It Still Happens - But It Doesn't Have To

Looking through some Jerome Gambit games from 2016, I noticed some "declined" versions.

On one hand, I can understand Black not wanting to give White the kind of game that the attacker wants.

On the other hand, as we have seen many times before, in declining the gambit piece(s) Black is exchanging an "objectively" won game for one where he is worse, if not losing.

In the following game, shugart at FICS, makes quick work of the situation.

shugart - amama
blitz 3 0, FICS, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kf8 5.Bb3

White proceeds to play simple moves and out-play his opponent. He needed to face a greater challenge than that.

5...Qf6 6.O-O d6 7.h3 Nge7 8.Nc3 Be6 9.Nd5 Nxd5 10.exd5 Na5 11.dxe6 Nxb3 12.axb3 Qxe6 

In typical defense-against-the-Jerome-Gambit-style, Black has returned the sacrificed piece - or, he would have, had he accepted a piece in the first place. Instead, unfortunately, he is now just down a Knight.

13.d3 h6 14.Be3 b6 15.Bxc5 bxc5 16.Qd2 Kf7 17.Ra6 Rhf8 18.Rfa1 Kg8 19.Rxa7 Rxa7 20.Rxa7 Rc8 21.Qa5 Qe7 22.Qa6 Kh7

A final slip, possibly in time pressure.

23.Qxc8

Black resigned

Always Be Ready to Deliver Checkmate

Chris Torres (see "The Most Violent Chess Game Ever Played!", "Another Lesson in the Jerome Gambit", "More Musings" and "More Useful Junk") of the blog site Chess Musings, sent a Jerome Gambit game that is a reminder that the attacker must always be ready to deliver checkmate.

chessmusings - Dumble Door
Internet, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qxe5 Be7

An unusual move. Checking The Database, I discovered only a dozen games with this position (White scored 79%). I noticed some of the "usual suspects" playing the Jerome: UNPREDICTABLE, chessmanjeff, fehim, Petasluk - and perrypawnpusher (a loss!).

8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qg3 Rg8

A "mysterious Rook move" that actually seems to have something to do with castling-by-hand - on the Queenside!

11.f4 Bd7 12.e5 Ne8 13.d4 c6 14.f5 

The "Jerome pawns" are on the march!

But, Black has a plan: return his extra piece for a couple of pawns and then continue his King's journey to safety across the board!

14...Kf7 15.e6+ Bxe6 16.fxe6+ Kxe6 

Onwards to c7, c8 or b8!

17.Qh3 checkmate

Ooops.

Born to Skepticism

I recently ran across what might loosely be considered a "birth announcement" for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). It was in a Canadian magazine, and had the expected amount of skepticism.

(The Jerome Gambit was first introduced in the Dubuque Chess Journal, April 1874, Vol. VI, No. 50, p. 358-9, in the article "New Chess Opening")

The Favorite 

An Illustrated Journal of Amusing and Useful Reading
Vol. 03 No. 18: May 02, 1874
editor George Edouard Desbarats

CAISSAN CHIPS.
The [Dubuque] Chess Journal presents to the world a new variation in the “ slow ” opening, called “Jerome’s double gambit.” It will in all probability prove to be practically, as it certainly is theoretically, unsound. The sacrifice of a Bishop and a Knight so early in a game as the 4th and 5th moves, can hardly be expected to afford equivalent advantage in position. After further examination we may possibly republish it in the Favorite, should we not see what we expect to see.

Alas, I have not been able to find further issues of The Favorite,  so I do not know if Mr. Desbarats ever changed his mind about the opening!

Garrison Duty

Wandering the internet the other day, I came across a document purported to be a "personal war sketch" of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, inventor of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Some of the dates vary from earlier information I have uncovered, and I have added, below, some further information on Jerome's apparent activity with the 26th Infantry, United States Colored Troops.

