Another Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament (Part 5)

The Jerome Gambit is not a guaranteed win.

Indeed, The Database has 36,195 games starting with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, and White scores 53%.

Of course, some individual Jerome Gambiteers score much better. (I score 81% in my games, and I am, by no means, the most successful.)

Players also have good days and bad days with the opening.

The following game reminds me of fight manager Joe Jacobs, who in 1935 lamented I should have stood in bed.

Chioborra - Duckfest

Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament, Chess.com, 2023

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.Qf5+ 

If Readers want to explore an alternative to White's 7th move, Yury V. Bukayev has given a lot of attention to 7.Qh3+. You can use search function to find all of his important analytical researches and games including the latest part:

"JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 14)".

Moreover, Yury has given some attention to 7.f4:

"Was H.Nakamura Right? Is JG ‘Unbreakable’, Is EG ‘Legendary’ For Beginners’ Games? (Part 2)".

7...Kd6 8.c3 

This move is a bit slow. It is seen in 167 games in The Database, with White scoring 46%. 

8...Qf6 9.Qxf6+ 

It is unfortunate that White has to exchange Queens, as it dampens his attacking chances.

9...Nxf6 

I realize that White has d2-d4 coming, and that Black's King is akwardly placed, but the second player is clearly better. 

Once again, the first player will have to press and be aware of chances as they come. As a start, 10.d4 would block the enemy's Bishop's pressure along the a7-g1 diagonal and allow, after castling, f2-f4.

10.O-O 

I suspect that White expected his opponent's next move, but figured that his Queenside play would be adequate.

10...Nd3 11.b4 Bb6 12.c4 c5 

13.b5 

There is not much play left here.

13...Nxe4 14.Ba3 a6 15.f3 Ng5 16.bxa6 Rxa6 17.Bc1 

Black now attacks the c4 pawn, and from there, the Bishop.

17...Ra4 18.Na3 Kc6 19.f4 Ne6 20.f5 Nd4 21.Nb5 Ne2+ 22.Kh1 Rxc4 23.a4 Nexc1 White resigned

Another Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament (Part 4)

 

Once again we see an interesting Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), decided, this time, in a Queenless middlegame.

It is risky to offer Jerome Gambit odds to a player who outranks you by 235 points, but this game was in a practice turnament, after all.

Chioborra - KevinOSh

Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament, Chess.com, 2023

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7 

This is Whistler's Defense, seen in the correspondence game between Alonzo Wheeler Jerome and Lt. G.N. Whistler, USA, Secretary, Lexington Kentucky Chess Club, found in the December 1876 issue of the American Chess Journal.

8.Qd5+ Kg7 

See Yury V. Bukayev's "Anatoly Karpov & Jerome Gambit (Parts 7 & 8)"   

9.d4 

For 9.b4!? see Yury V. Bukayev's "JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 15)"

9...Bb6 10.Bg5 Nf6 11.Bxf6+ Qxf6 

White exchanged at f6 in order to keep his Queen centralized. He will trade only if he can get something out of the deal.

12.e5 Qc6 13.Qxc6 bxc6 14.c3 Ba6 

Black's pawns have been disrupted, but his Bishops look quite deadly. 

15.Nd2 d5 

Better 15...c5.

16.O-O-O 

Instead, 16.a4 would have embarassed (and later, won) Black's Bishop at b6. 

16...c5 17.Nb3 c4 18.Nd2 c5 19.f4 cxd4 20.cxd4 Bxd4 

Black's Bishops are no longer stifled.

21.Nf3 Be3+ 22.Kb1 Bb7 23.g3 d4 

Black's advanced pawns, in addition, look dangerous.

24.Rhf1 Be4+ 25.Ka1 Rhd8 26.Ng5 Bf5 27.h3 h6 28.g4 Bxg4 29.hxg4 hxg5 30.fxg5 Bxg5 

Black's passed pawn is protected, White is not.

31.e6 Rf8 32. Rfe1 d3 33.Re5 Be7 34.Re4 d2 35.Rxc4 Rf2 36.Rd4 Rd8 

Just in time.

