticism of such tactics. Too often, however, these early attacks are made at the expense of development. Premature attacks with two or three pieces are doomed against good defense. The opponent can defend with developing moves and gain an advantage in mobilization which will enable him to counter-attack successfully...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

White has played

4.Bxf7+

Without waiting to complete his development he begins an entirely unsound attck. Black has played his defense well and there is no justification for making an attack of this nature. White has sacrificed a piece and to justify this there must be a forced continuation which wins material or checkmates.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

Black has captured the Bishop with his King and White has played Nxe5. This is the second move in White's unsound "combination." Now he is sacrificing his Knight for a Pawn. Note that Black was not afraid to accept the original Bishop sacrifice. Always accept sacrifices if you see no reason for not doing so.

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+

Black has captured ...Nxe5 and White has played 6.Q-R5ch. Now we see the "idea" behind White's attack. He has given up two pieces for two Pawns, but now he must win back one piece. However, this is not sufficient. Black can now play ...Ng6, allowing White to capture Qxc5, and Black will be ahead in material with a winning game.

6...g6

But instead of ...Ng6, Black has played ...g6 to get out of check. White has continued

7.Qxe5

Now the Queen is attacking Black's Bishop and Rook simultaneously. One of these pieces must be lost. Has Black blundered? Has he overlooked this? No, he is deliberately tempting White, leading him on to his destruction.

7...d6

Black has played ...d6, protecting the attacked Bishop with a Pawn and releasing his other Bishop. White has played

8.Qxh8

Now count the material and note that White's premature attack has apparently succeeded. He has gained two Pawns and won the exchange (Rook for minor piece).

Why did Black allow this? What is his plan?

8.Qxh8 Qh4

Black has played ...Qh4 and now we see why he allowed White to capture his Rook. White's Queen has been deflected from the scene of forthcoming action. His premature attack has left his home front undeveloped and undefended. Black is now launching his counter-attack. He is threatening to play ...Qxf2+, followed by ...Bg4 mate!

9.0-0 Nf6

To defend this threat, White has castled (9 0-0). Black has played ...Nf6, thereby developing a piece and at the same time closing the lid on White's Queen which now cannot retreat to aid in the defense of the home front. Note that Black has a Queen, Bishop and Knight in active play and that his other Bishop is free to jump into action.

10.c3

White has no pieces in action and his King is inadequately defended. He has played 10.c3, trying to shut off Black's Bishop with d4.

10...Ng4

Black has played ...Ng4 ,threatening ...Qxh2 mate. (The N move leads to a pleasing finish but Black could have won with [ 10...Bh3 11.Qxa8 ( if 11.gxh3 Rxh8) 11...Qg4 12.g3 Qf3 and mate next move]

11.h3 Bxf2+

White has played his only defense to the threatened mate, 11.h3, and Black has forced the issue with ...Bxf2+. The White King is in a "mating net," as it is called, and canot escape. If White now plays Rxf2, Black will recapture ...Qxf2ch. The White King must then move to h1 (h2 is attacked by the N) and Black mates with ...Qf1.

12.Kh1 Bf5

White has played 12.Kh1, his only move, and black has played ...Bf5, bringing out another piece. Note that this piece can be put "en prise" to a Pawn because the Black Rook now attacks the White Queen. Note also that the Queen cannot escape from the Rook's attack. Every square on the diagonal is attacked by a Black piece.

13.Qxa8 Qxh3+

White was forced to play 13.Qxa8 or lose his Queen.

Black has played Qh3+! Black is sacrificing his Queen and demonstrating the helplessness of White's position. White's QR, QKt and QB cannot aid him now because they were never developed. His adventurous Queen is far away - and quite useless.

14.gxh3 Bxe4#

White has played 14.gxh3, his only means of getting out of check, and Black has delivered the final thrust with ...Bxe4 mate. A delightful, "pure" mate with two Bishops and a Knight. Moral: What is a man profited if he gains a Queen and two Rooks and loses by checkmate?

Premature attacks don't pay.

Obscure and Disreputable Enough?

