Why must he lose to this idiot?

Not every chess player wakes up and says to himself (or herself) "I think I'll destroy a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) today!" In fact, not many chess players even know what the Jerome Gambit is – so, it can be a puzzlement to not only be playing against it, but to find yourself losing against it...

perrypawnpusher  - Kovrad
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

In our first attempt at a game, my opponent disconnected here, and FICS aborted the game. This was probably all beyond Kovrad's control, as he has this explanatory message posted at FICS "Please note that at times I can have a very bad internet connection. Therefore don't be surprised when I 'disconnect'. I will always try to come back and finish the game (though sometimes it's impossible). If my position is lost I will resign. Sorry for inconvenience."

Fair enough.

So I signed on again and challenged Kovrad again.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

I found a couple of other games with my opponent defending against the Jerome Gambit:

5.d4 Bxd4 6.Ng5+ Ke8 7.c3 h6 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxg6+ Black resigned, DragonTail - Kovrad, FICS, 2009; and 
5.0–0 d6 6.c3 Ke8 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Ng5 Bxd4 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qf3 Bf6 12.h4 Ne5 13.Qb3 Qe7 14.Nc3 c6 15.Bf4 h6 16.Bxe5 hxg5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.hxg5 Qxg5 19.e5 Qh4 20.exd6 Qh1 checkmate, sebya - Kovrad, FICS, 2008.

6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 N8e7

Not as popular as 9...Nf6, but very clear: Black wants play on the f-file.

10.0-0 Rf8

Provocative was 10...Be6, as in 11.f4 d5 12.f5 d4 13.Qg3 Bc4 14.d3 Bxd3 15.cxd3 Nf8 16.Qxg7 Rg8 17.Qe5 c5 18.f6 Nfg6 19.f7+ Kf8 20.Bh6+ Rg7 21.Qxg7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - perama, blitz, FICS, 2010.

11.f4 c6

Or 11...Nc6 as in perrypawnpusher - taman, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1–0, 35).

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Ng4 14.Qg3

 14...Nf6 15.Qxg7

Despite appearances, everything is under control for Black. He can play the prepared 15...d5, and after 16.exd5 Qxd5 he is prepared for 17.Bg5 which he can meet with 17...Nxf5 18.Rxf5 Bxf5 19.Bxf6 Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Kxf7 21.Be5 Bxc2 when Black has an edge.

Instead, he played a reflexive move – and then resigned in apparent disappointment.

15...Rg8 16.Qxf6 Black resigned

Black is down three pawns, and the open lined to his King and the white "Jerome pawns" will cause more grief.

I am sure Kovrad was much too much a gentleman to exclaim, as Nimzowitsch once did, "Why must I lose to this idiot??"

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, The Wizard of Draws

Closer... But not there yet

I keep playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), especially one particularly risky variation, knowing that someday one of my opponents will know enough about the wild defense to sacrifice his Queen and destroy me...

I make my moves, remembering Gary K. Gifford's re-naming of the opening as the "Jerome Gamble" – and breathe a sigh of a relief as someone gets closer... but not there yet.

perrypawnpusher - intssed
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+

The alternative in this 6...Ke6 variation (one of the many Jerome Gambit refutations) is 7.f4, although 7...d6 – a favorite of computers – presents its own problems.

7...Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

Not the first move a naive defender would think up. So – how much does intssed know??

9.g3 Nf3+

Closer. "Getting warmer..." as the kids say in their game.

10.Kf1

Better-known is 10.Kd1 – which is why I played this alternative. Also, there is a built-in distraction for Black.

10...Nxh2+

This is a how-do-I-get-out-of-this-mess style move. I first saw it when I was reviewing Unorthodox Chess, by Some Loser (no joke, check out my review at Chessville.com).

11.Kg2

Now Some Loser's analysis continues with the smart 11...Qg4, when 12.Qd5+ Ke7 13.Qxc5+ d6 14.Qf2 Nf6 15.Rxh2 Nxe4 16.Qe3 Qe6 is about even. 

analysis diagram







Instead, my opponent recoiled from the whole situation, moving his Queen away from the attack by my pawn. We've seen this kind of reflexive move before, and it can lead to disaster.

11...Qe7 12.Qd5 checkmate

Death of a Variation

DREWBEAR 63's only loss to date in the ongoing Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld came with the White pieces against his primary rival, Daves111, under unclear circumstances.

DREWBEAR 63 - Daves111
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+

Outrageous, even by Jerome Gambit standards. On the surface, White hopes to exchange his Knight for Black's Bishop at c5 – but the game quickly becomes too chaotic for that.