37.Rxd8 Bxd8 38.a4 Re2 White resigned

White can threaten the enemy pawn at d2 with 39.Kc3, but after 39...Bg5 Black has a checkmate in 17 moves.

Another Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament (Part 3)

 

The Jerome Gambit is a good example of the notion that the bigger the risk, the bigger the gain. This is particularly true when deciding the 5th move for White: Sacrifice another piece, or batten down the hatches? The chaos that results from the first choice is more likely to yield positive results than the calm that accompanies other choices.

The following game is a good example.

LemonOtter42 - Chioborra

Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament, Chess.com, 2023

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

4...Kxf7 5.d3 

This is one of the "modern" variations, where White bypasses the "classical" second piece sacrifice, 5.Nxe5+, which Alonzo Wheeler Jerome used to play.

White decides that it is enough to eliminate Black's King's option of castling. No need to invest another piece.

The Database has 1,286 games with 5.d3. White scores 34%. 

5...Nf6 6.Ng5+ 

White has to do something aggressive, lest his piece sacrifice come to naught. In 841 games in The Database with this position, White scores 36%. 

6...Kg6

Black's King is probably safer at g8, but in either case Black remains better.

7.O-O 

White could use a pawn to stir things up, with 7.h4 but 7...h5 is a good response, and Black's lead in development is dangerous.

7...h6 8.Nh3 Kh7 9.Nc3 Rf8 10.Na4 Qe7 11.Nxc5 Qxc5 

White has exchanged a Knight for a Bishop, but otherwise has not made progress.

Black's extra material and better development rule the field.

12.Be3 Qb5 13.c4 

Maybe Black's Queen can develop indigestion by cosuming too many pawns?

13...Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qb2 16.Ng5+ 

This move looks a bit like desperation. Instead, White could have taken the temperature of the game with 16.Rb1, just in case Black was okay with a draw. (Black should not be okay.)

16...hxg5 17.Qf3 Nd4 18.Qh3+ Kg8 19.Bxg5 d5 

The counter-attack is in full swing.

20.Qh4 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Ng4 22.h3 Nxf2+ 23.Rxf2 

Allowing Black to finish things.

 

23...Qxa1+ 24.Kh2 Qg1 checkmate

Another Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament (Part 2)

 

From the Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament at Chess.com.

Both players stick to accepted lines of play.

Sometimes it takes endgame skill to capture the full point, especially in complicated times. In this case, the battle between advanced pawns and an extra piece is quite interesting.

KevinOSh - Chioborra2023

Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament, Chess.com, 2023

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

This position was considered in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analyss of "Jerome's Double Opening, Third Variation" in the July 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be6 10.O-O Qe7 

11.d3 Kf7 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 

White also had the slower 13.Qxf3 followed by a later f2-f4.

13...Rhf8 14.Rf2 Ke8 

Black makes the decision to move his King toward the Queenside, instead of completing a castling-by-hand with 14...Kg8.

15.Raf1 Kd7 16.h3 Nh5 17.Qh2 Rxf2 18.Rxf2 Rf8 19.g4 Rxf2 20.Qxf2 Nf6 

The f-file, and the Rooks on it - often a large part of White's attack - has been neutralized. 

White needs to work hard to get something going.

21.Qf3 Qf7 22.d4 Bc4 23.d5 Ke7 24.b3 Ba6 25.a4 Nd7 26.Kg2 Qxf3+ 27.Kxf3 

The Queens are gone, and Black's Bishop remains at large, but the game continues.

27...Ne5+ 28.Kf4 Bf1 29.h4 h6 30.g5 hxg5+ 31.Kxg5 g6 32.Nd1 Kf7 33.Nf2 Nf3+ 34.Kg4 Be2 35.Kg3 g5 36.hxg5 Nxg5 37.Kf4 Kf6

 White's activity has eliminated play on the Kingside. 

38.c4 Bf3 39.a5 a6 40.b4 Be2 41.c5 

Now the Queenside gets White's attention. If all of Black's pawns can be exchanged off, the game approaches a draw.

