I remember that in the first years that I played chess, I would occasionally checkmate an opponent, only to hear him say, "It's a good thing that you did, because I was going to checkmate you the next move," as if that were going to come as a surprise to me - like the many bogus chess games on TV or in the movies that end with one player announcing "Check" only to have the other one surprise him completely with "Check and mate".
In the following game, Black has a similar "consolation."
Wall,B - Josti
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8
The Jerome Defense to the Jerome Gambit.
7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.Qg3
As Bill notes, not 9.Qxc7? Qxf2+ 10.Kd1 d6
9...d6 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.0-0 Be6 12.d3 Kf7
Black prepares to castle-by-hand, holding the advantage. It is up to White to provide enough mischief to make a game of it.
13.Bg5 Qg6 14.Nb5 Bb6 15.Kh1 Rhf8 16.c4
16...Nc6 17.c5 dxc5 18.Nxc7 Bxc7 19.Qxc7+ Kg8 20.Qxb7
20...Nd4?!
Bill suggests 20...Nb4 21.Bd2 Nxd3 as better.
21.f4 h6 22.Bh4 Qg4?!
Black sees the opportunity of either grabbing a pawn or turning White's Bishop into a large pawn. There was more heat in 22...Rfb8 23.Qc7 Rxb2.
23.Bg3 Ne2 24.Rf3
It looks for all the world like Black is attacking - and he is. Now, however, he overlooks a critical line.
24...Nxg3+??
Instead, Houdini 3 shows the road to advantage for Black, but it is a surprisingly rocky one, and a Jerome Gambit player might not be at all unhappy with the resulting position for White: 24...Rfb8 25.Qc7 Rxb2 26.f5 Rxa2 27.Rxa2 Nxg3+ 28.hxg3 Bxa2 29.Qb7 Re8 30.Qxa7 Bf7 31.Qxc5 Rb8 32.Qc2 Qg5 33.Kh2 Ra8.
25.Rxg3 Qxf4
Threatening mate with 26...Qf1+ 27. Rxf1 Rxf1 mate, but...
26.Qxg7 checkmate
("I was winning," an opponent once told me in one of my games; and I agreed, "You were, right up until the point where you resigned."
graphic by Jeff Bucchino, the Wizard of Draws
I like to use the "day in the life" games to show just how other-worldly the Jerome Gambit can become.
pigsfeet - chessnyc
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
There are over 900 examples of this Jerome Gambit version in The Database.
5...Ke7
Black is not interested in the piece, however, at least for now. Already he has exchanged a winning advantage for a losing one. Yawn.
6.c3
White insists, however, and Black doesn't have to be asked twice.
6...Kxf7 7.b4 Bxf2+
Why should White have all the fun?
8.Kxf2 Rf8 9.Ba3 d6 10.Qb3+ Be6
This "aggressive counter" falls to a known tactic. The game would be roughly even after 10...Ke7.
11.Ng5+ Kg6 12.Nxe6
White grabs back a piece, and will next win an exchange.
12...Qe7 13.Nxf8+ Rxf8 14.Rf1
Planning to castle-by-hand, White relaxes too soon. He is saved when Black's Knight moves to the left instead of to the right.
14...Nxe4+
Rybka 3 point out that 14...Ng4+ was the way to go, i.e. 15.Ke2 Rxf1 16.Kxf1 Qf6+ 17.Ke2 Qf2+ 18.Kd1 Ne3+ 19.Kc1 Qe1+ 20.Kb2 Qe2+ 21.Kc1 Kg5 22.h3 Qe1+ 23.Kb2 Qf2+ 24.Kc1 b5
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| Analysis Diagram |
when White's pieces are all tied up, and Black will win with a timely ...a5, when his other Knight can enter the game (or simply capture White's Kingside pawns and Queen one of his own). Weird!
15.Kg1 Nd2
As you might expect from the analysis above, Black had a draw here with 15...Rxf1+ 16.Kxf1 Qf6+ 17.Ke1 Qf2+ 18.Kd1 Nxc3+ 19.Nxc3 Nd4 20.Qb2 Qg1+ 21.Kd2 Qf2+ 22.Kd1 Qg1+ etc.
The move in the game looks like a slip, perhaps a hallucination.
16.Nxd2 Rxf1+ 17.Rxf1 Qh4
Here Black resigned, as he has only a pawn for his missing piece. Indeed, White has a forced mate in 6.
For an entertaining, maddeningly short video (with tense background music) on a sprightly Blackburn Shilling Jerome Gambit Game, here's the whole story in 23 seconds.
Luckily, the game is available below, as well.
Peter Šoltýs (1863) - Anton Škrivánek (1808)
Žilina, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5 Qf6 7.Ng4 g6 8.Qd5+ Black resigned.
(Why am I not surprised to find that Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member DragonTail played the same attack against annina in 2006?)
For a very nice, instructive video by MatoJelic that combines themes from both the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and a no-name opening we have occasionally looked at (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+), check out the Scotch Gambit game Dominguez - Keballos, Mexico, 1880.
For the latest in exciting ways to play the Italian Game (C50) - strong gambits in the Giuoco Pianissimo - stop by the link from this blog to "Bruno's Chess Opening Articles", or go directly to the new stuff, featuring the Evans-Bukayev gambit deferred, from Yury Bukayev!
Black is doing fine in the following game until he decides to grab a pawn to increase his lead.
HauntedKnight - uwehah
standard, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Ng6
8.dxc5 Re8 9.0-0 Nxe4
This looks like a "freebie" as the Black King is not on the open e-file. However...
10.Nxe4 Rxe4 11.Qf3+ Rf4 12.Bxf4 Nxf4 13.Qxf4+ Kg8 14.Rfe1
Black resigned
Black is only down an exchange and a pawn, but it is difficult to find compensation.
The tension in the following game comes from the advance of Bill Wall's wall of "Jerome pawns". His opponent's return of a piece was an interesting idea, but it turned out not to be enough.
Wall,B - Guesty1960624
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
White is usually happy to see this move, as it means that he will be able to capture Black's pesky dark-square Bishop, freeing the "Jerome pawns" to advance.
7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ N8e7 9.0-0 d6 10.Qc4
10...Bd7 11.d4 Nc6 12.f4 Qf6 13.f5 Nge7 14.Be3 Rc8 15.Nc3 Qf7 16.Qd3 a6
The game appears about even, although Black's King prevents his Rooks from communicating, and he may become ill at ease behind his Queen, if the f-file opens.
17.g4 h6 18.h4 Qf6 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 Qf7
Black's plan is to show that White's pawns have advanced too far, leaving the White King at risk. He is willing to return a piece to make his point.
21.f6 Qh5 22.fxe7+ Kxe7 23.Nd5+ Kd8 24.Kf2 Rf8+ 25.Ke1 Qh4+
This gives White's King a jump on his escape. Probably better was 25...Rxf1+ 26.Qxf1 Qh4+ 27.Kd2 Qxe4 with a messy, but balanced, game.
26.Kd2 Qh2+ 27.Kc3 Rh8 28.Rf7 g6 29.Qf1 Ke8 30.Qf6 Black resigned
Even giving up most of his army will not save Black from mate: 30...Qh7 31.Rf1 Bf5 32.Rxf5 Qxf7 33.Qxh8+ Kd7 34.Rxf7+ Ne7 35.Rxe7+ Kc6 36.Qxc8 b6 37.Qe8+ Kb7 38.Rxc7#
