Jerome Gambit: Slasher Slashed

Playing over Jerome Gambit games - and rooting for the attacker - can be a bit like watching a slasher film again and again, hoping that this time your favorite character will escape...

We know from experience that club players can win with their favorite "refuted" opening, but sometimes getting to that "1-0" can be a bit scary.

Until the end, when the danger gets turned back upon the slasher. 

Anselmus - givemeabreak

2 12 blitz, FICS, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 

In many of the lines that follow 6.Qh5+, White attacks directly, and the biggest risk he runs is that Black might know - or discover - an effective defense.

In this game's particular response to 6.d4, however, Black counter-attacks immediately, and with dire threats.

7.dxc5 

According to The Database, White scores 65% after 6...Qh4 which is encouraging, given that Stockfish 13 rates Black as more than 4 1/4 pawns better. 

Both resources give 7.0-0 as White's best option here, but as a measure of the practical complications that pile up, The Database has White scoring increasing to 82% with the move.

The Database shows that with 7.dxc5 White scores 33%  - but there is nothing to get worried about, yet. 

7...Qxe4+ 8.Be3 Nf6 

Black is suspicious: If White is okay with me taking the g-pawn, maybe I should not do that.

9.O-O Nc4 

This move is not bad, but it is important to point out that in the position the d7 blocks the Bishop, which hems in the Rook - a typical Jerome Gambit defender's error.

10.Nc3 Nxe3 11.fxe3 Qxe3+ 

Black grabs a pawn, and has another one (at c5) in his sights.

White is not about to give up, however.

12.Kh1 Re8 

Here is one reason why.

13.Nd5 Qxc5 

Grabbing a pawn and protecting the c7 square against White's threatened Knight fork there. The problem - of all things - is that it puts Black's Queen on the wrong side of White's Knight. Best was 13...Qe5, which would give White time to continue pressure with 14.Qd2 and 15.Rae1.

Yes, sometimes it is this hard to beat the Jerome Gambit.

14.Qh5+ Kg8  

The wrong square to retreat to, as White immediately shows. (14...Kf8 would still leave Black worse.)

15.Nxf6+ Black resigned

White threatens checkmate, and to stop that, Black will have to play 15...gxf6 and give up his Queen to 16.Qxc5.

Dzeromov Gambit

There is an old, but, sadly, true joke that goes this way

Question: If someone who speaks 3 languages is called trilingual, and someone who speaks 2 languages is called bilingual, what is someone who speaks 1 language called?

Answer: Someone from the United States

Truth is my junior high school / high school / college French language skills have atrophied, to the point where I do speak French like a Spanish cow.

Also, my American Sign Language skills have rusted to the point of manual mumbling.

So it is a bit unnerving - but hardly surprising - to wander back a half-dozen years in this blog and find a post where I was perplexed at a foreign (to me) language video analyzing the Jerome Gambit game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 that referred to the "Zeromov Gambit". Who was Zeromov and what was that all about?

Unfortunately, the link from my post to that video no longer works, so I can not re-view it - but I think it might be this one.

The other day, however, I discovered an interesting video by Laufer on YouTube that explored the Jerome Gambit. It was titled "Dzeromov gambit - Super agresivno otvaranj". 

No excitement this time, I simply asked Google to translate for me, and of course it provided "Jerome's Gambit - Super Aggressive Opening".

Like they say, Oh well, whatever, nevermind.

Jerome Gambit: Again?

Here we go again?

Of course you are familiar with the following position

It is the Jerome Gambit. Perhap White is generously giving his opponent "Jerome Gambit odds".

And what about this position?

You might remember that this is from the game Vazquez - Giraudy, Mexico, 1876  (1-0, 18), where White is about to give his opponent Jerome Gambit and Rook odds.

Then there is this memorable position, where White appears to be doomed, but was actually quite lucky

While there is a mate-in-2 on the board (GeorgeCool - xadrezedificil, blitz, FICS, 2011), Black ran out of time and White had no mating material (!) so the game was declared a draw.

All of which leads us to the following position, where it appears that White has given both Jerome Gambit and Queen odds. Oh, my.

Here is how the game got there.

