Jerome Gambit Quiz #5

This is the fifth in a series of quizzes to test the reader's understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings.The answer to each quiz can be found at the end of the following day's post.

White looks like he is ready to play the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4) – a serious attacking opening in its own right. What can he do if his intentions suddenly turn Jerome-ish?

What do you think of such ideas? What are some of the benefits of those lines? What are some of the difficulties that they create?


Answer to Quiz #4:
White can quietly retreat his Bishop to b3, where it will be exchanged off, with an equal game; or he can retreat it to e2, with a small advantage.

He can also play à la Jerome: 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

White has two pawns for his sacrificed piece, as well as an unsafe enemy King to play against (the off-side Knight is also bad). Black's safest move is 5...Ke7, blocking the development of his Bishop and Queen. 

The game is even, although White's center after d2-d4 (and possibly f2-f4) must be respected, and even the threat of Qd1-h5 can come into play.

This line is a playable relative of the Jerome Gambit

Merry Christmas!

Perrypawnpusher says, "Remember, when it comes to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bx5 4.Bxf7+), it is always better to give than to receive."




Dear Friends, December 2009

A very Merry Christmas and a warm, healthy Happy New Year to one and all!

The year 2009 has been an exciting one for the Ohio Kennedys. (Come to think of it, what year hasn’t been?) We hope that it has been safe and joyful for you, as well.

Libby is still working hard as a school psychologist with Columbus City Schools, covering four elementary school buildings. There always seems to be another student to evaluate, another teacher to consult with, another family to advocate for. Fortunately, she is very dedicated to her work. Although she is on track to retire at 65, it is common practice for school psychologists here to continue working, even after they retire! It’s a good thing she has buddies to play bridge with, to relax.

Rick has been gainfully unemployed for the last half of the year, although he continues to teach Parenting and Anger Management classes. He still writes for Chess Life for Kids and Chessville.com, and posts to his chess blog daily. His cooking skills have improved, especially after summer trips to the local farmers market on the weekends.

Matt, 28, is a physical therapist in practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, having received his Masters degree (and most of his Doctorate) from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. (His opinion: loved U of W, but warm is better.) He has been running 5k races, and recently tried his hand at sky diving. He has found a couple of local Ohio State University sports bars to keep up with the Buckeyes.

Mary, 24, in Columbus, has just finished her quarter(s) at Columbus State and Ohio State, catching some pre-requisite classes that she needs before starting graduate school in the summer, when she will work on her Masters degree with a plan to teach English at the high school level. In her “spare” time, she house-, dog- and kid-sits, as well as works at the local Donatos – and goes to the farmers market, too, and cooks with what we discover there.

Jon, 22, graduated from the University of Notre Dame this year, spent the summer as staff for an international student camp (the summer before he worked for an NGO in Uganda), and then this fall went off to teach English literature in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Louverture Cleary School is part of the Haitian Project(http://www.haitianproject.org/), which provides education to the poorest of the poor. Why not take a moment to check out his blog “Nou pare pou rebati Ayiti, E ou?” (We are ready to rebuild Haiti, and you?) at jbkhaiti.blogspot.com ?

It has been a great year, and we look forward to the coming 2010.

Libby, Rick, Matt, Mary and Jon Kennedy

Jerome Gambit Quiz #4

This is the fourth in a series of quizzes to test the reader's understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings.The answer to each quiz can be found at the end of the following day's post.

Black is not interested in allowing the Jerome Gambit: instead, he initiates an attack on White's Bishop immediately.

What do you think? What are some of the benefits of this line? What are some of the difficulties that it creates?

Answer to Quiz #3:
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7,

White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece, and although Black's King can no longer castle, a follow-up is difficult: 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 leaves White with very little to work with.

This new line is not an improvement upon the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit Quiz #3

 This is the third in a series of quizzes to test the reader's understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings.The answer to each quiz can be found at the end of the following day's post.

Here Black has not followed the Jerome Gambit line, but instead has played his King's Bishop to e7: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7. White wants to start an attack anyhow, and plays 4.Bxf7+, as in the Jerome Gambit proper.

What do you think? What are some of the benefits of this line? What are some of the difficulties that it creates?

Answer to Quiz #2:

Clearly White's plan is to attack: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Ng5 Nh6 5.Nxf7 Nxf7 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7.

White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece, and Black's King, having moved, can no longer castle. However, the usual initiative that comes with the Jerome Gambit (threats: Qh5+, d2-d4) is not apparent here.

This new line is not an improvement upon the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit Quiz #2

This is the second in a series of quizzes to test the reader's understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings.The answer to each quiz can be found at the end of the following day's post.

Here we see that White has decided to play something new, and Black has responded with a defensive move: after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 White moved 4.Ng5 (instead of the sacrifice 4.Bxf7+) and Black played 4...Nh6.

What do you think? What are some of the benefits of this line? What are some of the difficulties that it creates?

