Jerome Gambit: Updating Early Secrets (Part 2)

Continuing from the previous post, here are a few updates from earlier "Jerome Gambit Secrets".

"Jerome Gambit Secret #4" is as much a good story as it is a secret. It focuses on a reply to the Banks Variation, named after UK player Pete Banks ("blackburne" online), an early Jerome Gambit adopter who caught the eye of

International Master Gary Lane, who commented at length on the opening, and on a couple of Banks' games, in his March ("The Good Old Days") and April ("Chess Made Easy") 2008 "Opening Lanes" columns at ChessCafe.com. IM Lane also mentioned one of Banks' games in his The Greatest Ever chess tricks and traps (2008)...

 The line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 6.Qh5, hoping to transpose into normal Jerome lines, can be met by 6...Qe7 

The Database has 10 games with this position, with White scoring a thin 30%. Lichess.org's numbers are a little more encouraging: In 132 games White scores 36%.

Of course, as with every line of the Jerome Gambit, familiarity, knowledge and peparation help the attacker.

"Jerome Gambit Secret #5" develops after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ne7 9.Qxe5+ Kc6 with 10.Qc3

The Queen move appears in 12 games in The Database, all wins by White.

"Jerome Gambit Secret #6" also involves International Master Gary Lane, and his suggestion on move 9 in a line that has been called 

the"annoying defense" (because it is) or the "silicon defense" (because of the affinity computer chess programs have for it). It was first seen in D'Aumiller - A.P., 1878 and figured in six of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's games against S.A. Charles in their unfinished 1881 correspondence match.

The line is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6 (annoying) 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Nc3

The Database has 29 games, with White scoring 40%. Lichess.org is slightly more encouraging, with 340 games with White scoring 44%. Nowadays, Stockfish 15.1 shows a slight preference for 9.Qh3+.

Jerome Gambit: Updating Early Secrets (Part 1)

A few years ago, in the post "Jerome Gambit: Shhhh! It's A Secret", I wrote

About 3 years ago [2018] I started a series of occasional posts presenting "Jerome Gambit Secrets" - moves or lines of play that were good [for Black or for White], but were overlooked or rarely played.

To date, I have presented 15 of them. [Currently 17]

Dan Middlemiss - who continues to gift me with Jerome Gambit games - recently was amused that one of the secrets remains secret, even to this day.

I did a quick check of some of the earlier secrets.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #1" remains unplayed.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #2" remains unplayed

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #3" remains unplayed. (This is the one that has eluded both me and Dan.)

It is time to update those "Secrets", each of which has now been played.

Secret #1 was a caution to the player of the White pieces in a variation of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bf8

White should not take the Rook at h8.

You might remember that the iconic game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14) resulted in a sacrificial attack leading to a crushing win for Black. You might also remember that further analysis indicated that White could have escaped with at least a draw.

This position is different.

Capture at your own risk: 9.Qxh8 Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6 and the Queen is lost.

The one game in The Database with 9.Qxh8 was better for Black, up until he fell victim of tactics late in the game.

Secret #2 was a similar caution to the player of the White pieces,also in a variation of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0–0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bf8 

White should not take the Rook at h8, for similar reasons to Secret #1: the Queen can be trapped and won, i.e. 9.Qxh8 Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6.

It is true that there are 8 games in The Database, with White scoring 4 - 4, but that is misleading.

Secret #3 focused on more creativity by the player with the Black pieces: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Nxc6 Qh4

This is a wild position that favors White, although the complications are reflected in the 8 games in The Database (White scores 4 - 4), and the 12 games in lichess.org, (White scores 5 - 5).

 

Today this blog celebrates its 15th birthday, having come into the world with the post "Welcome!"

I do not know how many other chess blogs have lasted this long, but I am sure that I could not have persisted without the support - and games and analysis - of the many Readers.

Thank you, all.

