Jerome Gambit: The Game Is Afoot, Again! (Part 2)

                                              

Although I remained skeptical that Paul Morphy ever played the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - see the previous post - this blog has been around for over 15 years, and I think someone might have mentioned it by now - I decided to do a litte digging.

 My first visit was to the website THE FULL MORPHY, which, among other things

contains all of Morphy's surviving 415 games - 253 regular games, 156 odds games, and 6 game positions 

There were no Jerome Gambit games.

I then looked for Morphy games with Black's King on its home square and White's Bishop on f7, checking, unsupported by White's Queen on b3.

Discarding King's Gambit and Evans Gambit games, I found Morphy defending against The Sarratt or Vitzthum Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+) in two games: Meek - Morphy, Mobile, 1855 (0-1, 21) and Kennicott - Morphy, New York, 1857 (0-1, 24).

Pushing on, I visited Chessgames.com and checked out the Morphy page. It had 457 games. There was no Jerome Gambit game, however.

I even checked with chess history-wise and Morphy-knowledgeable Sarah Beth Cohen, who was not aware of any Morphy Jerome Gambits, either.

I was beginning to suspect that the report of Morphy playing the Jerome Gambit was simply an oversight. Perhaps the author mis-remembered the Jerome for the Evans - Morphy played or defended against the Evans Gambit in 50 games.

End of excitement.

Jerome Gambit: The Game Is Afoot, Again! (Part 1)

Lately, I have been thinking, as I did in the post "Jerome Gambit: Worse vs Best (Part 1)"

As a serious fan of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I like to think about what would happen if the best chess players ever faced the opening - or, even more improbably, if the "best" ever played the "worst". 

What Jerome Gambit fan wouldn't want to track down stories suggesting that Alekhine once played the Jerome; or that Steinitz, and later, Lasker, actually faced the Jerome.

Those might be some fascinating games.  

I tried, without success, to discover them. See "Jerome Gambit: Excitable" for links to relevant posts. The claims of an Alekhine or a Steinitz Jerome Gambit game appear completely unsubstantiated; the Lasker game did happen, but I have not been able to find the moves of the game.

Of course, Blackburne once destroyed the Jerome Gambit. You can see that game many places, including on this blog, for example, in"Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit!"

If you count transpositions - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ being equal to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Qe2 Nf6 I guess you could settle for Adolf Albin. See "Adolf Albin Plays the Jerome Gambit (Part 1) and (Part 2)".

So, imagine how excited I got when my Google Alert - set to let me know when it ran across "Jerome Gambit" on the internet - pointed me to "Traps and Gambits" ("For 1000-1600 players that enjoy aggressive openings, sacrifices, and traps"), specifically "Giuoco Piano Game: Jerome Gambit" and I read the title "The Jerome Gambit: A Daring Dive into Chess Romanticism".

What really struck me was the following

This opening has been used in a number of famous games, including some by the legendary Paul Morphy, whose attacking prowess was unparalleled in his time.

Paul Morphy played the Jerome Gambit??

And with that, I could not help myself, I was off searching again on a fool's errand...

Jerome Gambit: Unsafe (for me) At Any Speed (Part 3)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - GuestJDZB

2 12 blitz, FICS, 2024

I had one eye on the board and one eye on the clock.

26...Rc7 27.Rxb5 Rxc2 28.Rxb6 Rxa2 29.Rxb7

 Sadly, White's Queenside passer looks interesting, but will not amount to anything.

29...Ra1+ 30. Kg2 Ra2+ 31. Kh3 Ne7 32. b4 Rb2 

Rooks belong behind passed pawns.

33.b5 g6 34.f5 gxf5 35.exf5 Nxf5 36.Rxh7 Rxb5 

I jettisoned my b-pawn to reach safe harbor.

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome was probably turning in his grave at my meekness, but there really was not anything left.

37.Rh5 Nd6 38.Rxb5 

After the game Stockfish 16 proposed a line, through move 49, that improved my position from the current 0 pawn advantage to 2/100th of a pawn advantage.

38...Nxb5 

Neither of us was critical on time, and Black's King is properly placed to intercept my pawns.

