Harried

The (in)famous historical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885 featured a harried White Queen that captured one Rook on a diagonal and another by sliding across a rank – only to watch her King be checkmated across the board.


The following game, from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, features two of the top players and highlights a harried Black Queen shuttling forward and back, until her own demise.

stampyshortlegs - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7


5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6

White reaches an interesting position, historically. Here "Amateur" played 8.Qxh8 and after 8...Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 he was crushed by Blackburne: 10...Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate.
At that time, 10.Qd8 was suggested by J.B. and E.M. Munoz, giving White the better game; although, almost 120 years later, Chandler and Dimitrov showed that Black could hold the draw.

Throughout this tournament stampyshortlegs has shown a good understanding of the Jerome Gambit. Will he "fall into" and become a victim of Blackburne's "trap" – will he grab the Rook and ask his Queen to fight her way out, "risking" a draw in the process – or has he come up with an improvement, himself?

8.Qd5+

There's a pawn to be taken.

8...Be6

Fritz8 preferred 8...Kg7 9.d4 Nf6 10.Qc4 Bb6 11.Nc3 Re8 12.f3 d5 13.Qd3 dxe4 14.fxe4 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Bxd4 16.Bd2 Bg4 17.h3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 19.Kf1 Rf8+ White Resigned, RevvedUp - Fritz 8, blitz 2 12, 2006.

9.Qxb7
White has three pawns for his piece, but with Black's King not under attack, and with White's pieces not developed, the position has to be judged better for the second player. As in most Jerome Gambit games, however, the player who is more comfortable and creative with the advantages at hand will be successful.9...Rc8 10.Nc3 Qf6 11.f3 Bb6 12.Nd5 Qh4+
Sir Osis sees his opponent's King as vulnerable, and assigns his Queen to harass it.

13.g3 Qh3 14.Nf4 Qh6
An inglorious retreat.

15.Nxe6 Ne7 16.d3 Qh3 Dodging the attack of the Bishop, but the return to this square is even more dangerous than the first visit.

17.Ng5+ Kg7 18.Nxh3

Black fights gamely for another 20 moves, but the point is already decided.

18...Rb8 19.Qa6 Nc6 20.Qc4 Ne5 21.Qe6 Rbe8 22.Qb3 Nxf3+ 23.Kd1 Rhf8 24.Bf4 Nd4 25.Qc3 h6 26.Be3 c5 27.b4 Rf3 28.Bxd4+ cxd4 29.Qc6 Ref8 30.Qxd6 Rf1+ 31.Ke2 R1f6 32.Qe5 Kh7 33.Rhf1 R6f7 34.Rxf7+ Rxf7 35.Rf1 Rc7 36.Kd2 Rg7 37.Qe6 h5 38.Rf7 Kg8 39.Ng5 Black resigned

Tournament Update

With almost three-fourths (156 out of 210) of the games in the 15-player, double-round robin Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld completed, the Jerome Gambit has scored 36%.

Piratepaul (17 points out of 20 games) and DREWBEAR 63 (17 points out of 27 games) lead, followed by Sir Osis of the Liver (16 points out of 25 games completed).

The next pack is headed by blackburne (13.5 points out of 26 games), followed closely by eddie43 (12.5 points out of 25 games), GladtoMateU (12 points out of 22 games) and Black Puma (12 points out of 26 games).

Those players with with the best winning percentage (85%) are stampyshortlegs (a formidable 11 points out of 13 games) and Piratepaul.

More Tactics

For those who believe that chess is "99% tactics", and this is especially true for those who play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), very often one lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three more examples (a bit more challenging) from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

DREWBEAR 63 - GladtoMateYou

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Despite being the extra piece up that the Jerome Gambit defender often receives, Black finds that his King has wandered into a mating net. If he keeps his wits about him, though, he can still split the point.

Black had to try 30...Nxc4 31.Kxc4 Bd5+ 32.Rxd5 cxd5+ 33.Kxd5 Rxg7 when White, down the exchange, does best to force a draw by repetition: 34.Ra3+ Kxb5 35.Nd4+ Kb4 36.Nc2+ Kb5 37.Nd4+ draw

analysis diagram

Instead, Black walked right "into it"

30...Ka4 31.Ra3 checkmate

Black Puma - Haroldlee123

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this complicated position, Black holds the Jerome advantage of a piece for two pawns, but his development is a bit haphazard, and he needs to be careful. Troubling tactics lie right beneath the surface, and he should play 35...Nxg5 with a chance to settle things down a bit. Instead, he plays a very reasonable move, and receives a shock.