Answer to Quiz #1:

By reversing his 4th and 5th moves, White makes his opponent's defense much easier: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.Bxf7+ Nxf7.

White has two pawns for his two sacrificed pieces, but he has little chance to recover any more material, as a Queen check at h5 or the pawn strike d2-d4 are both ineffective, since they are not forks. In addition, Black's King has not been forced to move, and can eventually castle to safety.

This new line is not an improvement upon the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit Quiz #1

This is the first in a series of quizzes to test the reader's understanding of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and related openings.The answer to each quiz can be found at the end of the following day's post.

Here we see that White, who is used to "throwing around pieces" in the Jerome Gambit, has decided to switch his fourth and fifth moves, playing 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5, instead of the usual 4.Bxf7+ and then 5.Nxe5.

What do you think? What are some of the benefits of this line? What are some of the difficulties it creates?

Better isn't good enough

White starts out in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) with what can objectively be called "a lost game."

Fortunately, most club level chess games hardly proceed along "objective" lines.

Still, my opponent's sudden resignation – when I figured that he had solved the opening and was looking forward to some decent counter-play – came as a bit of a mystery to me.

Perhaps Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks was playing the wise detective when he suggested that some defenders never quite get over the "shock and awe" of the Jerome Gambit!

perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime
blitz 12 0, FICS, 2009

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

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

A good defense, one of a number of refutations to the Jerome Gambit.

7.Qd5+

The "nudge".

7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3

So far we are moving along well-travelled lines – I have over 70 games with this position in my database, starting with Charlick - Mann, correspondence, 1881: 9...Nf6 10.d4 Qe7 11.0-0 Ng4 12.Qe2 Qh4 13.h3 Nf6 14.f4 Nh5 15.Qf2 Qxf2+ 16.Rxf2 Rf8 17.f5 Ne7 18.c4 c6 19.g4 Nf6 20.Nc3 d5 21.e5 Nd7 22.cxd5 Nxd5 23.Ne4 N7b6 24.b3 a5 25.e6 h6 26.Bb2 Ke7 27.Re1 Ra7 28.Nc5 Na8 29.Nd3 b5 30.Ne5 Kd6 31.Rc1 Ra6 32.Rc5 Bb7 33.Rfc2 Rc8 34.Bc1 a4 35.b4 a3 36.Bd2 Nab6 37.Be1 Na4 38.Bg3 Ke7 39.Nd7 Nxc5 40.dxc5 Rg8 41.Bd6+ Ke8 42.Rd2 Ra4 43.Rxd5 cxd5 44.f6 gxf6 45.Nxf6+ Kd8 46.e7+ Kc8 47.Nxg8 Bc6 48.Nf6 Rxb4 49.e8Q+ Bxe8 50.Nxe8 Rb1+ 51.Kf2 Rb2+ 52.Kf3 Rxa2 53.Nc7 b4 54.Nxd5 b3 55.c6 Rc2 56.Bxa3 Ra2 57.Bd6 Rc2 58.Be5 b2 59.Nb6+ Kd8 60.c7+ Rxc7 61.Bxb2 Rc5 62.Bd4 Rb5 63.Nc4 Ke7 64.h4 Ke6 65.Ke4 Rb1 66.Ne3 Kf7 67.h5 Kg8 68.Nf5 Kh7 69.Be3 Re1 70.Nxh6 Rxe3+ 71.Kxe3 Kxh6 72.Kf4 Black resigned

9...Ne5 

This is new to me. Maybe Black is trying to provoke my pawns?

10.f4

A little bit better might have been 10.d4.

10...Ng4 11.Qg3

I've had problems with "Wild Horses" a number of times in the past.

11...g6 12.d4

If those "Jerome pawns" look eggshell-brittle, I agree. The simple 12.0-0 was better.  

12...Qe7

Black begins to pressure the center, although 12...N8f6 might have been a better start. 

13.Nc3 Bd7 14.0-0 N4f6

I think that Black is holding his own (in part because he has not been developed enough to benefit from advancing his pawns), although after the game Rybka surprisingly suggested that Black should castle-by-hand on the Queenside: 14...Kd8 15.h3 N4f6 16.e5 Nh5 17.Qd3 Kc8 18.Bd2 Kb8 with a small edge to White.

15.e5 Nh5 16.Qf2

Better was16.Qf3. That "horse" was really throwing me. 

16...Bf5 17.exd6

This cannot be right: White throws away his large pawn center for a chance to make a check along the e-file. Rybka rates the resulting position as roughly even, but the "Jerome pawns" are much more effective as a unit, not split to make pawn majorities on each side.

17...Qxd6

18.Be3 Kd7 19.Rae1 Rd8 20.h3 Ngf6

Stronger was the move that Black probably originally intended, 20...Kc8.

21.g4 Black resigned

Yes, Black will have to return his extra piece, but in doing so he will probably receive open lines to attack White's King. At the end of the game, Black still has an edge, so my opponent's resignation surprised me.