The People's Chess Opening

For every player that I encounter who plays the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) because he or she has seen it in a chess book (e.g. Freeborough and Ranken's Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern) or on a blog like this one, there are dozens who use Jerome-ish attacks while just play a game...

I regularly hear (or read) comments like

I had no idea that I was using the Jerome Gambit

That doesn't get in the way of playing the Royal Game and using "the duckbill platypus" of chess openings

I am not familiar with the names of gambits; I play chess for fun and relaxation; I no longer have time to really study

There can be personal comments like

I always try to sacrifice two peices when I'm playing. Stumbling upon this fun opening you call the Jerome Gambit is simply a result of that practice. The sacrificing of two peices has deep significant and personal meaning to me, and it reminds me of the many important life lessons that can be found in a game of chess.

What I almost always find is the opinion that I share with so many other players

I absolutely agree that the Jerome Gambit is a whole lot of fun to play, win or loose. As for my favorite game, well, that's always the next one.

Falling off the Wall

Bill Wall likes his opponents scrambled, Humpty Dumpty style.

Sometimes they need a push.

Sometimes they jump.

Wall,B - SavenRain
chess.com, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nb4

4.Bxf7+

Adding the Jerome treatment. Of course, ordinary moves like 4.0-0, 4.d4 and 4.Nc3 were playable, too.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

5...Kf6

Safer seems 5...Ke8, when either 6.0-0 or 6.d4 would give Black the edge he would have in some Blackburne Shilling Gambit Jerome-ish lines.

6.d4

This position requires some care for Black to hold.

First, he must acknowledge that lining his King and Queen up on the same diagonal is too much of a risk: however psychologically uncomfortable it is, Black must move his King again, to e7, to allow his Knight to block any attempt at skewering the royal couple (i.e. Bc1-g5).

Second, he has to stay away from routine moves, such as 6...Ke7 7.a3 Nc6 (the Knight should go to a6) when 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Nc3 (heading for d5) is more trouble than it first appears.

analysis diagram






6...Qe7

As is often the case with the Jerome Gambit, the annotations are about subtlety while the moves themselves are lummoxes.

7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.d5+

Taking the Knight now leads to mate.

8...Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.Nba3 Black resigned

10...Nxc2+ will hold off checkmate, but not for long.

What goes around comes around

A while back (see "A Sneaky Way to Defeat the Jerome Gambit") I discovered a new defense to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

Called the "d/r/a" Defense, it requires the second player to disconnect from the online playing site (in my case, FICS) after a few moves, refuse any attempts to continue the game, and then have the game ajudicated in Black's favor due to having more material.

Hence:

perrypawnpusher - "anonymous"
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Black wins by ajudication.

Today I chanced to play another game with the same opponent, who will remain anonymous. Here is how it went:

perrypawnpusher - "anonymous"
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Black resigned

Jedi Mind Tricks / Rematch

My first game against zadox had several strange and unexpected moves – odd enough for me to humorously attribute them to some kind of "Jedi Mind Tricks."

I was ready in our rematch, however, and the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit had enough "Force" to win handily. 

perrypawnpusher - zadox

blitz 5 12, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit. I have 15 wins, 2 losses and a draw against it, all with 4.Bxf7+.

4.Bxf7+ Ke7

Again with the mind tricks!

There is no "objective" reason to decline the sacrifice, but zadox has this all thought out. As soon as the White Bishop moves off of the f7 square along the a1-g8 diagonal, the Black King will move back to e8, freeing the Black Queen to go to g5 – should White play Nxe5.

Don't laugh. That's what I did in our first meeting: I took on e5.

5.Bc4

Or 5.Bxg8, as in perrypawnpusher - zadox, blitz FICS, 2010: 5...Ke8 6.Nxe5 Qg5 7.Nf3 Qxg2 8.Nxd4 Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Rxg8 11.d3 d6 12.Nc3 Bg4+ 13.f3 Bh5 14.Bg5 c5 15.Nf5 Bxf3+ 16.Kd2 h6 17.Bf4 g6 18.Nxd6+ Bxd6 19.Bxd6 Kd7 20.Bxc5 b6 21.Be3 Rac8 22.Rf1 Bg4 23.Rf7+ Ke6 24.Rxa7 g5 25.Ra6 Rc6 26.Nd5 Rgc8 27.Rxb6 Kd7 28.Rxc6 Kxc6 29.Ne7+ Black resigned

5...Ke8

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid" - Han Solo, having blasted the pawn at f7.

6.Nxd4 exd4

It is dire to note that after the game Rybka suggested that best for Black was not the recapture, but 6...Qh4. Since White has 7.Qf3, the result – 7...Nf6 8. Nb3 – is not much better an outcome for Black.