35...Rh8 36.g6 Kxg6 37.Nh4+ Kf6 38.Nf5 Qf7 39.Rh6+ Qg6 40.Rxg6+ Kf7 41.Rg7+ Black resigned



DREWBEAR 63 - TWODOGS

JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

In this position, seeing that he was losing his Queen for a Rook, White resigned.

Instead, he could have tried 33.Nb5 Qxb2+ 34.Rxb2 Rxb7 35.Kxc4 a6 36.a4 axb5+ 37.axb5 with at least equal chances.












analysis diagram

Xadrez, Ficção Cientifíca e Paz

Chessfriend Welton Vaz ("Ghandybh" at Chess.com) has tried his hand at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) after receiving the database of games from the first year of posting on this site (see "Happy Birthday: Twelve months of blog...") – and the result was pleasant; for him, any way (see "Shock and Awe").

If you have a moment, why not stop by his "Chess, Science Fiction and Peace" blog?


Ghandybh - duboak
Chess.com, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6


7.f4 g6


Black seems to remember something about this opening... Something about maybe a Blackburne game...? Something...?

7...Qf6 or 7...d6 were good ideas; 7...g6 was not.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxh8

A better capture than taking the Bishop, although that won for White, too: 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qd4 Nf6 11.0-0 b5 12.d3 c5 13.Qc3 Be6 14.f5 gxf5 15.exf5 Bd5 16.Bg5 Rg8 17.Qd2 Qf8 18.Bxf6 Kxf6 19.Nc3 Bc6 20.Rae1 Bxg2 21.Rf2 Bh3+ 22.Kh1 Bxf5 23.Ref1 Rg5 24.Ne4+ Black resigned, grobnic - vallabhan, GameKnot, 2004

9...Qh4+ 10.g3 Qh6 11.Qc3 b6

Black had bad luck on one long diagonal. He hopes to have better luck on the other one.

12.d4 Be7 13.Qc4+ Kf8 14.0-0 c5

White has the better center, better development, and a safer King.

15.f5

15...Qe3+

An illusion, but Black is still doomed after 15...g5, for example: 16.f6 Nxf6 17.Qd5 Rb8 18.Bxg5 and White will crash through.

16.Bxe3 Black resigned

Beware: The Sneak!

Black's biggest dangers in playing against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) are overconfidence, a dismissive attitude and inattention. If any of these plague the second player in the early moves of the game, an otherwise blatant maneuver called The Sneak might arise.

In its starkest form, The Sneak looks like this:

I know what you're thinking: nobody would fall for that, letting the Bishop get trapped.

It is true, not everybody does fall for it. Here are some warnings, though:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3

2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+ Kxf7 4.d3 Nc6 5.c3 Bc5 6.a4 d6 7.Nf3 Ng4 8.0-0 Rf8 9.b4 Bxf2+ 10.Rxf2 Nxf2 11.Kxf2, Viejoasquerosos - BigJase, redhotpawn, 2006 (1-0, 40)

2...Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

4...Kf8 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.c3 Qf6 7.d3 d6 8.a4 Ke8 9.Bg5 Qg6 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Qe6 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2, SIRMO - AAlekhine, chessworld, 2007 (1-0, 47)

5.d3

5.c3 d6 ( 5...Nf6 6.d3 h6 7.0-0 g5 8.Qb3+ Ke8 9.Kh1 g4 10.Ng1 h5 11.Bg5 Rh7 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qg8+ Qf8 14.Qxh7 g3 15.Qg6+ Qf7 16.Qxg3 d6 17.a4 Be6 18.b4 Nxb4 19.cxb4 Bxb4 Piratepaul - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 26)) 6.d3 Nf6 ( 6...Bg4 7.Ng5+ Kf8 8.Qxg4 Qe7 9.Ne6+ Ke8 10.Nxg7+ Kf7 11.Nf5 Qf6 12.Bg5 Qe6 13.a4 Nf6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.b4 Bb6 16.a5 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2, Piratepaul - metalwarrior1969, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 36)) 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Bh4 Qd7 12.a4 h5 13.b4 Bxf2+ 14.Bxf2, Piratepaul - blackburne, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 22);

5.0-0 Nf6 6.d3 Rf8 7.Nc3 Kg8 8.Ne2 d6 9.a4 Be6 10.c3 h6 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Ng4 13.Rf1 Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0,35)