41...Bf1 

Black keeps his Bishop trained on the Queenside action.

42.Ng4+ Kg6 43.e5 

In a complicated position, White takes a mis-step. 

Accurate was 43.cxd6 cxd6 first, followed by 44.e5 when Stockfish 16.1 sees the game devolving into a draw: 44...Nh3+ 45.Kg3 dxe5 46.e4 Kf7 47.Nxe5+ Ke7 48.Nf3 Kd6 49.Nd2 Bd3 50.Kxh3 Bxe4 51.Nxe4+ Kxd5 52.Nd2 Kd4 53.Nb3+ Kc4 54.Nc5 Kxb4 55.Nxb7 Kb5 56.Kg4 Kc6 57.Nd8+ Kb5 58.Nb7 Kc6 59.Nd8+ etc. 

43...dxe5+ 

In turn, Black fumbles the opportunity to play 43...dxc5 44.bxc5 when he would be able to use his extra piece to dominate the enemy pawns, e.g. 44...Bh3 45.Nf2 Bg2 46.e4 Nh3+ 47.Nxh3 Bxh3 48.Ke3 Kg5 49.Kd4 c6 50.e6 Kf6 51.Kd3 Bf1+ 52.Ke3 Bb5 53.Kd4 Be2 54.e7 Kxe7 55.Ke5 Bf1 56.d6+ Kf7 57.Kf4 Bg2 58.Ke3 Kf6 59.Kd4. 

44.Nxe5+ 

44...Kh5 

It was necessary for Black's King to stay closer to the pawns with 44...Kf6.

White's pawn break now gives him chances.

45.d6 cxd6 46.cxd6 Bb5 

The nuanced way to hold the game was 46...Bh3 47.d7 Ne6+ 48.Ke4 Kg5 49.Kd5 Kf6 50.Kd6 Bf5 51.Nc4 Nd8 52.Nb6 Be4 53.Na4 Bg2 54.Nc3 Bc6 55.e4 Nf7+ 56.Kc7 Ke7 57.Nd5+ Ke6 58.d8=Q Nxd8 59.Kxd8 Kd6 60.Nc3 Ke5 61.Kc7 Kd4 62.Nd5 

Chess is hard.

47.d7 Ne6+ 48.Kf5 Nd8 49.Kf6 Kh6 50.Ke7 Bxd7 51.Kxd7 Nc6 Black resigned

Whew!

Nice game.

Another Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament (Part 1)

 

Kevin O'Shaughnessy shared with me the games of a Jerome Gambit tournament that he hosted at Chess.com last year. 

(You can see another practice tournament with 3 of the same players, mentioned in an earlier pair of posts, here and here.)

The games are quite interesting. The players show familiarity with various strategies, tactics and themes of the Jerome.

Let's start with the crosstable.

Jerome Gambit Practice Tournament  2023

 

                                   rating   1          2          3          4        Score

1. Duckfest                1610    **        11        11        11        6.0/6

2. KevinOSh             1633    00        **        11        11        4.0/6

3. Chioborra             1398    00        00        **        11        2.0/6

4. LemonOtter42      1006    00        00        00        **        0.0/6

 

The average length of a game was 25 moves.

White won 6 games and Black won 6 games.

Play was largely balanced: White was, on average, 8 rating points higher than Black.

However: The higher rated player in each game won 10 times, the lower rated player won 2 times.

Jerome Gambit: Before I Knew It

The other day, I had a few minutes, I was holding my phone, it had the Chess.com app... Before I knew it, I had challenged another computer chess bot to a Jerome Gambit game.

Tina is not a strong program, but it produced some interesting moves.

perrypawnpusher - Tina Tempo

computer game, Chess.com iPhone, 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 Qe7 9.Qe3 Qd6 

This is a new move, according to The Database. It runs into the classic criticism that the Queen blocks the d-pawn, which hems in the Bishop, which stifles the Rook.

I think that it is funny that Stockfish 16.1 still considers Black about a pawn better. 

10.d4 Kd8 

This reminded me of my old Chess Challenger 7 computer. It had a tendancy to keep its King in the middle of the board and surround it by pieces.

