The Queen Escapes. The End.

Some lines in the Jerome Gambit feature the offer - and, sometimes, the capture - of Black's Rook at h8, with the hope that White's Queen will then be out of play, and perhaps eventually captured.

The Queen's escape usually means that Black's chances have dissipated.

imc47 - TolikPavlov174

5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening.

4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 

8...Be7 

Including the current one, there are only 2 games in The Database with this move.

As mentioned in "Pulling A Rabbit Out Of A Hat", 8...Bf8 was a good alternative (although White's result is 3 - 5). Then 9.Qf4+ (9.Qg3 d6 10.d4 Ne7 11.d5 Bg7 12.c4 Qd7 13.Nc3; 9.Qxh8 Bg7 and White scored only 2 - 4) 9...Kg7 10.b3 Nf6 11.Bb2 d6 /+

Also 8...Nf6 9.Qxc5 d6 10.Qe3 Ng4 (10...Qe8 11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 Be6 13.f4 Ke7 14.f5 gxf5 15.exf5 Kd7 16.Qxe6+ Qxe6 17.fxe6+ Kxe6 18.Bd2 Kd7 19.Rxf6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - wadada, 10 0 blitz, FICS, 2009) 11.Qf4+ Kg7 12.d4 Rf8 13.Qg3 g5 14.Nc3 c5 15.f4 cxd4 16.Ne2 Ne3 17.Bxe3 dxe3 18.Qxe3 gxf4 19.Nxf4 Qg5 20.Nd5 Qxe3+ 21.Nxe3 Be6 22.Nf5+ Bxf5 23.exf5 Rae8 24.Rae1 Rxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxf5 26.Re7+ Kf6 27.Rxb7 Rc5 28.Rxa7 Rxc2 29.Rb7 Rc1+ 30.Kf2 Ke5 31.Rb3 Rc2+ 32.Kf3 d5 33.Re3+ Kf5 34.Re2 Rc4 35.g3 h5 36.b3 Rc5 37.Ke3 Rc3+ 38.Kd4 Rf3 39.Kxd5 Kg4 40.b4 h4 41.gxh4 Kxh4 42.b5 Rd3+ 43.Kc4 Rd7 44.b6 Rb7 45.Kc5 Rxb6 46.Kxb6 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - islanderchess, 10 0 blitz, FICS, 2008 

9.Qxh8 d6 

Black needed to play 9...Bf6.

There was also 9...Nf6 10.Qxd8 Bxd8 11.Nc3 d6 12.d3 Be6 13.Bxh6 Ng4 14.Bf4 h4 15.h3 Nf6 16.g3 Nh5 17.Be3 Bf6 18.g4 Ng7 19.f4 Rh8 20.Kg2 Bh4 21.f5 gxf5 22.exf5 Bd7 23.Bf2 Bc6+ 24.Ne4 d5 25.Ng3 Bg5 26.Rae1 Bd2 27.Re2 Bg5 28.Bd4 Rh7 29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Nh5+ Kf7 31.Kg3 Bd7 32.Rfe1 Kg8 33.h4 Bd8 34.d4 c6 35.Re8+ Bxe8 36.Rxe8+ Kf7 37.Rxd8 b5 38.Rd7+ Kg8 39.Rxh7 Kxh7 40.g5 b4 41.Kf4 a5 42.Nf6+ Kg7 43.h5 Kf7 44.h6 Ke7 45.h7 Kf7 46.h8=Q a4 47.Qe8+ Kg7 48.Nh5+ Kh7 49.Qg6+ Kh8 50.Qg7 checkmate, perrypawnpusher - PravinMamania, 14 0 blitz, FICS, 2010.

10.Qh7+ 

White's Queen escapes, and Black does not have enough compensation for his loss of the exchange and two pawns.

10...Kf8 11.Qxg6 Bg5 12.Nc3 Bg4 13.f4 Ne7 

A final slip: White's capture will come with discovered check, so the attack on his Queen is irrelevant.

