Jerome Gambit: What's A Pawn Among Friends?

The following Jerome Gambit game ends with White still in possession of all 8 of his pawns. A peek into the notes will reveal that he had chances to give one or more away - but who can complain about an interesting win? Enjoy

thedarkdanster - MadCircle

3 2 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+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

10.Nc3

Also recently seen: 10.f4 Ng4 11.Qf3 Qe7 12.f5 N6e5 13.Qe2 g6 14.d4 gxf5 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.O-O Qxh2, checkmate, Atti0130 - StephanBerg, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020.

10...Ng4 

When in doubt, attack the White Queen.

11.Qe2 Kf7 12.h3 

An alternative was the humorous 12.f4, as if 12...Nxf4, play might continue 13.0–0 Qf6 14.Qf3 g5 15.Nd5 Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Rf8 17.h3. White takes a short cut and winds up with h2-h3 immediately.

12...N4e5 13.d4 Nc6 14.Qc4+ 

Protecting the d-pawn, but, again, it could be let go, as 14.0-0 Nxd4 15.Qc4+ Ne6 16.f4 would be the answer.

14...Ke7 

These kind of things happen in 3 2 blitz games, alas. Perhaps Black was too busy trying to unravel the mysteries of the Jerome Gambit.

15.Bg5+ Kd7 16.Bxd8 Rxd8 17.O-O-O Ke7 

White has to keep moving forward, with one eye on the clock.

18.Nd5+ Kf8 19.Nxc7 Rb8 20.Ne6+ Bxe6 21.Qxe6 Nb4 22.a3 Na6 23.g3 Re8 24.Qxd6+ Kg8 

25.e5 Rbd8 26.Qxd8 

He has plenty of pawns.

26...Rxd8 27.f4 Nc7 28.c4 a6 29.d5 b6 30.Rhe1 Kf7 31.f5 Nf8 32.g4 h6 33.d6 Ne8 34.b4 a5 35.e6+ Kf6 36.e7 Black resigned

White threatens to "lose" a pawn in the most delightful way: promotion.

Jerome Gambit: The Advantage of the Attack

One advantage of attacking in chess is that if you make an inaccurate move or two, you might lose your attack. However, when defending in chess, if you make an inaccurate move or two, you might lose your King. This is one of the many attractions of the Jerome Gambit. The following imperfect bullet game is a fun example.

lilbisgod - gdhug

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qxc5 Nf6 8.e5 

An interesting idea, both kicking the enemy Knight and pointing at d6. But: Beware the e-File! Even in bullet chess.

8...Re8

Recently seen was 8...Ne8 9. Qd5+ Kf8 10.e6 dxe6 11.Qxd8 Black resigned, ouwafhusadkgj - NN, no clock, Chess.com, 2020. 

9.O-O Rxe5 

10.Qc4+ d5 11.Qb3 Be6 12.Qxb7 

Courting danger. Can Black respond?

12...a5 13.Qc6 a4 14.d4 Re4 15.c3 Bf5 16.Nd2 Re6 17.Qc5 Qb8 18.Nf3 Qb6 

Yes, yes, when you are ahead in material, it is often a good idea to exchange Queens. But it is so easy to overlook things in 1-minute games!

19.Qxb6 

Missing the fork with 19...Ng5+.

19...cxb6 20.Bf4 

See the note, above.

20...Nxf4 21.g3 Nd3 22.Rad1 Nxb2 23.Rd2 Nc4 24.Rc2 Bxc2 

White will fight on. Perhaps the clock was on his side?

25.Ng5+ Kg6 26.Nxe6 Nd2 27.Nf4+ Kf5 28.Re1 

Is it possible that lilbisgod has been reading GM David Smerdon's The Complete Chess Swindler ? Excellent!

 28...Nde4 29.f3 Nd2 30.Re5 checkmate

Brilliant.

Years ago, I had a chess pal who would regularly complain, "I was beating you, right up to the point where you checkmated me!" Indeed.

Jerome Gambit: GM vs GM!?

I received a tip the other day about a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game played online. The time control was 3 minutes, with no increment. White won.

Oh, and White was U.S. chess champion Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. Black was Grandmaster Dmitrij Kollars of Germany.

