Some themes repeat themselves regularly in the Jerome Gambit. White's Queen-check that allows gathering in an errant Knight is one example, as Bill Wall shows in the game below. Suprise followed by disappointment and disspirited play on behalf of the defender is another.
Wall, Bill - Guest7492034
PlayChess.com, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.O-O
We have seen another idea, 4.Bb3 Bc5 5. Bxf7+, in Philidor1792 - bichara22, Online chess, 2013 (1-0, 15).
4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8
Instead, 7...Bd6 was recently seen in "A Tale of Two Knights".
7...Re8 is reminiscent of Wall,B - Santiago,D, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 28) I've faced it a few times myself,
8.dxc5 Kg8
This was Black's idea, to return a piece and castle-by-hand.
9.f4 Ng6 10.e5 Ne4
Playing "aggressively" against White's obviously erronious aggression. If chess were only this kind.
11.Qd5+ Kh8 12.Qxe4
12...Qh4 13.g3 Qh3 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.Nb5 b6 16.Nxc7 Bb7 17.Qe2 Rf8
Black does not have enough compensation for his material deficit. His play shows that he is unsettled.
18.Be3 Rbc8 19.Nb5 bxc5 20.Nd6 Rb8 21.Nxb7 Rxb7 22.Bxc5 Re8 23.b4 d6 24.Bxd6 Black resigned
White's "Jerome pawns" will win the day.
Wall,B - Guest6602130
PlayChess.com, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7
A piece is a piece is a piece. Still, Bill has had an opponent decline: 5...Kf8 6.Bb3 Nf6 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Bb4 9.dxe5 Nxe4 10.Qd5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest2310139, PlayChess.com, 2014.
6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
Possibly better was 7...Kf8 8.Qxe5 d6.
8.Qd5+ Ke8
Bill has also seen: 8...Kf8 9.Qxc5+ N8e7 10.f4 d6 11.Qf2 Nc6 12.d4 Qh4 13.g3 Qh3 14.f5 Nge7 15.f6 Nf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.fxg7+ Kxg7 18.Nd5 Rhf8 19.Nf4 Rae8+ 20.Be3 Qg4 21.h3 Qg5 22.0-0-0 Nb4 23.Qd2 Qxg3 24.Nh5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Jllib976, Chess.com, 2010.
9.Qxc5 Qe7
Or 9...d6 10.Qa3 N8e7 11.0-0 Nh4 12.d4 Neg6 13.f4 Rf8 14.Be3 Bg4 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.f5 Ne7 17.Bf2 Nexf5 18.exf5 Nxf5 19.Rae1+ Kd7 20.Qe6+ Kc6 21.d5# checkmate, Wall,Bill - Mbgmx, Chess.com, 2010.
10.Qxc7 Nf6 11.0-0 Kf7 12.Qc4+ Qe6 13.Qd4 Re8 14.f4 Qb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.e5
With three pawns for his sacrificed piece, White is willing to play against Black's structural weaknesses (doubled isolated b-pawns, restrained d-pawn, blocked in Bishop) in stead of an attack on the King.
Black's slip on his next move makes the task easier.
16...Nh5
The safer retreat was 16...Nh7.
17.g4 Nhxf4 18.d4 d6 19.exd6 Bxg4 20.Bxf4 Kg8
White is comfortably up two passed pawns. He does not have to be in a hurry.
21.Bg3 Bh3 22.Rfe1 Rf8 23.Nd5 Rad8 24.Ne7+ Kh7 25.Nxg6 Kxg6
26.Re3 Rf6 27.Be5 Rfxd6
This combination overlooks something.
28.Bxd6 Rxd6 29.Rxh3 Rxd4 30.Rb3 Black resigned
As we have seen in recent posts, the "simple" job for the defender against the Jerome Gambit is to remain steady, play good moves, not panic, pay attention - maintain a "steady as she goes" focus. Wandering from this path, however, can have immediate negative consequences, as the following game demonstrates.
Philidor 1792 - NN
2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nf6 6.c3
Another idea for White: 6.Ng5+ Kg8 7.Qe2 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qd4 10.Nb5 Qh4 11.Nxc7 Rb8 12.Nf3 Qe4 13.Qxe4 Nxe4 14.d3 Nf6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 e4 17.Nd2 exd3 18.cxd3 Ne5 19.d4 Neg4 20.e4 Bd7 21.e5 Rc8 22.Rac1 Ne8 23.Nd5 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Kf7 25.Rf1+ Kg6 26.h3 Nh6 27.Ne7+ Kh5 28.g4+ Kg5 29.Kg2 Nxg4 30.Ne4+ Kh5 31.hxg4+ Bxg4 32.Rh1+ Bh3+ 33.Rxh3+ Kg4 34.Rf3 Black resigned, Philidor 1792 - guest143, Peshka.me 2014.
6...d5
Instead, 6...Nxe4 was seen in Philidor 1792 -guest826, Peshka.me, 2015 (1-0, 29) and Philidor 1792 - guest826, Peshka.me, 2015 (0-1, 33).
