It is time to take a break from "Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies" to take a look at a recent blitz game from FICS. Black seems to be settling into his chair, becoming comfortable with his position (after all, it's only the Jerome Gambit), when things "suddenly" go wrong.
perrypawnpusher - Odeon
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 h6 5.0-0 Bc5
6.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+ Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Re8
10.f4 Nc6
I have had a habit of playing 11.Qd3 (most recently perrypawnpusher - kholthaus, blitz, FICS, 2011) in this and in similar positions, naively hoping for ...Nb4, which would drop the Knight to Qc4+.
My choice in this game was based on the idea that Black would be less likely to make that slip than to choose the move that he actually does make.
11.Qc4+ Kf8
This move is not an error (although 11...d5 is a bit stronger) but it does allow White to get a tighter grip on the center.
12.e5 Ng4
This looks like a "That's okay, I'll take care of it later" kind of play, in that Black sees no problem with moving his piece to a more aggressive position. Retreating to g8 or h7 was the prudent choice.
13.h3 Ngxe5
Played relatively quickly, as if "Hey, no problem, I'll return the piece for two pawns and active play." White would have an edge after 13...d6 14.hxg4 Bxg4
14.fxe5+
The check makes a big difference.
14...Ke7 15.Qf7 checkmate
Following the theme of "short Jerome Gambit games" that has run through the recent "Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies" series of postings, I recently found three chess games from a 2010 tournament at the online site Little Golem (where you can play many different board games). I'm not sure what to make of the games, however...
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 0-1
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 0-1
somar96 - chtijojo
littlegolem, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 0-
1
Continuing my search for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works", I discovered that 7-move wins by Black were not so much improvements in defense (after all, after accepting two sacrificed pieces Black needs merely to "hold on") as they were instances of White throwing away a Knight (see "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies Part 2") , a Queen, or a King. Some examples of the last case are given as a warning for White to "pay attention".
richsilver - Leprichaunt
standard, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Qxg5 6.g3 Qf6 7.Nc3 Qxf2#
BillieBob - SuperCanuck
blitz, FICS, 2000
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 Qf8 6.Ng5+ Kg6 7.h4 Qxf2#
ytrom - yelloman
lightning, FICS, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Kf8 6.d3 Qf6 7.Nc3 Qxf2#
ChonnyQ - eggert
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3 h6 6.Nh4 Qxh4 7.Nd2 Qxf2#
stretto - DjinnKahn
blitz, FICS, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.dxe5 Qxf2# (The Database has 5 game examples.)
As I continued looking for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works", I discovered that some of the 7-move games in The Database began to "predict" some of the regular main lines.
For example, in the following three games White's recovery of one of the pieces that he had sacrificed is enough for Black to surrender, even though the second player actually remained with the advantage.
mediax - TJay2465
Jerome Gambit Thematic
ChessWorld.net, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 1-0
Petasluk - mihck
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 1-0
perrypawnpusher - Aerandir
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 1-0
Some of the other short games began to highlight the attacking ideas open to White in the Jerome Gambit, if the defense faltered.
stivb_99 - spymaster
gameknot.com, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 (in The Database, White won 6 out of 8 games against this move) 6.Qh5 d6 7.Qf7#
Esistes - ClosetDoor
blitz, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 (The Database, White won 22, lost 8, and drew 1 against this move) 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qf7#
escapade - Sakebomb
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 7.Qh5+ (in 89 games in The Database that reached this position, White won 59%) 1-0
perrypawnpusher - gelgel
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke7 7.Qxe5+ 1-0
Knight32 - Haroldlee123
Jerome Gambit Thematic,
ChessWorld, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qb3+ (White won 2 of 5 games with this position in The Database) 1-0
Continuing my search for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works" (see Part 1 and Part 2) I examined The Database for games of a half-dozen moves in length.
For the most part, as might be expected, the footnote to most of White's 6-move wins was "White won on time". Opponents were either dazzled, shocked, bored, distracted or offended... and went on to other things. An exception was the following game
Perfesser - Talking LCD Chess (1 ply)
casual game at home, 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6 1-0
More about this game and the match between these two opponents can be found at "Jerome Gambit and The Perfesser" Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
After six moves in the game, White can recover his sacrificed pieces, playing 7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ and then either 9.Qxc5+ or 9.Qd5+ and 10.Qxc5, depending on Black's 8th move.
This looks very good for the first player, although I have to point out that White lost 8 of 32 games (after 6...Kf6) in The Database, including the very embarassing perrypawnpusher - chingching, blitz, FICS, 2011.
Although White White's main enemy in 6-move games remained the clock, about one third of those "0-1"s were the result of 5.Ng5+ (see "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies, Part 2").
There was also the first appearance of a new kind of obstacle, one that I had bemoaned a couple of years ago in "A Sneaky Way to Defeat the Jerome Gambit"
Chainbk - zdveslo
blitz, FICS, 2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Black wins by ajudication
Building on yesterday's initial exploration into The Database, "[l]ooking for the 'essence' of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it 'works', " I checked and found 23 games where White had won in 5 moves.
How do you win with White in the Jerome Gambit in 5 moves??
The following game held the answer
mediax - jemasc
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament
ChessWorld, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ White claimed a win on time
Ah, yes, the "The-Clock-Is-My-Friend" motif. (Or the "My-Opponent-Lost-Interest-In-The-Game" dynamic; or the "My-Opponent-Is-Playing-Too-Many-Games-At-Once-And-Decided-To-Give-This-One-Up" strategy.)
Admittedly, that was not very enlightening.
More interesting was the question: How does White lose in 5 moves, as he did 34 times in The Database?
Again, time was a factor in many of the games, but half of White's 5-move losses went like this
Kaarvek - LuigiBot
standard. FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+
with White resigning before or after 5...Qxg5.
This was the first non-trivial finding of my research, but it came with a serious caveat.
It turned out that when I did a search in The Database for games that had the position after White's 5th move, I found 379 of them, averaging 24 moves in length, with the longest (a win for Black) lasting 91 moves.
On top of that, White won 81 of the games, and 9 were drawn, for a score of 23% for the first player.
My conclusion (more proof that the Jerome Gambit can lead to strange chess): [theoretical] Do not play 5.Ng5+ because it loses a piece, and [practical] it cuts White's scoring percentage in half.
Looking for the "essence" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), or at least an insight into how it "works" – still pondering IM Gary Lane's challenge to identify some good, representative modern examples – I decided to turn to The Database.
Searching by position after the first 4 moves, I found about 8,780 games (admittedly missing those games that transpose later), which I then sorted by length (number of moves).
I began by examining the shorter games.
Not only did I find the elegant 1998 game between Yvonne Brescak and Stephanie Hefti, but I also found the quintessential Jerome (and four more with identical moves, but different players)
Carlos Azcarate - jemasc
Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld, 2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 1-0
What could be simpler?
Unfortunately, I also found three games that went like this
flplayboy - parrot
standard, FICS, 2007
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 0-1
Worse, there were 28 games that went like this
one-eye bishop - blackburne
ChessWorld, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 0-1
Obviously I was going to have to dig deeper!
