Jerome Gambit: A Casual Stroll

Bill Wall recently sent me a few more of his Jerome Gambits. As he said, some are good, some are bad. None are quite as outrageous as the following.

Wall, Bill - Neilson, Criag
Florida, USA, 2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

This appears to be an over-the-board game, which already makes it very interesting.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ 

Interesting. Bill moves away from his favorite 6.d4.

6...g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 

Wow! Into the mouth of the beast!

One of the many reasons the Jerome Gambit is considered "unplayable" is Whistler's Defense (7...Qe7!). The Rook is supposed to be untouchable.

Not for Bill Wall. "Danger" is his midde name. He considers things like the Pamplona bull run to be a casual stroll down some interesting avenues.

8...Qxe4+ 

After 8...Qf6 the game did not last long: 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.O-O Black resigned, Wall,B - Sepoli, Chess.com, 2010. 

9.Kf1 

The alternative, 9.Kd1, was seen in Jerome,A-Whistler,G, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 15) - but also in Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 14).

9...Nf6 10.d3 Qd4

This looks like an improvement over 10...Qf5 in Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 (1/2-1/2, 20). 

11.Be3 Qxb2 12.Bxc5 Qxa1 

It looks like things will come down to which King is the most vulnerable.

13.Qf8+ Ke6 14.Qe7+ Kf5 15.Ke2 Qe5+ 16.Qxe5+ Kxe5

Very interesting. Is Black for choice because his King is better developed? Or will the blocked-in-light-squared-Bishop-blocking-the-Rook theme give White an edge?

17.Re1 d6 18.Kf3+ Kf5 19.Bd4 Kg5

A dangerous slip.

20.h4+ Kf5 21.Re7 Nd5 

Overlooking...

22.g4 checkmate

Happy Easter

Jerome Gambit: To Be Fair...

To be fair, after all those Jerome Gambit Queen sacrifice and double check "smothered mates" against Black in The Database, I checked to see if there were any against White. I found 9. Here are the final positions. 

Rollyeon - okabc, FICS, 2002

geroellheimer - Defensor, FICS, 2005

ecimsa - joachimeide, FICS, 2007

esar - MarianF, FICS, 2007

KnightyNite - pvkbr, FICS, 2008

ecisma - igorfm, FICS, 2008

chessmanjeff - CycleForPi, FICS, 2013

malkisedeq - remilaci, FICS, 2014

ZXYW - PolarKing, FICS, 2015

Jerome Gambit: Yet Another Smother

Here is a final game ending in a "smothered mate". That it was played at lightning speed makes it a bit special. Once again, Black counter-sacrifices a Bishop, without proper compensation.

arggy - elJake
lightning, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ 

The so-called Abrahams Jerome Gambit.

3...Kxf7 4.Nf3 Bxf2+

Returning the sacrificed piece in this way is more of a psychological move than anything else. It is not counted among the refutations of the opening.

The Database has 210 games with this position. White scores 64%

5.Kxf2 Nf6 6.Rf1 Nxe4+ 7.Kg1 Rf8 8.c3 Kg8

Move, move, move. Kings are safe. Great. Move, move, move.

9.Qb3+ d5 10.d3 Nf6 11.Nxe5 c6 12.c4 Qc7 13.Bf4 Ng4 14.d4 b5

15.cxd5 Nd7 

Oops.

16.d6+ Kh8 17.dxc7 Nb6 18.Nf7+ Kg8 19.Ng5+ 

Missing it the first time (19.Nh6+) but White has just won a Queen, so maybe he was thinking more prosaicly. He figures it out a moment later, though, and when Black doesn't snap off the Knight at f7...

19...Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7 checkmate

There we go.

Jerome Gambit: Another Smother

Here is another "smothered checkmate". It is interesting that it is the computer program that falls victim to the Queen sacrifice and mate.

chessmoods - LuigiBot
standard, FICS, 2012

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.Bxf7+

Transposing to a "modern" (vs "classical") version of the Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0 Nf6, etc. The Database has 1,065 games with this position. White scores 41%.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ 

Now White decides to go "classical" after all. It is as if the game started 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 and then continued 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d4 (or 6.d4 Nf6 7.0-0). If LuigiBot has a "book" it is likely it is out of it.

6...Nxe5 7.d4 Re8 

Black sees no reason to retreat a piece from the d-pawn's attack, as White will win one, anyway. So, he develops.

8.dxc5 d5 9.Bg5 dxe4 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Qe1 Qd4

Black is certainly active and better. The game still has to be won, however.

12.Bxf6 Kxf6 13.Nxe4+ Kf7 14.c3 Qd5 15.Ng5+ Kg8 16.Qc1 Qxc5

Now Black's King is safe, and there is still the matter of the extra piece. What's to worry? Well, for starters, humans can be pretty tricky...

17.h3 Nd3 18.Qc2 Be2

The computer can not see far enough ahead to avoid the Queen sacrifice.

19.Qb3+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7 checkmate

Nice.

This is not the first time that LuigiBot has been bested by the Jerome Gambit. See "Poor, Poor Computer" for example.

Jerome Gambit: Smothered

Sometimes the finish to a game is the most sparkling part. Witness the following between Bill Wall and an opponent who will remain anonymous.