6...Re8 was seen in Philidor1792-Chicken_Monster, 1100 KINGS vs Team Russia - Board 12, Chess.com 2014 (1-0, 38).
7.d4 Bb6 8.Nxe5+
A little bit better might have been 8.dxe5.
8...Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nxe4
Black's King is a bit drafty, but otherwise he is doing well.
10.Nd2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Re8 12.Qf4+ Kg8
Black has castled-by-hand, and his light-squared Bishop can be developed.
13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 c6 15.b3 Bf5 16.Rad1 Qb6 17.Rd4 Re6 18.f3 Rae8 19.f4 Rg6
White remains calm, as well. If Black has an advantage, let him show it.
20.Rf2 Rf8 21.g3 h5 22.h4 Be6 23.Qd3 Rf5
Black has established blockades at e6 and f5, but it is not clear where he will be going with that.
24.Kh2 Qc7 25.c4 Qf7 26.cxd5 Bxd5
27.Rd2 Rg4 28.Qe2 Qe7 29.b4 a6 30.a4 Rg6 31.b5 Qa3
Black keeps improving the position of his pieces.
32.R2d3 Qc5 33.Rd2 Rg4 34.Qd3 g6 35.bxa6 bxa6 36.Re2 Qb6 37.Qc3
White's patience helps Black envision a reasonable, but flawed idea: to develop his last piece, his King, to e6 to blockade White's passed e-pawn. However, the monarch steps into danger.
37...Kf7 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.e6+ Ke8
"Best" for Black was to give up his Queen with 39...Qxe6 but after 40.Rxe6 Kxe6 41.Qc6+ Kf7 42.Qxa6 it is clear that White's passed a-pawn will rule the day.
40.e7 Black resigned
Recently I stopped by a local chess club for the first time in about 25 years.
I had a lot of fun, but lost all of my games, which made me feel like the weakest player in the group. This was particularly troubling given that half of the people there were elementary school students!
(I remember many years ago visiting the local university chess club, going 0-13 one evening, playing a different chess opening each game; my opponents could never figure that one out...)
Worst of all, I was not given the opportunity to play the Jerome Gambit. Wait 'til next week!
Black plays reasonable chess in the following game, as does White - who slowly moves the game toward equality. Then, suddenly, the second player deliberately hangs a piece, and White's attack on the enemy King crashes through. Can Readers uncover an explanation (other than "chess blindness") for Black's 17th move?
Wall, Bill - Guest7132040
PlayChess.com, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O
Or 8.Qd5+ followed by 9.O-O as in Wall,B - Guest344942, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 20).
8...Be6
8...Nf6 was seen in a number of previous games, for example: Jerome,A - Shinkman,W, Iowa, 1876, (1/2 - 1/2, 42); perrypawnpusher - JoseSoza, Chess.com, 2012 (0-1, 34); Wall,B - Guest903719, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 47); and Wall,B - Guest1561957, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 25).
9.f4 Nc6 10.Qc3 Nf6 11.f5 Bd7 12.Qb3+ Kf8 13.Re1 Nd4 14.Qd3 c5
15.Bf4 Bb5 16.Qd1 Qb6 17.c3 Ba4
White can just take the Bishop. What am I missing? (If Black is planning 18...Qxb2 it would be well met by the obvious 19.Nd2.)
18.Qxa4 Nc6 19.Bxd6+ Kf7 20.Qc4+ Black resigned
The Blackburne Defense to the Jerome Gambit leads to a tense and complicated game for both sides. As Joseph Henry Blackburne demonstrated early in the life of the Jerome, Black can generate a wild counter-attack by returning one sacrificed piece and offering a Rook as well. On the other hand, analysis since has shown that White can draw, and practical play shows he can often do better - in games in The Database White scores 68%.
Philidor 1792 - NN
2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qd5+
White decides to steer clear of the dangers of 8.Qxh8 and grab another pawn. He hopes to show his three extra pawns will outweigh his opponent's extra piece. Philidor1792 has had significant success with the pawns vs the piece in the Jerome Gambit.
8...Be6
Seen previously was 8...Kg7 in RevvedUp - Fritz 8, 2 12, 2006 (0-1, 19).
9.Qxb7
Or 9.Qd3 Nf6 10.O-O Qe7 11.b3 Ng4 12.Bb2 Ne5 13.Qf3+ Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bh3 15.Bxh8 Qg5+ 16.Kh1 Qg2 checkmate, hattta - VictoriaBot, FICS, 2012.
9...Rb8
An anternate idea was 9...Rc8 seen in stampyshortlegs - Sir Osis of the Liver, JG Tourney4, ChessWorld, 2009 (1-0, 39).
10.Qa6 Qh4
At first glance it looks like Black is the one playing a gambit, with the subsequent lead in development of pieces. However, if White can consolidate his position behind his pawns, he can eventually put them on the march and look for balance.
As the game goes, Black uses his pieces to keep pressuring his opponent, and the point is his.
