Not Quite the Jerome Gambit

As mentionied in the earlier posts "Busy!" and "*Poof!*", I almost had a chance to play in another Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) Thematic Tournament, but wound up, instead, getting in only one Jerome Gambit game – see "Sole Survivor".

Two other players in the tourney gave it a go, with some feelings of uncertainty, except that what they played was not quite the Jerome Gambit.

Namecheck - leif41no
ChessWorld Welcome Tournament, 2009

The players swapped notes as the game started:

leif41no: Welcome Namecheck from Netherlands
namecheck: Hello Leif41no... Enjoy the games.
namecheck: I gather this Jerome Gambit has a very bad reputation... :)
leif41no: hehe, he tricks us

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5


Here we already have an unusual position, coming out of the Petroff Defense – 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4!? Bc5?! – or the Bishop's Opening – 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3!? Bc5?!

I suppose that if you get this far (and from what I could find, few have) thinking "Jerome Gambit" is not too much further a step.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+


An alternative was: 5.Ng5+ Ke8 6.0-0 h6 7.Nh3 d6 8.d3 Nc6 9.Nc3 Bxh3 10.Nd5 Be6 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Qh5+ Qf7 13.Qh4 g5 14.Bxg5 Qg7 15.Bf6 Qh7 16.Qg3 Nd4 17.Rae1 Rg8 18.Qh4 Nxc2 19.Bg5 Rxg5 20.Qxg5 hxg5 21.Rc1 Nd4 22.a3 Ne2+ 23.Kh1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Bxf2 25.h3 Bxh3 26.Kh2 Bc8 checkmate, Metko,T - Modrzejewski,D, Tamm Wuert, 2000

5...Ke8

Also seen: 5...Kg8 6.d4 Bd6 ( 6...Be7 7.Qf3 d6 8.Qb3+ d5 9.Nc3 c6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.exd5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Be6 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Qxb7 Nd7 16.Qxa8+ Kh7 17.Qf3 Black resigned, nisar33 - bvduizendpoot, Gameknot, 2008; 6...Bb6 7.Bg5 Qe7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Nd5 Qe6 10.Nf4 Qe8 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5 Kg7 13.Ng4 Rf8 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.f3 Nc6 16.0-0 h5 17.Ne3 Rg8 18.Nf5+ Kf8 19.Nh4 Ra5 20.d5 Ne5 21.f4 Ng4 22.Qd4 c5 23.dxc6 Qxc6 24.h3 Qc5 25.Qxc5 Rxc5 26.hxg4 Rxg4 27.Nf5 Bxf5 28.exf5 Rxc2 29.Rf2 Rxf2 30.Kxf2 Rxf4+ 31.Kg3 Rxf5 32.b3 Ke7 33.Rc1 Kd7 34.Kh4 b5 35.Rc2 b6 36.g4 hxg4 37.Kxg4 Rc5 38.Rf2 Rg5+ 39.Kf4 d5 40.Ke3 Re5+ 41.Kd4 Ke6 42.a4 bxa4 43.bxa4 Re4+ 44.Kd3 Rxa4 45.Rb2 Ra3+ 46.Kd4 Ra6 47.Rb3 f5 48.Ra3 Rxa3 Drawn, skywings - ttooch123, Gameknot, 2008; 6...Qe7 7.Bg5 d6 8.dxc5 Qxe5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nc3 dxc5 11.Qd5+ Qxd5 12.Nxd5 Na6 13.Nxf6+ Kf7 14.Nd5 Re8 15.f3 Be6 16.0-0-0 Rad8 17.c4 c6 18.Nf4 Bxc4 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.a3 Nc7 21.h4 Ne6 22.Nh3 h6 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Kxd1 Bf1 25.Ng1 Bxg2 26.Ke1 Bh1 27.Kf2 Nd4 28.Kg3 Kf6 29.Kf4 b6 30.e5+ Ke6 31.Ke4 a5 32.Kf4 Nf5 33.h5 Ng7 34.Kg3 Kxe5 35.Kh2 Bxf3 36.Nxf3+ Ke4 37.Ng5+ Kd3 38.Nf7 Nxh5 39.Nxh6 Kc2 40.Nf5 Kxb2 41.a4 c4 42.Kg1 c3 43.Ne3 c2 44.Nc4+ Kc3 45.Nxb6 c1Q+ White resigned, dwabro22 - teluguman48, Gameknot, 2005) 7.Qf3 Bxe5 8.dxe5 Ne8 9.Qb3+ d5 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Nxd5 Nd7 12.Bf4 c6 13.0-0-0 cxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 15.d6+ Kf8 16.e6 Bxe6 17.Qxe6 Nef6 18.Rhe1 Rc8 19.Qf5 Rc5 20.Qh3 Qc8 21.Rd2 Nb6 22.d7 Nbxd7 23.Bd6+ Kf7 24.Re7+ Kg6 25.Bxc5 Qxc5 26.Qg3+ Qg5 27.Rxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qxg5+ Kf7 29.Qf5 Rd8 30.g4 h6 31.h4 Ke7 32.g5 hxg5 33.hxg5 Ne8 34.g6 Black resigned, jcekota - tomy, net-chess.com, 2005