I was astonished to find 254 games with this move in the updated New Year's Database. White scored 21%, which seems fortunate for the first player, to me.

The earliest examples that I have of the line are a quartet of losses by TlFoZl in play at FICS in 1999, but I am sure the idea has been tried previously. (It is fun to report that when Carlos Azcarate won the 2008 Ninja Knights T3 Jerome Gambit Tournament at ChessWorld, with 19 wins and 5 losses, he did so with the "help" of the 5.Ng5 variation, scoring 1 win and 4 losses.)

What was DREWBEAR 63 thinking? Did he expect to bamboozle his opponent at the outset?

Perhaps he simply mis-played the move. In three other games in the current tournament DREWBEAR 63 played the "Wright attack" (named after the game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, USA, 1874, scoring 37% in the New Year's Database) with 5.d4 exd4 6.Ng5+ and scored 3 wins.

5...Qxg5 6.d4

The "point" of the variation. Sadly, White's best, instead, was 6.0-0, with one pawn as compensation for two pieces sacrificed.

6...Qxg2 7.Rf1 Qxe4+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nxd4+ 10.Kd1 d6 11.f3 Bh3

White resigned.

This game bears no resemblance to the rest of DREWBEAR 63's play in the tournament!

Big Bad Wolf

The other day I ran into a big, bad wolf – a higher-rated player who tried to surprise me with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. Instead, I surprised him with the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.


perrypawnpusher - ZekeTheWolf
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+

Tempting, because it delivers a check, forks White's King and Rook, and generally messes the position up.

Still, 7..hxg6 is better, and after the game Rybka suggested the line: 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qg5+ Nf6 10.Qc5+ Kf7 11.Qxd4 d5 12.d3 c5 13.Qc3 dxe4 14.dxe4 Qd4 15.Qxd4 cxd4 16.f3 Be6 17.c3

analysis diagram








when Black is slightly better, although someone comfortable with the Jerome Gambit would probably be comfortable with the White pieces. 

8.Kd1 Qf6

Played too quickly. Better was 8...Nf6 as in perrypawnpusher - xenoglot, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 21) and perrypawnpusher - lourotors, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 37); but not the suicidal 8...Nxa1 9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qe5, checkmate, perrypawnpusher - mbranimir, blitz, FICS, 2009.

9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Kxc2

I was surprised when I checked the updated New Year's Database after the game and saw that my opponent had played this line before: 10.Nc3 c6 11.e5 Qxh8 12.Kxc2 Qg7 13.d3 h6 14.Qh4+ Ke8 15.Qh5+ Ke7 16.Bf4 Qxg2 17.Bg3 d6 18.exd6+ Kd8 19.Rae1 Bd7 20.Qf7 Bxd6 21.Qxg8+ Kc7 22.Qxa8 Bxg3 23.hxg3 Qxf2+ 24.Re2 Qxg3 25.Qxa7 Qf3 26.Qa5+ Kc8 27.Qa8+ Kc7 28.Rxh6 Qxe2+ 29.Nxe2 Black resigned, DragonTail - ZekeTheWolf, FICS 2007

Still, the stronger reply that both DragonTail and I overlooked was 10.Qxh7+  as in 10...Qg7 11.Qh4+ Nf6 12.Kxc2 d6 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Re1 Kd7 15.d4 Be7 16.d5 Rxh8 17.dxe6+ Kc8 18.Qf4 Kb8 19.e5 dxe5 20.Rxe5 Bd6 21.Nb5 Bxe5 22.Qxe5 Qg6+ 23.Kb3 Rc8 24.Bf4 Ka8 25.Nxc7+ Rxc7 26.Qxc7 Qe8 27.Rc1 Qxe6+ 28.Kc2 Qc6+ 29.Kd3 Qxc7 30.Bxc7 a5 31.Bxa5 Ka7 32.b4 Nd5 33.Kd4 Nxb4 34.Bxb4, Black forfeited on time, stemplarv - hitijnar, blitz, FICS, 2008.

10...Qxh8

White is ahead the exchange and two pawns, a winning advantage if he can develop and press his attack, while keeping his own King safe.

11.Qg5+ Ke8 12.Nc3 c6 13.f4 Be7 14.Qh5+ Kd8 15.Qf3 Nf6 16.d3 d6

17.Be3 Bg4 18.Qf2 Bd7 19.h3 Kc7 20.g4 a6

Black's last move weakens the b6 square. Perhaps he was preparing to move his Rook without losing his a-pawn. After the game Rybka recommended 20...Be6, instead.

