Given that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a "refuted" opening, should White grab the chance for a draw if he sees one? Or does this go against the whole idea of playing a wild, destabilizing and gambling opening? Is there a point where the Gambiteer should realize that things have gotten difficult enough that he should save a half point, rather than surrender the whole thing? The following game is an interesting example of these issues. deriver69 - golddog2 Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com 2016. 1e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nd4
An odd move, reminiscent of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit; but perhaps not too odd: there are 10 previous examples in The Database, and White won 6, lost 4. 6.Nxe5+ Ke7 Better was 6...Kf8 7.c3 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.d4 Bb6 which is about equal according to Stockfish 7. 7.d3 Instead, after7.c3 Ne6 8.d4 Bb6 Stockfish 7 says White has the advantage. 7...d6 8.Bg5+ Nf6 9.Ng4 Bxg4 10.Qxg4 Nxc2
Here we have a typical messy Jerome Gambit position. Stockfish suggests that Black should take the time to get his King out of the pin, with 11...Kf8. 11.Nc3 Nxa1 12.Rxa1 White overlooks (or ignores?) the fact that his sacrifice allows him now to draw with 12.Bxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nd5+ Kf7 14.Qf5+ Kg8 15.Qe6+ Kf8 16.Qf5+ etc. But - was he even looking for a draw? 12...c6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Re1 Bd4 15.Ne4
White continues to pressure the Knight at f6. Black would do well to further consolidate with something like 15...Qd5. Instead, he decides to be a bit more aggressive - and this gives White an opportunity that he does not miss a second time. 15...Qb6 16.Bxf6+ gxf6 17.Qg7+ Ke6 18.Qxf6+ Kd7 19.Qg7+ Ke6 20.Qf6+ Kd7 21.Qg7+ Ke6 22.Qf6+ Kd7 23.Qg7+ Ke6 24.Qf6+ Kd7 25.Qg7+ drawn by repetition
The ongoing RedHotPawn.comJerome Gambit tournament continues to produce interesting and educational games. Be sure to follow the games in the notes, too, for extra excitment! golddog2 - deriver69 Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.Nc3
Sang froid. White answers Black's wild counter-attack (which leaves two pieces en prise; see "A Pie-in-the-Face Variation") with a rare, but simple developing move. Anything is worth a try in such a precarious position. For the adventurer with White, despite what a computer player might say about the position, it is reassuring to know that in 222 games in The Database, White scored a scintillating 67%! 7...Bb4 Instead, 7...Nd3+ was the odd idea of the coputer Milobot, in a crazy game that veered all over the place: 8.cxd3 (8.Qxd3) 8...Bf8 (8...Bxd4) 9.Qf3+ (9.Qb3+ or 9.O-O) 9...Qf6 10.Qh5+ Qg6 11.Qd5+ Ke8 12.O-O a6 13.f3 Ra7 14.Bf4 b5 15.Bxc7 Nh6 (15...Rxc7 16.Qe5+ Kd8) 16.f4 Qf7 (16...Rxc7) 17.Rae1 (17. Qe5+) 17...Qg6 (17...Rxc7) 18.f5 Qg4 $18 19.Qe5+ Be7 20.Bd6 Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 Kf8 22.Qxe7+ Kg8 23.Qf8 checkmate, LeoJustino - MiloBot, FICS, 2012. Wow. 7...Ng4, like the text in the game, also preserves Black's advantage 8.Qf3+ (8.g3 Qf6 9.Qxg4 Bxd4 10.Nd5 Qxf2+ 11.Kd1 d6 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qh4 Qf3+ 14.Kd2 Qxh1 15.c3 Qg2+ 16.Kd3 Be5 17.Bh6 Qh3 18.Qd8 Qxh6 19.Qxc7+ Ke8 20.Rf1 Qg7 21.Qc4 Be6 22.Nc7+ Kd7 23.Qxe6+ Kxc7 24. Rf7+ Qxf7 25.Qxf7+ Kc6 26.Qc4+ Kd7 27.Qf7+ Ne7 28.Qb3 b6 29.Qb5+ Nc6 30 b4 Rhf8 31.Qd5 Rf3+ 32.Ke2 Raf8 33.b5 Rf2+ 34.Ke1 Bxc3+ 35.Kd1 Rd2+ 36.Ke1 Rxd5+ White resigned, CoachCrupp - mathgk, FICS, 2010) 8...N8f6 9.dxc5 Nxh2 10.Qh3 Qxh3 11.gxh3 Nf3+ 12.Ke2 Nd4+ 13.Kd3 Nc6 14.a3 b6 15.Be3 Ba6+ 16.Kd2 Ne5 17.Rad1 Rhe8 18.Kc1 Nc4 19.cxb6 cxb6 20.Bf4 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Rxd7+ Ke6 White resigned, Darthnik - picator, FICS, 2011. 8.dxe5 The wildness continued after 8.O-O with 8...Ng4 9.h3 h5 10.Qf3+ Qf6 11.hxg4 hxg4 12.Qxg4 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qh4 14.Qf5+ Nf6 15.f3 d6 16.Qf4 Qxf4 17.Bxf4 b6 18.e5 Nd5 19.Bd2 Ba6 20.Rf2 dxe5 21.dxe5 Rae8 22.f4 g6 23.Re1 Ke6 24.g4 Rhf8 25.Kg2 Ne7 26.Kg3 Bb7 27.c4 c5 28.Bc3 Ba6 29.Re4 Rd8 30 a4 Rd1 31.Rh2 Rg1+ 32.Kf3 Bb7 33.Ke3 Rxg4 34.Rf2 Black forfeited on time in a winning position, PLURkidIT - CEZRUN, FICS, 2007. 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxe4+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Kxe2 Ne7
