As mentioned in the previous post, the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ (5.0-0 would be the Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit) had been called the Noa Gambit or the Monck Gambit - before picking up the moniker the Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
It is easy to find two games defended by Emanuel Lasker, in this line, from a mondern games database but neither appear to be the game referred to by the Pittsburgh Press on October 18, 1906.
NN - Lasker, Emanuel
consultation game, London, 1900
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Ng3 e4 8.Ng1 Bc5 9.N1e2 Qf6 10.O-O h5 11.Nc3 h4 12.Nxd5 Qe5 13.Nxe4 Qxe4 14.Nxc7 Nd4 15.d3 Qc6 16.Be3 h3 17.f3 hxg2 18.Rf2 Qxc7 19.Rxg2 Nxc2 0-1
Lenzer - Lasker, Emanuel
simultaneous exhibition, Germany, 1913
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Neg5+ Kg8 8.d3 h6 9.Nh3 g5 10.Nd2 Rh7 11.f3 Bxh3 12.gxh3 Rf7 13.Nb3 Qf6 14.Rf1 Re8 15.Qe2 Re6 16.Bd2 Nd4 17.Qd1 Nxf3+ 0-1
Recent correspondence with chess historian John Hilbert confirms the outlines of the Pittsburgh Press story - the simultaneous exhibition, the location, the city, the date, Lasker's opponent - but, alas, not the game, itself. To that, Richard Forster, who co-edited Emanuel Lasker Volume 1: Struggle and Victories: World Chess Champion for 27 Years (which, by the way, included Hilbert's chapter, "Lasker: The American Views"), unfortunately can add nothing.
It is the old story: defeat the master, and submit your game for publication; fall to the master, and keep your gamescore to yourself.
While I tend to refer to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ as the Jerome Gambit, the name has been attached to other move orders, especially in earlier years. The issue often comes down to which aspect of the opening, the Bishop sacrifice at f7, or the Queen advance to h5 (after 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+), the annotator is looking at.
For example, Joseph Henry Blackburne, in his Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899) refers to the Jerome Gambit a "the Kentucky Opening". He was clearly focused on the Queen move, as my posts on "The Kentucky Opening" Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and "The Kentucky/Danvers Opening" [1.e4 e5 2.Qh5] argue.
On the other hand, some writer focus upon the Bishop sacrifice. Gerald Abrahams is, perhaps, the most extreme example, coming out of the Bishop's Opening rather than the Giuoco Piano, labeling 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ as The Jerome Gambit, despite no analysis or games by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome focusing on that line. See "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit" Part 1 & 2.
(For that matter, Alessandro Salvio wrote, in the early 1600s, about 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2 Nc6/Nf6 4.Bxf7+, although White's Queen would subsequently go to c4, with check, instead of h5, to pick up the Bishop at c5.)
Similar is the Lewis Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4 exd4 4.Bxf7+, and the similar Von der Lasa Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4, 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. Both, with their focus on the Bishop sacrifice, seem to have escaped the Jerome Gambit label, however, at least as I can tell.
Further extended are lines like 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.Bxf7+, arising from either the Scotch Opening or the Giuoco Piano. The earliest game that I have with it is Wright - Hunn, Arkansas, US, 1874, which in the Dubuque Chess Journal of November, 1874, was referred to as "an unsound variation of Jerome's double opening." It has also been referred to, later on, as "the Macbeth Attack". (Of course, the first 4 moves have been recently covered in The Italian Gambit and A Guiding Repertoire For White - E4! by Acers and Laven.)
Finally, we come to 1.e4 e5. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+, which has been referred to, variously, as the Noa Gambit, the Monck Gambit - and, more recently, as the Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. A closer look will probably muddy thing further.
[to be continued]
As a serious fan of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I like to think about what would happen if the best chess players ever faced the opening - or, even more improbably, if the "best" ever played against the "worst".
Of course, I am realistic about the objective value of the Jerome Gambit, and am comfortable referring to it as "the worst." I have even written a cautionary 2-part article about the opening for Chess Life for Kids, about a decade ago (see " 'The Worst Chess Opening Ever' - Warning or Menace??").
