Further Exploration of An Odd Line

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has any number of unusual positions arising from White's attack and Black's defense/counterattack. The following game continues exploration of an odd one in particular, along with some very instructive tactical play. 

Wall, Bill - Guest3742987
PlayChess.com 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 

This is an interesting position. Check out "LPDO Revisited", "Gloom and Doom", "Here... No, there... No, Here... No, There..." and "Never Send A Pawn To Do A Job..." for some of the earlier looks at it.

Black's response with his Queen in this game is relatively rare. (Wildest is 7...Qh4!?)

7...Qe7 8.dxe5

Some other ideas:

8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxe5 Qxe5 10.dxe5 Bc5 11.O-O d6 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Be3 Nf6 14.f3 Re8 15.Nd2 Be6 16.a3 Nh5 17.Rad1 Nf4 18.g3 Nd3 19.Rb1 Bc5 20.Bxc5 Nxc5 21.Rfd1 Rad8 22.Kf2 Rd7 23.Ke2 Red8 24.f4 Bg4+ 25.Ke1 Bxd1 26.Rxd1 Nb3 27.Nxb3 Rxd1+ 28.Ke2 Rh1 29.Kf3 Rxh2 30.Nd4 c5 31.Nb5 a6 32.Nc7
Rd3+ 33.Kg4 h6, White forfeited on time, iranstone - Mucke, FICS, 2013; or

8.Qb3+ d5 9.cxb4 Nc6 10.O-O Nf6 11.exd5 Nxd4 12.Qc4 Nf5 13.Bg5 Nd6 14.Qb3 Bf5 15.Nc3 Rhf8 16.Rfe1 Qd7 17.a4 Kg6 18.h4 h6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Ne2 Raf8 21.Nf4+ Kh7 22.h5 Be4 23.Ng6 Rxf2 24.Nxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rf1 Qg4 26.Qh3 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Qe2 28.Rf2 Qd1+ 29.Kh2 Qxd5 30.Qh4 Nf5 31.Qf4 Nd6 32.Rd2 Qxh5+ 33.Kg1 Bg6 34.b3 Qg5 35.Rd4 Qxf4 36.Rxf4 Bc2 37.Rf3 Ne4 38.Kh2 c5 39.bxc5 Nxc5 40.Rc3 Bxb3 41.Rxc5 Bxa4 42.Rc7 a5 43.Rxb7 Bb3 44.Ra7 a4 45.Ra5 Kg6 46.Kg3 Kf6 47.Kf2 g5 48.Ke3 h5 49.Kd4 Kg6 50.Kc3 h4 51.Kb4 Kh5 52.Kc3 Kg4 53.Kd2 h3 54.Ke1 hxg2 55.Kf2 Kh3 56.Rxg5 Kh2 57.Rxg2+, Black forfeited on time, Nusiance - scaccopazzoo, FICS, 2009 ; or

8.O-O Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nc6 10.Qb3+ Ke8 11.Bd2 d6 12.Na3 a6 13.e5 Qf7 14.c4 Nxd4 15.Qd3 Nc6 16.exd6 Bf5 17.Rfe1+ Kd7 18.dxc7+ Kxc7 19.Bf4+ Kc8 20.Qb3 Na5 21.Qb6 Nf6 22.Qxa5 Nh5 23.Bd6, Black forfeited on time, stretto - Conga, FICS, 2007.

8... Bc5 

8...Qxe5 9.Qf3+ Nf6 10.Nd2 d5 11.cxb4 dxe4 12.Nxe4
Qxe4+ 13.Qxe4 Nxe4 14.O-O Re8 15.Be3 Kg8 16.Rac1 c6 17.Rc4 b5 Black resigned, EvanJunior - seanwickham, FICS, 2008.

