Jerome Gambit: Friendly Birthday Greeting

Readers are very familiar with Yury V. Bukayev, whose research works, commentaries, analyses, and games have graced the pages of this blog for years.

Most recently I have received the following email:

Dear Rick, good afternoon!

Tomorrow the chess world can celebrate 16 years of your nice blog!

I'm congratulating you very warmly with this birthday!!  

Here are news for you. Chessgames.com's today's "Opening of the Day" 

is Blackburne Shilling gambit. And it is interesting that 4. Bxf7+ is the 

most winning move for it in this database. 

Analogously to 4. Bxf7+ in Giuoco Piano there, you can see! 

Best wishes!

Yury

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Jerome Gambit: Things Are Not Always As They Appear

It is the matter of tactics to demonstrate that things are not always as they appear. 

In the following Jerome Gambit game, Bill Wall demonstrates.

Wall, Bill - Eldon

internet, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf6? 

This allows White to quickly recover his sacrificed material and the advantage.

7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+

Black resigned here in Wall,B - Guest2892618, PlayChess.com, 2015.

8...Kf8 

Or 8...Kf7 as in Wall,B - Guest1468523, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 14). 

9.Qxc5+ d6 

Or 9...Ne7 as in Wall,B - SMNN, FICS 2013 (1-0, 27). 

10.Qh5 

Bill has also played 10.Qb5 Nf6 (10...c6 11.Qc4 Nf6 12.O-O b5 13.Qxc6 Be6 14.Qxb5 Rc8 15.d3 Rxc2 16.Nc3 Ng4 17.Qa4 Qh4 18.h3 Rxf2 19.Qxa7 Rxf1+ 20.Kxf1 Qf2+ 21.Qxf2+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest733407, PlayChess.com 2014) 11.d3 (11.O-O h5 12.d3 Ng4 13.Nc3 c6 14.Qb3 Qe7 15.f4 h4 16.h3 Nf6 17.f5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1573554) 11... Bd7 12. Qxb7 h5 13. Nc3 h4 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 h3 16. gxh3 Rxh3 17. Bg5 Qe8 18. f4 Rb8 19. O-O-O Be6 20. Qd4 Bxa2 21. Qxa7 Be6 22. Qxc7 g6 23. f5 Black resigned, Wall,B - KSPF, FICS, 2011. 

Instead, there was 10.Qb4 a5 11.Qc4 c6 12.O-O b5 13.Qd3 Ba6 14.Qg3 Qf6 15.d3 h6 16.Bf4 Rd8 17.e5 dxe5 18.Bxe5 Qf7 19.Nd2 Nf6 20.Rfe1 Kg8 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Re5 Kh7 23.Ne4 Qg6 24.Qxg6+ Kxg6 25.Re6+ Kf5 26.Rxc6 Bb7 27.Nd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Andar, SparkChess.com 2023.

10...Qf6 11.f3 g6 12.Qa5 b6 13.Qa3 Ne7 14.O-O Nc6 15.Nc3 

A pleasant position for the Jerome Gambiteer, up a couple of pawns with a relatively safe King.

15...Nd4 16.d3

Golly, it looks like Bill has overlooked a possible Knight fork of his Queen and Rook.

16...Nxc2 17.Bh6+ 

Oh, never mind.

17...Kf7 18.Qb3+ Be6 19.Qxc2 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Against, Still

Here we have another win in the Jerome Classic #1 tournament at Chess.com - again, against the Jerome.

Most of my remaining games will test whether I can win with the Jerome, but they remain for another day.

vkar33 - perrypawnpusher

Jerome Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.c3 Nf6 

Or 5...d6 as in Kevin the fruitbat - Sir Osis of the Liver, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 36), or 5... Qf6 as in Kevin the fruitbat - Temmo, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 16). 

6.b4 

An interesting path.

