What a difference a delay makes...

Theory of the delayed Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has developed slowly.  For example, transitions from the Semi-Italian opening (3.Bc4 h6) to the Jerome have been evaluated generally – e.g. White's "waiting" fourth move (4.0-0, 4.Nc3 or 4.d3) will be more useful than Black's 3...h6.

Occasionally a game pops up that illustrates more concretely the impact of waiting a move.

UNPREDICTABLE - badreligionnn

blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3

4...h6 5.Bxf7+

This position can be reached via the more familiar move-order of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6

Previously, White has not been very successful in this line, scoring 27% in 15 games.

8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.f4

UNPREDICTABLE has lost two struggles with different 9th moves: 9.Bf4 Qf6 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.c3 Ke7 12.Bxe5 d6 13.Bxf6+ gxf6 14.d4 Bb6 15.Nd2 Rg8 16.0-0 Be6 17.g3 Rg6 18.f4 Rgg8 19.f5 Bd7 20.b3 c5 21.d5 Bb5 22.c4 Bd7 23.Nf3 Kd8 24.Nh4 Kc7 25.Ng6 Rae8 26.Rfe1 Ba5 27.Re2 Bc3 28.Rc1 Bd4+ 29.Kg2 a5 30.Kf3 a4 31.h4 axb3 32.axb3 Rb8 33.h5 b5 34.Rd2 bxc4 35.bxc4 Rb3+ 36.Kf4 Be5+ 37.Kg4 Rxg3+ 38.Kh4 Re3 39.Nxe5 fxe5 40.Rcc2 Rxe4+ 41.Kh3 Bxf5+ 42.Kh2 Rgg4 43.Rf2 Rh4+ 44.Kg1 Re1+ 45.Kg2 Bxc2 46.Rxc2 Rxh5 47.Kf2 Rf5+ 48.Kxe1 h5 49.Kd2 Rf4 50.Kc3 h4 51.Rh2 Rf3+ 52.Kc2 h3 53.Kc1 Rg3 54.Kd1 Rg1+ 55.Kd2 Rg3 56.Kd1 Rg1+ 57.Kd2 Rg2+ 58.Ke3 Rxh2 59.Kf3 Rc2 60.Kg4 h2 61.Kf5 h1Q 62.Ke6 Qh6+ 63.Ke7 Ra2 64.Kf7 Ra8 65.Ke7 Qg7+ 66.Ke6 Re8+ 67.Kf5 Rf8+ White resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - bigchip, FICS, 2009; and

9.c3 Qf6 10.Qxf6+ gxf6 11.d4 Nd3+ 12.Kd2 Nxf2 13.Rf1 Nxe4+ 14.Kd3 Kd5 15.dxc5 Nxc5+ 16.Kc2 d6 17.a4 Bd7 18.b3 Re8 19.c4+ Ke6 20.Re1+ Kf7 21.Rxe8 Bxe8 22.Nc3 Bc6 23.g3 Ne7 24.Be3 Be4+ 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Kd3 f5 27.Rf1 Kf6 28.g4 Ke6 29.Re1 Nf6 30.Bxh6+ Kd7 31.g5 Ng4 32.Bg7 Rxh2 33.Bf6 Ng8 34.Kc3 N4xf6 35.gxf6 Nxf6 36.a5 a6 37.Kb4 Kc8 38.Re6 Ne4 39.Rg6 Rh5 40.Rg8+ Kd7 41.Rg7+ Kc6 42.Rg6 Nc5 43.Ka3 Rh3 44.Rf6 Rxb3+ 45.Ka2 Rc3 46.Rxf5 Rxc4 47.Kb2 Ra4 48.Kc3 Rxa5 49.Kb4 Rb5+ 50.Kc3 a5 51.Rf6 a4 52.Rf1 b6 53.Ra1 Ne4+ 54.Kd3 d5 55.Rxa4 Kc5 56.Ra1 c6 57.Rc1+ Kd6 58.Kd4 Rc5 59.Rh1 Rc4+ 60.Ke3 Kc5 61.Rh6 b5 62.Ke2 b4 63.Ke3 b3 64.Ke2 b2 65.Rh1 Kb4 66.Kf3 c5 67.Rb1 Kb3 68.Kf4 Rc3 69.Rh1 c4 70.Ke5 Ka2 71.Kxd5 b1Q 72.Rxb1 Kxb1 73.Kxe4 Rc1 74.Kd4 c3 75.Kc4 c2 76.Kd4 Re1 White resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - fdy, FICS, 2009.

The text is sharper, even if it allows Black to play along the lines of one of the more spectacular refutations in the regular Jerome Gambit.

9...Qh4+

Destination: complications.

10.g3 Nf3+

Black continues along classical Jerome Gambit lines, unaware of the difference that d2-d3 has made in White's game. To maintain his advantage, he needed to retreat his Queen, not advance his Knight: 10...Qe7.

Another change in Black's options is that he does not have the thematic ...Qf6 at his disposal, since 10...Qf6 11.fxe5+ cannot be met by 11...Qxe5 because of 12.Bf4, winning the Queen.

After 10 Qe7 11.fxe5+ Kc6 12.Qg6+ d6 13.Bf4 Be6 Black would have been better.

11.Kd1

The key game from the Jerome Gambit line, abhailey -peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008 (0-1, 20) went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Ne7 

analysis diagram







11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Nd5

analysis diagram






14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4+ b5 when Black's 4 pieces and the threatened discovered check added up to a quick win.

In the current game, the same strategem would flounder: 11...Ne7 12.e5+ Kc6 13.Qe4+ d5 14.exd6+ Nd5 15.gxh4 Bg4

analysis diagram





because White now has 16.h3, when Black's discovered check allows him to win the Queen, but the recapture by White's pawn on d3 gives him the better game

analysis diagram







If  Black instead retreats his Bishop, White gets an even game after 16.h3 Bh5 17.c4 Ng5+ 18.Kc2 Nxe4 19.cxd5+ Kxd5 20.dxe4+ Kxd6 21.Nc3 Rhe8

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Whew! Now, where were we...?

11...Qe7 12.Qd5 checkmate

Ouch.

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

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.