Jerome Gambit - Mate in 2

Over at YouTube I found the video "Jerome gambit - Mate in 2" with SkillerEP playing his favorite opening. 

It was a fun romp.

SkillerEP - goyong

10 0 blitz, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 Ng6 8.Qd5+ 

In the video, SkillerEP said he was going to try something new. I suspect that this move, a "nudge", was it, as it only appears once in his 350 games in The Database - this game.

8...Kf6

9.f5 Bb6 

Save the Bishop!

10.fxg6 hxg6 11.b3 Ne7 12.Bb2+ Black resigned

White has his Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal, similar to the early game Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1876 (1/2 - 1/2, 42 ).

goyong could try 12...Bd4, but after 13.Bxd4 it would be checkmate.

Nicely done!

(If something about the game is nagging at you, Dear Reader, you may have noticed that 9.Qg5+ would have led to the win of Black's Queen. Remember, though, this was a blitz game. Also, understand that I have 23 games in The Database with the position before White's 9th move - and only four times was the check found. Ouch.) 

Jerome Gambit: Doors

The old saying, When a door closes, another one opens, has relevance to chess, too.

In the following game Bill Wall's opponent quickly puts an end to a piece and all its aggressive plans, in a way that allows another piece to be equally destructive.

Wall, Bill - Akela

internet, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qe7 

Bill has also faced

8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Qf6 (9...Nf3+ 10.Kd1 Qe7 11.Qd5#  Wall,B - Guest1692544, PlayChess.com, 2020) 10.Qh5 g6 11.Qe2 Ke7 12.fxe5 Qxe5 13.c3 Qe6 14.d4 Bb6 15.Bg5+ Ke8 16.O-O h6 17.Qf2 Ne7 18.Bxh6 d5 19.Nd2 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Qxe4 21.Qf7+ Kd7 22.Rae1 Qd5 23.Rxe7+ Kc6 24.Rf6+ Kb5 25.Qxd5+ Ka6 26.Qc4+ Ka5 27.Qb4+ Ka6 28.Qa4 checkmate, Wall,B - Marani,G, Chess.com, 2011; 

8...Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 (10...Qf6 11.Qg3+ Ke7 12.Nc3 c6 13.d4 Bb6 14.Bg5 Black resigned, Wall,B - RRGP, FICS, 2020) 11.d3 (11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 Ke7 13.Bf4 Qe6 14.O-O-O h6 15.d4 Bb4 16.d5 Qg4 17.e5 Bxc3 18.exf6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Gordy, 2023) 11...Kc6 12.c3 Re8 13.b4 Bb6 14.Bf4 Qh5 15.a4 d5 16.Nd2 Bg4 17.Qg3 dxe4 18.d4 e3 19.Nc4 Qf5 20.O-O Nh5 21.Nxe3 Nxg3 22.Nxf5 Nxf5 23.b5+ Kd5 24.a5 Nxd4 25.axb6 Ne2+ 26.Kh1 Nxf4 27.Rxf4 axb6 28.Rb1 Be6 White resigned, Wall,B - Stoker,B, 15 0 rapid, FICS 2010;

8...Bd4 9.fxe5+ Bxe5 10.d4 Bf6 11.e5+ Ke7 12.exf6+ Nxf6 13.O-O d6 14.Qg5 Kf8 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Ne4 Bc4 17.Rf4 h6 18.Qh4 Bf7 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Bxh6+ Ke8 21.Nxf6+ Ke7 22.Re1+ Be6 23.Rxe6+ Kxe6 24.d5+ Kf7 25.Qh5+ Ke7 26.Qe2+ Kf7 27.Qe6+ Kg6 28.Ng8+ Kh5 29.Qf5+ Kh4 30.g3# Wall,B - ManiacComputer, Cocoa Beach, FL 2012; and 

8...Ng6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qe3 Nf6 12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Neg4 14.Qf3 Re8 15.h3 Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Nc3 Kf7 18.O-O-O Ng8 19.g4 a5 20.Nd5 c6 21.Nf4 Bd7 22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Rxe5 24.Qb3+ Kf8 25.Ne6+ Rxe6 26.fxe6 Qg5+ 27.Kb1 Be8 28.Rhf1+ Nf6 29.Qxb7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Anonymous, lichess.org, 2020) 

9.Na3 

This move is a novelty, according to The Database.

The Knight dreams of 10.fxe5+ Qxe5 11.Nc4+.

The dreams are quicly dashed.

9...Bxa3 10.bxa3 Qf6 

Perhaps with the idea of challenging the enemy Queen, perhaps with the plan of ...Nf3+ winning the exchange.

Better was 10...Nf6, as now the a1-h8 diagonal comes to life.

11.fxe5+ Qxe5 12.Qxe5+ Kxe5 13.Bb2+ Kxe4 14.Bxg7 

Bill now finishes his opponent off.