39.Kg4 Kf7 40.Kf5 Nd6+ 41.Kg5 Kg7 42.h4 Ne4+ 43.Kf4 Nf6 44.g4 Kg6 45.h5+ 

Here my opponent offered a draw, which I accepted.

I guess he didn't want to finish with 45...Nxh5 46.gxh5+ Kxh5 with naked Kings.

It was an exciting game, and I salute my opponent.

The next one will be played with a slower time control.

Jerome Gambit: Unsafe (for me) At Any Speed (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - GuestJDZB

2 12 blitz, FICS, 2024

13...dxe4 14.dxe4

Instead, Stockfish 16 prefers exchanging Queens with 14.h3 N4e5 15.Qxe4 Nc6 16.Nd5 Qxe4 17.dxe4 Rf7, although it sees Black as better. I don't really understand its "reasoning", and we are entering a part of the game where, afterwards, I found much of the computer's suggestions impenetrable.

14...Be6 

Developing quickly, but leaving himself open to a possible pawn fork if I were to play f2-f4-f5. 

15.Be3 

I will give you Stockfish 16's preference, without comment: 15.h3 N4e5 16.Qh5 Kf7 17.Bg5 Qb4 18.f4 Qxb2 19.fxe5+ Kg8 20.Bd2 Qxc2 21.Qg5 Qd3 22.Rxf8+ Rxf8 23.Rd1 c6 24.Be1 Qc4 25.Kh2 Qc5 26.Rd6 Bc8 27.Qg3 Nxe5 28.Rd1 Ng6 29.a4 Be6 30.Rd2 Qe5 Black is about 3/4 pawn better. 

15...Qd6 

To quote the comic Rodney Dangerfield, I tell ya, I don't get no respect.

My King is safely castled, his is in the middle of the board - but which one is being attacked? Mine.

Respect? I respect my opponent's play.

16.g3 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 a6 

Keeping my Knight off of the b5 square.

Can I keep him from castling? 

18.Rad1 Qb6 19.Qxb6 

I was not happy to see my Queen go, but it messed up his pawns.

19...cxb6 20.f4 Bc4 21.Rf2 Rd8 22.Rfd2 Rxd2 23.Rxd2

Can the "Jerome pawns" help me hold on? (Where, oh where, did my attack go?)

23...Rf7

Preparing to swing the Rook over to the d-file and exchange. The move gave me a breather, as I could work against his Bishop.

24.b3 Bb5 25.Nxb5 axb5 26.Rd5 

Black's Queenside pawns are a vulnerable nightmare.

Hope danced in my head, in the form of the phrase No losing chances - if I could get there.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Unsafe (for me) At Any Speed (Part 1)

I wanted to play a game of chess.

I went online to the Free Internet Chess Server.

I challenged a Guest.

I should have paid more attention.

Hey! Wait a minute! What is the time control for this game? 2 12? What am I doing playing at this speed? 

perrypawnpusher - GuestJDZB

2 12 blitz, FICS, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5...

I was banging out my moves, hoping that I could use my knowedge of the opening lines to put some increment time on my clock. 

8...Qe7 

At this point I had the suspicion that my opponent had met the Jerome Gambit before, although there is no way to check The Database, due to his use of the "Guest" handle.

As I mentioned back in the post "Fire Exit"

It's always a good thing if Black can get in ...Qf6 or ...Qe7 in a meaningful way.

Interestingly, The Database has 315 games with this position, with White scoring 53%. By comparison, the lichess.org website has 8,071 games with the position, with White scoring 51%. Close.

9.Qe3 Nf6 10.Nc3 Ng4 

There are 8 examples of 10...Ng4 in The Database, with White scoring an understandable 54% (see previous note). Surprisingly, the 33 games at lichess.org show White scoring 71%.

I don't know how to account for the discrepancy.

