Jerome Gambit: The Improved Face Palm Variation?!

Having taken a look at what I called the "Face Palm Variation" of the Jerome Gambit, I wondered if there was an "improved" variation, where White played an early d2-d4, so that his Knight could safely move to g5 with the support of his dark square Bishop.

I quickly recalled the game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas,1874, played about a half year after Alonzo Wheeler Jerome published his first analysis of his gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.Bxf7+.

The line was referred to as The Macbeth Attack on the Italian language website Sacchi64. It has a relationship to the Italian Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4) as explored by Jude Acers and George S. Laven in their book The Italian Gambit and A Guiding Repertoire for White - 1.e4, (although they were not interested in Bxf7+)  as well as to the Lewis Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4) and the Von der Lasa Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5).

The Database has 1,413 game examples, with White scoring 37%.

Here is a recent game. Beware: the tactics get out of hand, quickly. White (who has almost 700 games in The Database) shows a number of  practical choices to keep the clock at bay.

drumme - RikTheKing
4 0 blitz, FICS, 2020.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.d4 exd4 

A bit stronger, according to Komodo 10, is 5...Bxd4, although the result for White of the 645 games in The Database was only 26%. 

6.Ng5+ 

By playing an early Bxf7+, White has avoided the Sarratt or Vitzthum Attack, although that's not necessarily a good thing.

6...Ke8 7.O-O h6 

Facing a gambit can be scary, and it's natural to want to kick at the attacking piece - but this dismantles Black's defense, rather than helping it.

8.Qh5+ Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 

Black is now at risk for losing a lot of material.

10.Qd5+ 

White is not feeling very greedy, or perhaps in a 4-minute blitz game there wasn't the time (or need) to dig deeper: 10.Bf4+ Ne5 11.Bxe5+ Kxe5 12.Qxg7+ Nf6 (12...Qf6 13.f4+ Kd6 14.e5+) 13.f4+ Kd6 14.Nf7+ Kc6 15.Nxd8+ would have been painful for Black.

10...Ke7 11.Qxc5+

Grabbing the enemy Bishop, but it was stronger to play 11.Qf7+ Kd6 to return to the line given in the note above, 12.Bf4+ etc.

11...d6 

Do I have to do this all over again? 

Didn't I do it right the first time? 

Do I have to do this all over again? 

How many times do I have to make this climb? 

from Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again? 

12.Qc4 Ne5 

Black could have grabbed the Knight, and hung on: 12...hxg5 13.Bxg5+ Nf6 14.f4 Qg8 15.Qxg8 Rxg8 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Re1 Ke6 19.Bf4 Nfg4

13.Qxd4 Nf6 14.f4 Nc6 15.Qc3 hxg5 16.fxg5 Nxe4 

Well...

At first glance, Black seems to have played himself out of difficulty. Alas, it is actually a checkmate in 9, for White.

17.Qxg7+ Ke6 18.Qg6+ 

Now, interposing a piece will cost Black a piece. There wasn't time to suss out 18.Qf7+ Ke5 19.Nc3 Qg8 20.Bf4+ Kd4 21.Rfd1+ Kc5 22.Be3+ Kb4 23.a3+ Ka5 24.b4+ Ka6 25.Qf1+ Qc4 26.Qxc4+ b5 27.Qxc6 checkmate 

18...Kd5 

19.Nc3+

Again, development makes the most sense when time is short. Instead 19.c4+ Kc5 20. Be3+ Nd4 21.Qxe4 Kb6 22.Bxd4+ c5 23.Bxh8 was crushing. 

19...Nxc3 20.Qd3+ Ke6 

This might have seemed the safest choice, but it was not. 

21.Qxc3 

I am sure that after the game drumme found 21.Qf5+ Ke7 22.Qf7 checkmate 

21...Ne5 22.Qb3+ Kd7 

Black's uncomfortable King and extra piece is slightly outweighed by White's better development and 2 extra pawns. Although the players' fortunes now go up and down, White keeps the pressure on.

