After all is said and done, in the Jerome Gambit White wants to attack and checkmate Black's King. Sometimes that is goal enough.
Wall, Bill - Smith, James
lichess.org, 2017
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 Nf6
9.Nc3
There is also the historical Jerome, A - Shinkman, W, Iowa, 1876: 9.f4 c5 10.Qc3 Neg4 11.Nd2 b5 12.h3 h5 13.e5 b4 14.Qf3 Ba6 15.exf6 Bxf1 16.Qb7+ Kxf6 17.Ne4+ Kg6 18.f5+ Kxf5 19.hxg4+ Kg6 20.Qd5 Qd7 21.Qg5+ Kf7 22.gxh5 Bc4 23.b3 Be6 24.Bb2 Rag8 25.Rd1 d5 26.Be5 Rf8 27.Rf1+ Kg8 28.Nf6+ Rxf6 29.Bxf6 Rh6 30.Rf4 a5 31.Be5 c4 32.bxc4 dxc4 33.Bd4 a4 34.Re4 b3 35.cxb3 cxb3 36.a3 Qf7 37.g4 Qc7 38.Be5 b2 39.Bxb2
Qg3+ 40.Kf1 Qf3+ 41.Kg1 Qg3+ 42.Kf1 drawn.
9...Re8 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5
Bill has also seen:
11...c5 12.Qd2 Be6 13.Rad1 Nc4 14.Qc1 Qb6 15.b3 Ne5 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.f4 Ng4 18.f5 c4+ 19.Kh1 Nf2+ 20.Rxf2 Qxf2 21.fxe6+ Rxe6 22.Rf1 Qd4 23.Qxh6 Qxc3 24.Qh7+ Ke8 25.Qg8+ Kd7 26.Qxa8 cxb3 27.Qxb7+ Qc7 28.Qxc7+ Kxc7 29.cxb3 Rxe4 30.Kg1 Re6 31.h4 d5 32.h5 Kd6 33.g4 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kf7 35.Rc1 Re7 36.Kf3 d4 37.Rc6 Rd7 38.Ke2 d3+ 39.Kd2 Rd4 40.Rc7+ Kg8 41.Rxa7 Rxg4 42.Kxd3 Rh4 43.a4 Rxh5 44.a5 Rb5 45.Kc4 Rb8 46.a6 f5 47.Rb7 Ra8 48.a7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest5111265, PlayChess.com, 2014; and
11...Be6 12.f4 c5 13.Qa4 Ng6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15. f5 b5 16.Qxb5 Bd7 17.fxg6+ Kxg6 18.Qd3 Kg7 19.Qxd6 Rc8 20.Rad1 Rc7 21.Qg3+ Kh7 22.Nd5 Rc6 23.Nxf6+ Rxf6 24.Rxf6 Qxf6 25.Rxd7+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1561957, PlayChess.com, 2014.
12.Bg3 c5 13.Qd2 Be6 14.f4
14...Nc4 15.Qe2 gxf4 16.Rxf4 d5 17.Bh4 dxe4 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.Qg6+ Kf8 20.Rxf6+ Black resigned
I have given periodic updates on the Giuoco Piano thematic tournament at Chess.com that I am playing in, under the belief that I - surprisingly - was going to finish at the top of the field, thanks to a lot of teriffic battling amongst players, and to the Jerome Gambit.
Much to my surprise, and some embarassment, I have learned that there is one more round to play!
So, I will have black and white against IlToscano and AWARDCHESS, who finished the previous round ranked #2 and #3 respectively. (The latter moved ahead of Altotemmi on tie breaks, 93.75 to 93.5!)
Apologies for prematurely claiming victory in the tournament.
My successes with the Jerome Gambit in the earlier round against my current opponents came mostly due to the element of surprise. I expect to have even harder fights this time around.
White has several very reasonable responses to Black's third move, only one of which - 4.Bxf7+ - calls to mind the Jerome Gambit. Still, playing that last one often means a short end to hostilities. Bill Wall demonstrates in the game below.
Wall, Bill - Mouhamadyamin
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+Kxd4
A risky meal.
8.d3 b6
And just like that, it's Game Over. Black does not have time for this development; checkmate follows.
9.Qh5 Bb4+ 10.Ke2 g5 11.Bxg5 Kc5 12.Be7+ Kc6 13.Qd5 checkmate
When Bill Wall sent me his latest batch of Jerome Gambit games he mentioned in passing that one opponent had been irate at having to face such a horrible opening, and pointed it out in a message afterwards - clearly it was something Bill should never play, that Bill would lose with should he play it against World Champion Magnus Carlsen, etc. Bill never identified the opponent or the game to me, but if I were to guess, I would choose the following contest. Black starts off using the advantage that the defender always has against the Jerome Gambit, and develops a decent attack - until one suspicious move (which doesn't look that bad) suddenly reverses the game; and even when Black resigns, it takes some work to understand why.
Wall, Bill - Youi
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qe7
A perfectly reasonable defense. Black is going to lose a piece any way, so he focuses on development, not un-development.
7.dxc5 Qxc5 8.O-O Nf6 9.Be3 Qd6
Excellent psychology. Black offers to exchange Queens to reduce chances of attack by White. He even tosses in the attraction of giving Black doubled d-pawns, limiting the development of his light-squared Bishop.
