Having a "feel" for the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) saves a lot of time, especially in positions that need close examination to understand - but, in games where there is no time for close examination.
In the following game, Black seems to have side-stepped a handful of dangers, only to fall into a tactical mess.
angelcamina - yisustorres19
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Re8 9.O-O d6
Black is doing well. He can castle-by-hand and then make plans for the future. But - quickly. He has only one minute for the game.
10.f4 c5 11.Qe3 Nc4 12.Qd3 Nb6
13.e5 dxe5
Stockfish 10, which probably plays quite well at the 1 0 time control, suggests, instead, the tactical exhanges 13...Ng4 14.Nb5 dxe5 15.fxe5+ Kg8 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Nc7 Bd7 18.e6 Rac8 19.Bg5 Nf6 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.e7 Re8 22.Nxe8 Rxe8 23.Rxf6 Rxe7 when Black will have two pieces for a Rook and a pawn, and, perhaps, an edge in the game.
14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.fxe5 Nbd5
16.Nxd5 Rxd5 17.exf6 g6
Black has given back his extra piece, and seems to be heading toward a drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame.
18.Be3 Bf5 19.c3 b6 20.Rae1 Re8 21.Bg5
So far, so good. White's f-pawn is adequately blockaded.
21...Bd3
What's not to like about this move? It attacks White's Rook at f1, while simultaneously attacking the unprotected Bishop at g5. However, it was not possible to examine closely and see that it blows up Black's game, not White's.
22.Rxe8
Ouch. The Black King is stuck at f7, blockading the pawn.
22...Bxf1
Best was giving up the exchange with 22...Rxg5 23.Re7+ Kf8 24.Rd1. Checkmate now follows.
23. Re7+ Kf8 24. Bh6+ Kg8 25. f7+ Kh8 26. Re8 checkmate
In a bullet (1 minute, no increment) game, almost anything can happen. The following game is a good example - White reaches a position where he has 3 more pawns, 1 more piece, but hardly any more time. He must surrender 1/2 a point.
angelcamina - yisustorres19
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. If Black was hoping for a quiet game, this move probably comes as a disappointment.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Nc4
This is a creative response, and a rare one: there are only two other examples in The Database (White won both).
8.dxc5 Re8 9.f3 d6 10.cxd6 Nxd6
Black's plan with his Knight has worked, and he holds a piece for 2 pawns advantage.
11.O-O c6 12.Bg5
This thematic move allows Black to play 12...Qb6+, attacking White's b-pawn, but I can not make sense out of the computer's suggestion of the alternative, 12.a4.
12...h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 Re6
Overlooking White's threat to the 2 Knights.
15.e5 Nf5
Hanging his Queen, which neither player notices.
16.exf6 Qxd1 17.Raxd1 Nxg3 18.hxg3 Rxf6
19.g4 Be6 20.Rd6 Ke7 21.Rfd1 Bd5 22.Nxd5+ Kxd6 23.Nxf6+ Ke6 24.Ne4 Re8
White has the game well under control.
25.Rd6+ Ke5 26.Rxh6 Kf4 27.Kf2 Rd8
This is a mistake, because?
Because now the subtle 28.Re6 would threaten g2-g3, checkmate.
White's choice is also winning, but it suggests that his clock is ticking down.
28.Rf6+ Ke5 29.Rf5+ Ke6 30.Rxg5 b5 31.Rg6+ Kd5 32.Rg5+ Ke6 33.Nc5+ Kd6
Black is running out of time, and so allows the crushing 34.Nb7+ Kd7 35.Nxd8.
But, White is running out of time, too.
34.Ne4+ Ke6 Drawn
The position can be repeated quickly, and both players sigh with relief.
I have looked at Black's defense in the following game before. It is another one of those lines that feels like it might work, because it is similar to a couple of lines that do - but is, in fact, a scary looking error. In a bullet game, it comes off more as a bluff that does not fool the opponent.
angelcamina - yisustorres19
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bd6
Black could play the Blackburne Defense with 7...d6, or the Whistler Defense with 7...Qe7. In the first, White can take the Rook and avoid disaster if he knows the complicated followup. In the second, taking the Rook is immediately self-destructive.
So - why not 7...Bd6?
8.Qxh8 Qf6
Okay, this is an indication that Black is constructing his defense move-by-move. It was time, instead - especially since the time control was one minute, no increment - to go all-out for something scary like 8...Qh4 9.d3 Nf6, temporarily trapping White's Queen as in the Blackburne Defense. Then, after 10.Nd2 Ng4 11.Nf3 Qxf2+ 12.Kd1 White's King looks at risk. The question is, how does Black continue? The greedy 12...Qxg2 allows White to checkmate, starting with 13.Ng5+. Best for Black seems to be 12...Bf8, unblocking the d-pawn, and after 13.h3 Qxg2 14.Qxh7+ Bg7 15.Ng5+ Kf6 16.hxg4 d6 17.Qh2 Bxg4+ 18.Ke1 the attack on White's King has run down, and Black's bluff has been called.
