Jerome Gambit: The Quick and the Dead

Apologies to Joy Williams and Sharon Stone, but the following game can be referred to as "the quick and the dead".

Blitz chess can be deadly. Quickly.

gabrielebattaglia - Sumy

5 3 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+  

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 N8e7 9.O-O b6 10.Qe3 Rf8 

At first it looks like Black is planning on castling-by-hand, but that never comes about. 

11.Nc3

The lichess.org computer labels this as an inaccuracy, preferring 11.f4. 

My guess is that the text move was played to prevent 11...d5. Indeed, in the game Black is dissuaded from playing the move, although Stockfish 15.1 sees it as still okay, i.e. 11...d5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.exd5+ Kf7 and the King castles-by-hand after all. With Black's 3 Queenside pawns holding back 5 of White's, at least for a while, Black with the extra piece, is better.  

11... d6 12.d4 Bb7 13.Qg3 Nc6  

Despite the iffy position of Black's King, the game is in balance, or even slightly better for the second player.

14.d5 Nd4

The Knight is up to mischief. It can grab the c-pawn and escape, but the time spent would allow White to improve his attack on the King.

15.Qd3

Trapping the Knight. It is hard in a 3-minute game for it to find a way out, but there is...

With more time White might have investigated the recommended mess 15.Bg5 Qd7 16.Rad1 Nxc2 17.f4 Kf7 (17...Ba6 18.Rf3 Kf7 19.h4 h6 20.h5 Ne7 21.Bh4 Kg8 22.Rd2 Nb4)18.h4 h6 19.f5 Ne5 20.Bf4 Nb4.

I would play the text in a heart beat.

15...Ne5

Giving up a bit too soon. 

There was 15...Qf6 16.f4 c5 17.dxc6 ep Nxc6, saving the piece.

Even better was giving up the piece with 15...Nf3+!, e.g. 16.gxf3 Ne5 and White's King is at great risk.

16.Qxd4 

Having gained the material advantage, White is now fine with exchanges.

16...c5 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.f4 Ng4 19.h3 Nf6 20.e5 dxe5 21.Qxe5+ Qe7 22.Qxe7+ Kxe7 

White is two pawns up. Remove the Rooks and the Knights and there is the tiniest chance for Black to move into a Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame and hope for a draw...

Not going to happen. 

23.Be3 Nd5 24.Nxd5+ Bxd5 25.Rad1 Be4 26.c3 Rf6 27.Bc1 Rg6

 As a general rule, in a Bishops-of-opposite-colors middlegame, the side that can create an attack on the King has the advantage. Here, though, White has plenty of resources.

28.g4 Kf8 29.Rfe1 Bf3 30.Rd3 Bc6 31.b3 h5 32.Ba3+ Kg8 33.g5 b5 34.Rde3 Rd8 35.Bc1 Rf8 36.Re7 Rxf4

This slip ends the game.

37.Bxf4 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Win - Lose - Win

angelcamina, a longtime Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) player who specializes in 1-minute bullet games sent me the following game with the notation "Win - Lose - Win".

A player's fortune can vary widely across those 60 seconds of chess battle, although I think you will agree when you play over the following game that White had things under control, wherever it went.

The checkmate at the end was serious Win.

angelcamina - Maverikk

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

Maverikk tries to surprise his opponent. Unfortunately for him, angelcamina has faced the line before.

From a post earlier this year, "Jerome Gambit: It's the Check that Counts"

I recently (in "Jerome Gambit: Gift Horses") mentioned the "Counter-Jerome Defense" or the "Counter-Jerome Gambit" as a strategy that defenders might use... 

The idea is to follow up 8.Kxf2 with 8...Qf6+ and exchange of Queens. In effect Black returns a sacrificed piece to stifle White's brutal attack and force him to play an (allegedly) painful pawn-up game.

8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qxf6+ Kxf6 

According to The Database this variation is less common than 9...Nxf6.

From a practical point of view, in 28 games 9...Kxf6 scores 66% for White, which is somewhat more favorable than White scoring 75% in the 235 games with 9...Nxf6. 

However, Stockfish 15.1 scoffs at this preference, evaluating the Knight capture as being about 2 pawns better than the King capture. Apparently the more active placement of His Majesty in the endgame / Queenless middlegame is outweighed by the danger he faces.

