RedHotPawn Jerome Gambit Tournament (Round 2)

While wandering around the RedHotPawn.com website I ran into a couple of Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments from 2013. Here is the second round of one of them, starting from the Jerome Gambit position:

rigidwithfear (1528) - Andy Spry (1303)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d4 exd4 3.Bg5 Nce7 4.Ne5+ Ke8 White forfeited on time

rigidwithfear (1528) - Ponderable (1280)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d4 exd4 3.Bg5 Nf6 White forfeited on time

Andy Spry (1303) - rigidwithfear (1528)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.h3 Re8 4.Ng5+ Kg8 5.d3 Black forfeited on time

Andy Spry (1303) - Ponderable (1280)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d3 Nf6 3.h3 Rf8 4.Ng5+ Kg8 5.Nd2 Nh5 6.Qxh5 h6 7.Ndf3 d5 8.exd5 Nd4 9.0-0 Ne2+ 10.Kh1 Rf5 11.Qg6 Kf8 12.Nh7+ Kg8 13.Bxh6 Qe7 14.Nh4 Nf4 15.Qg4 Rf6 16.Nxf6+ Qxf6 17.Qg5 Qxg5 18.Bxg5 Nh5 19.c3 Bd7 20.Rad1 Kh7 21.Rde1 Re8 22.Re4 Bd6 23.Nf3 c6 24.Rh4 g6 25.Bf6 Rf8 26.Bg5 Kg7 27.d4 exd4 28.cxd4 cxd5 29.a3 Bb5 30.Rb1 a6 31.b4 Re8 32.Be3 Bd3 33.Rc1 Rf8 34.Ne5 Bxe5 35.dxe5 Bf5 36.Kh2 Re8 37.g4 Rxe5 38.Bd4 Black resigned

Ponderable (1280) - rigidwithfear (1528)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.Nxe5+ Nxe5 3.0-0 Bb6 4.Qh5+ Ng6 5.Nc3 Black forfeited on time

Ponderable (1280) - Andy Spry (1303)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.Nc3 Re8 4.Ng5+ Kg8 5.d3 d6 6.b3 h6 7.Nh3 Bxh3 8.gxh3 Bd4 9.Bb2 Qd7 10.Rb1 Qxh3 11.Nb5 Ng4 12.Qxg4 Qxg4+ 13.Kh1 Bb6 14.Rg1 Qf3+ 15.Rg2 Re6 16.Rbg1 Rg6 17.Bc1 Bxf2 18.Rf1 Qxg2 checkmate

buddhaboy (1472) - gbjames (1416)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kf8 2.Bxg8 Kxg8 3.0-0 d6 4.c3 h6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb6 7.h3 h5 8.Bg5 Qe8 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.hxg4 hxg4 12.Nh2 Qh5 13.Bf4 Nxd4 14.Qxg4 Qxg4 15.Nxg4 Nc2 16.Nd5 Nxa1 17.Rxa1 Rh4 18.Nxb6 axb6 19.f3 Rh5 20.Kf2 Rb5 21.Bc1 Kf7 22.b3 Rxb3 23.e5 Rc3 24.exd6 cxd6 25.Kg3 Rc2 26.a3 Re8 27.Be3 Re2 28.Bxb6 Rb2 29.Bf2 Ree2 30.a4 Ra2 31.Rb1 Reb2 32.Rxb2 Rxb2 33.a5 Ke6 34.Bb6 g5 35.Ne3 d5 36.Nf1 Rb4 37.Kh3 d4 38.Kg4 Kf6 39.Ng3 d3+ 40.Kh3 Rh4 checkmate

gbjames (1416) - buddhaboy (1472)

Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d4 Bxd4 3.Nxd4 exd4 4.Nd2 d6 5.h3 Nf6 6.Nf3 Rf8 7.Bg5 h6 8.0-0 hxg5 9.Nxg5+ Ke8 10.f4 Rh8 11.c3 dxc3 12.Qb3 Qe7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Rad1 cxb2 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Rfe1 Rf8 17.Qxb2 Qc5+ 18.Kh1 Nfd7 19.Ne6 Qe7 20.Rxd7 Bxd7 21.Nxc7+ Kd8 22.Rxe5 Rf1+ 23.Kh2 Qd6 24.Nxa8 Kc8 25.Qe2 Rf5 26.Qc4+ Kb8 27.g3 Qxe5 White resigned

RedHotPawn Jerome Gambit Tournament (Round 1)

While wandering around the RedHotPawn.com website I ran into a couple of Jerome Gambit thematic tournaments from 2013. Since it has been a while since this blog covered a thematic, I thought it would be nice to present all the games. 