Jerome Gambit: Checkmate in 8 Moves? (Part 2)

 

To repeat the challenge of yesterday's blog post

The New York Clipper of April 12, 1879 contained the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game between J. Lanning and J.K. Zim.

After 14 moves the players reached the following position

According to the chess columnist

Black announced mate in eight moves. To stimulate critical research, our contributor offers a six months' subscription of Detroit Weekly Free Press for a second solution in eight moves or less, fully analyzed; and has named Miron [Hazleton] as umpire.

My best "try" at solving this mate-in-eight is to suggest that the New York Clipper's chess columnist mis-spoke, or mis-typed, or mis-wrote...

After the key move 14...Nf3+, then Black has a checkmate in 8 further  moves. 

It takes that long, because White can put off the checkmate by giving up a lot of material. Perhaps that is where Mr. Hazleton overlooked something?

Or has a Reader bested me and found the true solution?

Jerome Gambit: Checkmate in 8 Moves? (Part 1)

The New York Clipper of April 12, 1879 contained the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game between J. Lanning and J.K. Zim.

After 14 moves the players reached the following position

According to the chess columnist

Black announced mate in eight moves. To stimulate critical research, our contributor offers a six months' subscription of Detroit Weekly Free Press for a second solution in eight moves or less, fully analyzed; and has named Miron [Hazleton] as umpire.

I admit to being puzzled.

I can not find the mate-in-eight (or less).

Can any Reader?

Jerome Gambit: Missed

When playing a 1-minute game, especially a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), it is easy to miss the intention of your opponent on a particular move, leading to sudden catastrophe.

SimonDousset - botzki26

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 202

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qc3 

Fifteen years ago, in a post to this blog "Long ago, and far away...", I quoted the Saturday, May 28, 1881 Adelaide Observer that, according to George Henry Mackenzie

The authorities give 9.Qc3 but White prefers the text move [9.Qe3]

It is not clear which "authorities" Mackenzie was referring to, but two clues are that the March 1875 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal contained the game Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1-0, 28) and the April 12, 1879 issue of the New York Clipper carried the game Lanning, J. - Zim, J.K., Utah, 1879 (1-0, 14).

9...Kf8 

SimonDousset has also faced:

9...Bd7 10.Qxg7 Qf6 (10...Qg5!?) 11.Qxf6 Nxf6 12.d3 Kf7 13.O-O Rae8 14.f4 Re7 15.f5 Ne5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 Ree8 18.Nc3 Nfg4 19.h3 Ne3 20.Rf3 Nxc2 21.Rc1 Nd4 22.Rf4 Nxd3 23.Rd1 Nxf4 24.Rxd4 a6 25.Nd5 Ne2+ 26.Kh2 Nxd4 27.Nf4 Rxe4 28.Ng6 Kg8 29.Nxh8 Kxh8 30.Bf6+ Kg8 31.Kg3 Bxf5 32.h4 Rg4+ 33.Kf2 Ne6 34.g3 Rc4 35.Bc3 Nd4 36.Ke3 c5 37.Kf4 b5 38.g4 Bh7 39.Kg3 Kf7 40.g5 a5 White resigned, SimonDousset - Nikolay98, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023; 

9...Qf6 10.Qe3 (10. d4!?) 10...Qf4 11.Qb3 c6 12.d4 Qxe4+ 13.Be3 Nf6 14.O-O Be6 15.Qxb7 Rd8 16.Nc3 Qf5 17.Qxc6+ Bd7 18.Qxd6 Ne4 19.Nxe4 Qxe4 20.Rae1 Kf7 21.Bg5 Qc6 22.Qg3 Rde8 23.Qf3+ Qxf3 24.gxf3 h6 25.Bd2 Bc6 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Re1 Rxe1+ 28.Bxe1 Bxf3 29.c4 Nf4 30.Bc3 Ne2+ 31.Kf1 Nxc3 32.bxc3 Ke6 33.Ke1 Kf5 34.Kd2 Kf4 35.d5 Ke5 36.Kd3 g5 37.Ke3 Black resigned, SimonDousset - magge79, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023; 