Although this blog is mostly about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) it sometimes wanders a bit further afield.

For example, a while back, in the post "London Calling...Seven Months of Blog", I mused

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??

This exercise led to a whole slew of new posts and opening ideas: "The next best thing...", "The next worse thing...", "Worth a Second Look (Part 1)", "Worth a Second Look (Part 2)", "Worth a Second Look (Part 3)", "Wild!", "Wilder!", "Wildest!", "And Yet Wilder Still...", "More of The Next Best Thing..." and "Busch-Gass Gambit".

I was reading Bob Long's new Chess DVD catalog the other day, and noticed that Volume 2 of his "The Busy Man's Chess Openings" series by IM Andrew Martin is coming out. Sub-titled "Black Shockers" it focuses on winning from the Black side, and includes analysis of the following defense: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c5.

The line is as old as Greco, and seen today about as often as the Yeti, but in the past it was tried by Marshall, Schlechter, Rubinstein, Grunfeld, Euwe and Heidenfeld. O'Kelley de Galway, Bisguier and Westerinen played it a number of times. There's even an online Opening Report on it.

Might be worth checking out, at that.

A Side Line to Watch

When my opponent unleashed his 7th move in our Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, the only surprise came later, when I realized that it was the first time the move had been played against me.

It's a side line that all who play the Jerome should be ready for.


perrypawnpusher - ScudRocket
blitz 2 11, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+

National Master Brian Wall discussed this kind of move, when made by a lower-rated player, in one of his games. I figured my opponent (my strength) was thinking

Only a patzer would try an attack like this! I can disrupt his crazy attack, swap Queens, and then easily wallop someone I could probably give a knight to, not just a pawn...

8.Kxf2 Qf6+

Alternately: 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Qh6 10.Qxh8 Qg5 11.Qxh7+ Ke6 12.Qxg8+ Ke5 13.d4+ Kxe4 14.Re1+ Qe3+ 15.Rxe3+ Kxd4 16.c3+ Kc5 17.Qxg6 d6 18.Qe8 a5 19.b4+ axb4 20.cxb4+ Kxb4 21.Re4+ Kc5 22.Be3+ Kd5 23.Nc3# checkmate, annicks - Ribosome, Dos Hermanas Internet, 2002;
8...Nf6 9.d3 (9.Qf4 g5 10.Qf3 g4 11.Qf4 d5 12.e5 Rf8 13.exf6 Kg6 14.Ke1 Qxf6 15.Qxf6+ Rxf6 16.d3 Bd7 17.Nc3 Re8+ 18.Kd1 d4 19.Ne4 Rf5 20.h3 gxh3 21.Rxh3 Rf1+ 22.Ke2 Bxh3 23.Kxf1 Bf5 24.Ng5 c5 25.b3 Black resigned, instantcrow - KingEfraim, ChessWorld.net 2005) 9...Re8 10.Qf4 d6 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.h3 Bd7 14.Bg5 Re5 15.Kg1 Ng4 16.Bxd8 Nxh6 17.Bxc7 Rc8 18.Bxd6 Rg5 19.Bf4 Rgc5 20.Bxh6 Rxc2 21.Nc3 Black resigned, guest232 - BoardChairman, Internet Chess Club 2002

9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.d3
Or: 10.Nc3 b6 11.d3 d6 12.Rf1 Rf8 13.Kg1 Kg7 14.Bg5 Nd7 15.Nd5 Rxf1+ 16.Rxf1 c6 17.Nc7 Rb8 18.Ne6+ Kg8 19.Bh6 Ba6 20.Kf2 Nc5 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.Ke3 Re8 23.b3 d5 24.Rf4 Bc8 25.Kd2 dxe4 26.Rxe4 Rxe4 27.dxe4 Kf7 28.h3 Kf6 29.Ke3 g5 30.g4 Kg6 31.Bf8 h5 32.Bxc5 a6 Black resigned, blackburne - Bullit52, Chessworld.net 2007.

White is up a solid pawn – and remember, a few moves ago, he was down two pieces.

