Jerome Gambit: No One Ever Won A Game By Resigning

International Grandmaster Savielly Tartakower once mused that "No one ever won a game by resigning."

To that can be added the fact that in a 1-minute bullet game, just about anything can happen. 

angelcamina has over 1,200 games in The Database. The following win was recently added.

angelcamina - DiegoDac17

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

Black was hoping for 4.Nxe5?!, so he could respond 4...Qg5!?

Instead, he meets the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.Qh5 Qf6 

Black's defense of his King is solid, and his Knight threatens a fork at c2.

angelcamina has also tried 6...Nf6 7.Qf7+ Kxe5 8.f4+ in angelcamina - rabirabi, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13); angelcamina - shahramkhoshseffat, 1 0 bullet, lichess. org, 2019 (1-0, 13); and  angelcamina - luquitas2018, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020 (1-0, 21). 

7.Ng4 

Best. 

He had experimented with 7.Qe8+ without encouraging results: angelcamina - Skhokho1507, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 12); angelcamina - Mohamed461, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (0-1, 21); angelcamina - reay, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020 (0-1, 17); angelcamina - Javier_Electrico, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021 (0-1, 22); angelcamina - Gab20, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021 (1-0, 15); and angelcamina - Pionputih_CSI, 1-0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022 (1/2 - 1/2, 18).

7...Qg6 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Ne5 Qd6

Better than 9...Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 and then 10...Qxg2 as in angelcamina -artemchumakov, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 (1-0, 13) or 10...Qe6, as in angelcamina - regullele, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020 (1-0, 16). 

10.Qf7+ Kd8 11.d3 Nxc2+ 12.Kd2 Nxa1 13.Kd1 

A messy position with two uneasy Kings, but Black is better.

13...Nh6 

It is a mistake to take the Knight offside.

14.Bg5+ Be7 15.Bxh6 

The safer path, according to Stockfish 16.1, was 15.Qxg7 c6!? 16.Qxh8+ Kc7 17.f4 b5 18.Nd2 Bb7 19.Qg7 Ng8 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21.Qxh7 - but remember, this was a 1-minute game: No human club player is going to figure all that out in seconds.

15...gxh6 16.Qg7 

Black need only safeguard his Rook, and things will be looking good.

16...Re8 

Oh, dear. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.

17.Nf7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Hanging On By My Fingers

With 9 games left to be completed in my group, in Round 3 of the Jerome Gambit Classic #1, despite my successes so far, my remaining 3 games might produce only 1/2 point for me - leaving my chances of moving on to Round 4 (top 3 players of each group advance) depending upon what might end up being a tie break for third place in the group. There are four of us competing for three places.

With 15 games to finish in group 2, there is still plenty of chess to play there, as well.

Jerome Gambit: Fall

A mis-step can quickly turn into a stumble, and a stumble into a fall.

Wall, Bill - Irineu

internet, 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 d6 9.Qc3 

About 6 times more common, according to The Database, is 9.Qe3. 

9...Nf6 10.O-O 

Or 10.f3 d5 11.O-O as in Wall,B - Jaar,J, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 19).

10...Rf8 

Bill has also faced 10...c6 as in Wall,B-Varitt, internet, 2020 (1-0, 48) and 10...Kf7 as in Wall,B-Attia,M, internet, 2021 (1-0, 32). 

11.f4 Kf7 

Black starts to castle-by-hand.

He had an interesting series of moves that led to an edge: 11...Nxe4 (the key) 12.Re1 Qe7 13.Qc4 Rxf4 14.d3 Be6 15.Qa4+ Bd7 16.Qb4 Rg4 17.Rxe4 Rxe4 18.Qxe4 Qxe4 19.dxe4 Bc6. 

12.f5 Ne5 13.d4 Nc6 

14.Bg5 Qe8 

Black should have continued with 14...Kg8. 

15.Qc4+ Ke7 16.e5 

The troubling signs are there for Black: his King is not safe, and is on a file in front of his Queen; there is a dangerous pin on the Knight on f6; and the "Jerome pawns" are advancing.

16...dxe5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Qxc7+

Now, after 18...Bd7, White can grab the Knight at e5.

18...Ned7 

Bill sees quickly the opportunity that this move presents.

19.Re1+ Kf7 20. Qc4+ Black resigned

There was no need to continue with 20...Ne5 21.Qxd5+ Qe6 22.Qxe6 checkmate.

Another game for Bill Wall's Jerome Gambit Miniatures book, should he ever publish one. (He has written many other books and articles.)

Jerome Gambit: En Passant

 

Regarding Mr. James Tarbell, of Upper Alton, Ill., mentioned in yesterday's post (see "Jerome Gambit: Humbling") as looking for opponents to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) against him, I found his obituary in the March 23, 1906 Springfield Reporter, which included

Springfield, Vermont • 

Fri, Mar 23, 1906

The following was sent in by Mr. George Smiley of Alton, Ill and is from an Alton paper of last week.

