Jerome Gambit: Ever Onward

The third round of Chess.com's "Italian game Battlegrounds" tournament has started, and I find myself in Group 2 - which consists of me and andrewLLL.

As always, I was fully prepared to place my chances for success in the hands of the Jerome Gambit, but a review of my opponent's recent games suggests that he much preferred 3...Nf6, the Two Knights Defense, to 3...Bc5, which would limit my Jerome options.

So, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6, I crossed my fingers and played 4.Nc3, fully expecting 4...Nxe4, when I was resigned to returning to last year's site of grave strugggle with the Noa Gambit against RemoveKubab1 with 5.Bxf7+.

However, perhaps andrewLLL got a hint of the won game looming before him, and played, instead, 4...Bc5, allowing me to move the game into the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit with 5.Bxf7+.

The Database shows that I have played this line in 60 games, scoring 74%, but you never know when it comes to "refuted" openings, do you? 

Jerome Gambit: Deep Dive (Part 3)

[continued from the previous post]

ZahariSokolov - GizmoClass
FICS, 2019

If you are attacking, and you slip up, you might be down some material. If you are defending, and you slip up, you might be down your King. Keep this bit of wisdom in mind, as the game progresses.

19...Bh3 

Black senses he has time to strike back, not only defend. He misses a couple of points.

First, White still has the threat of 20.Bb4, skewering Black's Queen and winning the Knight on e7; that was why 19...a5, covering the b4 square, instead of the text, was essential.

Second, White's last move contains the threat Qxb5 checkmate, if Black should ever move his Queen away from protecting the pawn at b5 - making 20.Be3, pinning and winning the Queen, a grave danger. (If 20...d4, then 21.Bxd4.)

20.Re1 

Saving the Rook, but missing the winning move just mentioned.

The game now has the feel of time pressure about it. 

20...Bg2 

Continuing to overlook the main threat, as does his opponent. 

21.exd5 Bxf3+ 22.Kc1 Bxd5 23.c4 

Dizzying. White did not have 23.Be3 at his disposal, instead of the text, because of 23...Qxe3+ 24.Rxe3 Bxb3 25.Rxe7 Rae8 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Ke2 Bf7, and Black would have a piece for a pawn.

23...a6 

Not appreciating the fact that White's last pawn move restored a major threat. Better was 23...Kb7, tip-toeing away from the Bishop pin, and, after 24.Re5 Rhd8, maintaining a roughly balanced game.

24.Be3

Yes.

24.Bxc4  25. Bxc5+ Kxc5 26. dxc4 b4 27. Qe3+ Black resigned

Quite a battle!

Jerome Gambit: Deep Dive (Part 2)

[continued from the previous post]

ZahariSokolov - GizmoClass
FICS, 2019

The game is unblanced and getting more complicated by the move: both Queens are out, both Kings are uneasy. Black should try 10...Ne7, but he prefers to unblock his d-pawn, to allow him to develop his light-squared Bishop. White presses his attack. (Luckily, I have Komodo 10 to help explain things.)

10...Kc6 11.Qd5+ Kb6 12.Nc3 

White knows that he has the advantage, and that his focus is the enemy King. Development seemed most helpful, although Komodo 10 liked a few Queen checks followed by a pawn strike, instead: 12.Qb3+ Ka6 13.Qa4+ Kb6 14.b4!? when the Bishop will fall, one way or another. (Or, maybe not. Komodo 10 suggests that after 14...Bf2, White probably does best to play 15.Nc3, after which things continue 15...a6 16.Qa5+ Kc6 17.b5+ Kd6 18.Qb4+ c5 19.bxc6+ Kxc6 20.d4 when things are a royal mess, but the computer believes White to be better.)

12...Ne7 

In turn, Black would have done much better to move a pawn, first, tossing the extra piece to get his monarch some safety: 12...c6 13.Na4+ Kc7 14.Qxc5 Qxf4 15.Qf2 d6 and White is only up a pawn. 

13.Na4+ Ka5 

This is the kind of position that screams: tactics! White now has a checkmate - how?