21.g5 Nh5 22.Bb6+

Taking a short break from the Kingside advance to force Black's King to block his Rook.

22...Kc8 23.f5

This pawn sacrifice was not necessary – I could have prepared for this advance with 23.Rhg1 – but the open g-file is useful. 

23...Bxg5 24.Rag1 Bf6 25.Qf3 Ng7

26.Rg2 Bd8

To get rid of the annoying Bishop at b6. Rybka's suggestion shows how difficult Black's position is, as White's Rooks infiltrate along the g-file: 26...Qf8 27.Rhg1 Ne8 28.Rg8 Qe7 29.Qe3 a5 30.Bd4 Kc7 31.Bxf6 Qxf6 32.R1g7.

analysis diagram








 27.Bxd8 Kxd8 28.Rhg1 Kc7

This slip frees up the Rook, but drops the Knight.

29.Rxg7 Rf8 30.Qh5 Kb6 Black resigned

Another "Optical Illusion" Variation?

I've already collected too many points from the "Optical Illusion" variation of the Jerome Gambit (see "Optical Illusion (1)" and "Optical Illusion (2)" or the most recent "Disdainful Defender Defense") so I am uneasy about identifying a second position that has been gaining me points for something that my opponents do not see in the position...

perrypawnpusher  - susant
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5 

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Jerome Gambit response. I've slowly raised my score against this unfortunate (for me) line to 57% (still about 30% lower than my general Jerome Gambit score).

7...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6

White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece. Black is clearly better.

10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Re8 12.Bd2

Now after 12...Kg8 it is hard to see any compensation for White, as Black has even been able to castle-by-hand.

12...Nb4

Absolutely fascinating. Black attacks the Queen – and loses a piece.

Seen previously was the similar: 12...Kg8 13.Rae1 Nb4 14.Qc4+:
perrypawnpusher - amirelattar, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 50);
perrypawnpusher - pwr, blitz FICS, 2010 (1-0, 38); and
perrypawnpusher - Angstrem, blitz, FICS, 2010 (but 0-1, 35 )

13.Qc4+

Black resigned

The final illusion: Black is losing a piece, but he already has one to give!

After 13...d5 14.Qxb4 Nxe4 the game would simply be even. There was no need for surrender.

A Blistering Pace

As the current Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament at ChessWorld nears the half-way point (in terms of games completed) the race for first place continues to be red hot.

Top-rated player Daves111 has scored 17 wins in 18 games, with only 6 more for him to complete. 

He is followed by long-time Jerome Gambit tournament player DREWBEAR 63 who has 11 wins in 12 games.

Not surprisingly, Daves111's only loss is to DREWBEAR 63, and DREWBEAR 63's only loss is to DAVES111.

In third place is blackburne with 10 wins in 16 games.

It is interesting to note that not all of the players have been completing their games so quickly (in fact, the thoughtful CheckmateKingTwo has completed none yet). TWODOGS has 2 wins in 2 games, with 22 left to complete.

Certainly Crusader Rabbit, with 5 wins in 7 games, and stampyshortlegs, with 4 wins in 7 games, can keep in contention by winning and winning some more.

Of the 71 finished games, White has won 28, and Black 43 (with 0 draws), giving the Jerome Gambit a 39% score, somewhat lower than usual for a thematic tournament. But – there is plenty of play left!

Stumbling Along

A new move in my not-so-favorite variation of the Jerome Gambit left me disoriented by the fact that I stood better after a half-dozen moves. Declining the gambit piece in the Jerome is usually done for psychological reasons, and this time it almost worked... But I stumbled along.

perrypawnpusher - Duquesne
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Game.

6.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

6...Kf8

Declined. I'd not seen this before.

7.Bb3 d6 8.h3

A pawn ahead and playing against an uncastled King, I decided to keep things simple.

8...Nd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Nd5

This is a decent offer of a pawn, which should be declined with 10...Nxd5.

10...Nxe4 11.Qf3+ Nf6 12.d3

After the game Stockfish suggested 12.Re1 as more effective, since after 12...c6 White's Knight can head toward the fork at g6 with 13.Nf4.

12...Be6

This costs a piece, and with it, any chance of rescuing the game. Better was 12...c6 although Black would remain worse.

13.Nxf6 Qxf6 14.Bxe6

This is what I mean by "stumbling". It makes much more sense for White to exchange Queens first, giving Black the weaker pawns.

14...Qxf3 15.gxf3 Ke7

16.Re1 g5 17.f4 Bb4 18.Re2 gxf4 19.Bxf4 Raf8 20.Bg3 Rhg8

A slip that ends the game.

21.Bxg8+ Black resigned