Jerome Gambit to the Rescue!

With one game left in the Italian Game Tournament at Chess.com (see "Swan Song") I relied on my trusty Jerome Gambit, and it did not fail me. Thus, I am likely to finish 3rd (out of 19 players) with a score of 13-6-5 (5-3-0 with the Jerome Gambit).


perrypawnpusher - MarkHundleby1
Italian Game Tournament, Chess.com, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

I was comfortable entering this line, as I have played it over 100 times, scoring 81%.

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

I have been here, too, in 44 games, also scoring 81%


10.O-O Qe7 11.Nc3 b6 12.f4 Bb7 

13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Ned7

A bit of an improvement over 14... Neg4, from perrypawnpusher - Navarrra, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24) - which I still have to post here, one of these days.

15. Re1 Kd8 16. e5 dxe5 17. dxe5 Nd5

Bill Wall pointed out after the game that this was an error - one both my opponent and I overlooked. He suggested, instead, 17... Ng4!?

18.Qg3

Instead, 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Rd1, followed by e6, as pointed out by Bill, would give White the advantage.

18...h6 19.Be3 

Again: 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.Rd1

19...Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Qg5 21.Qxg5+ 

Bill preferred keeping the Queens on the board with 21.Qf2

21... hxg5 22.Rd1 Ke8 

I remember analyzing this position, and then seeing my opponent's move, thinking I didn't think he could play that move...  After 22...Kc8, instead, I agree with Bill that Black is a little bit cramped but still ok.

23.Nb5

I remember thinking that after having played 19.Be3 and 21.Qxg5+, that the text would look like another "just making moves" kind of piece-shifting. I could imagine my opponent thinking: Now we just exchange c-pawns with 23...Ke7 24.Nxc7 25.Rac8 Nb5 26.Rxc2 and then Black has deadly pressure on g2...

23...Ke7 

Better 23...Rc8 24.Nxa7 Rd8 25.Nb5 Nc5 26.Nxc7+ Ke7 with an even game. 

24.Nxc7 Rac8  

25.f6+ 

The "Jerome pawns," instead, mix things up. They blow up the center, and suddenly Black's King is in great danger.

25...gxf6 26.exf6+ Kf8 27.Rxd7 Black resigned

Final Nail in the Coffin

Here we finish up burying the 3...h6 and 4...Na5 defense to the Jerome Gambit by taking a look at 4.Nc3  - instead of 4.0-0 ("Too Much of A Bad Thing") or 4.c3 ("Still A Mess").

freerunner - gGgeorgGg
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.Nc3 Na5 

While the Semi-Italian Opening is playable for Black, and the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+) has its risks, the introduction of ...Na5 pushes the whole defense over the cliff.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 

6...Ke6 would get the same response. 

7.Qh5+ Ke7 

Or 7...g6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Nd5#, GriffySr - mackadee, standard, FICS, 2002. 

8.Ng6+ Kd6 

Let's face it, Black's King is already toast:

8...Kf7 9.Nxh8+ Ke6 (9...Ke7 10.Qxa5 Nf6 11.Qe5# shipwrecked - LScope, blitz, FICS 2011) 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qe5#; or

8...Ke8 9.Nxh8+ g6 10.Qxg6+ Ke7 11.Nd5#; or

8...Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qd5#; or

8...Kf6 9.Qf5# moskvabr - amama, blitz, FICS, 2005. 

9.Nxh8

This wins, as does 9.Qd5#, JakartaGuy - Kiloz, blitz, FICS, 2007 and (to use White's Knight) 9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.Nd4+ Kb6 11.Qb5#.

9...Nf6 

Or 9...Qe7 10.Ng6 Qe6 11.Nxf8 Black resigned, xerthil - Tiur, blitz, FICS, 2005. 

10.Qxa5 

Picking up material while deleting a defender. Houdini gives a fun line using White's Queen Knight: 10.Nb5+ Kc6 11.Nd4+ Kd6 12.Nf7+ Ke7 13.Nf5+ Ke6 14.Nxd8+ Ke5 15.d4+ Kxe4 16.Qf3 checkmate 

10...Qe7 

11.e5+ 

Again, a line that shows the advantage of White's Knight being in play is 11.Nb5+ Ke6 12.Nd4+ Kd6 13.Nf5+ winning Black's Queen. 

11...Qxe5+ 12.Qxe5+ Kxe5 13.Ng6+ Ke6 14.Nxf8+ Kf7 15.Nxd7 Bxd7 

White has deftly exchanged a handful of pieces, leaving him simply a Rook and two pawns up. The rest of the game does not change this.

