When I ran in school, my teacher said not to stop at the finish line, but to aim for a spot well beyond there. He said that would keep me moving as fast as possible while I was racing. Otherwise, I would slow down at the end, and this would be to the benefit of my opponents.
The same advice can be given to those who defend against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+): When you realize that you have received a piece or two in a "refuted" opening, keep "running" - keep competing - and do not slow down or relax your attention too soon.
Chessfriend Vlastamil Fejfar, of the Czech Republic (see "A Fierce Jerome Gambit Battle", shares a recent online game where his opponent ignored this advice. The result was as expected.
vlastous - rubicon
ChessManiac.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6
Vlasta and Readers have seen this move before, as I noted in an earlier post
A line seen as early as in a note in G.H.D. Gossip's 1891 The Chess Player's Vade Mecum and Pocket Guide to the Openings with all the latest theoretical discoveries and traps in the openings revealed, and more recently supported by FM Eric Schiller in his books on unorthodox openings. (It is fun to read MrJoker's comments about some of Schiller's analysis - see "Joker's Wild" 1, 2and Conclusion.)
I would like to point out that Schiller in his Unorthodox Chess Openings (1998) wrongly identified Henry Joseph Blackburne's opponent in his classic destruction of the Jerome Gambit as Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, himself. Fifteen years of research into the Jerome Gambit has not turned up any evidence that AWJ ever travelled to London, let alone was able to play HJB at Simpson's Divan. (Certainly Dr. Tim Harding would have included this tidbit, were it not merely a figment of Schiller's imagination, in his exhaustive Joseph Henry Blackburne A Chess Biography.)
In any event, Black has every reason to feel comfortable with his position, as he has played a "refutation" that both time and reference books have presented as sufficient.
8.Rf1 g6 9.Qh3+ Kf7
But - Black relaxes too soon, as Vlasta immediately demonstrates. Best was the alternative 9...Ke7.
10.fxe5 Qxf1+ 11.Kxf1 d5 12.Qc3 b6 13.d4 Black resigned
White's material advantage is decisive.
I received some more games from Bill Wall, new to me if not all of them "new".
The following is a good example of Black defending against the Jerome Gambit with nefarious ideas of his own. (For perspective on this kind of "duel" see "Post Script".) He almost makes them work...
Wall, Bill - Royercordova
Chess.com, 2010
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.Qc4
In his games Bill has chosen many different squares to retreat his Queen to. See "Spicy!" for alternatives.
9...Qf6
This move is often part of Black's defense in the Jerome Gambit.
Bill has also faced 9...Qe7 10.O-O Be6 11.Qa4+ Bd7 12.Qb4 b6 13.Nc3 c5 14.Qb3 Be6 15.Qa3 Ne5 16.d4 Nc4 17.Qa4+ Kf7 18.d5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest4027845, Chess.com, 2015
10.O-O N8e7 11.d4 Nc6 12. c3 Bd7 13.f4 Rf8 14.d5 Na5
The game has proceeded along typical Jerome Gambit lines: White has a relatively safe King and two useful extra pawns; Black has an extra piece, but his King is stuck in the center. The position is slightly in Black's favor, but it is "messy". It is about to get a whole lot messier.
15.Qxc7
A calculated risk (Bill gives the alternative 15.Qd3). As Wilhelm Steinitz reportedly said, "A pawn is worth a little trouble". In this case, White gains a pawn and loosens Blacks position a bit, but he risks having his Queen trapped.
The proper order of moves will be important.
15...b6
The idea here is clear. Bill gives a more refined version as a suggestion, 15...Bb5 16.Rf3 b6.
16.Na3 Rf7 17.Nc4
White's Knight races to help his trapped and soon-to-be-threatened Queen.
17...Bb5
Black's best, as Bill pointed out, was 17...Nxc4 18.Qxc4 Kf8, allowing the Queen to escape but perhaps reamaining with an edge.
18.Nxd6+ Black resigned
After 18...Kf8 19.Nxf7 Qxf7 20.Qxf7+ Kxf7 21.Re1 White will have a Rook against Black's two Knights, but he will have four extra "Jerome pawns" to make up the difference.
Had Black played Bill's suggested 15...Bb5 16.Rf3 b6, White would not have been able to use his Knight for rescue and attack. For example, after 17.Na3, Black can simply retreat the Bishop with 17...Ba6, (although he could also win White's Queen with 17...Rf7 18.Nxb5 Rxc7 19.Nxc7+ Kf8 20.Nxa8 Qd8 21.Be3 Qxa8 22.Bd4 - White may have adequate compensation, however) when White's best chance is to complicate with 18.e5 dxe5 19.fxe5 Qd8.