14.fxg5+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Mastering the Chaos

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be dangerous for both sides, especially if White decides - after sacrificing a couple of pieces - to grab some material himself.

Entering unbalanced positions can test a club player's skills, whether attacking or defending.

The following game is a good example.  

imc47 - Kaff69er

5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2023

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

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 Qe7 

This is Whistler's defense, strong in practice and offering White an opportunity to go terribly wrong.

That said, there are many Jerome Gambit games where the player enters the "wrong" line and emerges victorious.

It is a matter of mastering the chaos.

8.Qxh8 

According to Komodo 14.1, this Rook capture is winning against

every move except the one Black chooses, which leaves White, himself, ironically, down the equivalent of a Rook.

Was White gambling on his ability to make it through the complications? If so, he is not alone.

In 264 games in The Database, White scores a surprising 49%. The lichess.org database has 6,887 games with 7.Qxh8, with White also scoring 49%. 

The alternative, 8.Qxe7+, shows up in 19 games in The Database, with White scoring a formidable 61%. However, the lichess.org database, with 354 games, shows a more modest 46%. 

8...Qxe4+ 

This is Black's counter.

9.Kd1 

White has won the exchange for a pawn, and from a strictly material point of view he is doing okay.

However, from a King safety point of view, he has exchanged places with Black - his own King is now under deadly attack.

9...d6

Opening the diagonal for his light square Bishop that plans to join the fray with ...Bg4+.

However, the text move gives White chances. The immediate 9...Qxg2 was necessary, with unfortunate threats, and White can only try 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.Re1 when 11...d5 will cost him material or allow checkmate.  

10.Re1

To chase away the enemy Queen, to no avail.

Instead, 10.Qxh7+ Kf8 11.f3 would have been sufficient defense.

Now the text move gives Black chances, again.

10...Bg4+ 11.f3 Bxf3+ 12.gxf3 Qxf3+ 13.Re2 Re8 

14.Qxh7+ Kf8 15.Nc3 

Ends the game quickly.

Instead, 15.c3 Rxe2 would leave material even, but White's undeveloped Queenside would eventually lead to a loss. Stockfish 15.1 sees Black as 4 1/2 pawns better.

15...Qf1+ 16.Re1 Qxe1 checkmate

Make the Best Move! (Part 2)

 

Make the Best Move! (Part 2)

(by Yury V. Bukayev)

Every chess beginner should learn strong combinations before learning to make risky attempts to use psychological blows sometimes. Here is my second and a very short lesson on the first moves of such combinations - the best first moves - where each such move is a King's Bishop sacrifice (or a pseudosacrifice).

In this part I should give both easy and enough difficult tasks already. They are here.

Task 1.
(McDonnell A. - La Bourdonnais L., London, 1834, https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001157 :

Find the best move.

Solution: 9.Bxf7+!

Note: Compare this game, please, with the game (2016) between the top GM Vachier - Lagrave M. and the top GM Nakamura H. (https://jeromegambit.blogspot.com/2021/11/jerome-gambit-origins-part-1.html )! Unfortunately, in 2021 both Rick Kennedy and I didn't know about this game of 1834, where a very strong Jerome-ish blow was made in a "World Championship Match" (roughly) game between two strongest players of that time - it's, probably, a record for very strong Jerome-ish opening blows ever.



Task 2.
( Petrosian T. - Korchnoi V., Curacao, 1962, https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1081437 )

Find the best move.

Solution: 15.Bxf7+!

Note: It was a game of the Candidates tournament, and this tournament point was very important for the top GM Tigran V. Petrosian who won this tournament and then won the World Championship Match.



Task 3.
( Petrosian T. - Korchnoi V., Curacao, 1962, https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1081437 )

Find the best move.

Solution: 12.Bxf7+!

Note: This move wasn't found by White during the game.



Task 4.
( de Castellvi F. - Vinyoles N., Valencia, 1475, https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1259987 )

Find the best move.


