Jerome Gambit: Early Slip

The following game features an early slip by Black which surrenders his advantage. It is instructive, however, to see how White builds his attack, culminating in checkmate.

Wall, Bill - Guest6179121
PlayChess.com, 2019

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 

Black is unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit. In addition, my guess is that this is a blitz game, and that Black did a rapid "calculation" - I have 3 pieces developed to 1 of his, and I attack his Queen!

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qb5 a6

The loss of a tempo increases the danger.

11.Qb3+ 

Raising the question (which takes time to answer) - can White afford to grab the b-pawn after 11...Be6? It is likely not worth the effort: 11...Be6 12.Qxb7 Qd7 13.Qb4 c5 14.Qa3 Nxe4. Still, Black declines to make the offer.

11...Kf8 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nd5 14.O-O+ Ke8 

15.Nc3 c6 

Black does not fall for 15...Nxc3 16.Qf7#

16.Ne4 Rf8 17.Nd6+ Kd7 18.Rxf8 Qxf8 

19.d4 Kc7 20.Bg5 h6 21.Rf1 Qg8 22.Rf7+ Kb8 23.Rxb7+ Bxb7 24.Qxb7 checkmate

Ouch.

Jerome Gambit: The Deadly f-File

In the following game, Black's initial moves give him good play. He relaxes too soon, however, and finds danger along the f-file - twice.

Wall, Bill - Guest2056949
PlayChess.com, 2019

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6 8.Be3 Ng4

Give Black extra points for creativity. There is only one other game in The Database with this move - a blitz win for the second player.

9.Qb4 Nxe3 10.fxe3

Stockfish 10 sees Black with a winning game.

10...d6 

Ooops.

Won games don't win themselves.

Perhaps the game should have continued 10...Qh4+ 11.g3 Qe7 12.O-O+ Nf6, still good for Black.

11.Rf1 Qxf1+ 12.Kxf1 Nf6 13.Qc4+ Be6 14.Qxc7+ Kg6 15.Qxd6 Rae8 

White has a Queen and 3 pawns for a Rook and a Bishop. He can work up an attack on the enemy King, or continue to pick off material.

16.Nc3 Rhf8 17.Kg1 Ng4 18.Nd5 Kf7 19.Rf1+ Nf6 20.e5 Black resigned

The Knight, pinned along the f-file, is done for.

Jerome Gambit: Until Something Happens

When a defender loses to the Jerome Gambit, it usually happens one of two ways. White either falls upon him like a ton of bricks, or Black defends effectively - until something happens. Sometimes the slip the second player makes seems small, but the punishment can still be harsh.

In the following game, the lines in the notes may appear complicated, but they are the kind that an attacker can enter, knowing that, in the end, he will prevail.

Wall, Bill - Guest2038506
PlayChess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 

Black has defended well and has a piece for a pawn. He would do well to take care of his King, castling-by-hand.

8.O-O Nf6 9.Nc3 Re8 

The defender continues in his task.

It might be relevant to note, however, that Bill has reached this position 15 times, and has scored 13 - 1 - 1. It is a familiar hunting ground.

10.Bg5 h6 

11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 

According to The Database, this move is a novelty. Black casually goes about exchanging a Knight for a Bishop.

13.f4

White strikes with what he has. Things are going to get messy.

13...Nc6 14.fxg5+ Kg6 15.Qd3 Nxg3 

Black continues according to his plan, unaware that the situation has changed.

16.Rf6+ Kg7 

The first shock is that the pawn at g5 cannot be captured, as it would lead, inexorably to checkmate: 16...Kxg5 17.Qxg3+ Kxf6 18.Nd5+ Kf7 19.Rf1+ Bf5 20.Rxf5+ Ke6 21.Qg4 Qh4 22.Nxc7+ Ke7 23.Nd5+ Kd8 24.Qxh4+ Kd7 25.Rf7+ Re7 26.Rxe7+ Nxe7 27.Qxe7+ Kc6 28.Qc7+ Kb5 29.c4+ Ka4 30.Qd7+ b5 31.Qxb5# White does not have to know the exact sequence; he can find his way down the path, move-by-move.

The second shock is that Black's best defense requires him to sacrfice his Queen immediately: 16...Qxf6 17.gxf6 Nh5 (Black has a Rook, a Bishop and a Knight for a Queen and 2 pawns, but his position is very difficult) 18.Nd5 Ne5 19.Qd4 Bd7 20.Nxc7 Nxf6 21.Qxd6 Rac8 22.Rf1 Rxc7 23.Qxc7 Black still has 3 pieces for his Queen, but White should be able to out-play him.