Here is the first round of one of the tournaments (won by buddhaboy),  starting from the Jerome Gambit position:

Tango421 (1296) - Andy Spry (1303)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.c3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.cxd4 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.d5 Ne5 7.a3 Bc5 8.0-0 Rf8 9.Ng5+ Kg8 10.b4 Bd4 11.Ra2 Neg4 12.Nh3 Nh5 13.Nc4 Nxf2 14.Nxf2 Qe8 15.Qxd4 c6 16.Nxd6 Qg6 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.Qc4+ Be6 19.Qc2 Bxa2 20.Qxa2+ Kh8 21.Nf5 Rae8 22.Nh4 Qd6 23.Nf5 Qd7 24.Qc4 Qc7 25.g4 Nf4 26.Nd3 Ne2+ 27.Kg2 Nxc1 28.Nxc1 Rf6 29.Nd3 g6 30.e5 Rfe6 31.b5 gxf5 32.Rxf5 Qb7 33.Nc5 Qe7 34.Nxe6 Qxe6 35.Rf8+ Kg7 36.Qxc6 Kxf8 37.Qc7 Qxg4+ 38.Kf1 Qf4+ 39.Kg2 Kg8 40.Qxa7 Kh8 41.Qf2 Rg8+ 42.Kf1 Qxe5 43.a4 Qa1+ 44.Ke2 Qb2+ 45.Kf1 Qc1+ 46.Ke2 Qc2+ 47.Kf1 Qd1+ White resigned


Andy Spry (1303) - Tango421 (1296)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d3 Bxf2+ 3.Kxf2 Nf6 4.Rf1 h6 5.Kg1 d5 6.Nc3 dxe4 7.dxe4 Nd4 8.Nxe5+ Ke8 9.Nd5 Be6 10.Qxd4 Bxd5 11.exd5 Qd6 12.Re1 Qe7 13.Bf4 Rd8 14.Ng6 Nxd5 15.Nxe7 Nxe7 16.Qxg7 Kd7 17.Qxe7+ Kc6 18.Qxc7+ Kb5 19.Re5+ Black resigned


rigidwithfear (1528) - Ger Conran (1276)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d4 Bxd4 3.Nxd4 Nxd4 4.Be3 c5 5.c3 Nb5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Ke6 9.Qxh7 Ne7 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Qxg6+ Kd7 13.Nd2 d5 14.0-0 dxe4 15.Qxe4 Qg5 16.Nf3 Black resigned


Ger Conran (1276) - rigidwithfear (1528)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d3 Nf6 3.Bg5 Rf8 4.Nxe5+ Nxe5 5.h3 Kg8 6.Nc3 c6 7.0-0 Qe8 8.d4 Bd6 9.dxe5 Bxe5 10.Qf3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Qd3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Bf5 14.Qd2 Qg6 15.c4 Nf6 16.Rfe1 Ne4 17.Qf4 Nxg5 18.c3 Nxh3+ White resigned


buddhaboy (1472) - gav the great (1408)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.0-0 Nf6 3.Ng5+ Ke7 4.c3 h6 5.Nf3 d6 6.b4 Bb6 7.a4 Be6 8.a5 Bxf2+ 9.Rxf2 Nxe4 10.Rf1 Bg4 11.d3 Ng5 12.b5 Nb8 13.Ba3 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bh5 15.Qe1 g5 16.d4 Nd7 17.dxe5 Kf7 18.e6+ Kg7 19.exd7 Qxd7 20.c4 Qh3 21.Bb2+ Kh7 22.Qe7+ Kg6 23.Qf6+ Kh7 24.Qg7 checkmate


gav the great (1408) - buddhaboy (1472)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d3 h6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.0-0 d6 7.a3 Bb6 8.c3 Bh3 9.Re1 Ng4 10.d4 exd4 11.cxd4 Qf6 12.e5 dxe5 13.dxe5 Qe6 14.Bf4 Nxf2 15.Qc2 Nd3+ 16.Kh1 Nxf4 17.gxf4 Rad8 18.b4 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Rxd4 20.f5 Qd5+ 21.Re4 Rxe4 22.Qd1 Rd4+ 23.Kg1 Qg2 checkmate


gbjames (1416) - Ponderable (1280)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kxf7 2.d4 exd4 3.Ng5+ Kf8 4.Qh5 Ne5 5.Nxh7+ Rxh7 6.Qxh7 Qf6 7.Nd2 d3 8.f4 Qxf4 9.Nc4 Qf2+ 10.Kd1 Qe2 checkmate


