When I get a new bunch of games, I like to see what has been happening in some of the most important lines. The following game explores Whistler's Defense, a very dangerous line for White to deal with. Once again, we see that although a refutation may exist in the books, it may not easily make it to the board. The first player loses only after missing his chance to escape.
franciskov - danielhidrobo
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7
A wicked "improvement" on the 7...d6 of Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 - first played almost a decade earlier, but largely forgotten.
8.Qxh8
White should not be able to take the Rook and live.
8...Qxe4+
An innocuous sideline is 8...Qf6 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.0-0 Black resigned, Wall,B - Sepoli, Chess.com 2010.
9.Kd1
9.Kf1 is better, as in Jerome,A - Norton,D, Correspondence 1876 (½-½, 20)
9...d5
Black does not realize what an opportunity he has in 9...Qxg2. See blackburne-perrypawnpusher/JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008 (0-1, 17), but don't overlook Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, FICS, 2011 (½-½,14).
9...Qg4+ 10.f3 Qxg2 is a similar kick in the head, Jerome,A - Whistler,G, Correspondence 1876 (0-1, 15).
10.Re1
Taking a shot at the enemy Queen, but overlooking his light-square weakenesses. Necessary was 10.Qxh7+ Kf6 11.f3, safe-guarding both his Queen and King, when he can cobble together a defense, according to Rybka: 11...Qg4 12.Rg1 Qd7 13.Qh8+ Qg7 14.Qxg7+ Kxg7 15.Re1. White is up the exchange and two pawns.
Now Black finishes things off.
10...Bg4+ 11.f3 Bxf3+ 12.gxf3 Qxf3+
13.Re2 Re8 14.Qxh7+ Kf8 15.Nc3 Qf1+ 16.Re1 Qxe1 checkmate
If you play the Jerome Gambit, some day you will be faced with one of its many refutations. The only thing you can do is gather up your resources, look at the defense or counter-attack, and start "Staring It Down"...
Yopsoe turns in a great game of fighting chess.
Yopsoe (2047) - lucylucy (1736)
standard, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4
Black's sharpest response, which I have referred to as "a pie-in-the-face variation".
7.0-0 Ng4
Black is going for the kill, but this is probably not his strongest move.
8.h3 Bb6
Instead, 8...Bd6 was seen in Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27), the earliest example of 6...Qh4 in The Database.
9.hxg4
Not 9.Qf3+ as in Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (0-1, 38)
9...d6 10.f3 h5
Sheer aggression.
Development with 10...Be6 was seen in Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 33).
11.g5 Ne7 12.Be3 Rf8 13.Nc3 Kg8
With the h-file closed to Black's Rook, he decides to castle-by-hand. Houdini gives Black a slight edge, but it must be annoying to the second player to have his counter-attack blunted.
14.Ne2 c5 15.c3 cxd4 16.cxd4 Bd8 17.Qc1
Black would like to target the White pawn on g5, while White wants to move the action to another part of the board.
17...Ng6 18.Qc4+ Rf7 19.Rac1 a5 20.Qd5 Nf8 21.Rf2 Be6 22.Qxd6 Be7
The game remains sharp, and Houdini gives White a slight edge, despite Black's active pieces.
23.Qb6 Bd8 24.Qb5 Bc8
A puzzling defensive idea: to kick out White's Queen, Black un-develops.
25.g3 Qh3 26.g6 Nxg6 27.Rh2 Qe6 28.Qxh5
Now White has the initiative, and his advantage grows, even as Black defends by exchanging pieces.
28...Rc7 29.Rxc7 Bxc7 30.Nf4 Nxf4 31.gxf4 Bd6 32.d5 Qe7
The "Jerome pawns" are going to show their worth.
33.e5 Bc5 34.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 35.Kg2 Bd7 36.Qh8+ Kf7 37.e6+ Bxe6 38.dxe6+ Kxe6 39.Qxg7
Taking Black's Rook at move 37 or 39 would have allowed a perpetual starting with ...Qc2+.
39...Qe7 40.Rh6+ Kd7 41.Qd4+ Kc8 42.Rh8+ Black forfeited on time
Finally, The Database has been sent out to those who have requested it. Ask, and you shall receive.
The Database is a free PGN database of nearly 29,000 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+.
A good number of the games in The Database are either Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) or Semi-Italian Four Knight Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nc3 / 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxf7+)
Included are 1575 games in the "Impatient Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit Line" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Bxf7+ for those who like to get saccing early.
Strong players make it all look simple, but, at least for the rest of us, chess is anything but simple.
Wall,B - Guest344942
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6
8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Qe7 12.Nc3 h6 13.Bf4
Chess is not always a simple game. Black, with a piece for a pawn, must be better, but he still has to complete his development and get his King to safety, while White has already connected his Rooks.