23.Bf4 Qe8 24.Rae1 Kd8 25.Qd5 Qc6 26.Qb3 Re8 

Note, for the umpteenth time, Black's light-squared Bishop at home, blocking his Rook. Typical defense-to-the-Jerome-Gambit "sin".

27.g6 Nxg6 28.Bg5+ Ne7 29.Rxe7 Rxe7 30.Bxe7+ Kxe7 31.Qf7+ Kd8 32.Qf6+ Ke8 33.Re1+ Kd7 34.Qe7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: So Normal

I like to play over Bill Wall's Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games. They are exciting, and they often make the opening seem so normal.

Wall, Bill - Anonymous
lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 

One way to deal with the pawn fork.

7.c3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 

The alternative is 8.Nxc3, and Bill has played that, too.

8...Nc6 

The game has a bit of a hypermodern feel to it, Black's piece vs White's pawns.

9.O-O 

White is happy with his pawn center, and leaves it in place, for now. A wild alternative was 9.d5 Ne5 10.f4 Nc4 11.0-0 Qe7 12.Qd4 Nd6 13.e5 Nf5 14.Qf7, which Komodo 10 sees as still in Black's favor, and which FM Stefan Bücker would probably enjoy.

9...d6 10.Be3 Nf6 11.Qb3+ Kf8 

Black hasn't quite castled-by-hand, as his King blocks in his Rook.

12.e5 dxe5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 

Instead, the Knight on f6 needed to retreat.

14.Bc5+ Ke8 15.Re1 Nfd7 

The "best" Black has is to surrender both Knights with 15...Qd5 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Rxe5+ Kf7 18.Rxd5.

16.Qe6+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: The Face Palm Variation

I need to spend a moment or two on a Jerome Gambit variation that has been bothering me for almost 20 years. (See "Another Way to Sacrifice the Knight" and "PSA 2.0" for a couple of rants.) A disreputable line in a disreputable opening, it keeps showing up in games. I would like to call it the Face Palm Variation.

SPOKLECHAT - anzali
5 0 blitz, FICS, 2020

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

 4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+

This line does not have a name that I am aware of. It is based on a tactical shot that may be clever, but not convincing. (I gave a warning about a decade ago in the post "Public Service Announcment".)

The Database has 568 games with the line, with White scoring 23%. The earliest games that I have (6 losses) feature TiFoZi, at FICS, in 1999. I will try to message him there, but, according to the site, the last time he visited was October 22, 2001.

I can understand that a Jerome Gambit player might try the line on a lark, especially at blitz or lightning time controls; I noticed Jerome regulars such as COMTIBoy, DragonTail, drumme, HauntedKnight, JKELSEY, majorminor, MyGameUMove, Petasluk, snthor, sTpny, superpippo, Teterow, thmavz, ZahariSokolov, and yorgos, have given it a try.

5...Qxg5 

Of course.

The Database shows that this capture occurred 415 times, that is, in 73% of the games. (White scored 16%.)

6.d4 

The idea: the pawn attacks Black's Bishop, while uncovering an attack on Black's Queen.

One of the reasons that White fares so poorly in this line is that White played this thematic move in less than half of the games where Black had grabbed the Knight. But, why offer the piece unless you had this surprise in store? Another way of offering "Jerome Gambit odds"? Inattention?

One downside of the whole idea is that Stockfish 11 now rates Black's advantage to be about the equivalent of two Rooks and a piece...

6...Bxd4 

Out of 195 games, 16 times Black fell for this "trap". That is not very often (8% of the time after 6.d4; 3% of the games where White plays 5.Ng5+), although, when it did happen, White scored 69%.

In 147 of the games, Black played 6...Qxg2, and White still scored 11%, which is kind of amazing.