Ponderable (1280) - gbjames (1416)
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit, RedHotPawn.com, 2013

1...Kf8 2.Bc4 Nd4 3.d3 h6 4.0-0 d6 5.b3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.Bb2 Nh5 8.Qe1 Nxc2 9.Qc1 Nxa1 10.Bxa1 Nf4 11.h3 Qd7 12.Bxe5 Nxd3 13.Qc3 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qe8 15.Nxg4 h5 16.Nf6 Qe7 17.Nd5 Qd7 18.Nf4 Rh6 19.Qf3 Ke7 20.Nd5+ Ke8 21.Re1 c6 22.Nf4 Kd8 23.Nxh5 Kc7 24.Nf4 Rf8 25.g3 Rfh8 26.Be6 Qe7 27.Nc4 g5 28.Nd5+ cxd5 29.exd5 Qg7 30.Qg4 Qb2 31.Bf7 Qxf2+ White resigned

Giuoco Fortissimo

The following game reminds of a "tale that took less time than it takes to tell". It starts quietly, but does not stay that way.

Philidor 1792 - guest581
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6

Looking like a regular Giuoco Piano. But, wait...

5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ Kg6

The King hunts the Knight, but soon becomes the hunted.

7.h4 h6 8.h5+ Kxg5 9.d4 checkmate.

[This post is #1,900 for the blog. Many thanks to Readers for their continued interest and support - Rick]

Slow Motion chess

Philidor 1792 has sent another collection of Jerome Gambit and Jerome-inspired games. The following game shows the progress of "Jerome pawns" as if in slow motion. I find it humorous that it all occured in a 3-minute blitz game.

Philidor 1792 - DerAndere
3 0 blitz, PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

The Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+ 

Philidor 1792 is always game to play his extra pawns against his opponent's extra piece.

8...Bxe7 9.0-0 Nf6 10.d3 d6 11.Nc3 Kf7 12.h3 c6 13.Be3 Rf8 14.f4 Kg8 

Black has castled-by-hand as a protection against the "Jerome pawns".

15.g4 Nd7 16.Ne2 Bf6 17.c3 Be7 18.Kg2 d5 19.e5 Nc5 20.Rad1 h5 21.Kg3 hxg4 22.hxg4 Ne6

23.d4 Kf7 

Black decides to undo his castling, perhaps in response to the dangerous h-file - which he opened.

24.Rh1 Ke8 25.Rh7 Rg8 26.Rdh1 Bd7 27.f5 Ng5 28.Bxg5 Bxg5 29.e6 Bc8 

30.R1h5 Be7 31.Rh1 b6 32.Nf4 Bd6 33.g5 Ba6 34.Kg4 Bxf4 35.Kxf4 Bd3 36.Ke5 

White is already better, but here he missed the cooperative shot 36.Rxg7, e.g. 36...Rxg7 37.Rh8+ Ke7 38.f6+ Kxe6 39.fxg7 Kf7 40.Rxa8 Kxg7 41.Rxa7+ winning.

36...Rd8 37.Rh8 Kf8 38.f6 gxf6+ 39.gxf6 Re8 40.f7 Rxh8 41.Rxh8+ Kg7 42.fxe8Q Bg6 43.Rg8+ Kh6 44.Qxg6 checkmate

It Happens...

Concerning the following game, I have already written...

If you play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ) long enough, you will eventually play the 6.d4 variation (4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4) and one day you will come face-to-face with the best in-your-face variation for Black since J.H. Blackburne offered his Rook...

Sometimes, when you play the Jerome Gambit, you encounter an opponent who knows one of the refutations and who plays very well against you. It happens.