9. Qd5+ 

Alternately 9.Qf3+ Ke8 10.O-O Qxe5 11.Bf4 Qf6 12.e5 Qf5 13.Nd2 d6 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Rfe1+ Kd7 16.Nc4 Qxf4 17.Qh3+ Kd8 18.g3 Qxc4 19.Qh5 Nf6 20.Qg5 Qf7 21.Rad1 h6 22.Qe3 Re8 23.Qd2 Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Bf5 25.b4 Kd7 26.c4 Qxc4 27.a3 Re8 28.Rc1 Qd5 29.Qc3 Bh3 30.f3 Re2 31.a4 Rg2+ 32.Kh1 Rf2 33.Qe3 Qxf3+ 34.Qxf3 Rxf3 White resigned, jfhumphrey - kenzie, FICS 2010. 

9...Ke8 10.O-O c6 11.Qd1 d6 

There was nothing wrong with 11...Qxe5. 

12.b4 Bb6 13.exd6 Qe5 14.Bb2 Nf6 15.Nd2 Be6 16.Nf3 Qf4 

If 16...Qxe4 then 17.Re1, as Bill points out; yet the central "Jerome pawns" are beginning to look like trouble. The game is about equal. 

17.Bc1 Qg4 18.Re1 Nxe4 19.Be3 Rf8 

Black probably should have gone in for the complications after 19...Nxc3 20.Qc2 Nd5 21.h3 Qf5 22.Qxf5 Bxf5 23.Bxb6+. 

20.Bxb6 axb6 

Now the tactics build around the Knight at e4.

21.Qd4 Rf4 22.h3 Qg6 23.Ne5 Qf5 24.Nd3 Rh4 25.Qxg7 

White grabs a pawn before returing to the pressure on e4.

25...Qf7 26. Qd4 Rd8 27. Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxe4 Rxd6

White is up a couple of pawns, but the tactical thrust-and-parry continues.

29.Re1 Kf8 30.Ne5 Qf5 31.Qe3 Bxa2 32.Qxb6 Rd2 33.Qe3 Rd6 34.Qc5 Qe6 35.Re3 Qh6 

36.Nd7+ Kg8 37.Qe5 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rxd7 39.Qe8+ Qf8 40.Qxd7 

The advantage has grown to the exchange and some pawns, and Bill is willing to simplify into a stone cold won pawn ending.

40...Bf7 41.Qxb7 Qd6+ 42.g3 Kf8 43.Rf3 Qe6 44.Qxf7+ Qxf7 45.Rxf7+ Kxf7 46.c4 Ke6 47.b5 Kd7 48.f4 Kd6 49.b6 c5 50.f5
Black resigned

Don't Worry, I've Got This

There are so many ways to defeat the Jerome Gambit, it's not surprising to see Black, in the following game, attempt several of them. I suppose that any one of them could work - on a different day, in a different game, against a different player...

Wall, Bill - Guest3967134
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

Black has given back one of the sacrificed pieces, and then developed his Queen to where it protects his King, controls the center and threatens an exchange. Surely, this is enough?

8.Qc5

A couple of notable alternatives:

8.Qe3 as in Wall,B - Tsyalex, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 20); and 
8.Qd1 as seen in an unfinished correspondence game Jerome,A - Norton, D.P., 1876, and the later Jerome,A - Jaeger,D, correspondence, 1879, (1-0, 35).

Don't overlook "Why Did He Play That Move?"

8...Qd6 9.Qc3

The positional 9.Qxd6!? was seen in Wall,B - berserkergang, FICS, 2011: 9...cxd6 10. O-O Nf6 11. Nc3 a6 12. Rd1 Ke7 13. b3 b5 14. Ba3 Nf7 15. e5 Ne8 16. exd6+ Nexd6 17. Ne4 Bb7 18. Nxd6 Nxd6 19. Rxd6 Kd8 20. Rad1 Bc6 21.Rxc6 Black resigned

9...Nf6 10.Bf4 Nxe4

Giving back the other sacrificed piece. Surely, this at least draws? 

11.Qxe5 Qxe5 12.Bxe5 d6 

13.f3 Re8 14.fxe4 Rxe5 15.Nc3 c6

Black has play against White's isolated e-pawn - plus a Bishop for a Knight. Winning in the endgame is no shame.

