Jerome Gambit: Thinking Again

I have been thinking about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) again - see "Jerome Gambit: This "Refuted" Thing (Part 1, A Basic Truth)" and "Jerome Gambit: This "Refuted" Thing (Part 2, What to Do?)" - and it fits into the following game by MrJzM.

For club players, it is a practical decision in blitz play to make the opening moves quickly, saving precious seconds for the complications and tactical challenges that are likely to appear later on in the game. The Jerome Gambit interferes with this idea for the defender, who suddenly had to spend time figuring things out - starting at move 4. We have seen plenty of examples on this blog of games where White is in difficult, if not desperate, situations - when Black's time expired. Time management is an important factor in the success of the Jerome.

Another thing we often see at the club level is a defender making split-second decisions that seem to be designed to "punish" White's audacious play - but which do not fit into an effective response, and sometimes cause further deterioration of Black's game.  

MrJzM - lucci3500

10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

As I pointed out in "Jerome Gambit: What About the Rook?", Black needs to be aware that this move is not only a "punishment" of White's Queen for her annoying check, it is the start of the offer of a Rook. Black will get complicated and exciting play now, after either 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 or 7.Qe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8.

7.Qxe5 Bd6 

Once again, Black confronts the enemy Queen, but things will not go as he hopes. For the record, The Database shows 406 games with this position, with White scoring 83%.

8.Qxh8 Qe8 9.d3 Be5 

Out, out, blasted Queen!

10.Qxh7+ Kf8  Black resigned

White is ahead the exchange and three pawns. His Queen will escape, possibly via Stockfish 14's suggestion, 11.f4 Bf6 12.f5 gxf5 13.Qxf5 d6 14.Qf3.

Jerome Gambit: Good News, Bad News, Good News (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - vs33

3 d/move, "Piano Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 2021

My opponent was ready to put his Rook on h8 to use in an attack. It was clearly time for me to do something.

14.f5 N6e5 15.d4 Nc6 

Often when the Knight is kicked out of the center, it finds a home at c6. In this case, however, with Black's King at e7, retreating to f7 seems in order. The reason will immediately be obvious.

16.Bg5+ 

Taking advantage of the weakness of the dark squares in Black's position, as well as the unfortunate placement of his King and Queen.

16...Nf6 17.Bxf6+ Kxf6 

Somewhat better was 17...gxf6, but White's Queen will still invade and win the Rook. White's extra pawns will add to his advantage.  

18.Qg6+ Ke7 19.Qxg7+ Ke8 20.Qxh8+ Ke7 

Now exchanging Queens would be simple enough, as would be grabbing the h-pawn, but I had plans for my advanced, supported, passed "Jerome pawn".

21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.f6 Back resigned

White's pawn is going to promote. Black can sacrifice his Queen for the new Queen, or allow it to stay on the board, but, either way, White will be more than a Queen ahead.

A good, fighting game by vs33. Fortunately for me, the Jerome Gambit had some resources I could use to turn back the aggression.

Jerome Gambit: Good News, Bad News, Good News (Part 1)

As always, there is "good news" and "bad news".

The "good news" is that I won a second Jerome Gambit game in the second round of the "Piano Piano" tournament at Chess.com, giving me a record of 2 wins and 2 losses with the opening.

The "bad news" is that both wins were on time, in 4 moves.

But, then, finally, I was able to win in the regular way - as much as wins with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) are "regular" in any way.

perrypawnpusher - vs33

3 d/move, "Piano Piano" tournament, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6 

The plan behind this move is clear: Black saves his Knight; his Bishop is already protected. It is not the best plan, however, as illustrated by the 61 games in The Database with 8...Ng6; White scores 70%. (My own record before this game was 7 - 1.)

Like many defenders, Black appears to be unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit. Otherwise, he might have abandoned his Knight with 8...Kc6, instead, which is the best move.

9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 

Black played 10...Ke8 in perrypawnpusher - parlance, 5 10 blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22). In that game, I was doing okay until I allowed my Queen to become trapped.

11.Qe3 Nf6 

The position is about even. Compared to the 6...Ng6 variation, in this game White is a tempo ahead, as it is his move, not Black's: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.f4.

I have faced other moves:

11...Kf8 in perrypawnpusher - Valseg, 5 12 blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 39);

11...Be6 in perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12); and

11...Bd7 in perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, 12 0 blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 29)

12.O-O 

I have also tried 12.d4, as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31) 

12...Ng4 

Black has aggressive intentions.

I have also seen 12...Re8 in perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, 10 3 blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 18) and 12...Rf8 in perrypawnpusher - grosshirn, 2 19 blitz, FICS, 2016 (1-0, 24) 

13.Qg3 h5 

Wow. He isn't kidding.

After the game Stockfish 14 had the odd suggestion 13...Ke8 14.f5 Qh4 15.Qxh4 Nxh4 16.Nc3 Nf6 17.d3 Kf7 18.Bg5 Nxf5 19.exf5 Bd7 with the advantage to White, so maybe my opponent was right to attack.

I also had a thematic attack available.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Once Again, Be Careful, Look Both Ways

 

One risk of the "annoying defense" to the Jerome Gambit can be a touch of boredom for White. Black's King can look to be at risk, but he is not, and White has a number of ideas, all of which seem to lead nowhere...

Still, this is another case where White needs to be careful and look both ways - lest troubles befall him.

Sekci - wintoo1

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6 

Black willingly returns a piece, as he is 2 ahead. It can be annoying to see his King sitting out near the middle of the board, but have no established easy way to attack him.

8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qf7 

This is a 3 2 blitz game, but White figures he has time enough to box in Black's King and then look for checkmate.