One of my first blog posts on this site was an introduction to the bashing that the British powerhouse Joseph Henry Blackburne gave the Jerome Gambit (see "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!") - even if we eventually had to show that the Blackburne Defense probably leads to a draw...
Over the years, there have been various "sightings".
There was the gathering in "No Way A GM Plays the Jerome Gambit" Parts 1, 2, & 3" which has a reference to "A GM plays the Jerome Gambit??"
I went chasing after a game supposedly played by Alekhine ("The Jerome Gambit is Going to Drive Me..." Parts 1 & 2) only to lead to disappointment (see "Much Ado About... Nothing").
Then there was the columnist, writing in 1914, that suggested that Steinitz had lost to the Jerome Gambit the first time he had faced it. No game example was given, however, nor any specifics, like location and year played. You can read about it in an aptly titled post "Jerome Gambit: Balderdash".
Likewise, there is a 1906 newspaper chess column talking about Emanuel Lasker defeating a Jerome Gambit in a simultaneous exhibition - and, while no game is given, the name of the player (and others who challenged Lasker), the location, and the date can be assessed, making the claim a bit more authentic.
I have done a bit more researching lately. I have also been reflecting on the question: What is the Jerome Gambit? The answer to the latter may help inform the former.
[to be continued]
What can you say about a one minute, no increment, chess game?
Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe rain, maybe snow.
Unless the opening is the Jerome Gambit. Then, put your bets on angelcamina, playing White, whether he is better or worse off, "objectively".
angelcamina - KPDGE
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Opening.
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6 8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qe3 Qf6
Sometimes in Jerome lines, it is useful for the defender to have his Queen on f6. In this case - with the King on the same file? Probably not. But, remember, this is a 1-minute game, and it will not be decided by nuances.
11.O-O Ne5
Reminds me of the Joker, in "The Dark Knight", saying he wants Batman to hit him.
12.f4
Hitting with the right. It might have been stronger to hit with the left, 12.d4.
12...Nc4 13.Qe2 Nb6 14.e5
14...Qe6 15.d4 Ne7 16.f5 Qc4 17.Qg4
Instead, 17.f6 works, but it allows Black to exchange Queens. Instead, White is going after the King.
17...Bxf5 18.Rxf5+ Nxf5 19.Qxf5+
19...Ke8
Freeing the f-file for his h-Rook. Stronger was 19...Kg8, freeing the file for his a-Rook. Who has time to figure this all out?
20.e6
Easy to understand (Attack! Attack!) but it leaves Black a way out.
20...Qxd4+ 21.Kh1 Rf8 22.Qg6+ Ke7 23.Bxh6
Nice. White is objectively in trouble, but this offer of a sacrifice - a bluff? - intimidates Black, and turns the game around. (The Bishop must be taken.)
23...Qf6 24.Bg5
Ow. Certainly the clock must have been a factor at this point.
24...Rae8 25.Bxf6+ Rxf6 26.Qxg7+ Kxe6 27.Re1+ Kf5 28.Rxe8 Kf4 29.Qg3+ Kf5 30.Qf3+ Black resigned
In the following online blitz game, Black "surprises" White with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit - only to be surprised, in turn, by receiving the Jerome Gambit treatment. Things go steadily in White's direction, until he makes a slip, and that is Black's chance; but he misses it.
angelcamina - felix_paton
3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+
Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Qf6
Interesting, but 7...hxg6 had to be played.
8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.e5 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Qxf2 11.Qf7+
With fast time controls, this kind of thing can happen. The safe path was to snap up the advanced Knight with 11.Kxc2.
Okay, Black has his chance. Can he exit the highway to oblivion?
11...Kd8
Inertia. Instead, 11...Qxf7 12.Nxf7 Nxa1 would give him the advantage.
12.Qxf2 Black resigned.
And so it goes. angelcamina doesn't give many chances.
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.
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.