14...d6 15.O-O Be6 16.Rae1+ Kd5 17.c4+ Kxc4 18.Rxe6 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Uncountered

Defenders must counter the Jerome Gambit's attack, or perish.

In the following game, Black does very well - until he doesn't.

A lot can change in a 60-second game.

angelcamina - georges88

1 0 bullet. 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 d6 9.Qb5+ 

For the record, The Database has 105 games with this move, with White scoring 60%; as opposed to 9.Qe3, where it has 1,168 games, with White scoring 67%. Both moves are certainly playable.

9...Qd7 10.Qc4 

An interesting sideline. The Database has 4 games with this move, with White scoring 75%. Three of those games were played by angelcamina, who scored two wins.

10...N8e7 

angelcamina has also faced 10...Nf6, e.g. 11.Nc3 (11.O-O Ne5 12.Qe2 c5 13.f4 Nc6 14.Nc3 Kf7 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Re8 17.Qc4+ Qe6 18.Qxe6+ Rxe6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Rxf6+ Kxf6 21.d3 Bf5 22.Be3 Rd8 23.Bxc5 Nd4 24.Bxd4+ Rxd4 25.Rf1 Ke6 26.Re1+ Kd7 27.h3 Rd6 28.Ne4 Rg6 29.Nc5+ Kc6 30.Nb3 Bxh3 31.Kh2 Bxg2 32.Nd4+ Kc7 33.Ne6+ Kb6 34.Nd4 1-0 angelcamina - Senecan, lichess.org, 2023) 11...Qe6 12.Qa4+ Bd7 13.Qb4 b6 14.O-O Rf8 15.f4 a5 16.Qd4 Ne7 17.d3 Nc6 18.Qe3 Kf7 19.b3 Kg8 20.Ba3 Kh8 21.Rae1 Rab8 22.Qh3 b5 23.Bb2 Nb4 24.Re2 Qxh3 25.gxh3 Bxh3 26.Rf3 Bg4 27.Rg3 Bxe2 28.Nxe2 Nxc2 29.e5 Nd7 30.e6 Nf6 31.h4 Rfe8 32.h5 Rxe6 33.h6 g6 34.f5 Rxe2 35.Bxf6+ Kg8 36.Bd4 Re1+ Black won on time, angelcamina - HenryLalu13, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022. 

The text Knight move will allow Black to bring his Rook to f8.

Perhaps he should have tried something more dynamic such as 10...Qg4 or 10...Nh4.

In any event, Black is still better.

For now. Remember: this is a 1-minute game.

11.O-O c6 

Fair enough, but 11...d5 directly would also work.

12.f4 b5 

Aha.

13.Qe2 Bb7 

14.f5 Ne5 15.d4 Nf7 16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 

17...Nd8 

Black sees the threatened pawn fork at e6 and moves his Knight away. It was harder to see that 17...Nxf5 would hold, as 18.e6 would be answered by 18...Qd4+ 19.Kh1 N7d6 

18.f6 

Open lines against the King.

18...gxf6 19.exf6 Black resigned

Black will lose a piece, and his King remains stuck in the middle of the board.

Jerome Gambit: Take the Money and Run (Part 3)

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - GuestTYQD

4 12 blitz, FICS, 2023

27...Ke8 

The only way to avoid checkmate (temporarily) was to give up his Queen with 27...Qxd5, but that was hardly attractive.

On the other hand, I was not looking for checkmate, I wanted simplification. I unfairly blame this predelection on my mis-reading of  a chess primer 

My first chess book was Reuben Fine's Chess the Easy Way – available in paperback these days, used, for under $5.00 [more like $10 these days - RK] – and it gave me the idea (rightly or wrongly) that much of chess can be boiled down to: win a pawn, exchange everything else, win the K + P vs K endgame...  

28.Nxc7+ Bxc7 29.Qxc7 Qxc7 30.Bxc7 Kf7 

It is not easy to deduce that this position came from the rock 'em sock 'em Jerome Gambit opening.

It is a win for White, however.

31.Rd3 Bxa2 32.Rf3+ Kg6 33.Rxf8 Rxf8 

34.b3 Rc8 35.Ra1 Bxb3 36.cxb3 Rxc7 37.Rxa7 

At this point, Black forfeited on time

White's Kingside pawns would decide the game in my favor, anyhow.

Jerome Gambit: Take the Money and Run (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - GuestTYQD

4 12 blitz, FICS, 2023

Black is no longer better. In fact, White may be winning.

At this point in the game I was reminded of Hervé Villechaize, playing the character Tatoo in the TV program "Fantasy Island", announcing "De plane! De plane!" at the beginning of each episode.

In my case, I was thinking "The pawn! The pawn!"

18.e5 dxe5 

Instead, after the game Stockfish 16 (which sniffs in disdain at the Jerome) recommended ignoring the threat of the pawn and trying more development like 18...Raf8. It then liked 19.Ne4, intensifying the pressure on the Knight at f6. After 19...Kd8 20.exf6 Kc8 Black would have safeguarded his King, although he would still be about 3 pawns worse.