7.Qh5+ g6

8.Qe5+ Qe7 9.Qxh8 Qxe4+

At this point I realized that the position was oddly similar to one in a game (a Damiano Defense) that I had played against Dr. Andrew Hinkle, 40 years ago. Mind trick, indeed.

10.Kd1 Qxg2

Better is 10...Ne7, but after 11.Re1 Black has no compensation for the Rook. 

11.Re1+ Kd8 12.Qxg8 Qg4+ 13.Be2

13...Qe6 14.Qxf8+ Black resigned

And not a midi-chlorian too soon.

Timing

It is a bit of tricky timing, but sometimes right after I analyze and post a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game I soon run into that particular line of play.

perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime
blitz 12 0, FICS, 2010

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

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

My opponent and I have played a few Jeromes. An earlier one continued: 6...Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qe3 Bd7 12.0-0 Qf8 13.e5 Kd8 14.exd6 Qxd6 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.d3 Re8 17.Qf2 Rf8 18.Be3 b6 19.Rae1 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Qxd5 21.Bd2 Qxa2 22.Bc3 Qd5 23.Bxg7 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Kxe8 25.f5 Ne7 26.f6 Ng6 27.f7+ Kd8 28.f8Q+ Nxf8 29.Qxf8+ Black resigned,  perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz FICS, 2009.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Be6

Earlier I had faced 9...Ne5 10.f4 Ng4 11.Qg3 g6 12.d4 Qe7 13.Nc3 Bd7 14.0-0 N4f6 15.e5 Nh5 16.Qf2 Bf5 17.exd6 Qxd6 18.Be3 Kd7 19.Rae1 Rd8 20.h3 Ngf6 21.g4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz FICS, 2009.

10.f4

Previously, I had castled, which is a better idea: 10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4 Kd7 12.f5 Bxf5 13.exf5 Re8 14.Qg5 Ne7 15.Qxg7 c6 16.Qxf6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - dirceu, blitz FICS, 2010. 

After the game Rybka preferred 10.Nc3, suggesting that after 10...Qh4 11.0-0 Nf6 12.f4 Bd7 13.f5 Ne7 14.d3 Kf7 Black had an edge.

10...N6e7

This move is okay, but as the previous note hints at, Black could have made more mischief with 10...Qh4+, e.g. 11.g3 Qh3 12.Nc3 Bg4 and White will find it difficult to castle.

11.0-0 Nc6

The game is roughly even.

An alternative was seen in mrjoker - Melbourne, ICC 2 12 blitz, 2008: 11...Nf6 12.f5 Bf7 13.d3 c6 14.h3 Qb6 15.g4 Qxe3+ 16.Bxe3 Kd7 17.Nd2 b6 18.Kg2 g6 19.g5 Nh5 20.f6 Nc8 21.d4 b5 22.b3 Nb6 23.Rac1 a5 24.c4 bxc4 25.Nxc4 Rhb8 26.Kf3 Nxc4 27.bxc4 Rb2 28.Rf2 Rab8 29.d5 c5 30.Rcc2 Rxc2 31.Rxc2 a4 32.Rc3 Kc7 33.Ra3 Be8 34.e5 dxe5 35.Bxc5 Rb2 36.Ke4 Re2+ 37.Be3 Bd7 38.f7 Black resigned 

12.d4 Bf7 13.Nc3 Qd7

14.e5

Probably advancing the wrong pawn. With a little patience, White would do well with 14.d5 Nce7 15.Qg3 Kf8 16.Be3 Nf6 17.Bd4 – although the position would still be level.

analysis diagram







14...dxe5 15.dxe5 Qe6

My opponent has grasped the weakness of  my pawn advance: the "Jerome pawns" can be frozen and blockaded, making the extra Black piece more valuable. Placing the Queen at f5 was necessary, however. 

16.f5

16...Qxe5 17.Qxe5+ Nxe5 18.Re1 Rd8

19.Bf4 Kd7 20.Bxe5 Nf6

White is a pawn up, but as I learned not long ago in my game against KaZC, that may not be enough for me to win.

21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Ne4 Kc8

Black did not want to protect the f-pawn by moving his King to e7 and into the line of a possible discovered check. Yet the checks would prove harmless, while giving White a second pawn increases the first player's opportunities.

In all fairness, GabrielChime's time was getting short.

23.Nxf6 Rd6 24.Ne4 Rdd8 25.Rad1 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Re8 27.Nc3

There is nothing really exciting going on: White plans to grind out the win.