16.0-0 Re8 17.d3 g5 18.Be3 Bc6 19.Bxa7 h5 20.Bd4 Ng4 21.f3 Ne3 22.Bxe3 Rxe3 23.Rae1 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 b5 25.Ne4 Kg6 26.g3 Bd7 27.Nc5 Bc8 28.Re5 c6 29.b3 g4 30.f4 b4 31.Re4 Bf5 32.Rxb4 h4 33.Ne4 h3 34.Rb6 Bd7 35.Nc5

Fighting to the end, Black forfeited on time

Still A Mess

Following up on the previous post ("Too Much of A Bad Thing"), here is another "public service announcement" about the difficulty of surviving 3...h6 and 4...Na5 when facing the Jerome Gambit - this time, the 4.c3 version.

Earlier warnings include "Still Worth Knowing", "Getting Creative," and "I'm Just Sayin'...".

hendrikgosse - codh
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.c3 Na5 

Asking for the "Jerome treatment." White obliges.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 

The comparatively better 6...Ke6 is well met by 7.Qh5 with a clear advantage to White. 

7.Qh5+ Ke7 

Or 7...g6 8.Qxg6+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Ng6 and Black will be down material, with an unsafe King.

8.Ng6+ Kf6 9.Nxh8 Nc6 10.Qh4+ Ke6 11.Qxd8 Black resigned

After 11...Nxd8 12.Ng6 White will be up the exchange and a couple of pawns.

Too Much of A Bad Thing

As much as I enjoy watching (and playing) smashing attacks in the Jerome mode, I have to (again) warn defenders, out of a sense of fairness, that the following defense amounts to too much of a bad thing.

funnycrimes - MaxMBJ
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.O-O Na5 

Black's move is provocative, especially when combined with 3...h6 ("like walking around with a Kick Me! sign pinned to the seat of your pants..." see "A Hot Rocket to Oblivion"). The "Jerome Treatment" is clearly recommended.

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Technically better is 6... Ke6, but Black's game would still be clearly worse. 

7.Qh5+ g6 

Looking this line up in The Database, only 3 of the 15 defenders (including this game) found this move; alas, all of them lost, anyhow.

On the other hand, 11 of the 12 players who chose an alternate 7th move lost as well (White blundered his Queen in the one Black win).

Here are the sordid details:

7...Ke7 8.Ng6+ 

(Or 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9. Qd5+ [9.d4 Nc6 10. Nc4#, aghamal - muchpain, blitz, FICS, 2012] 9...Ke7 10.Ng6+ [10.Qxa5, Black resigned, KeepuHonest - Barnetme, blitz, FICS, 2012; or 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Ng6+ White won by ajudication, JoeDemir - dogbrother, blitz, FICS, 2010] 10...Ke8 [10...Kf6 11.Nxh8 c6 12.e5+ Ke7 13. Qf7#, aldac - anesh, blitz, FICS, 2011] 11.Nxh8 Qg5 [11...Nc6 12.Qf7#, rosti - carifano, blitz, FICS, 2010] 12.Qf7+ Kd8 13. Qxf8#, comport - khemosabi, blitz, FICS, 2013}) 

8...Ke8 

(8...Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10. Qd5#, perrypawnpusher - TheTrueDamaBlanca, blitz, FICS, 2009; or 8...Kd6 9. e5+ [9. Nxh8 Kc6 {9... Nc4 10. Nf7+, Black resigned, bartab - VeniceOdyssey, standard, FICS, 2011} 10.Qxa5 b6 11.Qd5#, albertpak - khemosabi, blitz, FICS, 2013; or 9. Qe5+ Kc6 10.Qd5+ Kb6 11.d3 Nf6 12.Be3+ c5 13.Qf5 d6 14.d4 Bxf5 15.dxc5+ dxc5 16.exf5 Rg8 17.b4 Nc6 18.Nd2 Ka6 19.bxc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 Qxd2 21.Rab1 b6 22.Be3 Qxc2 23.Rfc1 Qe4 24.Rxc6 Qxc6 25.Ne7 Qc2 26.Rc1 Qxa2 27.Nxg8 Nxg8 28.g4 Nf6 29.h3 Kb7 30.g5 hxg5 31.Bxg5 Ne4 32.Be3 Rc8 33.Rxc8 Kxc8 34.Kg2 Qd5 35.f3 Qa2+ 36.Kf1 Ng3+ 37.Ke1 Qe2#, valiantknight - Monkee, blitz, FICS, 2000] 9...Kc6 10.Nxh8 b6 11.Qf3+ Kb5 12.Qxa8 Bb7 13.Qxd8, 
Black resigned, duvvisreedhar - khemosabi, blitz, FICS, 2011) or
(8... Kf6 9.Qf5#, balix - luccass, blitz, FICS, 2012) 

9.Nxh8+ g6 10. Qxg6+ Ke7 11. Qf7+ Kd6 12. Qd5+ Ke7 13. Qe5#, Houdini.