Searching the internet the other day, I came across an interesting and intriguing web page titled "SPRING & SUMMER 2013: Definitely with the gambits" which had, among other things, the following quote
By playing the Jerome Gambit and by paying more attention to the moves of my mate, I came to win against more chessmates than I used to do before.
On the site there is a photo of a couple of people playing chess at an outside table ("Paul & a young Champion at Hunter College") easily placed at the Chess and Checkers' House in Central Park in Manhattan (a short walk from Hunter College).
The site includes a useful link to a Jerome Gambit "database" actually a spreadsheet of opening moves.
The post finishes with
With the gambit, there is really a gamboling of some pieces, a frolicking about of them, most often the Queen, and that is what makes it interesting and a good technic to develop attention, concentration and technical skills in playing Chess.
Elsewhere, the web page's author notes that "chess obeys to Bayesian statistics" - which certainly begs further attention and exploration. I have been unable to track down his manuscript Chess and Bayesian Statistics (Le Jeu d'Échecs et la Statistique Bayésienne) but can note his summary
The manuscript is to prove that chance or hazard has little to do with chess in contrary to playing cards or other saloon's games, since Bayesian statistics deals with conditional or linked probabilities...
Even a little bit of knowledge can be a good thing, if it is properly applied. If it is missing - things change.
The following is from an ongoing game - the players will go unnamed - from the ongoing "Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament" at RedHotPawn.com.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6
This position should feel familiar, if you read the recent post "Again, 'Why Did He Play That Move?' " or are able to recall '"Why Did He Play That Move?"
I feel a bit disappointed that both players seem to have missed that content.
8.O-O b6
Instead, Black had the crushing 8...Nf3+, winning White's Queen on the next move.
(In all fairness, I have to report that the position appears in The Database 40 times, and Black found 8...Nf3+ only 13 times, an unhappy 32.5%. It is important to recall that we are in the land of online club play, not grandmaster gladiator duels. Also, not everyone reads this blog - yet.)
8.Nc3 c5
Ouch. Again, the move to play was 8...Nf3+ with a winning game.
10.Qd5+
White will win a Rook now.
This game has continued a couple dozen more moves. White is currently up an insurmountable amount of material and should win by checkmate quickly.
What an unfortunate outcome, given that the defender missed an opportunity to be up a whole Queen early on in the game.
Again, we must congratulate the Jerome Gambit player, even as we recall the old saying "It is better to be lucky than to be good".
In every chess game we play, we must often ask ourselves about our opponent, "Why Did He Play That Move?" Failing to do so - or failing to answer the question accurately - can lead to disaster.
Consider the following game.
JeanTylerGabriel - LittleDonkey
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 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O Be6 9.Nc3 Bh3
Out of a normal (for the Jerome Gambit) opening setup, Black plays an unexpected move. Why did he play that move?
10.Re1
A decent enough response.
10...Qf6
Again, why did he play that move?
11.gxh3
Wrong answer.
11...Nf3+ 12.Kh1 Nxd4 13.Rf1 Qf3+ 14.Kg1 Qxh3 15.Bf4 Nf6 16.Rac1 Nf3+ 17.Kh1 Ng4 18.Rfd1 Nxf2 checkmate
And this is how we reached one of the positions in "Good Knight".
When recently discussing the "Macbeth Attack" I mentioned the early game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, 1874, which appeared in the November issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal for that year. The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4, garnering the comment "Brilliant but not sound" from the editor. (I suspect Jude Acers and George Laven, authors of The Italian Gambit and A Guiding Repertoire for White might challenge that "not sound" assessment.)
After 4...exd4 ("The German Handbuch gives as best variation 4...Bxd4 5.c3 Bb6 6.Ng5 Nh6 7.Qh5 O-O 8.f4 exf4 9.Bxf4 d6 10.Rf1 Qe7 and Black should win."), 5.Bxf7+ the editor commented "An unsound variation of Jerome's double opening." Still, he was able to join in the fun. After 5...Kxf7 6.Ng5+ he suggested that Ne5 "a la Jerome" is better than Ng5. That may not be "objectively" true, but capturing the imaginary pawn on e5 certainly is in line with the outlandish play of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's creation.
I was surprised to find 40 games in The Database that, wittingly or unwittingly, followed the DCJ's suggestion. The following blitz game shows some of the fun behind the lighthearted suggestion.
SupremacyPawn - northug
blitz, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 6.Ne5+
6...Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.f4 Nf6
Black is having so much fun "punishing" White for his audacity of early Queen moves - well, you know how those things sometimes go...