I have also encountered 6.d3 as in Gary_Seven - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008 (0-1, 30); ecimsa - perrypawnpusher, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 32); and xulian - perrypawnpusher, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 23). 

There was also 6.Qb3+ as in Kevin the fruitbat - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008 (0-1, 39).

6...Bb6 7.d3 Rf8 8.b5 Na5 9.Nxe5+ Kg8 

White's charging b-pawn and his marauding Knight have won him a pawn, but Black's King is as safe as if he had castled, and Black still has an extra piece for White's two extra pawns.

10.O-O d5 11.Ba3 

There is the interesting encounter from a computer vs computer tournament: 11.Nd2 Qe8 12.d4 Qxb5 13.Ba3 Re8 14.Rb1 Qa6 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.Qf3 Be6 17.c4 Nf6 18.c5 Bxa2 19.Ra1 Nb3 20.Nxb3 Qxa3 21.Rfb1 Bxc5 22.Qe2 Qa6 23.Qxa6 bxa6 24.Rxa2 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Rxe5 26.Rxa6 c5 27.Ra5 Ng4 28.Nc6 Re2 29.Rf1 Rc2 30.h3 Nf6 31.Rfa1 Kf7 32.Rxa7+ Rxa7 33.Rxa7+ Kg6 34.Ne7+ Kg5 35.Ng8 Kg6 36.Ne7+ Kg5 37.Ng8 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 Kg6 39.Ne7+ Kh5 40.f4 Rc2 41.Nf5 Kg6 42.Nxg7 Nd5 43.f5+ Kf6 44.Ne8+ Kxf5 45.Rxh7 Nf4 46.Rf7+ Kg5 47.Rg7+ Kf5 48.Nd6+ Ke6 49.Nb5 Rb2 50.Na3 Ra2 51.Nc4 Kd5 52.Nb6+ Kd4 53.Rg4 Ke4 54.h4 Rb2 55.Na4 Rc2 56.h5 Kf5 57.Rxf4+ Kxf4 58.h6 Rd2 59.Nxc5 Rd6 60.h7 Rh6+ 61.Kg1 Rxh7 62.Kf2 Re7 63.g3+ Kg4 64.Nd3 Rf7+ 65.Nf4 Rd7 66.Ne2 Rd3 67.Ke1 draw, Hiarcs 9 - Shredder 6.02, The Jeroen Experience, 2003.

11...Re8 12.Nf3 dxe4 13.dxe4 Qxd1 14.Rxd1 Nxe4 

The same formula: when ahead, exchange pieces.

15. Nd4 Nc4 16. Bc1 Ncd6 17. a4 Ba5 18. Bd2 Nxd2 White resigned

Realizing that 19.Nxd2 (19.Rxe2? Re1#) Bxc3 20.N2b3 Bxa1 21.Nxa1 was a Rook-down position with no compensation.

Jerome Gambit: Against, Again

The following game follows familiar ground...

Fortunately, this was more of a help to me than to my opponent.

sinipete - perrypawnpusher

Jerome Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4 7.dxc5 

Or 7.O-O as in Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 38) and perrypawnpusher - 4xel, Chess.com 2017 (1/2 - 1/2, 29).

7...Qxe4+ 8.Kf1 Nf6 9.Qe2 

Or 9.Nc3 as we have seen recently in hamadkargarfard7 - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024 (0-1, 17) 

9...Re8 10.Qxe4 Nxe4 11.b4 d5 

At this point in the game, a little bit of guilt set in: I am playing against my favorite opening, and doing well. 

Remaking the old saying, it seems that All that is needed for the defender to triumph is for the attacker to accomplish nothing.

My opponent tries, but it is not enough.

12.f3 Nf6 13.Bb2 Bf5 14.Na3 Nc4 

Exchanging pieces helps Black.

15.Bxf6 Nxa3 16.Bb2 Nxc2 17.Rd1 Ne3+ 18.Ke2 Nxd1+ 19.Kxd1

Winning the extra exchange puts Black a Rook ahead.