9...Nf6 10.O-O b6 11.d4 Ba6 12.Re1 Kd7 13.e5 dxe5 14.dxe5 Nd5 15.e6+ Kc8 16.Qc6 Bb7 17.Qb5 a6 18.Qd3 Nge7 19.Bg5 h6 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21.Qg3 g5 22.Nc3 Rf8 23.Rad1 Qe8 24.Qe5 Ng6 25.Qg7 Qe7 26.Qxg6 Bd5 27.Qxh6 Bxe6 28.Qxg5 Qxg5 29.Rxe6 Qxg2+ White resigned, SimonDousset - smirkyerk, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023; and 

9...Be6 10.Qxg7 (10.d3!?) 10...Qf6 11.Qxf6 Nxf6 12.O-O Kd7 13.f4 Nxe4 14.f5 Bc4 15.d3 Bd5 16.dxe4 Bxe4 17.fxg6 Bxg6 18.Nc3 Rhe8 19.Bg5 Rg8 20.Bh4 Bxc2 21.Rac1 Bd3 22.Rf3 Be4 23.Nxe4 Rg4 24.Nf6+ Black resigned, SimonDousset - Sladi_sd, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023 

10.O-O Nf6 11.d3 Bg4 

I am not sure what Black is up to, here; it could be a bullet speed finger slip. (There are no other examples in either The Database or at lichess.org.)

12.h3 Be6 13.f4 Ne7 14.f5 Bd7 15.Bg5 Rc8 

Missing one of the ideas behind White's last move.

The piece on e7 needed to leave, i.e. 15...Nc6. 

16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qxf6+ Kg8 18.Rf3 h6 19.Rg3+ Kh7 20.Qf7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Another Day At The Office

I know that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a wild opening, but sometimes the game unfolds in ordinary fashion, as it if it were just another day at the office.

The following game is a good example.

Chess_5055 - macius00

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 

Here, White can choose to retreat his Queen with or without checking the enemy King.

I was surprised to see that Stockfish (40 ply) evaluated its top choice, 8.Qa3 (in 204 games in The Database; scoring 43%), as about 1/3 of a pawn pawn better than the more popular 8.Qe3 (660 games in The Database; scoring 50%).

8.Qc4+ 

According to The Database, not as popular (238 games) but even more effective (53%).

8...Be6 9.Qe2 

Stronger than the move he played week earlier: 9.Qb4 b6 10.d4 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Qb7+ N8e7 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qxb6 axb6 15.Nc3 Ne5 16.f4 N5c6 17.f5 Bc4 18.Re1 Nd4 19.Bg5 Nxc2 20.Bxe7 Kxe7 21.b3 Bf7 22.Rad1 Nxe1 23.Rxe1 Kd7 24.Kf2 Kc6 25.Ke3 b5 26.Rd1 b4 27.Na4 c4 28.g4 cxb3 29.axb3 Bxb3 White resigned, Chess_5055-Saergut, lichess.org, 2023.

 9...Nf4 10.Qf3 Qf6 11.d4 

11...Bc4 

Black's minor pieces begin to look like trapeze artists flying wihout a net. More grounded would have been 11...Ng6.

12.Qxf4 Qxf4 13.Bxf4 Re8 14.f3 d5 15.Nd2 

A blitz oversight?

15...dxe4 16.Nxc4 exf3+ 17.Kf2 fxg2 18.Kxg2 Re2+ 19.Kf3 Rxc2 

Now White has the extra piece, but he still has to contend with Black's Rook.

He decides that attacking the King (and the Rook) is the answer.

20.Ne5+ Ke6 21.Rhc1 Rxb2 22.Rxc7 Ne7 23.Re1 Kd6 24.Nc4+ Black resigned