For the record, 6...Qxg2 crushes. After 7.Rf1 (best) Qxe4+ (capturing on d4 is fine, too) 8.Be3 (8.Qe2 does not provide any relief: 8...Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nxd4+ 10.Kd1 d6 11.Be3 Bf5 11.Na3 Nf6 is gruesome) Nxd4 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.Qd3 (Stockfish 10 prefers castling-by-hand with 10.Kd2 and 11.Kc1, but, really) Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Nxc2+ and that should be convincing enough.

But, in the game we are looking at, Black fell down the well...

7.Bxg5 h6 

Black has 2 pieces for his Queen, and might as well try his luck with 7...Bxb2, going after the enemy Rook. Things can get a little complicated after 8.Na3 Nd4, but 9.0-0 Bxa3 10.f4 puts the heat back on the Black King.

After 7...Bxb2, there is also 8.Qh5+ g6 (8...Kf8 9.Na3 Bxa3 [9...Bxa1 10.Nb5] 10.Qf3+ Ke8 11.Qxa3) 9.Qf3+ Kg7 10.Nc3 Bxa1 11.Nd5 and Black will not be able to hold onto his Rook and two piece compensation for his Queen, e.g. 11...d6 12.Bf6+ Nxf7 13.Qxf6+Kg8 14.Nxc7 and White is not only threatening to win the Rook, he threatens to move the Knight to e8 to aid in checkmate.

Again, back to the game.

8.Qf3+ Nf6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Qh5+ Kg7 

11.Nd2 Bxb2 12.Rb1 Bd4 13.Nf3 Bb6 

Black has secured most of his pieces, but he has left one at risk - his King.   

14.Nh4 d6 

Defense is hopeless. For example, 14...Ne7, 15.Rb3 with the idea of moving over to g3.

15.Qg6+ Kf8 16.Qxf6+ Kg8 17.Ng6 Black resigned

The Rook at h8, and possibly the one at a8 as well, will soon be leaving the board.

Hats off to SPOKLECHAT, who took great risks, but also took advantage of his opportunities.

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 3)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

24...Rg7 25.Kf2 

After the game, Komodo 10 also liked 25.Rf1 and 25.Re3, as well as the two other King moves that unpin White's g-pawn, 25.Kh1 and 25.Kf1. I made my choice based on the hope that, once I had won the d6 pawn, a centralized King would help escort my connected, passed "Jerome pawns".

25...Rf8 26.Nd5 Bg4 

27.Ne3

Afterwards, Komodo 10 suggested that my King further advance, with 27.Ke3. It then saw as most practical that the Bishop retreat and reposition, with 27...Bc8 28.Rd2 b5 29.Red1 Bb7 and things would still be relatively balanced. If I had to do it all over again, that would be my choice.

27...Bxf3 

Unexpected, but logical. Black returns his extra piece for a couple of pawns.

28.gxf3 Nxf3 29.Rh1 

Suddenly, all of Black's pieces are focused on White's King!

29...Nd4+

Best might have been 29...Nd2+ 30.Ke2 Nxe4 31.Rdf1 Re8 although most of the storm would have passed.

30.Ke1 

Probably leading to an equal game would have been 30.Nf5 Nxf5+ 31.exf5 Rxf5+ 32.Ke3, but I wanted to keep the Knight defender around, as it was doing a pretty good job.

30...Nf3+ 31.Ke2 

Here, I though to myself, So, he had a draw in hand, to back up his sacrificial attack...

31...Nd4+ 

Played too quickly, perhaps with the same idea in mind: Chase the King back to e1, check him again from f3: draw by repetition. But, in my musings I had overlooked the fact that this was not a discovered check, as before, so things have changed.

Instead, the Knight needed to go to g5, when White would still have a lot of work to do to convert his extra pawn into a win.

32.Rxd4 Black resigned

Lucky, me, this time.