19.dxe5 Raf8 

He could have played 19...Bxc3 first, to break up White's Queenside pawns.

20.exf6+ gxf6 

21.Bxh4 

Cashing in, but clearly stronger was increasing the pressure with either 21.Ne4 or 21.Rad1.

My strategy of Take the money and run has gotten me in trouble in past games. 

21...Bxh3 

More blitz-focused scary play.

22.Bg3 

This works, and was part of a plan, but 22.Rfe1+, putting the heat on the enemy King, was better.

The capture 22.gxh3 was possible, but needlessly cooperative. 

22...Be6 

White has an extra pawn. During the game, I was happy to have two central open lines for my Rooks to come to, although I would not have guessed that Stockfish 16 would later assess this position as about 4 pawns better for me.

23.Rad1 Qc6 24.Rfe1 Bb6 

This is a slip. It was time to get rid of the White Knight with 24...Bxc3 once and for all. 

25.Nd5+ Ke8 26.Nxf6+ 

I had the win figured out here.

Had I been less lazy - or had this not been a blitz game - I could hav found 26.Qf5, when Black can only stave off checkmate (temporarily) by throwing material: 26...Rh1+ 27.Kxh1 Rh8+ 28.Kg1 Bxf2+ 29.Bxf2 Qd6 30.Rxe6+ Kd8 31.Rxd6+ cxd6 32.Qe6 Rh1+ 33.Kxh1 b5 34.Qxd6+ Kc8 35.Qc7 checkmate

26...Ke7 27.Nd5+ 

Funny.

Instead, 27.Qg5 was the road to checkmate. 

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Take the Money and Run (Part 1)

I admire chess players who can use the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) to whip up a crushing sacrificial attack on the enemy King, leading to checkmate (or the oponent's resignation).

Too often, I face opponents who return material (willingly or otherwise) and leave me to grind out a pawn-up endgame.

I suppose I could give the somewhat boring situtation an exciting name like "Take the Money and Run", although it sometimes feels more like "Hang Onto That Penny For Dear Life".

Take a look.

perrypawnpusher - GuestTYQD

4 12 blitz, FICS, 2023

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

This position appears in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analysis in the July 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal. 

Jerome played 6...Kf8 twice - successfully - in correspondence games against Dan Jaeger in 1880.

I have faced the line 43 times, scoring 74%.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 

White has two pawns to battle against Black's extra piece.

In turn, Black's King is more vulnerable, especially to the prospect of those pawns advancing.

Although 9...Nf6 has been the most popular choice of my opponents, I have also faced 8...Qf6, 8...Qe7, and 8...Be6.

9.d3 h6 10.O-O Bg4 

A creative move, taking advantage of the fact that White's pinned f-pawn can not advance and chase the Bishop away.

11.Be3 

The Database has games with the equally reasonable 11.h6 (to harass the Bishop), 11.Nc3 (development) and 11.Kh1 (to prepare to advance the f-pawn).

11...Bb6 12.Nc3 

Of course, 12.f4 was also possible.

12...h5 

This move is smart - and aggressive. An ideal move for blitz.

It was a surprise to me.

After the game, I learned that 12...h5 was the top choice of Stockfish 15.1 (30 ply), to take advantage of the somewhat awkward position of White's Queen.

I used up time thinking things through: Bg5 would be a nice pin (possibily backed up by Nd5), as Black would no longer be able to kick the Bishop with ...h6 and White could reposition his Queen to f4, if need b; f2-f4 would be useful and thematic, but first the enemy's Bishop's pressure along the a7-g1 diagonal has to be dealt with...

So, what did I do? 

13.h3

Yes, move a pawn...

13...h4 14.Qh2 

The Queen would be less awkwardly placed at f4.

14...Be6 

15.d4 Ba5 

At first glance it looked like my opponent would prefer to exchange his dark square Bishop for my Knight, not my own Bishop.

16.Bg5 Qd7 

Breaking the pin.

17.Qf4 Ke7 

Stepping out of one pin and into another. Just like that, White is now better. 

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: In the Comments

Yury V. Bukayev, chessfriend and regular contributor to this blog, pointed out that the YouTube video by Canadian Grandmaster Aman Hambleton on the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4),  "Use THIS Gambit to Surprise Low Elo Players! | Slowbrah Ep. 10", has a number of viewer comments referencing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

Grandmaster Hambleton has a series of educational videos (the above one is episode #10) on YouTube, and he takes time (i.e. Slowbrah) to effectively explain what is going on in the games he plays, as they unfold. They are well worth a look.

By the way, Grandmaster Hambleton is no stranger to the Jerome Gambit, himself. A couple of relevant blog posts: "Grandmaster Hambleton in Nathan Phillips Square" and the much earlier "Jerome Gambit: All In Good Fun"