11.Qe2 Bg4 12.Qf1 Nf6 13.d3 d5 14.Nc3 Rhe8 15.h3 Bd7 16.g3 Qh5 17.f3 Bd4 18.Nd1 Kg7 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Nxe3 dxe4 21.fxe4 Qa5+ 22. Kd1 Qc5
So far White's pawn cover has held up, but his oppponent's pressure is relentless and his lead in development is crushing.
23.Qf2 Nxe4 24.dxe4 Rxe4 25.Re1 Rxb2 26.Re2 Bxh3 27.Ng2 Qd6+ 28.Kc1 Rbb4 29.Nf4 Bg4 30.Rxe4 Qd1 checkmate.
The following game has a Knight sortie for Black, and one for White. One is effective, one is not. The "Jerome pawns" join in the fun for White.
Wall, Bill -Guest293396
PlayChess.com, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+
We have seen this position recently in another of Bill Wall's games, vs Mydrik.
5....Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd4+
Possibly a slip on Black's part, although the move has been seen before, so perhaps he was looking for a simple way to return the sacrificed piece. Still, 9...Bd6 10.e5 Bc5+ looked like a better choice, leading to an even game.
10.Qxd4 Re8
Others:
10...d6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.fxe5 Bg4 14.exf6 gxf6 15.Nc3 Rd7 16.Ne4 f5 17.Bg5 Kg6 18.Nc5 Rd5 19.Ne6 Re8 20.Nxc7 Black resigned, Fietsenzo - oritelgavi, FICS, 2014;
10...c6 11.e5 Nd5 12.c4 Qb6 13.c5 Qb4 14.Qf2 Rf8 15.Bd2 Qxb2 16.Bc3 Qxf2+ 17.Rxf2 b6 18.Bd4 Kg8 19.Nc3 Nxc3 20.Bxc3 bxc5 21.Rb2 Rxf4 22.Rf1 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Ba6+ 24.Kf2 Rf8+ 25.Ke3 Bb5 26.Ba5 Rf5 27.Bc7 Rf7 28.Rd2 h6 29.h4 Re7 30.Bd6 Re8 31.Ke4 c4 32.Bc5 a6 33.Rxd7 c3 34.Rd1 c2 35.Rc1 Ba4 36.Kf5 Rd8 37.Be3 Rd1 38.Ke6 Rd3 39.Bf4 Bb5 40.Rxc2 Rd4 41.g3 Bd3 42.Rd2 Bc4+ 43.Kf5 Rxd2 44.Bxd2 Bxa2 45.Bb4 Kf7 46.g4 Be6+ 47.Kf4 Bd5 48.g5 hxg5+ 49.hxg5 Ke6 50.g6 Bc4 51.Bd6 a5 52.Ke4 a4 53.Kd4 Bb5 54.Kc3 Be2 55.Kb4 Bh5 56.Kxa4 Bxg6 57.Kb4 Bf5 58.Kc5 Be4 White forfeited on time, ndrwgn - lobisonte, FICS, 2013;
10...Qe7 11.e5 Nh5 12.f5 Re8 13.Qd5+ Kf8 14.Bf4 Nxf4 15.Rxf4 Qxe5 16.Qxe5 Rxe5 17.f6 gxf6 18.Rxf6+ Kg7 19.Rf1 b6 20.Nc3 Ba6 21.Rfd1 Rae8 22.Rxd7+ Kg8 23.Rxc7 Rf8 24.h3 Ref5 25.Kh2 Rf2 26.Ne4 Rxc2 27.b4 Rxc7 28.a4 Rc4 29.b5 Rxe4 30.bxa6 Rf2 31.Rc1 Rxa4 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Rc7+ Rf7 34.Rb7 Rxa6 35.Rb8 Ra2 36.Re8 b5 37.Re3 b4 38.Rb3 a5 39.h4 Ra3 40.Rb2 b3 41.h5 a4 42.h6+ Kg6 43.g4 Ra2 White resigned, HauntedKnight - JustaHobby, FICS, 2010.
11.e5 Ng4
This "attack" is brushed off, but the retreat 11...Ng8 also has its difficulties, e.g. 12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Nc3 d6 14.Qe4 Qh4 15.g3 Qh5 16.Qb4 c5 17.Qe4 h6 18.Nb5 Qf7 19.Nxd6 Qe6 20.Nxe8 Kxe8 21.f5 Qe7 22.Be3 Rb8 23.Rae1 b6 24.Bf4 Bb7 25.Qa4+ Kf8 26.f6 Qe6 27.fxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qxa7 Qd5 29.Qxb7+ Rxb7 30.e6 Qxa2 31.Be5+ Kg6, White forfeited on time, frizerkaHR - cebop, FICS, 2013.
12.h3 Nh6 13.f5
The "Jerome pawns" are in their glory.
13...Ng8 14.Nc3 c6 15.Ne4 Qb6 16.Ng5+
This Knight will win material, and usher in the pawns.
16...Kf8 17.Nxh7+ Ke7 18.f6+ gxf6 19.exf6+ Nxf6 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.Nxf6 Black resigned
White is up a piece and a pawn, as well as having the safer King.