Headquarters
Paxton Post No. 387
Department of Illinois
Grand Army of the Republic
Personal War Sketch
of
Comrade Alonzo Wheeler Jerome
Who was born on the eighth day of March, A.D. 1834 in Four Mile Point, County of Greene, State of New York was drafted or conscripted into the service at Jamaica Long Island Nov 16th 1863 and was made Quarter Master Sargeant of the 26th U.S. Colored Troops Feb. 16th 1864 and upon the recommendation of the Quarter Master was promoted by Special order of the War Department in July 1865 to 2nd Lieutenant in the same regiment, serving in this capacity until discharged.
It was Comrade Jerome's fortune to spend a great proportion of his time of service in doing Post and Garrison duty along the Atlantic Seaboard and discipline became a feature of military life with him rather than long marches and exciting campaigns. He took part in an expedition against the rebel defenses of Charleston S.C. during July 1864 from Beaufort S. C. Aside from this monotony was characteristic of service in garrison duty.After being commissioned he served on the staff of Cols Howard and Beed who at different times commanded the Post at Beaufort S.C. where the 26 U.S.C.T. were during guard duty...
He died March 22, 1902 in Springfield, IL and was buried in Glen Cemetary, Paxton, IL.


It is interesting to note the action, according to another source, listed for the 26th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry - it appears to have more than "monotony". (Information was gathered from the online site http://www.bjmjr.com/cwnorth/26usci.htm, which no longer is active.)

SERVICE -Reported at Beaufort, S.C., April 13, 1864 and post duty there till November 27. Expedition to Johns and James Islands July 2-10. Operations against Battery Pringle July 4-9. Actions on Johns Island July 5 and 7. Burden's Causeway July 9. Battle of Honey Hill November 30. Demonstration on Charleston & Savannah Railroad December 6-9. Action at Devaux's Neck December 6. Tillifinny Station December 9. McKay's Point December 22. Ordered to Beaufort, S. C. January 2, 1865, and duty there till August. Mustered Out August 26, 1865. 

Capt. Evans Faces the Sarratt Attack

At different times on this blog, I have looked for possible fore-runners to the Jerome Gambit (inspirations to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome), including the Sarratt or Vitzthum Attack. (See "A Bridge To... Somewhere?", "Another Distant Relative?", "The Sarratt Attack", "Another look at the Sarratt Attack" and "Another Example of the Vitzthum Attack"). 

Recently I was reading Dr. Tim Harding's Eminent Victorian Chess Players Ten Biographies (2012), and in its Appendix II "Games by Captain Evans" I found the following game. While its date is unknown, the fact that it was published in 1843 makes it one of the earliest examples of the opening that I have seen. It also features a creative fortress defense (R + N vs Q) in the endgame.

Wilson, Harry - Evans, William Davies
Unknown place and date
Notes by Harding and CPC.

From CPC [Chess Player's Chronicle], IV (1843) pages 293-295: "This and the following game are from a choice collection of unpublished MS. games in the possession of Mr. Harry Wilson, which that distinguished Amateur, with his accustomed liberality, has kindly placed at the disposal of the Editor." The games could have been played in Wales (if before 1840) or in London, or at
Wilson's home at Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 

9...Re8 10.Qd5+ Kg7 11.Bg5 Rxe4+ 12.Qxe4 Qxg5 13.O-O d5 14.Qf3 Ne7 15.Qg3 Qxg3 16.hxg3 Bf5 17.Rc1? c5 18.Nd2 c4 19.c3 d3 20.b3 Rc8 21.bxc4 dxc4 22.Rab1 Rc7 23.Rb4 Be6 24.Rcb1 b6 25.Re1 Rc6 26. Re4? a5 27.Rb5 Kf7 28.Rf4+? Kg7 29.Kf1 Nd5 30.Rxd5 Bxd5 31.Rd4 Rc5 32.f3 b5 33.a3 Kf6 34.Kf2 b4 35.axb4 axb4 36.cxb4 c3! 

37.bxc5 c2 38.Rxd5 c1=Q 39.Rxd3 Qxc5+ 40.Ke2 Qg1 41.Ne4+ Ke5 42.Re3 Qxg2+ 43.Nf2+ Kd4 44.Re4+ Kd5 45.g4 h5 46.gxh5 gxh5 47.Rh4 Qg5 48.Rh3 Kd4 49.Kf1 Ke3 50.Nd1+ Kd2 51.Nf2 Qb5+ 52.Kg2 Ke1 53.Rh1+ Ke2 54.Nh3 Qf5 55.Ng1+ Ke3 56.Rh3 Qc2+ 57.Kh1 Qg6 58.Rh2 Qg5

59.Re2+ Kd3 60.Rh2 h4 61.Rg2 Qf5 62.Rh2 Qf4 63.Rh3 Kd2 64.Rh2+ Ke1 65.Ra2 Qd4 66.Re2+ Kf1 67.Rg2 Qd7 68.Ra2 Qg7 69.Nh3 Qf6 70.Rf2+ Ke1 71.Kg1 Qg6+ 72.Rg2 Qf5 73.Ng5 h3 74.Rg4 Qc5+ 75.Kh2 Qf2+ 76.Kxh3 Kf1 77.Rg3 Qb6 78.f4 Qf2??