16.Rf1+ Kg8 17.O-O-O d5 18.exd5 Bd7 19.dxc6 Bxc6

Black has sacrificed a pawn for dynamic piece play. Look at that Bishop!

20.g3 Rae8 21.Rd4 h6 22.Kd2 a6 23.a3 Bb5 24.Nxb5 axb5 25.Rf2 b6

Okay, maybe things are going a bit awry for Black...

26.Rd6 Kh7 27.Rxb6 Rd5+ 28.Kc3 Re3+ 29.Kb4 Re4+ 30.Kb3 Re3+ 31.c3 Rde5 32.Rb7 Re7 33.Rxb5 Re2 34.Rxe2 Rxe2 35.a4

 35...Rxh2 36.a5 Rg2 37.a6 Rxg3 38.a7 Black resigned

New Jerome Gambit Tournament

I will be following the progress of the upcoming (to start this month) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn.

The list of players signed up so far includes SeinfeldFan91, who won last year's Jerome Gambit tournament. Playing as well will be rigidwithfear, who played in one RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014 as well as last year's; and ZorroTheFox, deriver69, and BigD00, who played in another RedHotPawn Jerome thematic in 2014.

The tournament is open to subscribers, not just RedHotPawn members, so I will not be joining in the fun.

A Nice Jerome Gambit

I just noticed that chessfriend Guido de Bouver of Flanders, Belgium, has a post on his Blackmar Diemer Gambit website (1.d4 d5 2.e4!? dxe4 3.Nc3; I have a link to it from this blog) which is titled "A Nice Jerome Gambit".

In the past we have exchanged ideas on the Jerome Gambit, although Guido's first love is the BDG, about which he has written a fine book, Attack With the Blackmar Diemer (see my review here).

About the following game, Guido notes "Friday evening, as a surprise act, I played a nice little Jerome gambit in our local chess club. My opponent, who had prepared himself for a fierce Blackmar Diemer, could not believe his eyes."

De Bouver, Guido - Verstappen
Mechelen, 2015

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.Qe3 Nf6 

10.O-O Rf8 11.d4 b6 

We are already in unexplored territory, according to The Database.

12.f4

"Jerome pawns on the move!" Guido remarks.

12...Bb7 13.Nc3 Qe7 

14.f5 Nh8 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.b3 Nf7 19.Bb2

Drawn

Guido's assessment: "A very complicated position - white has two strong pawns for the piece and has the safer king. If black however can exchange a few pieces, black should have the better endgame."

An Ordinary Day in the Life of the Jerome Gambit

The following Jerome Gambit game seems so ordinary, it is almost possible to forget that is comes from a "refuted" opening that grants the defender a "winning advantage" at move four. Bill Wall makes it look ordinary.

Wall, Bill - Borut, O
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Ng6

A normal move, but one that is rare in The Database, with fewer than 10 examples.

8.O-O

Bill played 8.Nc3 successfully in couple of games: 8...Nf6 9.Bg5 b6 (9...Ng4 10.Bxd8 Rxd8 11.Nb5 c6 12.Nc7 Rb8 13.Qxa7 White forfeited by disconnection in a won position, Wall,B - Socolata, FICS, 2013) 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Qd5+ Qe6 12.Qxa8 Black resigned, Wall,B - Socolate, FICS, 2013. 

8...d6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Bg5

Putting pressure on the Knight at f6, a typical Jerome Gambit theme.

10...Rf8 11.f4 Kg8

Black castles-by-hand.

12.Nd5 Bd7 13.Rad1 Bc6 14.Qc4 Kh8 

Black has safeguarded his King, and developed his often problematic light-squared Bishop.

15.e5 Bxd5 16.Rxd5 

16...Qd7

Unpinning the Knight, but missing the best, if tricky line: 16...Nxd5 17.Bxd8 Ne3 18.Qb3 Nxf1 19.Bxc7 Nxf4 20.Kxf1 Nd5+ 21.Kg1 Nxc7 22.Qxb7 Ne6 23.exd6 when Black's advantage in material - two Rooks and a Knight for a Queen - likely outweighs White's "Jerome pawns".

