Jerome Gambit: Different Line, Same Result

The latest internet game from Vlasta Fejfar shows that the Jerome Gambit is not just a one-time-surprise opening. Having fallen to the Jerome, his opponent reassesses his chances and his line of play, and tries something new. Alas, for the defender, White still triumphs.

vlastous - ADELAZIZ
internet, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

The Jerome Defense, courtesy Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, who also brings you the Jerome Gambit.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Nf6 

ADELAZIZ varies from the 8...Qf6 that he played when the two contested a game earlier. Then, vlastous was willing to exchange Queens and make his extra "Jerome pawns" count.

9.O-O Bd4 10.c3 Be5 

Reminding me of perrypawnpusher - warwar, "Italian Battleground", Chess.com, 2019 - but in current game, things turn out better for White.

11.Qh4 g5 

A smart move. Taking the pawn would expose White to dangers along the g-file.

12.Qh6+ Kf7 13.d4 Bf4 14.Bxf4 gxf4 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Re1 Be6

Black still has a piece for two pawns, but the uneasy position of his King suggests that if anyone has an edge, it is White.

18.c4 Nb4 19.Nc3 Rg8 20.Ne4 Nd3

The Knight attacks White's Rook and pawns, while protecting his advanced pawn. However, a pin along the d-file will cause trouble. Better was 20...Qe7, Which could also be answered by 21.Rad1.

21.Rad1 b6 

Now the roof falls in.

22.Rxd3 Qxd3 23.Qf6+ Ke8 Black resigned

Black will lose his Queen (and more) or be checkmated.

Jerome Gambit: Faster and Faster

The following bullet (one minute, no increment, time control) online game starts off in regular Jerome Gambit fashion, but things then turn bad for Black, who keeps rolling down the hill, faster and faster. The King hunt at the end is brutal.

angelcamina - Kvngmicky
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

The players have reached a regular Jerome Gambit position - at breakneck speed.

10.O-O Ng4 11.Qf3+ 

A new move, according to The Database.

11...Nf6 12.d4 Ke7 13.Bg5 Kd7 14. Nc3 c6 15.Rad1 h6 16.Bc1 Qe7 17.Rfe1 Kc7

White is ready to go.

18.e5 dxe5 19.dxe5 Nxe5

The pawn is poisoned.

20.Bf4

This works, but so does 20.Rxe5 Qxe5 21.Bf4.

21...Nfd7 21.Qg3 

Again, a solid move. With more time, angelcamina would have found 21.Rxd7.

21...Kd8 

Black's position now collapses like a house of cards.

22.Bxe5 Ke8 23.Qg6+ Qf7 24.Bxg7+ Kd8 25.Qxf7 Kc7 26.Bxh8 Kb6

There is no place safe for Black's King.

27. Bd4+ c5 28.Nd5+ Ka6 29.Bc3 b5 30.Qe6+ Kb7 31.Nb4 Kb8 32.Rxd7 Bb7 33.Qe8+ Bc8 34.Rd8 Kb7 35.Re7+ Kb6 36.Qc6+ Ka5 37.Nd5+ b4 38.Bxb4+ Black resigned

All of White's pieces participate in the checkmate attack, while Black's remain, unfortunately, at home.

Jerome Gambit: Previously, In the Precomputer Era

!!!!!

Wandering the internet the other day, I ran across a Russian language chess site that teased

Previously, in the precomputer era, often against obviously weaker rivals, we played like this: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7 +?

My computer offered to translate the site to English, and I found it lots of fun.

(There is a link to this web site, as well as lichess.org.)

There is also some cogent advice

...Indeed, the dynamic capabilities of the position are a lot of trouble for Black.Therefore, it is useful to play this beginning against the engine both for whites and blacks - this will definitely contribute to the growth of tactical skill. 

The author has done his homework. The infamous game NN - Blackburne, of course, is given, but there is also with Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875; Lowe - Cudmore, corr, 1881; Keeble - Cubitt, Norwich, 1886; Sorensen - X,  Denmark, 1888; and even Wall - Bison engine, 2015. 