Solution: 6.Bxf7+!

Note: This move wasn't found by White during the game. It's the first known quasi-modern chess game! Consequently, 5...Bg4? in it is the first known serious mistake in quasi-modern chess! That's why the first Jerome-ish very strong opening blow in history could be made as a result of this first mistake. I'm congratulating all lovers of Bxf7+ with this fact!


Contact the author: istinayubukayev@yandex.ru .

Slips in the Polerio / Abrahams Jerome Gambit

Slips happen.

Forewarned is forearmed.

onderch01 - Schizophrenics

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+ 

Mentioned by Polerio in the 16th century (see "Jerome Gambit: Early Sources") and Abrahams in the 20th century (see " 'Tis A Puzzlement..." and "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit [Parts I & II]"), this relative / ancestor of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has shown up in interesting places (see Yury V. Bukayev's "Jerome Gambit: Morphy vs the Mefistopheles" for his take on the Polerio Knightless Jerome Gambit) and can feature play both similar to and different from the Jerome.

For some perspective, I visited the online lichess.org site, which has 599,481 games with this line, with White scoring 53%.

3...Kxf7 

It does not make much sense to decline the Bishop - except, perhaps, for psychological reasons - as 3...Kf8 (or 3...Ke7) 4.Bb3 is clearly better for White.

The lichess.org database shows only 4% of the Polerio / Abrahams gambits being declined.

4.Qh5+ g6 

This move is playable, although, again, similar to the Jerome, 4...Kf8 is strong; and 4...Kf6 can transpose to the Jerome proper after 5.Qf5+ Kd6 6.Nf3 Nc6.

5.Qxe5 Bxf2+ 

This is how Black maintains equality after bypassing 4...Kf8.

6.Kxf2 Nf6 

Now, things get a bit strange. True, this is a blitz game, but it is a 5-minute blitz game.

7.Nf3 Nc6 

Both players overlook the possibility of 7...Ng4+, forking the King and Queen.

8.Qc3

The Queen is still not out of danger. As with the previous move, she should have gone to f4.

8... Nxe4+ 9.Ke3 Nxc3 10.Nxc3 Re8+ 

Black is ahead a Queen for a Knight.

White does not have adequate compensation.

11.Kf2 Qf6 12.Rf1 Kg7 13.Kg1 d6 14.d3 Bg4 15.Nd1 Bxf3 White resigns

Jerome Gambit: The SMH Variation

 

I have previously identified the "face palm variation" in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ see "Jerome Gambit: The Face Palm Variation" and "Jerome Gambit: Return of the Face Palm Variation") as something to be avoided.

Today, in wandering through The Database, I ran into what could only be called the "smack my head" variation. I share it with readers for the same reason we encourage people not to run with scissors:  scissors, themselves, are not bad; but, please, it is not safe to run with them.

Likewise, please, do play the Jerome Gambit, but not this way... 

NN - NN

2 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 d6 8.c3 

Preparing to play d2-d4.

There are 13 games in The Database with this position, all blitz or bullet.

For the record, 10 of the players with the White pieces are rated higher than I am.

8...Nd3+ 

This annoying move shows up in 6 games in The Database.

It is not a coincidence that White won 2 of the remaining 7 games.

9.Ke2 

See, now the White Rook can protect the Bishop, and the King can chase the enemy Knight away.

9...Nxf4+

Oh, never mind.

White resigned.

My Jerome Gambit Game as Black without My Rook on a8

 

My Jerome Gambit Game as Black without My Rook on a8

(by Yury V. Bukayev)

Michael Schwarz from Moscow (born in GDR) is my new acquaintance, an ordinary chess amateur. Recently he suggested me to play a handicap game against him, without my Rook 'a' or 'h'. 