9.Qxh6+ Qg7 10.Qxg7+ Kxg7 11.0-0
White is ahead the exchange and 3 pawns. He just has to play ordinary chess now, nothing fancy.
11...Be5 12.f4 Bd4+ 13.Kh1 Nf6 14.c3 Bb6
15.e5 Ng4 16.h3 Nf2+ 17.Kh2 Nd3
Blocking White's development - but he soon gives the idea up.
18.Na3 Nxc1 19.Raxc1 d6 20.d4 dxe5 21.fxe5 c6 22.Nc4 Bc7 23.Nd6 Bf5
24.Nxf5+ gxf5 25.Rxf5 Rf8 26.Rxf8 Kxf8 27.Rf1+ Ke7
The game has simplified, and only the clock can hurt White. He creates a couple of Queens and finishes things.
28.g4 c5 29.g5 cxd4 30.cxd4 Bb6 31.Rf4 Ke6 32.g6 Kd5 33.g7 Bxd4 34.g8=Q+ Kxe5 35.Rxd4 Kxd4 36.h4 Kc5 37.h5 Kb4 38.h6 b5 39.h7 Ka5 40.h8=Q a6 41.Qc3+ b4 42.Qd8+ Kb5 43.Qdc7 Ka4 44.Q7c6+ Ka5 45.Q3c5 checkmate
How well do you know the Jerome Gambit? Certainly, the first four moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. Likely the next two, as well, after 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 and either 6.Qh5+ or 6.d4. As the following game illustrates, it is helpful to know a few more, critical, moves in a variation that guarantees that Black's game will be nasty, brutish and short.
vlastous - imed 86
internet, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6
Black clearly is unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit, and, in attacking White's Queen, manages to quickly return both sacrificed pieces. The Database has 63 games with this position, with White scoring 73% - I am surprised that White doesn't do better. You should know the follow-up.
8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 Nxe4
Black's second gaffe makes things worse. Again, White should be able to spot the tactic right away.
10.Qd5+ Kf8
Instead, 10...Kf6 was met by 11.b4!? in Vlastous - Orca, ChessManiac.com, 2016 (1-0, 16)
11.Qxe4 Qf6 12.O-O d6
13.Re1 Kf7 14.Qc4+ Kg6 15.Nc3 Rf8
Black still has fight in him, and envisions a counter-attack down the f-file, aimed at White's King.
White has other ideas.
16.Nd5 Qf7 17.Re7 Qf5 18.Qxc7 Qxd5
What else? But, if it looks like Black can now no longer escape checkmate, you are right.
19.Rxg7+ Kf5 20.Rg5+ Ke4 21.d3+ Kd4 22.c3+ Kxd3 23.Rxd5+ Ke4 24.Qc4 checkmate
The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is not for everyone. Sometimes, it is really, really, really not for some people.
I just ran across a YouTube video from ChessTraps.net, titled "Italian The Headless Chicken". Hysterical. Yes, the Jerome Gambit has been called many things, from the "Jerome Gamble" to the "Ashcan Opening", but, this one takes the prize.
The Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 game is presented, without mention of the players, and the narrator is clearly repulsed.
I don't know how the next so-called trap managed to worm itself into our collection. It is simply horrendous and has little chess value whatsoever and you would all be advised never to try this one at home, it's so replete in mistakes...
Do check it out. Players who agree with the narrator, probably do not play the Jerome Gambit, anyhow. And - the lower they estimate the value of the opening, the more they open themselves to overlooking White's chances and opportunities.
Pete Banks.
If you have followed this blog for a long time, you know that he is a member in good standing of the modern Jerome Gambit Gemeinde. You have seen many of his games here - online and over-the-board - under his own name (an example) or his online "blackburne" handle. You may even have read about him in International Master Gary Lane's "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.com, or in IM Lane's book The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps (Everyman Chess, 2008).
Yes, he still finds time to play the occasional Jerome Gambit.
Welcome back to the blog, Pete.
(By the way, I will make a number of references in my notes to "The Database", which is my collection of almost 60,000 Jerome Gambit and Jerome-related games. The vast majority of the games were played online by club level players, making statistics representative of their/our level of play.)
pb-hal - HEIGRO
Chess.com, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5
Pete has never been a fan of playing 7.Qd5+ - the nudge - first. Maybe after this game he will give it a whirl.
7...d6 8.Qe3 Nf6
Compare this position with the one that comes about after 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 where Black's King currently blocks his Rook's access to e8.
Consulting The Database, the position in the diagram has been reached 403 time, with White scoring 49%. (Pete's own record is 17 games with this position, scoring 53%.) That always has to be compared with similar statistics after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+: 14,456 games with White scoring 46%. The implication is that White is on the right track, according to Jerome Gambit praxis.