I have also faced 10...d6 in a number of games:

perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, 10 5 blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 22);

perrypawnpusher - Navarrra, 6 12 blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24);

perrypawnpusher - chingching, 5 11 blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2 - 1/2, 36);

perrypawnpusher - mikelars, 4 12 blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 50);

perrypawnpusher - ZhekaR, 10 5 blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 36);

perrypawnpusher - MarkHundleby1, Chess.com, 2013 (1-0, 27);

perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, 2 12 blitz, FICS, 2013 (0-1, 59) 

perrypawnpusher - CorH, 3 12 blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 41)

[That's right, it looks like I have discovered one more of my games that has not yet made it into this blog. It will appear soon. - Rick]

I have also faced 10...Kf7, in perrypawnpusher - frencheng, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 34) 

11.Qe2 d5 

A thematic move in the Jerome Gambit - in other lines. I was surprised to see, after the game, that both my opponent and I had overlooked that ...d5 here simply drops a pawn to 12.Nxd5. 

(This is even more puzzling when I recall that I chose 10.Nc3 over 10.d3, in order to hit the d5 square. Tick, tick, tick... For both of us.)

Instead, there was 11...Nf6 12.d4 d5 13.e5 Ng8 14.Nxd5 Qd7 15.Nc3 and now taking the d-pawn would be even, although the computer slightly prefers (by a half-pawn) 15...N8e7. 

12.d3 Rf8 

Instead, 12...d4 would have withdrawn the opportunity of my grabbing that pawn.

13.O-O 

Uh, 13.Nxd5 would have kept the game even. 

[to be continued]

"Jerome pawns" on Parade

The two pawns that White gets in returned for his sacrificed piece in some variations of the Jerome Gambit get nicknamed the "Jerome pawns". They can often be helpful, in their own way, in both attack and defense.

The following game is a good example.

Wall, Bill - Suku

internet, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qxc5 N8e7 

I was surprised to see, at least according to The Database, that this was the first time Bill had arrived at this position.

8.Qh5 

With all sorts of mischief planned for the Kingside.

8...Re8 9.f4 

How should Black respond to the threat to his Knight?

He can try 9...Kg8, unpinning it and protecting his pawn on h7 in the process.

He can hit back in the center with 9...d5, which is probably best, as the move works against the f-pawn's advance as well, i.e. 10.f5 Nxf5 taking advantage of the pin on White's e-pawn.

9...h6

Apparently worried about the h-pawn, but this loss of time will hurt him.

10.f5 Nc6 

Uncovering the threat of his Rook along the e-file, but White has time to react - after grabbing a piece.

11.Qxg6+ Kg8 12.d3 

"Jerome pawns"on parade.

12...d5 

This is still a good idea, although the sad retreat, 12...Ne7 (to harass the Queen) is also useful.

13.Bxh6 

The position calls out for this.

13...Qh4+ 

Black sees that he can capture the annoying Bishop, but he fails to see one move further.

14.g3 Qxh6 

But, but, but...

15.Qxe8+ Kh7 16.Nd2 Qe3+ 

This check will not change things.

17.Kd1 dxe4 18.Qg6+ Kh8 19.Rf1 exd3 20.f6 

Showing who is in charge: White's defense holds even as his offense pushes through.

20...Qe2+ 21.Kc1 Qg4 22.fxg7+ Kg8 23.Rf8 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Not Found Along the Way

In the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, Bill Wall makes his way past an annoying defense and moves on to deliver checkmate.

As always, there was a defense to be found along the way, but part of the challenge in facing the Jerome is finding that defense - before it is too late.

Wall, Bill - Dasasary

internet, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 d6 

In "Silicon Defense" I wrote

Although not given a specific title, I have begun to call this the "Annoying Defense", although I suppose, since it is the choice of several computer chess programs, I could also call it the "Silicon Defense" - but it would still be annoying.

8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Qe2 Bb6 

Black removes his Bishop from the threat of Qc4+ and then capture.

11.Rf1 Re8 12.g4 h6 13.h4 Bd4

It is hard to know what Black intended here.

I suspect Bill of using hypnosis.

14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 Ng8

 Sadly, the Knight had to stay put, although Black would have an even game after 15...Rf8 16.gxf6 Rxf6 17.Qc4+ Kd7. 

Now Bill wraps things up.

16.Qc4+ Kd7 17.Qd5+ Ke7 18.Rf7 checkmate