I said him that it would be too brave for me for our first game, so I suggested him the following: I'll play as Black without my Rook on a8, but he'll play the standard system of the Jerome gambit. He wasn't acquainted with it, so I explained him that it is Giuoco Piano with 4.Bxf7+, where after 4...Kxf7 White can make the good move 5.Nxe5+ or its alternatives. Moreover, I suggested him 3 0 blitz time control, and he agreed. Here is our yesterday's game.

            Schwarz Michael  -  Bukayev Yury

thematic Jerome gambit game, without Rook on a8,

                    3 0 blitz, Moscow, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5

                    

White stands better because of the absence of Black's Rook. Unfortunately for Michael, he has touched his King with a silence after my Knight's capture, so he has chosen among King's moves after it.

6.0-0 Qf6 7.d4 Bxd4 

               

8.c3 Bb6 9.Kh1 d6 10.f4 Ng4 11.Qe2 Qh4 12.h3 Qg3. 

White resigned.

                     

We can see, my opponent made several large mistakes in this game (although the majority of them were "enough natural"), he saw my idea 6...Qf6 7.d4? Bxd4 8.Qxd4?? Nf3+ after my move 7...Bxd4 only. 

My defence 6...Qf6 AN was very strong, it was even better than 6...Bb6 AN, and I have solved to suggest the name for 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.0-0 Qf6 both here and in non-handicap chess (with Black's Rook on a8). Thus, I suggest to name it as ' L+S Golden Union defence ', where 'L' is a symbol of a Bishop in German chess notation , 'S' is a symbol of a Knight there, the union of Black's Bishop on c5 and Knight on e5 was really golden in this game, while, in contrast with it, an ordinary sum of these two Black's chess pieces is a usual case in Jerome gambit positions.

Dear Michael, thank you for the game! This game is enough important for theory.

Contact the author: istinayubukayev@yandex.ru 

Jerome Gambit: One More Thing...

In the following game we see angelcamina and his opponent battling over the board in another example of how the defender can "solve" the opening - at the cost of too much time on his clock.

Who is better? Who is worse? Who just ran ot of time?

One minute games are like that.

angelcamina - Gio777777777777

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023

1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 

angelcamina has 1,005 games in The Database with this move order. He scores 62%.

 3...h6 

The Semi-Italian Opening, an interesting choice for Black.

Clearly he wants to keep an enemy piece off of the g5 square, even at the risk of slightly weakening his Kingside (especially the light squares), should he choose to castle there.

Stockfish 15.1 sees this as a better protection (about a pawn better) against the following sacrifice than 3...Bc5. 

4.Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit. 

angelcamina has only one game with this line in The Database.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qf5 

There are 11 games with this position in The Database.the first 5 games are by computers; over all record 6 - 5.

Where will the attacked Knight go? It turns out it never moves.

8...N8e7 9.Qf3 c6 10.O-O Qc7 11 d4 d5 12.e5 Be6 

Black  has defended well, although there is usually something that White can focus on, even in that case. Here, the pieces on e6 and g6 give an idea.

13.Qd3 Bf5 14.Qd1 Be4 15.f3 Bf5 16.g4 Be6 17.f4 Bd7 18.f5 

Stockfish assesses the Black position as more than 4 pawns ahead.

However, in the real world, where each player has 60 seconds to win the game or be defaulted, the problem of the advancing "Jerome pawns" is not insignificant.

18...h5 

Fair enough: it is time to return some of the sacrificed material. (Another way was 18...Nh4 19.e6.)

19.fxg6 Nxg6 20.gxh5 Nh4 21.Qe1 Be7 

22.Qg3 Nf5 23.Qg6+ Kd8 24.Nc3 Be8 

Black hopes to eject the enemy Queen, the one piece that is giving him any trouble. However, this slip (tick, tick, tick) unprotects his Knight, and he surrenders his advantage.

25.Qxf5 Rxh5 26.Qf3 Qd7 27.Bf4 Rh3 28.Bg3 

In this position, White is a bit better - he is up a pawn - but it doesn't really matter, as he now won on time.