The Jerome Gambit

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Hunter's Lament

In Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games, it seems that victory for the attacker turns on a few things happening, while defeat turns on a few things not happening. In a 5-minute game, sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn't. But - the games are always exciting.

ratconspiracy - titulajebordo
5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Qe7

10.d4

About equal to the text are:

10.O-O Nf6 11.Nc3 Kf7 12.f4 Re8 13.d3 b6 14.b3 Bb7 15.Ba3 Qd7 16.Rae1 Kg8 17.Qg3 c5 18.Bb2 Rad8 19.f5 Ne5 20.Ne2 Qf7 21.Nf4 Bc8 22.h3 Nh5 23.Nxh5 Qxh5 24.Rf4 Qf7 25.Rh4 Bb7 26.Rf1 Qf6 27.Rhf4 Rc8 28.Rg4 Re7 29.Bxe5 dxe5 30.Rg5 h6 31.Rg6 Qf7 32.Rxh6 Rd8 33.Rg6 Red7 34.h4 Rd6 35.h5 Rxg6 36.hxg6 Qf6 37.Qg4 Qd6 38.g3 Qd7 39.Kg2 Qe7 40.Rh1 White won on time, angelcamina - RomainTristan, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020;

10.Nc3 c6 11.d4 Nf6 12.O-O Kf7 13.f4 Ng4 (13...Re8 14.f5 Nf8 15.Qf3 Kg8 16.Re1 h6 17.Bf4 N8h7 18.h4 Bd7 19.Bg3 Rad8 20.e5 Nd5 21.Ne4 dxe5 22.dxe5 Rf8 23.Nd6 g5 24.Rad1 gxh4 25.f6 Qe6 26.Bxh4 Ng5 27.Qh5 Qg4 28.Qg6+ Black resigned, Anonymous - Anonymous, 3 0 bltiz, lichess.org, 2020) 14.Qf3 d5 15.f5 dxe4 16.Qxg4 Nf8 17.Nxe4 h5 18.Qf4 Nd7 19.Ng5+ Kg8 20.Bd2 Nb6 21.Rae1 Qf6 22.Re8+ Qf8 23.Rxf8+ Kxf8 24.Qd6+ Kg8 25.Qd8# ChessBrah - samuelwillwin, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020;

10.d3 Nf6 11.O-O Ng4 12.Qe2 Nh4 13.Nc3 Be6 14.f4 g6 15.h3 Nh6 16. f5 N6xf5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Re1 K7 19.Nd5 Qd7 20.Nxc7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest701131, PlayChess.com, 2019

10...Nf6 11.Nc3 a6 12.O-O Ng4

The Knight's attack on the Queen should serve no purpose. For example, if now 13.Qd3 Qh4 14.h3 and it will have to move.

13.Qg5 Qxg5 14.Bxg5 h6 15.Be3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Ne7

White has 2 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but they are not mobile. The exchange of Queens has taken the life out of his attack, as well. It will take some pluck and some luck to make progress.

17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Bg4 19.e4 Rf8 20.e5 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Ke7 22.e6 Rf8

The protected, passed pawn is something of value, but for now it is effectively blockaded. If there were an attack on the tied-down King, White might be able to make something of the position. In the meantime, too many pawns are stuck on the same colored squares as the Bishop.

23.c4 Rxf1+ 24.Kxf1 Bf5 25.c5 Be4 26.c6 bxc6 27.dxc6 Bxc6 28.Ke2 Kxe6 29.Kd3 Bxg2 30.Kc4 c6

Black is clearly better. But, is time on his side?

31.b4 Bd5+ 32.Kc3 g5 33.a4 h5 34.b5 axb5 35.axb5 cxb5 36.Kb4 Bc4

37.Ka5 g4 38.Kb6 h4 39.Kc7 g3 40.hxg3 hxg3 41.Kc6 g2 42.d5+ Bxd5+ 43.Kxb5 g1=Q

44.Ka6 Qb1 45.Ka7 Bh1 46.Ka6 d5 47.Ka5 d4 48.Ka4 d3 49.Ka3 d2 50.Ka4 d1=R 51.Ka5 Rd8 52.Ka6 Ra8 checkmate

A tough fight. Remember the hunter's lament: Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.

graphic by Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Positional Cues

Sometimes, while playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), we can take a cue from our opponent as to which move to make or which plan to follow. See the following game.

SuperChinese - Zakir292
5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.O-O Be6

Cue #1: With a Knight on g6, this Bishop move should prompt a standard response from White.

11.f4 Bc4 12.d3 Qe7

Black's idea reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes book, Scientific Progress Goes "Boink" - Black follows the "scientific" idea of returning sacrificed material in order to break White's attack. However, he overlooks cue #2: his King and Queen will soon be on an opened file.

13.dxc4 Nxe4

He could have tried 13...Kf7, to limit the damage.

