Counter-counter-counter-attack!?

A Jerome Gambit player starts off a game with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 because he hopes to answer 3...Bc5 with 4.Bxf7+. What if Black counter-attacks with 3...Nd4, the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, instead? Well, White can counter-counter attack with 4.Bxf7+, anyhow. And if Black plans his own counter-counter-counter attack??


Wall,B - Creel,A
Chess.com, 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 hxg6 8.Qxg6+

8...Ke7 9.Qg5+ Ke8

For the moment Black signals that he would be okay splitting the point. White, however, is not.

10.Qe5+ Ne6 11.Qxh8 Qg5

Now Black is thinking: counter-counter-counter attack!

12.0-0 Nf4 13.g3 Ne2+ 14.Kg2 Nf4+

Black's attacking plan has a hole in it.

15.Kh1 Qg4 16.f3

If, instead, White grabbed the Knight with 16.gxf4, then Black would have a draw after all with 16...Qf3+ 17.Kg1 Qg4+ etc, repeating the position.

Unfortunately, Black's best now is 16...Qh3, when 17.Qxh3 Nxh3 would leave White with a Rook and four pawns for two pieces. The approaching endgame makes those pawns extra valuable.

Black resigned

Piece Development vs Pawns

The following Jerome Gambit miniature, featuring long-time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Louis Morin (also known as "mrjoker") playing White, showcases Black developing all of his pieces, including his extra one, while his opponent gathers in pawns. The game ends abruptly in the face of a rather intimidating gathering of "Jerome pawns".

guest585 - guest983
blitz, 2 12, Internet Chess Club, 2001

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

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

7.Qxc5 Qe7 8.Qc4+ d5 9.Qxd5+ Be6 10.Qxb7 Re8

11.d3 h6 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.Be3 Rhf8 14.0-0 c5

15.Qxe7+ Nxe7 16.Bxc5 Kg8 17.Bxa7 Ng6 18.f4

Black has completed his development and castled-by-hand. His extra Knight, however, is outweighed by White's 6 extra pawns.

Black resigned

There Be Monsters...

If the Jerome Gambit were simply a way for White to lose quickly – and at higher levels of play, it certainly is – then defenders would face it with calm assurance and not find its attacks to be frightening at all. On the other hand (or board), sometimes the Jerome can have a "bark" that is far worse than its "bite." For example...

Knight32 - Haroldlee123
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011


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

This is not the first exposure to the the Jerome Gambit for either player. Likely, they have heard tales...

4...Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qb3+ Black resigned

Wow! Black plays 7...Kf8 and then White plays 8.Qf7 checkmate. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

(Unless Black sees 7...d5, instead.)

My Horse is Faster Than Your Horse

If the finish of the following game can be considered somewhat of a horse race, then it proves to be a mismatch, and a victory for White (and the Jerome Gambit).


mckenna215 - DREWBEAR 63
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

This move, as opposed to 6.Qh5+, saw a bit of a revival in this tournament.

6...Bd6

Not a cautious move. mckenna215 scored two points against it in the Thematic Tournament.

7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Qd5+ Kf8

8...Ke8 9.Qxe5+ Qe7 10.Bf4 Qxe5 11.Bxe5 d6 12.Bxg7 Black resigned, mckenna215 - Magni, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011.

9.Qxe5 d6 10.Qf4+ Qf6

Perhaps Black is already thinking about finding safety in the endgame: so, off with the Queens!

11.Nc3 Qxf4 12.Bxf4 Nf6 13.0-0-0 Be6 14.Nb5

White's Knight abandons the e-pawn to go in search of larger prey. Black's Knight grabs the pawn, but cannot keep up.

14...Nxe4 15.Nxc7 Nxf2 16.Rhf1

The line-up of pieces on the f-file spell disaster.

16...Nxd1 17.Bxd6+ Black resigned

The double, discovered check assures that White will be a piece (and a pawn) ahead: 17...Kg8 18.Nxa8 h5 19.Kxd1 Kh7 20.Rf8 Rxf8 21.Bxf8

Here... No, There... No, Here... No, There...

The winner of the recent ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, AsceticKingK9, won 27 of his 28 games, primarily using the strategy: play ordinary chess until your opponent makes a mistake, apply the pressure, and when he falters, crush him.

The following game is a good example: Black's King keeps finding the wrong square to go to, and that proves lethal.

AsceticKingK9 - Luke Warm
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament,
ChessWorld, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3

For a look at earlier coverage of this move, see "Gloom and Doom" and "On the Sidelines."

7...Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 Ng6 9.0-0 d6 10.f4 Ke8 11.f5 N6e7 12.Bg5 h6

With his extra King move, Black leveled the game (before that, he was winning) and with this impatient move (curiously, 12...Kf8 might have kept things even) he lets White's Queen in.

13.Qh5+ Kf8

Uncomfortable as it looks, the logical 13...Kd7 14.e5 Qe8 was the way to hang on.

14.f6 gxf6 15.Bxf6 Rh7 16.Bxe7+ Black resigned

The double, discovered check is enough for Black to strike his colors.