11.O-O N8e7 12.Nc3 

I was amused to see Stockfish 16.1's suggestion after the game, which was pretty Jerome-ish, because of its use of the pawns: 12.f4 b6 13.c4 c5 14.d5 Qf6 15.e5 Qh4 16.Nc3 when White would be better.

12...a6 

To protect the Queen by keeping the enemy Knight off of b5?

13.e5 

Premature. I could have waited until playing 13.f4.

 13...e6 14.f4 Re8 

Completing the "defense" of its King.

The opposite idea, 14...d5, was the way to go; but this would have compromised Black's defense.

15.d5 Qg8 

Odd. The d-pawn was there for the taking. This leads to an interesting end.

16.f5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.fxg6 

18...hxg6 19.Qg5+ Re7 20.Rf8 checkmate

I expected the bot to make a comment like the Chidobe Awuzie bot after our game, "I let you win, you were boring me", but it did not.

Jerome Gambit: Humor and Psychological Interplay

The humor and the psychological interplay is what makes the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) a special chess opening for me.

When Black declines the first piece sacrifice, by not playing 4...Kxf7, it is as if he is saying "If you want me to take the piece, then I won't!" As we have seen  many times - most recently in "Jerome Gambit: Attack? Counter-Attack?" - this is not a strong defensive strategy.

Likewise, should Black decline the second piece sacrifice - after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ not playing 5...Nxe5 - he can hold onto his advantage with 5...Kf8, but, otherwise, his "No, thank you" will again  lead to trouble.  

But, what if Black decides to mimic his opponent, and sacrifice a piece himself? Then things become interesting, as Bill Wall shows in the following game.

Wall, Bill - Kumar

internet, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

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

This is the "Counter-Jerome Defense" or the "Counter-Jerome Gambit". See "Jerome Gambit: Tactical Awareness" and "Jerome Gambit: Be Careful, Look Both Ways".

For recent examples, see "Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit (Part 3)" and "Jerome Gambit: Psychology"

8.Kxf2 Qf6+

8...Qh4+ was seen in Wall,B - Guest1443273, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 36), Wall,B - Guest2115687, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 21); and  Wall,B - Guest592370, PlayChess.com, 2017: 9.g3 Qf6+ 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.Nc3 Qh4+ 9.Kf1 9.g3 Qf6+ 10.Qxf6+ Nxf6 11.Nc3 d6 12.d3 Bg4 13.h3 Be6 14.Bh6 Ke8 15.Ke3 Kd7 16.Bg7 Rhf8 17.Bxf8 Rxf8 18.g4 a6 19.g5 Nh5 20.Rhf1 Re8 21.h4 c6 22.b4 d5 23.exd5 Bh3+ 24.Kd4 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 cxd5 26.Nxd5 Kd6 27.c4 Ng3 28.c5+ Kc6 29.Rf6+ Kb5 30.Nc7+ Black resigned.

9.Qxf6+ Kxf6 

With the Queens off of the board, Black's King feels safe advancing. He has paid a pawn for this privilege.

Also seen is 9...Nxf6 as in Wall, S - Guest658246, PlayChess.com 2013 (1-0, 34),  Wall,B - Guest4380606, PlayChess.com 2015 (1-0, 15) and Wall,B - SCMJ, FICS 2020 (1-0, 24).

10.Nc3 c6 11.Rf1 Kg7 12.Kg3 Ne7 13.b3 d5

Often ...d5 is helpful in defending against the Jerome Gambit, but not here, right now, because of possible problems along the a1-h8 diagonal. Better was 13... Re8. 

14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Bb2+ Kg8 16.Bxh8 Kxh8 

White has a Rook and a couple of pawns for the Bishop and Knight, but, more importantly, he has better development and the initiative.

The game will be over soon.

17.Rf7 Nc6 18.exd5 Ne5 19.Rc7 b6 20.Re1 Nd7 21.Re8+ Kg7 22.Rxd7+ Black resigned

After 22...Bxd7 23.Rxa8, the exchange-up endgame with extra pawns (two passed) is a straight-forward win.