14.Re1 Nc5

This might have been the move that Black had been counting on. In a 5-minute game, sometimes analysis does not go deep enough.

15.Qf2 Ne4 16.Qf3

16...Ne5 17.Qxe4 Rf8 18.fxe5 Qf7 19.exd6+

White is a couple of pieces and a couple of pawns ahead. All he has to do is make sure he doesn't get checkmated, and he has the win.

19...Kd8 20.Qe7+

The simplest. Now 20...Qxe7 21.dxe7+ Kd7 22.exf8/Q+ Rxf8 would be quite enough. Instead, Black allows checkmate directly.

20...Kc8 21.d7+ Kb8 22.Qxf8+ Qxf8 23.Re8+ Black resigned

Black takes his cue. The finish would be 23...Qxe8 24.dxe8 checkmate. Ouch!

Monday, June 29, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Amusement

From the pages of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, June 18, 1881

A letter received from Mr. A. W. Jerome calls attention to the fact that he does not claim the Jerome Gambit to be analytically sound, but only that over the board it is sound enough to afforda vast amount of amusement.

Sometimes, White is amused. Sometimes, Black is.

There is a lesson there, somewhere.

DeathStroke97 - lunareclipse777
15 10 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

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

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

Black's move is strong - if he knows some of the refutations of the Jerome.

Black's move is weak - if he is merely trying to hold onto all of the sacrificed material.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+

Often Black plays 8...Qf6. Is the text move, instead, just an annoying check before the Queen moves to f6? Or - is there something more?

9.g3 Nf3+

Wow.

This move goes back to a fictional game presented in the American Chess Magazine, June, 1899, which lampooned the recent introduction of chess-by-telephone.

Such a move is also a strong indication the Black knows something about the Jerome Gambit, and has decided to launch a strong counter-attack. The line is complicated - The Database shows White winning 29 games, losing 21, and drawing 3 - but "objectively" dangerous for the first player.

10.Ke2

White needed to play 10.Kf1, or at least 10.Kd1. It is not enough to rely upon his first impression that the Queens will be exchanged.

10...Nd4+

White resigned

After 11.Kd1 Nxf5 12.gxh4 Nxh4 it is true that the Queens have come off of the board - but Black remains 2 pieces ahead.

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Jerome Gambit: A Good Idea

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can affect defenders differently. Some will think "Somehow I never learned about this crushing attack, I am doomed" while others will think "I now have a won game that will play itself". Both mind sets can lead to disaster over-the-board, and another thought, that there are other games to play...

chagnusmarlson - oslang
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

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 9.Qd5

9.Qe3 Ba6 (9...Bb7 10.d4 Nf6 11.Nc3 Qe7 12.O-O Ng4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.c4 13.Qg3 Nf6 14.Bg5 d6 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Rfe1 Qf7 18.Rxe5+ Kf8 19.Rae1 Qg6 20.Nb5 Rd8 21.Nxc7 Kf7 22.Qb3+ Nd5 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24.Rxd5 Rxd5 25.Qxd5+ Kf8 Black resigned, Charlick,H - Cooke,W, Adelaide Chess Club, 1884) 10.d3 N8e7 11.O-O c6 12.f4 Rf8 13.Nc3 Rc8 14.Bd2 d6 15.Rae1 Bb7 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Rxf1+ 18.Rxf1 c5 19.Ne4 Nd5 20.Qf3 21.Nd6+ Kd8 22.Bg5 Qxg5 23.Nf7+ Kd7 24.Nxg5 Nxe5 25.Qf5+ Kd6 26.Qe6+ Kc7 27.Qxe5+ Kc6 28.Nf7 Kb5 29.Nd6+ Ka6 30.Nxc8 Bxc8 31.Qxd5 Bg4 32.Qg5 Be2 33.Rf2 Bxd3 34.cxd3 b5 35.Qxg7 Ka5 36.Rf5 b4 37.Rxc5+ Kb6 38.Qc7+ Ka6 39.Qa5+ Kb7 40.Rc7+ Kb8 41.Qxa7 checkmate, Lumix - ItsEricxm, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020.

9...Ba6 10.d3 Nf6 11.Qb3 d5

Often a good move for Black, it is not well-timed here, as he has overlooked something.

12.Qa4+ Black resigned

Clearly, Black was discouraged after his slip. The game could have continued 12...Qd7 13.Qxa6 dxe4 14.0-0 exd3 15.Rd1 Qe6 16.Qxd3 Kf7, when Black would have simply been down a pawn.

The Jerome Gambit has a way of making opponents think that moving on to the next game might be a good idea...

Saturday, June 27, 2020

Jerome Gambit: Checkmates

hipernight - hamid313, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

I have received many Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games over the last month, many of them ending with fun - or funny - checkmates. Take a look.