It is well worth a visit.

Jerome Gambit Declined: Grumping, Yet

While I'm on the topic of the Jerome Gambit Declined, I thought I would dig a little deeper...

MrJoker - david2play
2 12 blitz, Internet Chess Club, 2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 

The Jerome Gambit Declined.

Certainly, strongest for Black was 4...Kxf7, but on rare occasions the defender decides If you want me to take the Bishop, I won't take the Bishop. That being the case in this game, the Black King is probably better off on f8 as opposed to e7.

5.Bxg8 

The typical argument can otherwise ensue, where best to retreat the Bishop, d5, c4 or b3?

MrJoker's solution, of course, is playable. I will leave the discussion of 5.b3, 5.c3, 5.Nc3, 5.d3, 5.d4, 5.Nxe5, 5.Qe2, 5.0-0, 5.Ng5 and 5.Bh5 (all are in The Database) for later posts.

5... Kxg8 6.O-O 

A reasonable move, played by HauntedKnight, Petasluk, shugart, Superpippo, Wall, and others, as well.

6...d6

For 6...Qf6 see Wall, Bill - Guest558953, PlayChess.com, 2017 (1-0, 15).

Looking at the diagram, you can ask yourself What does Black have for his gambitted pawn? Not very much - but he is playing his own game.

7.c3 h6 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb4 

Better to have retreated the Bishop, as White shows.

10.Qb3+ Kh7 11.d5 Ba5 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Nc3 Re8 14.Bd2 Bb6 15.Rad1 Ba6 

Black is developing, but White, as a Jerome Gambit player, must enjoy being the player with the extra piece.

16.Rfe1 Qf6 17.Be3 Ba518.Bd4 Black forfeited on time

Black's future was not bright, anyhow.

Jerome Gambit Declined: Still Grumpy

I'm still feeling grumpy about the Jerome Gambit Declined (see my previous post, "Jerome Gambit Declined: Table Turned"), but it's an even-handed grumpiness. Let me show you what I mean.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Ke7

This is how my most recent opponent played. Declining the offer of the Bishop is rare, and doing so by moving the King to e7, instead of f8, is even more rare.

5.Bxg8

This was a suggestion from my last post, and it should be considered, if only because it "solves" the issue of where, otherwise, to retreat the Bishop.

5...Qxg8

The correct recapture, but only seen in 1 of 8 games in The Database. The problem with 5...Rxg8, seen as early as Drewbear - AAlekhine, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2007 (1-0, 33) is that White replies 6.d4, threatening to skewer Black's King and Queen with 7.Bg5+, thus winning a piece.

Alas, only two players responded correctly to 5...Rxg8 - Drewbear, in 2007, and Bill Wall, in 2015 - the latter, the game ended after 10 moves.

As for the text, I have only one game to guide me, a lightning game from 2008. We can follow that for a bit.

6.d4

This is kind of funny. Stockfish 10 prefers 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nd5+ Kd8 8.d4 exd4 9.Bg5+ Kd7 10.0-0, giving up a pawn to do - what? He develops his Bishop, forcing Black's King to block Black's light-squared Bishop, which, in turn, blocks Black's Rook... Certainly a Jerome Gambit strategy if ever there was one.

6...exd4 

7.Bg5+

Striking at the King, although, with the Black Queen at g8, the move is not as strong. Probably 7.c3 was better, when Black could try 7...dxc3 or 7...d5. White would have the safer King, but he would be playing quite a different game than the usual Jerome Gambit.

7...Kd8 8.0-0

Reasonable, although the computer recommends 8.c3. 

8...Be7

Simply allows White to recover his pawn.

9.Bf4

Fine, but 9.Bxe7 Kxe7 10.Nxd4 was hard to argue with. 

9...Qf7

Now a tactical skirmish advanced White's game.