RonnitSonnit - NN

3 5 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qf3+ Nxf3+ 7.gxf3 

It came with the following introduction

I am unsure if you are still accepting reader games being submitted but this game is a beauty. I was playing a series of blitz games with a friend and by game 11 I was looking to throw him off after several boring Berlin and Dragon games, so I employed the Jerome Gambit. What's special about this game is 6.Qf3+, a queen sacrifice with no immediate material or positional compensation, but awards White with a physiological advantage, a benefit of the Jerome. With him off his game due to the sheer randomness of the Jerome Gambit, I made it to the endgame with even material and finished him off with a nice passed pawn to queen/king checkmate

You might want to refer to White's 6th move as a "blunder". I am inclined to remember to the distinction: When your opponent gains material, it is a "sacrifice" if you win, and a "blunder" when you lose.

Also, keep in mind GeorgeCool - xadrezedificil, 2011, above.

7...Qh4 8.Rf1 Qh5 9.d3 Ne7 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Rg8 12.Rh1 g5

13.Nd2 d5 14.O-O-O Qh6 15.exd5 Qf6 16.e4 Kg7 17.Rhg1 h5 18.h4 g4 19.fxg4 hxg4 20.Kb1 Qf2 

21.Rh1 a5 22.Nc4 Qf6 23.Rdf1 Qd4 24.Rd1 b5 25.Na3 Rb8 26.c3 Qe3 27.Nc2 Qc5 28.a3 Qb6 29.h5 g3 30.Rd2 Rb7 31.Rg2 Qd6

Give White credit, he plays along and refuses to panic.

32.Nd4 Bg4 33.Rhg1 Kf7 34.Rxg3 Qf4 35.h6 Nxd5?

One use for extra material is to give some of it back to break down the enemy fortress.

36.h7 Re8 37.Rxg4 Nxc3+? 38.bxc3 Qf6 

Black has a Queen for a Knight and a couple of pawns, but White's threats make the game even. Quite Jerome-ish.

39.Rg5 c5 40.Nf5 Rd7? 41.Rg7+ Ke6 42.R1g6 Rxg7 43.Nxg7+ Kf7 44.Rxf6+ Kxg7 

Things are looking up for White. You might even say that he is winning.

45.Rc6 c4 46.dxc4 Re7 47.cxb5 Kxh7 48.Ra6 Rxe4 49.Rxa5 Rf4 50.Ra7+ Kh8

51.b6 Rf1+ 52.Kc2 Rf2+ 53.Kb3 Rf3 54.b7 Rf8 55.Ra8 Kg7 56.Rxf8 Kxf8 57.b8=Q+ Kg7 58.Kc4 Kf7 59.Kd5 Kg7 60.Ke6 Kh6 61.Qg3 Kh7 62.Kf7 Kh8 63.Qh3 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Nudged by A Jerome Enthusiast

A long time ago - almost a dozen years - I posted on this blog that "My Head is Spinning" as I had learned that Laszlo Orban's Schach Eröffnungen Das Königsbauerspiel als Schlüssel zu erfolgreichen Eröffnungssystemen erschienen, had been reprinted in honor of his 100th birthday.

At the time I simply noted that it had the Jerome Gambit in it.

Last year I was nudged by A Jerome Enthusiast to finally take a look at what Orban had included in his book. I found a game (with another imbedded) with notes (which I have worked to translate from German).

De Visser - Frankel

Holland

The author did not identify the players further, which is unfortunate. A W. M. de Visser and a Max Frankel were members of the Manhattan Chess Club in the 1880s, but the given location of the game seems to rule them out. 

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

Orban notes that while the opening is unsound, if Black is greedy or stingy, he can easily stumble.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 

The assessment: White wins one piece back without effort, and for the second he can get pawns for compensation, but if the Queen is played out too early his development will lag.

6.Qh5+ 

Here he mentions the game Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome 1890 [sic]

6...Ng6 7.Qxc5? 

Orban is quick to note that 7.Qd5+ is more precise, driving the King back, in order to delay the development of Black's Rook at h8

7...d6! 8.Qb4 Nf6 9.O-O Rf8 10.Qb3+ Be6 11.Qxb7 

White has 3 pawns for the piece, which is sufficient material compensation, but the defender has built up a good position.