It turns out that his own time - how long his King will last - is running short. (10.Qf3 was a better choice.)

10...Qh4+ 11.g3 Qxe4+ 12.Kf1 Bh3 checkmate

Annoying, right?

Jerome Gambit: Nightmares

I like to think that some of the victims of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) have nightmares about being over-run by "Jerome pawns". (Perhaps in the guise of "Killer Shrews"?) Certainly the following bullet game - where pieces come at you quickly - had a scary feeling about it that might linger after the final move.

linganno - mirolim

2 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Nf6 

If you are playing quickly and your opponent is unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit, you might very well encounter this strike-back-at-the-Queen-quickly-oops move. There are 110 examples in The Database.

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 

And, just like that, White has his sacrficed material back, with interest.

9...d6 10.Qe3 Re8 11.d3 d5 12.e5 Ng4 13.Qg3 d4 14.h3 

The beginning...

14...Nh6 15.O-O Nf5 16.Qf2 Be6 17.Nd2 Bd5 18.b3 Nh4 19.g3 Ng2

This move is a bit of a surprise, but surprises in bullet can cause the opponent to invest time in thought - seconds that are not available, later on in the game. White deals with it easily, though.

20.Ne4 Ne3 21.Bxe3 dxe3 22.Qxe3 c6 23.c4 Be6 24.Ng5+ Ke7 25.Nxe6 Kxe6 

Black's King takes the lead in defending against the pawns, but perhaps he should not. It could give His Majesty some dangerous ideas...

26.d4  g6 27.Rad1 Qc7 28.d5+ cxd5 29.cxd5+ Kf5 30.g4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Another Reason

There are many reasons to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Under the right circumstances, with the right opponent, it can be the right opening to play.

Take, for example, the following game.

Guest6355147650 - Guest0996239299

10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 Bf2+ 

Here we have Black considering that if it was good for White to sacrifice a piece to prevent his opponent from castling, perhaps it is good for Black to do the same - even without capturing a pawn. He figures he is going to have to surrender a piece, anyhow.

It is a creative, if not usually successful idea. White scores 70% in 10 games in The Database.

8.Kxf2 Ng6 

Black should give his own idea more respect. Retreating the Knight to f7 or c6 would give him an edge in the position.

9.f5+ Ke5 

This is a blitz game, and there is not always a lot of time for deep analysis, but this move seems a bit too cooperative.

10.fxg6+ Kxe4 

As does this.

The game harkens back to the time of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (1834 - 1902), inventor of the gambit, when it was still considered sporting to take all the material on offer, regardless of risk.

11.Nc3+ Kd4 12.Qd5 checkmate

And that is another reason, dear Readers, that club players will continue to be drawn to the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit: A Back-Alley Beatdown

Recently I received an interesting Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game from Devin Brown, along with some comments about the play. I thought I would present the game, add some diagrams (and a comment or two, in blue), but let Devin's play - and his words - mostly speak for themselves.

Hello again Rick,

I bring to you the antithesis of the previous game I submitted (A game of desperation and opportunity). 

Dattrollz vs TitoBabel

3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021,

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ 

We start off with Aman Hambleton's Jerome Gambit with the 7.Qd5+...

[In his YouTube video on the Jerome Gambit, Grandmaster Aman Hambleton re-discovered this "nudge", first played by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome against O.A. Brownson, in their 1875 game in Iowa (1-0, 28)]

7...Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Be6 10.O-O Qe7 

11.f4 Bc4 12.d3 Ba6 13.f5 Ne5 14.Nc3 Nc6 

leading into 

15.Nd5

where I have smothered the bishop into the a-column and have tempo on the queen. After Black's

15...Qd7

I knew I had a game and sought to seize it with the only tried and true method of the Jerome, attacking with no time for the opponent to even realize what's going on. So I being my seige with 

16.Qg5 

setting up f5-f6, but my opponent left his back to me in the form of

16...Nge7 

so I gobbled up a free g-pawn.

17.Qxg7

Afterwards he moves

17...Re8

to prevent my knight fork, but that was never my plan. I don't intend to trade my best attacking piece for a rook that just got his morning coffee. Thus I gobbled another free pawn 

18.Qxh7 Ne5

and proceeded to play

19.Qh5+ 

At this point I know I have an attack but I need a weakness (and a little time) to figure out what exactly I have going and I see it on blacks 3rd worst blunder, 

19...Kd8 20.Qh6 Rg8

At this point I go for the fork and he attempts to BAMNOOZLE me with the desperate 

21...Nxf5

but alas I remain calm cool and collected and simply take back leaving my knight still lined up for the kill. 

 

22.exf5

After his 

22...Qg7 

I finally realize it's time to let go of my trusty steed and force a queen trade to either lead my pawn to glory or to see all his pieces in the shadow realm (He took the latter). 

23.Nxg8 Qxg8 

24.f6 Nf7 25.Qg7 Qe8 26.Bh6 c6 27.Rae1 Qd7 28.Qf8+ Kc7 29.Qe7 Qxe7 30.Rxe7+ Kb6 31.Rxf7 Rg8 

32.Rg7 Re8 33.f7 Rf8 34.Rg8 Rxf7 35.Rxf7 Bb5 36.Rgg7 Ba6 37.c4 c5 38.Bf4

after his 

38...d5 

I landed the final blow 

39.cxd5

before the sands of time decided that his time had come.

White won on time

Earlier I mentioned that 20...Rg8 was his 3rd worst blunder, the second was the scandalous 21...Nxf5, and his 1st was 3...Bc5.

[Thank you for sharing your game and analysis, Devin]