Jerome Gambit: Wild

I received a friendly email from Andrew Hubbard, containing a wild Jerome Gambit game .

TacticalRain - sriramv
Internet, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

When Black plays this sacrifice - here, and in other Jerome Gambit variations - his reasoning is usually one or more of the following

a) If you're going to knock my King about, I'm going to knock yours about, too;
b) If you're going to capture my Bishop, I might as well get a pawn for it;
c) I'm going to exchange Queens, even if it leaves me a pawn down, because it will deflate your attack

What can happen if White goes along with Black's plan is a pretty level position: 8.Kxf2 Nf6 9.Rf1 Re8 10.Qg3 Nxe4+ 11.Kg1+ Kg8 12.Qf4 d5. Should White be happy, because he no longer is two pieces down? Or, should he be disappointed, because his wild attack has dissipated? No doubt, this leads to White's choice in the game.

8.Kd1 

The same psychology in any declined gambit or counter-gambit: If you want me to take the sacrifice, then I will refuse it.

The Database has 6 earlier examples of this move, with White scoring 50%. Possibly, that is because Black did not find the strongest response.

8...Qf6 

Offering the exchange of Queens, which is good enough, but the real danger came from 8...Qh4, threatening 9...Qg4 mate! This is not an idle threat - for example, if White guards the g4 square with 9.h3, then 9...d6 both attacks White's Queen and threatens 10...Bg4+ 11.hxg4 Qxg4 mate.

White can answer 8...Qh4 with 9.c3, creating an escape outlet for his King, but the situation remains dire: 9...Nf6 10.d3 Qg4+ 11.Kc2 Qxg2 12.Nd2 Qxh1, although White can recover a piece with 13.Qf4 followed by e4-e5. He can improve the line by checking the enemy King a bit, first: 9.Qd5+ Kg7 10.Qe5+ Nf6+ 11.Qe7+ Kg8 12.c3, because now 12...Qg4+ 13.Kc2 Qxg2 would lead to 14.Qxf6 Qxh1 15.Qd8+ Kf7 16.Qxh8 Qxh2 when Black would have only a small edge. However, instead of hunting material, Black improves with 12...b6 and 13...Ba6, or 12...d5 and is still better.

This is almost enough to rename this blog post "Jerome Gambit Secrets #13".

9.Qxc7 

White is not seeking a draw. In the meantime, he holds up the pawn that blocks the Bishop that hems in the Rook.

9...Nh6 10.Rf1 Ng4 

The Knight provides extra protection for the Bishop, while scheming to undermine the Rook; but the Black King would do better to acknowledge the danger down the f-file and move off of it with 10...Kg7.

11.d3 Nxh2 

Overlooking both the fact that White's Queen protects the h-pawn and that White has a developing and attacking move to complicate things further.

12.Bg5 Qxg5 13.Rxf2+ Kg7 14.Qc3+ 

14...Kh6 

Black's King is usually safer at home, although White grabs a piece after 14...Kg8 15.Rf8+ Kxf8 16.Qxh8+ Kf7 17.Qxh7+ Kf8 18.Qxh2. Once again, things would not be as simple as they first seem, as Black's response 18...d5 has an echo of the threat analyzed after move 8 - 19.Nd2 dxe4 and if 20.Nxe4, then 20...Bg4+ will lead to mate. White probably would do best to play 20.Qh8+ and force a draw by way of repetition.

15.Qxh8 

Now things are going White's way.

15...Qg4+ 16.Re2 Nf1 

A slip.

17.Qf8+ Kh5 18.Qxf1 d5 

Too late to the party.

19.Nc3 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Bf5 

One final Oooops.

21.Nf6+ Black resigned

Wild!

Jerome Gambit Refuted by A 1140 Player

I have enjoyed email from players around the world who have discovered the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Some send games and analysis, which I always find helpful, even when it labeled, as a recent missive from Michael Dunagan, "Jerome Gambit refuted by a 1140 player: Me".

Let me share his note, as well as my response. (He sent position screenshots; I have replaced them with the underlying moves and my standard diagrams.)

Hi,

I first learned of the Jerome Gambit when YouTube suggested GM Amen Hambelton's episode.

I have been looking at it for four days since I first was shown it:

Essentially, I think Black just slips into a "Fried Liver" Defense with 6...Ke6, and it's good night ladies.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

I do not have a chess engine but I thought White's best response is 7.f2-f4 attacking Black's Knight on e5.

7.f4

I guess chess.com has a little "scoreboard" to the left of the board.  The scoreboard likes 7...d7-d6 for Black. 