10...d6

10...d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Rf1 Ke8 13.Bh6 Nf6 14.Bg7 Ng4+ 15.Kg1 Rg8 16.Re1+ Kf7 17.Bd4 Rd8 18.Rf1+ Bf5 19.h3 Rxd4 20.hxg4 Rxg4 21.Nc3 c6 22.Rae1 b5 23.Ne4 Kg7 24.Nd6 Rg5 25.Nxf5+ gxf5 26.Re6 Rg6 27.Re5 Rf8 28.Re7+ Kh8 29.Rxa7 f4 30.Rf3 h5 31.Re7 Rfg8 32.Re2 Rg4 33.Kh2 R8g5 34.c4 Kg7 35.b3 Kf6 36.Re4 Rxg2+ 37.Kh3 R2g3+ 38.Rxg3 Rxg3+ 39.Kh2 Rxd3 40.Rxf4+ Kg5 41.Rf2 Kg4 42.Rg2+ Kf4 43.cxb5 cxb5 44.Kg1 b4 45.Rf2+ Rf3 46.Kg2 Rxf2+ 47.Kxf2 Ke4 48.Ke2 Kd4 49.Kd2 h4 50.Ke2 Kc3 White resigned, mediax - Carlos Azcarate, ChessWorld.net, 2008

11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Bg5

This is still known territory: 12.Kg1 Bd7 13.Nc3 c6 (13...Rhf8 14.h3 (14.Bg5 Nh5 15.Nd5 Rac8 16.Rxf8 Kxf8 17.Rf1+ Kg7 18.Bf6+ Nxf6 19.Nxf6 Bc6 20.Ng4 h5 21.Ne3 Re8 22.Rf4 d5 23.Nxd5 Black resigned, blackburne03 - bobby-pisher, Internet Chess Club, 2003) 14...Nh5 15.Be3 a6 16.Nd5 c6 17.Nb6 Rxf1+ 18.Rxf1 Rd8 19.Bg5 Black resigned, Moller - Pedersen, www.eskak.dk 2008) 14.Bh6+ Kxh6 15.Rxf6 Rhf8 16.Raf1 Rxf6 17.Rxf6 d5 18.Rd6 Black forfeited, guest1824 - guest1255, Internet Chess Club, 2002

12...Ng4+ 13.Kg1 Be6

Both Kings have castled-by-hand, and Black is slightly ahead in development – but not a pawn's worth. Maybe he planned to out-play me here, but it didn't work out that way.

14.h3 Nf6



A mistake: 14...h6 was necessary.
15.Bxf6+ Kh6 16.Bxh8 Rxh8

A Rook is a Rook.

17.Nc3 Rg8 18.Rf6 Bd7 19.Rf7 Rd8 20.Raf1 g5 21.R1f6+ Kh5 22.g4+
I had mate worked out, but 22.Rxh7# was faster.
22...Kh4 23.Rxh7+ Kg3 24.Ne2 checkmate

Opening Report

Wandering the Internet, looking for something new on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), I came across the "Scacchi: Enciclopedia pratica dei Gambetti" website which contained an Opening Report on the Jerome. It contained a wealth of information, including:

1. Statistics and History
1.1 Statistics Games
1.2 Oldest games
1.3 Newest games
1.4 Current popularity
1.5 Most frequent players (White)
1.6 Most frequent players (Black)
2. Ratings and Performance
2.1 Average ratings and performance
2.2 Games with highest average rating
3. Result Trends
3.1 Result lengths and frequencies
3.2 Shortest wins (White)
3.3 Shortest wins (Black)
4. Moves and Themes
4.1 Move orders reaching the report position
4.2 Moves from the report position
4.3 Positional Themes
4.4 EndgamesMaterial at the end of each game:
5. Theory Table

It was produced by using the free SCID database, which in this case contained 4,011,859 games, and showed the Jerome Gambit scoring almost 67%!

Admittedly the Jerome's "Frequency in all years" of the database was "once every 1,337,286 games."

That works out to statistics based on – how many Jerome Gambit games??

Oh, never mind...