Wall,B - Guest6296711
PlayChess.com, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

This line doesn't have a name attached to it, but I have referred to it in earlier posts as "A Pie-in-the-Face Variation". The earliest example that I have of it in The Database is Sorensen - Anonymous, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27).

It is interesting to note that The Database has 1213 games reaching the position after 6.d4, with White scoring 50%. Of those games, only 17% of the time does Black continue with 6...Qh4 - but he scores 70% with it.

7.0-0 Qxe4 

The weaker alternative, 7...Ng4, was seen in Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27), Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 38) and Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 33). 

8.dxc5 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qc4 

Instead, Black played 9...Qc6 in Wall,B - Gorodetsky,D, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 18) and Wall,B - felineMMXI, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 18). 

10.Be3 

This is a small improvement over 10.Re1 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qc6 in Deep Sjeng 1.5 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003 (0-1, 46).

Black's extra piece outweighs White's two extra pawns. 

10...Re8 11.Bd4 d6 12.b3 Qa6 13.cxd6 Qxd6 14.Nb5 Qc6 15.Nxa7 Rxa7 16.Bxa7 b6 

17.Qd4 Ba6 18.c4 Nf3+ 

Black finishes off with sacrificial flair.

19.gxf3 Qxf3 20.Qd1 Re2 21.Qd8 Qg4+ 22.Kh1 Bb7+ White Resigned

The Montgomery Major Attack and Friends

I received an email the other day concerning Montgomery Major, whose name is attached to a gambit - the "Montgomery Major Attack" - that was touched upon in this blog about 4 1/2 years ago.

The line develops out of the Tennison Gambit, going 1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+. 

Of course, my interest was the way in which the opening showed certain Jerome Gambit (J. H. Blackburne might have said "Kentucky Opening") tendencies - although the piece sacrificed was a Knight, not a Bishop.

Much to my surprise, other than a half dozen bullet (1 minute, 0 increment) games at lichess.org, I have found only one example of the opening.

Watts,J (1835) - Zeidler,S (2235)
West Wales op Swansea, 1999

1.e4 d5 2.Nf3 dxe4 3.Ng5 e5 4.Nxf7 Kxf7 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qxe5 Nf6 7.Bc4+ Kg7 8.d4 Nc6 9.Qg5 h6 10.Qg3 Nxd4 11.0-0 b5 12.Rd1 bxc4 13.Rxd4 Qxd4 14.Qxc7+ White Resigned

This, in turn, reminded me of the Damiano Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6, which can continue 3.Nxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+. 

The Damiano came up in a couple of my games while I was attempting to reach a Jerome Gambit - starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 f6. These were examined in "A Jerome Gambit Declined" and "Frustration is the Grandmother of Invention".

One False Move

It is easy to view the Jerome Gambit (for White) as a superhighway to oblivion - any easy exit is one that the first player should take. On the other hand, the Jerome Gambit (for Black) can be a stroll down Easy Street - as long as you avoid falling down a manhole.

fehim - AndrewAJ
blitz, FICS, 2013

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6

Black is too casual in his defense, having much better in 6...Kf8, 6...Ke6, 6...Ng6 or 6...g6. The Database has 39 games with this position, with White scoring 77%.

Given that White scores 44% in the 10,600 regular Jerome Gambit games in The Database, the statistics strongly suggest that Black has made a bad move.

7.Qf5+

The best move, appearing in The Database 23 times, with White scoring 83%.

7...Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxc5 d6 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qe2 Nf6

White has regained his sacrificed material, with interest, and is better.

13.0-0 Bg4 14.f3 Bh5 15.e5 dxe5 16.Qxe5+ Qe7 17.Qxe7+ Kxe7

From here on out, White plays the Queenless middle game steadily with extra material, and Black is not able to overcome his disadvantage. A few slips brings the game to a close.

18.d3 h6 19.b3 Rhe8 20.Bb2 Nd5 21.Nd2 Ne3 22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.Rac1 g5 24.Ne4 Nd5 25.c4 Nf4 26.Rcd1 Rad8 27.d4 Bg6

28.Nc5 Ne2+ 29.Kf2 Nxd4 30.Rxe8 Kxe8 31.Rxd4 Rxd4 32.Bxd4 b6 33.Ne6 Kd7 34.Nf8+ Black resigned