Yet Once Again Into The Fray!

I recently joined another Italian Game tournament (3 days per move) at Chess.com, and found myself playing four games at the same time - all of them with the black pieces.

Luckily (I aways have to give credit where credit is due) I won a couple of games, and, having grasped the white pieces, have been able to launch a couple Jerome Gambits! Who knows, when my third and fourth games are finished, I might be able to play a couple more Jeromes.

As always, I will do my best to uphold the, ahem, good name of the Jerome Gambit (while trying not to make a fool out of myself), and will share my games with readers, come what may.

Actually, one has already finished, but I don't really know the "story behind the story".

perrypawnpusher - Dohchamp
3 days/move, The Italian Game Thematic, Chess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Black resigned.

Tangled

It seems so unfair. Bill Wall's Queen gets to run abound the board, seemingly without consequence. His opponent's Queen, however, winds up tangled up in enemy pieces.

Here's Bill's latest Jerome Gambit, with some of his ideas and some of mine.

Wall,B - Guest7556673
PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qb5+

More frequently seen is 9.Qe3, but Bill likes to be creative.

9...c6

Instead, 9...Qd7 was seen in Wall,B - Guest327668, PlayChess.com 2012 (1-0, 22).

10.Qb3 Qe7

Black also has 10...Nf6 as seen in Wall,B - Zhu,Y, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 19). Bill mentions the alternative 10...Qg5 11.g3

11.d3 Be6 12.c4 Nf6 

Black has an extra piece and is better developed. His biggest challenge is to figure out how to further conduct the game.

13.0-0 Kf7

Bill points out Black's blow-up-the-center strategy: 13...d5 14.exd5 cxd5 15.Nc3

14.f4

Threatening 15.f5. Not wanting to let his b-pawn hang, Black fully retreats his light-square Bishop.

14...Bc8 15.f5 Ne5 16.c5+

This looks sharper than 16.d4 Ned7.

16...d5

Bill points out that 16...Ke8 and 16...Kf8 might be a little bit better. 

17.d4 Ned7 18.e5 

Threatening 19.e6. You have to love those "Jerome pawns". 

Black decides to give back the extra piece.

18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qxe5 20.Nc3

Bill also mentions the pawn sac 20.Bf4 Qxf5 21.Be3. 

20...Rb8?!

Bill sees as better: 20...Re8

21.Bf4 

Or 21.Qa4 a6? (Black should retreat with 21...Ra8 22.Bd2) 22.Bf4.

21...Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Ra8 

So far Black is holding things together, but the stress eventually shows.

23.Bd6 Ne8? 24.Rf4 Qe3

Or 24...Qd3 25.Rd1 Qe3 26.Rf3.

25.Re4 Qd3 26.Rd1 Black resigned.

Black must surrender his Queen, as the one escape - 26...Qa6 - allows White to play 27.Nxd5! when Black's only way of avoiding checkmate is 27...Nxd6, which would allow 28.Nc7+, and White will win the enemy Queen after all.

Public Service Announcement or What Is Black Up To?

When we play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) we can get so caught up in our own plans that we overlook the fact that Black has ideas of his own. 

The following game is a good example of being caught unawares. (It should be noted that the player of the White pieces is rated a good bit above me at FICS - Rick)

ndrwgn (1594) - codyasmith (1733)
standard, FICS, 27.06.2013

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

The Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6

The Queen move is not the usual play for Black. White must ask, "What is Black up to?"

This has been addressed previously in "Something to Watch Out For", "The Return of Jerome Gambit for Dummies (Part 8)" and "Why Did He Play That Move?" but bears repeating.

8.0-0 Nf3+ 

Oh.

Black will win White's Queen.

Ouch.

What makes this even more painful is that there are three identical games in The Database played about a month earlier:

ndrwgn (1625) - ssingh (1692), standard, FICS, 17.05.2013;
ndrwgn (1641) - SilentScope (2193), standard, FICS, 20.05.2013; and

ndrwgn (1628) - mikegjr (1709), standard, FICS, 22.05.2013.

It must be noted that ndrwgn has 80 games from 2013 in The Database, scoring 55% (above average). If this kind of thing can happen to him, it can happen to you, too.

BSJG: Just Take The Piece

Black usually plays the Blackburne Shilling Gambit with the idea of a sharp, short, tactical game in mind. In the following game he succeeds in achieving that, but not exactly in the manner he planned.

PasChat - olegYankee
standard, FICS, 2013

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4. Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7

Of the 4,272 BSJG games in The Database (White scoring 56%), only 452 (White scoring 70%) - about 11% of the total - have this move. (Clearly accepting the Bishop, rather than declining it, has worked out better for Black)

5. Nxd4

The more mundane 5.Bxg8 was played in perrypawnpusher - michon, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 41) and  perrypawnpusher - michon, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 8)

 5...exd4 6.Bc4 Nf6 

7.e5 Ng8 8.Qh5 Nh6 9.d3 Qe8 10.Qg5 checkmate

Whatever You Do, Don't Take Me Seriously

Here we have a short Jerome Gambit game whose brevity can be attributed to the defender relying on his sharp 7th move to win the game - when there was still plenty of play left in the position. Black's King went wandering, instead of staying home.

PasChat - charlyeliot
standard, FICS, 2013

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

Transposing from the Bishop's Opening to the Italian Four Knights Game to the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 d5

There are many ways for White to return some of the sacrificed material. This is one of the sharpest.