Black's plan for castling-by-hand will give his opponent a target.
13...g5 14.Be3 Kg7 15.f4 Ng4
Black figures that he has time to trade off White's Bishop. For some reason he abandons that notion a couple of moves later, to his detriment.
16.Nd5 Qd8 17.Bd4+ Kh7
An unnecessary flinch. Necessary was 17...Nxd4 18.Qxd4+ Kh7 19.fxg5 (threatening 20.Rf7+) when White has nearly equalized, e.g. 19...Ne5 20.gxh6 Qg5 21.h4 (bumping the Queen off the g-file) Qxh6 22.Nxc7 Rb8 23.Nb5.
Now the roof falls in.
18.e5+ Kg8
The only escape from mate was 18...Kg7, although then there is 19.e6+ Nxd4 20.Qxd4+ Kg8 21.e7 Qe8 and 22.fxg5, threatening 23.Rf8+.
19.Qg6+ Kf8 20.fxg5+ Black resigned
As suggested earlier, players involved in Jerome Gambits would benefit from studying the "classic" game examples of that opening.
In the game below, MrJoker's opponent turns over his King at the loss of a Rook, just when things were becoming interesting. He should be sentenced to play over Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 - but, then again, "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!"
MrJoker - gredow
blitz, 2 12 ICC, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8
Black disconnected and forfeited
Many people have an "anger management" problem of a specific kind: they put up with repeated small intrusions in their lives, saying nothing and setting no limits. Then, finally, the explode all out of proportion.
Wall,B - Guest3797656
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qe7 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 Kf7
Black is looking to castle-by-hand.
Previously seen: 10...c6 11.0-0 d5 12.f3 Qe5 13.d4 Qd6 14.e5 Qe6 15.exf6 Qxe3+ 16.Bxe3 gxf6 17.Bh6+ Kf7 18.Rae1 Re8 19.Rxe8 Kxe8 20.Re1+ Kf7 21.g4 Be6 22.Ne2 Black resigned, Wall,B - Quack, Chess.com, 2010.
11.0-0 Re8 12.f4 Kg8 13.d4 d5 14.f5 Nh8
Black has allowed White's "Jerome pawns" to swarm, bypassing ...Nxe4 several times. Soon he will strike back, but it will be poorly matched to the position.
15.e5 Ng4 16.Qd3 c6 17.h3 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5
The "science" is probably good here, as Black has returned his extra piece for two pawns, but he hardly has the advantage that he had at, say, moves 4, 6 or 8.
19.g4 d4
Again, Black "fights fire with fire," or aggression with aggression, but only after he has allowed White to bottle up his Bishop and Knight, which should have been attended to instead. Another explosion is building up.
20.Bf4 Qc5 21.Na4 Qb4 22.b3 b5 23.a3 Qe7 24.Rae1 Qxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 26.Kf2 Re8 27.Nc5 Nf7
Black has aggressively exchanged his Queen for two Rooks, and achieved - what? White's pieces (including his King) are better developed and more prepared to swing into action.
28.g5 a5 29.f6 g6 30.h4 Bf5 31.Qxd4 Rad8
Finally. I still think White has the better game, however.
32.Qc3 Bg4 33.Qxa5 Re2+ 34.Kg3 Bf5
Again, passively allowing White's King to intrude, when 34...Rxc2 35.Kxg4 Rxc5 was the assertive way to go.
35.c3 Rd5 36.Qa8+ Nd8 37.Qb8 Rc2 38.Be5 Re2 39.Bd6 Re8
After making "scary" threats on the Queenside, Black's Rook returns to defense.
40.Be7
Threatening 41.Bxd8 Rdxd8 42.Qc7 and 43.Qg7 mate.
Black resigned.
I have a friend who told me that she once helped her team win a basketball championship game. As the seconds were ticking down at the crucial end of play, she said, "I went up to the coach and said 'Don't put me in, coach!' and she didn't, and we won the game..."
I thought of that as I won my last game in the third round of the Chess.com Italian Game Thematic Tournament, qualifying for the fourth round. I won both games against each of the other players in my quad rated lower than me. I drew both games against the player rated higher than me.
The curious thing was that I had played against the higher rated player in round one, where I won with Black, but lost with White playing the Jerome Gambit. In the second round, against the same opponent, I drew with Black, but lost again with the Jerome Gambit. This round I drew with Black - but my opponent declined to allow me to play the Jerome Gambit, and I drew with White, as well. This allowed me to tie him at 4-0-2.
In all fairness, even if I had played the Jerome Gambit and lost (or won) we both would have moved on to the fourth round, anyway.