Two of angelcamina's games: 9...Nxf6 10.d3 (10.Nc3 Kg7 11.Rf1 d6 12.Kg1 Be6 13.d4 Bc4 14.Bh6+ Kxh6 15.Rxf6 Rhe8 16.b3 White won on time, angelcamina - jonas99, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021) 10...d6 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.b3 Bg4 13.Bb2 Rhf8 14.Kg3 Bd7 15.Nd2 Kg8 16.Rxf6 Rxf6 17.Bxf6 Rf8 18.Bd4 c5 19.Bc3 b5 20.Rf1 Re8 21.Ba5 b4 22.Bc7 Re6 23.Nc4 Bb5 24.Nxd6 a6 25.Nxb5 axb5 26.e5 c4 27.dxc4 bxc4 28.bxc4 Rc6 29.Bd6 Rxc4 30.Rf2 Rc3+ 31.Kf4 Rc4+ 32.Ke3 White won on time, angelcamina - ShadowKnight314, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020) 

10.Rf1 Kg7 

Loss of time for safety sake.

11.b3 d6 12.Bb2+ Nf6 

White is clearly better. His next move - bypassing the safer castling-by-hand - shows his comfort with the  position.

13.Ke3 Rf8 14.Nc3 Be6 15.d4 c6 16.Rae1 Rf7 17.e5 

The other center pawn was also ready to advance.

17...dxe5 18.dxe5 Nd5+ 

Missing the off ramp. Instead, 18...Ng4+ would have served him better - 19.Ke2 Rxf1 20.Rxf1 Nxh2 21.Rh1 Ng4 22.Ne4 and the game would have evened out. 

19.Nxd5 Bxd5 

Missing something.

20.e6+ Kg8 21.exf7+ Kf8 

Blockading the pawn - instead of capturing it - is a matter of choosing how to drop the full point.

22.Kd3 Rd8 23.Ba3+ Kg7 24.Re8 Bxf7+ 25.Kc3 Bxe8 26.Bf8+ Kg8 27.Bh6 Rd7 28.Rf8 checkmate

Ouch. Very Nice.

Jerome Gambit: Opening Delayed, Ending Accelerated

In a 1-minute bullet game, a better knowledge of the opening is helpful, but what is more important is making good - not necessarily "great" - moves quickly. 

It also helps to have calm nerves, as the speed of the game accelerates and your clock's flag is hanging...

The following game is an exciting example.

angelcamina - Orla99

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

The Two Knights Defense.

4.d3 Bc5 

Now we have a quiet Italian Game.

5.Bxf7+ 

Jerome-ized.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4

Here we have a Jerome Gambit where it has taken White two moves to get his pawn to d4, giving Black the chance to develop his King's Knight in the meantime.

There are 44 examples in The Database.

Not suprisingly, Stockfish 15.1 (36 ply) sees the position as about 2 1/2 pawns better than the regular Jerome Gambit position, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4, where it prefers Black.

The equalizing factor in this situation is that, according to The Database, angelcamina has played 269 1-minute Jerome Gambits, scoring 86%. He knows what he is doing.

7...Bb4+ 8.c3 Bxc3+ 

Black has to give back one of the two sacrificed pieces. This is his solution.

Simpler and stronger would have been 7...Bxd4.

9.bxc3 

White could have helped his development with 9.Nxc3, but he was thinking about pawn play against the enemy Knights.

9...Ng6 10.e5 Re8 11.O-O Nd5 12.Qb3 c6 13.c4 Ndf4 

14.g3  

The Knight is vulnerable, but the solution takes a bit longer: 14.Bxf4 Nxf4 15.Qf3 Qg5 16.g3 Rf8 17.Qxf4+ Qxf4 18.gxf4 Ke7 with about an even game.

14...Ne2+ 15.Kg2 Nxc1 

15...Nxd4

16.Rxc1 Kf8 17.Nc3 

17...Qg5 

The clock is ticking. As the time available shrinks, so does the depth of analysis. Things get wild.

White shows his skill and experience.

18.f4 Qg4 19.Rf1 c5 20.f5 Nh4+ 21.Kg1 Nf3+ 22.Kg2 Nd2 23.Qa3 Nxf1 24.Qxc5+ Kg8 25.Rxf1 b6 26.Qd5+ 

The enemy Rook hangs.

26...Kh8 27.Rf4 

Very nice. Instead, 27.Qxa8 Qxd4 would have given Black equalizing chances.