For all practial purposes, the game has been over for a while - but Black has been hanging on. Not for much longer, though.

28.Nf7+ Kg8

Now White has the routine discovered check 29.Nd8+, and the game ends either after 29...Kf8 30.Qf7# or 29...Kh8 30.Qe8#.

Why overlook a Queen sacrifice and a smothered mate, however? There is double, discovered check.

29.Nh6+ Kh8

Instead, 29...Kf8 30.Qf7# is again routine.

30.Qg8+ Rxg8 31.Nf7 checkmate

Nice.

Recall the game rigidwithfear - golddog2, Jerome Gambit Tournament, RedHotPawn.com, 2016 for another smother.

It is interesting that The Database has 8 games with the same checkmating pattern, including 2 that ended with an unforced ...Rg8 followed by Nf7#.

Jerome Gambit: First Blood

The Jerome Gambit has drawn first blood in the third round of the Chess.com Giuoco Piano thematic tournament. The game is not very exciting, however, and so games have been added in the notes to compensate.

perryawnpusher - AWARDCHESS
Giuoco Piano Thematic, Chess.com, 2017

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf6

Black's King usually retreats to the 8th rank.

8.Qxc5

Or 8.d4 Bxd4 (8...Bb4+ 9.c3 c6 10.Qg5+ Ke6 11.Qxd8 Nf6 12.Qc7 Bd6 13.Qa5 Kf7 14.e5 Re8 15.O-O Nxe5 16.dxe5 Rxe5 17.Qa4 b5 18.Qd4 Rd5 19.Qe3 Bb7 20.Nd2 c5 21.Nf3 Ng4 22.Qe1 Re8 23.Be3 Rh5 24.h3 Ne5 25.Nxe5+ Rexe5 26.Rd1 Bc7 27.Rxd7+ Re7 28.Rxe7+ Kxe7 29.Bxc5+ Kd7 30.Qe7+ Kc8 31.Qe8+ Bd8 32.Qxh5 Ba6 33.Rd1 Bc7 34.Qe8+ Kb7 35.b4 g5 36.Rd7 h5 37.Qf7 Kc8 38.Rxc7+ Kb8 39.Bxa7+ Ka8 40.Qe8+ Bc8 41.Qxc8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - whitepandora, FICS, 2008; 8...h6 9.Qxc5 N8e7 10.e5+ Kf7 11.Qc4+ Kf8 12.O-O b6 13.f4 a5 14.f5 Ba6 15.fxg6+ Ke8 16.Qf7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, FICS, 2013; 8...d6 9.Bg5 checkmate, mrjoker - Taj, Internet Chess Club, 2009) 9.Qg5+ Ke6 10.Qxd8 N8e7 11.Qxc7 Ne5 12.Qa5 b6 13.Qd2 Bc5 14.Nc3 Ba6 15.Nd5 Rac8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.Qg5+ Ke6 18.Qf5+ Kd6 19.Bf4 Rce8 20.O-O-O+ Kc6 21.Bxe5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, FICS, 2014

8...d6

Not 8...Qe7 9.Qf5 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - zsilber, FICS, 2010.

9.Qe3

Or 9.Qc3+ Ne5 10.f4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest4240618, PlayChess.com, 2015.

9...Nh6

The Knight can go elsewhere:

9...Ne5 10.d4 Ng4 (10...Nc4 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 b5 13.Qxc7+ Ne7 14.a4 b4 15.Qxc4+ d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5+ Be6 18.Qf3+ Ke7 19.Bg5+ Kd6 20.Nd2 Rhe8 21.Ne4+ Kd7 22.Nc5+ Kd6 23.Qf4+ Kc6 24.O-O-O Bd5 25.Na6 Kb6 26.Qd6+ Bc6 27.Nxb4 Rac8 28.d5 Red8 29.Bxd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Kc5 31.Nxc6 a5 32.Qxa5+ Kc4 33.Qb4 checkmate, MrJoker - ipon, Internet Chess Club, 2011) 11.Qg5+ Kf7 12.Qxd8 Black resigned MrJoker - vicwill, Internet Chess Club, 2011;

9...N8e7 10.d4 Kf7 (10...c5 11.dxc5 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxc5 13.Qf3+ Ke6 14.O-O Ne5 15.Qh3+ Kf7 16.Qh5+ N7g6 17.Be3 Qb4 18.f4 Nc4 19.f5 Nxe3 20.fxg6+ Kg8 21.gxh7+ Rxh7 22.Qe8 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - useche, FICS, 2010) 11.O-O Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nh8 14.Nc3 c6 15.Qg3 d5 16.f6 Neg6 17.fxg7 Kxg7 18.Be3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Nf7 20.Qf3 Ng5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Nxd5 Bg4 25.Nf4 Rf8 26.Qxb7 Rxf4 27.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf4+ White resigned, perrypawnpusher - wbrandl, FICS, 2011.

10.f4 Re8 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Nd5+ Black resigned

Ouch. This kind of thing can happen, even in a slow game. Maybe the real world intruded. Maybe White's opening looked too innocuous to worry about in the early stages.