17.Qxg3 Ne5 18.Nd5 

18...c6 

Black's best defense was complicated and still inadequate: 18...Bg4 19.Qh4 h5 20.h3 Be6 21.Nf4 (21.Qxh5 Rh8) 21...Bf7 22.g6 Bxg6 (22...Qxf6 23.Nxh5+) 23.Qg5 Kh7 24.Nxg6 Qxf6 25.Qxf6 Nxg6 26.Qf7+ Kh6 27.Qxc7 Re7 28.Qxd6 Rf8 29.Re1 Black's Rook and Knight can not stop White's Queen from nabbing pawns and prevailing.

19.gxh6+ Black resigned

Mate will come the next move.

Jerome Gambit: Difficult to Figure Out

The Jerome Gambit can be a difficult opening for the defender to figure out. Good moves can look bad, and bad moves can look good. The following game is an example.

Wall, Bill - MLHZ
FICS, 2019

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 

6.Nf3 

A rare move - The Database has only 1 other example - but Bill likes to experiment...

6...Qe7 7.O-O d6 

The e-pawn can be taken, but Black is suspicious.

8.d3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Kf7 

Black begins the process of castling-by-hand.

10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Nd8 

Overly careful. The Knight should go to d4.

12.Re1 Qd7 13.Ng5+ Kg6 14.Re4 h6 15.Rh4

15...Qf5 

Coming to the rescue, but falling into a tactical trap.

16.Qh5+ Kf6 17.Rf4 Black resigned

Oh, my!

Jerome Gambit: Sacrifice/Blunder?

A Jerome Gambit win, and some handy endgame play in another game, will allow me to move on to the 3rd round of play in both the "Italian Game Classic" and "Italian Game Battlegrounds" tournaments at Chess.com. There will be a bit of a wait, however, until I can play a few more Jerome Gambits, as each tournament has a number of games to complete before the round is finished.

The turning point in the following game reminds me of the light-hearted comment about giving up material: if it succeeds, it's a "sacrifice", if it fails, it's a "blunder". I would love to say that my chess has matured to the point where I made an intuitive sacrifice, but I have to admit that it was more of a fortunate oversight.

perrypawnpusher - mallack
Italian Game Battlegrounds, Chess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ Kf8

The Jerome Defense, first suggested by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in an article in the Dubuque Chess Journal of July, 1874, and seen, initially, in Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence, 1880 (1-0, 40).

The Database has 665 game examples, with White scoring 50%. My own experience is a bit better: in 36 games, I scored 79%. (That probably reflects experience with the line.)

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 

As I noted in an earlier post

I experimented with Jerome's 8.Qf4+ in perrypawnpusher - Capt. Mandrake, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.com, 2008 (1-0, 9) and perrypawnpusher - LeeBradbury, "Italian Game" Thematic, Chess.com, 2012 (1-0, 36).
I also tried 8.Qc3 in perrypawnpusher - Raankh, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 22).
There is not much difference in the strength between these two moves and the text, or even 8.Qh5, if Stockfish 9 is to be believed.

8...Nf6 9.Nc3 

I am not sure why I chose the text move over 9.d3. Before this game, I was 3 - 1 with 9.Nc3 and 5 - 1 with 9.d3. The two lines sometimes transpose, and 9.d3 brings White one step closer to resolving the issue of Black's annoying dark square Bishop, so, perhaps it should be played first.

9...Be6 

This was also played by Abhishek29 against me earlier this year. The move is good, and preserves Black's advantage, although it has the slight taint of placing the Bishop (possibly) in a place where an advancing White f-pawn might hit it.

10.O-O g6 

This move, a novelty, according to The Database, does several things. It resists a possible f2-f4-f5 by White; it protects the Black g-pawn from White's Queen, and it gives the Black King a place to step out of the way, to castle-by-hand and allow his Rook to get into play.

11.d3 Kg7 12.Na4 

Seriously?!

I was going to try this move, after the trials of my game against warwar, in the 3rd round of the Italian Battleground tournament (at Chess.com) earlier this year? Sure, the positions are not the same, but warwar did not meekly retreat his Bishop to b6, he brought it to d4, then e5 - and then threw in ...Nh5 for good measure. It was a messy game, even if I did weasel out a win.

Then, there was the additional anxiety related to my game against Abhishek29, when he did retreat the Bishop, and I was able to exchange it off.

Certainly, it was a time for in-depth concrete analysis - so, of course, I crossed my fingers for luck and just made the Knight move...

12...Bb6

Whew!

After the game, Stockfish 10 pointed out that 12...Bd4 13.c3 Be5 14.f4 would be hit by 14...Nh5. In fact, 13...Nh5 would have been good for Black, too. Yikes.

13.Nxb6 axb6 14.f4 Rxa2 

This took me by surprise. It should not have - in a similar position against Abhishek29, I had prevented the capture by playing a2-a3. But, is the loss of the pawn a big deal, any way? It turns out, it is not. This is the sacrifice/blunder of material that I referred to in the introduction to this game.