I have one more Jerome Gambit, this round, against LittlePrince, who plays 3...Nf6, but who allowed a transposition after 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+. I have only played the Jerome a few times against players of LittlePrince's rating - and have not scored well (especially if you do not count the 4-move win on time) - but, here we go!

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 2)

[continued from previous post]

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

12...Nc4 

Of course. (I write that now, but the move came as a surprise.) White's Bishop is unprotected, and it's capture would lead to a brutal fork. At the same time, the b-pawn is available for capture.

13.Bd4 

After the game, Komodo 10 suggested 13.Qc1, to protect the Bishop and the pawn. Assessing 13...Nxe3 14.Qxe3, Black would have exchanged a piece that had moved 4 times for one that had moved once. On the other hand, White's Queen would be pulled onto the same file as Black's Rook, with a possible ...d5 coming.

The text move avoids the Knight-for-Bishop exchange, while threatening Bxf6 - as if the piece had moved to g5 in the first place (but taking an extra move).

13...a6 

After the game, Komodo 10 recommended 13...Nxb2 14.Qb1 Nc4 15.Qxb7, when White's Queen would be drawn dangerously far away from the Kingside, should Black choose to attack.

Was my opponent planning to support his Knight at c4 with ...b5 ? I thought so, but his next move suggested otherwise.

14.Ne2 Ne5 15.Nc3 

A craven attempt to suggest a draw, by repetition of position - another symptom of my bad emotional state. 

I got a chuckle out of the quick assessment that the Chess.com site provided, after the game, labelling both my 14th and 15th moves as "excellent". Black's response was best.

15...Nc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 

Breaking up the Kingside pawn structure, rather than play 16...Qxf6, losing a pawn to 17.Rxd6.

17.Qd2 Qe7 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Qf4 Kh8 20.Rfe1 Ne5

Black is not in a hurry. Let White take the risk and make the mistake.

21.Nd5 Qg7

Giving up a pawn to get the Queens off of the board. The alternative was 21...Bxd5 22.Rxd5 (planning pressure on the d-pawn down the file), when one of Black's Rooks, or his Queen, can go to either of the semi-open files; perhaps 22...Rg8 was best.

One line I never considered at the time was 21.Bxd5 22.Rxd5 f5!?, which would have revealed some of the structural problems of my Kingside after 23.Qxf5?! Rg8. More about this, later in the game.

22.Qxf6 Qxf6 23.Nxf6 Re7 24.b3

With 3 pawns for the piece, White has probably equalized. Black's pawn on d6 is still a weakness, and if White can get in c2-c4, he can apply pressure to keep things in balance.

I was catching my breath, but the game was going to take a wild turn.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Folie a Deux (Part 1)

I won my third round game - an Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - in the "Italian game Classic" tournament at Chess.com, when my opponent and I seemed to have the same "hallucination" about a tense, tactical position. Up until then, I had been awkwardly struggling to lurch my way back to equality - only to be smacked around by a violent return of my sacrificed material.

Given the distracted level of my play, I consider myself quite lucky.

perrypawnpusher - Sp1derR1c0
Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 

Whew! My game against Winawer99 in the same round continued 4...Nxe4, and I decided to avoid my past suffering with the Noa Gambit / Monck Gambit / Open Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit - 5.Bxf7+ - and played, instead, 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.d4, a line that I also have struggled with. It showed: on my way to a possibly drawn Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame, I overlooked a checkmate in 2 moves (0-1, 21).

5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

What difference does the addition of Knights at c3 and f6 make, when compared to the regular Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)?

Komodo 10 shows it to improve Black's position by about 3/4 of a pawn.

The Database has 2,731 games with the Four Knights version, with Black scoring 61%. This compares to 15,157 games with the Jerome, proper, with Black scoring 54%.

I have to admit, in my own games, Black scores 25% in my Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit games (62) versus scoring 17% in my regular Jerome Gambit games (336). 

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8

I like this move. Instead of worrying which piece to save, Black develops another one, on a crucial file. Let White figure it out!