17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bh6 Rfe8

White has recovered his sacrificed piece, but will continue to put pressure on f6.

19.Qc3 Qf7 20.Rf5 Re6 21.Rb5 

21...b6

Black doesn't quite have the answer to White's next move, so this move is insufficient, compared to 21...Rg8. 

22.f5 Re5 23.fxg6 Qxg6 24.Rxe5

With a Black Rook on g8 (see above note), this move would not have been possible because of the threat to g2 (and further back rank threats).

24...fxe5 25.Bf8 Black resigned

White's Bishop is not as vulnerable as it appears at first look, and it makes threats to Black's pawns while possibly working with White's Queen for checkmate. The more you look, the more ordinary the position seems.

Trying To Escape The Inevitable

The following game reminds me of Douglas Adam's comment, above. I am not exactly sure why.

Wall, Bill - Guest2901729

PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7 6.c3 Ne6 

It is already possible to see where danger might strike Black: along the d8-h4 diagonal, where his King and Queen are lined up; or in the center, where White's "Jerome pawns" can cause mischief.

7.d4 d6 8.Nd3 Nf6 9.d5

Best according to Stockfish 7. 

Interesting was 9.Qe2 as in Philidor 1792 - g-chessman1518, GameKnot.com, 2015(1-0, 22).

9...Nc5 10.Nxc5 dxc5 11.e5

An improvement over the older 11.f3 Ke8 12.O-O Be7 13.c4 Kf7 14.e5 Nd7 15.e6+ Ke8 Black resigned, AMITAF - UofM, FICS, 2010.

11...Nxd5

Trying to escape the inevitable. He should have given up the Knight directly.

12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.exf6+ gxf6

Or 13...Ke8 14.Qxd8+ Kxd8 15.fxg7+ Kd7 16.gxh8=Q Be7 17.Qxh7 Kc6 18.Qxe7 Bd7 19.b4 Re8 20.Qxe8 Bxe8 21.bxc5 Kxc5 22.Nd2 b6 Black resigned, EdoTK - Jorma, FICS, 2006.

14.Bxf6+ Black resigned

Ouch! The Queen is lost.

Go On, Take The Money And Run

Black does well defending against the Jerome Gambit in the following game, until he becomes careless, and all of his gains disappear quickly.

Wall, Bill - Guest2905635
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, a transition from 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nc3 Nf6.

6.d3 Re8

Or:

6...Ng4 7.Ng5+ Ke8 (7...Kg8 as in Wall,B - Richard123, Chess.com, 2010 [1-0, 10]) 8.Qxg4 h6 9.Qh5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nb5 checkmate, Wall,B - 321, InstantChess, 2015; or

6...Bb4 7.O-O Bxc3 8.Ng5+ Kg8 9.bxc3 h6 10.Nf3 d5 11.exd5 Qxd5 12.Be3 Bg4 13.c4 Qd8 14.h3 Be6 15.Rb1 b6 16.Re1 e4 17.dxe4 Bxc4 18.e5 Nd7 19.Qd2 Bxa2 20.Rbd1 Be6 21.Qc3
Ne7 22.Nd4 Bd5 23.Nf5 Nxf5 24.Rxd5 Ne7 25.Rd4 c5 26.Qc4+ Kh7 27.Qd3+Kg8 28.Rxd7 Qf8 29.Ra1 Nf5 30.Qd5+ Kh7 31.Rf7 Qg8 32.e6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012; or

6... Bxf2+ as in Wall,B - Igidius, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 15); or

6... Rf8 as in Wall,B - BarAbbas, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 45) 

7.O-O g6

Instead, 7...Nd4 was seen in Wall,B - Albulus, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 44).

8.Nd5 Nxd5 9.exd5 Ne7 10.Nxe5+ Kg8 11.Bg5 d6 12.Nf3 Qd7

Black has unpinned his Knight and plans to grab the advanced d-pawn. It looks like a simple idea.

13.d4 Bb6 14.Re1 Nxd5 15.c4 Ne7

There.

16.c5 dxc5 17.Qb3+ Kf8 18.Bh6 checkmate