Bill has seen altarnatives:
9...Qc6 10.Nc3 d6 11.Bd4 Re8 12.f4 Ned7 13.Re1 b5 14.a4 bxa4 15.b4 a6 16.Rxa4 Bb7 17.Ra5 Nxe4 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.b5 Qc4 20.Ra4 Qf7 21.Qxf7+ Kxf7 22.Nxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxe4 Bxe4 24.Rxa6 Kg6 25.c3 Bb7 26.Rxa8 Bxa8 27.h4 Bd5 28.g4 Bc4 29.f5+ Kf7 30.Kf2 Bxb5 White resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016; and
9...Qb5 10.Nc3 Qxb2 11.Bd4 d6 12.Nd5 Qa3 13.Nxc7 Rb8 14.Nb5 Qa6 15.Bxa7 Bd7 16.Nxd6+ Ke6 17.Bxb8 Rxb8 18.Nf5 g6 19.Ne3 Bc6 20.Qd4 Bxe4 21.f3 Bc6 22.Rae1 Qa3 23.Nc4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest3992982, PlayChess.com, 2015.
10.Bd4
No, thank you.
10...Re8 11.Nc3 c5 12.Nb5
Looking to cause mischief on the d6 square.
12...Qc6 13.Bxe5 Rxe5 14.Nd6+ Kg8
15.f4 Re6 16.e5 Ne8 17.Nc4 b5 18.f5 Bb7 19.Rf2 Rh6
Black persists in his attack. What can White do?
20.Na5 Qd5 21.Qe2 Nc7
He can continue to present Black with threats and complications until Black slips. Like here. Bill uses his x-ray vision and comes up with a solution.
22.Rd1 Qxa2
The strongest defense was 22...Qe4, but after 23.Rxd7 Qxe2 24.Rxe2 Bc8 25.Rxc7 Bxf5 White would be better.
23.Nxb7 Qxb2 24.Nxc5 Black resigned
Wow.
A quick look shows that White will win the pawn at d7, but is that enough to cause resignation?
A longer look will show that f5-f6 is a strong attacking threat, and that White's "Jerome pawns" are much more of a threat than Black's Queenside pawns.
I received a short email from chessfriend Yury Bukayev, regarding yesterday's blog post. I have added the relevant link:
Your latest post http://jeromegambit.blogspot.ru/2017/03/blackburne-shilling-jerome-gambit-be.html contains the final attack, that is relative to winning attacks in Evans-Bukayev gambits (for example, III.B2 of my Paragraph 2). It is pleasant to see!
Best wishes!
Yury
In the Blackburne Shilling Gambit Black offers material and hopes for a tricky attack.
In the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit White offers more material and hopes for a trickier attack.
Playing over the following game, do not blink: both players are hoping for a quick ending, and they both receive their wish.
Wall, Bill - Peon
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 Nb5
An interesting, if flawed retreat. It doesn't look that bad.
There are 12 games in The Database with this move. White scores 75%. Compare this with the 56% overall that White scores against the BSJG (out of 5,307 games in The Database).
7.d4 Bd6
Looks tough, but looks can be deceiving.
8.Qb3+ Kf6 9.Qf7 checkmate
Vlasta Fejfar shares his latest Jerome Gambit. I forget how complicated the game can get.
Vlastous - Kombe
internet, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6
I am pretty sure that Vlasta was happy to get a break from the "annoying defense" 7...d6.
8.Rf1 Nd3+
Creatively returning a piece. (It is not the strongest response, however.)
9.cxd3 Bd4
Plotting or planning something, but I am not sure what... Probably the simple 9...d6 was better.
10.Nc3
This is a small improvement over 10.Qd5+, which appeared in an earlier game, the only other one in The Database to feature 8...Nd3+: 10...Ke7 11.e5 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qxh2 13. Qxd4 Qxg3+ 14. Qf2 Qxf2+ 15. Rxf2 b6 16. d4 Nh6 17. Nc3 c6 18. f5 Bb7 19. d3 Raf8 20. Bxh6 gxh6 21. O-O-O Rf7 22. Ne4 Ba6 23. Nd6 Rff8 24. Kd2 Rhg8 25. f6+ Ke6 26. f7 Rg3 27. Rf6+ Ke7 28. Nf5+ Kd8 29. Nxg3 Black disconnected and forfeited, MrJoker - Melbourne, Internet Chess Club, 2011.
10...g6
Kicking the Queen makes a lot of sense - sometimes; but not right now. A typical Jerome Gambit problem for Black: what is good, and what is not?
11.f5+ gxf5
A measure of how complicated the game has become is shown in Stockfish 8's recommendation: 11...Ke7 12.fxg6 Qxg6 13.Qh4+ Ke8 14.Nd5 Be5 15.b4 d6 16.Rb1 Be6 17.Nxc7+ Kd7 18.Nxa8 Qxg2 19.Bb2 Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Ne7 21.Qf2 Qxf2+ 22.Kxf2 Rf8+ 23.Ke2 Rxa8 24.Ke3 d5 25.b5 Kd6 26.Rb4 Ng6 27.Ra4 leading to an even game.
The text turns the advantage over to White.
12.exf5+ Ke7 13.Nd5+ Kd6 14.Nxf6 Nxf6 15.Qh4 Re8+ 16.Kd1 b6
Assuming that a Queen is worth three pieces, for a moment it looks as if it is Black who has sacrifice a piece to attack White's uncastled King. Alas, the second player's game has come undone.
17.Qxd4+ Ke7 18.Re1+ Kf7 19.Rxe8 Nxe8 20.Qd5+ Ke7 21.Qe4+ Kd8 22.Qh4+ Black resigned