8.Qxg6+

Here Black resigned in ghostshadowrook - VeniceOdyssey, standard, FICS, 2011.

8...Ke7 9.Qf7+

White proceeds with a clear plan. For those who want something
more complicated, Houdini recommends 9.Nc3 c6 10.b3 Qe8 11.Ba3+ Kd8 12.Nf7+ Qxf7 13.Qxf7.

analysis diagram





9...Kd6 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Ng6+

Or 11.Qxa5 d6 12.Ng6+ Ke8 13.Nxh8 Qf6 14.Qh5+ Ke7 15.Ng6+ Kd7 16.Nxf8+ Qxf8 17.Qf5+ Kd8 18.Qxf8+ Kd7 19.Qxg8 Kc6 20.Qc4+ Black resigned, Divtwo - HotCaldron, FICS, 2010

11...Ke8

Not much better is 11...Kf6 12.Nxh8 Kg7 13.Qxa5 Kxh8 

12. Nxh8 b6 13.Qf7 checkmate

The Risk of Improvisation

When an opening has an established refutation (or several) it can be risky to wander away from it (them). In the following game, Black improvises away from a safe response to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - to his own detriment.


Petasluk - KvanHouten
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 Ne7 

Black has played "The Annoying Defense" (see 1, 2, 3 for some coverage) 7...d6, which returns a piece and gives White little for his attack to gnaw upon. How annoying!

Yet, the "main line" of "The Annoying Defense" is the consistent 8...dxe5, and Black risks his usual solid position by avoiding the move.

9.Rf1

Creating some pressure on Black.

Previously seen: 9.exd6 Kxd6 10.e5+ Kc6 11.Qf3+ Qd5 12.Qf7? Qxf7 13.d3 Qf2+ 14.Kd1 Bg4, checkmate,  GuyEtienne - carssi, FICS, 2008. 

9...Ng6 

Planning to use the Knight to capture on e5 (instead of the more mundane, but correct, 9...dxe5), but this much improvisation is deadly, a White's previous move was more than a tempo loss.

10.Qf5+ Ke7 11.Qf7 checkmate

Another Log on the Fire

Declining any kind of Jerome Gambit can only be justified for "psychological" reasons, as the defender is swapping at least an even game - and often a better game - for a worse one. Yet, as the new batch of games added to The Database shows, it still happens.

lksharma - Zaprax
blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

There is no need to decline the Bishop, as Black gets a roughly even game with the capture.

5.Nxe5 d6 

White has scored 61% from this position, in 130 games in The Database. Given that the first player is two pawns up, that relatively low success rate is probably a reflection of play at the club (and blitz) level.

6.Qh5

This looks aggressive ("one more log on the fire") but has not always worked for White - see crokit - sahistonline, blitz, FICS, 2011 for one other time out of ten games that it did - and the more prosaic 6.Bxg8 Rxg8 would not hand over the advantage to the second player as the text does.

6...dxe5

This move is good for Black, but challenging the White Queen with 6...Nf6 was even stronger. 

7.Qg5+ Kd7 

Again, 7...Nf6 was the move. It looks as if Black were responding to the possibility of 7...Kxf7 8.Qxd8, giving up his Queen; but, had he chosen that move order, after 8...Nxc2+ 9.Kf1 Bd6 10.Nc3 Nxa1 the game would have been about even. 

analysis diagram




8.Qxe5 Nxc2+ 

Falling for the bait. Houdini prefers consolidation with 8...c5 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Bb3 Bd6 11.Qg5 Kc7 12.d3 Kb8 13.Bf4 Re8 14.Bxd6+ Qxd6 15.0-0-0 a6 16.f4 Qc7 with Black as slightly better.

analysis diagram





9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qe6 checkmate

Oh, My!

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Sometimes a diagram is worth the same.

White to move.

fianchettosstorm - UGAFootball, blitz, FICS, 2013