11...Kg8 12.f4 Bg4 13.Nc3 Qd7! 14.Qa6 Ne7 15.d4 d5 16.e5 Ne4 17.Qd3 Nxc3! 

18.bxc3 Bf5 19.Qd2 Be4! 

20.c4 c6 21.cxd5 cxd5 22.c4 Nf5! 23.Bb2 Qc6 24.g4? 

24.c5! was necessary.

24....Nh4 25.Rac1 Qg6! 

Orban laments that if White's pawn were still on g2, he would have a sufficient defense with 26...g3, but now his position collapses like a house of cards. He points out that most games are lost due to incorrect pawn moves.

26.Rc3 Nf3+!! 27.Rfxf3 Qxg4+ 28.Kf1 

If 28.Rg3 then 28...Qx4.

28...Rxf4 29.Rxf4 Qxf4+!

30.Qf2 

Or 30.Qxf4 Rf8! which would be the lesser of two evils.

31.Ke1 Rf8 32.Qg3 Qf5 33.Re3 Qf1+ 34.Kd2 Rf2+ 35.Kc3 Qxc4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Piano Piano Update Update Update

 

Although there are still games to be completed in Round 1 of the Chess.com "Piano Piano" tournament, it is possible to identify almost all of the players from each group that will move on to Round 2.

As the starting position will again be 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5, I will continue to have my opportunities to play the Jerome Gambit.

  

Group 1

TheSadKnight1, jan-por, YellowRam

Group 2

Crazyswimmerman, Kyleriz, Black_Bull

Group 3

thejamch, Alfil_7, Escaqueitor

Group 4

jjdd57, acasimon1987

     Either vs33 or uhuru

Group 5

schoollibrarian, Kugich, MickeyDelaware

Group 6

perrypawnpusher, ZlikoM1, PasayDefence

Jerome Gambit: Assessment

 

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a very active opening that involves the sacrifice of a piece or two. What does the player of the White pieces risk? What does he receive in return?

Those questions have been raised and answered on this blog many times.

A bit of perspective can be found in IM Gary Lane's enjoyable book The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps (2008), where he presents a system to assess the openings he looks at - including the Jerome Gambit.  

At the end of the majority of opening tricks I have added a ratings chart. This is just a fun way of assessing the trick with marks out of ten.

Surprise value. An indication of how surprised an opponent will be to see the trap on the board. A surprise value of 8/10, for example, means that the opponent will be very surprised; while a rating of 5/10 implies that he might have seen it before so it will work occasionally

Risk. The amount of risk involved in playing the opening that contains the trick. A mark of 5/10 indicates it is a solid continuation in any case, but something like 8/10 will mean that a pawn or even a piece has been sacrificed.

Chance of success. The chance of a trick working in the game. This is a difficult one because it depends upon the level of your opponent. Therefore I made a judgement from my tournament experience by watching and coaching other players. 5/10 indicates an average chance, i.e. sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't; wheras a mark of 6/10 would mean that there is an above average chance of it working. A mark of 10/10 means that someone should resign quickly.

Reward. What you should expect to gain if the trick works. A mark of 6/10 roughly indicates a pawn has been won. With 8/10 the reward would be a piece, while with 10/10 it is checkmate.

It is just a bit of fun and certainly not a scientific report... 

How does the Jerome Gambit grade according to IM Lane's system?

Surprise value 10/10

Risk 10/10

Chance of success 2/10

Reward 3/10

Jerome Gambit: Part of the Future

Vist the Delancey UK Schools' Chess Challenge website and make your way to the Hall of Fame page, and you will learn about over a couple dozen young chess players, including

Kenneth Hobson

UKCC 2020 Variant Championship 1st U12, Terafinal 2nd U12

Age Group: U11

ECF grade (Jan 20): 150

School: Windmill Primary School

Favourite Opening: The Jerome gambit

Favourite Player: Mikhaïl Tal

Hobbies: Football, cricket, French horn

Other Comments: I love playing variant chess and also playing for Ojays in the fortnightly team battles online.

 

 Certainly looks like a champion!