15.Rxa2 Bxa2 16.b3 

Black's Bishop has left his King, and is trapped. It is vulnerable to capture in a couple of moves, which explains Black's next choice.

16...Qa8 

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Black has grabbed the pawn, and now feels the need to protect the locked-in Bishop, even at the cost of removing another defender from the Kingside.

17.Bb2

This move reminded me of a booklet on the 2.b3 Sicilian that I bought in 1977, from Ron's Postal Chess Club, of all places. At the time, I was advancing the b-pawn one step against 1...c5 if I was feeling conservative, or two steps (the wing gambit) if I was feeling rowdy; and I even tried 2.b3 against the French and Caro Kann defenses. Nowadays you can find Sabotaging the Sicilian, French & Caro-Kann with 2.b3 by Jerzy Konikowski and Marek Soszynski.

Oh - back to the game. White's attack is about to come together.

17...Rf8 18.f5 

18...Qa5 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Qf4 g5 21.Bxf6+ 

After the game, Stockfish 10 preferred 21...Qg4. I wanted my piece back, right away.

21...Kg8 22.Qg4 Qd2 

Black's Queen cannot save the day.

23.Bxg5 Black resigned

You probably saw the cute checkmate, instead, with 23.Qe6+ Kh7 24.Qe7 Rf7 25.Qxf7+ Kh6 26.Qg7+ Kh5 27.Qh7+ Kg4 28.Qh3#.

Please note the stranded Bishop on a2.

Jerome Gambit: Merry Christmas!

Here is my latest letter from Cliff Hardy - a Jerome Gambit game (time limit: bullet, one minute, no increment - in this game, about a second per move.) with a timely Christmas motif! I have added some diagrams, but the commentary is all his - Rick

Merry Christmas, Rick!

This game intrigued me as Black was unusual in being able to find the excellent 11...Kc6! move in this variation. Unfortunately, he was forced soon after that to become really generous this Christmas, as the presents began to be handed out...

Cliff Hardy (2286) - NN (2532)

1 0, Lichess, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ 

If you expect to receive presents, you should give some first!

5...Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 

11.d3 Kc6!

Very rare for someone to find this risky-looking but pugnacious move - and in bullet too!

12.Nc3

I'm never quite sure in this variation whether to play c3 or Nc3.

12...d5 13.Bf4 dxe4 14.dxe4 Qe6??

Black gives a Christmas present! 14...Qh5! -++, intending 15.e5+ Qxf3 16.gxf3 Nh5, would have been very strong for him.

15.0-0-0?? =

It's Christmas time and White proves to be very charitable! I didn't realise that 15.e5+ Nd5 ++- doesn't really hang in for Black e.g. 16.0-0-0 Rd8 17.Nxd5 Rxd5 18.c4, when the pinned Black rook will require wrapping paper and a gift tag.

15...a6?? ++- 

You know that moment at Christmas when you graciously refuse a Christmas present but the giver continually thrusts it upon you? A complex game would have arisen after 15...Qg4! 16.Qf1! (threatening checkmate in one with 17.Qb5#) 16...b6 =, when Black's exposed king compensates for White's sacrificed bishop.

16. e5+ Kb6 17. exf6 Qxf6??

Another present for me? Why, thank you! Stockfish rated the position before this move as lost for Black anyway, due to his exposed king, but I admit it all looked very unclear to me! Now though, it was fairly easy to take out the win and the rest of the game was uneventful.

18.Nd5+ Ka7 19.Nxf6 gxf6 20.Qc3 Bb6 

21.Be3 Bg4 22.Bxb6+ cxb6 23.Rd6 Bf5 24.Qxf6 Rhf8 25.Qd4 Rac8 26.Qxb6+ Ka8 27.c3 Be4 28.Rhd1 Bxg2 29.Rd8 Kb8 30.Rxf8 Rxf8 31.Rd8+ Rxd8 32.Qxd8+ Ka7 

33.Qd4+ Kb8 34.Qg7 Bc6 35.Qxh7 Ka7 36.Qh8 a5 37.h4 Kb6 38.Qd4+ Kb5 39.h5 a4 40.h6 a3 41.b3 Ka6 42.c4 Be4 43.h7 Bxh7 44.Qd5 Ka7 45.Qb5 Bg8 46.Qa5+ Kb8 47.Qd8+ Ka7 48.Qxg8 Kb6 

49.c5+ Kxc5 50.Qc4+ Kb6 51.Qa4 Kc5 52.Qxa3+ Kd4 53.Qa4+ Kc5 54.Qc4+ Kb6 55.b4 Ka7 56.Qc5+ Kb8 57.Qb5 Ka7 58.a4 b6 59.a5 Kb7 60.Qxb6+ Kc8 61.a6 Kd7 62.Qb7+ Ke8 63.a7 Kd8 64.a8=Q checkmate