10.Bxc7 d6 11.Nxd4 Kd7 12.Nxc6 Kxc7 13.Nxe7 Qxe7 14.Re1 Rf8

Here, the clock seemed to step in.

15.e5 Qh4 16.Qe2

Instead, 16.Qxd6 was checkmate, but, remember, this was a bullet game. White won at move 32.

[This is blog post #2,750. Thanks for reading!]

Jerome Gambit Declined: Table Turned

The Jerome Gambit Declined - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8/Ke7 - is beginning to annoy me. 

Some of it has to be psychological. Instead of grabbing the Bishop at move 4, and preparing to accept another piece the next move, Black says "No, thank you" and creates a bit of a gambit, himself. So, Black exchanges the opportunity for a "won" game with the chance to be a pawn down, with little objective compensation.

Huh?

perrypawnpusher - PrestonRFD
Italian Game Classic", Chess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Ke7 

The Jerome Gambit Declined, and probably not in the best way.

The Database has 49 games with this position, with White scoring 70%, including perrypawnpusher - walkinthe spirit, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 24) and perrypawnpusher - walkinthespirit, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 34).

Stronger appears to be 4...Kf8, which appears 312 times in The Database, and against which White has scored 56%.

By comparison, based on almost 14,500 games in The Database, White scores only 46% with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7.

So - Black gives up something by refusing to accept the sacrifice, but the lesson of Geoff Chandler's "blunder table" is that the pawn Black offers in return is not much of a loss on his part. In the meanwhile White is forced to create a plan.

5.Bb3 

Certainly 5.Bxg8, instead, is worth a look: it scores 8-0 in The Database. I gave it a glance before moving my Bishop, but was needlessly worried about 5...Qxg8, with two heavy pieces backing two pawns aimed at the future home of my King.

If the Bishop is not exchanged, where should it go? On any given day, computers seem to prefer 5.Bd5 or 5.Bc4, although I can not figure out what advantage those moves have over the full retreat to b3.

The Database confirms that Black has succeeded in one of his goals, that of confusing White. The eleven 5th move responses include 5.Bb3, 5.c3, 5.Bc4, 5.d3, 5.d4, 5.Bd5, 5.Nxe5, 5.0-0, 5.Ng5, 5.Bxg8 and 5.Bh5.

5...Nf6 

Sensible, predictable and, according to the computer, wrong.

6.Nc3

I know that I am supposed to know all about the Jerome Gambit, so it is a bit embarassing to see this is at least a small error, as well. White should grab the pawn at e5, initiating the "fork trick": 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.d4 when he will get back either the piece at c5 or the one at e5. (I can console myself that there are no game examples of 6.Nxe5 in The Database. I should add this move to my "Jerome Gambit Secrets" posts.)

6...d6 7.h3

This is a boring move, designed mostly to prevent ...Bg4 as an aid to a possible ...Nd4. It was disappointing to come to grips with the realization that my advantage in the game was mostly the extra f-pawn, which wasn't going to advance any time soon. So, my plan became: small moves, small ideas, let him take the leap.

7...Re8 8.d3 Kf8 9.O-O Be6 

After the game, Stockfish recommended now that White play 10.Bxe6 Rxe6 11.Ng5 Re8 12.Nd5, with a complicated tactical line.
No matter. After

10.Bg5 

Black lost on time. 

I am not sure why. Perhaps: the real world.

Strange game, right to the end.

Tournament: Italian Game Classic

I have moved to a 7 - 0 score, with one game incomplete, in the first round of the Chess.com "Italian Game Classic" tournament. That score includes two wins with the Jerome Gambit - one, admittedly on time, which, nonetheless has its educational points, and which will be posted shortly. 

(As I mentioned, one of the players who fell before the Jerome tried it for himself, and was rewarded with a win.)

As all the other players in my group have at least 3 losses, I can count on moving on to the next round, with more Jerome Gambit opportunities.

This is a large tournament - 20 groups of players each - so, who knows how many Jeromes I will be able to rack up?

Win, lose, proud or embarassed - I will share them all.