6.d4

Or: 6.Qf3 Qe7 7.Qf4 Rf8 Black claimed a win on time, leif41no - Namecheck, ChessWorld Welcome Tournament, 2009;

or 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc4 Nxe4 8.d4 Bb6 9.Qf3 d5 10.Ne5 Be6 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Nxg6 Nf6 13.Qh4 Nbd7 14.Re1 Kf7 15.Ne5+ Ke7 16.Bg5 Qf8 17.Ng4 h5 18.Bxf6+ Nxf6 19.c3 hxg4 20.Qg3 Ne4 21.Rxe4 dxe4 22.Nd2 Bd5 23.Qxg4 Qh6 White resigned, viejoasquerosos - Devinator3000, redhotpawn, 2004;

or 6.d3 d6 7.Nc4 Nc6 8.0-0 Ng4 9.Be3 Nxe3 10.Nxe3 Be6 11.Re1 Qf6 12.Qf3 Rf8 13.Qxf6 Rxf6 14.c3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Ne5 16.d4 Nd3 17.Rf1 Nxb2 18.Rxf6 gxf6 19.e5 fxe5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nd2 Rd8 22.Rb1 Rxd2 23.Kf1 Rd1+ 24.Rxd1 Nxd1 25.Ke1 Nxc3 26.a4 Nxa4 27.Kd2 c5 28.h4 h5 White resigned, gpirath - fredcwn, net-chess.com 2004.

6...Bb6 7.Bg5 d6


Also seen: 7...Rf8 8.0-0 d6 9.Nc4 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Qe2 Qd7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxe5+ Qe7 15.Bxf6 Qxe5 16.Bxe5 Black resigned, Schreiner,H - Arnold,J, Wattens, 2000.

8.Nc4 h6 9.Bh4

The Bishop retreat may not be the most accurate. Fritz 8 looked at 9.Nxb6 axb6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Nd5 Qf7 13.0-0 Be6 with the game eventually reaching equality.

9...Be6

Instead, 9...g5 10.Bg3 Nxe4 gave Black the better game.

10.d5 Bxf2+



An oversight or a miscalculation.

11.Bxf2 Bg4 12.Qd4 Kf7 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Nbd7 15.0-0 Be2 16.Rf2 Bxc4 17.Qxc4 Kg6+

White has the better game.

18.Nc3 Ng4 19.Rf5



White sets a very interesting trap.


19...Ne3 20.Qd4 Nxf5

Black might as well take this Rook, as going after the other one with 20...Nxc2 21.Qd3 Nxa1 does not lead to advantage for him after 22.e5 Kg7 23.e6 Rf8 ( 23...Nf6 24.Bf2 and White is winning) 24.exd7 Qxd7 25.Rf1 Rxf1+ 26.Qxf1 Nc2 27.Qd3 Na1 28.Bf2 Qf7 29.Qd1 Qg6 30.Qxa1 Qd3 31.Qe1 Rf8 with an edge to White.
21.exf5+ Kxf5


Black errs. He needed to leave the pawn alone: 21...Kh7 22.Re1 Rf8 23.Nb5 Rf7 (not 23...Rxf5 24.Qd3 Qf6 25.Nd4 and White is winning) and White has an edge.

22.Qg7



White now has a forced checkmate.

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.