14.Qb3

Another good move, although missing the better 14.b4+ Kxa4 15.Qb3+ Kb5 16.a4+ Kb6 17.bxc5+ Kxc5 18.Ba3+ Kc6 19.Qb5 checkmate. Nice.

14...Qh5 

Black protects his Bishop - and dreams of threatening ...Qxf3+, winning a Rook, if White ever leaves the pawn unprotected, or if he blocks his Queen's protection of f3 with Nc3 or c3 or d3.

15.Rf1 

The reasoning behind this move is unclear. White's best was probably 15.c4 c6 16.d4 and White's pressure would increase. As it is, Black gets a slight breather.

15...b5 16.Nxc5 

White could have grabbed a piece back with 16.Qc3+ b4 17.Qxc5+ Qxc5 18.Nxc5. 

16...Qxc5 

17.d3 d5

Overlooking a tactic.

18.Bd2+ Kb6 19.a4 

Missing the skewer 19.Bb4, winning the Knight on e7.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Deep Dive (Part 1)

It has been a while since I took a deep dive into a Jerome Gambit game, so I decided to inspect a 2019 game played by ZahariSokolov, online at FICS. He has 410 games in The Database, scoring 50%. Many of his games explore important lines, and can be quite complicated.

ZahariSokolov - GizmoClass
FICS, 2019

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

What could be more understandable than wanting to hold on to your extra 2 pieces? It is too early in the game to assess whether GizmoClass is naive or knowledgeable in making this move choice. (The Database has 1,121 games with this position; White scores 54%.)

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nf3+ 

Aha! The player of the Black pieces knows a bit about the Jerome Gambit, or he has a solid creative streak about him.

This Norton Defense, which first appeared in Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 42), was referred to as "a new departure" in the September, 1876 issue of the American Chess Journal. "[...Qf6] is the usual play. The text move prevents White from castling."

The "usual play" appeared in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analysis of the Jerome Gambit that appeared in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal; as well as in the games Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1874 (0-1, 21) and Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1-0, 43).

The text move, 8...Nf3+, can be found in 14 games in The Database, with White scoring a deceiving 71% (Komodo 10 assesses the position as even). It can be contrasted with 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ , the "Nibs" defense, which dates back at least as far as 1899. (The Database has 54 games; White scores 54%.)

Interestingly enough, despite Black's apparent knowledge of the Jerome Gambit, only one other game by GizmoClass appears in The Database - a 83-move draw (6...Kf8) played against ZahariSokolov, 6 months earlier. Did somebody "book up", afterwards?

9.gxf3 

Capturing the Knight is best, but even the Gambit's creator slipped and chose 9.Kf1 in a game, instead: 9...c6 10.gxf3 Qe7 11.b4 Bb6 12.Bb2 Kc7 13.Qe5+ Qxe5 14.Bxe5+ d6 15.Bxg7 Bh3+ 16.Ke2 Bg2 17.Rd1 Ne7 18.Bxh8 Ng6 19.d4 Rxh8 20.Kf2 Nxf4 21.c3 Rg8 22.Nd2 Kd7 23.Ke3 Rf8 24.Rg1 Bd8 25.Kf2 Rg8 26.Ke3 Nh3 27.f4 Nxg1 28.Rxg1 Rg4 29.Nf1 Bh3 30.Ng3 Rh4 31.Nf5 Bxf5 32.exf5 Bf6 33.Rg3 Rxh2 34.a4 Rh1 35.a5 Re1+ 36.Kf3 Re7 37.Rh3 c5 38.bxc5 dxc5 39.Rh6 cxd4 40.cxd4 Bxd4 41.f6 Rf7 42.Ke4 Bxf6 and Black won, Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876.

To be fair, I should mention that I have played 9.Kf1 a couple of times, too - perrypawnpusher - igormsp, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13), and perrypawnpusher - rheapennata, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0,12) - and ZahariSokolov has gotten away with 9.Kd1, as well in  ZahariSokolov - LAVAL, FICS, 2015 (1-0, 32). I have already argued, elsewhere, that "Good luck is better than a license to steal."