Sure, GM Nakamura was making a speed run, and his focus was on "garbage openings" - there was also a clip of him looking at a Jerome Gambit line, and he seemed amazed / amused that there wasn't SOMETHING to the Jerome. From a grandmaster point of view: nah.

The Jerome has winning chances if it is a surprise, if the time limit is blitz, and if the defender becomes inattentive due to over-confidence.

Take a look.

SanitationEngineer - GM_dmitrij

3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

Sure, why not, up 2 pieces.

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Qf6 

GM Kollars backs up.

I would love to send GM Nakamura the following continuation, from abhailey - peonconorejas, net-chess.com, 2008: 9...Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Ne7 11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+ Nd5 14.gxh4 Bg4 15.Qa4+ b5 16.Qa6+ Nb6 17.c4 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Rhe8+ 19.Kf2 Nf5+ 20.Kf1 Bh3 checkmate

10.fxe5+ Qxe5 11.Qxe5+ Kxe5 12.b4 

The Database has only 2 earlier games with this move. White was an anonymous online player in 2004; I played the move in 2008.

That would all be coincidence. It is most likely that GM Nakamura bumped into the Jerome Gambit due to Canadian GM Aman Hambleton's amusing video on the opening.

12...Bd4 

Interesting. For 12...Bxb4? of course, see "Jerome Gambit: An Article" for the relevant Jerome-Mills variations analyzed by Yury V. Bukayev.

13.c3 Bb6 14.d4+ Ke6 15.Bb2 a5 16.d5+ Kf7 17.Rf1+ Kg6 

18.Nd2 Nf6 19.Nf3 Re8 20.e5 h6 21.O-O-O 

21...Ng4 22.Rde1 axb4 23.cxb4 Ne3 24.Nh4+ Kh7 25.Rf7 Kg8 

Black has been defending well, despite his extra piece remaining undeveloped at c8, but he is playing one of the top blitz grandmasters in the world. This slip is enough.

26.e6 dxe6 27.Rxg7+ Kf8 28.Ng6 checkmate

Wow.

Thank you, GM Nakamura.

Thank you, too, GM Kollars, for playing along.

Jerome Gambit: Inescapable Problems

The following Jerome Gambit game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) features a creative, but ineffective, defensive line - and attacking move which creates inescapable problems for Black's Queen and King.

Richi_the_king - poglas

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 Bd6 

Attacking the Queen, but letting go of the Rook.

8.Qxh8 Qg5 

Things have already gotten out of hand, and the text does not fix them, nor did any of these other recent tries -

8...Qe7 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 Qf7 11.Qxf7+ Kxf7 12.O-O Bc5 13.d3 d6 14.Be3 Bb6 15.Bxb6 axb6 16.a3 Be6 17.Nc3 Nf6 18.b4 c5 19.b5 Nd7 20.f4 Ke7 21.f5 Bf7 22.f6+ Nxf6 23.Nd5+ Nxd5 24.exd5 Bxd5 25.Rae1+ Be6 26.Re3 Kd7 27.Rfe1 Re8 28.c4 Bf7 29.Rxe8 Bxe8 30.g4 Bg6 31.Re3 Bf7 32.h4 Be6 33.g5 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kf7 35.Kg3 Bf5 36.Rf3 Kg6 37.Kf4 Be6 38.Re3 Bf5 39.Re7 Bxd3 40.Rxb7 Bxc4 41.Rxb6 Kh5 42.Rxd6 Bxb5 43.Rh6 checkmate JabbaKappa - Zauberer, Chess.com, 2020;

8...b6 9.Qd4 Bb7 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.O-O Rf8 12.d3 Ke8 13.Nb5 Bc5 14.Nxc7+ Kd8 15.Ne6+ Qxe6 16.Qc4 Qf7 17.Qxf7 Rxf7 18.Bg5+ Kc8 19.c3 h6 20.Bh4 g5 21.Bg3 h5 22.d4 Be7 23.d5 h4 24.Be5 d6 25.Bd4 Rf4 26.f3 Kd7 27.b4 Ba6 28.Rfd1 Bc4 29.a4 a6 30.Bxb6 Bf6 31.b5 axb5 32.axb5 Bxb5 33.Rab1 Bc4 34.Rb4 Be2 35.Rdb1 Bxc3 36.Ra4 Rf8 37.Bd4 Bd2 38.Rb7+ Ke8 39.Ra8 checkmate, timinphilly - BrennanBibic, Chess.com, 2020;

8...Qe8 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.d3 Bb4+ 11.Nc3 d6 12.Bh6+ Nxh6 13.Qxh6+ Ke7 14.Qg7+ Kd8 15.Qf6+ Kd7 16.a3 d5 Black resigned cian_hudder - 11wduuwdbjn, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020; and

8...Nf6 Black resigned Mathiasgraabeck - IMMERAMZOCKEN23, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020, 9.Qxd8 Black resigned, Fedez9292 - mnt0788, 1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2020.