5...Nf6

[ 5...h6 6.c3 ( 6.0-0 g5 7.h3 Nf6 8.a4 d6 9.c3 g4 10.hxg4 Bxg4 11.b4 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Black Puma - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 21)) 6...d6 7.0-0 ( 7.a4 Bg4 ( 7...Qf6 8.b4 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2, SIRMO - Ratscales, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 36)) 8.b4 Bxf3 9.Qxf3+ Qf6 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.bxc5 dxc5, braken - willitfw, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 51)) 7...Nf6 8.a4 Na5 ( 8...Bg4 9.b4 Nxb4 ( 9...Bxb4 10.cxb4, Piratepaul - calchess10, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 44)) 10.cxb4 Bd4 11.Ra2 a6 ( 11...Nh5 Piratepaul - TWODOGS, JGTourney4, ChessWorld 2009 (1-0, 32)) 12.Nbd2 Nh5, Piratepaul - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (0-1, 56)) 9.b4 Bb6 10.bxa5 Bxa5, braken - eddie43, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 23)

6.Bg5

6.a4 Rf8 7.c3 d6 8.0-0 Kg8 9.Ng5 ( 9.b4 Nxb4 10.cxb4 Bxb4 11.Qb3+ Kh8 12.Qxb4 0-1 Black Puma - stampyshortlegs, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (0-1, 24)) 9...Bg4 10.Qe1 Nh5 11.h3 Bxh3 12.Nxh3 Ng3 13.b4 Nxb4 14.cxb4 Bd4 15.Ra2 Nxf1 16.Kxf1, SIRMO - manago, chessworld, 2008 (1-0, 18)

6...Rf8 7.0-0 Kg8 8.c3 Qe8 9.Kh1 d6 10.a4 Bg4 11.b4 Qh5 12.Bd2 d5 13.bxc5 dxe4 14.dxe4 Nxe4 Piratepaul - delboy138, chessworld, 2008 (1-0,17)

An Ultra Modern Jerome Gambit

I have referred to variations of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that don't include (after 4...Kxf7) the move 5.Nxe5+ as "modern" variations, as examples are recent, not from the time or play of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome.

The following game provides an example of what must be considered an ultra Modern variation.

metalwarrior1969 - DREWBEAR
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.a3

One basic tenet of the Modern Jerome Gambit lines is that White has sacrificed enough material with 5.Bxf7, and he shouldn't show any more generosity. He should non-committally construct a safe and solid position, and hope that his ability to out-play Black and take advantage of Black's displaced King will eventually be enough compensation.

5...Nf6 6.h3 TN

Don't smirk: psychology is as much a part of Jerome Gambit play as anything.

6...Nxe4 7.0-0 Nd4 8.Nxe5+ Kg8 9.c3 Nf5 10.d4 Bd6

Now White has the simple 11.Qb3+ Kf8 12.Qf7 checkmate.

Unfortunately, he overlooked this line and lost in 26 moves.

It has been said that an opening novelty will lose the first and last time it is played – but that in the interim it may well capture a whole lot of points. Will we see the Ultra Modern Jerome Gambit again? Only time will tell.

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics

It is not likely that Richard Teichmann, who opined that chess was "99% tactics" ever played the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but what he said was especially true about such a dodgy opening: by and large the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde lives by the tactic, and dies by the tactic...

Here are three examples from the current Chessworld Jerome Gambit Thematic tournament.

Luke Warm - DREWBEAR 63
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

Both players have attacks against their enemy King - enough so to keep the game even. Straying from this theme becomes instantly deadly.

22.Rh4 Qxf3 23.Qd2 Ref7 24.a3 Qxd5 25.Qh2 Rf1+ White resigned

Black Puma - Sir Osis of the Liver
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009

This game has been a hammer and tongs affair so far, but seems to have resulted in a balanced, Bishops-of-Opposite-Colors endgame, with a draw in sight. It will take some care, as each side still has a Rook, but the point should soon be split.

34.Be5 g6 35.Rh2+ Black resigned, as he will lose a Rook after 35...Kg8 36.Rh8+





stampyshortlegs - calchess10
JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009
Here is a messy, if balanced, game. Maybe White should consider 26.Qe2, and after 26...Nxe4 he can get a draw with 27.Qa6+ Kd7 28.Qb5+ etc?


26.Qe2 Nfd7 27.Qa6+ Kb8 28.Ba7+ Ka8 29.Bb6+ Kb8 30.Qa7+ Kc8 31.Qxc7 checkmate