7...d6

White does get a Knight back with 8.f4xe5 and after 8...d6xe5  9.O-O controls the "F* file.

8.fxe5 dxe5 [Here White cannot castle, as suggested.]

If the White Queen checks instead with 7.Qh5-f5+, the King saunters to d6, 7...Ke6-d6 8.f2-f4 Qd8-e7.  Gotta take the Knight before it moves away to safety 9.f2xe5,  with the reply Qxe5 offering a.trade of Queens.

[From second diagram, above] 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qe7

Whether White trades Queens or not, he does not get Black's Dark Square Bishop, at least not in the opening as I have seen in other lines of play.

White would love to Castle but the c5 Bishop controls g1, the King's landing square.  White could "harrass a check" on f8, but as the Black King electric slides to c6, now she is under attack from the c5 Bishop and she must retreat with 4 escape landing spots: d8, f1, f3 f5 where the latter put the trade in play again.

I intuitively, down a Bishop for a Pawn, save the Queen with escaping to f3.  Chess.com agrees with this is the beat for White with (-5.38) as opposed to going back to e5 offering a trade (-6.25).

++++++

And now we are some 7-9 moves from the opening and white is going to have its head spin on how fast Black will develope with move like Ng8-f6 closing the "F" file and doubling up pressure on the d4 Pawn.

The best I could do for both sides

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qe7 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf8+ Kc6 11.Qf3 Nf6 12.Nc3 d5 13.d3 Bg4

And now white has to trade Queens in order to not drop the pinned e4 Pawn.

Needless to say that chess.com believes this position is scores at (-5.81) or just short of a rook and a pawn or just short of two minor pieces.

And after this position,  I cannot find any chess.com good scoring moves for White.  I would think knocking the Black  bishop around with h2-g4 so a Queen side Castle would be good but it only increased Blacks score on chess.com...

Regards,

Michael P. Dunagan

Hi Mr. Dunagan,

Thank you for taking the time to analyze the Jerome Gambit, and then share what you have found with me.

It must have taken a good bit of time and effort to put all of that in, from your phone. I appreciate the effort.

It is not clear from GM Ambleton's hysterically funny video that I never said the Jerome Gambit was a great opening, or even a good one. Of course, my blog is approaching its 3,000th post, so there is no way that Aman would ever have read it all...😊

I do admit that I waited to the 5th blog post, back in 2008, to mention Henry Joseph Blackburne's fantastic crush of the Jerome Gambit:  Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14). Most likely, if anybody has ever heard of the Jerome, they have seen this beauty.

It was probably blog post #17 when I first asked the question, "But - Is this stuff playable?" You might be surprised that my response was an immediate 

Of course not. The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has many refutations. I'm glad that's settled.

However, I wasn't finished.

     Maybe a more useful question would be --
     Under what conditions might the Jerome Gambit be playable?

     In casual or blitz games among "average" players , perhaps -- when Grandmaster Nigel Davies' words from his Gambiteer I (2007) are relevant:

Having examined literally thousands of club players’ games over the years, I have noticed several things:
1) The player with the more active pieces tends to win.
2) A pawn or even several pawns is rarely a decisive advantage.
3) Nobody knows much theory.
4) When faced with aggressive play, the usual reaction is to cower.

That is the gist of my work, right there. I was led by the question "Who is this Jerome guy, and why are they blaming this terrible opening on him?" The answers were fascinating.

I have published on my blog every refutation that I have found, and would be happy to publish yours. I have published almost every Jerome Gambit that I have played (I keep finding a few I missed) - won or lost. Especially lost.

While examining the history of "Jerome's Double Opening" I discovered something curious: there are players who have won a majority of their games with the Jerome Gambit, despite its refuted status. Some (including me) have won over 75% of the time. That's downright weird.

So, the blog also became an exploration for me into what I called "errors of thinking". I was fascinated: how did anyone ever lose to the Jerome Gambit?

All the while, people all over the world have sent me their games. Mostly club players - but some stronger players, too. I now have a database of Jerome and Jerome-related games containing over 62,000. Only 15,256 come directly from the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, but that's still more than I ever thought I would find.

I think it's fun to have a chess "secret weapon". As defenders get stronger and wiser, the Jerome Gambit becomes, more than ever, a school for tactics. Sometimes, a school for defense. Always, a school for being aware of opportunities. At some point, the Jerome brings more pain to the user than it does to the defender, and it will be set aside.

Whew. That was a bit long. I would love to share with you my specific thoughts on your analysis, but I think I've taken up enough of your time right now.

Again, thank you for the work you have done. I look for the whole story of the Jerome Gambit, not just the dashing wins.