A lot of the tension has been taken out of the position, and with only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, White needs to find a way to make use of his open lines and Black's slightly unsafe King. This time, he is not successful. 12.c4 b6 13.g4 Bb7 14.f3 Rae8 15.Bb2 Ng6
It is not for nothing that Gary K. Gifford coined the nickname "The Jerome Gamble" for 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. White takes a big risk with "Jerome's Double Opening". Defenders must be warned, however, as they were in theAmerican Supplement to Cook's 'Synopsis' (1885) that it is "not an attack to be trifled with". Both players in the game below threw fortune to the wind. Each will no doubt learn from their insights and oversights. rigidwithfear - deriver69 Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 Black's two alternatives for capture, 5...exd4 and 5...Bxd4, are stronger. Leaving the pawn at e5 open for capture gives Whites' ideas - and chances. 6.Nxe5+
6...Ke6 Feisty - and foolish. The equivalent to drawing to an inside straight. Instead, 6...Kf8 is the safest and leaves Black with the advantage. 7.f4 White does not realize his good luck. Instead, he had 7.Qg4+!? which promises good things: 7...Kxe5 (Forced; 7...Kf6 leads relentlessly to checkmate: 8.Qf4+ Nf5 9.Qxf5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nc3 Bxf2+ 12.Ke2 c6 13.Nc4+ Kc5 14.Kd3 Qa5 15.Qxf2+ Kb4 16.a3+ Qxa3 17.bxa3#; there is little hope in 7...Ke7 8.Qxg7+ Kd6 9.Nf7+ Kc6 10.Nxd8+ or 7... Kd6 8.Nf7+ Ke7 9.Nxd8 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Bd4 11.Kxc2 d6 12.Qg3 Kxd8) 8.Bf4+ Kf6(8...Kxe4 9.Nc3 checkmate, Darrenshome - WildErmine, blitz, FICS, 2006[1-0, 9]) 9.Bg5+ Kf7 7.Bxd8 and the Black Queen is gone, anyway. 7...d6 Black is not familiar with this gambit, and so he defends. His best chance was to counterattack with 7...Qh4+ 8.g3 Qh3 and he would be better. 8.Qg4+ Ke7 Avoiding8...Kf6 9.Qg5+ Ke6 10.f5+ Kxe5 11.Bf4+ Kxe4 12.Nc3 checkmate, similar toDarrenshome - WildErmine, blitz, FICS, 2006,mentioned above.
9. Qg5+ Ouch. He had 9.Qxg7+ Ke6 10.Qf7 checkmate 9...Ke8 The "only" move, but a saving one. Now the odds turn against the Gambler again. 10.Qxg7 dxe5 11.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 12.Ke2 Bg4+ 13.Kf1 Qd1 checkmate
Some games in the ongoing Jerome Gambit tournament at RedHotPawn were over in an eye-blink. I present six (plus one), for completeness sake - but don't look away, as you might miss something. Stay with me until the end, however, as the last game is a textbook lesson in tactical suddenness! rkmmax - HikaruShindo Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
rkmmax -junnujannu Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
rkmmax - Dalradian Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 White lost on time
HikaroShindo - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
junnujannu - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
Dalradian - rkmmax Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament RedHotPawn.com, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Black lost on time
Missing that this allows a checkmate in three moves. 11...Bh5 Or 11...Ne2+ 12.Kh1 Ng3+ 13.hxg3 hxg5 checkmate. 12.Nh3 Missing something. 12...Nxf3+ White resigned
Oh, my. Bill Wall just sent me his latest Jerome Gambit game and I wrote back and said it was an example of "existential chess". I was thinking about the idea of a "negative halo effect" that I had touched on in earlier posts (see "Halo Effect", "Feeling Lucky", "Kick Me" and "Dizziness Due to Success"). I mean the perception that if one starts a game with the "wrong" opening then one can be expected to continue to produce "wrong" chess and the whole game can be expected to be equally "wrong". How dare Bill, instead, follow up with strong play, avoid missteps and win with a mating attack?? It reminds me of a quote from Justin E. H. Smith's essay "The Flight of Curiosity"
To take an interest in that false belief is not to reject the truth, but only to wish to fill out our picture of the truth with as much detail as possible, and not because of some aesthetic inclination to the baroque, but rather because false theories are an important part of the puzzle that we ... should be trying to complete: that of determining the range of ways people conceptualize the world around them.