...He was a famous chess player, probally [sic] one of the best in the United States, and played in many tournaments. He made a deep study of the game and he furnished many of the chess problems which interested players in years ago. He was beaten seldom and there were few who could match him in playing...

I wish to be remembered so fondly, after my passing.

Jerome Gambit: Humbling

 

Sometimes, when I reflect on The Database, my storage for Jerome Gambit and Jerome-related games - now approaching 96,000 entries - I think that I have accomplished something of note.

Then I run across a bit of information from the chess column for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Sunday, May 02, 1880

Mr. James Tarbell, of Upper Alton, Ill., who has acquired some fame as a correspondence player, would like very much to defend against the Jerome gambit in person or by correspondence. He is at present playing with Mr. Wm. Brown, of this city, and Mr. W. H. Hook of Paducah, Ky.

Cool!

I checked The Database.

Hmm...

No entry on James Tarbell.

No entry on William Brown.

No entry on W. H. Hook.

How disappointing.

I will keep my eyes open, however. 

Readers are asked to, as well.

Jerome Gambit: No Queen, No Problem

One tool a defender often has at his disposal is the exchange of Queens, which can lead to the blunting of an attack.

In the following game, however, Bill Wall's aggression does not appear to be troubled by such a strategy. The game ends with an impending checkmate in 10 moves.

Wall, Bill - Pakyaw

internet, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 Nf6 

Raising a familiar question: Jerome Gambit: What About the Rook?

Black protects his Rook on h8, and develops a piece at the same time. 

As I wrote about 16 years ago, in Flaws (Part II)

seen at least as early as in the 5th game of the second match between Mexican Champion Andres Clemente Vazquez and American William Harrington, Mexico, 1876 (Vazquez won the match 12-3-1)

For a more modern take, I consulted The Database, which has 300 games with this move; White scores 76%. 

The second player would have done better offering the Rook on h8 with either Blackburne's defense 7...d6, or Whistler's defense, 7...Qe7.

8.Qxc5 Qe7 

Bill has also seen 8...Nxe4, in  Wall,B-Sigmon,A, internet, 2012 (1-0, 32) and 8...Qe8 9.d3 d6 10.Qxc7+ Bd7 11.Qxd6 Nxe4 12.dxe4 Qxe4+ 13.Be3 Rhd8 14.Nc3 Qxg2 15.O-O-O Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, internet, 2020.

Black probably should have played 8...d6, and after 9.Qe3 Nxe4 he could hope for 10.Qxe4? Re8, but he would be frustrated by 10.O-O.) 

9.Qxe7+ 

Why not? Bill chooses a Queenless middlegame two pawns up.

9...Kxe7 10.Nc3 c6 11.d4 Kf7 12.O-O Re8 13.e5 

13...Nh5 14.g4 Ng7 15.f4 Kg8 

Black's King would prefer to side-step the advancing "Jerome pawns".

White's attack is not hampered by the lack of his Queen.

16.Ne4 Rf8 17.Nf6+ Kh8 18.f5 

Part of the Black's difficulty here is that he is afflicted by a familiar Jerome Gambit defender's malady: his pawn blocks his Bishop which hems in his Rook.

18...b6 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Rf3 

Eyeing the h-file.

20...Rxf6 

A sand necessity, but things do not get better.

21.Rxf6 Kh7 22.h4 Ne6 23.Be3 Kg7 

White's lead in development is decisive. 

24.Raf1 Nd8 25.h5 gxh5 26.gxh5 Ba6 

Alas, the Bishop is late to the excitment.

27.R1f3 Black resigned

Black's King is in a mating net.

Jerome Gambit: Puzzled Again

I recently stumbled over a small puzzle on page 44 of the Sunday, October 27, 1929 edition of Cleveland's The Plain Dealer.

The "Chess and Checkers" column by David Robb had a section titled "An Old Time Favorite", including [chess notation changed from descriptive to algebraic - Rick]

The following game is taken from an old chess book of the year 1880.

The opening, a Jerome Gambit, is never played in tournament chess, yet in social chess it is often played, as it generally leads into a bright and lively game, as witness the following

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

This double sacrifice constitutes the Jerome Gambit. It is unsound, but wants very careful meeting, as white can get up a good attack.

The game as given is the same as the well-known Amateur - Blackburne:

6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O Nf6 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3 14.gxh3 Bxe4 checkmate 

The problem is the date of the book referred to by Mr. Robb: it is given as 1880.

As I posted here about 7 years ago, in "Jerome Gambit: Dr. Harding Checks In", Amateur- Blackburne was played in 1884. (Tim Harding is the author of many good books, including Joseph Henry Blackburne A Chess Biography).

It is quite possible that Plain Dealer's chess columnist got his dates wrong. 

I also have had a hard time finding any chess books from 1880 that reference the Jerome Gambit.

I suppose that I could go out on a limb and point out that in Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899), by Joseph Henry Blackburne, the game is given as having taken place "around 1880".  Perhaps there is where 1880 came from for Mr. Robb.