8.dxe5 Ne8

Or 8...Ng4 as in perrypawnpusher - NimbusReign, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 26); or 8...Bxf2+ as in perrypawnpusher - Marcym, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 20)

Possibly best is 8... Nxe4. 

9. Qf3+ Ke6 

After the safer 9...Kg8 and then 10.exd5 White would have three pawns for the piece, and the game would probably be even. 

10.O-O

This is good, but even better is 10.Qf5+ Ke7 11.Nxd5+ Qxd5 12.Bg5+!? winning a lot of material. 

10... Bd7 

Or 10...Kd7 11.e6+ Kd6 and Black will not last long. 

11.Qf5+ Ke7 12.Nxd5 checkmate

What Hole?

Ah! Another unsound attack with the Jerome Gambit by Yours Truly! At first glance, it looks powerful - but, there is a hole in it. (Or maybe more than one...) Lucky for me, my opponent missed his escape, and perished in rolling thunder.

perrypawnpusher - kenkenaitya
blitz, FICS, 2014

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

The Jerome Gambit.

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

I like facing this defense, as it allows White to get rid of the annoying Black dark-squared Bishop and to get his "Jerome pawns" rolling.

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

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

Or 11.f3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009 (1-0,35).

11...Kf7

Alternatives:

11...Qe7 was seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 20),  perrypawnpusher - obturator, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - fogab, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 27);

11...Ng4 was seen in perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 47), perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 58) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2011 (24); and

11...Rf7 was seen in mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 49) and perrypawnpusher - dkahnd, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 30).

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qd3 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand, but White already has a small edge.

15.h3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Nc3 a6 18.Qe3 Kg7

Rybka 3 gives a very complicated defense starting with 18...Ne8, and including ...Qe7 and ...Qf6 to exchange (or drive) off White's Queen.

19.Qg3+

Here, and for the next few moves, Rybka 3 prefers e4-e5. Then, when I finally play the move, it prefers something different. The reason? See the note to Black's 23nd move.

19...Kf7 20.Qh4 Rg8 21.Qxh6 Rg7

22.e5?

First White should play 22.Rae1.

22...dxe5 23.dxe5 Ng8

Instead, 23...Qd4+ 24.Rf2 Qxe5 gives Black the edge. White must always be wary of the Black Queen check and capture, if he plays the e4-e5 break.

24.e6+ Kf8 25.Qf4 b5

Here Rybka 3 suggests that Black try his luck in a Rooks and pawns endgame (where he is still worse): 25...Nf6 26.Rad1 Qe7 27.Nd5 Qc5+ 28.Ne3 Qe7 29.Ng4 Nxg4 30.hxg4 Bxe6 31.fxe6+ Kg8 32.Qc4 Rg6 33.Rfe1 b5 34.Rd7 bxc4 35.Rxe7 Rg7 36.Rd7 c3 37.bxc3 Re8 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.e7 Kf6.

Now White finishes off the game in sparkling style.

26.Rad1 Qe8 27.f6 Rg6 28.f7 Qe7 29.fxg8Q+ Kxg8 30.Qf7+ Qxf7 31.exf7+ Kf8 32.Rd8+ Ke7 33.f8Q+ Ke6 
Black resigned as I played 34.Re1

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Half-Way Home Is Not Far Enough

Although the attack in my most recent Jerome Gambit game was unsound, it succeeded in winning back the sacrificed piece, reaching a drawn 2Rs + Ps vs 2Rs + Ps endgame. Alas, I let up my focus too soon, and my opponent's tactic won a rook, and the game.

perrypawnpusher - spince
blitz, FICS, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

An earlier game against the same opponent continued 3...Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8, perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 23). 

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Re8

9.0-0

Instead, 9.Bg5 followed by 10.0-0-0 was seen in Wall,B - PLMW, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 24).

9...Kg8

This is an improvement over 9...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - DrHilarius, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 27) and 9...Nfg4 of perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 22).

10.f4

A bit stronger is 10.Bg5 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20) and billwall - chiefh1, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 29). 

10...Nc6 11.Qd3 d6 12.Bd2 Be6 

Or 12...Kh8 as in perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36).

13.f5 Bf7 14.a3 Re5 15.Bf4 Re7 16.Rae1 Ne5 17.Qh3 Qe8 18.Bg5 Rd7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.g4 

This kind of thing always seems to work for Bill Wall.

20...Qf8 21.Kh1 Qg7 22.Rg1 Kf8 23.Qg3 Ke7 24.Nd5+ Kd8 25.Qf4 c6 26.Nc3 Kc7 27.h4 Rg8 28.Re3 Qf8 

Black could have played 28...Nxg4, but he had already decided on his defense.

29.Reg3 Qe7 30.g5 fxg5 31.hxg5 d5 32.exd5 Bxd5+ 33.Nxd5+ Rxd5 34.Re3 

Instead, c2-c4, either here or the next move, would give White the advantage.

34...Kc8 35.Rge1 Qxg5 36.Qxg5 Rxg5 37.Rxe5 Rd4 38.R1e2

This move is okay, but 38.Re8+ Kc7 39.Re7+ Kb6 40.Rxh7 Rxf5 41.Ree7 would have made the draw clear.

38...Rh5+ 39.Rh2

A blunder, which my opponent quickly spotted. Even was 39.Kg2. 

39...Rd1+ 40.Kg2 Rd2+ 41.Kg3 Rdxh2 White resigned

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