White has only a pawn for his sacrificed piece. However, beyond the "theory of infinite resistance" this particular White has a lot of experience (over 400 games in The Database, for example) and if there are tricks, traps or nuances to be exploited, he will know about them or be ready to find them. 8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 Instead, for 9.f3 seeWall,B - Guest903719, Playchess.com, 2013 (1-0, 47). The related 9.f4 was seen as far back as Jerome,A - Shinkman,W, Iowa, USA, 1874 (1/2-1/2, 42). 9...Re8 Recently played: 9...c6 10.f4 c5 11.Qf2 Neg4 12.Qd2 Rf8 13.h3 Nh6 14.e5 Nh5 15.g4 Ng3 16.Rf3 Qh4 17.Kg2 Bxg4 18.hxg4 Nxg4 19.Qd5+ Ke7 20.Qxb7+ Ke6 21.Qd5+ Kf5 22.Qd3+ Ke6 23.Qxd6+ Kf7 24.Qd5+ Kg6 25.Rxg3 Qh2+ 26.Kf3 Qf2+ 27.Kxg4 Rxf4+ 28.Bxf4 h5+ 29.Kh4+ Kh7 30.Qe4+ g6 31.Qxg6+ Kh8 32.Qg7 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest708676, PlayChess.com, 2016. 10.Bg5 Kg8
Cute. Better, though was 14...Kh8 15.Qb3+ Nf7 There are plenty of complications to offer White, including: 15...Be6 16.Qa4 b5 17.Qxb5 c6 18.Qa4 Neg4 19.Qxc6 Rc8 20.Qa6 Bc4 21.Qxa7 Bxf1. 16.e5 Bill is not interested in either 16.Qxb7 Rb8 17.Qxa7 Rxb2 18.Nd5 Rxc2 or 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qxb7 Qd4+ 18.Kh1 Qb6. The truth lies elsewhere. 16...dxe5 A bit of a better choice for Black is 16...Be6, when either 17.Bxf6 or 17.Qxb7 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxf6 gxf6 would be good for him; although the draw with 17.Qa4 Bd7 18.Qb3 Be6 19.Qa4 etc might arise. 17.fxe5 Be6 18.Qa4 As Bill points out, again not 18.Qxb7 Nxe5 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Rf4 (20.Rd1 Qb8) 20...Rb8. 18...Bd7 Instead, 18...Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Qd7 20.Bxf6 Qxa4 21.Nxa4 gxf6 22.Rc5 c6 23.Rxf6 looks about equal. 19.Qd4 Not 19.Qf4 g5; nor 19.Qa3 Nxe5 nor 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Qh4 f5. This Wall guy is becoming troublesome by avoiding trouble! 19...g5
This looks like either frustration or impatience. 20.exf6 gxh4 Or 20...Rxe1 21.Bxe1 Bc6 22.Qe3. 21.Rd1 Now Bill goes from threat to threat, first threatening 22.Qxd7. 21...Nd6 22.Qd3 Threatening 23.Qg6+. 22...Bf5 Time to give some material back, but not 22...Kh8 23.Qg6 Nf5 24.Rxf5 Bxf5 25.Qg7 checkmate 23.Rxf5 Bill gives the alternative 23.f7+ Kxf7 24.Rxf5+ Nxf5 25.Qxf5+ Kg7 26.Rd7+ Qxd7 27.Qxd7+ and White would also be better. 23...Nxf5 24.Qxf5
The field for the Jerome Gambit Tournament at RedHotPawn (see "New Jerome Gambit Tournament") is complete, and the games have started - in fact, almost 2/3 of them have been completed already! Group 1 SeinfeldFan91 ZorroTheFox RODbr eagleswing Group 2 procyk deriver69 rigidwithfear golddog2 Group 3 kristjan LittleDonkey JeanTylerGabriel BigD00 Group 4 junnujannu HikaruShindo Dalradian rkmmax There is an interesting mix of Jerome Gambit veterans and novices, so the play is quite interesting. A win is worth 3 points. A draw is worth 1 point. The leader(s) of each group will advance to a final group, the winner of which will win the tournament. Results and games will appear here.
In the following game Black shows prudence in not having his King hunt for material. He defends well, until he sends his Queen off hunting, falling into a gambit trap that the first player has set. That is all White needs to take the advantage and wrap up the game. topsoul - moisesserraramos 10 0, lichess.org, 2016 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit. 4.Bxf7+ The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Ke6
Black heeds the general advice to bring his King home from the battelefield. There is too much danger in His Majesty chasing pawns. White has a variety of options here. His pawns are important players. 8.O-O d6 9.f4 Kf7 10.Qb3+ Ke8 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Qxd4+ 13.Kh1 Qxe5
Alas, it is also dangerous for Her Majesty to chase pawns, as the rest of the game shows. 14.Qf7+ Kd8 15.Qxf8+ Qe8 16.Qxg7 Ne7 17.d3 Bf5 18.Bg5 Kd7 19.Rxf5
Even more brutal was 19.Re1 19...Qh5 20.Qxe7+ Kc6 Black resigned