Now the pieces fly. Beat the clock.

27...Qh5 28.Qxa8 d5 29.Qxd5 Re7 30.Qd8+ Re8 31.Qd5 Bb7 32.Qxb7 g6 33.f6

33...Rf8 34.Qe7 Qh6 35.Qxf8+ Qxf8 36.e6 h6 37.e7 Qf7 38.Nd5 Kh7 39.Re4

White won on time

Whew.

Jerome Gambit: Wandering (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

Yasin_SUST - BabyAma

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

 

6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6

Or 7...Nc6 8.Qc4+ Kf8 9.O-O d6 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Bg5 Qe7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Qe2 Kf7 14.Qf3 h6 15.Bh4 Rhf8 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.Qb3 b6 19.Rfe1 Kg8 20.f4 g5 21.fxe5 gxh4 22.exf6 Qxf6 23.Re6 Rae8 24.Rxf6 Rxf6 25.Qh3 Re5 26.Qxh4 Rxd5 27.Qxf6 Rxd1+ 28.Kf2 Rd2+ 29.Kg3 Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - Abdolla2007kz, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023. 

8.Bf4 

White develops - and simply threatens Bxe5, because the Black d-pawn is pinned. Bullet games can be filled with "simple" threats. 

Also: 8.O-O Nf6 9.f4 Neg4 10.e5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.Nc3 exf4 13.Bxf4 Bf5 14.Bxc7 Rd2 15.Rxf5 Rxc2 16.Nd5 Rxb2 17.Nxf6 gxf6 18.Rf4 Ne3 19.Rf2 Rxf2 20.Kxf2 Rc8 21.Bf4 Nf5 22.Rf1 Rc2+ 23.Kf3 Nd4+ 24.Ke4 Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - broccolikid32, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023. 

8...Qf6 

A simple response to a simple threat. Now either the White Queen or the White Bishop will have to move again.

9.Bxe5 

9.O-O, 9.Nc3, 9.g3, 9.Bg3 and other less reasonable moves can fall victim to 9...Nf3+.  

9...Qxe5 10.Qc4+ 

White needs to keep making threats, or his material disadvantage could turn against him.

10...Be6 11.Qxc7+ Ke8 

Instead, 11...Ne7 would have allowed him to connect Rooks.

12.Qxb7 Rc8 13.O-O Rxc2 14.Nc3 Nf6 

Now, if only Black could castle...

15.Rfe1 Bd7 

Both players overlook 15.Qb8+ Kf7 16.Qxh8 winning a Rook.

16.Qb8+ 

Better late than never?

16...Kf7 17.Qxh8 

I am always amazed at how much bullet players see in their games. With time flying so quickly, I am not surprised when they overlook something. Here, White could have picked up the other Rook with 17.Qb3+ and 18.Qxc2. 

What was the problem with this Rook?

Stockfish 15.1 assesses Black's drawing chances as strong now: 17...Qf4 18.Ne2 Qxe4 19.Qb8 Rxe2 20.Rxe2 Qxe2 21.Qxd6 Qxb2 22.Re1 h6 23.Re7+ Kg8 24.h3 Qxa2 25.Qg3 Qb1+ 26.Kh2 Nh5 27.Qc7 Nf6 28.Qxa7 Qb4 29.Qe3 Kh7 30.Qd3+ Kh8 31.Rxd7 Nxd7 32.Qxd7 Qf4+ 33.Kg1.

Of course, it helps to be a computer.

17...Be8 

Locking in the enemy Queen.

18.Rac1 Rxb2 19.Nd5 Qd4 20.Nxf6 

A slip with about 20 seconds left. Fortunately, Black had little more than half of that time available.

20...Qxf6 

Missing 20...Qxf2+ 21.Kh1 Qxg2 checkmate 

21.Rf1 h6 

Instead, 21...Bb5 was a try, but White could safely ignore it with 22.Qxh7 Bxf1 23.Rxf1.

 22.Qh7 Qd4  23.Qf5+

White won on time in a better position

Jerome Gambit: Wandering (Part 1)

Sometimes it can be fun to just take a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game and wander through it.

There are many sights to see in the following affair.

This is a 1-minute game, so the players have to balance moving quickly with analyzing deeply. It takes a certain level of skill to do both well at the same time - hence the value of playing unusual or unexpected moves which might objectively be second (or third) best, but which are worth the risk in terms of the amount of clock time the opponent must burn in order to respond to them. 