9...Qh4+ 10.Kd1

An earlier mistake that he shied away from was 10.Ke2, as in ZahariSokolov - Quarte, FICS, 2015 (0-1, 17); but it is hard not to enjoy the follies of an early computer against Jack Young: 10.Ke2 Qf2+ 11.Kd3 Qxf3+ 12.Kc4 b5+ 13.Kxb5 Rb8+ 14.Ka5 Bb4+?! 15.Ka4 Qxh1?? 16.Qe5+ Kc6 17.Qd5+ Kb6 18.Qxb5 checkmate

How should Black proceed?

Of course, 10...Qe7 11.Qd5 checkmate, is not optimal, at least for the defender, ZahariSokolov - GhengusFungus, FICS, 2014. 

Instead, 10...Qf2 allows White to sue for peace by initiating repeated checks, e.g. 11.Qe5+ Kc6 12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.Qb3+ Ka6 14.Qa4+ Kb6 15.Qb3+ Kc6 16.Qd5+, etc. Actually, the American Chess Journal editor William Hallock, commenting on Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 (see above) wrote that after 10...Qf2 "Black has the better position". I challenged this notion in perrypawnpusher - Sir Osis of the Liver, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2008, and, when my opponent was unwilling to split the point, I went on to win (1-0, 19).

ZahariSokolov had already faced 10...Nf6, which led to an edge for White, but he lost after an unusual and unfortunate oversight: 11.e5+ Kc6 12.exf6 d6 13.Nc3? Bxf5 14.d3 gxf6 15.a3 Qf2 16.Bd2 Qxf3+ 17.Kc1 Be3 18.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 19.Kb1 Qxf4 20.Ka2 Be6+ 21.b3 Qd2 22.Kb2 Rhg8 23.Ne4 Qe3 24.Rae1 Qd4+ 25.Ka2 Bxb3+ 26.Kxb3 Rg2 27.Rd1 Qb6+ 28.Kc3 Rag8 29.Nxf6 Qa5+ 30.Kb3 Qb5+ 31.Kc3 Qe5+ 32.d4 Qxf6 resigned, ZahariSokolov - panpanOneTwo, FICS, 2018.

Best is probably 10...Ne7, but that is not what GizmoClass played.

 [to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Checkmate the King

It is good to remember that your ultimate goal is to checkmate the enemy King. If you have some fun along the way, so much the better.

JoeBau - sailingsoul
FICS, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian opening. It is sometimes referred to as the "Anti-Fried Liver Defense", aimed at preventing a White Knight from moving to g5, i.e. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

Now we have the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 

Black would like to hold on to his extra material. He has a few games in The Database, so, perhaps he sees the position as simply a "standard" Jerome Gambit - with the addition of ...h6 and Nc3.

(By the way, in 6 out of his 8 games with the White pieces, he played Nf3-g5, which may reflect on his interest in ...h6, as a defensive move, as indicated in the note, above.)

8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.Qxe5 Kxb5 11.a4+ 

Well played: the target is the King. It would be out of place to pawn-grab with 11.Qxg7, which would be well met by 11...Qf6, with Black advantage.

11...Kc6

Safer was 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5 b6 and the King will find refuge at b7.

12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.b4

Nice: Black's Bishop can not move without allowing checkmate at b5 - or can it? It is not immediataly clear that 13.a5+ Ka6 should have been interpolated, first. 

13...Bxf2+ 

This is very interesting. The defender returns material; this can be followed by a timely ...a5, giving the King an escape square at a7 - that is why 13.a5+ was best, earlier, to chase the King over to block that move.

14.Kxf2 Qf6+

Not all Queen checks are the same. The only one that escapes checkmate is 14...Qf8+, controlling the c5 square, e.g. 15.Ke2 a5 16.Qd4+ c5 17.bxc5+ Kc6 when White has compensation (safer King, better development) for his sacrificed material (2 pawns for a piece). 

15.Ke2 c6 16.Qa5 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Out of Order

Many a chess master has lamented, after a loss, that he had gotten his opening line out of order: instead of playing move A, and then move B, he started out with move B - and it made a grave difference.

