My thanks to Edward Winter, of Chess Notes, for sending me a copy of the Jerome Gambit analysis from Henri Delaire's Les échecs modernes; histoire, théorie complète, 1914
"Jerome Gambit"
Imagined in 1871 by an American player, A.-W. Jerome, of Paxton, this gambit can surprise by the brusqueness of its attack; but an attentive defense is rightly without great difficulties. Also it is seldom tried.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The essential blow
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5
5...Kf8! this second defense is also good and less dangerous 6.Nxc6 dxc6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qf3 (8.d4 Bg4 9.Qe1 Qxd4 etc) 8...Qd4 9.d3 Bg4 10.Qg3 Bd6 11.Bf4 g5 12.Bxd6+ cxd6 13.h3 Be6 14.Qxg5 Rg8 better
6.Qh5+
6.d4 is less agressive 6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 (7...Qf6 8.Qd1 d6 9.0-0 g6 10.f4 Nc6 better) 8.0-0 Nf6 9.f4 Nc6 (9...c5 10.Qc3 Neg4 11.Nd2 b5 12.h3 h5! etc) 10.Qd3 Re8 11.Nc3 Be6 better]
6...Ke6
6...Kf8! 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ Ke8 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qg3 Qf7 better; 6...Ng6? undergoing an awkward attack 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qc3 Nf6 10.d3 c6 11.0-0 Kd7 12.f4 Qb6+ 13.Kh1 Kc7 14.Qe1 Re8 even;
6...g6? a vain attempt to block the white Queen 7.Qxe5 d6! 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd8 Bb6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qd3 better
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4
8.f4 does not lead to a better offensive result 8...Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3 Kc6 12.Nc3 d6 better
8...Bxd4 9.Na3 c6
9...Ne7? incorrect defense 10.Qh3 Qf8 11.Nb5+ Kc5 12.Nxd4 Kxd4 13.Bg5 better;
9...Qf6? worse 10.Nb5+ Kc5 11.Nxd4 Qxf5 12.Nxf5 g6 13.Be3+ Kc6 14.Nd4+ Kd6 15.0-0-0 Ke7 16.Nb5 and wins
10.c3 Qf6 11.cxd4 Qxf5 12.exf5 Nf7 13.Bf4+ Ke7
Black, free from danger, has the advantage of a piece for a pawn.
One theory of chess play is that each person has a set of imaginary "blunder bombs" inside of himself or herself that explode rarely if the player is very strong, but explode frequently, if the player is not so strong. Under this model, a stronger player can expect to win if he or she plays simple, safe moves, waiting for the weaker player's "blunder bomb" to go off first. Of course, if the stronger player introduces an unusual and tricky opening such as the Jerome Gambit, the opponent's bomb might go off even sooner...
DeDrijver (1401) - billwall (2488)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.h4
Preparing for a Knight's excursion to g5. See "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies (Part 2)".
5...Bb6 6.c3 d5 7.Ng5+
7...Ke7 8.Qf3 Nf6 9.exd5 Bg4
10.Qd3 e4 11.Nxe4 Ne5 12.Nxf6
Boom.
12...Nxd3+ White resigned
White has not only lost his Queen, he also faces checkmate in 8.
Around the corner, as it were, to the "1st Jerome Gambit Race" at Chess.com, mentioned in yesterday's post, is Chess.com's Play the Jerome Gambit Quad,
which includes long-time Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Bill Wall.
I'd like to share some of the rock 'em sock 'em games, starting with the first one finished.
bfcace (1619) - DeDrijver (1388)
Play The Jerome Gambit Quad
Chess.com, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Nc3
There are only 8 examples of this gambling move (Will Black withdraw his Knight? Will he capture the pawn on f4?) in The Database, with the oldest being from a game between Hiarcs8 and Fritz7 in 2002 (0-1, 59), and the most recent from a game between Yigor and mrdenetop (1-0, 10) from the Kentucky Opening /Jerome Gambit tournament played at Chess.com last year (see "My Old Kentucky... Opening" and "Sunday Tournament Update").
8...g6 9.Qh3+ Kf7 10.Nd5 Qc6
Allowing White to capture at e5, which opens the floodgates.
11.fxe5 d6 12.Rf1+ Kg7 13.e6 Bxe6
Black is in trouble, but this move leads to mate.
14.Qc3+ Kh6 15.d4+ Kg7 16.dxc5+ Nf6 17.Qxf6+ Kg8 18.Ne7 checkmate
I noticed that Chess.com recently held its 1st Jerome Gambit Race.
The players, how they finished, and their scores
#1 calcot (1448) 4-2-0
#2 Merlin-Pendragon (1393) 3-3-0
#3 Jordi-I (1430) 3-3-0
#4 couchpotatoe (1345) 2-4-0
Sadly, there was only one win by White (against what could have become a Blackburne or Whistler Defense).
Jordi-I (1497) - couchpotatoe (1539)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Rf1 Ng4+ 10.Kg1+ Kg8 11.Qd5+ Kg7 12.Rf7+ Kh6 13.d3+ g5 14.h4 Rg8 15.Qf5 d6 16.Qxh7#
In addition, in the following games White had commanding advantages until move 17 (first game) and move 24 (second game)
Jordi-I (1489) - calcot (1490)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 c6 11.d3 Qf6 12.Qg3+ Qe5 13.Bf4 Bd4 14.Bxe5+ Bxe5 15.Qe3 Bxb2 16.d4 Bxa1 17.e5+ Kc7 18.Qg3 g6 19.0-0 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 Ne7 21.Qf4 Bc5 22.e6+ d6 23.Qf7 d5 24.Qg7 Bxe6 25.Nc3 b5 26.Re1 Raf8 27.g3 Kd7 28.Ne2 Rhg8 29.Qxh7 Rf7 30.Qh6 d4 31.Rd1 Bd5+ 32.Kg1 d3+ 33.Nd4 Bxd4+ 34.Qe3 Bxe3#
couchpotatoe (1352) - Merlin-Pendragon (1386)
1st Jerome Gambit Race
Chess.com, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 g5 6.d3 h6 7.h3 Be7 8.d4 Bf6 9.d5 Nce7 10.Nc3 d6 11.Be3 Ng6 12.a4 h5 13.Qd2 h4 14.Nxg5+ Ke7 15.a5 Rh5 16.Nf3 Kf7 17.Qe2 Rh7 18.b4 Rg7 19.Qd2 Bxh3 20.gxh3 Nf4+ 21.Kh2 Qd7 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Qxf4 Rf8 24.Ng5+ Rxg5 25.Rae1 Ne7 26.Re3 Ng6 27.Qf3 Ke8 28.Qe2 Be5+ 29.Kh1 Nf4 30.Qb5 Bxc3 0-1
All of the games from the 1st Jerome Gambit Race have been added to The Database.
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.)