Yasin_SUST - BabyAma

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5  4.Nxe5 

Say, what? White is the first to bring the strangeness.

As I pointed out a few years ago in "Jerome Gambit: Follow the Yellow Brick Road"

This reminds me of Chicago Gambit, (also known as the Irish Gambit or the Razzle Dazzle Gambit) - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5 -  and the Halloween Gambit (also known as the Müller–Schulze Gambit or the Leipzig Gambit) - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5.

The only "book" reference that I have been able to find for this unnamed opening is as a "related zap" in Bruce Pandolfini's More Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps 2 (1993): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nx6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Nxc4 (Giuoco Piano).

Pandolfini's line might well be called the "Overlook Gambit", as he clearly shows that White has overlooked the fact that his Bishop on c4 is hanging.

Stockfish 15.1, at 36 ply, suggests the refinement 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nx6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Bb4+ 6.c3 Nxc4 7.cxb4 where White captures the Bishop with his c-pawn instead of the d-pawn (i.e. 6.dxc5 in Pandolfini's line), assessing it as almost a pawn and a half improvement, but I am not sure why. 

Checking The Database, I note a surprising 234 games with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5  4.Nxe5 with White scoring 38%. This result is comparable to lichess.org's database that shows 211,835 games with the line (!), with White also scoring 38%.

Of note, however, is that Yasin_SUST is 6 - 3 - 0 with 5.Nxe5. Once again, familiarity breeds content. 

4...Nxe5

Black also has a surprise in the alternative 4...Bxf2+, although the only game that I have found where Yasin_SUST faced it was a win for him,  5.Kxf2 Nxe5 6.Bb3 d6 7.Rf1 Nf6 8.d3 h6 9.Kg1 O-O 10.d4 Nc6 11.d5 Na5 12.c4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Nxe4 14.Bf4 f5 15.Nd2 Qh4 16.g3 Qh3 17.Nxe4 fxe4 18.Qd2 Bg4 19.Qg2 Qh5 20.Qd2 Bf3 21.Rf2 Rae8 22.Re1 g5 23.Be3 Qh3 24.b4 a6 25.b3 h5 26.b5 axb5 27.cxb5 g4 28.Qc3 Kh7 29.Qxc7+ Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - Ric-leo, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023. 

By comparison, The Database has 17 games with the counter-sacrifice, where White scores an unimpressive 3 - 11 - 3 (26%). Once again, the lichess.org database has 25,980 relevant games, with White also scoring 26%.

For the record, Yasin_SUST - frastornante, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023 continued 4...Qf6 5.Nxf7 Qxf2 checkmate. That's bullet chess for you.

5.Bxf7+ 

More gambling by White.