MacGyver

From Wikipedia: "MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series... [S]ecret agent Angus MacGyver... is a resourceful agent with an encyclopedic knowledge of science, able to solve complex problems with everyday materials he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife."

Playing over the following game, I got to thinking about MacGyver.

Bill Wall's opponent had navigated the game into a tricky, but draw-able, Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, where it seemed possible that Black might actually extract a half-point from White's Jerome Gambit (a rare event, to be sure).

What did Bill have to work with at the end?

Ah, but it is the "+" on White's last move that gives the win.

Wall,B - CKFM
FICS, 2012

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

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

7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qg5+

Something new! There are no other examples in The Database.

Black has a chance to slip, but the game transposes to more "normal" lines.

8... Ke8 9.Qxc5 Qe7 10.Qe3 Nf6 11.Nc3 Kf7

Or 10...d6 11.0-0 Ng4 (11...Be6 12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg3 Qh4 14.Qxh4 Nxh4 15.g3 Nf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Re1+ Kd7 18.d3 Rae8 19.Bd2 c6 20.h3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Hirami,Z, Chess.com, 2011) 12.Qg3 Qe5 13.Nd5 Qxg3 14.fxg3 Kd7 15.Rf7+ Black resigned, Wall,B -CKSP, FICS, 2010.

12.0-0 Re8 13.d3 d5

Giving a pawn back to be able to exchange Queens.

14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qxe3 16.fxe3+ Kg8

White has three pawns for his sacrificed piece. Perhaps a super-GM like Magnus Carlsen would say that the game here is won for Black, and all that is left is a matter of (his) technique.

In the world of club players, however, it is not naive to see the game as balanced. The winner will be the one who handles his pawns/Knight better.

17.e4 Bg4 18.Be3 a6 19.Rf2 Rad8 20.h3 Bd7 21.Raf1 c6 22.Bb6 Rc8 23.d6

One "Jerome pawn" gets through. The game is still about even, but that's one more thing for Black to worry about, and one more thing for White to rely on.

23...Be6 24.d4 Nf8 25.g4 Bc4 26.Rxf8+

Possibly this Rook sacrifice was a surprise for Black.

26...Rxf8 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.d7 Bxa2

Of course, White will get his Rook back when he promotes the d-pawn, so Black grabs some "compensation."

29.e5 Kf7 30.d8Q Rxd8 31.Bxd8 Ke6

The excellent placement of Black's King makes the Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame even, even though White has an extra pawn.

32.Kf2 Bb1 33.c3 Ba2 34.Kf3 Kd5 35.Kf4 Ke6 36.Kg5 Kf7 37.h4 Bb1

White looks to see what he can create on the Kingside. If he is able to advance his center two pawns, that will allow Black some counterplay with his remaining 2:1 pawn majority on the Queenside. Eventually White will have to exchange one of his center pawns for a Black wing pawn, and the other White center pawn will be safely blockaded.

38.h5 h6+ 39.Kh4 g6 40.hxg6+ Kxg6 41.e6 Ba2 42.e7 Bf7 43.c4

Things are looking a bit scary for Black right now. Suppose he loses a tempo with 43...Be8. White quickly advances in the center with 44.d5 cxd5 45.cxd5 and has those scary two passers.

But, what would happen next? After 45...Kf7 White can liquidate the Kingside with 46.g5 hxg5+ 47.Kxg5 but now Black starts rolling on the Queenside with 47...a5. Since swapping his Pe7 for the ambitious, but lowly, Pa5 is seriously draw-ish, White's King must persevere with 48.Kf5.

After 48...a4 49.Ke5 b5 50.d6 (50.Kd6 will face the same response) b4 51.Bb6 a3 52.b3 Bc6 53.Bc5 a2 54.Bd4 Bf3 

analysis diagram






Black's and White's advanced passers hold each other hostage and the point can be split, especially after 55.Bb2 Bd1 56.Kc5 Bxb3+.

That kind of pressure, though, searching for that kind of solution, can cause the defender to slip.

43...Kf6 44.e8Q+ Black resigned

The discovered check allows the pawn to Queen safely, and now White can force checkmate.

(Along with his Swiss army knife and duct tape, you had to figure that MacGyver had a discovered check on him, somewhere.)

Amounting to Very Little...

I have treated the entry of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxc7+) into the pages of the opening "encyclopedias" of its day (see "Jerome Gambit: Early Opening Tomes" Part 1 and Part 2) as a good thing. Certainly, the exposure of the gambit to a greater number of chess players was a positive turn.

Was the opening, however, refined as it passed from one analytical session to the other? Were the best defenses identified and polished? Were White's chances, as thin as they are, clearly identified?

In a word, "no."

Newer books largely copied what was in the older books and passed it along. Critical analysis was almost nonexistent.

True, some authors vied with each other for different ways to say "this opening is no good, but Black must stay awake and do his best or he could embarass himself", but that was about as forward as chess knowledge marched, at least concerning the Jerome Gambit...

I will return to these opening works, but for now, Dear Readers, a break from all this seriousness.