Best wishes,

Rick

Let me also add that Mr. Dunagan has also sent me "Improving the Jerome", but I am going to hold off on that one for a while.

Jerome Gambit: Too Far Afield?

One of the identifying themes of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is that of an active (some would say, over active) Queen. In the following game, Her Majesty finds herself temporarily stranded on the Queenside, with danger looming. However, an exchange allows her to safely observe the rest of the game and discuss the possibilities with her counterpart.

Eelco_Niermeijer - msapiencia
10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 Nc6 

There are many ways to return one of the sacrificed pieces. This is one of them. (See "Jerome Gambit: Winning Strategy #1")

8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Qxc5+ d6 10.Qc3 

White's Queen eyes the dark squares and the long diagonal, while having access to the adjacent light squared one, as well. She must be wary, however, after 11.d3, of being locked into the Queenside. 

10...Nf6 11.d3 Kf7 12.Qb3+ Ke8 13.O-O 

Black has a piece for two pawns, but his King still sits in the middle of the board, while White's is tucked safely away.

13...Nd4 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Nc3 Bd7 16.Qb3 

Courting danger. An alternative shows both the problem and one solution: 16.d4 Qb8 (planning a pawn advance) 17.d5 Ne7 18.Qd4.

16...b6 

Oddly, Black had 16...Nd4 for choice, when 17.Qxb7 a5 (threatening to trap and win the Queen) 18.Nd5 Bc6 19.Qxc7 Bxd5 20.Qxd8+ Kxd8 21.exd5 Nxc2 would lead to a busted pawn structure and 17.Qc4 c5 would require 18.a3 or 18.a4 to give White's Queen escape against a coming ...Be6.

17.Qc4 Qe7 18.Re1 Qe6 19.Qxe6+ Bxe6 

Black is happy to get the powerful enemy Queen off of the board, while White is at least pleased to not have her to worry about - besides, he has his eye on the enemy King. 

20.e5 dxe5 21.fxe5 Nd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.c3 Ke7 24.d4 Raf8

White has a protected, passed pawn, and can look forward to extending his pawn chain with b2-b3, c3-c4, d4-d5 and e5-e6.

25.Be3 h6 26.b3 Rf7 27.c4 Be4 28.d5 

28...Nxe5 

Tempting, but perhaps Black did not have enough time to think this move through; unfortunately for him, White did.

29.Bd4 Kd6 30.Rxe4 Re8 31.Rae1 Rf5 

32.g4 Rg5 

Black misses 32...Nf3+ 33.Kh1 Nxe2 34.Rxe8 Rf1+ 35.Bg1 Nf3 36.Re6+ Kd7 37.Kg2 Rxg1+ 38.Kxf3 when he could try his luck in a pawn-down Rook and pawns endgame. He eventually finds the Knight fork, but it doesn't save the game.

33.h4 Rxg4+ 34.Rxg4 Nf3+ 35.Kf2 Nxe1 36.Rg6+ Black resigned

I suspect that time was a factor in Black's resignation, but he also was facing being a pawn down in an ending where White's Bishop was stronger than his Knight, and where White's King was more active than his own.

modified graphic from Jeff Bucchino, "The Wizard of Draws"

Jerome Gambit: Another Fine Mate

The last game of the quartet of selected Jerome Gambits, by CasualGames4ever

Last but not least and techinqually first! My first clash with this opponent set the tone for the rest of our match, we reach the middle game with him still being better, yet I can easily continue whereas he struggles to find decent moves. This quickly leads to a beautiful checkmate, although I would say the first game had the best check mate

CasualGames4ever - Alanvarela10
3 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+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

A standard Jerome Gambit position, where White has pawns to advance - and Black needs a plan.

10.O-O Bd7 11.Nc3 Bc6 12.d4 Qe8 13.d5 Bd7 14.f4 c6 

So far, Black is doing fine, and has a small edge. The game is not over yet.

15.f5 Ne5 16.b3 cxd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Qf7 

Attacking White's d-pawn. Black must always be careful, however, when his King and Queen are lined up on the f-file, facing White's Rook.

19.Bb2

Giving the pawn up, as bait. Thematic was 19...f6, as played later.

19...Qxd5 20.Rad1 Qb5 21.Rxd6 Nf7 

The kind of double-threat move (defends, attacks) that comes obviously, in a 3 minute game, but is often insufficient.

22.f6 g6

Black can't take the Rook, but he can't escape checkmate, either.

23.Qe7+ Kg8 24.Rxd7 Rf8 25.Qxf7+ 

A Queen sac finishes the game off.

25...Rxf7 26.Rd8+ Rf8 27.f7 checkmate

Very pretty!