He has also played 5.d4 Nxc4 (5...Nf3+ 6.Qxf3 d5 7.Bxd5 Bb4+ 8.c3 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.O-O Be7 11.e5 Nh6 12.Qxb7 O-O 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Qc6 Rb8 15.Qxe6+ Kh8 16.b3 Rb6 17.Qh3 Rg6 18.Nd2 Rfg8 19.g3 Qd5 20.Qg2 Qe6 21.Nf3 h5 22.h4 Qg4 23.Kh2 Rf8 24.Nd2 Rfg8 25.Qh3 Qe2 26.Nc4 Rxg3 27.Qxg3 Rxg3 28.Kxg3 Qg4+ 29.Kh2 Qxh4+ 30.Kg2 Qg4+ 31.Kh2 h4 32.Rg1 Qf4+ 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kf1 Qd3+ 35.Kg2 Qe4+ 36.Kf1 Qd3+ 37.Kg2 h3+ 38.Kh2 Bh4 39.Raf1 Qxc3 40.Ne3 Bxf2 41.Rxf2 Qxe3 42.Rff1 Qxd4 43.Kxh3 Qxe5 44.Re1 Qf5+ 45.Kh2 Qf2+ 46.Kh3 Qf3+ 47.Rg3 Qh5+ 48.Kg2 Qd5+ 49.Kh3 Qf5+ 50.Kg2 Qd5+ 51.Kh2 Qd2+ 52.Kh3 Qxe1 53.Kg4 Qd1+ 54.Kh3 Qc2 55.Rg2 Qd3+ 56.Rg3 Qf1+ 57.Rg2 Qf5+ 58.Rg4 Qa5 59.Rg2 c5 60.Rg5 Qb4 61.Rg2 c4 62.bxc4 Qxc4 63.Kh2 a5 64.Kh3 a4 65.Kh2 a3 66.Kh3 Qc3+ 67.Kh2 Qb2 68.Kh3 Qc3+ 69.Kh2 Qe5+ 70.Kh3 h5 71.Kh4 Qf6+ 72.Kh3 Qf5+ 73.Kh2 Kh7 74.Rg3 Qe5 75.Kh3 Kh6 76.Kh2 h4 77.Kh3 Qxg3 checkmate, Yasin_SUST - bhlebeau, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022) 6.dxc5 Ne5 (6...Qe7 7.Qd4 Ne5 8.O-O f6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Qc3 d6 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.e5 fxe5 13.fxe5 Qd4+ 14.Be3 Qxc3 15.Nxc3 Be6 16.Rad1 Nge7 17.Bg5 Rf8 18.Rxf8+ Kxf8 19.Nb5 Rc8 20.Rf1+ Ke8 21.b3 h6 22.Bh4 g5 23.Bf2 a6 24.Nd4 Nxd4 25.Bxd4 Nc6 26.Bb2 Ke7 27.Rf6 Rh8 28.Ba3+ Kd7 29.Bb2 b5 30.a3 Ne7 31.Bd4 Nd5 32.Rg6 Nf4 33.Rg7+ Kc6 34.Be3 Nd5 35.Bd4 Kb7 36.Rg6 Bf5 37.Rg7 Bxc2 38.Rd7 Nb6 39.Re7 Bxb3 40.e6 Rf8 41.Bg7 Rf4 42.Bxh6 Re4 43.Bxg5 Rxe6 44.Rxe6 Bxe6 45.Bf4 c5 46.Bd2 c4 47.h4 Kc6 48.Kf1 Kd7 49.g3 Ke7 50.Kf2 Kf6 51.Kf3 Kf5 52.g4+ Kg6 53.h5+ Kh7 54.g5 Nd7 55.Ke4 Nc5+ 56.Ke5 Bg4 57.h6 Kg6 58.Bb4 Na4 59.Be7 c3 60.Bf6 c2 61.h7 Kxh7 62.Kf4 c1=Q+ 63.Kxg4 Kg6 64.Kh4 Qh1+ 65.Kg4 Qe4+ 66.Kg3 Qd3+ 67.Kg4 Qxa3 68.Kf4 Qb4+ 69.Ke5 Qc5+ 70.Ke6 Qe3+ 71.Kd5 b4 72.Kc4 b3 73.Kb4 Nb6 74.Ka5 Qd2+ 75.Kxb6 b2 76.Bxb2 Qxb2+ 77.Kxa6 Qe5 78.Kb7 Qxg5 White resigned, Yasin_SUST - milcastl, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022) 7.O-O Ng6 8.Nc3 N8e7 9.Bg5 O-O 10.Nd5 Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Bh4 Nxh4 13.Qg4 Nhg6 14.h4 Nxd5 15.exd5 Rxe1+ 16.Rxe1 d6 17.Qa4 dxc5 18.Re8+ Qxe8 19.Qxe8+ Nf8 20.Qe7 b6 21.Qxc7 Ba6 22.b3 Ng6 23.g3 f6 24.c4 Ne5 25.Kg2 Kh7 26.a4 Kg6 27.a5 b5 28.cxb5 Bxb5 29.Qxc5 Bd7 30.Qc7 a6 31.f4 Rc8 32.Qd6 Ng4 33.Qxd7 Rc2+ 34.Kf3 Nh2+ 35.Ke3 Rc3+ 36.Kd4 Rxb3 37.Qc6 Rb4+ 38.Kc5 Rb5+ 39.Kc4 Rxa5 40.Qb6 Ra4+ 41.Kd3 Nf3 42.Qc6 Rd4+ 43.Ke3 Nh2 44.Kxd4 Ng4 45.Qxa6 Nf2 46.d6 Black resigned,Yasin_SUST - Induistas, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 

5...Kxf7 

Black moves quickly. Bishop captures pawn, King captures Bishop - like in the Jerome Gambit, right?

Except in this position Black has a stronger alternative, although it did not trouble Yasin_SUST the one time he faced it.