9.Qxe5+ Kf7 10.Qxc5
Black has quickly returned two pieces. He would do best to calm himself, rationally look at his new position, and plot a new strategy. Something like 10...d5 comes to mind, with either 11.Qxd4 Ne4 or 11.e5 Ne4 to follow, and despite his previous misfortunes, Black would not be worse.
Alas for the defender, he is sure that White has erred (a clear assessment that is out of date, however) and still can and should be punished for his transgressions.
10...Nxe4 11.Qd5+ Kg6 12.Qxe4+ Kf7 13.O-O
Black resigned
Torneo tematico GaJero00-A 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Rybka 2.3.2a (2 CPU) ** 11 01 01 1½ 11 11 11 11.5/14
2 WB Nimzo 2000b 00 ** 01 11 1½ 11 ½1 11 10.0/14
3 SOS 5.1 10 10 ** 00 11 11 11 ½1 9.5/14
4 Comet B48 10 00 11 ** 10 01 11 11 9.0/14
5 Zarkov 4.70 0½ 0½ 00 01 ** 1½ 01 11 6.5/14
6 DrunkenMaster 1.2 00 00 00 10 0½ ** 10 11 4.5/14
7 La Dame Blanche 2.0c 00 ½0 00 00 10 01 ** 01 3.5/14
8 Demon 1.0 00 00 ½0 00 00 00 10 ** 1.5/14
The following game from the Jerome Gambit thematic chess tournament presented at the Scacchi64.com website provides a framework for how a number of computer chess programs address a particular opening line. (I have been guided in my own assessments by Stockfish 7.)
La Dame Blanche 2.0c - Comet B48
Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.O-O Nf6 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Qe7
A bit better is 7... Bxd4 8. Qxd4 d6 (8...Nc6 9. Qc4+ [9. Qa4 Qe7 10.Nc3
Qb4 11.Qxb4 Nxb4 12.e5 Nxc2 13.Rb1 Ne8 14.Bf4 c5 15.h3 b6 16.Rbc1 Nd4 17.Rcd1 Ba6 18.Rfe1 Kg6 19.Rd2 Nc7 20.Be3 Nce6 21.a3 Rhf8 22.b4 Rf5 23.bxc5
bxc5 24.f4 Nxf4 25.Bxf4 Rxf4 26.Nd5 Rff8 27.Nc7 Bb5 28.Rxd4 cxd4 29.Nxb5
Rf4 30.e6 d3 31.Rd1 dxe6 32.Rxd3 Kf6 33.Kh2 a5 34.Kg3 g5 35.Rd7 Rb8 36.Nd6 Rb3+ 37.Kh2 Kg6 38.Rc7 Rxa3 39.Nc4 Ra2 40.Ne5+ Kf5 41.Nd3 Rd4 42.Rf7+
Ke4 43.Nf2+ Kd5 44.Rd7+ Kc4 45.Rc7+ Kb5 46.Rf7 Rdd2 47.Kg1 Rxf2 48.Rxf2
Rxf2 49.Kxf2 Kc4 50.Ke1 Kc3 51.Kd1 Kb2 52.Ke2 Kc2 53.Kf3 White resigned, Demon 1.0 - Rybka 2.3.2a, Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009] 9...d5
10.exd5 Qxd5 11.Qxd5+ Nxd5 12.c4 Ndb4 13.Nc3 Bf5 14.Bf4 Nd3 15.Nd5 Nxb2
16.Nxc7 Rac8 17.Nb5 Nxc4 18.Rac1 a6 19.Nc7 N6e5 20.h3 Rxc7 21.Bxe5 Rc6
22.Bf4 Re8 23.Rc3 Re4 24.Rf3 Re2 25.a3 Be4 26.Rc3 Nb2 27.Rg3 Rcc2 28.Be3
Nc4 29.Bd4 g6 30.Kh1 Rcd2 31.Ba7 b6 32.Kg1 Ra2 33.Rc1 Bd5 34.Rd1 Ke6 35.Kh1 Rxf2 36.Re1+ Kd7 37.Rg1 Kc6 38.Rg5 Ne3 39.Rc1+ Kb7 40.Bxb6 Kxb6 41.Rb1+ Kc5 White resigned, La Dame Blanche 2.0c - Rybka 2.3.2a, Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009) 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 Re8 11.Qc4+ (11.Nc3 Kg8 12.f5 Ne5 13.Qg3
Nf7 14.Re1 b6 15.Bd2 Bb7 16.Qf4 Re5 17.Qf3 Qe8 18.Bf4 Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Rxe4
20.Rxe4 Qxe4 21.Qxe4 Nxe4 22.Re1 Re8 23.h4 Nf6 24.Rxe8+ Nxe8 25.Kf2 Ne5
26.Bc1 Nf6 27.Ke2 Kf7 28.Bg5 Nd5 29.h5 h6 30.Bd8 c5 31.b3 Nc6 32.c4 Nxd8
33.cxd5 Kf6 34.Kd3 Kxf5 35.Kc4 Ke4 36.Kb5 Kxd5 37.g3 a6+ 38.Kxb6 c4 39.bxc4+ Kxc4 40.Kc7 d5 41.Kxd8 Kd3 42.g4 Ke3 43.a4 White resigned, La Dame Blanche 2.0c - WB Nimzo 2000b,Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009)
11...Be6 12.Qa4 Kg8 13.Nc3 a6 14.f5 Bf7 15.Qa3 Nd4 16.Rb1 Qd7 17.Rf2
Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxe4 19.Be3 Nxf5 20.Bg5 h6 21.Bd2 Nd4 22.Qd3 Rae8 23.Rbf1
Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Rd4 25.Qf3 Bd5 26.Qe3 Rxe3 27.Bxe3 Re4 28.Rxe2 Bc4 29.Ra1
Bxe2 30.Bd2 Qf5 31.Re1 White resigned, La Dame Blanche 2.0c - Zarkov 4.70,Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009.