9.d4
This move shows up in 73 games in The Database; Pete has played it 5 times previously. It is thematic, but rather risky - an odd thing to say in a Jerome Gambit game. Still, instead of "open" play, Stockfish 10 recommends a transition to "close" play, with 9.f3 (appearing only 4 times in The Database, scoring 50%) d5 10.d3.
9...Nxe4
This is the thing: Because the White King and Queen are on the open file, Black can snatch the e-pawn. As is the case in Jerome Gambit practice, however, out of the 73 times that this position has been reached, per The Database, Black found this move only 4 times.
Knowing the "best" move in the Jerome Gambit often confers a significant advantage, and having a "mind map" of how play usually unfolds increases this. (I wonder if Pete remembers that 9...Nxe4 was played against him by Sir Osis of the Liver in the Jerome Gambit tournament at ChessWorld.com, a full ten years ago. Probably.)
10.Qb3+
No doubt Pete was thinking Nice move, there, but I'm the one playing the Jerome Gambit, and it takes more than one nice move to stop me.
10...d5 11.O-O c6 12.Nc3 Re8 13.Nxe4 Rxe4 14.Qf3+
This is funny: one of the larger "errors" of the Jerome is "too many Queen moves". Pete's psychological punch yields immediate results, as Black relaxes too soon.
14...Bf5
As my boss used to say, "Really? Really??"
Precisely the blunder that I have been expecting.
15.Qxf5+ Kg8 16.Bg5 Qf8
Black refuses to try to add more chaos to the position with 16...Qb6, threatening 17...Qxb2 (and possibly a later ...Qxd4), even though it would lead to a relatively balanced "unbalanced" game.
On the other hand, White is quite willing to be "distracted" from his attack and go into an endgame a pawn up, with little risk.
17.Qxf8+ Rxf8 18.Rae1 Rfe8 19.Rxe4 Rxe4 20.Be3 Ne7 21.Re1 Nf5
It is always interesting to observe a Bashi-Bazouk attack turn into a quiet endgame with advantage. A cool drink after an active workout.
22.c3 b6 23.Kf1 Nxe3+ 24.Rxe3 Rxe3 25.fxe3 a5
There is not much more to say. The game plays out until White's extra pawn prevails.
26.a4 b5 27.axb5 cxb5 28.Ke2 Kf7 29.Kd3 Ke6 30.e4 dxe4+ 31.Kxe4 g6 32.g4 Kd6 33.h4 b4 34.cxb4 axb4 35.b3 Ke6 36.d5+ Kd6 37.g5 Kc5 38.Ke5 Black resigned
White's King will escort the d-pawn to the 8th rank.
To play the Jerome Gambit at bullet speed - one minute time control, no increment - you can't always do deep analysis, and sometimes you can't do much analysis at all. You have to have a feel for the opening, where the pieces go, how things develop.
The following game, where angelcamina was using about a second a move, is a good example.
angelcamina - iheartannakendricks
1 0 bullet, lichess.org
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 b6
Not the usual response, but one that Jerome Gambit players are familiar with. I have faced it, as has gobo, MrJoker, Bill Wall, shugart - and Australian master Henry Charlick, over the board, back in 1884.
9.Qe3 Qe7 10.O-O Bb7 11.d3 Nf6 12.f4 Kf7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Qf2 Ngxf4
I am not sure what Black is about, here, as White could simply capture with his Bishop.
15.g3 Qg5
Certainly thinking of a kingside attack, now, although the e-pawn could be had for free.
16.Bxf4 Nxf4 17.Qxf4+ Qxf4 18.Rxf4+ Ke6
Whoosh! Things have transformed into a Queenless middlegame where White is probably better. Certainly his moves are reasonable to come by.
19.d4 Rhf8 20.Rxf8 Rxf8 21.Nc3 c5 22.dxc5 bxc5 23.Rd1 Bc6 24.Re1 a6 25.Ne4 Rf5 26.Nxc5+ Kd5 27.Nxa6 Rxe5 28.Nb4+ Ke6 29.Rxe5+ Kxe5 30.Nxc6+ dxc6
Moves came rapid fire, like out of a machine gun. White's win is straight forward.
31.Kf2 Kd4 32.Ke2 c5 33.a4 c4 34.a5 Kc5 35.Ke3 Kb5 36.a6 Kxa6 37.Kd4 Kb5 38.c3 g6 39.g4 h6 40.h4 g5 41.h5 Ka4 42.Kxc4
42...Ka5 43.Kc5 Ka4 44.b4 Kb3 45.b5 Kxc3 46.b6 Kd3 47.b7 Ke3 48.b8=Q Kf3 49.Qd6 Kxg4 50.Qxh6 Kf4 51.Qg6 g4 52.h6 Kg3 53.Qxg4+ Kf2 54.h7 Ke1 55.h8=Q Black resigned
It is wise not to get in a footrace against angelcamina.