White plays on - because you can only lose a lost game...

19...Re3 20.Re1 Rae8 21.Rxe3 Rxe3 22.Kd2 Rd3+ 

23.Ke2 c6 24.g4 

What else?

24...Bg6 25.h4 h6 26.f4 Be4 27. g5 Rh3 

I have read that in Islamic chess, the Rook is known as the chariot. As read in Brittanica

Once the [footsoldiers] had been thrown into disorder, it might be possible to put the chariots into formation, charge, and ride the enemy down.

28.gxh6 gxh6 29.Be5 Rxh4 30.a4 a6 31.Ke3 Rh3+ 32.Kd2 Rb3 33.Bc3  

Protecting the footsoldiers, blocking off the chariot...

33...h5 Black resigned

Black's advancing footsoldier is enough to secure the win.

Jerome Gambit: Against

I am not always comfortable playing against the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), but in a Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, where I have the black pieces half of the time, it can't be helped.

Also, if I want to advance to the next round and play more Jeromes, that means I have to defeat a number of them along the way.

The following game is from the tournament's fourth round.

moisesah - perrypawnpusher

Jerome Gambit Classic #1, Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's early preference, before turning to 6.Qh5+.

6...Qh4 

First seen in Sorensen - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27)

7.dxc5 

It might not have seemed safer to my opponent to go ahead and castle. I have to say that my experience in games with 7.O-O has not been overwhelmingly positive for that move:  Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 38) and perrypawnpusher - 4xel, Chess.com 2017 (1/2 - 1/2, 29).

Still, things are about to get uncomfortable for White's King.

7...Qxe4+ 8.Be3 

Instead, 8.Kf1 was a different idea for defense, as occured in hamadkargarfard7 - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit Classic #1 2024 (0-1, 17).  

8...Qxg2 9.Rf1 Nf3+ 10.Ke2 Nxh2 11.Rg1 Qf3+ 12.Kd2 Qxd1+ 13.Kxd1 

We have reached a Queenless middlegame where Black has an extra piece and an extra pawn. The pieces begin to dance around, but this imbalance does not change.

13...Nf6 14.Nc3 d5 15.Ne2 Bg4 16.Rg2 Nf3 17.c3 Bf5 18.Ng3 

At first glance it may look like White has improved on his development, at no cost to King safety. This is true - but he has just put his Rook at risk.

18...Bh3 19.Rg1 Nxg1 20.Kc2 Nf3 

I cannot fault my opponent for  playing on, given my propensity to grasp a blunder out of thin air...

21.a4 h5 

There is an old saying from the Manhattan Chess Club, that Black pawns move faster than White ones. (Gravity?)

22.Ne2 Bf5+ 23.Kb3 h4 24.Nf4 g5 25.Ne2 h3 26.Ng3 Be4 27.Bd4 Nxd4+ 28.cxd4 h2 White resigned

The h-pawn will not promote, but it will tie down White's already outnumbered forces. There were other games more worthy of my opponent's attention.

Jerome Gambit: Classic #1 Upset

Chess.com keeps track of the "Biggest Upset" in the Jerome Gambit Classic #1 tournament (and others, as well, on their respective pages).

Currently, the following game holds the Classic #1 honors. It is fun to consider the many evaluations given to the moves along the way - by the Chess.com computer?

White is able to put off being checkmated, by allowing his King and Queen to be forked.

mconto (1858) - CaptainPlop (1005)

Jerome Gambit Classic #1 - Round 2

Chess.com

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7! 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6?! 7.Qxc5 N8e7? 8.d3 d6 9.Qc4+? Be6?! 10.Qd4?! c5? 11.Qc3? d5 12.exd5? Qxd5 13.O-O h5 14.Nd2? h4 15.h3? Nf4 16.Ne4 Ne2+ 17.Kh1 White resigned