The following game - with a time limit 20 minutes per side - shows that club players, too, can fall prey to that kind of "Ooops!", even in the Jerome Gambit. Ouch!


ZahariSokolov - JasonXu
20 0 blitz, FICS, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 

The Blackburne Defense. This can lead to the most notorious of Jerome Gambits, where White was crushed: Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884. It can also lead to an analytical draw, as uncovered by Chandler and Dimitrov. Or, it can lead to success for White: The Database has 886 games with the variation, with White scoring 69%.

It all depends on how much the attacker and defender understand and remember.

8.Qxh8 Nf6 9.Qxd8 Black resigned

Oh, that's right - first you move the Black Queen to h4, then you develop the Knight...

Jerome Gambit: Full of Psychology

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), played at club level, is full of psychology. Imagine the chess tyro facing "Jerome's Double Gambit" and immediately bemoaning, "I thought I knew the Italian Game, but this is a line I overlooked!" Even if he realizes that the opening is a bit sketchy, he might still rationalize "It must be good for something; nobody would sacrifice two pieces for nothing!"

Of course, Black has his own psychological ploys, as the following game shows.

alxaraya - raffa
3 0 blitz, FICS, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kf8

The Jerome Gambit declined.

Black reasons, "If White wants me to take the Bishop, I won't take the Bishop!" 

The computers chuckle: Black trades a won game for a lost game.

5.Bxg8 Rxg8 

White's Bishop has disappeared. The first player is a pawn up - perhaps, with a safer King.

6.Nxe5 

White is obviously looking for 6...Nxe5, when 7.d4 would follow.

6...Bxf2+ 

"If sacrificing a Bishop to displace my King is a good idea, maybe I should do the same to you," thinks Black.

There are only two other examples of this move in The Database. 

Of course, either 6...Nxe5 or 6...Qe7 were playable. 

7.Kxf2 Nxe5

8.Rf1 

Looking to castle-by-hand. There was also the wild 8.d4 Qf6+ 9.Ke1 Qh4+ 10.Kd2 Ng4 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Rf1 Nf6 13.Nc3 c6 14.Kd3 d6 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Bg4 17.Qf4 Rd8+ 18.Ke3 Nd5+ 19.Nxd5 Rxd5 20.Qf7+ Kd8 21.Qxg8+ Kc7 22.Qxg7+ Kb6 23.Bd2 Be6 24.Rad1 Qd4+ 25.Kf3 Qh4 26.Be3+ Ka6 27.g3 Qxh2 28.c4 Qh5+ 29.g4 Qh3+ 30.Kf2 Qh2+ 31.Ke1 Qh4+ 32.Bf2 Rxd1+ 33.Kxd1 Qh3 Black resigned, MrJoker - ThePawnSnatcher, Internet Chess Club, 2011. 

8...Qh4+ 

This move is aggressive, but also falls to the criticism often seen of the Jerome Gambit: Don't bring your Queen out too early! Perhaps Black figured that his opponent would appreciate the idea. 

The defender folded in an earlier game, with 8...Ke7 9.d4 Ng6 10.Bg5+ Black resigned, MrJoker - Macuta, Internet Chess Club, 2011. 

9.Kg1+ Ke7 

Black's lead in development does not make up for his lost pawn and his unsafe King. 

10.d4 Ng4 11.h3 Nf6 12.e5 Nd5 13.c4 Nb6 

14.b3 

Solid, protecting the c-pawn and opening lines for the Bishop.

If you want an oddball, stronger move, take a look at 14.Rf4!?, attacking Black's misplaced Queen. Of course, 14...Qg3, now, loses Her Majesty to 15.Rg4. White's real idea is revealed after 14...Qh6 15.Re7+! when 15...Kxe7 16.Bxh6 cannot be answered by 16...gxh6 because 17.c5 or 17.Qf3+ would be too strong; while 16.Kg6 Bd2 is just better for White.

14...d6 15.exd6+ Kxd6 16.c5+ Kc6 17.cxb6 Kxb6 

18.Na3 Be6 19.Nc4+ Kc6 20.Ne5+ Kd6 21.Ba3+ c5 22.Bxc5+ Black resigned