As Michael Goeller pointed out in his comment to the recent post "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service", International Master Gary Lane has again (see here and here) taken a look at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), an opening that he admits he has "a soft spot for", in his "Opening Lanes" column at ChessCafe.com.
As Gary has mentioned me by name, and asked for some games, I will be sending him a few. Be sure to watch for next month's edition of "Opening Lanes"!
Of course, readers who have interesting Jerome Gambit games are encouraged as well to send them to garylane@chesscafe.com
The old caution still holds today: if you strike the King, you must kill him. If the King survives your blow, he is likely to come back with all his force and deliver a brutal revenge.
The following position is from blackburne - klonka59, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, ChessWorld, 2011. To be fair, Black was doing quite well until recently, but, as you can see, he has allowed White back into the game – and a very messy one, at that.
White has two Rooks to Black's Queen, and three extra pawns to match Black's Knight.
33.Rxd1 Qxd1 34.Rg6+ Kd7 35.Rxh6 Qxc2+
Now White has a Rook and a Bishop and a couple of pawns to face the Queen. Things might still be about even, but White's pawns allow him to keep the pressure on.
36.Kf3 a6 37.f5 Qxa2 38.e5 Qd5+ 39.Kf4 Qxd3
Black's Queen has been doing her best to deal with the White pawns, but two of them are beginning to look scary.
40.Rh7+ Kc6 41.Bd4 Qf1+ 42.Kg5 Qg2+ 43.Kf6 Qg8 44.Rg7 Qd8+ 45.Kg6 a5
Black has his own passed pawn to advance.
46.e6 Qe8+ 47.Kg5 Qd8+ 48.e7 Qe8 49.f6 Kd5 50.Kf5 a4
51.Rh7 Qd7+ 52.Kg6 Qe8+ 53.Kg7 Ke6 54.Rh8 Qf7+ 55.Kh6 Kd7
Black has done what he can to restrain the "Jerome pawns" but it is not enough.
56.Rd8+ Ke6 57.e8Q+ Qxe8 58.Rxe8+ Kf7 59.Re7+ Kf8 60.Kg6 a3 61.Rxc7 a2 62.Rc8 checkmate
Although he finished in the top half of the standings, with a plus score, long time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") – still, to the best of my knowledge, the top-rated modern player to venture the Jerome Gambit in serious over-the-board games, risking his rating (and the ribbing of his mates) – did not seem, in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, to be at the top of his game.
Perhaps he was playing this one for fun, which would explain his sometimes "casual" approach to an opening which, for all of its off-beat style, still has a certain amount of "theory" to acknowledge.
The title of this post comes from signs placed at some retail establishements, suggesting that people who have taken a casual approach to attire need not enter.
In the following game, however, blackburne got seriously served.
blackburne - shm19cs
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.f4
A theoretical novelty (TN), but there is no need to add insult to injury and name it after the player of the White pieces, especially as there is already a Banks Variation in the Jerome.
6...Nxe5
Black immediately puts his finger on the problem with White's move.
7.fxe5 Qh4+
The game resembles a reversed Damiano Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+), although in this case it is the defending side that had sacrificed a piece.
8.g3 Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Qxh1+ 10.Qf1+ Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d6
12.exd6 cxd6 13.c3 Bh3+ 14.Ke2 Nf6 15.d4 Re8+ 16.Kd3 Bb6 17.Bg5 Bf5+ 18.Kd2 Ne4+
The final indignity. White resigned.
I was looking through a number of the games in the nearly-finished ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament when I was surprised by the following position from mckenna215 - blackburne
Never mind White's extra Queen – what was his King doing at h8?
I rolled back the game a number of moves, and looked at the position again, with Black to move.
It is clear, now, what happened in the game: Black's Queen chased the White King to safety at h8. But, is that all we can say? Let's roll the game forward...
25...Qa1+ 26.Kf2 Qb2+ 27.Kg3
White's King, feeling claustrophobic, heads for the wide open spaces. He could well have stayed closer to home with 27.Kf1 Qc1+ 28.Ke2 Qb2+ 29.Kd3 Qb1+ 30.Kd2 Qb2+ 31.Qc2 when his Queen's arrival would save the day.
27...Qxc3+ 28.Kf4
Now here Black played 28...Qxd4+, and the game eventually ended on a slip or a spite check with 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Kg7 Qg5+ 32.Kh8 Qf6+ 33.exf6 Black resigned.
Had he found 28...Qd2+, the second player would have been able to make use of his light-squared Bishop and his "dark-squared" Queen to keep the enemy monarch from going further afield. One possible line might be 29.Kf3 Qd1+ 30.Ke3 Qe1+ 31.Kd3 Ba6+ when 32.Kc2 would allow Black to continue checking with 32...Qe2+, and 32.Nc4 would allow Black to win the Knight, e.g. 32...Qb1+, when his piece for White's extra pawn might well hold the draw.
To be fair to White, had he played 28.Kh4 instead, his King would have escaped: 28...Qxd4+ 29.Kg5 Qg4+ 30.Kf6 Qf4+ 31.Nf5.