5...Nxf7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 Bb4 8.e5 Qe7 9.O-O Bxc3 10.exf6 Bxb2 11.fxe7 Bxa1 12.Ba3 Bc3 13.Qf3 d6 14.Qxc3 Be6 15.Qxc7 Rc8 16.Qxb7 a6 17.Qxa6 Bc4 18.Qa4+ Kxe7 19.Re1+ Kf6 20.Qd7 Rhe8 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Qxe8 d5 23.Qe7+ Kg6 24.Bc5 Ng5 25.a4 Ne4 26.a5 h5 27.a6 Bxa6 28.Qe6+ Kg5 29.Qxa6 Kf4 30.Qa3 g5 31.Be7 Kf5 32.Qe3 g4 33.f3 gxf3 34.gxf3 Nf6 35.Qe5+ Kg6 36.Qxf6+ Kh7 37.Bd6 Kg8 38.Qg5+ Kf7 39.Qxh5+ Ke6 40.Be5 Kd7 41.f4 Ke6 42.f5+ Ke7 43.f6+ Kf8 44.Qh6+ Kf7 45.Qg7+ Ke6 46.Qe7+ Kf5 47.f7 Kg4 48.f8=Q Kh5 Black resigned, Yasin_SUST - HorridTactix, 3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

And so we have arrived, after some wandering, at the Jerome Gambit.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Small Questions

While playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Bill Wall, with his moves, asks small questions of his opponents, the answers of which can lead the defender further and further away from the safest path. At the very least, time must be used to select among alternatives - time which might be needed later on in the game, and the absence of which can lead to error. 

Wall, Bill - Alikramer

internet, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

Which piece to save, now?

It is ironic that the strongest response is Neither, in the form of 6...Qh4!?

Retreating either the Bishop or the Knight still leaves Black better, but they are not his best try.

In the game at hand, Black does not fuss over choices, he gives the Bishop up directly.

6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.Qd5+ 

The question now is Block with the Bishop and surrender the b-pawn?

Bill has scored a solid 9 - 4 - 3 with this move. 

8...Ke8 

Against 8...Be6, offering the pawn, Bill has scored 4 - 2 - 1, including the games Wall,B - Guest774156, PlayChess.com 2016 (0-1,26);  Wall,B - Javier, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 36); and Wall,B - Guest3335651, PlayChess.com, 2017 (1-0, 23) 

He has also faced 8...Ke7 in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 20) and 8...Kf8 in Wall,B - Guest344942, PlayChess.com 2013(1-0, 20)

9.O-O 

Or 9.Nc3 as in Wall,B - Guest3467690, PlayChess.com 2017 (1-0, 38) or 9.f4 as in Wall,B - Guest584771, PlayChess.com 2017 (1/2-1/2, 30). 

9...Nf6 10.Qb3 b6 

Here is another way to deal with the pawn and the Bishop: fianchetto.

Or 10...Qd7, seen in Wall,B - Tankins, PlayChess.com 2016, (1-0, 41) 

11.f4 

Or 11.Nc3 in Wall,B - Guest_5402, ChessTempo.com, 2018, (1-0, 23) 

11...Ng6 12.f5 Ne5 13.Bf4 Qe7 14.Nc3 Bb7 

The problem of the Bishop has been solved. Black's lead in development and his pressure on the White e-pawn give him the advantage.

15.Rfe1 Nc6 16.Rad1 Rd8 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 

Yikes! The Queen is pinned to the King!

Time for cool heads to prevail. After the block 18...Ne5 White can work to gain the exchange, but after 19.Qg3 Kd7 20.Bg5 Qf7 21.Bxd8 Kxd8 Black is still okay.

For some reason - time? - Black misses this.

18...Qxe1+ 

Unnecessary and turning the game over to White.

19.Rxe1+ Kd7 20.dxc6+ Kxc6 

The sad realization is that the comparatively stronger alternative, 20...Kc8, surrenders another piece with 21.cxb7+ Kxb7.

Now there is a forced checkmate.

21.Qc4+ Kd7 22.Re7+ Kxe7 23.Qe6+ Kf8 24.f6 Re8 25.fxg7+ Kxg7 26.Bh6 checkmate

Jerome Gambit to Win a Rook and Position!!!

I am always on the lookout for YouTube videos that feature the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). 

My latest discovery is the short "Jerome Gambit to Win a Rook and Position!!!" that shares an 11-move win by White, following a variation of Blackburne's defense after Black's 10th move novelty.

Nice.