8.dxc5 

In preparing this post, I was amused to discover that Komodo 10's second choice, here, was not a capture, but 8.0-0, fully relying on the fact that not all of the pieces will be able to escape, e.g. 8...Bd6 9.f4!? Nc6 10.e5, etc. 

That line, in turn, raised a question for me: Has anyone ever tried moving the f-pawn right away, i.e. 8.f4 ? It turns out that The Database has two examples - Svirfneblin - cosmoo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24) and Mvskoke - Panico, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 36). It is an example of going too far, however, as Black has 8...Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 and he is doing better than in the normal lines.

By the way, The Database has 6 games with 8.0-0 (Black scores 56%) - and in 3 of them, Svirfneblin had the White pieces. I will have to look at more of his games...


8...Kg8 

Finishing castling-by-hand. I have noted

This is an improvement over 8...Nc6 of perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13) and 8...Nc4 of the tragic perrypawnpusher - TrentonTheSecond, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 9),

9.O-O d6 10.cxd6 cxd6 

This is probably an improvement over 10...Qxd6, which I faced a couple of times perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - strandskatan, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 38). I was prepared, sort of

After the game Houdini recommended the dull 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Rd1 with pressure against Black's d-pawn, although Black is still better.

11.Be3 

An odd move; the Bishop usually goes to g5. I was planning to play f2-f4, but, for some reason I was worried about ...Qb6+ at some point, so I protected the a7-g1 diagonal. Of course, White's b-pawn is not vulnerable to that enemy double attack, until the Bishop moves. I suspect Caffeine Deficiency Disorder.

11...Be6 12.f3 

This is the move that White sometimes plays when he gives up on his plan to attack, and decides to hunker down and challenge Black to do something with his material advantage. Suddenly - comparatively, as the time control was 3 days per move - that became my plan.

The word "collywobbles" comes to mind.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Tactics

The following game has some interesting tactics - those played and those missed. It might well have been decided by those imagined.

zzbaobao - givemeabreak
5 12 blitz, FICS, 2020

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

4....Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qc3

The Queen most often goes to e3, but White wants it to aim toward the enemy Kingside - the original intention of his 6th move. 

8...Nf6 9.d3 Re8 10.O-O Be6 11.Bg5 Qd7 

Unpinning the Knight, but also removing one of its defenders.

Jerome Gambiteers will also notice that the Queen move blocks in Black's light-squared Bishop, making it vulnerable to the thematic f2-f4-f5. As the game goes, it appears that this may not have been an oversight by the second player.

12.f4 Bg4 13.h3 Bxh3 

Tactics. Now, after 14.gxh3 Qxh3, Black would have an edge.

14.f5 Bxg2 15.fxg6+ 

The alternative, 15.Kxg2, was of about equal worth.

15...Kxg6 

Keeping his pawns intact? Komodo 10 prefers the fireworks. 15...Kg8 16.Rf4 Nh5 17.Rh4 h6 18.Be3 Bh3 19.Nd2 Bg4 20.Qb3+ Be6 21.Qc3 Nf6 22.Bxh6 gxh6 23.Qxf6 Rf8 24.Qd4 Qe7 25.Rh2 Qg7 and things are unclear, perhaps even.

Now, White sacs decisively.  

16.Rxf6+ Kxg5 17.Rf5+ 

17...Qxf5

Either a miscalculation, or a sense of panic. Still, 17...Kg6 18.Qd2 h6 19.Qxg2 would be good for White, as well.

18.exf5 Bc6 19.Qxg7+ Kxf5 20.Qxh7+ Ke6

With a Queen for a Rook, White is better, even undeveloped with a naked King.

21.Nc3 Rg8+ 22.Kf2 Rg2+ 23.Ke3 Rag8 24.Re1 R8g7 25.Kd4+ Kd7 26.Qf5+ Kd8 27.Qf8+ Kd7 28.Qe8 checkmate