An egregious blunder! The game should have been drawn 20 moves before.

79.Rf3

Black resigned

But Blackburne Made It Look So Easy!

The most famous Jerome Gambit game is the one by Blackburne, where he sacrificed material as Black to build a counter attack that led to a Queen sacrifice and checkmate.

Never mind that subsequent analysis and play has shown that, "objectively", the best Black should be able to hope for is a draw.

The fact is, the Blackburne Defense leads to sharp and complicated play, and it is important to have a concrete knowledge of the line - if either Black or White wishes to survive. As we have seen, and will see in the game below, "half a defense is worse than no defense at all..." Better to "Commit It To Memory".

fehim - KramMan
blitz, FICS, 2015

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5
d6

Here we go! To capture the excitement of the play ahead, it is fun to return to Geoff Chandler's comparison of the Blackburne Defense with "Mars Attacks!"

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O Qxe4

Wait a minute... Sure, Black flashes out his Queen to h4, all big and bad and scary. But - then what? Certainly not to pawn-grab. What did he miss? What did he miss??

Hint: 9...Nf6! Black wants to trap White's Queen and make threats against her (as well as the King), eventually offering his other Rook as well.

10.Qxh7+

This is not going to go well for Black.

10.d3 worked in AlgozBR - khuizen, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 17)

10...Kf8 11.Nc3

Or 11.d3 Qe2 (or 11...Qf5 in obviously - dmyze, GameKnot.com, 2004 [1-0, 20]; or 11...Qe6 in ubluk - bfcace, Chess.com, 2012 [1-0, 18]) 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Kf6 15.Qxc7 Bf5 16.Nc3 Qxc2 17.Nd5+ Kg5 18.Qe7+ Kh6 19.h4 Rh8 20.Qg5+ Kg7 21.Rae1 Rf8 22.h5 Bxd3 23.h6+ Kg8 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.Nh7 Kg8 26.Nxf8 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Bxf2+ 28.Rxf2 Qc1+ 29.Qxc1 Black resigned, ZahariSokolov - pedroregistro, FICS, 2015

11...Qf5

Or 11...Qxc2 12.Qh4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - LtPoultry, blitz, FICS, 2010; or 12.d3 Qxd3 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rfe1+ Kd8 15.Qxg8+ Kd7 16.Qe8 checkmate, DREWBEAR 63 - blackburne, JGTourney4, ChessWorld, 2009.

12.d3 Nf6 13.Qh4

This move is okay, as White is up the exchange plus a couple of pawns, so he can consolidate. He could continue his attack, however, with 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Rae1+ Be6 15.Qg7.

13...Kg7 14.Be3 Be6 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Qf6

The next few moves bring some excitement, but the game is pretty much over. Black's slip at move 23 just ends things

18.c3 Rh8 19.f4 c6 20.c4 Qh4 21.Qxe6 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 Qxf4+ 23.Ke2 Qg4+ 24.Qxg4 Black resigned

Tournaments Update

The third round of the Chess.com Italian Game Tournament is approaching its conclusion, with one game remaining to be completed. mikerj, with 7.5 points, is playing LVercotti, with 7 points, battling for the top spot in round three, the final round.

Curiously, their positions are reversed in the overall standings, with LVercotti having 26 points and mikerj having 25.5. That might mean that while a draw would be sufficient for mikerj to win round three, but he would need a win to finish up on the top of the tournament.

I am facing a similar, if diluted, situation: I am clearly going to finish third in round three, ahead of Diogenes_of_Sinope, but he is going to leap over me by .5 points in the final standings. I guess 4th place out of 27 contestants isn't too bad.

The upcoming (players started signing up a couple of months ago) Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn that I mentioned a month and a half ago now has 14 of its needed 16 participants. I'd love to help them complete the field, but each time I check on it I receive the reasonable message "Sorry, you are not eligible to enter this tournament. This tournament is only available to subscribers." Oh, well. I will keep you updated.

The new 5-player Chess.com "Italian Game: Guioco Piano" tournament has just started, and I expect to play 4 Jerome Gambits - in fact, I just sacced the Bishop in game 1 (I have black in the other games, but will eventually have my chance at 4.Bxf7ch!?). You will see them as they are completed.