Also a bit better than the text is 7...d5 8.dxe5 Nxe4 9.Be3 Rf8 (9...Bxe3 10.fxe3+ Kg8 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Be6 13.Qd4 Rc8 14.Qxa7 Qg5 15.Qd4 c6 16.Rf3 h5 17.Rb1 b5
18.h4 Qg6 19.Rb2 Re8 20.Rf2 Ra8 21.Qb4 Rh6 22.Qf4 Qe8 23.Rd2 Rg6 24.Rd4
Qe7 25.Rd1 Rf8 26.Qb4 c5 27.Qxb5 Rxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Qxh4 29.Qe2 Bg4 30.Rh1 Qg5
31.Qf1 Be2+ 32.Kh2 White resigned, Demon 1.0 - WB Nimzo 2000b, Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009) 10.Bxc5 Nxc5
11.b4 Ne6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Qc1 Kg8 14.Ne2 Qb6 15.a3 Rf5 16.Qb2 Qc7 17.f4 g5
18.g4 Rxf4 19.Nxf4 Nxf4 20.Rae1 Bxg4 21.Kh1 Re8 22.Rxf4 gxf4 23.Rg1 h5
24.h3 Qh7 25.c4 Kf7 26.hxg4 hxg4+ 27.Qh2 Qe4+ 28.Rg2 Kg7 29.c5 g3 30.b5
Rh8 31.Qxh8+ Kxh8 32.bxc6 White resigned, Demon 1.0 - Zarkov 4.70, Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009
8.dxc5 Qxc5 9.Nc3
Or, 9.Be3 Qb4 10.Bd4 Nc6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qd5+ Kg7 13.Nc3 Qxb2 14.Qd3 Ne5
15.Qd2 Qb4 16.Rab1 Qc5 17.Rb5 Qc6 18.Qe3 d6 19.f4 Ng6 20.f5 Ne5 21.Rf4
b6 22.Qg3+ Kf7 23.Rd5 Bb7 24.Qe3 Rag8 25.h3 Rg7 26.Rd4 Rhg8 27.g4 h5 28.Kf1 Ba6+ 29.Kf2 hxg4 30.h4 Rh8 31.Ra4 Rxh4 32.Rxa6 g3+ 33.Kg1 Rxf4 34.Qxf4 Qc5+ 35.Kg2 Qxc3 36.Ra3 White resigned, Demon 1.0 - Comet B48,Torneo tematico GaJero00-A, 2009
9...d6
White has only a pawn for its sacrificed piece, but has some play against Black's uncastled King.
10.Bg5
Be6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qh5+ Ke7 13.Rab1
This is a mysterious Rook move, indeed. Perhaps better was 13.Kh1, preparing 14.f4.
13...Rag8 14.Rfe1 Rg4 15.Qh3 Rhg8 16.Kh1
Rxg2
Removing White's King's protection.
17.Qxg2 Rxg2 18.Kxg2 Ng4 19.Re2 Qe5 20.f4 Qxf4 21.Kg1 Kd7 22.Rd1 Bc4
23.Red2 Qg5 24.Kh1 Qc5
White has no counterplay and soon will be vanquished.
25.Na4 Qe3 26.Nc3 Bf1 27.Nd5 Qf3+ 28.Kg1 Be2 29.Nxf6+ Nxf6 30.Rd3 Bxd3 31.Rxd3 White resigned