9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.O-O Nf6 11.Qh8+ Ng8 

12.d3 Qf6 13.Bh6+ Kf7 14.Qh7+ Ke6 15.Qxg8+ Ke7 

Unfortunately, 15...Qf7 would allow the exchange of Queens, with little compensation for the lost Rook and pawns; and 15...Ke5 would be met with 16.Qd5 checkmate.

16.f4 

How does Black deal with the threat 17.Bg5 ?

16...b6 17.e5 

This wins - but so does 17.Bg5.

17...Bxe5 18.fxe5 Qxf1+ Black resigned

What else? There was no way to escape checkmate - other than resignation. Wow.

Jerome Gambit: Enthusiast

I received a number of games from a Jerome Enthusiast. There are some short ones in the notes, but the longest one has a very nice checkmate.

Anonymous - Anonymous

Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 

Also: 3...Nf6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Qe8 (7...Nd5 8.Qf3+ Ngf4 9.Bxf4 Nxf4 10.Qxf4+ Kg8 11.d5 d6 12.e6 c6 13.Qf7 checkmate, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020) 8.O-O Nd5 9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.Qxd5+ Qf7 11.Nc3 Qxd5 12.Nxd5 c6 13.Nc7 Rb8 14.f4 d6 15.f5 Bxf5 16.Rxf5 Rc8 17.Ne6 dxe5 18.Be3 Ne7 19.Rf2 exd4 20.Bxd4 b6 21.Raf1 Ng6 22.Rf7 a5 23.Nxf8 Rxf8 24.Rxg7 checkmate, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020; and 

3...h6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 (5...Nxe5 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Nd5 Bc5 8.d4 Black resigned, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020) 6.Qh5+ Black resigned, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020. 

4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 

A normal Jerome Gambit position. There are 130 games with it in The Database. Black has the extra piece, White has 2 extra pawns. White's King is safer.

10.O-O Kf7 11.f4 Re8 12.Qb3+

To interrupt Black's plan of castling-by-hand.

12... d5

Or 12...Kf8 13.d3 b6 14.c4 c5 15.Nc3 Kg8 16.Bd2 Rf8 17.Rab1 Nh5 18.f5 Ne5 19.Qd1 Qe8 20.Nb5 Qe7 21.Qxh5 Black resigned, Anonymous - Anonymous, Chess.com, 2020.

13.Nc3 c6 14.d3 Kf8 15.f5 Ne5 16.d4 Ned7 17.e5 

The "Jerome pawns" in action! It was probably time for Black to return his piece for two pawns, with 17...Nxe5 18.dxe5 Rxe5 and a roughly equal game. His response, however, gives him a loose pawn at e4, and allows further "Jerome pawn" action.

17...Ne4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Qg3 Qb6 20.f6 

20...g6 21.f7 Re7 22.Bh6 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Getting More Right This Time (Part 2)

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL

Italian Game Battlefield tournament, Chess.com, 2020

Material is even. White has pressure against the enemy King.

17.Rf1 Rf8 

This move is a mistake, larger than I realized at the time. Instead of the text, he needed to do something about the pin on his d-pawn, say 17...Qe6. This could be met by 18.Nd5, when 18...Nexd5 19.exd5 Qg4 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qc3 would have won material.

18.Bxf6

A curious optical illusion. I wanted to play e4-e5, attacking the pinned d-pawn (and the Knight on f6) so first I eliminated the Knight that defended the Queen. But - that Knight was already pinned to the King! Best was the move I wanted to play, 18.e5.