Part of the fun of preparing games for this blog is looking into them and uncovering the logic (or illogic) behind a plan or a series of moves by one player or the other. This can bring to light all kinds of "errors of thinking". It can also leave me scratching my head in wonder, murmuring "I don't get it."
The following game features blackburne, the top over-the-board (not just online) Jerome Gambit player, and Haroldlee123, who scored two serious upsets in the Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.
blackburne - Haroldlee123
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
7.Qxe5 Bxf2+
I found 68 games in The Database with this move. White scored 67%.
8.Kxf2 Nf6
Most often Black has played 8...Qf6+, when "At the cost of exchanging a won game for one in which he is a pawn down, Black has reached a Queenless middlegame that is not what every Jerome Gambiteer wishes for." (See "Short and Unbecoming")
9.Qf4 d6 10.Rf1 Kg7 11.d4 h6 12.Kg1
Both sides have castled-by-hand.Black's next move was played too quickly and gets him in immediate danger.
12...Rf8 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qg5 Kg7 15.Qh6+ Kf7 16.Qg5
The games in this tournament were played with a time limit of 5 days per move, but there was nothing to prevent opponents from playing faster if they ran into each other online. That's what seems to be going on here. White is repeating the position for what reason? I don't get it. (Perhaps: psychology.) Certainly 16.Bg5 would have kept the heat on.
16...c6
Black is avoiding repeating the position (by 16...Kf7) for what reason? I don't get it. He is down two pawns and should be thrilled with a draw. Instead, the text tosses a piece.
17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Ke6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+
The endgame, a piece and a pawn up, will be pleasant. White could have played sharper with 20.Re1+ Kg7 21.Qh4, but why bother? Remember, each player had 28 games to contend with.
After Black's response there are a number of checkmating lines available, and White chooses one.
20...Ke7 21.Rxg6+ Black resigned
 |
| Haroldlee123 - klonka |
Here we have my favorite checkmate from the lingering Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament.
White has just played 69.e7 checkmate.
He might just as well have played 69.Bh6#.
Promoting three pawns to Queens and sacrificing one would have been a bit too much: 69.d7 Ke7 70.f8/Q+ Kxe6 71.d8/Q Ke5 72.Qf5#
While I admit (and apologize) that the 2012 version of The Database [a free PGN collection of over 26,000 Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games; as well as games following the so-far-unnamed order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+] is still not complete, I think that it will be worth the wait.
Here is a game that I found in TD2012.
Wall,B - Merdiyev,F
Chess.com, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4
We have been looking at d2-d4 in the opening lately, and that's one reason why I chose this game. Has Bill Wall also played the alternative, 7.Qh5+ ? A quick look in The Database shows that he has.
7.Qh5+ Ng6 (7...Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Rd1 Ke7 11.Rxd4 d6 12.Qf4 Nf6 13.Nc3 Qf8 14.b3 Be6 15.Nb5 Kd7 16.Qxe5 Ng4 17.Qg3 Qf6 18.Bb2 Rhf8 19.Rxd6+ cxd6 20.Bxf6 Rxf6 21.Qxd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest473534, PlayChess.com, 2011) 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qc4 Ne5 11.Qb3 Qe7 12.d4 Nc6 13.d5 Nd4 14.Qa4+ Bd7 15.Qxd4 Qe5 16.Qxe5+ dxe5 17.f4 exf4 18.Bxf4 c6 19.c4 Nf6 20.e5 Nh5 21.e6 Nxf4 22.exd7+ Kxd7 23.Rxf4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Castro,S, Chess.com, 2010
7...Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Ng6
Or 8...Qe7 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd5+ Qe6 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qf3 d6 13.f5 gxf5 14.exf5 Qf6 15.Nc3 Ne5 16.Qh5+ Kg7 17.Nd5 Qf7 18.Qxf7+ Kxf7 19.Nxc7 Rb8 20.Nb5 Ne7 21.Nxd6+ Kf6 22.Bf4 Bxf5 23.Rae1 N5g6 24.Nxf5 Nxf4 25.Nxe7 Kg5 26.Re5+ Kf6 27.Re4 Rhe8 28.Rfxf4+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Ratebabb, Chess.com, 2010;
8...Qf6 9.Be3 Ne7 10.Nc3 Rf8 11.Nb5 c6 12.Nc7 Rb8 13.f4 Nf3+ 14.Rxf3 Qxd4 15.Bxd4 Kg8 16.Bxa7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Foman, Chess.com, 2010.
9.Qc4+ Kf8
10.Nc3 c6 11.Be3 b5
This move is a bit frivolous, but not fatal.
12.Qb4+ N8e7 13.f4 a5
14.Qd6 Kf7 15.f5 Nf8 16.f6 Ne6
Perhaps Black was thinking that he could return his extra piece with 17.Qxe7+ Qxe7 18.fxe7+ Kxe7 and then try to hold on with material being even.
17.fxe7+ Black resigned
The discovered check, another theme that we have been exploring lately, allows White to win Black's Queen.