27...Bc4 28.Kf2 Rf8 29.g4 c6

30.b3 Bf7 31.Ne4 Bd5 32.Nc5 Rf6 33.c4

Here, my opponent's flag fell.

The Cure Being Worse Than the Disease

Hmmm... As I was mumbling just last month (see "Declining the Jerome Gambit - Légally") –

Given that my favorite opening, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has so many refutations, I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who go out of their way to decline the fool thing.

Having faced my opponent's (I did not name him/her) creative declined line, I was able to make my way through and finish in 10 moves, using Légall's mate. (Again, David Surratt's article on Légall's Mate at Chessville is well worth reading.)

So – when I was matched with the same opponent again, I wondered what would happen...

perrypawnpusher  - NN
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f6

Okay, no Jerome Gambit today, either.

4.0-0

Our earlier game had continued, instead, 4.d4 d6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.dxe5 fxe5 7.Nc3 Nd4 8.Nxe5 Bxd1 9.Bf7+ Ke7 10.Nd5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - NN, blitz FICS, 2010

4...g5

Apparently the problem with the first declined game, in my opponent's consideration, was that it wasn't aggressive enough.

By the way, I gave this game to Rybka for some "blunderchecking" overnight (5 minutes a move) and it had some creative things to show me about Black's choice at move 4.  Rybka's recommended line was 4...Nge7 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qd1 Ne5 9.Bb3 c6 10.Be3 h5 11.Nc3 g5 12.Qd4, which it rated as slightly better for White.

analysis diagram






I was amazed. It couldn't be.

So I set Rybka on "infinite analysis" on this position and let it analyze about 18 ply deep. It turns out that I was right. Rybka didn't see this position as slightly better for White any more. It saw it as just about even.

Couldn't White do better? I backed up a move and tried 12.f4 instead of 12.Qd4, and after 12...gxf4 13.Bxf4 Qe7 White was slightly better, again.

I backed up another move, and tried 11.h3 instead of 11.Nc3. Again, Rybka said that after 11...g5 12.Nd2 Qe7 White was slightly better.

Finally, I tried 10.f4 instead of 10.Be3, and after 10...Nf7 11.Be3 Be7 Rybka gave me a +/-.

Clearly, Black still had resources at move 4. Unfortunately, the move chosen was not one of them.

5.Nxg5 fxg5 6.Qh5+ Ke7

7.Qf7+

My silicon buddy suggested later that 7.d4 would have been even stronger.

7...Kd6 8.b3

Going for the quick checkmate, but, again, 8.d4 was objectively better.

8...a6  9.Ba3+ Nb4

10.Bxb4+

The mind is a funny thing. I thought that the Bishop on a3 was there to capture the Knight on b4. It wasn't. It actually was there to pin the Knight, so White could play 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Qxe5 mate. 

10...c5 11.Qd5+ Kc7 12.Ba5+ b6 13.Qxa8

13...Bb7 14.Bxb6+ Kxb6 15.Qxd8+ Ka7 Black resigned

Looking Backwards

This is my 636th consecutive daily post. I would like to think that I remember everything on this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) blog, but clearly I have forgotten some things.

The other day I was looking back at my earlier posts and I found an amusing thread that has worked its way forward.

Remember the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 from perrypawnpusher - johnde, blitz FICS, 2010?

In my post "Stinking up the Chessboard" I mentioned that I had covered this rare move earlier this year in "A Strange, But Intriguing, Path (Part 1)", "(Part 2)" and "(Part 3)".

This closer look came because I had done an Opening Report on the New Year's Database and concluded about 5...Ke6 that it "needs more analysis on behalf of White."

That was not my first encounter with the move, however. At the end of June, 2009, in analyzing the game blackburne - DREWBEAR 63, JGTourney4 ChessWorld, 2009 I had commented on it.

DREWBEAR 63's move [5...Ke6] comes as quite a shock – certainly it must have been played before, perhaps in the earliest days of the Jerome Gambit; but there are no games in my database with the move, no analysis, and not even a mention of it.

Of course, that was before I had access to the gazillion game database of FICS games, and before the advent of the New Year's Database.

Also, I hadn't looked in my own blog, where, about a year earlier, in a note to my analysis of  Blackstone - Dommeyer skittles game, California, USA 1960, I had written

Of course, if you opponent springs the "Theoretical Novelty" 5...Ke6 on you, you'll be prepared with 6.Qg4+ Kxe5 7.d4+ Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 Nxd8 (or 10...Bxb2 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Bxc7 Bxa1 13.Nd2 – a mess, but Black's uncertain King gives White the edge) and although the position is roughly even Black may not recover from "losing" his Queen.

All is new that has been forgotten...