18...gxf6 19.e5 Kg8 

20.exf6 Nc6 21.Ne4 Qg4 22.Qd5+ 

The start of a questionable plan. After the game, Stockfish 11 suggested 22.h3 Qg6 23.Rf4 Kh8 24.Rg4 Qf5 25.Qe3 Nd8 26.Rg5 Qd7 27.Rg7 Rf7 28.Rxf7 Nxf7 29.Ng5 Ne5 30.Qxa7, with checkmate threats that would allow for the win of more material. Wow. So, that's why the program is rated 3600...

22...Kh8 23.Qg5 Qxg5 24.Nxg5 

Here, I liked my passed pawn and Kingside pawn majority. I could imagine advancing my g- and h-pawns, exchanging off Black's h-pawn. There was still a lot of work to do.

24...Nd8 25.Ne4 Kg8 26.g4 h6 

27.Kg2 

I guess 27.h4 was playable directly, but I worried that after 27...Kf7 Black's Rook would come to g8, so the pawn would need additional protection.

27...d5 

Kicking my Knight, which was in position to support an eventual g4-g5 - and part of the reason I took my Knight to e4 was to goad Black into making such a kick. Simply 27...Kf7 was more to the point.

28.Nc5 b6 

Helping the Knight along its way.

29.Nd7 Re8 

Now White can win the exchange for his beloved pawn - I could not see a way for it to promote, anyhow.

30.f7+ Nxf7 31.Nf6+ Kf8 32.Nxe8 Kxe8 

At this point, the main idea is for White's Rook and King to infiltrate Black's position and win material.

33.Rf5 c6 34.Rf6 c5 35.Kg3 Ke7 36.Rg6 d4 37.Kf4

Keeping an eye on the pawns, so they do not advance.

37...Kd7 38.h4 Ke7 39.Rg8 Black resigned

With a King placed for both defense and attack, a Kingside pawn majority ready to advance at the proper time, and a hungry Rook, White has too much to deal with. 

Jerome Gambit: Getting More Right This Time (Part 1)

The following game, a rematch in the fourth round of the "Italian Game Battlefield" tournament at Chess.com, was another (see "Jerome Gambit: His Trap Was Part of My Trap") Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. Much to my relief, after my exhausting struggle against Tacotopia (see "Jerome Gambit: Overthinking?" Parts 1 & 2), I was able to find the win of the exchange and use it to win the endgame.

perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL

Italian Game Battlefield tournament, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4

7...Bxd4

Previously, andrewLLL had played 7...Bd6 against me. According to The Database, I was 1 - 2 - 0 (33%) against 7...Bd6 before that game.

Komodo 10 sees 7...Bd6 as slightly stronger than 7...Bxd4. Against 7...Bxd4, I was 15 - 7 - 1 (67%).

All in all, I was happy to see the text move.

8.Qxd4 d6 

The strongest response. I have also seen

8...Qe7 in perrypawnpusher - HGBoone, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 27), perrypawnpusher - BigKalamar, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 49), and perrypawnpusher - OudeKwakkelaar, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 16); and

8...Re8 in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20), perrypawnpusher - KaZC, FICS, 2010 (1/2 - 1/2, 61),  perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36),  perrypawnpusher - JoseSoza, Chess.com, 2012 (0-1, 34), and perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 41),

9.O-O 

Stronger than 9.Bg5 in perrypawnpusher - wuolong, Italian Game tournament, Chess.com, 2013 (1-0, 15).

9...Re8 10.Bg5 Be6

This move is not a mistake, but I am always happy to be able to advance my f-pawn and cause the Bishop to move again.

11.f4 Nc6 12.Qd3 Qd7 

This move doesn't look right, however. Although this game was played at a 3 days / move time control, it is possible that my opponent was using the Chess.com app on his phone, and mis-keyed the move (instead of, say, 12...Qe7) and quickly but mistakenly sent it. Just a guess - I have done that before, myself.

Better was 12...Kg8, castling-by-hand.

13.f5 Bxf5

After the game, Komodo 10 recommended 13...Bxa2 instead.

14.Rxf5 

With plans to put pressure on the Knight at f6, taking advantage of the pin to the enemy King. This is stronger than 14.exf5, which might be what my opponent expected, and which would have left me with only a slight - if any - edge.

14...Re5 15.Raf1 Rxf5 16.Rxf5 Ne7 

Material is even, although White's pressure - especially along the f-file - should allow him to win a pawn. White's isolated e-pawn participates in the attack, which would not have been the case, had the pawn captured on move 14.

[to be continued]