Still

Continuing my look into The Database (see "The Jerome Gambit: Helping or Hurting?", "Furthermore" and "And Then"), where I had examined how much help or hindrance the Jerome Gambit proper (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+), and the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+).were on the actual (versus expected) outcomes of my games, I decided to see the effect of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+). 

I found 46 of my games.

Again, as expected in situations where I was offering "Jerome Gambit odds," the average rating of my opponents was about 36 points below mine, meaning that my expected score in the games was about 55%.

I scored 91%.

That is enough for me to continue to play the Jerome.

And Then

Following the two previous posts (see "The Jerome Gambit: Helping or Hurting?" and "Furthermore"), where I had consulted The Database to see how much help or hindrance the Jerome Gambit proper (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+), were on the actual (versus expected) outcomes of my games, I decided to see the effect of the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+).

I found 51 games.

As expected in situations where I was offering "Jerome Gambit odds," the average rating of my opponents was about 42 points below mine, meaning that my expected score in the games was about 56%.

I actually scored 78%.

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit seemed to be a help to my game.

Furthermore

After yesterday's post (see "The Jerome Gambit: Helping or Hurting?"), I thought it might be useful to consult The Database further and see how much help or hindrance the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+), the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) and the Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.Bxf7+) were on my expected outcomes.

I discovered 46 Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games that I had played. 

Once again, as with the Jerome Gambit proper, the average rating of my opponents was less than my average rating (not surprising, given that I like to give "Jerome Gambit odds"), enough that I would be expected to score 60% in the games.

I actually scored 73%, enough to be mildly annoyed by 3...Nf6 instead of 3...Bc5, but, again, not enough to give up the Jerome.

The Jerome Gambit: Helping or Hurting?

Looking at The Database today, I noticed that I had played 250 rated games with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

My score was 83%, which I thought was pretty good.

Then I wondered: maybe I scored well because I simply played my refuted opening against weaker players...

So, I looked at my average rating for those games, and the average rating of my opponents, and it was true: my opponents were, generally, weaker.

By about 65 rating points.

That would mean that instead of playing equally-rated opponents and expecting to score 50%, I was playing slightly weaker opponents, and was expected to score about 60%.

Ooops!

With the Jerome Gambit I was still scoring 23% higher than expected.

I think I will keep playing the opening.

Historical Mystery

This week's ChessCafe.com contains International Master Gary Lane's latest "Opening Lanes" column, always a good read for chess players interested in unusual opening choices. In addition, the end of the column presents Lane's readers with a bit of a historical Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) mystery. Check it out!

jeromegambit.blogspot.com is on holiday, and will return.

Which One Wins?

A standard defensive theme in Jerome Gambit games is that of Black exchanging Queens and heading for the endgame, where the second player plans to show that his extra piece is worth more than White's extra pawns. While this might be an optimal strategy in classically-timed games between masters, at lower skill levels, especially in quick games, it can lead to a win for the player who is more comfortable (or more bold) in the resulting positions.


Play over the following game quickly. Which would you rather have, the extra piece or the extra pawns?

Philidor1792" - NN 
2012


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ Kxe7 9.c3 Kf7 10.d4 Be7 11.Bf4 Nf6 12.Nd2 d6 13.e5 dxe5 14.dxe5 Nd5 15.Bg3 Bg5 16.Nf3 Bf4 17.Rd1 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Nb6 19.Rh5 Bg4 20.Rh4 Bxf3 21.gxf3 h6 22.Rhd4 Ke7 23.f4 Rad8 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Rxd8 Kxd8 26.Kd2 Kd7 27.b3 Ke6 28.c4 g6 29.Kd3 Nd7 30.Ke4 Nc5+ 31.Kd4 b6 32.b4 Nd7 33.Ke4 Nb8 34.g4 Nc6 35.f5+ gxf5+ 36.gxf5+ Ke7 37.a3 h5 38.f6+ Ke6 39.f4 h4 40.Kf3 Nd4+ 41.Kg4 Nf5 42.b5 Ne3+ 43.Kxh4 Nxc4 44.Kh5 Kf7 45.Kg5 Nxa3 46.e6+ Kxe6 47.Kg6 Nxb5 48.f5+ Kd5 49.f7 Black resigned